Being Podcast

Welcome to the first episode of Season 2: New Life!  Today we'll be goin through Psalm 8, a passage of scripture identifying the creation around us, and God's intention for it.


Psalm 8

1 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

    Your glory is higher than the heavens.
2 You have taught children and infants
    to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies
    and all who oppose you.

3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
    the moon and the stars you set in place—
4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
    human beings that you should care for them?
5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You gave them charge of everything you made,
    putting all things under their authority—
7 the flocks and the herds
    and all the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
    and everything that swims the ocean currents.

9 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

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Hello There!

Welcome to the Being podcast!  The Being podcast is a spiritual meditation podcast to give you a moment in the week to breathe, rest, and just... be.  There's a quote that says "you're a human being, not a human doing", and that emphasizes my hope for you with this podcast!

We're jumping into Season 2 of the Being Podcast as we move into this Spring + Easter Season!  We'll be focused on the life we have because of what Easter means for us, and the life that God wants to continue to cultivate within us, and give towards us.

I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you're encouraged.

Remember, you're a human being,
not a human doing.

- Matt V.

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Welcome to our journey through the Psalms.  Today is our last episode for this season!  Today's Meditation is a Lectio Divina (scripture meditation, see the very first podcast for an explanation of Lectio Divina) of Psalm 100.  It's a reminder to ground ourselves in thanksgiving and gratitude.


Psalm 100
A psalm of thanksgiving.

1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
2     Worship the Lord with gladness.
    Come before him, singing with joy.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
    He made us, and we are his.
    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
    go into his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
    His unfailing love continues forever,
    and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

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Welcome to our journey through the Psalms.  Today's Meditation is a Lectio Divina (scripture meditation, see the very first podcast for an explanation of Lectio Divina) of Psalm 91.  Few passages could be more needed amidst the world's current state.  This is a reminder that God sees us, cares about us, and that we can trust Him.



Psalm 91

1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
    will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
    and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
    He will shelter you with his wings.
    His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
    nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
    nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
    though ten thousand are dying around you,
    these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
    and see how the wicked are punished.

9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
    if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
    no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
    to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
    you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
    I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
    I will be with them in trouble.
    I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
    and give them my salvation.”

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Welcome to our journey through the Psalms.  Today's Meditation is a Lectio Divina (scripture meditation, see the very first podcast for an explanation of Lectio Divina) of Psalm 16.  This is a beautiful reflection of remembering that all good things come from God.



Psalm 16

1 Keep me safe, O God,
    for I have come to you for refuge.

2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Master!
    Every good thing I have comes from you.”
3 The godly people in the land
    are my true heroes!
    I take pleasure in them!
4 Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods.
    I will not take part in their sacrifices of blood
    or even speak the names of their gods.

5 Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.
    You guard all that is mine.
6 The land you have given me is a pleasant land.
    What a wonderful inheritance!

7 I will bless the Lord who guides me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I know the Lord is always with me.
    I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

9 No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
    My body rests in safety.
10 For you will not leave my soul among the dead
    or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.
11 You will show me the way of life,
    granting me the joy of your presence
    and the pleasures of living with you forever.

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Welcome to our journey through the Psalms.  Today's Meditation is a Lectio Divina (scripture meditation, see the very first podcast for an explanation of Lectio Divina) of Psalm 66.  This is a beautiful reflection of David's encounter with God's presence.

In this moment, David is gratefully reminding himself that God's presence is available in the highs and lows, that God's love was present before he was even born, and that God cares about him dearly.


Psalm 66

Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth!
Sing about the glory of his name!
    Tell the world how glorious he is.
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
    Your enemies cringe before your mighty power.
Everything on earth will worship you;
    they will sing your praises,
    shouting your name in glorious songs.” Interlude
Come and see what our God has done,
    what awesome miracles he performs for people
He made a dry path through the Red Sea,
    and his people went across on foot.
    There we rejoiced in him
For by his great power he rules forever.
    He watches every movement of the nations;
    let no rebel rise in defiance. Interlude

Let the whole world bless our God
    and loudly sing his praises.
Our lives are in his hands,
    and he keeps our feet from stumbling.
You have tested us, O God;
    you have purified us like silver.
You captured us in your net
    and laid the burden of slavery on our backs.
Then you put a leader over us.
    We went through fire and flood,
    but you brought us to a place of great abundance.

Now I come to your Temple with burnt offerings
    to fulfill the vows I made to you—
yes, the sacred vows that I made
    when I was in deep trouble.
That is why I am sacrificing burnt offerings to you—
    the best of my rams as a pleasing aroma,
    and a sacrifice of bulls and male goats. Interlude

Come and listen, all you who fear God,
    and I will tell you what he did for me.
For I cried out to him for help,
    praising him as I spoke.
If I had not confessed the sin in my heart,
    the Lord would not have listened.
But God did listen!
    He paid attention to my prayer.
Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer
    or withdraw his unfailing love from me.

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Welcome to our journey through the Psalms.  Today's Meditation is a Lectio Divina (scripture meditation, see the very first podcast for an explanation of Lectio Divina) of Psalm 51.  This passage is David's writing after one of his greatest mistakes.  He was responsible for breaking up a family, murdering a man, and ruining his dignity.  In this passage he is crying out to God to create a new heart in him, to restore all that was good before his mistake.  To revive the life inside of him.  Amidst our huge mistakes or small errors we can be plagued with guilt much like David, and we need to experience God's unfailing love.  My hope is you can experience that through this passage.


Psalm 51

For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God,
    because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
    blot out the stain of my sins.
Wash me clean from my guilt.
    Purify me from my sin.
For I recognize my rebellion;
    it haunts me day and night
Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
    I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
    and your judgment against me is just.
For I was born a sinner—
    yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
But you desire honesty from the womb,
    teaching me wisdom even there.

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Oh, give me back my joy again;
    you have broken me—
    now let me rejoice.
Don’t keep looking at my sins.
    Remove the stain of my guilt.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
    Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Do not banish me from your presence,
    and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and make me willing to obey you.
Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
    and they will return to you.
Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
    then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
Unseal my lips, O Lord,
    that my mouth may praise you.

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Welcome to our journey through the Psalms.  Today's Meditation is a Lectio Divina (scripture meditation, see the very first podcast for an explanation of Lectio Divina) of Psalm 146.  This passage is a perspective changer.  Sometimes we get the wrong perspectives of life, God, or ourselves, and God is calling us to gently shift them, to align them to his view, which is so much better.

Psalm 146

Praise the Lord!

Let all that I am praise the Lord.
I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
    I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
    there is no help for you there.
When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
    and all their plans die with them.
But joyful are those who have the God of Israel[a] as their helper,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them.
    He keeps every promise forever.
He gives justice to the oppressed
    and food to the hungry.
The Lord frees the prisoners.
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.
    The Lord loves the godly.
The Lord protects the foreigners among us.
    He cares for the orphans and widows,
    but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.

The Lord will reign forever.
    He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations.

Praise the Lord!

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Welcome to our journey through the Psalms.  Today's Meditation is a Lectio Divina (scripture meditation, see the very first podcast for an explanation of Lectio Divina) of Psalm 118.

Psalm 118:19-29

Open for me the gates where the righteous enter,
    and I will go in and thank the Lord.
These gates lead to the presence of the Lord,
    and the godly enter there.
I thank you for answering my prayer
    and giving me victory!

The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is wonderful to see.
This is the day the Lord has made.
    We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Please, Lord, please save us.
    Please, Lord, please give us success.
Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
    We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, shining upon us.
    Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
You are my God, and I will praise you!
    You are my God, and I will exalt you!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.

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Welcome to our journey through the Psalms.  Today's Meditation is a Lectio Divina (scripture meditation, see the very first podcast for an explanation of Lectio Divina) of Psalm 62.

The Psalms are a reminder that we're not alone.  They show us the vulnerable moments in life, the moments of thanking God and the moments of questioning him.  In this passage we see David betrayed by everyone around him.  We see him face relationship struggles and self-doubt, but his hope always rests back on a God that never leaves him or lets him down.

Psalm 62:1-8

I wait quietly before God,
    for my victory comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress where I will never be shaken.
So many enemies against one man—
    all of them trying to kill me.
To them I’m just a broken-down wall
    or a tottering fence.
They plan to topple me from my high position.
    They delight in telling lies about me.
They praise me to my face
    but curse me in their hearts.

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
    for my hope is in him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress where I will not be shaken.
My victory and honor come from God alone.
    He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
O my people, trust in him at all times.
    Pour out your heart to him,
    for God is our refuge.

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