Trivia:
Great job everyone, yes the answer to our trivia yesterday of the musician who wrote the song "Isn't she lovely" was Stevie Wonder. He was in this song celebrating the birth oh of his daughter. Alisha in 1975. He even included in its recording her actual early coos and cries as a newborn. This song still remains one of Stevie's most loved songs for himself and many others throughout the world, for it embodies the expressions of a parent's amazement upon the birth a their newborn child.
Who was the orgenitor of the expression "ships that pass in the night" and how was it brought into present day literature. Was the person who initiated this phrase, Emily Dickinson; William Shakespeare; Edgar Allen Poe; or was it Henry Wadsworth Longfellow?
Challenge:
Psalm 101:1-4 "I will sing of your love and justice, Lord. I will praise you with songs. 2 I will be careful to live a blameless life--when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. 3 I will refuse to look at anything viler and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them. 4 I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil."
This first part of the Psalm which is believed to be David's inaugural address, David begins by making a promise to the Lord, as a result of God placing into his life the priviledge of leading those who He had placed in his life. (In David's case the nation of Israel) Possibly in your's and my case our children, our families, and maybe even those who we are working for and with, our friends and neighbors, fellow church congregants, etc.
In the next few verses 2-4 David affirms to God just what he will purpose to do in his life as a parent, king, and as a leader. (spiritual, physical, and practical places) He would commit (promise) to the Lord his faithfulness, just dealings, and always uphold integrity.
Notice the areas of his life that he mentions:
He will strive to live blamelessly
Also he will remain open to the Lord's guidance in his life
Purpose to uphold integrity in his business life and more importantly before his family
He would refuse to give attention with his eyes and life to any vile or vulgar thing
His goal in life will be to live in such a way that truth and fairness will be his aim
The aim of his life would be to stay clear of those individuals who are deceitful & destructive to others
In these verses he sets as his purpose (resolves) that his desire is to preserve innocence in his life, as well as, striving to help others maintain an upright reputation in order that God might be seen in all of His glory, integrity, and nobility. Due to David's unwavering allegiance to God look at 2 Samuel 7:8-16, ending with this promise. "Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever."
SO GO WITH GOD my dear one, for He will bring blessing and honor to all of those who determine to walk in these ways. Let's join with David in saying, "We are determined to behave wisely and maturely, Lord. We don't want to be less than You enable us to be." This was the very thing that Jesus meant when He told us we are to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect in Matthew 5:48.
I have noticed that's we become like what we behold. That was the reason that Paul told us in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that as we behold Him, we will be changed from glory to greater glory. This is the very reason that we should daily come before His presence in reading His words and then conversing with Him in prayer.
Longfellow