Hi -

Just wanted to post this. A friend of mine sent it to me last week and it really helped me:

My favorite Psalm is #34:
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
I don't know how God can get any closer than He already is to us, but I think it's because he watched His own Son suffer and experienced the suffering of rejection and betrayal of His own people and one of His disciples.

May you feel His presence like never before,

Thanks for that, Kim.

Thanks Kim,

This is by far one of my favorites too.

I hope that you know how much G-d loves you and is protecting you, even with the amount of pain you are in and the feelings of your spirit being crushed.

I love this psalm as well.

I don't know how people "do life" without Christ and without the word. Especially when we face difficult trials in life like a spouse having an affair. The word is so profound and it is the one constant in life where we can put our trust. God never changes - His word never changes.

It's our source of strength to forgive and work through the issues of life.

In the wee hours of the morning, when it seemed that my wife was going to leave for sure and our 30+ years together would be a total loss, a friend of mine called, knowing I would not be sleeping and told me to read Psalm 102. The first 11 verses described exactly where I was.

Verse 12 gave me the hope I needed to go on and I slept the rest of the night and made it to work the next day. Later that day I got an email from my wife, telling me she was staying and that with God's help, we would get through it together...

Psalm 102

1 Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry for help come to you.

2 Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.

3 For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers.

4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass;
I forget to eat my food.

5 Because of my loud groaning
I am reduced to skin and bones.

6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.

7 I lie awake; I have become
like a bird alone on a roof.

8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who rail against me use my name as a curse.

9 For I eat ashes as my food
and mingle my drink with tears

10 because of your great wrath,
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.

11 My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.

12 But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.