[Pastor Ralph]

Exercise. For one of the psalms in this lesson -- or another psalm with a similar theme -- do one of the suggested exercises to help you experience the Psalms (www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-exercises.htm). These include such things as praying a psalm, meditating, reading to a shut-in, paraphrasing, writing your own psalm, singing, preparing a liturgy, and memorizing. Then report to the forum what the exercise meant to you personally or share what you've written with others.

[Tabatha]

Exercise. For one of the psalms in this lesson -- or another psalm with a similar theme -- do one of the suggested exercises to help you experience the Psalms (www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-exercises.htm). These include such things as praying a psalm, meditating, reading to a shut-in, paraphrasing, writing your own psalm, singing, preparing a liturgy, and memorizing. Then report to the forum what the exercise meant to you personally or share what you've written with others.

( Psalm 63 ) I WILL LIFT UP MY HANDS !

Sermon from a worship retreat I preached the word in.

" So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands" ( Psalm 63:4 ).
" To you, O Lord, I call; my Rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help,when I lift my hands toward your Holy Sanctuary" ( Psalm 28:1 )
" Every day I call upon you, O Lord: I spread out my hands to you" ( Psalm 88:9 ).
" I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes" ( Psalm 119:48 ).
Lift up your hands to the Holy place and bless the Lord!" ( Psalm 134:2 ).
" O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." ( Psalm 141:1-2 ).

If someone should object and say that few of these texts speak of worship See ( Psalms 63:4; 134:2 ), but only prayer ( as if a rigid distinction can even be made between the two; indeed, I can't recall ever worshipping God without praying to Him!), my question is simply this: Why do you assume that the appropriate place for your hands is at your side and you need an explicit biblical warrent for raising them? Wouldn't it be just as reasonable to assume that the appropriate place for one's hands is raised toward heaven, calling for the presence of God.rather than to keep them low.

The second answer I give to the question, " Why do you lift your hands when you worship?" Biblical Christianity celebrates God's creation of physical reality, ( After all, He did pronounce it "Good " in Genesis). We are more than immaterial creatures. WE are embodied souls, and are to worship God with our whole being. Paul couldn't have been more to the point when He exhorted us to present our " bodies as a living sacrifice, Holy and acceptable to God ", which is our " spiritual worship " ( Romans 12:1 )

" It is the Human Hand which beautifully typifies the Human spirit. It is distinct from the hands of the lower animals in appearance. Observe the Hands of a skilled person; no matter the field it is an amazing exhibition of the genius of our creative Lord.

Does it not seem wholly appropriate, there fore, to raise them to God our creator when we seek Him in prayer and worship. It is like one who surrenders to a higher authority, I yield to God's will and ways and submit to His guidance and power and purpose in my life. It is a way of saying, " God, I am yours to do with as you please.' I have nothing to hide. I come to you open handed, concealing nothing. My life is yours to search and sanctify. I'm holding nothing back. My Heart, Soul, body and will are an open book to you." Because like one who needs help, I confess my utter dependency on God for everything. I cry out: " O God, I entrust my life to you. If you don't take hold and uplift me, I will surely sink into the abyss of sin and death. I rely on yout strength alone. Preserve me. Sustain me. Deliver me." Because like one who happily and expectantly receives a gift from another, I declare to the Lord: " Father, I gratefully embrace all you want to give. I am a spiritual begger. In my self I have nothing tp offer other than my need of all that you are for me in Jesus. So Glorify yourself by satisfying me wholly with you alone.

What matters to me is that God have all : My mind, will, feet, eyes, ears, tongue, heart, affections, and yes, my HANDS

[Tabatha]

Exercise. For one of the psalms in this lesson -- or another psalm with a similar theme -- do one of the suggested exercises to help you experience the Psalms (www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-exercises.htm). These include such things as praying a psalm, meditating, reading to a shut-in, paraphrasing, writing your own psalm, singing, preparing a liturgy, and memorizing. Then report to the forum what the exercise meant to you personally or share what you've written with others.

( Psalm 63 ) I WILL LIFT UP MY HANDS !

Sermon from a worship retreat I preached the word in.

" So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands" ( Psalm 63:4 ).
" To you, O Lord, I call; my Rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help,when I lift my hands toward your Holy Sanctuary" ( Psalm 28:1 )
" Every day I call upon you, O Lord: I spread out my hands to you" ( Psalm 88:9 ).
" I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes" ( Psalm 119:48 ).
Lift up your hands to the Holy place and bless the Lord!" ( Psalm 134:2 ).
" O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." ( Psalm 141:1-2 ).

If someone should object and say that few of these texts speak of worship See ( Psalms 63:4; 134:2 ), but only prayer ( as if a rigid distinction can even be made between the two; indeed, I can't recall ever worshipping God without praying to Him!), my question is simply this: Why do you assume that the appropriate place for your hands is at your side and you need an explicit biblical warrent for raising them? Wouldn't it be just as reasonable to assume that the appropriate place for one's hands is raised toward heaven, calling for the presence of God.rather than to keep them low.

The second answer I give to the question, " Why do you lift your hands when you worship?" Biblical Christianity celebrates God's creation of physical reality, ( After all, He did pronounce it "Good " in Genesis). We are more than immaterial creatures. WE are embodied souls, and are to worship God with our whole being. Paul couldn't have been more to the point when He exhorted us to present our " bodies as a living sacrifice, Holy and acceptable to God ", which is our " spiritual worship " ( Romans 12:1 )

" It is the Human Hand which beautifully typifies the Human spirit. It is distinct from the hands of the lower animals in appearance. Observe the Hands of a skilled person; no matter the field it is an amazing exhibition of the genius of our creative Lord.

Does it not seem wholly appropriate, there fore, to raise them to God our creator when we seek Him in prayer and worship. It is like one who surrenders to a higher authority, I yield to God's will and ways and submit to His guidance and power and purpose in my life. It is a way of saying, " God, I am yours to do with as you please.' I have nothing to hide. I come to you open handed, concealing nothing. My life is yours to search and sanctify. I'm holding nothing back. My Heart, Soul, body and will are an open book to you." Because like one who needs help, I confess my utter dependency on God for everything. I cry out: " O God, I entrust my life to you. If you don't take hold and uplift me, I will surely sink into the abyss of sin and death. I rely on yout strength alone. Preserve me. Sustain me. Deliver me." Because like one who happily and expectantly receives a gift from another, I declare to the Lord: " Father, I gratefully embrace all you want to give. I am a spiritual begger. In my self I have nothing tp offer other than my need of all that you are for me in Jesus. So Glorify yourself by satisfying me wholly with you alone.

What matters to me is that God have all : My mind, will, feet, eyes, ears, tongue, heart, affections, and yes, my HANDS

[Ms CJ]

Ps. 42
1-3 A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek;
I want to drink God,
deep draughts of God.
I'm thirsty for God-alive.
I wonder, "Will I ever make it—
arrive and drink in God's presence?"
I'm on a diet of tears—
tears for breakfast, tears for supper.
All day long
people knock at my door,
Pestering,
"Where is this God of yours?"

This is out of The Message Bible and I love the way it say's " I want to drink God, deep draughts of God" I know this thirst in the natural, when I've gotten thirsty that I drink and drink and drink. Then in a little while I find that still I'm thirsty so I go and drink more and more of what my thirst wants.
I understand what Jesus was saying to the woman at the well about drinking of a water where you will never thirst again. That's how it is when I haven't allowed myself the time to go to that well and quench my thirst by drinking God, deep deep drinks of God.
Sometimes when I get so thirsty and I go and drink and drink and think its my natural that is thirsty when it is my spirit that has become that thirsty.

And don't you just love what is said about the tears, being on a diet of tears..........
I love that, tears at breakfast, tears at lunch, and tears at supper. To be so hungry like that for God that you can't eat all you can do is cry out for God and His presences. Oh, how much more do I need to get into the place at the table where all I want is to drink and eat God!
I just connected this Psalms with what David has come to understand and that's Jesus and what He will do and that He will become our Bread of Life and the Drink of our Soul (His Blood)
Look at this; I cry at breakfast, I cry at lunch and I cry at supper. He is so humble at the taking of communion that he can not eat anything for thinking how wonderful God is and how He will one come and redeem his soul from hell.
David has found Jesus again and his words convey this through his thirst ( his drink of water) and in his meals that He will become the bread of life and his blood for remissions of his sins.

I love the fact that his relatives, friends and the world around him have heard and watch the change in David and that he has found something so great that they want to know and want to share in what he has found.

Awesome just awesome Holy Spirit for this new revelation of the place where David worships the future Lover of His Soul and saw that he has been forgiving from the past and will be in their future because he drinks God and that much God will forever keep humble and sinless.

I am loving the fact that I can so drink of God this way and the same as David felt I can feel. I have to go now and get myself a drink.
Shall we all meet at the well of God and drink together!

[ella]

i listen to a well known preacher talk about the psalms. I find that reflecting on the psalms make the word of God more applicable to my life.

[masika]

Psalm 27 has really life impact on me. It is my Prayer that we make it our Song in our Life.
God offers help for today and hope for the future. Unwavering confidence in God is our antidote for fear and loneliness.

[Marilyn Rivington]

I chose to do a Responsive Reading of Psalm 63 (as taken from The Message)

All: God—you're my God! I can't get enough of you!

Reader 1: I've worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts.

Reader 2: So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open, drinking in your strength and glory.
In your generous love I am really living at last!
My lips brim praises like fountains.

Reader 3: I bless you every time I take a breath;
My arms wave like banners of praise to you.
I eat my fill of prime rib and gravy;
I smack my lips. It's time to shout praises!

All: God—you're my God! I can't get enough of you!

Reader 4: If I'm sleepless at midnight, I spend the hours in grateful reflection.
Because you've always stood up for me, I'm free to run and play.
I hold on to you for dear life, and you hold me steady as a post.

Reader 5: Those who are out to get me are marked for doom, marked for death, bound for hell.
They'll die violent deaths; jackals will tear them limb from limb.

Reader 6: But the king is glad in God; his true friends spread the joy,
While small-minded gossips are gagged for good.

All: God—you're my God! I can't get enough of you!

Prayer: Eternal Love, our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Let your glory shine on us that our lives may proclaim your goodness, our work give you honour, and our voices praise you forever. For the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(The Prayer is taken from the prayer at the end of Psalm 63, “The Book of alternative Services” of the Anglican Church of Canada.)

[sally7857]

I take Psalm 42 as one of my favorite Psalms, I have two versions here. Oxford Annotated Bible New Revised Standard Version Says:
As a deer longs for flowing streams so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God for the living God,When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, Where is your God? This version I think gives us a new look at Psalm 42. It makes the Psalmist wonder when he will behold the face of God. I still think of the song As the Deer pants for the water so my soul longeth after you. You oh Lord are the real joy giver and the apple of my eye. You alone are my strength and shield to you oh Lord, may my spirit yield. Just says it all about God for me. May my spirit yield to Gods because He knows what is best for me.

[charisbarak]

From our exercise last week, I am still trying to re-memorize Ps. 139. I was restless after sleeping for a couple of hours last night & had trouble falling back to sleep. I put the light on and oh, how very blessed to repeat those words & those thoughts over & over & to sleep very well afterward.

I am so enjoying all these Psalms. I have been in choirs most of my life & so many wonderful hymns & songs pop up all over the Psalms!! Make a Joyful Noise to our God!!

[Petal]

This week, I have decided to pray the Psalm 27. I rephrased it as my personal prayer. Here it is;

NOTHING
Lord, I fear nothing coz you promised to be by my side to save me and protect me from any harm and danger. I want to thank you for that.

ONE THING
Lord, the one thing that I seek is to have a growing relationship with you. I want to get to know you better. Be “the” lover of my soul. The safest place to be is in your arms. I want to sing praises to that.

ONE MORE THING
Lord, there is one more thing. Don’t ever let me go even if I go astray. Take me back, listen to my call for help and teach me the correct path. I do not want what this world has to offer but I only want you O Lord. I want your light to shine upon me. Hallelujah O my Saviour.

THE FINAL THING
Lord, I believe you will bless me, my family, my friends, my country, fellow believers, and all those who have yet to know you Lord all over the world - in your own precious time. I commit all this unto your mighty hands. Amen.

[emmaus]

This is the 1st bible study on Psalms for me. I hadn't given the book of Psalms alot of thought. This has been interesting, more so than I thought it would.
I like Psalms 63. I read it in several translations and thought about it. This is the faith I want to have in the Lord, to thirst and hunger for the Lord, to want his love more than life, for soul and spirit to be satified, to meditate on the blessings God has given, to be safe in his presence and rejoice, to know it's God that is giving you the strength to go on. God forbid but when trouble or heartache come into my life as it did David's here, that I can stand strong.

[Hether]

I chose to pray to God through Pslams 42-43. These Pslams really touched my heart this week during our studies. The refrain, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?...." spoke to me in volumes. As a recent expatiriate, I tend to get very anxious about language,career, friends, etc. I know these things take time but sometimes I am overwhelmed with the desire to have my "normal" life again and be settled already. These pslams really put my anxieties and fears into perspective, and several times this week I have repeated this refrain when I started feeling anxious, and immediately God's peace washed over me as I focused on Him.

[csreeves]

Exercise. For one of the psalms in this lesson -- or another psalm with a similar theme -- do one of the suggested exercises to help you experience the Psalms (www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-exercises.htm). These include such things as praying a psalm, meditating, reading to a shut-in, paraphrasing, writing your own psalm, singing, preparing a liturgy, and memorizing. Then report to the forum what the exercise meant to you personally or share what you've written with others.

My favorite Psalms is 32 and I read this everyday and post it where anyone can see it.
You are my Shepherd
I will not be afraid
You make me dwell in peace
You are my light
And the Lord of my journey
Your rod and Your staff
Comfort me
So I'll sing in the valley
Shout from the mountain,
Drink from the river
Dance near the fountain
Of Your everlasting life
And Your eternal love.

[Don W]

I sang the song: “One Thing I Have Desired” to the Lord in a prayerful kind of song in worship of Him and to become closer to Him as His sanctuary is in actuality, my body, as the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and I greatly desire to “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, (and) behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple” (Psalm 27:4). He is so gracious and merciful that He not only wants and lets us seek Him in all His beauty and holiness, but He dwells within us through His Spirit so we, too, can dwell with Him and in Him throughout our lives and on into eternity! What a God we worship through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!!!!!! I also made up a short, one verse children’s song on Psalm 27:7-8 which I may sing it first to my church pastor and then if he wishes, teach the Sunday School children the song so they may memorize the two verses and sing them in children’s worship time. The Lord has given me quite a few songs in this fashion and I’ve used some of them when I taught at a Christian school, but now that I’m at a public school I cannot use them there. This has brought my class and I closer to the Lord when we have sung them in the Christian school during the worship service we had once a week, and during Music time in my classroom. It has also shown the students and teachers alike that none of us have arrived yet to full maturity in the Lord, but all of us are seeking Him through His Word, prayer, and worship in order to get to know Him better and closer so that we will know whom we have believed on that Day of Redemption. Let my prayer be the same as the Apostle John’s: “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I (Jesus) am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20) Amen!!!!!!!!

[Linda Stanley]

Psalm 91:
There was a time in my life that I was really experiencing a time of fear and needed protection.I prayed Psalm 91 over myself,my family.At times I even prayed this Psalm over all the boundaries I believed God had given me. I embraced Psalm 91:.
I prayed Psalm 91 everyday of my life.It could have been a year or more I prayed.What I do know is when I prayed Psalm 91,I felt protected from everything satan had been throwing my way.Believe me or not,there were times I felt the fiery darts hit me right in the chest.Drawing strength through that prayer,knowing God was with me ,I made it through the desert.I still pray Psalm 91 when I need,or know someone else needs that special strength and protection.
~Hide Me,Hide Me Away Oh God! Even As You Have Promised In Your Word! Amen.God and His Holy Angels will take charge.

[SherAnna07]

Exercise for Psalms 27, 42,43, 63

These particular lessons has caused more of a desire to meditate on this particular group of Psalms by thinking on ways the psalmist battled with despair and depression. It shows me how human he was and not a so-called super Christian who totally had it all together but that he battled the same things we all do and there are anwers and they are all in Christ because He is our ALL in ALL.

[Craig]

For this exercise I used Psalm 42 & 43 as the basis of a sermon I delivered to my congregation and to a group of jail in-mates.

The theme being that God is the answer to our depression and that we should not permit ourselves to be content to grovel in our misery, but to let God be our God. Let God heal us and bring joy to the areas of our life that is hurting. Let our God be our healer and let Him deliver on His promises to us.

[All Ears]

Hi I know I am behind at this date in loggine my answers into the blogg but I am catching up on a few today.

In lesson two exersize I memorized psalm one just to prove " I could not memorize any longer, wrong i was able to memorize it ".
and went on to memorica psalm 63 after that . It was an eye opener i was not past memorizing skill i still can do it .... Cheers....

[mlmowery8]

I pray a psalm every other day, it means alot to me. I always feel better after I do it. It's very
uplifting to me. I know God hears me.

[MrsG]

I decided to memorize Psalm 63:1-8. The writer gives a powerful exhortation of his love and worship of God. I love how the words flowed from my heart even as I read them and want them to some day soon flow freely from my lips prompted by the love I feel in my heart for my Father God.