Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
Be With Me is a daily 7 minute chronological walk through the New Testament hosted by Michael Smith. It is for everyone who is curious about what Jesus actually said and did in the gospels. Most episodes will leave you with at least one good thought to chew on for the rest of the day. We start with the Bible and hopefully end with Awe. We are walking through the chronological events of Jesus' life and then thoughtfully considering them. It is meant to spur the devotional life of the Christian and the not-yet-Christian. We occasionally venture into the Old Testament when it helps our understanding of the New Testament events. Everybody has 7 minutes. Everybody needs to wonder. Be With Me is hosted by Michael Smith who has absolutely no special qualifications to do a podcast. He is not a pastor. He has not been to seminary. He does not lead a mega-church. He is not a professional and he has no more credentials than you do. He does, however, follow a great God with an observant eye and a curious heart. Each day, he starts with a study bible and aims for astonishment. ‘be with him’ for 7 minutes as he sets out daily to discover the God who invites us to ‘Be With Me.’
Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
‘Magining me In the shadow of Your wings s30e123 Ps 63
Psalm 63 gives us permission to use our spiritual imaginations for a great purpose. It is to "place ourselves" in the shadow of His wings.
It is a most beautiful image that puts us under His protection and care.
May the Lord grow our spiritual imagination.
Let’s use our spiritual ‘magination to put ourselves right where God wants us: in the shadow of His wings.
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‘Magining me In the shadow of Your wings s30e123 Ps 63
Practically: what to do in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep
Practical advice: Mouth, memory, meditations, music
I couldn’t get past the beautiful imagery of the psalms: In the shadow of your wings
We are going to use our spiritual imagination today to image ourselves in a place where He desires us to be: in the shadow of Your wings
Ps63 1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. . To be a Christian is to long every day
To be a Christian is to seek and thirst and faint for God.
We are created to crave
To be a non-Christian is to long for Him from the “God shaped hole in our hearts. To be a Chrisitan, is to get some of God for sure, but to also continue to long for MORE OF HIM.To be a Chrisitan is to forever long for more of Him, until you get all of Him in Heaven
To get some of God is to want more of God
To be in relationship with Him is to thirst for more relationship with Hi
To find God is to faint for more
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
.Your steadfast love is better than life.Here, David values and re-e-valutates the worth of the relationship God has with himself
.assesses it as MORE valuable than his life.
In a sense, David does a math problem: I’d trade my life for it.
Many through history have actually traded their lives for it
This assurity from the PAST is the foundation upon which we confidently go forward
5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me. “What to do in the middle of the night. Perhaps David was aging, and lost the bloom of youth, and the blessing of sleep
What to do with the night watches 8-12, 12-4, 4-8.
Have you ever woke up and wondered: I’M UP. what am I supposed to do now?
Ps 63 tells you a strategy:
Meditate on you in the watches of the night
Remember You where? upon my bed
Remember You when? In the watches
Rember what of You? You have been my help
Recite the History of where I have been with you.
Recite the previous helps, for they will help with the future helps
The kindness and the faithfulness of God’s historical walk with you, predicts the kindness and faithfulness of God’s future walk with you.
His character has not changed from the past-you to the future-you
Remember You HOW?
With my MOUTH I will Praise you w joyful lips-get mouth engaged
With my MIND I will remember you: get mind engaged
With my MEMORY Meditate engaged: ponder, turn it over,
speak the past to yourself, recite previous truths
With your MUSIC engaged: I will sing for JOY
With your ‘MAGINATION: put yourself in the shadow of His wings
In the shadow of your wings. Here is what the LORD is giving PERMISSION for in Ps63
It is appropriate for us to think of ourselves as baby birds, 100% dependent upon God the protector Papa Bird
This God the protector has His wings over us, we are enshadowed
Ps 17:8 confirms that we are the apple of His eye, HIDDEN in the shadow of your wings
Implications: We are small; He is mighty; He covers us. He protects us
Practical Mouth MIND MEMORY MEDITATION MUSIC
With your ‘MAGINATION: 8 My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me: I hold on to you as You Hold UP me.
But my favorite:
V7 7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
In the shadow of Your wings, I can be doing all these correct activities with my MIND MOUTH MEMORY MEDITATION MUSIC and perhaps most importantly: with my ‘MAGINATION.
May the Lord grow our spiritual gift of imagination so we can find ourselves IN THE SHADOW OF YOUR WINGS
Let’s use our spiritual ‘magination to put ourselves right where God wants us: in the shadow of His wings.