Where do you go to find comfort?  Where do you go when your heart is gripped with fear?  Where do you go when your mind is filled with anxious thoughts? Where do you go when your pain doesn’t seem to end?  Where do you go when you’re confused and want answers? Where do you go when you simply can’t sleep at night?  Where do you go when the memories are vivid and inescapable?  Where do you go when everything seems to be closing in all around you? Where do you go when you need strength,  courage, hope and perseverance? Where do you go for help?

 

Psalm 121:1-2 says, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”

 

Where do I go to find the answers to these questions? More importantly WHO do I go to? Our help comes from the LORD Himself…the great “I AM”…the “living Word.” He is the One who is greater than the mountains that He Himself created.  He is the One who is greater than the “mountains” of demands, expectations, pressures, fears, doubts and discouragements that we have to come face to face with every day.

 

The Psalmist knew where to go for help.  The Psalmist knew what he needed to focus on.  The Psalmist knew who he needed to depend on for help.  The where, the what and the who of the psalmist’s question, “From where shall my help come from?” is simply the LORD Himself! Why would we go anywhere else? He is our great “High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses, who was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).  He knows our weaknesses. He knows we give in temptations time and time again. Although our weaknesses are great and the battle against temptation is great we must remember that we can "draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). His love and grace and mercy for you and for me is always there to help us in and through everything!

 

“We need to develop a discipline of being in the Psalms on a regular basis. You need to do that for the growth of your own soul…Feed on the Psalms.” I just love this! I penned this quote from “A Praying Life” by Paul E. Miller not that long ago.  Not only did this encourage my own soul but it inspired me to want to “Feed on the Psalms” with your encouragement this summer! It didn't take me long to begin to think how the psalms are described, what the psalms are destined to do in our lives and how the psalms direct our hearts even in the most difficult trials. Let me quickly share my thoughts with you!

 

The PSALMS are described as:

 

P  oetic expressions of a variety of emotions

S  ongs of praise, worship, adoration and worship of God Himself

A  ppeals or prayers to God for mercy, help and relief

L  aments or cries from those who are sick, suffering, persecuted and lonely

M  aking much of God’s provision of a Saviour and His pardon for sin

S  howcasing the power and character of God

 

The PSALMS are destined to:

 

P  urify our hearts from sin

S  tabalize our emotions

A  ddress our weaknesses and struggles

L   ull (soothe) our heartaches and heartbreaks

M  ortify our flesh, mature our responses and mould our character

S  how us that though we are great sinners we have a great Saviour

 

The PSALMS direct our hearts to:

 

P  urposefully and persistently praise and worship God for who He is (Ps. 34:1; 59:17; 71:14-16; 109:30)

S  eek the Lord continually  (Ps. 105:3-4)

A  cknowledge our sin, repent from it and embrace His lavish love and forgiveness  (Ps. 25:11: 32:5; 79:9)

L  ive faithfully, obediently and intentionally  (Ps. 31:14; 101:1-4; Ps. 105: 45; 106:3; 119:30,133)

M  agnify Him and proclaim Him  (Ps. 34:3; 66:16; 69:30)

S  tand in “AWE OF HIM”   (Ps. 33:8; 66:5; 104:1)  

 

Again, it is because of the encouragement of some of you ladies in our Tuesday morning study that we will feed on some Psalms this summer.  May our souls truly be nourished and strengthened because we have come face to face with God Himself in His Word. Please join us if you can!

 

Here are the dates for our “Summer Selections that Soothe the Soul” from 9:30a.m.-11:30 a.m.:

 

Tuesday, June 9th –  Psalm 46 “The LORD of hosts is with us”

Tuesday, June 23rd – Psalm 8 “How Majestic is Your name in all the earth”

 

Tuesday, July 7th –  Psalm 20 “We will boast in the name of the LORD, our God”

Tuesday, July 21st –  Psalm 25 “O my God, in You I trust”

 

Tuesday, August 11th –  Psalm 33 “Stand in awe of Him”

Tuesday, August 25th –  Psalm 118 “The Lord is for me; I will not fear”

 

I have given you the Psalms to look at in advance before we meet on “Zoom.” I am praying that our time together will not only be redeeming and refining but will be relaxing and refreshing!  Lord willing, the Covid-19 restrictions will change as we move into the summer and we can meet as a group once again!

 

To spark up some discussion, I am praying that you will take some time to seriously meditate on each Psalm that I have prayerfully chosen for us to look at. Here are some suggestions of what you can be looking for and focusing on in the Psalm chosen for that particular Tuesday.

 

-The picture of who our God is (His attributes/His character)

-The powerful truths that we need to ponder (The benefits of being a child of God)

-The practical ways we can live out what we’ve learned (What attitudes and actions is God wanting you to change?)

-The praise and prayers that comes from what you have learned

 

If you have some time to write down some things to share with us, that would be an incredible blessing and encouragement to us all! 

 

So ladies, let’s continue to learn together where to go for help, learn what we need to focus on and who we need to depend on more than anything else. When the “mountains” of demands, expectations, pressures, fears, doubts and discouragements press in all around us, let’s never forget, that His love for us is greater…“For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield” (Psalm 5:12)

 

With love and prayers, and gratitude in my heart for you all,

Christyn