The LORD is my portion; I promise to keep Your words. I entreat Your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to Your promise.

You are indeed my portion, and a very generous portion. Your blessings soak into every aspect of my life; not a nook or cranny is left without your generosity. And this glorious bounty of joy comes through Your Word, through understanding and obeying Your Word.
You are gracious to me; You lifted me out of the stench of my sin and set me on the Rock. You cleansed my filth and set me at Your table as Your son. Your favor is the sweet aroma of my life.

Oh, LORD, Your generosity is boundless, Your promises are without end, Your grace sustains me!

How shall we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!

Lord, it is You that I must not forget in the hubbub and jumble of my day. I can allow myself to be captured by greed, ambition and pride, driving myself away from You. But You, Lord, have sent Your Comforter to prod, goad and remind me that You are my Jerusalem.

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

How often do those idols that once plagued my life try to tempt me with a false sense of promised enjoyment? They promise sensual pleasure, a lifting of responsibilities, material wealth, status, a life on indolence. But nothing compares to the peace, righteousness and joy in the Holy Spirit that is life in Your Kingdom.

Remember Your word to Your servant, in which You have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your promise gives me life.

Thank You, LORD, that Your promises are yes and amen. That I can look forward to the fulfillment of Your promises with certainty. There is life in Your promises, they give comfort and hope in all circumstances.

Psalm 119:41-42, ESV
I will keep Your law continually, forever and ever, and I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought Your precepts.

Psalm 119:41-42, JN paraphrase
Your Word outlines the boundaries of that wide place. It is my heartfelt desire to walk there and to keep Your precepts ever before me. But I cannot do this in my own strength. I need to hear the Holy Spirit with the ears of my heart.

Psalm 119:41-42, ESV
And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in Your rules.

Psalm 119:41-42, JN paraphrase
Lord Jesus, keep the Word of the LORD in my mouth and seated firmly in my mind. Let all else flee, Lord, but not Your Word of truth.

Psalm 119:41-42, ESV
Let Your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, Your salvation according to Your promise; then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in Your word.

Psalm 119:41-42, JN paraphrase
LORD, my response, to all who challenge and taunt, has to be Your Word. This has to be the foundation for my answers to both spiritual and physical challenges. As You, Lord Jesus, responded to the devil after the 40 days in the wilderness with the Word, so must I do likewise. But Lord, I need Your help; I cannot remember the appropriate Scriptures. I need the Holy Spirit to refresh my mind.

Philippians 4:23, ESV
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Philippians 4:23, JN paraphrase
LORD, may Your grace be the salt which flavors and enhances all our conversations and interactions with those in our Personal Mission Field. Our witness without grace is as food without salt, flat and lifeless. With the infusion of grace, our spirits become vibrant and life giving, fully empowered to lead others into the righteousness, peace and joy that is life in the Kingdom with You.

May it be so with each member of the Fellowship of Ailbe and our individual congregations this week and in the weeks to come. Amen.
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Psalm 18:18-24, ESV
They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me. The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His rules were before me, and His statutes I did not put away from me. I was blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my guilt.

So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

Psalm 18:18-24, JN paraphrase
Yes, LORD, You have brought me into a broad and pleasant place, for You love me, but not because of my righteousness or the cleanness of my hands. The righteousness is the righteousness of the Lamb of God, the One chosen before the creation; the cleanness of His hands provides my entry into that broad and pleasant place. His obedience and blamelessness brought me into the family of the most High.

Psalm 25:1-5, ESV
Of David. To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Psalm 25:1-5, JN paraphrase
LORD, remember me at all times, my trust is in You and no one else. The on;y ones who will be ashamed are the ones who are deliberately treacherous. Lead me in the way I should go, for You are the God of my salvation.

Recommended Reading

Man, The Dwelling Place of God by AW Tozer. Another precious book in anyone’s library.

Psalm 24:7-10, ESV
Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah.

Psalm 24:7-10, JN paraphrase
Put no blockades in the path of the King of Glory for He is strong and mighty in battle. The gates of Glory are to welcome Him in and not offer any resistance for He is the LORD of hosts, the King of Glory.

Recommended Reading

The Thursday afternoon study group took Thanksgiving afternoon off to join our families on Thanksgiving dinner. Sure wish all the readers of this column could join us. What a time we would have together.

Psalm 119:65-72, ESV
Teth You have dealt well with your servant, O LORD, according to your word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Psalm 119:65-72, JN paraphrase
Thank You, LORD, that You have taught me good judgment in the application of Your Word. You have taught me Your statues, Your precepts, Your law. All are indeed more valuable thousands of pieces of gold and silver.

Recommended Reading

Time to switch back for an evening with A.W. Tozer and his thoughts in Man, The Dwelling Place of God in the chapter on “God must be loved for Himself.” A sufficiently intriguing chapter simply based on the title alone.