Psalm 103:5-7

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel.

Lord, Your righteousness and justice are available to all; they are without limit, the rich, the poor, the slave, the free, the Jew, the Gentile, to all who are oppressed. and we all are oppressed; weighed down by sin and far from Your presence. But You, in Your graciousness, have made the offer of redemption known to all, without restriction. Your testimony is open for all to read and accept, Your love is spoken through creation, and Your grace and mercy through miracles of healings and lives transformed. Your ways are an open book for all to read.

Psalm 103:8-14

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will He keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

LORD, Your patience and mercy go on and on, You do not deal with me according to my sins but according to Your great love and mercy. Your compassion is as a sea without shores, without limit and in infinite supply. You, in that infinite compassion, took up the blot of my sin and cast it far away, beyond the reaches of that endless sea, You have healed and restored me, Praise Your holy Name.

Psalm 103:15-18

As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments.

Man whose day are like grass, blown and bending with every breeze, cut by the reaper's scythe, sent tumbling to an unknown end. Yet overly taken by his own importance, man stands defiant, claiming his own godness, but to no avail. He leaves no mark upon the creation.

But Your love, my LORD, stands steady and firm against all, giving succor and comfort to all who seek You and live according to Your word. It is a love that existed before time began and will continue beyond the end of time, given without reservation to Your covenant people.

Praise You, LORD, God Almighty.

Psalm 103:19-22

The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all. Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of His word! Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do His will! Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!

LORD, this is the day that You have made; a day for me to everything in Your name as I give thanks to the Father through You. Let the thoughts of my mind, the desires of my heart, the speech of my mouth and the work of my hands bring glory and honor to You.

Psalm 119:66

Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in Your commandments.

Teach me good judgment, Lord, that is an attribute that I desperately need. My head gets filled with knowledge but to apply it through the heart is another matter that requires good and sound judgment. How can this come about except through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit teaching and training me? How can I interpret Your commandments and apply them to all aspects of my life except through Your teaching? Lead me, Lord, into a life lived within Your precepts, A Biblical World View Life.

Exodus 20:1-2, 13

And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... "You shall not murder."

You are made in My Image.

Nourish and encourage life,

Protect it at all stages

for each life speaks of Me

and is one of My jewels,

a pearl of great price.

Psalm 104:7-18

At Your rebuke they fled; at the sound of Your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that You appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. From Your lofty abode You water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your work. You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart. The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

LORD, to sit here each morning and watch the interplay among the various facets of Your creation is a blessing from You. Two gold finches, bright, bouncy flashes of yellow and black, on the thistle feeder. Your hand has provided the thistle, Your wisdom guided a craftsman to make the steel shepherd's crook from which it hangs. You gave a man the love for Your land and the desire to tend its produce that furnished the seed. Because man believed that your creation operated in a predictable manner, the technology that resulted was available to manufacture the thistle feeder, to smelt the iron that became the steel, to transport and make these items available to us. All this and much, much more, so that I could have the pleasure of watching two gold finches bounce about a thistle feeder.

Praise You, LORD

Psalm 104:19-23

He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.

The complete and intricate interweavings of Your creation are things of great beauty. That the very movement of the universe, in all its awesome majesty, should govern the rhythms of life. This is not chaos, not the result of random events, but Your hand, carefully crafting beauty and order. Out of that order comes provision for all living creatures so that all may recognize You as the Creator God.

Psalm 104:24-30

O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan, which You formed to play in it. These all look to You, to give them their food in due season. When You give it to them, they gather it up; when You open Your hand, they are filled with good things. When You hide Your face, they are dismayed; when You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the ground.

LORD, how the earth, sea and the air above teem with life. In all shapes and sizes, all displaying Your love of creating. As I dug in the garden yesterday, the earthworms were busy converting the vegetable waste that I was burying into rich, black, friable soil to nourish a new bounty of crops. You are opening Your hand to fill us with good things; You were renewing the face of the ground.

Praise You, LORD, God Almighty.

Psalm 104:31-35

May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD. Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more! Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!

LORD, if my purpose for being is to praise You and enjoy Your company forever, and it is that; then open the eyes of my heart to see You and Your hand as revealed in all and by all. Show Your handiwork in every blade of grass, and reveal Your love for mankind in every face I see. Let paeans of praise and hymns of thanksgiving pour continuously from my lips and be the sparks that ignite every action.

Psalm 119:79

Let those who fear You turn to me, that they may know Your testimonies.

This is a awesome responsibility, Lord, to ask that others be able to look to me for guidance and example. Am I willing? Am I able to be judged by the stricter standards of a teacher? Do I really understand what You expect of one who picks up the mantle of teacher? Lord, strip me of pride and replace it with the humble and contrite heart that seeks only Your glory.

Exodus 20:1-2, 14

And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... "You shall not commit adultery."

Wedlock, a sacrament, a covenant

between man and woman,

a picture of Christ and the Bride.

Each in submission to each,

bringing forth fruit in

a bountiful increase.