150 Stories to Live, 150 Parts to Play

 

Today is April 30. This morning I’ve read and pondered Psalms 30 and 60. I did this on January 30 and, the Lord willing, I will do so on July 30 and October 30. If I live through 2027, the Lord willing, I will read Psalm 30 and 60 on those dates as well. Perhaps when I arrive in the glorious City I will ask, “May I please have a Bible and a calendar?” Well, maybe not, but you get my point.

 

My Bible reading rhythm has changed throughout the years, according to my season of life, according to my sense in the Holy Spirit. I realize that we are all different and that what appeals to me may not be comfortable to you – and yet I do think there are attitudes and practices that ought to be common to us all. I am not a believer in doing what I “feel” like doing. I am very much a believer in being led by the Holy Spirit, recognizing that being led by the Holy Spirit includes being taught disciplines and practices and ways of living in Christ Jesus, after all…we are supposed to be disciples, and I don’t think we can separate the words disciple and discipline.

 

Well, as I’ve pointed out, today is April 30. As some of you know, since March 10 Vickie and I have been in challenging waters, waters in which I almost lost my dear wife. While we are no longer in the heart of the storm, we continue to sail in uncharted waters and must pay attention to the skies and the currents – we must be attentive.

 

If you ask me what psalms I read on March 10 I can tell you. If you ask me what psalms I read on March 29 I can tell you that. I don’t need to look at a calendar, for I’ve been reading the same psalms on March 29 for a long, long time.

 

Every psalm is a friend to me, every psalm is a story, every psalm invites me to play a part in it. When I opened my Bible this morning and began Psalm 30, I could say, “Ah, it’s you old friend. Good morning.”

 

As we were exiting the hurricane a few days ago, I realized how the Psalms have been an anchor of my soul in our dear Lord Jesus, keeping me steadfastly “within the veil” (Heb. 6:19). Whether or not I read anything else on a particular day of our testing, I read the Psalms, and in the Psalms I found Jesus, I found comfort, I found hope, I found His Presence coming to me, always coming to me and to my dear wife.

 

There are normally a few balls in the air in my Bible reading, meaning that I am usually reading in a few places, but the Psalms are the constant, always the constant.

 

In Psalms we find the human condition, and we also find our dear Lord Jesus with us in the human condition. In Psalms our condition is transformed into His image, and His Presence envelopes us, enfolds us, sings to us, caresses us, weeps with us, and rejoices with us. We suffer in the Psalms, and we find healing in the Psalms, we experience the Cross and the Resurrection; we know temporary defeat and eternal victory.

 

When our souls are anchored in God’s Word, God’s Word is anchored in our souls.