When you experience affliction for a long season, it is hard to re-emerge without some scar tissue. The writer of Psalm 129 seems to have this in mind.

Have you noticed the number of people around you who say “Bless you” or “Have a blessed day”? For those of us living in the South, there seems to be a lot of blessing going on.

The gift of each new day brings us an opportunity to join the Lord in extending his kingdom, but that’s not all. As surrendered saints, we share a requirement to stay focused on God and to invite him to do his work in and through us.

We can help ourselves and the next generation by recalling and retelling the times God has intervened in our seasons of struggle and desperation.

Have you noticed that even as we spend untold amounts of money and build elaborate systems to create safe environments, we seem never truly to create a world that is safe enough?

The enemy was and is about division. The enemy of God wanted a separation, a distinction of sides. Humankind took the bait.

In just four verses the psalmist expresses praise and pain that might be on any of our lips.

Eternal life with God also means we share eternal life with each other—starting today!

‘I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.’

I am on a pilgrimage. My journey on earth is short, and our purpose is to bring glory to God and extend his kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.

I don’t pay much attention to how many social media followers I have. But I always need the two followers listed at the end of Psalm 23.

Whether we thrive on details or want only the big picture, Jesus has a plan for all of us.

What if following Jesus is all about delivering the unexpected routines of life with moments of love, kindness, and generosity? 

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

It is tough to gain perspective and take time to express praise and gratitude to God when our business and busyness control us. We can learn much by considering prayer and praise David experienced in the passage for today.

Yes, Psalm 119 is about the law, but it also alludes to the good news of freedom in Christ. It’s a life of joy, inside the guardrails.

Even on the other side of the valley, you will still find at least one enemy. But relax. God wants to nourish and protect you there.

The psalmist was overwhelmed by the reality of the many blessings that had flowed from God’s throne. We can have the same experience.

Even when we have made the mistake of doing things our way, we can turn things around by returning to God and surrendering our will back to him.

Our confession of Jesus changes how we are to think, how we are to love, and how we are to interact with people and stuff. To follow Jesus means the systems of this world are not our priority. Jesus is our number one.