God is marvelous.

God is marvelous.

Psalm 72

When my kids were very young, I remember having conversations with my mom about modern children’s toys and the concerns I had with giving too many of them to my girls at too young an age. Nowadays, kids grow up with so much to entertain them. Especially with the baby toys, it seemed like everything blinked or beeped or played music. Not to mention, most of the electronic toys we ended up with talked in more than one language! It was quite overwhelming even to me, and I remembering wondering if there would be room for my kids’ imaginations to grow. I had the urge to raise them in as “unplugged” an environment as possible. And we tried to do just that.

God is justly merciful.

God is justly merciful.

Psalm 71

I can’t tell you how many times in my adult life I have heard someone say that God is merciful, but… Why do we always have to include a big but when we talk about God’s mercy? What usually follows the but is the idea that God is also just, and that somehow, His justice is in opposition to His mercy. Thus, in Christ, He devised a way to satisfy His justice so He could be merciful to us.

God is always right on time.

God is always right on time.

Psalm 70

I can’t believe I’ve been “in quarantine” for more than a month now. Someone recently joked that when we turned the clocks ahead in March, someone accidentally flipped us into The Twilight Zone. It feels like it! I never imagined 2020 would be such a weird year, and it’s not even half over yet! Suddenly, as we contemplate plagues and collapsing economies, and general global instability, contemplating the end of the world doesn’t seem as far-fetched as it used to.

God knows you.

God knows you.

Psalm 69

It seems like from the time we started dating, my husband and I have had a favorite saying in our relationship: Get out of my head. Ever since the first days of our courtship, we’ve had an uncanny ability to finish each other’s sentences. Sometimes, it feels like we can even read each other’s minds.

God believes in survival of the weakest.

God believes in survival of the weakest.

Psalm 68

I understand the people who believe that there is a God and that He created the universe. And I understand the people who believe that there is no God and that the universe was created through the process of evolution. But I don’t understand the people who believe that there is a God and that He created the universe through the process of evolution. Why? Because of this psalm.

God's love is outrageous.

God's love is outrageous.

Psalm 67

As Christians, I think we have often been guilty of understating the extravagance of God’s love. We get so focused in on our own sinfulness and our need for a Savior that we overlook the fact that God doesn’t keep a record of sins like we do. We tend to view ourselves as criminals who have broken the law, but that’s not how God sees us.

God's blessings often come disguised as curses.

God's blessings often come disguised as curses.

Psalm 66

What else is to be concluded from this psalm? After all, I’m sure you read this section: “Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.” (vs 8-12)

God always has more.

God always has more.

Psalm 65

There is a lovely story my dad used to tell about a little boy named Johnny. One day, Johnny and his grandmother went to the grocery store. After they were done with their shopping and had paid for their items, they were getting ready to leave. The grocer behind the counter scooped up a bit of candy, put it into a sack, and handed it to Johnny. Delighted, Johnny grabbed the bag, immediately turned around and headed for the door. Johnny’s grandmother was mortified and quickly reprimanded Johnny: “What do you say, young man?!” Johnny stopped, turned around with a smile, held out his hand and said, “More, please.”

God shows up.

God shows up.

Psalm 63

In this psalm, David says, “I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.” (vs 2) For some reason, that made me think of Christmas. Isn’t this a perfect description of the Incarnation? When Christ came here in the flesh, we did indeed see Him in His “sanctuary” (His body, His temple) and witnessed His power and glory.

God produces extremists.

God produces extremists.

Psalm 62

Ex-trem’ ist, n. One who advocates or resorts to measures beyond the norm.

We usually don’t think of extremism as a good thing. If you’ve done much paying attention to politics—especially American politics—you’ve probably heard the phrases far-left loons and right-wing nutjobs before. Those terms describe people who are thought of as extremists, as being out on the fringe of political thought.

God is everywhere.

God is everywhere.

Psalm 61

I loved the way this psalm began: “Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth, I call to you.” (vs 1-2)

Here, I got a picture of David standing somewhere beyond the horizon, farther than the eye can see, with his hands cupped around his mouth, shouting out to God. In my mind’s image, there was nothing else on the earth—just David calling out to the Lord.

God has the last laugh.

God has the last laugh.

Psalm 59

There was something in this psalm that reminded me of a scene from the great classic movie The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy had just landed in Oz, her house falling on (and killing) The Wicked Witch of the East. As Dorothy began to explore the strange world she had landed in, The Good Witch of the North came for a visit. They were both interrupted by the arrival of The Wicked Witch of the West who wanted to know how The Wicked Witch of the East had died. When she found out, she began to make all sorts of terrible threats. But, with a wave of her hand, The Good Witch of the North laughed: “Aha ha ha, rubbish! You have no power here! Be gone, before somebody drops a house on you!”

God inspires boldness.

God inspires boldness.

Psalm 57

David faced a lot of hardship in his life. This very psalm, for instance, was written in a cave while he was literally hiding for his life. However, David doesn’t sound very worried.

Sure, he mentions his troubles he’s facing: “I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.” (vs 4) Have you ever been standing in the middle of lions? I haven’t, and I sure wouldn’t want to! It would be nothing short of certain death.

God knows your sorrows.

God knows your sorrows.

Psalm 56

There is such a beautiful verse in this psalm, perhaps one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible: “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” (vs 8)

When I became a stay-at-home mom for the first time with my baby daughter, I remember that there was nothing harder for me than when she cried. Oh, I don’t mean when I heard the sound of her crying. It was seeing her cry that really got to me. I could handle the moments when she was screaming her head off for one reason or another. But it was too much for me when tiny tears would slip down her cheeks. When she would cry those little tears, it broke my heart!

God wants to be your girlfriend.

God wants to be your girlfriend.

Psalm 55

Okay, so the title of this blog is aimed at women, not men (just in case you guys were starting to sweat a little bit). Although what I am about to say in this blog applies just as equally to men as it does to women. Guys aren’t the only ones who have girlfriends. Girls have girlfriends, too—you know, the kind you can talk to on the phone for hours or stay up half the night giggling with. For girls, a good girlfriend is someone to whom you feel comfortable pouring out your heart—down to the very last, nitty gritty detail. Most guys have an equivalent to the girlfriend relationship—someone they feel comfortable being completely honest with, except it often doesn’t involve as much talking.