07 Aug A Psalmist’s Strength

Carrie and I are glad to be back after a couple of weeks off. We had a great time together as a family, and are excited to be back with you all now, especially my oldest son, who is going into 6th grade and cannot wait one minute longer to be able to move up into mYouth!

I wanted to take just a moment to share something the Lord ministered to me during my time off, from Psalm 92.

Psalm 92 is a psalm “for the Sabbath day”, and not only talks about how to approach a day of rest, but also how to gain the rest our souls really need.

There are many amazing truths in the Psalm, but what stood out to me the most was in the closing few verses:

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.

I love the image that the Psalmist is presenting—that just a like a tree, no matter what comes, even old age, that the person who knows and honors God can retain a heart full of vigor and vitality.

The closing line, though, talks about the key to having a fresh heart, a green heart, so to speak:

It says that there is a key truth to know and declare—

God’s goodness.

It’s saying that as we meditate on God’s goodness to us, as we think about how he has held us and seen us through even the most difficult of circumstances, as we push down deeper into our hearts the reality that he is for us, our hearts stay fresh.

In other words, and this is the thing the Holy Spirit spoke to me:

Freshness of heart is a choice.

It’s not easy to choose, but choose it we must!
The good news is, I don’t have to be burned out or spiritually “crispy”—I can, at every point, choose to have a fresh and green heart.

And we stay fresh by choosing to lean into God’s word and His presence and to those things and those people who remind us of who He is.

Again, freshness of heart is a choice.

Don’t allow your circumstances to rob you of the precious time you need to spend with your Heavenly Father in prayer, in His Word, and worship, where you can be renewed and strengthened for your journey in life.

Here’s to a fresh and vigorous heart, no matter what!

Morgan