Helen Williams

I believe it is difficult to praise in the midst of trying circumstances becasue we have a tendency to focus on the problem than on God. One of Satan's tatic is to get our attention off of God and on self. We should center our attention on God's saving act. We have to put forth an effort to praise and pray to God regardless of the circumstances. God is the only one that can delliver us from our troubles. Praise put us in the position to trust and to remain faithful. God has kept us from the beginning. When our attitude change about a situation, then our action change. Praise put us in the right prospective.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MEAN TO REST IN GOD? DO NOT FRET!!! We are not to be inactive but to depend actively on the living God. Ex: If I am trusting God for a job, I have to be actively searching for one. We want God to do everything and we set back and reap. We have to be an active sower. The Psalmist gives us a commandment to cease from worry. When it seem that life is overwhelming, we need to seek God and rest in God. When life get to this point let us not be the reason for the dozen of things coming at us. It is a comfort to rest in the Lord a not fret. The not fret part has to be a effort on our part becasue it does not come easy. We try and take care of things our self. Remember, We always want to put God first, seek Him first, do our part, and rest in the Lord. We wait patiently for God to act with us being active.

God is in the midst; God is not an absentee deliverer. He is always present regardless od what life throws our way. God lives with His people. His protection can be counted on. "Be still and know that I am God". The call is not only a call for stillness before God, preparation for worship but impendindg judgement. God will be exalted. All the earth will bow before Him. Knowing who affect our peace gives us calmness in the midst of a storm. When we are going through a storm the middle seem to be the worst. It is very comforting to know that God is right there in the midst. What a mighty God we serve! It should affect our word to the point that we speak the WORD with confident. There is life and death in the power of the tongue. As a result of this knowledge we realize truly who God is. We can, "Be still and know that He is God." I just love the WORD of GOD! WHAT A COMFORT TO KNOW HE IS ALWAYS PRESENT.

"Into your hand I committ my spirit": A complete dependence on God-his life is in God's hand to do as He pleases. These words were spoken by Jesus on the cross before His death(Luke 23:46), by Stephen before his death (Acts 7:59). Knowing God is in control bring peace to a person. God does not make mistakes, so we can trust Him with all our heart. MY TIMES ARE IN YOUR HAND: David reaffirm a complete depending on God to mold him in the way that was best. God was incontrol of David's life for deliverance. It is a great and a peaceful feeling to know we are in God's hand.

The Lord our shepherd quiet his sheep and give them confidence by the abundant care God gives His people. STILL WATERS: Sheeps are afraid of fast flowing streams. God provision of still water has a soothing effect and calms the sheep. God refreshes his people with his quiet voice and gentle touch. When we face the dark and difficult trials of life, God our protector can lead us through the dark and difficult valleys to eternal life. God stands over us, make provisions, abundant provisions. Goodness and mercy is God's loyal love. We can enjoy life in God's presence, eternally.

Davie quiet his inner person before the Lord by simply trusting in the Lord. He was humble, trusted God and David had hope. David was no longer unsettled and discontendted like a child but one that is at peace and trusting in his mother. A mother that is there to comfort and to meet his needs. David had hope in the lord. We can quiet our innner person if we follow the example of David.

When I realized that God's thoughts and plans are focused on me in particular, it make me want ot praise him for all his goodness. I look back over my life and God has been good to me. Things might not have gone like I always wanted them to , but they worked out for my good. PRAISE GOD! This let me know how much God loves and cares for me. It is reassuring to know that God's thought and plans are focus on me. This let me know I am never alone. I am always before him. His blessings are to numerous to count.

It please God and it shows that we are dependent on him, totally. This lament ends with an upswing of hope and praise to show us that trouble do not last always. This gives us hope to continue on in God regardless. When we come through we should praise, honor and thank God for the victory. There are time it looks like all hope is gone we can go to God in prayer. It is a comfort to know that he listen and loves us. What to blessing to know our prayers will be answer in a way that is best for us. It pleases God when we are thankful and honor him. He is worthy. We should remain faithful and obedient.

We can always look at someone else mistakes and faults and think I am not so bad. When we compare our self to others we will always come out on top because then we don't look so bad. We look at David and wonder how dare he ask anything from God. We can look at self and ask the same question, how dare we ask God for anthing? When we compare ourself to God's standard we don't quite measure up. We all are in need of a Savior. He is our ever present help in the time of need. If we look back over our lives we all have a story. I for one thank God for his grace and mercy. God is ready to receive and restore a repentanat heart. No matter how bad thing become, we should continue to pray and call on the name of Jesus. God will hear our prayers and rescue us. We always need God. He is always faithful. We should never turn from him.

Reasons for praise: God has done great and wonderful deeds, won a mighty victory, kept His promise to love and be faithful. God is faithful. This is a Psalms of praise anticipating the coming of God to rule His people. He is coming again to judge the world justly. I feel the praise is exuberant becasusse He has promise to save us and return again to receive us. We all should be exuberant in our worship/praise because of who God is. He is our Savior. This is a song of joy and victory. God is victorious over evil, all those who follow him willl be victorious with him when he judges the earth. Don' t you think this is something worth shouting about and praising God? Who would not serve and praise a God like that. PRAISE GOD EVERYBODY!

Yes we are truly commanded to worship. God is a great and mighty God above all other gods. He is our creator and our maker. He is the One that watch over and keep us. We should never forget that we belong to Him. I think verses 8-11 is included becasue we are not able to worship if we have a harden heart. We find it impossible to turn to God with a harden heart. We begin to think we do not need Him. We become ungrateful, won't worship or committ to Him. We should not let anything or anyone lead us away from God and not worship Him.

The Psalms teach us that we should praise, praise God. The writer is truly encouraging us to praise God. We should praise Him daily. He teaches us that God's creation praises him everywhere and in every way. Let us all join this rejoicing song of praise. Praise should occur in the sanctuary, in his mighty heaven. There are several instruments named; ram's horn, lyre harp, tambourine, dancing, string and flute and cymbals. It seem that instruments were a vital part of worship and praise in the old testament. I feel we should praise God also with our daily lives. After you read this, you realize the importance of prasie. When praise goes up blessings come down. God is worthy

How I would use Psalm 51 to instruct my children. When we have done wrong there is a need to repent. No sin is to great to be forgiven. I would let them know even though we are forgiven, God doen not always erase the consequences. Try and make the right choices in life. We not only sin against man, we sin against God. Ask God to fill our heart with new thoughts and desires. Cleans us from within. We have to reach out and forgive others. God want our heart t o be right with Him.

We all need reminders at one time or another in our lives. As we go from day to day we see the wicked getting away and getting worse. We might wonder when will it all end and is there any justice. We know that God is the just judge and the path of the wicked is destruction. In Psalm 1 there is the contrast of life's two roads. We have a choice of which one to take. One leads to life and one to destruction. The lines that stands out to me in Psalm 1 are: For the lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction. It is good to know that regardless how things might look God is still in control and He watches over the godly. I like it because they are verses of hope. We are to keep living godly lives even when wickness might be all around us. They will be condemned at the time of judgement by a true and just God.

The wonder of creation in the psalm affected the psalmist in a very personal way. He saw and acknowledge God for who He truly is. God is almighty and all knowing. He realized God knew him even before he was formed in his mother"s womb. God knew all about him. Guess what? He knows all about us. The psalmist submitted, surrender and truthfully open up to God. He asked God to search him, if there was a need to help him and cleanse him. He wanted to be restored to a right relationship with God. He was thinking eternal. I ask myself, does the wonder of creation affect us the way if affected the psalmist. I truly hope and pray that it does.

We see a difference yet we see the same. The Heavens and God creation express God's Word wordlessly. As we look at God's handiwork daily we hear him speaking to us. Then there is the written Word of God. David is now turning to see how God speaks thru the written word. He is meditating on the word and it casuse him to look at himself. The word willl cause you to look at self the way God wants us to see self. When we do this then we are able to see where we might fall short. Thanks to Jesus Christ we have an advocate. When I think of the written word I am reminded Of John 1:1-In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. David was praying for outer as well as his inner being(the total person) to be acceptable to God. We do well to do the same and meditate daily on the the word of God. He is for sure our Redeemer. PRAISE GOD EVERBODY!!!!!!!!! hE IS WORTHY!!!!!!!!!

The Psalm teach us about the majesty, glory and power of God. I reflect back to Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. God cares for us, He did not forget us. God had a place for us in His creation. We have to be responsible. We are nothing apart from Him. Christ humbled himself and became man to restore us. Our responsibility is to be good steward over what God created and placed in our care. We are to honor God in all that we do.

This is a very serious matter because our lives are at stake. We know that without faith it is impossible to please God. We are to keep the faith in fear that we might lose focus, go astray and fall away. To have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ we have to keep the faith. Sin will trick us in that sin never paints a true picture. Sin never gives you the whole story and sin will cause our heart to be harden. We do not want the fellowship of sisters and brothers. We start and will pull away and isolate ourselves. One reason for this is I think at this point we don't want to be accountable. Christain fellowship is very impotant in this christian walk. It helps keep us encouraged and built up.

We are to "hold on" to Christ because He is our only hope in being a part of His household. We need to stay focus and keep the faith. It is not the one that start or run the fastest but the one that holds out until the end. If we keep the faith and hold out, we are assured to be a part of the Messiah's household. If we don't we will not enter into His rest.

Jesus brought us by way of the cross. Blood had to be shed. Jesus is our leader. We are His followers. He is our guide, He is our example(perfect). Jesus had to go through the way of the cross but the reward was glorious. Our reward will also be glorious if we follow the way of Jesus. Jesus became perect through suffering in that He IS the heavenly, glorious, and conquering Christ. THAT IS SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT! In our own lives there will be some suffering for Christ sake but we have eternal life in the end.

Jesus tasted what we were suppose to taste and that was death. We were the sinners. He was made human for this very purpose. Salvation is through Jesus Christ. If Christ sufferd we too will have to suffer temptation and some type of persecution. We are on a journey and on this journey there will be trials and tribulations. All is not lost we can be victorious, Jesus has shown us the way. At the end of this race we will have eternal life if we remain faithful.

Jesus went through a lot during his life on earth and His death. He suffered at the hand of oTHERS, He was denied, betrayed, and false accused. All this happen when he was healing the sick, performing miracles and even raiseing the dead. It seem like the compassion that was shown by Him to others, none of thes would have happen. As we know all of this had to happen according to the word of God. Suffering do have value. We look at Jesus' suffering; He now rules in the heaven. He was crown with glory and honor, but jesus had to go through in order for this to happen. We may TRY to live in a way to avoid suffering but we don't grow nor mature. In this life we are going to suffer at one point or another. Remember when Jesus said, "Father if it be thy will let this cup pass fron me." In the flesh He did not wish to go thru but in the spirit He knew He had to. In order to receive the eternal reward we have to suffer. JESUS DID AND HE DID IT FOR YOU AND I.

The truth of salvation has been confirmed in my own life. My life has gone through a tranformation by the sign, wonders, miracles and gifts of God. I thank God for salvation. I know what He can do. I have seen it in my life. Thank You Lord! I see signs, miracles, wonders, and gift to be helpful and also I can see it as a hinderance to others. Some of us are a "Thomas" and some are a "Judas." There are those that will not believe, regardless of what they experience or hear. We pray for them. From reading and studying the Bible there is no particular part that I have read where I formed an opinion. I see the sign and wonders of God in the old and new testament. We just need to live our lives so others can see the wonder working power of God in us. Amen to that!

No one is immune to drifting from the gospel. That is why we need to stay in the word and heed to it. The gospel has to take root in out heart so that we will not sin against God. If we stay in the Word and heed it we stand the chance of not drifting. We do not want the Word to be choked out. We want to be doers and not just hearers. God said, "If you love me, you will obey."

This can only be divine. Jesus is divine. When He walked this earth he was human and divine. The Son came only to do the will of His Father. He came to sacrifice his life for us while we were still sinners. The Son is exactly who the Fahter. When you see the Son you see the Father. He is ruling with the Father with honor and co-ofice.