Dithering.... so the internet decides for me

Having given myself two options this year for Bible reading, I neither find my lectionary nor want to use my back-up approach this morning.

Fickle, moi?

So instead, opening BibleGateway in preparation, I decide to read the Psalm from which the verse of the day (90:12) ("So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.") is taken. This could be a new approach, but is a little unstructured for long-term usage (I would prefer to work through a book at a time, so I know what it is about).

Psalm 90
Thoughts:
This is a really good reality check.

I love verses like vv1-2 - they cut through all the hustle and bustle of life and remind me that my true home is with God.

vv3-6 help cut through the self-importance of any age. I'm currently researching family history and also enjoying a book which gives an overview of great moments in British history. It's difficult to imagine a thousand years seeming as a day, but does force me to think 'big picture' (it's a bit easier if e.g. I try to think of the first thousand years of AD British History - hmm - Romans, Alfred, burnt cakes, William the Conq, Harold and the arrow).

vv7-8 a reminder that I cannot hide from God, (and thus all the rationalisation and justification of things I ought not to be doing really doesn't wash with Him).

vv9-12 - time is not as long as we think that it is (or, as The Wurzels put it "you're a short time living and a long time dead" - can't remember the song just yet, but it will bug me until I find it out, so will post the link...)

v12-17 - so, I should remember to number my days (and thank God for Jesus, or I would be in a very sorry mess indeed).

Hurrah!. I like the Psalms.

Sermon notes: Psalm 119:153-176

Having an afternoon of sorting things out in the office/study/office (I think that it varies, depending on how much work stuff I've brought home with me .... at the moment - office).
The urge to procrastinate is being diverted into the more useful pursuit of revisiting last week's sermon notes (26 July 2009)... (bold are the headings on the handout, normal font denotes my scribblings!)

Preacher: WTT

Psalm 119: 153-176

Introduction
The psalmist makes it clear to us that God's Word is refreshing, reviving, re-energising. Some repeated phrases:
9 x 'I love Your Law'
10 x 'Your Law is my delight'
8 x 'I meditate on Your Law'

1. A painful awareness of weakness
A deep consciousness that enemies are forever present

- personal vulnerability
v.23 - princes plotting against me
vv67, 95, 110, 150

- debilitating frailty
God in His Greatness brings frailty upon the psalmist, to keep him clinging tightly to Him - vv 92, 71 & 75 - the 'adversity gospel' (not the 'prosperity gospel')

- enduring sin
despite the psalmists protestations - vv. 176

2. A rich appreciation of the Word
'clings to the dust'
The psalmist is like a sick man with a recurring ailment - he knows where to go in the medicine cabinet - God's word is an all-encompassing elixir.

- safety
vv9,11 - WTT's first memory verses
- life
vv156, 159
- liberty

- truth
vv96,97,32,44 - coming to the living God is not restrictive - the Genesis 3 lie
- wisdom
v162
- permanence

3. An urgent appetite for the Word
The psalmist is passionate v131

Christian meditation is not like Eastern meditation - rather than emptying your mind, you should fill it - with the Word of God.

A bit like a cow - ruminate! Meditation in order to obey.