Psalm Fourteen: Growing in the Right Direction

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God,' they are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God."
v. 1-2
"[Evildoers] are overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous." v. 5


It is easier to be overwhelmed with dread when we are not in the company of our Creator.

Psalm Thirteen: Light to My Eyes

"How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will the enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, 'I have overcome him.' and my foes will rejoice when I fall."

"But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he had been good to me." v. 1-6

Regardless if God sheds light on our suffering or not, we are always able to rejoice in our salvation He has given us.

Psalm Twelve: Words Like Silver

"Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. Everyone lies to his neighbor; their flattering lips speak with deception." v. 1-2

"'Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,' says the LORD. 'I will protect them from those who malign them.'

And the words of the the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay purified seven times." v. 5-6

The psalmist compared the lying words of the ungodly to the perfect flawless words of God. The way God will protect us from lies is to infiltrate us with His truth.

Psalm Eleven: God Loves Justice

"In the LORD I take refuge..." v.1a

"For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed what can the righteous do?" v. 2-3

"On the wicked he will rain fiery colas and burning sulfur, a scorching wind will be their lot. For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice, upright men will see his face." v. 6-7

The psalmist asks God what he can do when the enemy crushes the very foundation of their spirit. The answer is NOTHING. God is the one who will destroy our affliction with more force and punishment than we ourselves can fathom. Therefore, we should not think it is our responsibility to retaliate. In addition, God promises us a gift of seeing His face and knowing Him deeper when the attack is finished.

Psalm Ten: God Protects, God Provides

"He lies in wait like a lion in cover, he lies in wait to catch the helpless and drags them off in his net." v. 7

"The LORD is king forever and ever, the nations will perish from his land. You hear, o LORD the desire of the afflicted. You encourage them, and listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more." v. 16-18

In this Psalm, the King does not take the threat of the oppressor away. Instead, he protects the psalmist from it, and therefore takes the sting of fear away from him.

I would rather be in the protecting and nurturing hands of my Heavenly Father, than safe from any oppression where I do not see the need for Him.

Psalm Nine: In the Stronghold, I will praise Him

"I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O most high." v. 1-2
"The LORD is the refuge for the oppressed, and stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you." v. 9-10

I will be in a place of complete worship when I realize what You have saved me from and what You have saved me for. Recounting what You have done in my past will give me hope in what You will do in the future. For that to happen, I need to be searching Your Word for Your promises- past and present- to those you love.

In this drawing, the stumbling stones along the path and prickly trees represent the hardships God allows in our lives to help us focus on the goal- worshiping Him. In the fortress (stronghold) at the top, I drew the parting of the red sea, the cross, and the ark. These are all stories in the Bible that should allow us to see how God has worked in His peoples' lives in the past, and it should give us hope of how He will show Himself faithful to us in the future.

Psalm Eight: We Serve a Creative Creator!

"Oh LORD, our LORD, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens."
v. 1
"When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place. What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands. You put everything under his feet. all the flocks and herds and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of seas." v. 3-8

There is a poster in my art room that says:

"God created creatures that creatively create from creation."

God, I know you love me when I look at creation because you didn't have to make things beautiful...but You did because You wanted all things good to point to you- the Creator.

Psalm Seven: God is my Shield

"Oh LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me." v. 1-2
"My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart." v. 10

My enemies come in many forms- pride, doubt, hopelessness, self-pity,...

I'm glad I can hide in the Truth of His Word and His hope when times are hard
and when they are not.

Psalm Six: "God" in times of plenty, "Lord" in times of want

"O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint. O LORD, heal me for my bones are in agony." v. 1
"The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer." v. 9

I find I am more likely to cry out to God for help when I am in the most pain. I admit, like the Psalmist here, that He is in control of my life, and not myself. (It's funny how when things are going well I'm not as likely to claim God as "sovereign.") By calling Him "Lord," we are recognizing his sovereignty. Here in this passage, the Psalmist recognizes that he can no longer rely on himself for relief, and reassures himself that God does indeed hear him.

In our lowest times, we realize how far away we are from God and are in need of His mercy. Could it be that had we not reached that point, we would have never realized how much we need God?

Psalm Five: Silent Night, Holy Morning

"Give ear to my words, O LORD,
consider my sighing.
Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." v. 1-3


I found it interesting the progression from chapter four to five.

Keeping silent
Sleeping knowing God is in control
Asking God to listen
Sighing
Crying to a God who is Sovereign
Acknowledging that God is listening
Requesting
Waiting
Expecting

It is interesting what perspective can bring when God sheds his light on our suffering and turns it into something that glorifies Himself.

In this drawing, the smooth path represents the way we know we are supposed to go that is directed by God's leading toward Himself (the sun). However, we are forced to go through a deep dark time represented by the trees. In them are hidden words such as "pain, doubt, why, etc." The morning sun is dispelling clouds, or the night's darkness that appears to be surrounding us.

Psalm Four: Be Silent, Be Safe

"In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds search your hearts
and be silent." v. 4
"In will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone O LORD
make me dwell in safety."
v. 8

Unlike the psalmist, I have no physical enemies. I do not worry about being hard-pressed on every side by those who wish to conquer me when I sleep. However, in the quietness of evening before I rest, my biggest adversary is ready to attack- it is myself. It is then when I am most likely to recount the day's failures, linger on tomorrow's worries, and let the cold fingers of discontentment and bitterness strangle my joy. It is then that I should be silent before God and rely on Him to for the peace that only He can bring.

In the safety of Your Truth, dear God, I can be silent and dwell in peace.

Psalm Three: Lifting our Head to His Holy Hill

"But you are a shield around me, O LORD.
You bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
To the LORD I cry aloud and he answers me from his holy hill." v. 3-4


I find it comforting, God, to know that when suffering occurs in my life, I am still in the all-encompassing care and protection of my Heavenly Father. You allow me to see your perspective only when I am able to cry out to you and realize that You are sill my King, alive and enthroned in Heaven.


For this drawing, I contrasted to curved line down in the face, looking towards turmoil, to the upturned line in the larger face looking towards the holy hill, where God crowns us with glory. The larger face shape also represents the shield that God surrounds us in, which we are more likely to recognize when we are praising Him.

Psalm Two: Taking Refuge in the God We Fear

"Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, less he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are those who take refuge in Him." v. 11-12

God, your divinity and humanity is such a puzzling dichotomy- to serve a God we fear and love a God who will show His wrath is we do not. I praise you for giving us Your Son so we could see how the two come so perfectly together.

Psalm One: Yielding Fruit in Season

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked...v.1
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yeilds its fruits in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers...v.3
For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous." v. 6a


God, you promise that our ways will prosper if we surround ourselves with Godly influences and are planted firmly in the truth of Your Word. While I am always promised abundant sustenance for my soul, the evidence of Your work in my life will only be revealed in Your timing. It is frustrating to know that You are working and growing me, and that evidence is not yet seen. And yet, you bring me hope knowing that I have more to look forward to.

My sister, Robin, who is quite possibly one of the most talented writers I know, wrote a sonnet that reminds me of the Psalm.

I've heard it said, "The fruit defines the tree."
What shall we say when branch and leaf and root
Are all the measure that our eyes can see?
How shall we name the tree without the fruit?
We may be tempted to assign the blame
Of lacking crop to inactivity
And say the tree does not deserve a name
If idle is what it decides to be.
But if this is our verdict, we despise
The very work by which the fruit is won:
How desperately the root for water cries,
How faithfully the sapling seeks the sun.
If day by day, the tree is slowly grown
In season, by its fruit it will be known.

By Robin M.G. Lawrenz

The beginning of my journey...

I have been a Christian for as long as I can remember. Two years ago God took me to a place where I realized that the God I thought I knew so intimately was so far different from the God of the Bible. This God that I had been serving and loving for so long had shaken my spirit to it's absolute core until He brought me to a place where I had to make a decision. It was this: Did I really truly without a doubt believe that God is in control of my life? Could he really be all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving if He would allow my dreams to be so broken and shattered?

My husband, Justin, and I were both teaching in a Christian school, leading Children's ministry in our church, faithfully going to church and Bible study. We had always known that God was calling us to be parents and could not understand why, unlike so many others around us, it was so difficult to conceive. Finally in October of 2007 we got the news we were going to be parents and were so overjoyed! We shouted it from the mountaintops to everyone we knew- proclaiming of God's goodness and mercy and faithfulness to those He loved. But unfortunately, our second ultrasound of our little miracle revealed no heartbeat- a miscarriage, a broken dream, a lost hope.

In March the following year, after mourning our first little baby going to heaven, we conceived again. Thinking that this one is the reason God allowed us to go through the heartbreak before- this was the plan all along. Without the first miscarriage, THIS baby would never have been conceived. God was teaching about trust, that's all. And I thought with this one, I could trust God for our plans finally to come to fruition. He certainly wouldn't allow us to have to go through this again. We loved God. He loved us....and the Bible says that "the fruit of the womb is His reward." There's no two people that deserved a baby more than us.

But again, after carrying the baby for three months- no heartbeat.

I was angry at God. I wanted nothing to do with Him or His promises. He wasn't at all like the God I served. The God I served was going to reward me and let me be a mom.

It was after this second miscarriage that God really got my attention and brought me to His Word. (Someday I'll tell the very long story of how He did this.) I was in a place where I didn't know who He was anymore, and I didn't know what or how to pray. Obviously, my prayers didn't do what I thought they would, so what was the point anyway? It was then that God brought me to the Psalms. He wanted me to read about tangible objects that could relate me to His character. He wanted to show me how to pray again through the very prayers that others had prayed. He wanted to show me how honest the Psalmist could be with God and how it was alright to tell Him that I wasn't ok with what happened to us.

Being an artist, I had always been a very visual person. I could remember things more and retain things longer when I drew them. So at the beginning of my journey through the Psalms I found a beautiful leather journal- with blank pages on the left, and lined pages on the right. It was a place where I could write the verses that God was revealing to me, illustrate a picture showing the words, and write my own prayers and thoughts based on what He showed me that day.


I know that this was a long introduction, but I wanted to show how sweet and wonderful and faithful our God is for always promising to reveal Himself to us in our darkest times if we are willing to search for Him. This is my journey through the Psalms on a quest for finding the True God of the Bible and how, through learning about His character, finding He is inherently Good despite my circumstances.