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Psalm 31:5 – Psalm 53:1

It has rained.

For two days I have watched the gray clouds gather, felt the North wind blow, and smelled the Spring cleaning that is taking place outside my windows.

But more importantly, I have been keeping a careful eye on the raspberries my daughters and I transplanted just before the rain began.

This weather has been just exactly right for raspberry transplants.  The rain. The heaven sent watering.

It settled the furrows. Made soft the soil.  Allowed for growth.

My constant prayer over those raspberry shoots since the afternoon my daughters and I transplanted them has been that the conditions would be exactly what they needed to take root.  To grow.  To thrive.

“Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it:

Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly:

Thou settlest the furrows thereof:

Thou makes it soft with showers:

Thou blessest the springing thereof.

(Psalm 65:9-10)

As I read that verse this afternoon my prayed changed from raspberries to daughters.

From bare roots to gospel roots.

I look to the Heavens.

Might He send rain in the form of inspiration?  To water my daughter’s souls.  Abundantly.

To settle the furrows.

To make their hearts soft.

Because I see the young and tender roots there.

Tonight this is the prayer of a mother’s heart…may the Lord bless the springing thereof.

 

Psalm 19:10 – Psalm 31:5

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul…
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear not evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou anointest my head with oil.

My cup runneth over.

Psalm 23

There is One who has set side everything to seek us.  He will not rest until we find ourselves nestled safely in His arms.

“Is this not the very work of the ‘Good Shepherd,’ and may we not, each of us, thus draw from it precious comfort?

It is not difficult to imagine how in folly and ignorance the sheep strayed further and further, and at last was lost in solitude and among stony places;

how the shepherd followed and found it, weary and footsore;

and then with tender care lifted it on His shoulder, and carried it home.”
(Alfred Edersheim)

 My Shepherd Will Supply My Need

My Shepherd will supply my need: Jehovah is His Name;
In pastures fresh He makes me feed, beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back when I forsake His ways,
And leads me, for His mercy’s sake, in paths of truth and grace.

When I walk through the shades of death thy presence is my stay
One word of Thy supporting breath
 drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes, doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows, Thine oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be my abode, and all my work be praise.
There would I find a settled rest, while others go and come;
No more a stranger, nor a guest,
But like a child at home.

Can you think of moments when you have been safe folded, led, defended, stilled, restored, guarded, comforted, or provided for?

Looking back through such times in my life, I see blessings unmeasured.

In fact,

my cup runneth over.

Psalm 8:4 – Psalm 19:9

This weekend we went for a hike.  It wasn’t your ordinary hike.

We walked up a riverbed.

Under trees, over rocks, cool water spilling over sandaled feet.

It was one of those rare hikes you wish would just keep going, and going, and going.  But it wasn’t long before we rounded a bend and saw this…

Beautiful, yes.

But completely impassable.

For just a moment we thought we had reached the end of the hike.  Eyes wandered longingly to the scenery that beckoned to us from up above.  And then, just there to the right, we saw the footsteps.

Even now, just looking at the photo, my heart sinks right into my feet.  I see the rope above, but I also see the drop off below. I see the end of the footsteps at the top, but I cannot see the even path, the sure ground, the safety waiting there.

It causes reason to pause.

Because how can you be sure the rope will hold, the footsteps will lead to safety, the heart will not fail?

Courage is required.  Trust in the carver of each foothold.  Faith that what lies above is worth the climb.

For some courage comes easily.

Others find it easier with the companionship of one who will ensure that their feet will not slip.

For some the pathway is too daunting.

No less faith is required, no less courage, no less trust, for those who are carried.  For it takes great courage to allow someone to lift you off your feet and carry you over the place you cannot go.  To trust in the strength of the one who lifts.  To have faith that he will not fail you.

As I watch my mind fills with life moments.

Moments when I have faced obstacles in my way.  Times when I have felt my heart sinking into my toes.  Moments when I could not see the even path, the sure ground, the safety waiting there.

The moments that give reason for pause.

Where courage is required.  Trust in the Carver of the foothold.  Faith that what lies ahead is worth the climb.

I have faced daunting moments.

Those moments have led me to know the Lord.

“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust.”  (Psalm 18:2)

The most daunting moments require the greatest courage.  The kind of courage that allows The Deliverer to lift you off your feet and carry you over the place you cannot go.  To trust in the strength of The One who lifts.  To have faith that He will not fail you.

Now, in quiet moments of pause, in those most daunting moments, I breathe a silent prayer.

“Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.”  (Psalm 17:5)

Then there is courage.

And trust.

And faith.

Job 39:1 – Psalm 8:3

“In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee,

and will look up.”

(Psalms 5:3)

The morning began with a prayer.

The gratitude.  The asking.  The pleading.

Before the routine of the day began to flurry all around me, I directed my prayer unto Him.

It was then that I remembered the last two words of counsel I had read the night before…look up.

“What does that mean?”  I wondered to myself as I raced up the stairs to quickly edit Meg’s paper before her ride came.  I pondered it again as I drove Grace to school in the early dawn hours before the sun peeked over the mountain.  It was on my mind as I went for a walk around my neighborhood.  Still there as I rotated the laundry, folded warm clothes, and hung them in the closet.

“What is that verse trying to teach?”

I pondered it still as I read through the letters from two missionary sons.  Thought about it as I wrote grocery lists for two different stores.  Considered it as I grabbed my phone, and my keys, and my list of things to do.

It was as I was driving home from the grocery store that the prompting finally came…why don’t you try it?

Look Up.

I really wanted to learn the lesson, so I pulled the car over right that second and parked.  I stopped looking at the course ahead of me, the list down in my lap, the phone sitting next to me.  I opened the car door, stepped out, and looked up.

“But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy…” (Psalm 5:7)

The looking up allows me to consider His blessings.

The blessing of His mercy… the multitude of His mercy.

I have experienced that mercy.

Many times.  Too many to count.

A multitude of mercies.

Look Up.

“But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice:

let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them.”  (Psalm 5:11)

The looking up allows me to consider His blessings.

And I wonder to myself, do I rejoice in the knowledge that He defends me?

I have experienced His deliverance.

Many times.  Too many to count.

But when was the last time I shouted for joy?

Look Up.

“Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.”  (Psalm 5:11)

The looking up allows me to consider His blessings.

I love His name, but do I see it in everything around me?

His signature upon every beautiful thing, the touch of His hand everywhere.

I realize that I might have neglected to see it there.

Many times.  Too many to count.

I have missed out on the joy.

It is in that instant my focus changes.  I have learned the lesson.  I am spending far too much time looking ahead, looking down, looking aimlessly.

It is not often that I find myself looking up.

My good friend Kris Belcher gives wise counsel in this regard.  ”We must live vertically.”  I love the thought of that.  To live vertically will require us to look up.  Heaven focused.  To look to God.  The looking up allows us to consider His blessings.

To consider Him.

These looking up moments are the moments that will lead us to “Stand in awe.”  (Psalm 4:4)

I need more moments like that.

“In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee,

and will look up.”

(Psalms 5:3)