{Favorite Psalm} a Link up with The Loft

TODAY, I am joining my friends over at THE LOFT... won't you stop by? Everyone is waiting to meet you!


Psalm 18 The Message

This chapter came to me years ago but began to resonate with me when I was in the middle of a very dark night of the soul.  Been there too?  This Psalm will echo healing and love to your soul.

In 2011, I joined the Living Proof Ministries Siesta Scripture Memory Team.

I decided I would memorize 24 verses throughout the year, two per month.  I promised to post my verse on the Living Proof Ministries Blog twice a month and was determined to participate in the event that was sponsored in honor of all who would seek to memorize the word of God and participate in community.  

In faith, I made plans to go to Houston Texas even though we didn't have the budget for it.  I saved, scraped, and worked some extra jobs to help fund my desire to travel to meet with ladies I had only talked to on Social Media and the Living Proof Ministries Blog.  

I traveled alone. 

The hangman’s noose was tight at my throat;

    devil waters rushed over me.

Hell’s ropes cinched me tight;

    death traps barred every exit.

I was deeply alone in my soul at the time.  Life was a swirl and I was surrounded by work, ministry, home and family and community.  But I felt so alone.  It was a very dark place during that time, and truthfully, I wasn't sure who to trust with my heart. This Psalm spoke to me in that dark place.  

A hostile world! I call to God,

    I cry to God to help me.

From his palace he hears my call;

    my cry brings me right into his presence—

    a private audience!

It took me a year to memorize the entire Psalm from The Message.  When you read it you will see why.  The language Eugene Patterson uses in this passage is so descriptive and tells the story of what I experienced deep in the recesses of my heart soul and mind.  

Is there any god like God?

    Are we not at bedrock?

Is not this the God who armed me,

    then aimed me in the right direction?

When I recited the words that had etched themselves in to my soul over the year, I realized I had Lived the Lyric so to speak.  Even today, this Psalm reaches out to me to speak healing and grace and love in to my soul when the darkness approaches.  Every time I shared these words with someone at the event, I wanted to cry, weep with awe and wonder.

What a God! His road

    stretches straight and smooth.

Every God-direction is road-tested.

    Everyone who runs toward him

Makes it.

Today, I am thankful that when these words come to mind, they are with thanksgiving and appreciation for what God can do when we choose to hang on tightly to His loving hand.  Even when my foot slipped, his right hand held me fast.  I almost fell into a sea of chaos mentally, a dark pit of despair in my soul, but God stood me up on a wide and open space.  I stand here.  Saved. Still surprised that He would love one like me.  

But me he caught—reached all the way

    from sky to sea; he pulled me out

Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,

    the void in which I was drowning.

They hit me when I was down,

    but God stuck by me.

He stood me up on a wide-open field;

    I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

I am also very thankful that during that trip, I not only saw face to face some Facebook friends, but I met some new friends as well.  Some of these new friends were from the area that I live!!! What a God!!! His hand guided me to these beautiful ladies and they have encouraged, quietly mentored me and I value them as women of God who Know the Word and know what to do.  

God made my life complete

    when I placed all the pieces before him.

Valerie, Anne, Mei, Emily... you will never know how much finding the blessing of you flooded my at such a God ordained time!  I love you sisters! 

Lisa, Debbie, Holly, Becky Jo, Kristi, Yvonne, Betty, Adrienne, Melana, Roxanne..it is a delight to keep up with you on social media... you are such a blessing!!! One day I am Road Trippin' to see you all!!

Tammy T, Nesha, Judy H, Carolyn, Diane, Marsha, Susan, Judy P, Courtney... you will never know how your grace and love fills my life!  See of you in a couple of weeks!!! 

The Word. Worship. Prayer.

These are my Roots.