Psalms 3

[Furen]

I'm doing a thing with my youth group where we're supposed to focus on psalms three and take a while to meditate on it's teaching, as well as try to apply this to my life in some way this week. Anyone else up for joining me?

here's the verse

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
[SIZE="1"]1[/SIZE] LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
[SIZE="1"]2[/SIZE] Many are saying of me,
“]3[/SIZE] But you, LORD, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
[SIZE="1"]4[/SIZE] I call out to the LORD,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
[SIZE="1"]5[/SIZE] I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
[SIZE="1"]6[/SIZE] I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.
[SIZE="1"]7[/SIZE] Arise, LORD!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
[SIZE="1"]8[/SIZE] From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.

Also, if you see me this week, ask me how I'm doing with it, I'd love for people to hold me to it and help me refine my walk with God.

Hope you'll join me,
Ren

[Okami]

Great Psalm to meditate on and apply!

My counselor is having me begin Lent a week early for a 47-day challenge for self-improvement, which sort of goes into this. I'm giving up negativity and replacing it with positivity and focusing on intentional living (thinking/saying/doing) and reflection of God's word and call and gifts in my life, how to carry that out in my everyday interactions of others.

First time I've ever observed Lent, so this ought to be interesting!

[Hansha]

but..but...this means I can't freak out over all the little things.

[Furen]

but..but...this means I can't freak out over all the little things.

Aw darn... guess you'll have to follow those ten paradoxical commandments XD

but hey, it could be an amazing learning curve to keep in our mind, out of sight, out of mind, if it's not in our mind, we're in trouble...

to Okami, I've never done lent, but I hope you do well with it, are you going to take this challenge?

[Nate]

I find this Psalm interesting (like many of the Psalms) because of how contradictory it seems. Jesus said to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...yet this Psalm is all "Yeah God break my enemies' teeth, beat the crap out of them!" It's a bit of a contrast.

The funny thing is this isn't even the most violent and disturbing as the Psalms get. But yeah. I wonder if it's a good idea to meditate on this Psalm at all. It's hard to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you when you're meditating on verses that say "God please hurt my enemies in a very painful way."

[Hansha]

When I think about this psalm I don't think about my enemies getting hurt. I think of how God is big enough to handle anything life can throw at me.

[Okami]

to Okami, I've never done lent, but I hope you do well with it, are you going to take this challenge?

Yeah, I'm thinking it'll be really good for me. And so far, I've been doing well and it's been (overall) fairly easy to combat the negative thoughts and push them out of mind and replace them with a positive of the situation. Of course, today is only the first day. I just need to keep living in the moment and work with whatever is brought my way. Recognizing everything in the moment makes it a lot easier to combat, I've already noticed.

[Atria35]

When I think about this psalm I don't think about my enemies getting hurt. I think of how God is big enough to handle anything life can throw at me.

In a way I can see that, since God is the one who's dealing with them, but at the same time, the language is pretty clear in that the person who's talking is asking God to be very violent and do terrible things to his enemies.

[Hansha]

I guess my mind just glazes over that for some reason^^. that can't be a good thing...

[Tamachan319]

Verse 4: I call out to the LORD,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.

I really like this verse. The LORD answering from his holy mountain reminds me of the fact that while He is holy, He still cares about us. He is so far above us than we can understand, yet He still cares about the things of our lives, which is pretty amazing.