“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” “For he spoke and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”
No doubt in my mind. Nothing happened by chance!

“For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.
How does He refine us? He turns up the heat. How does He turn up the heat? He puts burdens on our backs. He puts trials in our lives. Why? To make us purer. Easier to take knowing this isn't it?

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”
We can cry out to Him, but if we harbor sin, will he listen??? Good reason to confess our sins when we go to Him in prayer. So often in the psalms praising Him is directly related to the blessings.

“From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.”
Now, that puts things in perspective. Does it give us a clue as to how we should interact with our children? Even infants can feel His presence and often they feel God’s presence through us big people! How are all of us doing with that one?

“Lord you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”
What great assurance in this passage. He has placed us exactly where He wants us to be. Our salvation is secure. His laws, statutes, precepts, and commands are our boundary lines. Our delightful inheritance awaits us...

After reading Psalm 19, surrounded by this fantastic display, how can anyone say that it happened by chance?

“Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord”
How many people may be watching us, see what we are doing, and because of something we have said or done put their trust in the Lord? We may never know how we have affected others for eternity.

God doesn’t want our meaningless rituals! He wants an attitude of devotion, praise, worship, and thankfulness to Him. He wants us to speak of His faithfulness and salvation. He wants us to tell it to “the great assembly.”

“…my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”
To envy others for their “stuff” puts us on a slippery slope.

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.”
AMEN!

Oh…so very much meat in today’s reading!

Blessed is the man whose “…delight is in the law of the Lord…”
The “law of the Lord’ means all Scripture. The more we know of the whole scope of God’s Word, the more resources we will have to guide our daily lives.

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season…”
Just as a tree soaks up water and produces luscious fruit, if we soak up God’s Word we’ll bear fruit. The more we soak up His Word, the more fruitful we will be.

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”
We should all be careful taking Scripture out of context!

“They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”
Ponce de Leon searched for the “fountain of youth”. God offers the "fountain of life"!

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
To delight in someone means to take great pleasure in their presence. This happens only when we know that person well. To delight in the Lord means we must know Him well.

As we begin to know Him well, we will know what He desires for us and then His desires become our desires. What a great plan!

But even better than that…“If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm;”
As we delight in the Lord, know that He delights in us. That means He takes great pleasure in our presence! Wow! Ponder that today!

"He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber;"
God is like our night light.

"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground."
He leads us on level ground. He will not let our foot slip. He watches over us.

"O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?"
This creator of the vast universe, cares enough about us to be our night light? AMAZING!

David records in Psalm 91 a prophecy of the wrath of God and what will happen to believers.

“He wore cursing as his garment; it entered into his body like water, into his bones like oil.”
Cursing and related sins come easily and freely. Cursing becomes familiar the more we use it. It slips out at inappropriate times. It’s “usage familiarity”.

Compare “cursing as his garment” with our “garments of salvation”. (Isa 61:10)

May we be reminded of our “garments of salvation” when “usage familiarity” causes cursing to slip out.

Attention Cradle Christians! These are our verses!
Ps 71:5-6
For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you.
Both of us (Phil and Patti) were brought up in a Christian home. We knew Jesus first as a friend before we even knew we needed a Savior! Praise God for Christian homes!

Lots of questions in Psalm 77;
Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show favor? Has His love vanished? Has His promise failed? Has God forgotten? Has He withheld His compassion?

Whenever we have these same questions, we need only take to heart the following verse found in the same psalm. “I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.”
When we consider His mighty deeds, we won’t question very long!

“…though your footprints were not seen.”
How often does God work in our lives even when we can’t see what He is doing?

“Teach me your way O Lord, and I will walk in your truth.”
Yes, Lord, teach us your way! So that we may walk in your truth.