Wednesday’s Word

Welcome to Wednesday’s Word @ Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Trench Classes United. I’m so glad you joined me today. Grab your coffee and come on in.

Well, summer is in full swing, right?! The seasons seem to be rolling right into each other, one right after the other, and as they do, I declare in my heart to do something different, not let life pass me by without my involvement. One way to ensure that that doesn’t happen is to soak myself in His Word, His love letters to us. There is nothing like some Biblical principles and promises to splash perspective on anything we are going through!

I remember when I was intimidated by the big book; and I know many are, right? Where do we start? Do we hold it in our hands and let it magically open up on its own, allowing the wind to open the pages and settle on a portion of scripture? Do we follow a one year reading plan – oh my goodness, I must say, those aren’t for me; I get too curious as I’m reading and often go off on research detours! Well, I thought it would be fun to do a Biblical exercise with you; one that I guarantee is life-changing!

In July my church will be doing a summer of Psalms and when I heard about that, it took me back to when I first began reading the Psalms: I would read it silently to myself, then read it aloud, let my heart hear the words, and then I would rewrite it according to what was happening in my life. In other words I would put myself and my circumstances in there. Guess what? Everything about you and me is already in there, but let me tell you, there’s power when we do this. Scripture is alive and doing this helps it to come alive in our life!

So, I thought I would try this with you for a few Wednesdays. So today is the 21^st so let’s go to Psalm 21.

Many Bibles will offer a description of who wrote it and why, so we see that this Psalm was written after David won a big battle, so it’s a Psalm of praise. So before we start, think of a time where you experienced a victory, a victory that at the time seemed so amazing, and that includes a long-awaited answer to prayer. Remember how you felt? Do you have that in mind? Good. It’s so important that we remember these victories because when we are in a spiritual desert, it’s those remembrances of victories that can quench our thirst.

Here’s the Psalm:

^“1The king shall have joy in Your strength O Lord; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice.”

Let’s stop there and rewrite it now

_______ (put your name in there) shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord; and in Your free gift of salvation how greatly shall I rejoice.

^“2You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips.”

Now, if you are in the midst of a battle or unanswered prayer, it could be written something like this:

Rewrite: You will give me my heart’s desire and You do hear the request of my lips. Let’s go on to verse 3 & 4.

³For You meet him with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head. ⁴He asked life from You, and You gave it to him – length of days forever and ever.”

Rewrite: For You, oh God have met me with blessings of goodness and when my time on earth is done you will set a crown of pure gold upon my head. I have surrendered to you and in exchange you have granted me eternal life, length of days forever and ever.

⁵His glory is great in Your salvation; honor and majesty You have placed upon him. ⁶ For You have made him most blessed forever; You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence.”

Now, I know we aren’t kings going into battles trying to take the land, but we each have a victory to win, a battle that He waits to fight for us, a sort of promised land of our own, so with that in mind, let’s rewrite these two verses:
Rewrite: My reward is great for it is within the gift of Your salvation; You have called me Your own, and have given me honor, though sometimes I don’t feel it in this world, I know You have called me blessed forever and when I am in Your presence, I am exceedingly glad.

Now, notice, I was honest, so you be honest, too. Share your heart, your burdens, cry out to Him.

⁷For the king trusts in the Lord and through the mercy of the Most High, he shall not be moved.”

Rewrite: For I do trust in you Lord, and because of Your grace, mercy which fills me with strength, I shall not be moved; my faith shall not waiver!

Let’s do one more verse and then I’ll let you go to finish up on your own.

⁸Your hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You.”

Let’s pause here a second and let me ask you: Do you have any enemies?  Most of us don’t like to think that we may especially because “enemy” is such a strong word and involves hatred. There is beauty in this verse, for if someone deems you an enemy, then they are an enemy of the Lord also! Let me show you:
Your hand will find all those who deem me their enemy for if they hate me, then they cannot love You, and only You can see into their heart.

Your turn, go ahead and go on to verse 9; have some fun with this and don’t try to be grammatically perfect.

Loving the Psalms,

Evinda