psalmthing to chew on: psalm 28

ooh, i’m not sure i like this psalm, or maybe more importantly where my reading of it took me…

cos it’s david again, being a self-righteous plonker:

‘Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts.
Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work;
repay them for what their hands have done and bring back on them what they deserve.’
Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord and what His hands have done,
He will tear them down and never build them up again.’ [vs. 3-5]

starts off with a distancing of himself from ‘the wicked, those who do evil’ [which again makes me think this has to be a pre-Bathsheba break-most-of-the-commands-in-the-Book written psalm] and then lists all the nasty things he would like God to do to them… GET THEM, LORD!

and as i sat there reading and meditating on the psalm, thinking what a hypocrite david is, the silent voice [oh, you know the One] came to me with a bit of a “so you’re better than him, right?” and i knew i was in trouble. cos that’s just it. how david writes this psalm is so often how i live my life – my stuff is not so bad as your stuff – it’s arrogant, it’s self-righteous and more often than not it’s probably just a blatant downright lie.

God, have mercy on me a sinner.

but maybe once i have realised that, and gone to God in repentance [which means turning away from, not just uttering the word ‘sorry’ with nothing attached to it] and chosen to try and see the world through different eyes, His… maybe there is still hope for me:

‘Praise be to the Lord, for He has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me.
My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.

The Lord is the strength of His people, a fortress of salvation for His anointed one.
Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.’ [vs 6-9]

how to Love your Woman better part small intentional sacrifices

i’m not a big fan of commercialised Christmas vibes and in particular Christmas carols – woergh – kinda hate them with a passion…

my wife, TBV, is a big fan of Christmas and Christmas-related stuff though (although she says carols aren’t huge for her either!)

and i realised the other day that in my adamant ‘we will fight carols on the beaches, we will fight them on the shores, we will never surrender’ and ‘i have a dream of a Christmastime where all carols will be banished to the basement of society’ and ‘you want Christmas stuff? I think i’m entitled to it. You want Christmas stuff? I WANT THE CAROLS! You can’t handle the carols!’ speeches she may have got the vibe that i don’t want any Christmas stuff.

fortunately i figured it out just in time and, even though i’m not the hugest fan of all the Christmas stuff i realised this is important stuff to her, because it means more to her to have it than it does to me to not have it i quickly messaged her and told her ‘of course we’re going to have stuff and start planning and if we need to buy any stuff then let’s do it’ – let’s just say that it went down well.

one of the secrets to loving your woman well is to know what means a lot to her and even if it does mean some small sacrifice (and this one really isn’t a huge sacrifice, something i’m less interested in getting around to or making an effort for as opposed to being set against so really not a big deal) to take many opportunities to go out of your way to provide that for her.

i think sometimes in relationships we can caught up in doing only stuff that benefits both of us – so buying a slab of chocolate or bag of chips or renting a dvd that i like so it feels like i’m doing something for her, but actually i’m just selfishly including her in something i wanted for myself… and then never sacrificing anything for the benefit of something she is actually very much wanting because it doesn’t do all that much for me.

there is an amazing picture of this kind of love in the story of King David at a time when he has sinned and God is busy punishing Israel with a huge destructive plague and David goes to this man Araunah to offer a sacrifice to God on his plot of land and Araunah offers the place and the wood and the offering free of charge to the king and David refuses to take it for free saying, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” [2 Samuel 24.24]

how much sacrifice exists in the love you have for your wife or girlfriend?
is it time you changed the way you ‘love’?
when last did you buy her some flowers?

for the next part of ‘How to Love your woman better’ – Verbal Blessing – click here.