Our Rock of Ages

I've always been a big reader, but since becoming a mama to our sweet Emma, I'm almost exclusively a bathroom reader.  That makes it kind of difficult to have any sort of a quiet time.  Until I took this book down from our shelves.

I can't tell you how wonderful it's been!  I've marked so many pages, knowing that there will come days in the future when they'll be needed again.  Today, I'd like to share one devotion with you.  It's one that was timed perfectly (of course), as I had just gone through an intense desire to turn to friends for advice.  The Holy Spirit had convicted me that all I needed was God & so helped me overcome that desire.  On the heels of that, I came to this exhortation.  May you find it as timely as I.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

- Psalm 118:8

No doubt the reader has been tempted to rely upon the things that are seen instead of resting alone upon the invisible God.  Christians often look to man for help & advice & so spoil the noble simplicity of their reliance upon God.  Does this evening's passage meet the eye of a child of God who is filled with anxiety?  Then let us reason with you.  You trust in Jesus, & only in Jesus, for your salvation; then why are you troubled?  "Because of my great care."  Is it not written, "Cast your burden upon the Lord"?  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer & supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."  (Phil. 4:6)  Can you trust God for your physical needs?  "Ah!  I wish I could."  If you cannot trust God with the physical, how dare you trust Him with the spiritual?  Can you trust Him for your soul's redemption, & yet not rely upon Him for a few lesser mercies?  Is God not enough for your need, or is His all-sufficiency too narrow for your wants?  Do you need another to watch for you when you have Him who sees every secret thing?  Is His heart faint?  Is His arm weary?  If so, seek another God; but if He is infinite, omnipotent, faithful, true, & all-wise, why do you run around seeking another confidence?  Why do you scour the earth to find another foundation when this is strong enough to bear all the weight that you can ever build on it?  Christian, do not mix your wine with water; do not tarnish the gold of faith with the dross of human confidence.  Wait only upon God, & let your expectation be from Him.  Do not covet Jonah's gourd but rest in Jonah's God.  Let the sandy, shaky foundations be the choice of fools; but you, like one who sees the approaching storm, build for yourself an abiding place upon the Rock of Ages.

Morning and Evening, C.H. Spurgeon, March 7 evening

A Heart of Repentance

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

~Psalm 139:23-24

God Is My Strength & Portion Forever

Psalm 73

A Psalm of Asaph

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.

For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat & sleek.

They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.

Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.

They scoff & speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.

They set their mouths against the heavens, & their tongue struts through the earth.

Therefore His people turn back to them, & find no fault in them.

And they say, "How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?"

Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.

All in vain have I kept my heart clean & washed my hands in innocence.

For all the day long I have been stricken & rebuked every morning.

If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,

until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.

Truly You set them in slippery places; You make them fall to ruin.

How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!

Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when You rouse Yourself, You despise them as phantoms.

When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,

I was brutish & ignorant; I was like a beast toward You.

Nevertheless, I am continually with You; You hold my right hand.

You guide me with Your counsel, & afterward You will receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.

My flesh & my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart & my portion forever.

For behold, those who are far from You shall perish; You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to You.

But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works.

We were blessed to sit under the preaching of this Psalm this morning.  This is my favorite Psalm, one I turn to when I feel overwhelmed by the seeming injustice & prospering of the wicked.  Don't you love how it turns in the middle?!  And then the climactic declaration that nothing is to be desired & treasured above God!  Ah!  When I read through this Psalm, I am reminded that the wicked will only appear to triumph for a little while.  I'm reminded that I have God; let them have their things!  Let them wreck & ruin in this life; destruction is their end.  They are under the sovereignty of God, as are we all, & can do no more than He allows.  In the end, we have the ultimate treasure & will receive the ultimate reward in God.  Praise be to God!

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things & count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ & be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith - that I may know Him & the power of His resurrection, & may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Phil. 3:7-11)

Worship in the Splendor of Holiness

Psalms 96

Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!

Sing to the LORD, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day.

Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!

For great is the LORD, & greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

Splendor & majesty are before Him; strength & beauty are in His sanctuary.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory & strength!

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering & come into His courts!

Worship the LORD in the spendor of holiness; tremble before Him all the earth!

Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!

Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;

He will judge the peoples with equity."

Let the heavens be glad, & let the earth rejoice;

Let the sea roar, & all that fills it; let the field exult, & everything in it!

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for He comes,

For He comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness, & the peoples in His faithfulness.

Glorious and Mighty ~ Sovereign Grace

Out of the Depths ~ Sovereign Grace

Out of the depths, O Lord, I cry to You
When I am tempted to despair
Though I might fail to trust Your promises
You never fail to hear my prayer
And if You judged my sin
I'd never stand again
But I see mercy in Your hands

Chorus:

So more than watchmen for the morning
I will wait for You, my God
When my fears come with no warning
In Your Word I'll put my trust
And when the harvest time is over
And I still see no fruit

I will wait
I will wait
For You

The secret mysteries belong to You
We only know what You reveal
And all my questions that are unresolved
Don't change the wisdom of Your will
In every trial and loss
My hope is in the cross
Where Your compassions never fail

~Out of the Depths, Psalms, Sovereign Grace Music

Psalms 23

I know I've been posting a lot of videos lately, but I saw this posted on GirlTalk & just had to share it.  This little girl is so precious!  She's obviously Southern.  I loooove how she says "Thy wawd & Thy staaaff"!