Week 23. June 7. The LORD is our refuge.

We finally arrived at the book of Psalms!  It is a refreshing pause and feels good to me to read this book during these sunny summer days.  

I think the Introduction on page 593 is interesting…that the psalms compiled into this book were written by at least 7 authors and span about 1,000 years, and compiled into 5 books. 

So this was the temple hymnbook…I wonder what the music sounded like when they were sung long ago. 

We all have favorite verses.  They bring us joy, comfort and peace.  But one thing that has always disturbed me a little bit about the Psalms is how you are reading a pleasant Psalm and then, right in the middle of it; the psalmist is hating his enemies and asking God to destroy the wicked.  Psalm 11 verse 5 & 6 is a good example:

“The LORD examines the righteous, but he wicked, those who hate love violence, he hates with a passion.  On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burring sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot.”

Wow!…

I have never really had any enemies in my life, so I could never identify with this before.  But as I started reading through Psalms last week, I thought of the world’s new enemy, “ISIS” , every time I  read about the “wicked” or “enemies” and it made so much more sense.  So, when I am afraid of terrorist attacks, when I feel a sense of doom,  & when I despair over all the bad news in the world, I now think of the Psalms and  remember that my security is from God.   Seeing things from this perspective changes everything.

Psalm 4: verse 8:   “In peace I will l lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.”

“The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.  Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. “ Psalm 9: 9, 10.

May true peace fill our hearts and minds as we keep reading, till next week….Audrey