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Age 11-13

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 25, 2020

Significant Changes

 

It was getting on towards Thanksgiving and I was eleven. My siblings and I bounded out of the car at our uncle’s house and were immediately surrounded by our cousins.

“Hey,” said my cousin Malcolm, “Come and see what I’ve got!”  He led the way around to the back of the house.  There on the picnic table were two army helmets from his father’s service days, and a BB gun.

“Did you bring your gun, Steve?” he asked.  I held up the shiny new BB gun I’d gotten five months earlier for my birthday.

“Good.  Let’s pretend we’re at war and shoot to hit the helmet on the other guy’s head!”

That sounded like an interesting proposition.  We took turns wearing the helmets and shooting at each other.  The “ping” of the BBs deflecting off the helmet made us feel like we were in a real war.

Then one shot went astray, hitting Malcolm’s little finger.  He jumped up and down, alternately waving his hand in the air, and sucking on the injured finger.

We should have known to quit then, but decided to have one more round.  I donned one helmet and lay down, taking aim at the other helmet-covered head.  “Ping, ping, ping.”

Finally I had had enough, and stood up saying, “I quit.”  The other boy pulled his trigger one more time and suddenly a stabbing pain shot from my eye into my head. Brilliant colors surged across my sight as my eye pulsated from the hit of the BB.

Everyone was suddenly very quiet as I clutched my head and moaned. Immediately we gathered everything up and all went back to the house. No one said anything to the adults.

Finally my mother noticed me rubbing my eye and when she looked at it, saw the red spot where it had been hit.  Then the whole story came out and off we went to the emergency room.

I was admitted to the hospital and spent two days lying on my back in an effort to keep the blood in the eyeball from settling over the pupil, but to no avail.  When I left the hospital, I had no sight in my right eye: the pupil was now an opaque grey.

Having sight in only one eye meant that I now had no depth perception and had to relearn just about everything. Even eating was hard: when I moved the fork towards my mouth, it would go out of my sight and I would frequently miss my mouth. I’d often pour water beside the glass rather than in it.  Hitting a baseball and shooting a basketball were much more difficult now.

I was handicapped but also peculiarly felt that I was positively different from other kids because of it. Insecurity drives us to interesting ways of thinking: any form of “specialness” gave me a sense of having an edge over others, even if it was a handicap.

My mother felt especially bad about my loss of eyesight and blamed herself for this accident because she had consented to my having a BB gun.

None of us realized, however that this accident, the result of childish play, was allowed by God to save my life and give me a different direction in the future.

 

It was the first day of 7th grade and we were all sitting in our classroom talking. Suddenly the door banged open and the new teacher strode in.

“Shut up!” he said.

When some of us ignored his order, we were immediately hauled up to the black board and told to put our noses on it until we were ready to sit still and listen!

Mr. Gauthier was fresh out of the Marines and from one year of teaching in Boston; he was as tough as they came. And we loved him. He was the first really strong male role model we’d had in grammar school and we were willing and eager to follow him.

Being extremely creative, he took us “out of the box” in many ways. He had us read literature that stretched us, like the Ancient Mariner.  He made us memorize all the US Presidents, the years they served, their parties and state of birth. He taught us how to take notes, how to make an outline and how to study.

He had us reenact the battle of Gettysburg on the playground, allowing us to bring old rifles to school and march around the “battlefield.”

The day the Berlin Wall went up, he had us sitting out under the trees talking about its impact. He was always discussing current events. He made us think.

He was also our football and basketball coach, teaching us about teamwork, about thinking on our feet and following directions.

I thought of him often in my first year of teaching: “What would Mr. Gauthier do in this situation?” I’d ask myself. He was another gift in the preparation God was building into my life.

 

Mr. Gauthier’s good teaching was unable, however, to fully overcome my difficulty with academics. Each day after school I still had to carefully go over all the material presented in class, trying to understand each concept. It took a lot of work to make it sink in.

I struggled especially with math, and had almost stayed back in the fifth grade because of my weakness in that subject—that would have been disastrous, as my brother Les was in the grade behind me. But the Lord spared me that humiliation.

One of my favorite places to do my homework was the old desk up in the empty haymow of the cow barn and that’s where I retreated to work on my most difficult projects.

The assignment of a term paper in 8th grade hadn’t seemed so bad in the beginning, but it become a huge mountain in my mind—and more destructively, in my emotions.

I sat at the old desk with my note cards strewn over it, trying to bring them into some order. But pulling together all those references seemed beyond my ability and I felt hopelessly overwhelmed.

I stood up and climbed down out of the haymow to the barn floor. I decided it was better to do something I felt competent at, so I went to clean the gutters behind the cows.

As the term paper project progressed, I kept feeling that no matter how much I worked on it, I had never done enough.  There was no release, no sense of finishing something well. It just went on and on with no end in sight. I was trapped in the feeling that I would never complete this work, that I was incompetent, a total failure.

These feelings slowly etched themselves into my soul. They hovered over me like a shadow forming another part of the cage around my heart.

This was a prison I would dwell in for many years as I struggled with the sense of never reaching a completion of my work, never doing enough to measure up, never finishing well.

These negative feelings were joined by another lie that had become part of my emotional life: my worth comes from my work.  If I performed well, worth was there; when I was subpar in work or failed, then I felt worthless. As this struggle accompanied me into high school, a cloud of depression slowly began to form around me.

Picture: me at 8 years old

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Psalm 22:4-5

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 25, 2020
 
Psalm 22:4 “In you our fathers put their trust;”
[Throughout the history of Israel Abraham and Moses, Job and Joseph, David and Daniel, and many others looked to you in the midst of their trials, challenges and suffering.]
“they trusted and you delivered them.”
[They turned to you and were saved in and through their difficulties. This verse describes what you desire: a partnership with your children. You prepare things, then call us to trust, and when we do, you act. Without our joining you in trust, we hamper your giving us answers. As it says in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, AS YOU TRUST in him so that your lives may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Without that trust, joy and peace and hope won’t flow.]
Psalm 22:5 “They cried to you and were saved;”
[Trust is demonstrated by crying out to you first, not seeking answers elsewhere. If we trust in ourselves, or others, or circumstances, or luck, or culture (as Abraham did in producing a son by his own cleverness instead of waiting for God’s timing), God sits back and waits, allowing us to suffer the consequences of our poor decisions so that we might come to ourselves and turn to Him in trust (as Abraham did when God called him to sacrifice Isaac).]
“in you they trusted and were not disappointed.”
[You, the faithful One, always come through in the right way and at the right time, which is often very different from how and when we would like you to do it.
As it says in Psalm 46:5, “God is in her [Jerusalem then, but now He lives in us], she will not fall, He will save her at break of day.” We would like help to arrive before it gets dark instead of having to wait through the whole long, cold night—but you act at the right time and we can praise you while we wait.]
You, O Triune God, are our unfailing Rock, our unassailable Fortress, our undefeatable Deliverer. When the darkness closes in, when pain and sickness come, when disappointment dominates and failure flows, you are there, making sure we have enough grace, that we can move through in faith, giving you great glory in trust.
Praise you for these opportunities you give to fulfill the purpose for which we were created: giving you honor. And the most frequent and best way to do this is through giving praise and thanks before we get any answers, rejoicing in our weakness and your greatness, in our difficulties and your power.
As you said to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Then Paul responded with, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weakness SO THAT the power of Christ may rest on me.” He embraced his weakness, realizing it was partnering with you, and that it would open the way for your power to flow into his life.
I praise you now, Lord Jesus, for all you are doing in the unresolved things before us, with my wife’s depression, [from which she has since recovered] with the uncertainty of how to proceed. I praise you for your perfect timing, your help, protection, deliverance and guidance that will come. I see none of this now but know that you will provide at just the right time. Praise be to you forever and ever for who you are, for all you are doing and will do.
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(Untitled)

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 24, 2020
 
Psalm 22:1b “Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?’
[This is how David felt: he received no immediate answer to his prayer, had no sense of presence, no visible support, no help, no guidance. For David this was a feeling, but not true. This was also true for Jesus on the cross: when He became sin for us, You, Father, turned your back on him, you were far from Him. You did not save Him from this suffering, because you Three had a greater plan.
So it is with us, as with my wife Barbara in her depression, you send us through suffering because you have a bigger, wider plan than our being comfortable, a plan which will accomplish much more and in a better way than what we desire. You gave us the pattern for this in the life of Job, who, suffering seemingly senseless loss, was actually playing a huge role in the cosmic battle and in bringing future comfort to millions across the millennia.
Psalm 22:2 “O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and you are silent.”
[There are times when our prayers seem to go no further than the ceiling. These times are the of testing of our faith, a call to rest in the certainty of your goodness when there is no visible sign of it.
Jesus demonstrated this kind of faith on the cross and in His descent into death. Becoming sin for us, He was far from you, but in the midst of His separation He also trusted you fully, following through with your plan.
Glory be to you for your great wisdom and your persistence in carrying out your perfect plans. Help us to walk in faith, embracing those times of your silence, trusting you to act when the time is right.]
Psalm 22:3 “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;”
[David here reminds himself–and you, Lord–of who you are, the Perfect Presider, the Supreme Shepherd, the Righteous Ruler, the Glorious Guide, the Ever-faithful Father. The first thing we should do when we feel far from you, is to remember who you are–our great and good God.]
“you are the praise of Israel,” and of us!
[As we look over history and see how you faithfully protected, provided for and guided the Israelites through the centuries, it is so clear that you, in your unwavering love and care, are worthy of the praise of Israel.
And you are also worthy of our praise for your power and presence in our lives, for your goodness and grace, your faithfulness and fatherhood, your holiness and help, your greatness and glory.
In the light of this, we must praise you, O Lord God, for your complete knowledge, your deep wisdom, your mighty work, your powerful faithfulness, your persistent love and your unending goodness.
Today, whether I sense it or not, I can know that I am with you, that you love me, that you will guide me in the way I should go. I therefore surrender to you and praise you now for what you will do. May you be honored in my life this day as the Holy One, enthroned on high.]
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From EDIFIED!

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 22, 2020
“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”
Proverbs 4:18
 
From all outward appearances it had been a good day: a couple of positive discipleship lessons, business goals accomplished, and a warm, productive team meeting. However, inside I was in turmoil: dissatisfaction, anger, jealousy and negativity swirled around in my heart.
 
As soon as we got home from the team meeting I got out my journal and began to write about what I was feeling, lifting my soul to God. A string of emotions poured out on the page where I could look at them more objectively and begin to examine them in the light of Scripture.
 
The last few weeks Psalm 27:1 has been my springboard for worship: “The Lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear….” God is the One who brings light into our darkness; He illuminates our way, showing us what is causing us to stumble; He shows us the next step. Then, as we let Him, He moves to save us from what is threatening us.
 
In this case what was threatening me was my old self. After letting God shine the light of His Spirit down into my soul, what emerged as the root of all the turmoil was, surprise (!), my desire to be significant. And after our return from America I was having trouble fitting into things again.
 
This uncertainty was manifested by my craving to have control over the events and people around me–to be important because I was in charge. This desire is ungodly and destructive. Plus, having control of everything is an impossible goal, so I naturally ended up frustrated and angry.
 
Having shown me the source, God then led me to confess my unbelief and rebellion against the Truth, to reject this desire to be important through power and to surrender to His Word. He has already given me all the significance anyone could ever desire: created in the image of God, chosen before the foundation of the world, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, adopted into the family of God and equipped for special service to Him. I needed to start thinking and acting like who I am in Christ!
 
Another factor is that we were still in jetlag and had not recovered from a very intense, one-month trip. Low emotional and physical resources can lead to a skewed view of things. So, after dealing with the root cause, I took the evening off and did some relaxing and profitable reading before going to bed early.
 
Life is so complex from our viewpoint, while it can be quite simple when we look at it from God’s perspective. He gives light from His Word and Spirit while we need to take the time to look and listen through lifting our souls to Him by honest journaling, and then obey what we know to be right.
 
Prayer: “Lord, help me today to walk in the light of your Word, to think your thoughts, to make decisions that please you. Help me to continually surrender my will to yours. Amen.”
 
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Psalm 20:8-13

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 22, 2020
 
Psalm 21:8 “Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes.”
[You, Lord God, did just that in the resurrection of Christ, defeating the devil, death and destruction. And you will continue to act in righteous justice against those who oppose you, every one of them: Satan and his forces of demons, and all human beings who join him in rebellion against your Word, your Truth and your Character.]
Psalm 21:9 “At the time of your appearing you will make them like a fiery furnace. In his wrath the LORD will swallow them up, and his fire will consume them.”
[You will appear again, Lord Jesus–this is a certainty–and in your righteous wrath deal with those who oppose you–after having given every one of your human enemies the chance to believe, to respond to the light they have received (Rom. 1:19-20). Your judgment will be just. But only those who have accepted your gracious offer of salvation, whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will escape this judgment (Rev.20:15).]
Psalm 21:10-12, “You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from mankind. Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed; for you will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow.”
[You, Lord, will triumph, overcome all evil and win, destroying all that is against truth, goodness and you. “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord” (Prov. 21:30). “The Lord foils the plans of the nations and thwarts the purposes of the people, but the plans of the Lord stand firm forever and the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Ps 33:10-11).]
Psalm 21:13 “Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength;”
 
[You are strong, you are powerful, you are undefeatable, you will win over all your enemies. For this you deserve to be lifted up on high, exalted, honored and praised. We can be confident in your victories, past, present and future; we can rest in them and rejoice.]
“we will sing and praise your might.”
[We respond to these great truths with worship of you for your mighty, majestic, multifaceted power which will overcome all evil, sweeping it all into the lake of fire and sealing it forever. Then you will create the new Heaven and Earth, which will be the perfect paradise you intended, with no sin, no rebellion nor any evil to mar it.
Your righteous wrath will right the wrongs that ravished creation. You will bring goodness and grace to every atom, every galaxy, every part of creation. We praise you that you have included us, your children in this plan. Help us to consistently live in this majestic hope. To you be glory forever and ever. Amen!]
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Psalm 20:6-7

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 20, 2020

Psalm 21:6 “Surely you have granted him eternal blessings”

[You granted David the blessing of being an ancestor of Jesus and along with that, eternal life. You granted Jesus the blessing of the Resurrection and now He lives forever to intercede for those who believe in Him. And You grant us a rich, everlasting relationship with you, from which flow further blessings into our lives: grace, goodness, power, protection and wisdom, to name a few—all a foretaste of what we will have in eternity.]

“and made him glad with the joy of your presence.”

[To exult in your powerful and pure presence, Lord God, is to have joy! You, Heavenly Father, restored David’s relationship with you after his adultery. And in the Resurrection, you restored the fabric of the Trinity, which was torn when you turned away from Jesus as He became sin for us on the cross. Now in the God-head there is no end to your joyful, pristine relationships–the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’s rich unity–and your joy of being in the presence of each other.

And you also brought us into your presence, into your family, into your embrace when you made us your children, giving us gladness. Jesus after his discourse in John 15 said, “ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” This is His desire for us.]

Psalm 21:7 “For the king trusts in the LORD;”

[When David trusted in you, he was led on in paths of righteousness. Jesus trusted you in his time on earth. As a man He was totally vulnerable, absolutely weak, helpless in his humanness. But He was willing to be weak because He knew and trusted your pure, positive, perfect character. And you were proven true again in the Resurrection where He obeyed the you and submitted to the cross and death. And we can trust in Him because He trusted you.  Such trust is the doorway into the garden of His delights.

“through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken.”

[Your love Heavenly Father, did not fail, did not leave Jesus in the grave, but brought about the great victory over death, decay and the devil. And that “unfailingness” continues on in our lives, as you, the Most High, the Final Authority, the Almighty One, persist in your perfect love to protect us so we will never be shaken as we rest on the rock-solid reality of your rich and reliable character.

Praise be to you Lord God, Triune King, Gracious Shepherd, Mighty Warrior. Tender Father. To you be honor and glory and praise as I submit to and trust in your goodness today and on into eternity forever. Amen.]

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Psalm 21:4-5

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 19, 2020
Psalm 21:3 “You welcomed him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.”
[You crowned David as king, after his long wait of living as an outlaw. And you crowned Jesus as Savior, after His 30 year wait, His 3 years of intense work followed by his immense suffering. And every day you crown us as children of the King with love and compassion (Ps 104:4), continually pouring out abundant, good and gracious blessings on us.]
Psalm 21:4 “He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—length of days, forever and ever.”
[In his death, you granted Jesus resurrection; He rose to eternal life and then passes it on to all who believe in Him, David included. We, as your children, have eternity before us–length of days forever and ever–and can rejoice now in the certainty of it.]
Psalm 21:5 “Through the victories you gave, his glory is great;”
[David was given many victories, beginning with Goliath and spanning his whole reign. Jesus, in His incarnation was strengthened by God’s power and had one long string of victories: no sin, no failure, no defeats, only obedience and triumph in every temptation. Even the greatest possible defeat, death, led to the greatest possible victory—the resurrection destroying the power of death, the devil and destruction.
The great glory Jesus earned in His many victories He passes on to us, giving us the possibility of being victors, too, calling us to be more than conquerors with Him in His power (Rom. 8:37). He also wants to share His glory with us, as we triumph with Him through our faith (1 Pet 1:7).]
“you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.”
[David ruled in the golden age of Israel and now Jesus reigns in the church age from His throne on high as the mighty and majestic Ruler of creation and all beyond. You, Heavenly Father, have raised Him up above all principalities and powers, above all might and majesty, above all names and titles. You have seated Him, the eternal Victor, at your right hand to reign forever and ever.
Evil can now be eliminated and a new and sinless start can be had through our physical death, into the new Heaven and Earth. There the splendor and supremacy of Jesus will be endlessly on display and we will be forever with Him in His wonderful, wide and wise eternal love.]
Praise be to you, Heavenly Father, for revealing these things by the pen of David, by the triumph of Christ and by bringing us into your bountiful and beautiful Kingdom. Help us to live daily in this unseen reality, rejoicing in you, in your love for us and in the certainly of what you will bring.
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Years 9-11

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 18, 2020
In the summer of my ninth year, I got to go to a week long camp. On the last evening, I stood with my new friends around the campfire. By this time we were comfortable enough with each other to use all our forbidden vocabulary and were trying our best to impress each other.
 
I was quite proficient at this, having learned a lot of unprintable words from the hired hands on the farm and from friends at school. The other boys were very impressed with my vocabulary and I glowed in the warmth of both the fire and the admiration. I was not thinking much about God.
 
Fall came, and with it a series of special meetings at the church which my siblings and I attended. The speaker spoke a lot about “accepting Christ as your savior,” and one evening I bowed my head and asked Jesus to come into my life and save me. Very shortly after that, my use of forbidden words began to drop away.
 
I found myself becoming curious about what the Bible had to say and that year began a habit that has continued throughout my lifetime: reading a chapter a day in the Bible.
 
I began in Genesis and as I got into Numbers and Deuteronomy found some of it heavy going. At one point while reading about Old Testament food regulations, I wondered about whether I should eat ham any more. Then I nearly got bogged down in the long lists of names, but pressed on and made it through.
I also began to pray regularly. My parents, unaware of my negative, secret “other life,” including my unprintable vocabulary, did not particularly notice any change in their outwardly compliant, obedient son, but change had begun.
 
In the summer of my tenth year I strained to see over the dashboard of the old farm truck, my legs just long enough now to reach the pedals. The dirt road leading down the hill from the hayfields was rough, so I drove slowly, not wanting to lose any of the hay bales piled high on the back. I really enjoyed haying, especially when I got to drive the truck.
 
As I drove along, a quick movement caught my eye and I turned to see a huge spider that had spun its web near the floor on the passenger side of the truck cab. I was fascinated–and scared. I’d never seen such a large spider before.
 
Suddenly the truck started bouncing wildly, throwing me into the air. I pushed on the brakes as hard as I could and jolted to a stop. I jumped out to find that in watching the spider I had driven off the path into a pile of rocks.
 
Then I looked back at the load and my heart sank: half of the bales had fallen off the truck. What would Grandpa say if he saw this? Well, no need to even ask that question because I already knew the answer: there would be strong words of condemnation!
 
I struggled to get the bales back onto the truck, but when the load got near the top, I couldn’t throw them up high enough.
Then Dad came along with the tractor and rake, and after giving me a stern word– but certainly less stern than Grandpa’s would have been–helped me reload the remaining bales. I was relieved that I’d escaped any worse rebuke, but my soul smarted as I felt foolish for having driven off the road. I did not like feeling like a fool.
 
The five of us kids and Mom were having supper when she went to the stove to get something and looked out the window.
“Oh, there’s a tire customer.” She said. “Your father’s out on his wholesale tire route, so who’s going to go and wait on this person?”
 
Since our grandfather had retired from farming, Dad had expanded his part-time tire selling into a fulltime business and was struggling to make it financially, so often needed our help.
My younger brother, Les, and I looked at each other. “What kind of car is it, Mom?” asked Les.
“It’s a red one.”
“No, no” I said. “What kind of car is it? Is it an old one or a new one? Is it going to be a tube-type customer or one with tubeless tires?”
“I don’t know; it’s a big car. You’ll have to go and see.”
Les and I looked at each other again and rose from the table. Two could do this faster than one.
 
We did enjoy working for Dad, but we didn’t like to change tires with tubes in them because it was so easy to rip one. We much preferred to sell and mount the newer tubeless tires. In this case we were glad to find that it was a newer car and the customer wanted tubeless tires.
 
We especially liked going on road calls at night with Dad, fixing a truck flat on the turnpike, or doing an emergency repair on a tractor tire on a farm–you never knew what you’d experience.
We often did no more than hold a flashlight while Dad fixed the tire, but he said it was a great help. For us boys it was schooling in dealing with life, watching Dad solve practical problems and deal with the public.
 
As we worked with him Dad taught us a lot of positive things that I use to this day. He pointed out how two people could do the work of five just because they could encourage each other.
He also drummed into us the principle of working with gravity, not against it. How often I would be pushing up on a bar, trying to loosen a nut, when Dad would say, “No, turn it this way and step on it! Work with gravity!”
 
Another oft repeated advice was, “Keep your eyes and ears open. Being aware of what’s going on around you may save you from a lot of trouble in the future.” And more than once that’s what happened.
 
It was a great education, having a far greater impact on my life than any formal learning. There was, however, one area of my life where all that Dad taught could not help me. I had a growing reservoir of anger.
 
One summer day my oldest cousin, Charles, took his two brothers, Les and me to the nearest city where we bought a box of glazed donuts and ice cream bars on sticks.
 
Charles led us down to the railroad yard where he worked and we all sat on the loading platform to devour our goodies, starting with our ice cream before it could melt.
 
Looking at the box of donuts, I pointed to my favorite one and said, “I want that donut when I’m done with my ice cream.”
Everyone nodded. Then right in front of me, before he finished his ice cream, one of my cousins reached over, took “my” donut and bit into it.
 
I felt the heat of anger rising in my chest. I stood up, stomped my foot, threw the rest of my ice cream down on the concrete and shouted, “How could you do that?”
 
My cousin smiled, “Easy, just like this,” he said, taking another big bite.
 
I choked on my anger. My inability to control the situation and the frustration of not getting what I wanted was overwhelming. I felt totally powerless and this only increased my anger, which was becoming another bar in the cage of my soul.

Picture: us 5 siblings posing in front of Dad’s work truck and “tire shop” in the cellar of our house.

 
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Help

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 17, 2020
Psalm 21. For the director of music. A Psalm of David.
[This Psalm has a triple message. First it speaks of David’s relationship with the Lord; secondarily it is a Messianic prophecy, predicting the victory of Jesus over the devil and death; third, it speaks truth about the life of each believer.]
“O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength.”
[In realizing how helpless we are, Lord, it is wonderful to know that your strength is at work in our weakness, that our weakness actually makes your power perfect (2 Cor. 12:9).
 
David struggled with his own weakness in dealing with danger on the inside from his own men (his general, Joab and David’s son, Absalom, and when his followers wanted to stone him at Ziklag), as well as those enemies who attacked from the outside.
In like manner, Jesus made himself vulnerable and weak as a human being, having to rely on prayer, the help of the Spirit in His ministry and the Father’s power to rise Him from the dead.
We, also, on an everyday basis, face enemies who are too strong for us, both human and spiritual, but we have your strength to rely on.]
“How great is his joy in the victories you give!”
[The victories in our lives are gifts from you, Lord, and we can rejoice as you help us move ahead, defeat our inner evil (the flesh), and the outer evil (the devil and the corruption of this fallen world), just as Jesus did. To know you, Lord Jesus, to intentionally live in your Truth is to experience your power, and to receive your joy.]
Psalm 21:2 “You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips.”
[You consistently answered David’s prayers, giving guidance, help, protection and victory. In the many battles he was involved in, there is no mention of David ever being wounded.
You answered every one of Jesus’ prayers, Heavenly Father. And so you answer ours, especially when we delight in you, opening the way for you to put in our heart the right desires and grant these “idol-proofed” requests at the right time (Psalm 37:4).]
Help us, Lord, to ask according to your Word, to find our delight in you and to rejoice in whatever answer you give, whether it be “Yes!” “No” or “Wait.”
“Selah” (think on that)
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Foretaste

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 16, 2020
 
As I continue to memorize and meditate on your rich and powerful Word, Lord, you continue to transform my being.
There is a growing grasp of your great supply of significance and honor, poured out upon me every day. This is part of an ongoing, deep, transformation that flows from basking in the truth, listening to Scripture telling me that I am yours (Eph 1:3-10), that I am with you, treasured by you, delighted in by you (Psalm 18), invited to join you in your mighty purposes (Eph. 2:10), that you freely and consistently give me worth, belonging and competence (Ephesians 1:18,19).
There is also an ongoing shift away from the fear of man to a fear of God: a desire to please you and a corresponding ability to reject what people think–to be free from their disapproval, their denigration, their disrespect. Your approval is enough to rest in, live in, die in.
Another aspect of this is a better grasp of the joy of being weak, the opportunity to trust you to work where I am without influence, leverage or power. If I want adventure, trusting you in my weakness is it!
This, combined with the daily reminder that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil, brings me a changed perspective of those who oppose me: a compassionate, forgiving, positive view–even a warmth as I think of them.
What a change you are bringing in my being through memorizing and meditating on your Word, Lord, especially Psalms 18, 34, 37, 62 and 86. This is certainly a foretaste of heaven as you bring me out into an ever more spacious place, into growing freedom, into a greater joy. Glory be to you for these changes that carry me forward in every area of my life.
I praise you for what you are going to do today, Lord, as you orchestrate the flow of events, protecting me from evil and exposing me to the challenges as you know are best for me.
I praise you for the negative feelings that may come: frustration, a sense of uselessness, failure in my plans, anger, impatience and a feeling of worthlessness. Each of these is an opportunity to replace these feelings with Truth, to surrender to you, to get up the shield of faith and quench the fiery darts of the evil one, a chance to use negatives as a stimulus to respond with a positive that I’ve memorized from your Word, to be a glory-giver rather than a glory-stealer.
Before anything happens today, I give you glory for it now, Lord Jesus, trusting in your Great, Good, Glorious and Gracious character to bring what is best.
 
As I continue to memorize and meditate on your rich and powerful Word, Lord, you continue to transform my being.
There is a growing grasp of your great supply of significance and honor, poured out upon me every day. This is part of an ongoing, deep, transformation that flows from basking in the truth, listening to Scripture telling me that I am yours (Eph 1:3-10), that I am with you, treasured by you, delighted in by you (Psalm 18), invited to join you in your mighty purposes (Eph. 2:10), that you freely and consistently give me worth, belonging and competence (Ephesians 1:18,19).
There is also an ongoing shift away from the fear of man to a fear of God: a desire to please you and a corresponding ability to reject what people think–to be free from their disapproval, their denigration, their disrespect. Your approval is enough to rest in, live in, die in.
Another aspect of this is a better grasp of the joy of being weak, the opportunity to trust you to work where I am without influence, leverage or power. If I want adventure, trusting you in my weakness is it!
This, combined with the daily reminder that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil, brings me a changed perspective of those who oppose me: a compassionate, forgiving, positive view–even a warmth as I think of them.
What a change you are bringing in my being through memorizing and meditating on your Word, Lord, especially Psalms 18, 34, 37, 62 and 86. This is certainly a foretaste of heaven as you bring me out into an ever more spacious place, into growing freedom, into a greater joy. Glory be to you for these changes that carry me forward in every area of my life.
I praise you for what you are going to do today, Lord, as you orchestrate the flow of events, protecting me from evil and exposing me to the challenges as you know are best for me.
I praise you for the negative feelings that may come: frustration, a sense of uselessness, failure in my plans, anger, impatience and a feeling of worthlessness. Each of these is an opportunity to replace these feelings with Truth, to surrender to you, to get up the shield of faith and quench the fiery darts of the evil one, a chance to use negatives as a stimulus to respond with a positive that I’ve memorized from your Word, to be a glory-giver rather than a glory-stealer.
Before anything happens today, I give you glory for it now, Lord Jesus, trusting in your Great, Good, Glorious and Gracious character to bring what is best.
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