My daughter Sarah, gave me a beautiful pen for Christmas called a poetry pen. I love the feel of the pen in my hand and the style suits me perfectly. The style is vintage and it made me think of lovely ladies from another time sitting in their drawing room clothed in brocade trimmed gowns, writing poetry to be illuminated in books for keepsakes.
On my bookshelf I found two treasures this morning. A Treasury of The World’s Best Loved Poems and The Book of Psalms. I love poetry and certainly the sonnets of love are music to our ears when a wonderful romantic love is alive. Yet, during my lifetime I have learned that romance wanes and sometimes romantic love disappoints. The Psalms however, are written to remind us that not only does God love us, but He is there always in the middle of adversity. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. His promises found in the scriptures of the Word of God reminds us how faithful He is to us, how He surrounds us with His angels, and He is always there to restore us.
Psalm 46 1-5
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore I will not we fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. God shall help her and that right early.”
My favorite Psalm which has helped me through so many difficulties is Psalm 91 and I prefer The King James translation because of it’s poetic words:
Psalm 91:1-6
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust, his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor the destruction that wasteth at noonday.”
That Psalm is my shield and I rely on those words whenever I need comfort and protection.
My favorite verse from Psalm 91 is verse eleven:
“For he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all they ways.”
In the book The Timeless Treasure, a commentary on the Song of Solomon Luann Dunnuck leads us through the Song of Solomon and how God has written this beautiful poetry to us. She says “When I begin to feel discouraged and frustrated, I open my Bible to the Song of Solomon for encouragement.” Her commentary is fabulous and leads you through each verse and interprets for us the meaning behind the symbols.
“When I found the one I love, I held him and would not let him go” Chapter 3 verse 4
When we finally understand how much God loves us, it is easy to read how He will not let us go. In verse 9 it is written “The Beloved you have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; you have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace.” When I read the book of Ruth for my Bible study I could see how the love Ruth finds is so much like our Lord and Savior. Ruth found a wealthy man who became her provider, someone who cherished her and gave her his promise of forever love. Our Lord has given us His promise to love us forever, and God has a storehouse of blessings that He wants to shower us with. I love that we are His Beloved, you are His Beloved and there is no greater love than the love of God.
“I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” Chapter 6 verse 3
I love this verse because it reminds me that I am God’s beloved, and so are you. When I finally understood this, I stopped relying on the approval of people because I have God’s approval and that is the most valuable love you kind find. In Isaiah 55 there is an invitation to come sit with God and read His poetry found in His Word and to come to know that He is Lord and He longs to spend time with us and to give us His rich blessings. The milk is His Word and the honey is His sweet promise to us. We can come to God without earning His reward, but come as we are to His throne and sit with Him a while, as He pours out HIs blessings through His Word.
”Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
In Isaiah 55 He promises us that when we speak His Word and we listen to God speak to us, it will accomplish great things:
“So is my word that goes out from my mouth:It will not return to me empty,but will accomplish what I desireand achieve the purpose for which I sent it .
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;the mountains and hillswill burst into song before you,and all the trees of the fieldwill clap their hands.”
The poetry of scripture is a beautiful Word from God written to let us know how much He loves us. No matter what the translation of the Bible you read, the poetry of God’s Word, will comfort you and renew your spirit when trials leave you weary. The poetry of scripture will uplift your heart better than any love sonnet can. To read God’s promises as He asks us to be still and listen to His Word, will renew your spirit so that you may receive the blessings God has for you. The poetry of scripture teaches us, His purpose for our lives and it fills us with hope and with His love. David sang praises to God, he knew the love that God has for anyone who listens and hears the Word of God will be blessed.
“Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.”
Isaiah 55:3
Lovely Karen! I am glad to have found your devotional blog.
Psalm 91 is one of my favorites too. Once, 22 years ago I was traveling to a new home, across several states with my one-year old and three-year old. My husband had to stay at the old location while I went on ahead because I was 6 months pregnant and needed to get in to see the new OB. It was my first time to travel so far “on my own” plus the added stress of the two toddlers; the 3 year old was especially active, and strong willed! There is a long story here about a fearful night, a motel door that blew open, that awful need to sleep because I would be driving all the next day… until I opened the Gideon Bible to this Psalm and the peace of God comforted and relaxed me and the next day went well!
Hello Karen, I really enjoy reading your blog and wanted to know who the female musician was on your blog last week!
God Bless!
Hi Anne,
I sent you an e-mail but maybe I put the wrong address on the note.
I am so glad that you like the blog. I write about what has comforted me, hoping that it might also comfort other people.
I couldn’t decide which song went better with that post. Thanks for the feedback.
The link I use is from Sonific
http://sonific.com/gateway/artist/4609?album_id=4896&song_id=4896
The artist is Angie Taylor. I love her voice. You can search all kinds of lovely music on this site.
I hope you have a Happy New Year and a safe and enjoyable New Year’s Eve.
Blessings, Karen
Karen First I must say really have enjoyed my visit here. I have left comments on your blog Scrapebook of Inspiritation and they always get retirned as undelivered mail by the postmaster. I wanted you ti know that I always leave comments and love visiting with you so much. It is stressful that I can not fiqure out why it will not let me leave you a comment. Hope we can fiqure this out. I so enjoy my time spent with you and want you to know. Blessings Mary
Mary I hope that you read this note. I noticed that the link attached to your name is Http://daisybouquet/
It is missing the blogspot.com. When I went to link to you from this blog it would not let me get to you. I imagine blogger will not accept your comment unless you have a complete address including the blogspot.com. I hope this helps because I would love to read your comments. Thanks for letting me know.
Blessings, Karen
Hi Karen
I was reading some blogs, clicking on links to other blogs and ended up here. Isn’t God so good? We are going through a very stressful time right now as my husband may lose his job. As we prayed together last night I felt that Psalm 91 was what we were to hang on to. It’s always been a favorite. Then my sister emailed me this morning to say she thought Psalm 91 was for us at this time. Then I come here and you have Psalm 91 as one of the scriptures. I guess the Lord wants to make sure I don’t mss it! Just wanted you to know that he used your blog to minister to me today. Thanks. Rhondi
Hi Rhondi,
Isn’t God wonderful, I am so glad that this ministered to you. I find that God does that in our lives, just when I feel like giving up, He turns up with a message through someone or something. Your comment helped me so much Rhondi. You ministered to me too. I will pray for you and your family. Blessings. Karen
God Bless you, Karen, and He does! You always seem to have the perfect words at the perfect time. I don’t know what I’d do without your beautifully gentle reminders that always speak straight to the heart of whatever is bothering me at the time. You are such a Blessing, Karen. You do the most wonderful work with such amazing Grace. Long may you continue to do so!
Thank You for everything that you do.
Blessings, always. Suze xXx
I have enjoyed reading these comments. The church that I attend is having a women’s day program and I am trying to choose an appropriate for the occasion. Can you advise?