PSALM 11

"I have taken refuge in the Lord. How can you say to me, "Escape to the mountain like a bird! For look, the wicked string the bow; they put the arrow on the bowstring to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes watch; He examines everyone. The Lord examines the righteous and the wicked. He hates the lover of violence. He will rain burning coals and sulfur on the wicked. a scorching wind will be their portion. For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds. The upright will see His face.


There are so many things to be scared of in this world. It has sped its way down an entirely corrupt path and it shows no sure sign of ever turning around. And we have two choices. . .run or fight behind God. We can't forget about God's power. . .Is God more powerful than those wicked aiming arrows at the upright? Is God more powerful than the things that aims its arrow at our own face, threatening to put us at death's door? The obvious and ONLY answer is YES!! YES HE IS! We can take refuge in God and throw our worries away. He is the ultimate protector of all!
At Passion we are fighting for a cause against human trafficking. The stuff we have learned about this global issue is phenomenal, disturbing, and horrible and really blows me away. And we are committing to fighting against traffickers and for the 27 million slaves in the world today. We take refuge in God and allow him to destroy the wicked. If God says he is going to do something. . .He is going to do it. He has proven that since the beginning of time. And those who choose to stand and fight with God and profess His name and love other people the way God loves, then we will be choosing eternity with God. And I feel like putting ourselves into dark and dangerous places and taking risks as big as some of these is so worth it!

PSALM 10

 ¹ LORD,^[a][b] why do You stand so far away? 
Why do You hide in times of trouble? 
² In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue the afflicted; 
let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.

 ³ For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;
the one who is greedy curses^[c] and despises the LORD.
⁴ In all his scheming,
the wicked arrogantly thinks:^[d]
“There is no accountability,
since God does not exist.”
⁵ His ways are always secure;^[e]
Your lofty judgments are beyond his sight;
he scoffs at all his adversaries.
⁶ He says to himself, “I will never be moved—
from generation to generation without calamity.”
⁷ Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth;
trouble and malice are under his tongue.
⁸ He waits in ambush near the villages;
he kills the innocent in secret places.
His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;
⁹ he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket.
He lurks in order to seize the afflicted;
he seizes the afflicted and drags him in his net.
¹⁰ So he is oppressed and beaten down;
the helpless fall because of his strength.
¹¹ He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He hides His face and will never see.”

 ¹² Rise up, LORD God! Lift up Your hand.
Do not forget the afflicted.
¹³ Why has the wicked person despised God?
He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.”
¹⁴ But You Yourself have seen trouble and grief,
observing it in order to take the matter into Your hands.
The helpless entrusts himself to You;
You are a helper of the fatherless.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and evil person;
call his wickedness into account
until nothing remains of it.^[f]

 ¹⁶ The LORD is King forever and ever;
the nations will perish from His land.
¹⁷ LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;^[g]
You will strengthen their hearts.
You will listen carefully,
¹⁸ doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that men of the earth may terrify them no more.




We all go through times where we feel like God isn't hearing us. We feel disconnected from Him and may feel like he has left us. But of course we know that with God that is never the case!! He hears our cries! He knows our hearts! He feels our pain! He sees our struggles!! He isn't not ignoring them! He is carrying out His plan for our lives and enduring those things may possibly be what it takes to get to where God wants us to be. I have kind of struggles lately with being consistent. I feel like I don't have as strong of a passion for Him like I used to. I wish it were more consistent.
I am currently in Atlanta at Passion 2012 and night #1 was amazing :) and I get to do it ALL day for the next 2 days and half the day on Thursday. I can already tell this will be one of the best weeks of my life :) I am so thankful for this opportunity!!! I pray I do not feel disconnected or apart from God while I am here. It's entirely too easy to lose focus and to drift away. I just pray that God will reign over me and my thoughts and will help me to learn and really understand everything he wants me to! He knows what I need to hear and I can't wait to hear it and try my best to apply it and live it out or share it whichever it is!! Can't wait for what the rest of this week has coming up!!!!

PSALM 9

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!! 2012!!!!




I will thank the Lord with all my heart; I will declare all Your wonderful works. I will rejoice and boast about You; I will sing about Your name Most High. When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You. For You have upheld my just cause; You are seated on Your throne as a righteous judge. You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever. The enemy has come to eternal ruin; You have uprooted the cities, and the very memory of them has perished. But the Lord sits enthroned forever; He has established His throne for judgement. He judges the world with righteousness; H executes judgement on the peoples with fairness. The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know Your name trust in You because You have not abandoned those who seek You, Lord. Sing to the Lord, who dwells in Zion; proclaim His deeds among the peoples; For the One who seeks an accounting for bloodshed remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. Be gracious to me, Lord; consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me. Lift me up from the gates of death, so that I may declare all Your praises. I will rejoice in Your salvation within the gates of Daughter Zion. The nations have fallen into the pit they made;  their foot is caught in the net they have concealed. The Lord has revealed Himself; He has executed justice, striking down the wicked by the work of their hands. The wicked will return to Sheol-all the nations the forget God. For the oppressed will not always be forgotten; the hope of the afflicted will not perish forever. Rise up, Lord! Do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your presence. Put terror in them Lord; let the nations know they are only men."




I feel like the last part of chapter 9 describes a lot of where our nation is today. As a whole we have lost God. In this New Year I pray this prayer. I pray that God will be remembered. It's so comforting to see men like Tim Tebow who entirely use their fame and talent for the glory of God. It's my goal to be more open about my relationship with Him and to share more about it. I want to grow wiser in the Word, I feel like that would really benefit me as a Bible Study leader, to know more about God's Word would help me teach it better. I pray that we as a nation will become more humble and that all of God's children will come together humble ourselves and go out spread the word and sere others wherever we are!!

PSALM 8

"Yahweh, our Lord, how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth! You have covered the heavens with Your majesty! Because of Your adversaries You have established a stronghold, from the mouths of children and nursing infants, to silence the enemy and the avenger. When I observe Your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You set in place, what is man that you remember him? You made him little less than God and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him lord over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet: all the sheep and oxen, as well as the animals in the wild, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea that pass through the currents of seas. Yahweh, our Lord, how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!


I really love this chapter 8! It's so easy, especially around the Holidays, to get caught up in myself and my own plans. Christmas break is ending and I'm trying to squeeze in time to do all the stuff I want to do before I go back to school and start class and homework again. I don't take enough time to humble myself and remember God's glory. I don't see everything that I am privileged with. When I have taken the time to just look around me at His creation, I see that glory. Who am I really? Who am I that God would love me as much as he does and bless me with the people and things I am blessed with? I am no one. I don't deserve any of it. Through Christ I have all of these things, and I do not thank Him enough. God has laid so much before us. Things for us to take and things for us to be responsible with, and more often than not we don't fulfill the tasks He gives us. Especially in this New Year, I want to start off right. I'm so excited to go to Passion in a few days and just spend time indulged in His Word and really studying it with THOUSANDS of other college kids!! God has given me so much , and it's my goal to try and use what I've been given for His glory, so that other will be lead to Him!

PSALM 7 "Prayer for Justice"

"Lord, my God, I seek refuge in You; save me from all my pursuers and rescue me, or they will tear me like a lion, ripping me apart, with no one to rescue me. Lord, my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice on my hands, if I have done harm to one at peace with me, or have plundered my adversary without cause, may an enemy, pursue and overtake me, may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust. Rise up, Lord, in Your anger; life Yourself up against the fury of my adversaries; awake for me; You have ordained a judgement. Let the assembly of peoples gather around You; take Your seat on high over it. The Lord judges the peoples; vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity. Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous. The One who examines the thoughts and emotions is a righteous God, who saves the upright heart. God is a righteous judge, and a God who executes justice every day. If anyone does not repent, God will sharpen His sword;  He has strung His bow and made it ready. He has prepared His deadly weapons; He tips His arrows with fire. See, he is pregnant with evil, conceives trouble, and gives birth to deceit. He dug a pit and hollowed i tout,, but fell into the hole he had made. His trouble comes back on his own head, and his violence falls on the name Lord, Most High.

PSALM 6

"Lord do not rebuke me in your anger, do not discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me Lord, for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking; my whole being in shaking with terror. And You Lord, how long? Turn Lord, Rescue me; save me because of your faithful love. For there is no remembrance of You in death, for who can thank you in Sheol? I am weary from my groaning; with my tears I dampen my pillow and drench my bed every night. My eyes are swollen from grief, they grow old because of all my enemies. Depart from me, all evildoers, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea for help, the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and shake with terror; they will turn back and suddenly be disgraced."

I've said this before, but I've never had to deal with having enemies that cause me this much grief, so I don't know if I can relate that aspect of what is going on in these verses. While they are kind of sad and show desperation I love to read them because I think it shows how vulnerable we can be with God. We don't have to hide anything. I know that most of the time with friends or family if I am feeling upset or have anything I am dealing with I don't really share it. I can be kind of guarded. But because of the relationship I have with Christ, I don't have to be that way. I can feel and share anything and he takes care of it, he listens. The most beautiful thing to me is that he listens and RESPONDS. We don't have to sit and wait wondering if he hears us or if he will take care of us. We can live with no doubt in Him. He will always be there and always respond. This is a powerful chapter of Psalms to remind me that I can never hide anything from Him and nothing is too big to reveal to Him.

PSALM 5

"Listen to my words Lord; consider my sighing. Pay attention to the sounds of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to You. At daybreak, Lord, You hear my voice; at daybreak I plead my cause to You watch expectantly. For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil cannot lodge with You. The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all evildoers. You destroy those who tell lies; the Lord abhors a man of bloodshed an treachery. But I enter Your house by the abundance of Your faithful love; I bow down toward Your holy temple in reverential awe of You. Lord, lead me in Your righteousness, because of my adversaries; make Your way straight before me. For there is nothing reliable in what they say; destruction is within them; their throat is an open grave; the flatter with their tongues. Punish them, God; let them fall by their own schemes. Drive them out because of their many crimes, for they rebel against You. But let all who take refuge in Your rejoice; let them shout for joy forever, May You shelter them, and may those who love Your name boast about You. For You, Lord, bless the righteous one; You surround them with favor like a shield


This reminds me of my words. I'm naturally a very sarcastic person, and I joke around a lot with my friends. I think that especially with them I forget how much power words have, and sometimes even if they aren't serious words can really hurt. Also, my words as a representation of Christ. As children of God, we never know who is watching us or listening to us and the things we say come across as a huge witness.  I know that I need to mainly remember the power of words and use that power to share His love to other people. To be a good mirror of Christ and use them to lead others to Him.

PSALM 4

: A Night Prayer

PSALM 4

Answer me when I call, God, who vindicates me. You freed me from affliction; be gracious to me and hear my prayer, How long, exalted me, will my honor be insulted? How long will you love what is worthless and pursue a lie? Know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for Himself; the Lord will hear when I call to Him. Be angry and do not sin; on your bed, reflect your heart and be still. Offer sacrifices in righteousness and trust the Lord. Many are saying, "Who can show us anything good?" Look on us with favor Lord. You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and new wine abound I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, Lord, make me live in safety.


God always hears and always answers. I definitely don't spend enough time telling Him the things I should tell Him, or even time just in simple conversation with Him, You know, I know God sees and knows every last detail about who we are, what we do, and how we feel, but I can't help but believe that He thoroughly enjoys for us to speak about it to Him anyone. He loves us beyond measure and desires for us to confide EVERYTHING in Him. And He hears every bit of it and has an answer to every question. Sometimes I know that it isn't the answer we are looking for and He usually doesn't give it to us when we want Him to, but the answers are there. We just have to accept His timing and remember that He's ways a best.
I have been considering getting a tattoo for a while, on my left wrist of a fish with the word Joy inside of it. I had a dream about the symbol once and fell in love with it and found all sorts of meanings for it. For me, the main reason is Joy IN Christ. He is my source of JOY. Not happiness, but pure Joy that you cannot get from anything else in or out of this world. This Psalmist obviously has experienced that Joy that nothing else can bring. At night I challenge myself and anyone else who may read, to do what Psalm 4 says...
Lay at night, still, and reflect on your heart. Reveal things to God. Let go of things to Him. Let Him have complete control. He keeps us safe and out of harms way and will continue to do so for the rest of our days! I  don't deserve that kind of love and protection! I definitely learned about being more consistent and more intimate in my prayers to God.