Psalm 101
Of David. A psalm.
1 I will sing of your love and justice; to you, O LORD, I will sing praise.
2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life-- when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart. 3 I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.
4 Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil. 5 Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure.
6 My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me.
7 No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.
8 Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.
Bethlehem has become a land of milk and honey.
So many things in Scripture don't make a lot of sense.
God says so many things in life don't make sense except to the One who knows the pages of our days in His Book of Life.
We have to delve into God's Word and really seek Him to see the message.
We cannot dismiss what we do not understand - we seek to Understand.
David wrote so many Psalms. Believing the Scriptures. God is GOD.
David started out in the fields.
Learning how Close Father God was to him even when his own father Jesse would show all of his sons for the anointing of blessing, but not David.
And then David was anointed the King of Israel. Even Samuel was worried about that. David went back to the flocks and protected them from all types of dangers. And praised God - making plans to make his future clean and sparkling to God.
Fame immediately followed. After his own family had scoffed at him with his anointing and pushing his way to the front. Saul was thrilled. And then paused to consider what this meant to an ever increasingly self - sufficient Saul.
David's anointing began to pale. His best friend saved his life and elected to not fall in with David. David's wife scorned him to remain a princess. David was helped by priests - who were killed. Things looked - not that great to say the least. Not your typical Sunday School lesson. The people who ran to help David were the ones the system had not prospered.
David, has spent many, many hours with God and David decided that while this looked without fruit - David would believe God.
Habakkuk 3:
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, 18 Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!
Writing a Christmas message is difficult. Go gloomy and all will scatter. Go to cheery and people with less than blessed lives will feel gobbled up.
It's best to go with the Truth. The Truth will protect, upbuild, keep in Joy, command Hope and be reliable. Finding Love, Faith and Joy.
What Age was David when He wrote the Scripture? Maybe David had just killed Goliath!
President George W. Bush arrived back in Dallas after his Presidency. His grandfather, Prescott Bush and wife, had been a very, dear and reliable many, many, many weekends friend with my mother's employer Ebby Halliday and her husband. Ebby was 98 years old and going strong. During the Dallas years, President George W. was not often at the Ebby office. Probably only when he and his wife, Laura, bought a home where his twin daughters had a lemonade stand until their Grandfather found all members of the Grandfather's President's family would need Secret Service. This was a nice house and the daughters attended Preston Hollow Elementary, a public school. And W. wasn't at the offices when he owned part of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club.
(I suggested to my mother to use this as her Christmas Card the year she became a Democrat.
And I took this to my Bible Study to get a vote on this as the Christmas Card, told my mom the results - no, sadly, no Christmas Card.)
And George who wasn't the Silver Spoon Bush, wasn't there, except maybe for a lunch or so when George was Governor of Texas. But all the office liked this man. Friendly goodness. Local flavor. Friendly and open.
And when he was President George W. Bush - still a favorite. Too much goodness to listen to the critics who hadn't met George W. Bush.
Suddenly the Presidency was over. My mom, still a newly- born- again- Democrat, due to her liking for President Clinton and his policy on working people collecting their Social Security - was worried President Obama couldn't take office from President Bush because he would declare Martial Law. I said, oh c'mon you've met George W. C'mon. My mom relented.
And we saw President Bush at a wedding. My whole family trailed over to him like little ducks. We asked Laura and Mr. Bush if they wanted to attend. He claimed clothing for golf was not wedding wear. We assured him the Leader of the Free World could carry this off and we were his... Fans. He laughed. And later Mr. Bush would give our oldest Son Cal, some sporting words of good advice. Very well appreciated.
But due to knowing my mother and Ebby, we could all see this man was absolutely crushed. Critics were so bold. A few of the women in the family cried a tear for him. Cal and I were a little horrified for such a man - who had done his best. No critic with us would have pressed for more cruelty to see a man laboring so hard at leisure.
My mom would call and tell me he'd come in to see Ebby. My mother began to born-again-Democrat thaw to Mr. Bush. Mr. Bush would visit for an hour or so with Ebby. I'd say Mr. Bush was there a dozen or more times in 3 months. Mr. Bush was the favorite of the 300 person Corporate Office. He'd take 20 or more photos with long-time Ebby employees. A lot had been with Ebby since about the end of World War II. 1970s? Newcomer.
About three months went by and No new Mr. Bush. Ebby wasn't concerned, she was pleased and she let everyone know Mr. Bush was writing his memoirs. And by the end of the year, the Memoirs were published. In one year, Mr. Bush was glowing and friendly again. He had faced his choices and found he'd done what was possible. To read William Manchester's "Last Lion" Winston Churchill is to realize how all of the people of God - have limited choices. We do the best we can with what we have. Some of Winston Churchill's stories are frail. The human frailty life offers. At all levels - in different ages - to all of mankind.
When we sit down with Father God who loves us so high, so wide, so compellingly endearingly - wouldn't God say we did our best if we did our best? God tells us the Narrow Gate is the Narrow Gate.
It's not Hollywood where the Future is all unwritten vaguely and up to humanist boot straps. With Christians, This is God's Book of Life. Psalm 139 assures us God has not only known our name, but is ahead of us and plans our days.
Christmas - David certainly had "His" Seasons. The Narrow Gate. When Life offers this choice and that choice, but not one variation. This can arrive Quickly or it can be deliberately and intentionally slow seasons. The purpose of the Narrow Gate? Imagery provided...
Job 1:21
And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return."
We present ourselves to God. From the no wind and the hurricane seasons of life. What we leave for our next generations to learn about their families' lives.
And we find richer lives to add in the wonderful memories, the challenging times and find Love, Faith and Hope. Always chose God of Love.
Let the Circle of relying upon God be unbroken. Love without beginning or end.
Abba,
We Give Thanks for the Seasons and as we grow we will ask You about this Season or that and You will say you my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. Psalm 40.
Psalm 85:13
Righteousness will go before Him And will make His footsteps into a way.
Psalm 17:5
My steps have held fast to Your paths My feet have not slipped.
We will all have our moments and seasons of assessing and feeling sorrow or glum. Being on Your Path to be encouraged, Loved, upheld, strengthened, guided will lead us to Blessings of Love within and surrounding, Mercy and Goodness. You said to leave these footprints.
Help us to go far with Your Good Will. Help us to be strengthened to be Upheld to Your Love all our days.
Thank You for Your Steadfast Love and Grace. Your unrelenting Love and mercy. God You Bless us. You do. Thank You.
Cover us in the Love, Help and Mercy of Jesus. Cover those we love. Praying for Your Good Will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. All the Nations of the world arriving at the Brightness of Jesus Light of the world.
And in Jesus, we will have Love, Joy and Peace. Amen.
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