Saturday 11 July 2009

Psalm Saturday!



Hi everyone and welcome! I have had this idea running through my head for weeks. Each Saturday I want to think about a Psalm or verses from one of them. These will be Psalms which have helped me, some I haven't read, and others I just really enjoy reading.

I feel like God has placed this on my heart to reflect upon because it has been running through my head so much!

So today I thought I would think about Psalm 30 and what it means to me.

Psalm 30

A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David. a]">[a]
1 I will exalt you, O LORD,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

2 O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.

3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave b]">[b] ;
you spared me from going down into the pit.

4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.

5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

6 When I felt secure, I said,
"I will never be shaken."

7 O LORD, when you favored me,
you made my mountain c]">[c] stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

8 To you, O LORD, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:

9 "What gain is there in my destruction, d]">[d]
in my going down into the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me;
O LORD, be my help."

11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Footnotes:
  1. Psalm 30:1 Title: Or palace
  2. Psalm 30:3 Hebrew Sheol
  3. Psalm 30:7 Or hill country
  4. Psalm 30:9 Or there if I am silenced


When I think about the Psalms this one probably means a great deal to me. 3 months after the birth of my first child, Jacob who is now nearly 5, I became ill with Post Natal (partum) Depression. I won't go into all the detail here, that's for another time, but suffice to say it was pretty horrible. I felt alone, angry at God for "doing this to me", distant from God, I could barely pray and I wasn't happy being at Church.

Then one morning at Church an excellent young man was speaking about a bad time in his life and how Psalm 30 spoke to him during this time. So I got home and read it properly from my Bible. It spoke volumes to me. It was exactly how I was feeling when at my worst and as I began to feel better it also spoke to me.

Verse 6 particularly spoke to me because I was shocked that this had happened to me! That may sound conceited but I just didn't think I would become ill like that and thought I had it all together! I also was working in the mental health sector at this time and dealt with many of the agencies who were now helping me! Talk about humbling! I really believe God gave me this horrible experience to truly humble me and make me lean on him so much more.


I was thinking what verses to focus on when writing this but the whole thing speaks to me. I would urge you to read the whole Psalm. Each verse related to how I felt at the time and I as began to feel better again.


So there you go! Whenever I am feeling a bit glum I like to read this Psalm and remind myself of a time I felt a great deal worse. I am so thankful to God for bringing this Psalm to my attention at a time I really needed to hear his voice and know that he was close and loved me.

May this be my prayer from verse 12;

12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.



5 comments:

  1. Collette this is a great idea!!! If it's okay with you, I believe I'll join in and do a Psalm Saturday post myself beginning next Saturday. I will link back to your site as well. Do you mind if I grab your pic to help promote it??
    Blessings!
    Deb

    ReplyDelete
  2. Collette,
    This is awesome. The Psalms (of course the Bible) are awesome.
    I don't think I had looked at this particular one lately, and when I read it here, it really speaks to me, too. (the whole Psalm)
    Right now, it speaks me that I need to, again, let go of past guilt that I have already received God's forgiveness for, and remember that
    "his anger last only for a moment, but his favor last a lifetime."

    I too, need to know if you want to share your
    Psalm Satruday button.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love this idea. Your post was so encouraging! Thanks for being so honest. I, too, have struggled with depression in the past. After years of being on medication and seeing this and that doctor, I realized that this wasn't my struggle. I knew that drugs, nor counseling was not the answer for me (not for everyone). I surrended my troubles to our Lord one night and have been healed ever since. I would like to share this button as well. Let me know!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is beautiful! Thank you for how open you were. I have struggled with depression and I wish I would have looked at this psalm more closely but I will make sure and do it now when I am feeling down! Thank you for sharing this and what a wonderful idea for a weekly post

    ReplyDelete
  5. Amen!! What a beautiful testimony of Gods faithfulness to us!! It's so awesome how He shows us how deperate we are for Him, and only He can fill those voids!!

    Oh...and I wanted to say that just the other day, I was going to change my Scripture Sunday to Psalm Sunday, and share only Psalms, but I'm so glad I didn't because I just discovered your Psalm Saturday! It would have looked like I stole your idea!!

    Have a wonderful day, my friend!

    ReplyDelete

It is always lovely to hear from my readers and I enjoy all you have to share!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin