In Book One, Psalm 1, the theme and mood of the Psalms is laid out plain and simple, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night"(Psalm 1: 1-2). The verses that follow lay out the benefits of being connected to the Lord contrasted with the life of those who are not connected.
As I started to read more and more of the Psalms, I started to noticed that the writers are/were people who experienced just about every emotion and situation, that all people go through sometime or another.
I use a series of verse memorization CD's and each one dwells on a different theme by setting verses to be memorize to music. One of the themes of the CD's was "Overcoming Stress" so I listened to all the songs that were based in the Psalms:
Salvation of the Righteous (Ps. 37:25,29)
We Give Thanks (Ps. 75:1, 97:12)
You Will Answer Me (Ps. 32:7, 86:7)
He Stilled The Storm (Ps. 107:29-32)
In The Night Watches (Ps. 63:6, 46:1, 4:8)
In My Distress (Ps. 4:1, 18:6, 31:7)
So our discussion was on the topic of stresses in our lives. But, we ended up exploring the benefits and blessings of the stresses God allows to come into our lives (not the route I planned) and how the Psalmist's dealt with these difficult spans in their lives. In the new covenant passage the writer pens these words:
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 4:4-7)
Have a wonderful stressful day!
Yours in Christ,
Greg
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