Psalms

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Confident Prayer – Recorded

Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and the Psalm.

Tap here for a video on Psalm 86.

[From the original version of the book]

My first encounter with this Psalm was a young person in a religious community. Martin Neylon, Master of Novices, shared this prayer with me, calling it his favorite psalm. I can still hear the tender regard he had for it, even as the psalm itself breathes a sweet relation between the pray-er and the Lord.

The psalm implies a deep level of communion with the psalmist and the Lord. He presumes much, because he knows in faith upon whom he can rely. This same God of tender compassion is available for you right now. Do not let anything stand between you and the Lord.

The Bible is God’s intimate Word for you. Take each word personally. May these daily “Firestarters” be my way of making the Bible personal to you, just as others did for me.

Psalm 86

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: Incline Your ear and answer v. 1

We follow a reading of the Psalms in numerical order.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

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Deliver Me, O God!

Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and the reading.

To view a video on this Psalm created three years ago, tap here.

This small psalm of five verses has strong similarity with the first Beatitude in Matthew 5:1. “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” The New English Bible translates it this way: “Blessed are those who know their need of God.” To be poor in spirit means awareness of a total need for God. Absolute need becomes absolute blessing. The only other alternative to choosing God is despair. The Hebrew word ‘ebyon in verse 5 carries this same concept of “poor in spirit.” A group of Jewish disciples of Jesus gave themselves the name “Ebionites.” They found joy in their needy state, for then they knew that the riches of the resurrected life would be theirs.

When you have given up on everything and everyone as being the source of your happiness, then you are in the place where only the Lord alone can meet your soul’s deepest need.

Psalm 70

This is the second of thirteen weeks in the season of Pentecost, Year B
Wednesdays are dedicated to the Psalms,
One each week over the three-year cycle.

Example of a Bible Breath: O Lord, make haste to help me! v. 1