Good Morning! It’s already May 15th and that means it’s time to post the tenth SSMT verse of the year. I’m still working through Psalm 103 so today’s verse is:
He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. ~ Psalm 103:9 (KJV)
I’m going to have to pray about the full meaning of this one and get my hands on some commentary too. Be sure to check out today’s post over at LPM Blog. It’s rather short, but sweet.
Blessings!
Since I’ve committed to memorizing Psalm 103 as part of the Siesta Scripture Memory Team this year, I’ve decided to meditate and study the verses. Even though each one is quite short, they pack a lot of information in a tiny span of words. I think often times, we, in the 21st century, tend to overlook the power of words. So, before I post my SSMT verse 3 in a few days, I would like to share a bit about verse 2 (which is actually verse 1 of Psalm 103). For starters, Psalm 103 was written by David. This praise-filled king with the complicated life wrote:
Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. ~ Psalm 103:1
As I do when I study scripture, I looked up this verse in multiple versions. The NIV says “Praise the LORD”. The ASV says, “Bless Jehovah”. And then there’s the AMP which says:
Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name! ~ Psalm 103:1 (AMP)
I also have a soft spot for “old time religion” and the frank nature with which people spoke of the LORD and His sovereignty (unlike much of today where many people fear absolute truth or speaking truth). The 1599 Geneva Bible renders the interpretation like this: “My soul, [a]praise thou the Lord, and all that is within me, praise his holy Name.” This version also includes the following “notes” about the verse:
1 He provoketh all to praise the Lord, which hath pardoned his sins, delivered him from destruction and given him sufficient of all good things.
a. Psalm 103:1He wakeneth his dullness to praise God, showing that both understanding and affections, mind and heart are too little to set forth his praise.
The word translated as “bless” and “praise” also renders the meaning “to kneel”, “kneel down” (Strong’s). This might suggest a physical state of humility on David’s part as he “abundantly” blesses God “as an act of adoration” with gratulation and thanksgiving (Strong’s). As though that simple word, “bless” weren’t enough to express his physically overwhelmed state, he goes on to say “and all that is within me”. I’m not saying David felt this way, but maybe, at the beginning of his Psalm, he wasn’t “feeling” what his body physically expressed (kneeling). It’s almost as though he commanded his mind/emotions/spirit to take this position of praise, not because God needs our praise, but because we need to praise him.
All of us have “gone through the motions” and need someone to “wakeneth” our “dullness” (per those 1599 believers). It is not uncommon for David to call upon the LORD to change his heart… to soften it. In context, it appears this might be a struggle even though he doesn’t say it outright. What I can take from verse 1 is the need to place myself (my soul) in a physical position to worship Jehovah “the existing one” (Strongs), but when my heart is hardened, or cold, or hurt… my inmost being needs to kneel and submit to God’s sovereignty, if for no other reason than that His name is Holy, sacred, set-apart (Strongs)… He is LORD.
Ok, so my first verse was super short, but my attention span has been pretty much the same… short. I would make it through the first half of the verse and then totally blank on the last half. “Come on brain, let’s get it together now.”
Well, a lot has happened since that last verse was penned into my awesome SSMT spiral (did I mention I love my spiral?). We took the family to Walt Disney World. I dreamed of taking my spiral into Magic Kingdom with me so I could have its picture taken with Mickey. Who knows why I thought that would be so cool, but I did. Maybe a shout out to all my Siestas that I’m thinking about them even on vacation. Then I realized I didn’t have a pocket large enough to hold it (got the big one) while I rode Space Mountain. The last thing I needed was to lose my awesome spiral to the inky depths of that dark coaster ride. Besides, I could practice the verse in my head right?
“So teach us to number our days…” Oh snap, what’s the last half again?? Right, “that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” I find it quite curious that I don’t have issue remembering to “number my days” as much as I do applying my “heart unto wisdom”. I’ll keep working on it… the memorization and the application.
Today we get to add our mid-month verse to the mix. I’ve tried to “be open” to the right verse. I hoped God would just smack me over the head with one. There were several that I liked, but none of them seemed right. Yesterday I reached a point where I actually flipped through my Bible to see what would jump out at me. There it was, Psalm 103. There are 22 verses in this chapter, and since I have 23 remaining verse slots to fill, this actually works quite well. I figure this Psalm of praise is a fantastic way to apply my heart unto wisdom. What could possibly be more wise than to praise the “Ancient of Days”?
So, for verse #2 I will recite Psalm 103:1. It’s super short, and actually the words of a praise song. This will give me a great excuse to sing in the shower.
Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. ~ Psalm 103: 1 (KJV)
I posted my verse this morning while waiting for my hot rollers to cool. You can check my Twitter feed for the glamour shot. I was comment #418… with no errors this time around (yeah, I’m doin’ a little dance). Want to join the Siestas? Jump right in!
Yesterday I talked about how much I wanted to be a Siesta and the craziness surrounding the registration process… of course, most of the crazy was from my overreaction to ridiculously small frustrations. Anyway, I ended up being commenter #14,671 out of 15,997… and counting.
Then I set about to making my spiral. I chose a 4×6 size* since I have no idea what size the verses I’ll memorize will end up being. Plus, sometimes I like to doodle. I followed the suggestions, and within minutes I had my book ready to add the first verse! Exciting, right?
Verse 1:
Psalm 90:12 KJV – “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
I chose this verse because I want to be reminded to use each day to the fullest. Some days that may mean just resting in the Lord. Some days that may mean being ultra-productive. But, every day it means seeking and doing God’s will for the day… which is wise.
*Special thanks to the Husband for running to the office supply store for me while he was out yesterday. I wanted to add photos to this post, but the photo editing abilities aren’t working on my laptop right now. You’d have to turn your head sideways to see one of them. You can find them on my Twitter feed though.
Ok, for several years now, I’ve wanted to participate in Living Proof Ministries’, Siesta Scripture Memory Team. The first year I saw it on the LPM blog, they were already a good portion through the year. So, I decided to subscribe so I wouldn’t miss the notification next time. Then I forgot all about it the next year until I stumbled across the email notification in my inbox… which, of course, ended up well after the start date. Ugh. Yes, I get a ridiculous amount of email, which sometimes takes me a bit to sort through, but I am fully convinced I don’t receive all the email notifications from LPM in my inbox… maybe they hide in my spam folder? Not to mention, December 31st is my deceased son’s birth/death anniversary and January 3rd is the anniversary of his funeral. So, it’s not unusual for me to be lax in checking my email (let alone blogs I subscribe to) from mid-December through the first week in January.
Well, this morning I got this post in my inbox (on my phone) and I flipped out because for once I was seeing it in January instead of a month or two down the road. Oh how I sang the praises of technology and the convenience of owning a smartphone. So excited, I didn’t even wait to change out of my PJs or get my coffee before following the link.
I read Beth’s message with such excitement thinking, “Yes, this year I’m going to participate! This year I’m not going to miss…” I made it to the part of the post talking about an informational post from… December! “Good heavens, I am behind,” I thought. I tried to click on the link to the other post… it errored out.
NOOOOOO! “There’s is nothing smart about you!” I hissed at my phone, The change in tone feeling quite appropriate in the moment. All the while, I’m trying to remind myself that this tiny little device is “going to space”, after all, to retrieve information for me. Deep breath, calm down. “Maybe your first memory verse should be about turning your “cares” over to the Lord,” my conscience convicted.
“Maybe I do need that coffee”, I replied. So, I went off in search sustenance and my laptop.
I tried to reach the blog from the email link… error. Evidently, I snapped at my phone for something out of its control. So sorry. I ended up typing the blog url into the browser and the “home” page came up with the post at the top. Halleluiah! I skimmed down to find the link to the December informational post. Click.
ERROR!!
Oh my gosh, Lord help me not to throw my laptop across the room. I scrolled down the home page hoping maybe the December post was still there… and it was. Glory, Glory! I’m reading… Looks good… I can still participate… and then I see the 24 hour time frame to post your verse. My heart dropped. I looked at the clock, it was a few minutes past 8:00 AM MST. I had missed the window by minutes. And then I thought, “Wait! It’s still before 8 somewhere in the continental US.” Yes, I could still play. I went back to the “verse 1” post to leave a comment with my “verse numero uno” like all the other precious Siestas, most of whom, no doubt, weren’t freaking out because they had posted yesterday… oh how I want to be on the Siesta team… I promise I’m usually on time for things… I clicked on the link to open the comments… and you guessed it…
ERROR!
I looked to the heavens and implored of the Lord a pitiful “Why”?! Then I frantically typed out a message pleading for help from LPM blog tech support, sent it into cyberspace, and padded off to the shower to get ready for my hair appointment. My children were none the wiser as they worked on their lessons. All of this drama occurred in my head… well, with some silent arm waving for good measure, but fortunately, the dining room table was hidden from their view.
I thought about how silly I was to let this frustrate me so much. I wasn’t able to get back to my computer till after lunch (definitely not 8 AM on the West coast now). While waiting for my stylist, I got the standard, “we’ll answer your message as soon as we can” message from LPM on my phone. By no means I was upset with them, and it certainly wasn’t their fault I was entire day late seeing the post in the first place. Sigh. I decided that if God wanted me to be a Siesta, I would get another opportunity.
After lunch, I thought I would try again (much calmer now), and it worked. I was able to post. Yes, I could feel horribly guilty for being late, but as you all know, I’m “letting go” these days. Progress, not perfection. Of course, I’ll set a reminder for the 15th so I can post my next verse on time, but for now, I’m just utterly thrilled to be joining the 2015 Siesta Scripture Memory Team. Now I just need to make the spiral. I feel a little like Ralphie from “A Christmas Story”, so excited about his “secret decoder pin”, which meant he was part of Little Orphan Annie’s secret club. SSMT isn’t secret, but I’m excited to work on my official memory verse spiral nonetheless! I’m not able to walk very far right now (another story), so the husband is getting supplies for me at the store. Once I get it made, I’ll post about it 🙂
Brick by Brick 