Psalms

The Books of Psalms


A Rewrite of Psalm 25

My life is in your hands, O LORD.
I place my trust in you.
Do not allow me to be dishonored
for I have honored you.
I need your help, O LORD,
show me what to do.
You are the God who saves,
rescue me with your truth.
All day long, I place my hope and my trust in you.
Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth
for you are a God rich in mercy and full of compassion and unfailing love.
O LORD, you are good and you always do what is right.
When your people drift off course, you lead them back in the right direction.
You teach the humble your ways
and lead them to do what is right.
All those who obey you and your commands
will be led by you with faithfulness and unfailing love.
For your honor, O LORD,
forgive me of all my sins.
You, O LORD, will lead those who fear you in the right direction.
You will be a friend to them.
You will teach them the covenant you have made with them
and lead them into a life of prosperity.
Right now, my eyes are fixed upon you, O LORD!
I place my hope and my trust in you!
You have always rescued me from my troubles in the past,
and I trust you will save me from my troubles now!
As you can see, I am alone and in great distress!
I am surrounded by enemies who are trying to harm me!
Look upon me now, O LORD!
I need your help!
My situation seems to go from bad to worse!
I cannot defend myself!
You are my Defender!
Defend me!
I cannot protect myself!
You are my Protector!
Protect me!
I cannot rescue myself!
You are my Rescuer!
Rescue me!
I place all of my hope and my trust in you.
Save us from all of our troubles!


A Psalm To Our Father

Thank you God for being our God!
You are such a good, good God!
Thank you Father for adopting us into Your family!
We are now Your sons and we are now Your daughters!
Thank you Father for teaching us what to do and what not to do!
Thank you Father for blessing us when we have been obedient to you!
Thank you Father for punishing us when we have been disobedient to you!
Thank you Father for disciplining us and for loving us the way that you do!
Thank you Father for helping us become more and more like you!
Thank you Father for giving us such good gifts!
Thank you Father for giving us the greatest gift of all -
The gift of spending now through eternity with you!


An Application to the Books of Psalms

In preparation for this assignment on the books of Psalms, I decided to read through all 150 Psalms in one day.  I am so very glad I did so! One of the main themes that stood out to me was the idea of praising the LORD.  We all have so, so much to praise the LORD for!  My application to the Books of Psalms is to write out my own psalm as well as thank the LORD for who He is and what He has been doing in my life.  I realize that I have much to be thankful for!

I'd like to share just a brief example of what the LORD has been doing in my life.  Approximately one year ago, I hit rock bottom as a staff member here at YWAM Kona.  I had failed in different areas of my life.  For example, I had failed in the area of personal finances and fundraising.  At one point, I was still living on campus and my financial debt to the campus had surpassed $2000!  For this reason and others, I decided to text the following words to my supervisor, "I will go."  I did not know where I would go to but I strongly felt that I should go. I really did not think that I should be allowed to live on campus at that time. Fortunately, my supervisor received my text and he immediately called me back.  We talked and we worked on suitable solution together - with God!  This moment marked the beginning of a very dramatic turn around in my life.  Soon afterward, I was able to move off-campus into the Kona Mansions with three of my friends. I temporarily worked part-time off-campus while serving full-time on-campus in the Gateway office.  In March of 2013, I began staffing the Go Asia DTS.  Near the end of June, God allowed me to co-lead a bilingual English-Korean outreach team to South Korea, Togo (Africa), and China! After two months of outreach, God  led me on an exciting journey with Him throughout Asia - South Korea, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Japan!  I was able to travel to many different places and visit with many different friends throughout Asia! On my way back to YWAM Kona, I was able to enjoy three days and nights in Honolulu, Hawaii! I was finally able to visit the YWAM Honolulu campus and reconnect with some of my old friends!  I then flew to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii and arrived at YWAM Kona on Arrival Day (Thursday, September 26th, 2013) as a Discipleship Bible School (DBS) student!  Four weeks later, all of my DBS school fees have been paid for thanks to the support of friends and the approval of my staff scholarship!  As I reflect upon all that has happened in my life over the past year or so, I realize once again that I have much to be thankful for! God is all powerful! God is faithful! God is merciful! God is compassionate! God is loving! God is full of grace! God is our Provider! God is our Comforter! God is our wonderful Counselor! God is all these things and so much more! God is good! God is truly the One who deserves all of the honor and the glory! Thank you God for being our God!