Psalm 27 The Lord is My Light

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.
11 Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
This is another of the musical songs. So many composers choose lines from this one. I grew up singing choir anthems based on it.   Those are seldom sung anymore, nothing the newer generation would recognize.  Music has changed forms over the years and we enjoy the newer, more singable music of our day. 

We do have an LDS hymn, though, that is one of the most joyous hymns in our hymnbook that is based on this psalm.  When a hymn is sung in the first person, it becomes a powerful affirmation of Faith:  The Lord is my light, whom Shall I fear?

Hymn #89 The Lord is my Light

1. The Lord is my light; then why should I fear?

By day and by night his presence is near.

He is my salvation from sorrow and sin;

This blessed assurance the Spirit doth bring.

[Chorus]

The Lord is my light;

He is my joy and my song.

By day and by night

He leads, he leads me along.

2. The Lord is my light; tho clouds may arise,

Faith, stronger than sight, looks up thru the skies

Where Jesus forever in glory doth reign.

Then how can I ever in darkness remain?

3. The Lord is my light; the Lord is my strength.

I know in his might I’ll conquer at length.

My weakness in mercy he covers with pow’r,

And, walking by faith, I am blest ev’ry hour.

4. The Lord is my light, my all and in all.

There is in his sight no darkness at all.

He is my Redeemer, my Savior, and King.

With Saints and with angels his praises I’ll sing.

This is a powerful song because it is completely focused on the power of the Savior and what He can and will do for us!!

Psalm 27:4 Sacred Spaces

Psalm 27:4

One thing have I desired of the Lord,  O, that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his Temple.

I love how the writer here isn't hoping to someday live in God's presence.  He wants it "all the days of my life".  He finds that "beauty" in the house of the Lord, the temple.

We are capable of creating "holy spaces", places where we feel the Spirit of the Lord.  At some level every human longs for "heaven" - to be able to live without all the heartaches of life, to be surrounded by goodness and beauty, to commune with God. That vision seems to be in our spiritual DNA because it is universal, seen in the teachings of all religions.  

The following article in the Deseret News offers some insights.  I have highlighted a couple things he says but you can read the full article here:  How Our Sacred Spaces Shape Us by Boyd Matheson

"It is a mistake to think that awe and reverence, inducing that from sacred spaces, belong only to a particular group or religion. I have experienced similar awe and reverence in a Shinto shrine, a mighty cathedral, a Buddhist temple and an old wooden chapel. I have experienced sacred space at ground zero after 9/11 or standing at the Washington Monument surrounded by flags humbly bowed to half-staff after a tragic shooting in Las Vegas. A battlefield at Gettysburg and a beach in Normandy show that sites of division and death can be transformed into sacred space shared by people around the world.
I have always loved Winston Churchill’s statement: “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.” I would tweak that to extend it slightly: We shape our sacred spaces, and afterwards our sacred spaces shape us.

There are a number of reasons why sacred spaces can shape us in significant ways. When we enter a sacred space, times seems to slow, the decibels drop and our thoughts are elevated.

Sacred space can provide the stillness of awe, wonder and gratitude or the transformational moment of inspiration, insight or a connection to the divine."

I find myself needing that "stillness of awe, wonder and gratitude" more and more as life has become so busy.  I find it at the temple and I find it in my morning meditation as I set time aside to "be with the Lord."  

I don't think it matters so much WHERE we find it - but that we DO find it.  

Psalm 30:5, 11-12 Joy Cometh in the Morning

Psalm 30:5, 11-12

For his anger endureth but a moment: in his favor is life, weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.

Thou has turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.

To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent, O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever.

I have no idea why life is so unpredictable and unfair. Take, for example, a recent video about hurricane Harvey where people were sharing how grateful they were for the volunteers that arrived to help them remove drywall and get all of the ruined things out to the curb for pickup. And yet there are still homes that have not been rescued from hurricane Katrina and Sandy - nor from the Detroit flooding in 2014. Where is the fairness when some get help and others don't?

And my own life bears witness to the fact that so often we have periods of trouble in our lives followed eventually by periods of great joy.

Humans have an amazing resilience and can rise from the deepest wounds to find joy again.

I like how the psalmist here says "to the end that my glory may sing praise to thee and not be silent."

I see a lot in that simple statement. We sing praise not because God manipulated our circumstances but because he strengthened us and gave us the courage to endure, to learn, to humbly accept our trials and to rise above them. When we are at our weakest, His power and strength sustain us. We call upon Him and find Him there. For that reason we praise His name and give thanks. Of that we bear testimony.

I have been struggling this week with a conference talk called By Divine Design given by Elder Rasband. The main idea is that there are no coincidences. He says our lives are like a chessboard and the Lord is moving the players. The events in our lives are by "divine design".

Elder Rasband talks about his own life, of being placed in a home with loving parents, of meeting his wife, of a businessman who gave him a job, etc none of which he felt he had orchestrated for himself. It was by "divine design".

I could say the same about my own life. There is so much that was given to me by others who touched my life along the way, loving me, mentoring me, guiding me to become the person I am. I am not a self-made person. Rather, I just went along with the flow of the world into which I was placed. And I was given a beautiful life. I could tell of many steps along the way where I felt the Lord's hand in my life, of people that were placed there when I needed them, of opportunities opened. And I am deeply grateful for all of those blessings. I thank the Lord constantly for all the goodness that is filled my life.

But how can I say those events were by divine design when so many others have not likewise been blessed. Why would the Lord use divine design to bless some and not others?

D&C 38:26

For what man among you having 12 sons, and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently and he saith unto the one: be thou clothed in robes and sit thou here; and to the other be thou clothed in rags and sit down there - and look upon his sons and say, "I am just"?

2nd Nephi 26

For none of these inequities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men, and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men, and he invited them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female, and he remembereth the heathen, and all are alike unto God both Jew and Gentile.

From what I understand of God, it is impossible for him to bless some and not others. If he is responsible for the goodness in my life, then I must hold him equally responsible for the tragedy of others lives. If he placed the right people on the chessboard to guide me, did he also place the human trafficker on the chessboard, or the rapist, or the murderer?

I don't like uncertainty anymore than anyone else but I prefer to see life as random - a necessary condition of our mortal existence. I would never say to another human being in the midst of any sorrow or tragedy that this is by "divine design" or "for your own good". That would be cruel. 

But at the same time I find comfort in knowing the plan of salvation. Earth itself is not a random happening. The creation of this planet for our mortal probation was by divine design. There is meaning and purpose to be found in this experience. And as the Lord said to Joseph in liberty jail:

And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep, if the billowing surge conspire against thee, if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way, and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know this, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. . . 

Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee, for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.

I trust - I really do - that we will look back at our Earth experience and see that it truly allowed us to grow and become more like God - more patient, more humble, long-suffering, filled with greater love and compassion. Having experienced evil, we will reject it and choose goodness. We will not be just children doing what we are told, but mature beings who now know why. That "why" will have transformed us. Our hearts will have been broken somewhere along the way and hopefully we will have discovered the One who is mender of all things broken.

I believe that much of that mending is done on the other side. It has to because of the countless lives that end in the upheavals of nature and by the hand of evil men. There was no joy to follow the morning for so many - not here on Earth. But there will be. . .

I personally like the philosophy of Rabbi Harold Kushner in his book, Why Bad Things Happen to Good People. ( p. 127)

"If we let go of making God responsible for everything that happens in life, then we can let go of all the problems that thinking causes: 

• You didn't get what you prayed for because you didn't deserve it.
• You didn't get what you prayed for because you didn't pray hard enough.
• You didn't get what you prayed for because God knows what is best for you better than you do.
• You didn't get what you prayed for because someone else's is prayer for the opposite result was more worthy.
• You didn't get what you prayed for because prayer is a sham, God doesn't hear prayers.
• You didn't get what you prayed for because there is no God."

I've heard so many reasons why we don't get what we pray for. Not the right time, need to pray longer to prove to God we really want it. We need more faith. We need to prove our worthiness before He will listen to us. I've even heard well-meaning people say that we have to be more specific and how we word our prayers. Hogwash!!

The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that God has given us agency and God does not interfere with our agency. Life on Earth is a trial - not that we are on trial but that life here is difficult. The Gospel was given to us to help us and strengthen us during this mortal time.

Prayer, likewise, is meant to help us find strength and courage for the task.

There is a beautiful quote on page 141 of Kushner's book. He says, "We don't have to beg or bribe God to give us strength or hope or patience. We need only turn to him, admit that we can't do this on our own, and understand that bravely bearing up under adversity is one of the most human, and one of the most godly things we can ever do. One of the things that constantly reassures me that God is real, and not just an idea that religious leaders made up, is the fact that people who pray for strength, hope, and courage so often find resources of strength, hope and courage that they did not have before they prayed."

I called this type of prayer "the prayer that cannot fail". When we pray for things, for circumstances to change, for the agency of others to be overridden in favor of what we want, etc., etc. we have learned to add that prayer the words nevertheless "Thine will be done."which in fact and knowledge is we may not get what we prayed for. It also helps us to accept whatever the outcome will be.

But when we pray for spiritual gifts - for strength, courage, the ability to forgive, for charity, for increased faith or hope, and we are sincere or as Mormon puts it, "Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart", then the Lord will bestow those gifts.

And these gifts he bestows equally to all who ask - for all are alike unto God.

As we grow older those gifts are critical. We cannot ask God to turn back the clock for us. We cannot escape the fact that our bodies are wearing out. We learned the futility of praying for such. We seek strength to face one day at a time and we spend much time expressing gratitude for all we have for everything becomes more and more precious as the years go by.

Hymn # 145 Prayer is the Soul's Sincere Desire

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire

Uttered or unexpressed, 

The motion of a hidden fire

That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,

The falling of a tear, 

The upward glancing of an eye

When none but God is near.

Psalm 36:7-9 The Loving God

Psalm 36:7-9

How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God, therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.  They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.  For with thee is the fountain of life: and thy light shall we see light.

I believe with my whole heart that the most important thing we must teach our children about about God is that He loves us unconditionally. He always has and always will. He is our Loving Father in Heaven. The only reason why anyone should follow His teachings, keep His commandments, make covenants with Him is that they have come to know His love and have learned to trust Him.

Only then are they free to find joy in living the gospel. They can live a principle free of fear, free of retribution, and learn for themselves the joy that comes from so living.

When we don't know what to do in a situation, but we know the Lord loves us, then we can go to the scriptures, His word, or we go to Him in prayer seeking understanding and guidance - because we trust Him. We find there what the Psalmist calls "light". His light becomes our light. It lights our path to the challenges of life.

As I look back over my own life, I know that as a little child I lovee Jesus and I knew He loved me. Somewhere along the way I became conflicted over the nature of God the Father. I was afraid of him and grateful that Jesus was my intercessor.

When I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I carried that baggage along with me. That is why I cried when the Young Women theme was introduced, beginning with, "I am the daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me and I love Him". That is why I love the book, The God Who Weeps. That is why the first and most basic lesson in Preach my Gospel is "God is our loving Heavenly Father".

That loving God is the only God worthy of our trust and our devotion.

So how do we help our children to know and feel his love? Here are some thoughts: 

1. We model God's love. We model his attributes and when we err, we asked our kids to forgive us.

2. We must be happy living the gospel and express that joy comes from its principles so our kids will know what it is we are feeling. Our testimonies can't be general statements like "I know the church is true". They must be specific and let our kids know exactly what we know, how it affects us, and the joy it brings.

"I pay tithing because I find great joy in helping to build God's kingdom here on earth." "Fasting is hard but it feels good to feel hunger and remind myself that others feel this way all the time.  My contribution helps those people."  

3. When we read scriptures as a family we have to discuss what we read. We have to give our kids the tools to deal with the angry God, the God who punishes whole cities with destruction, the God who seemingly only loves us when we do good and please Him. If we read those scriptures and say nothing about them - then we infer that say they are true. We must help our children see God's love in the scriptures.

4. We fill our homes with beautiful gospel music that teaches His love; joyful songs that allow you to feel that love. Those hymns and songs are abundant in our hymnbook and in the children's songbook.  These are but a sampling.   There are so many. . .

I Feel my Savior's Love

My Heavenly Father Loves Me

Our Savior's Love

There is Beauty All Around

He Sent His Son

How Firm a Foundation

How Great Thou Art

The Lord is My Light

The Lord My Pasture Will Prepare

Come Unto Him

Come Ye Disconsolate

Come Unto Jesus

Be Still My Soul

When Faith Endures

I Believe in Christ

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee

I Stand all Amazed

Because I Have Been Given Much

Lord, I Would Follow Thee

Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd

There is Sunshine in my Soul Today

O Love That Glorifies the Don

I am a Child of God

I Know my Father Lives

Teach Me to Walk 

Psalm 40:4 Standing Up for your Beliefs

Psalm 40:4 

Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

Yesterday Senator Jeff flake of Arizona demonstrated what this verse is describing. Senator Flake gave his speech in the US Senate asking people to stop pretending nothing bad is happening with our chief executive. He called for a return to the values the United States has always stood for. It was a bold and risky move. He knows it is the end of his political career in the Trump era but he had to do it. He chose principal over popularity. He declared, "We never, ever should lend support to someone who is doing something wrong no matter who that person is." He decried the constant barrage of lies that are thrown around in Washington under the current administration.

It sounds easy just to base your life on true principles. But in reality whether it is Jeff Flake who is unhappy with the government or someone facing an indiscretion at his job,  life has a way of forcing us to make choices and re-evaluate the principles we base our lives on. We  define who we are by those choices. "The proof is in the pudding", as my mom would say.

Today I'm grateful for the courage of Senator Flake to speak up for his convictions. It is the kind of thing you expect a member of the church to do.  Surely he has been guided by the hymn, Choose the Right, which he has sung countless times in his life.

Psalm 41:1- 3 He Considereth the Poor

Psalm 41:1- 3

Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the Earth, and thou will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

It is interesting that as you read scriptures daily, you start to see connections and gain insights into things going on in your own life.

Last evening we attended the annual interfaith awards dinner and were blessed to hear the stories of people who "considereth the poor". I came home uplifted and renewed in my own commitment to make a difference in the world.

Matthew 5:45 
For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.

We don't do good works because we expect a reward, because we think the Lord will preserve our life or protect us from all evil.

We do good works because we love God's children and want to bless them. We do good works because it is our way of thanking our Father in Heaven for all the blessings He has given us. The reward is seeing lives change, and helping another see a glimmer of hope, in bringing light into the darkness of despair. The work is the reward and we seek none other. 

That was the greatness we saw as we heard the stories of the two men who were honored last evening.

Because I Have Been Given Much

Because I have been given much, I too must give;

Because of thy great bounty, Lord, each day I live;

I shall divide my gifts from thee

With every brother that I see

Who has the need of help from me.

Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care;

I cannot see another’s lack and I not share;

My glowing fire, my loaf of bread,

my roof's safe shelter overhead

That he too may be comforted.

Because I have been blessed by thy great love dear Lord;

I’ll share thy love again according to thy word;

I shall give love to those in need,

I’ll show that love by word and deed;

Thus shall my thanks be thanks in deed.

Music by Phillip Landgrave (1975)

Lyrics by Grace Noll Crowell (1936)

Psalms 42 and 43 Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

There is something in us that yearns for times of peace and joy. We believe in our core that life should be trouble-free. Hardship of any kind is a disruption of life hyphen and unwelcome guests.

When adversity comes like the Psalmist we cry out, "Why has thou forsaken me? Why go I morning because of the oppression of the enemy?" (Psalm 42:9 and 43:2)

I think that we all share this experience and that it is very normal to feel that God has forgotten us. Adversity is so lonely. It is something we feel deeply in our soul - something no other person can heal. Our response to adversity is a combination of so many things. We may discover uncontrolled thoughts and feelings we've never had before. We may have to confront belief systems that now do us an injustice. We may have to challenge religious understandings that are immature. Or maybe just have to endure a grief process that takes time.

During these times writing our thoughts in a journal helps us to get to know ourselves better.  It is a time of defining (or redefining) who we are.  

We thought our testimony was strong enough to handle life's challenges and now we wonder if God is even real.  "Where is He now that I really need Him."

Sometimes we want answers - we want to know, "Why this is happening - and especially why it is happening to me? I thought God loved me."

I would hope that we would eventually reach the same place this psalmist reaches as we read his words in the final verse of each of these chapters:  "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance countenance, and my God."

Eventually, and hopefully, we will reach a place where we will ask ourselves, "Why am I doing this to myself? My demands for answers, for retribution, for miracles, for evidence are all preventing me from feeling the healing and comfort that comes from God. He alone knows and understands the pain I am feeling. It is time to let go and invite Him into my life."

In Psalm 42 it begins with a lovely verse, "As the hart (male deer) panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." Then he continues in verse two, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God..."

For me (and I cannot speak for others) - but for me I had to let go of so much anger before I was willing to allow the Lord into my life and feel His healing power. I finally truly thirsted.

Jesus knew that we would need that spiritual strength. Remember His words to the woman of Samaria at the well,  "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

I like this music video a lot. I am not the only one who lost hope for awhile.  When life seems to fall apart and hope seems to disappear, let your soul be still and remember that God never leaves you. Watch it here at this link:   Be Still, My Soul

Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;

With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly friend

Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake

To guide the future as he has the past.

Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know

His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: The hour is hast’ning on

When we shall be forever with the Lord,

When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,

All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Text: Katharina von Schlegel, b. 1697; trans. by Jane Borthwick, 1813–1897.

Music: Jean Sibelius, 1865–1957.

Psalm 56

Faith is not faith until it is tested.  It is easy to express faith from our comfortable times.  It is in our darkest hours, though, that faith is meant to strengthen us, to buoy us up.

Yet there is something in us that revolts at times of trouble.  We think there should be no problems - that problems are terrible injustices that must be eradicated like cockroaches in the kitchen or mice in the cellar.  We somehow, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, believe that faith is an act we perform that results in the perfect life; free of all conflict, all problems.

Why do we persist in such simplistic childlike ways of seeing life?  Why do we crave that life of ease?  I think it is because way deep down in our souls, we remember heaven.  We know and we long for heaven.  It was our beginning and it will be our end.

This in-between act in the play is the difficult one.  We are being pushed and pulled and stretched and humbled and taught in what my dad would have called "the school of hard knocks."  Life is tough. Just look at the United States right now.  Forty-eight wildfires are raging in the mountain states. People are losing their homes.  It is predicted that 450.000 people in Texas and Louisiana have had home damage from Hurricane Harvey but Hurricane Irma is on its way now and is expected to hit Florida.  I read the other day in the Deseret News that one third of material on the internet is pornography.  Just look at any family and you see problems galore.  Life (act 2) is difficult.

What does Psalm 56 have to say?  (verse 3,4,8,9)

When I am afraid, I will trust in thee.  I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Thou knowest my wanderings; put thou my tears into thy bottle; are they not in thy book? This I know. God is with me.

This is a very different kind of faith.  Trust seems like the key word.  And verse nine suggests testimony or prior experience that has led us to personally have experienced God in our lives.

We can create an affirmation from those verses:

You may have recognized the influence of D&C 122:7  . . . know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.  Also Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.

Elder Holland in his chapter on Psalm 56 chose verse 9 as the key "God is for us."

Just think what that means.  God is for us.  He loves us, He will always love us.  He is always watching us.  Everything He does is intended to bring us home.  He wants to bless and exalt us.

These are the most basic of Gospel principles.  I am a Child of God. . . He has sent me here . . . to live with Him someday.   For this reason HE Sent His Son.

If I truly believe that, then what is it that I know?

I know that. . .
God is my loving Heavenly Father
I am His child,.
He wants me back home
He sent His Son to help me.
He watches me every day.
He will always be with me; I am never alone.
I will return home much changed as I humbly seek to learn and grow from every experience.
My mistakes will never prevent me from returning - because of my Savior.

With that kind of personal conviction, I can exercise faith in every footstep whether those steps take me through garden paths or the pits of hell.  God is with me.

What a beautiful thought!  As Elder Holland say, "That truth had to be seared into our hearts, written in bold letters across the tissue of our brains, and never forgotten."

I know that.  I know God lives and that He loves me.  He has been with me through many ups and downs, has loved me at my worst and carried me through my own storms of life.  I love how Elder Holland says "He loves us.  He is our Heavenly Father.  He never sleeps, nor slumbers in His watch-care over us.  His work and His glory are to save us, to exalt us, to see us safely home with Him."

I know that path home and have felt His arms guiding me back to that path when I have wandered. But He left me wandering long enough that I would gain the experience I needed so I was ready to return.  I am grateful that He trusted me enough to let me have those experiences and to learn from them.  I am thankful that through the Savior those wanderings have not become road blocks.  I am grateful for Father's love for me.

Psalm 57:1

Psalm 57:1
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee; yes, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpast.

Once again we see a phrase that is so beautiful and poetic. It just reaches past the mind into our heart. Sometimes we wish for the "wings of the dove" so we can just escape. But sometimes we just want the Lord to wrap us in his arms and hold us - let us feel safe until the storm is past. Both phrases have been used over and over because those words themselves bring comfort.

This song is by the Parish family: Shadow of Thy Wings

Your grace abounds when my faith is weak,

I'm but a child here at your feet.

I give to you my everything.

Lord, safely hide me in the shadow of thy wings.

In the Shadow of Thy Wings

I know a place I can always run to

In times of distress, confusion, fear.

When my enemies surround me

I know I'm safe, for you keep me

And hide me in the shadow of your wings.

In the shadow of your wings

I know I am safe

In the shadow of your wings

I find relief, for you hold me

You will hold me and guide me

With your righteous hand

I find rest, peace of mind

In the shadow of thy wings.

Similar songs everything with the words "If I had the Wings of a Dove"

Imagery like this is compelling. In just a few words we find our longing for God's peace eloquently described. We instantly relate.

The Savior said "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Not as the world giveth - what peace does the world offer? That is quite the question in 2017. We are players on a stage that is constantly being changed and or manipulated by forces we cannot control. Politics and economics drive the world around us and our lives and fortunes are affected by people we may not even know exists. The forces of nature rise up against us. There is no wall we can erect to keep them at bay. 

Peace comes after a war but then war comes after the peace. The song "Where Have all the Flowers Gone" reminds us of that cycle. And it is not so very long in passing. War follows war and the periods of peace get shorter and shorter.

Afghanistan, 2001 - present
Operation Enduring  Freedom or the War on Terror began back in 1998. Al-Qaeda and now ISIS, the war continues.

Ongoing wars continue worldwide:

Burundi

Central African republic

Chad and the Sudan

Chechnya vs Russia

Columbia

Ivory coast

Darfur

Ethiopia Somalia

El Salvador's civil unrest

Iraq

Syria

Lebanon and Saudi Arabia now have civil unrest and internal conflict

North Korea threatens atomic war

Libya struggles

The US government issues travel warnings to help us so that we don't ignorantly walk into bad situations. The 2017 list includes the following nations: Togo, Niger, Venezuela, Sudan, Syria, Mexico, Somalia, Philippines, Burundi, Iraq, Pakistan, Israel, Afghanistan, Libya, Congo Congo, Mauritania, Cameroon, Cuba, Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Mali, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Yemen, Nigeria, Lebanon, Honduras, Eritrea, Haiti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, North Korea, Egypt, Ukraine, Columbia, Chad, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, El Salvador.

No wonder I find myself having disturbing dreams all too often. The world is a scary place. We have to be oh, so careful.

In June of 2017 there was a Trafficking in Persons report from the US department of State. It includes:

Sex trafficking

Child sex trafficking

Forced labor

Bonded labor

Debt bondage

Domestic servitude

Forced child labor

Unlawful use of child soldiers

We always thought this was a third world country problem but June 2017 found 1,000 arrests around the United States for trafficking. Sadly our own area here in Michigan has turned out to be the second worst trafficking place in the nation. In last October 84 minors were rescued and 120 traffickers arrested. The average age of the minor was 15.

The whole operation was part of an international scheme involving Canada, the UK, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines, unbelievable that this could happen in the United States. Unbelievable that a market exists that encourages child sex trafficking, What has happened to our moral base?

Yes, I for one, am seeking a place of refuge - a place to daily restore my spirit and find peace. I long to be under the "Shadow of His Wings"; to find that peace that passes all understanding. As much as I would like to "fly away" - there is no place left to go, the world has gone mad. God alone is my refuge.

Hymn #102 Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Jesus, lover of my soul

Let me to thy bosom fly

While the nearer waters roll,

While the tempest still is nigh.

Hide me oh, My Savior, hide

Til the storm of life is past.

Safe into the haven guide

O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none

Hangs my helpless soul on thee.

Leave, oh leave, me not alone

Still support and comfort me.

All my trust on thee is stayed.

All my help from thee I bring.

Cover my defenseless head

With the shadow of thy wing.

Psalm 59:1-2, 5, 13

Psalm 59:1-2, 5

Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.

Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.

Thou therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors.

Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be.

Okay, you'll have to forgive me this morning as I regress and contradict myself. Today I wish the Lord could and would destroy the wicked of the world. I am so sickened by the news each day. Why is there so much evil in the world? I should like to see them punished for their deeds. Immediately!

Examples:

Sexual harassment

I hope women continue to open up and share their stories and that a whole slew of perpetrators lose their jobs and can't get another one ever!!  I was going to say until they successfully go through a treatment program but I forgot - today I seek no mercy - only punishment. I am sick of it all!

How about human trafficking? Those people deserve no mercy!! That is EVIL INCARNATE!

I place in the same list leaders who play with nuclear weapons. What are they thinking? The shame of nuclear armament comes back to the United States. The horror of it is unimaginable! How could man create such a weapon? No mercy - no mercy. It's time to end such behavior. Lord, why can't you just stop this?

Mass shootings? I blame not just those who kill but those who make the weapons, those who sell them, those who write laws allowing it. I blame those who argue"constitutional rights". They all own a part of every death. Let them answer for their rolls. Let it end.

And what about corruption in government? And what about government leaders who have the power to positively impact the lives of ordinary people yet succumb to the pressures of special interest? Maybe they should wear a Scarlet Letter or have to tell the story of their shame to each new person they meet. Just let there be consequences. Why do the innocent suffer instead?

I am mad at a system of economics that is corrupted by greed. The Lord has said "there is enough and to spare" but we live at a time where something like 5% of the people control 90% of the wealth. When wealth is divorced from responsibility to others it is just wrong.

Legislators have the power to change that. Corporations have the power to create jobs. They have the responsibility to pay wages that are respectable.

No one should be nice be denied health care. That is also wrong. Everyone needs a roof over their head. What has happened to create a world so calloused to the needs of others?

Why is Puerto Rico not getting instant help to get their power restored? Why do we turn our backs on those in need? How can there be 65 million displaced persons?

I could go on and on. It does not end. There needs to be consequences to those who are at fault. Today I wish God could just visit the Earth with a cleansing of the wicked. May their deeds be brought to light - in the news, posted on billboards. Tell the truth about them. Let their stories come to light and may we all react with shock and disgust. May we demand a better world where truth and kindness reign and no mercy - no excuses - to those who commit these awful deeds.

Psalm 61:1-2

Psalm 61: 1-2

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

To all there comes a realization that we are limited, powerless over many things. To the addict it is the addiction he cannot control. To parents of a wayward child, it is that prodigal. For many it is the forces of nature that rise up against them. They must flee or die.

I know that feeling. "My heart is overwhelmed", writes the psalmist. Don't we all feel that way at times? Overwhelmed by too many things to do. Overwhelmed by the cost of living. Overwhelmed by grief. Overwhelmed by trying to care for aging parents and teenagers at the same time. There is not enough of time, of money, of resources, of energy, of support.

And so the psalmist pleas, "lead me to the rock that is higher than I".

Step 1 of addiction recovery says "admitted that we ourselves are powerless, nothing without God." "I, of myself, and powerless - nothing without God."

Those words are echoed in the Book of Mormon. In Mosiah 4: 5-6, King Benjamin is speaking to "My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people" asking if they have been "awakened to a sense of your nothingness, and you are worthless and fallen state." 

Have they realized how powerless they are? He then points them to"the goodness of God and his matchless power and his wisdom, and his patience" that they might "put his trust in the Lord."

We read Ammon repeat that theme in Alma 25:12. "Yea, I know that I am nothing as to my own strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself but I will boast of my God."

How do we balance this theme with the knowledge of our divine nature, of our own gifts and talents, of the spiritual gifts that have been given to each of us? The Lord expects us to contribute to the world and use these gifts to make a difference. We should step forward and offer those gifts with confidence in ourselves.

As my husband and I have served in a church welfare initiative, we've had to take a look at the economic classes that coexist in American culture. As we studied "Bridges Out of Poverty", and compared the culture of poverty to the culture of the middle class we came to understand that the difference lay in "skills, knowledge and resources." The poor have few of these.

The question I had to ask myself was "Why did I have access to so many resources?" The answer was humbling. I had the skills, knowledge and resources to become self-reliant and provide for myself because of all the adults in my life who taught those to me. I had parents who taught me to work and be responsible. I had an extended family who has showed me I could succeed by modeling success and praising my successes. I had teachers in school who had high expectations for me and prepared me for college. I had connections through friends and family to my first employment opportunities. I am not a self-made person.

Out of the efforts of all those people a young woman of sharp intellect and a tender heart grew. I had the potential. I needed the skills, knowledge and resources to take that potential and create a useful life out of it.

My own unique character blossomed and I could then offer my gifts in my own way to the world. I am unique - one of a kind, but nurtured along the way by such loving mentors.

I have pride in my accomplishments and joy in using and sharing my talents. But what would I be had I not have those loving mentors and family? I kid myself not. I don't know what I would be.

There is a quote in the book "He Did Deliver Me from Bondage" that says, "We must come to realize that no matter how rich or educated or talented we become in ways that impress other people, we are still totally upheld by the power of God and God alone."

I know that for myself. I had so much opportunity in life and have been richly blessed. But my personal life - my inner life has been a struggle. The road I have traveled has been up and down, one step forward, two steps back. Life is brought much loss - a baby, a husband, my parents. I have known uncontrolled anger and grief and have been powerless to rise above them. My own path to healing came only when I finally admitted I could not do it alone.

My path at last led me to "the rock that is higher than I." My greatest joy in life is my testimony that God lives and cares for me. I am not alone. My weakness is compensated by His greatness. Together we can accomplish good things.

Higher Ground

Barbra Streisand

Walk me over this horizon 

Let the sun's light warm my face 

Once again the times are changin' 

Once again I lost my way .

Well the words of ancient poets 

Fall like dust upon my shoes 

Greed has robbed me of my vision 

Turned my heart from higher truths.

So take my hand and lift me higher 

Be my love and my desire 

Hold me safe and honor bound 

Take my heart to higher ground.

I have walked too long in darkness 

I have walked too long alone 

Blindly clutching fists of diamonds 

That I found were only stones. 

I would trade the world of ages 

For a warmer hand to hold 

The path of light is narrow 

But it leads to streets of gold.

So take my hand and lift me higher 

Be my love and my desire 

Hold me safe and honor bound 

Take my heart to higher ground.