Are you ambitious? Are you prideful?

Psalm 131 challenges our perspectives on a few things (that we may need to unlearn and rethink.)

Charles Spurgeon says the 11th Psalm of our "Songs of Ascent" is, "One of the shortest [of the Psalms] to read, but one of the longest to learn." This is a Psalm of maintenance. A "pruning" Psalm that gets rid of what looks good to those who don't know any better and reduces the distance between our hearts and their roots in God.

Are you ambitious? Are you prideful?

Psalm 131 challenges our perspectives on a few things (that we may need to unlearn and rethink.)

Charles Spurgeon says the 11th Psalm of our "Songs of Ascent" is, "One of the shortest [of the Psalms] to read, but one of the longest to learn." This is a Psalm of maintenance. A "pruning" Psalm that gets rid of what looks good to those who don't know any better and reduces the distance between our hearts and their roots in God.

Are you ambitious? Are you prideful?

Psalm 131 challenges our perspectives on a few things (that we may need to unlearn and rethink.)

Charles Spurgeon says the 11th Psalm of our "Songs of Ascent" is, "One of the shortest [of the Psalms] to read, but one of the longest to learn." This is a Psalm of maintenance. A "pruning" Psalm that gets rid of what looks good to those who don't know any better and reduces the distance between our hearts and their roots in God.

Where do you turn when you are "in the depths"...when the darkness is overwhelming?

Psalm 130 gives dignity to our suffering. The Psalmist does not belittle our "weakness". We are reminded that even though suffering is real, God is real(er).

The 10th Psalm of our "Songs of Ascent" gives us a great example of where our hope lies. When we find ourselves in the depths/darkness, facing our guilt, our lack, where do we turn? When we turn and cry out to God, He hears and He comes. He does not come with judgement, He comes with forgiveness and redemption, His grace and His mercy!

Where do you turn when you are "in the depths"...when the darkness is overwhelming?

Psalm 130 gives dignity to our suffering. The Psalmist does not belittle our "weakness". We are reminded that even though suffering is real, God is real(er).

The 10th Psalm of our "Songs of Ascent" gives us a great example of where our hope lies. When we find ourselves in the depths/darkness, facing our guilt, our lack, where do we turn? When we turn and cry out to God, He hears and He comes. He does not come with judgement, He comes with forgiveness and redemption, His grace and His mercy!

Where do you turn when you are "in the depths"...when the darkness is overwhelming?

Psalm 130 gives dignity to our suffering. The Psalmist does not belittle our "weakness". We are reminded that even though suffering is real, God is real(er).

The 10th Psalm of our "Songs of Ascent" gives us a great example of where our hope lies. When we find ourselves in the depths/darkness, facing our guilt, our lack, where do we turn? When we turn and cry out to God, He hears and He comes. He does not come with judgement, He comes with forgiveness and redemption, His grace and His mercy!

It's Easter Sunday & it may seem strange to be in the Psalms on Easter Sunday...Listen in & realize we are in exactly the place we need to be for this Easter!

Psalm 129 reminds us that hard times/suffering does NOT deny the presence of God or provide reason for doubt (in God or in our faith).

For the 10th Psalm of our "Songs of Ascent" it is important to know that we need to express our deep emotions in healthy ways. It doesn't matter whether those emotions are joyful, despairing, angry, etc...our loving, grace-filled Father wants us to be authentic with Him & release those emotions to Him. We are also called to share the burden of each other's suffering. We are not meant to live this life alone. That means we are not to keep our blessings to ourselves, nor are we to keep our suffering to ourselves. We are meant to share the blessings and the burdens.

It's Easter Sunday & it may seem strange to be in the Psalms on Easter Sunday...Listen in & realize we are in exactly the place we need to be for this Easter!

Psalm 129 reminds us that hard times/suffering does NOT deny the presence of God or provide reason for doubt (in God or in our faith).

For the 10th Psalm of our "Songs of Ascent" it is important to know that we need to express our deep emotions in healthy ways. It doesn't matter whether those emotions are joyful, despairing, angry, etc...our loving, grace-filled Father wants us to be authentic with Him & release those emotions to Him. We are also called to share the burden of each other's suffering. We are not meant to live this life alone. That means we are not to keep our blessings to ourselves, nor are we to keep our suffering to ourselves. We are meant to share the blessings and the burdens.

It's Easter Sunday & it may seem strange to be in the Psalms on Easter Sunday...Listen in & realize we are in exactly the place we need to be for this Easter!

Psalm 129 reminds us that hard times/suffering does NOT deny the presence of God or provide reason for doubt (in God or in our faith).

For the 10th Psalm of our "Songs of Ascent" it is important to know that we need to express our deep emotions in healthy ways. It doesn't matter whether those emotions are joyful, despairing, angry, etc...our loving, grace-filled Father wants us to be authentic with Him & release those emotions to Him. We are also called to share the burden of each other's suffering. We are not meant to live this life alone. That means we are not to keep our blessings to ourselves, nor are we to keep our suffering to ourselves. We are meant to share the blessings and the burdens.

What do you think about God? What is your attitude toward Him?

Psalm 128 challenges our ATTITUDE toward God and our BEHAVIOR that results in response...

For the 9th Psalm of our "Songs of Ascent" it is important that we unlearn and rethink our definition and perspective on 3 key words: Blessing, Fear, and Prosperity. In A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson writes, "We must develop better and deeper concepts of happiness than those held by the world." To "happiness", I would add blessing and prosperity. As we unlearn and rethink we gain God's perspective and find the true meaning of success, happiness, blessing, and prosperity.