SpoonfulOfDreams

Answer me when I call to you O my righteous God. Psalm 4 v1 When you go to the doctor with an ailment you should not expect to walk out of the surgery cured. He will more than likely give you a prescription for a course of tablets and ask you to come back if it doesn't clear up. He may refer you to someone more qualified to treat your complaint. On the other hand, if you had a burst pipe in your house you would not expect the plumber to refer you to a specialist or give you a series of instructions, asking you to call back if the problem persists. You wouldn't expect to do anything yourself, other than to call him out and be there when he calls. When David asks God for an answer he's expecting a plumber. "Give me relief from my distress" he says - stop the leak. "How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false Gods?" David has placed his hope in the LORD but his people are trusting in false Gods to me...

He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him. Psalm 126 v6 I almost read this psalm by accident as I had started reading Psalm 125. However as R.E.O White* pointed out, in the NIV Commentary, 126 recalls Psalm 85 which I have just studied. The Psalms have never been a focus of inspiration for me. They can't be said to be contemporary nor are they a reliable source of theology. "The Lord is my shepherd", sounds wonderful but what does that mean to me? But now I'm reading the Bible as a book that cross-references itself from beginning to end. It's fascinating to read each passage as if looking through the fragment of a shattered window. As you look closely through each shard you see the same picture that you would from a single pane but from a unique angle. To read Psalm 126 simply as one of the songs of ascents as they are collectively known (120 through 134) is to lose its significance. What it does is pre...

"Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the heart of the fool is in the house of pleasure." Book of Ecclesiastes chapter 7. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." The Gospel of Matthew chapter 5. There's a difference between being sad and morbid. You will also notice the difference between those who have their own iCloud and those who carry a sadness that speaks of experience and depth. In Paul's second letter to the Corinthians he begins by praising the God of all Comfort who comforts us in order that we can comfort others. We all wonder why there is so much suffering in the world but little is to be gained by wishing it were not so; if it is to be part of life then we can at least be dressing its wounds. And if the best qualification for tending to the hurting is to understand their pain then so be it. The morbid person, on the other hand, sympath...