Season 10 Sweet Selah Moments Podcast

Episode 142 Troubled Times

Season 10 Sweet Selah Moments Podcast
Season 10 Sweet Selah Moments Podcast
Episode 142 Troubled Times
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Where do you go when you find yourself in trouble? Too often we go to friends and family a LONG time before we remember the first One we ought to go to with our problems. You know the answer. God.

Join Sharon and Nicole today as they unpack Psalm 9 and learn together how to run to God with trouble and … to run there first!

Read the transcript for Troubled Times-Episode 142

Speaker 1:

It is time for a pause in your day. Welcome to a podcast where we press the pause button on our busy lives for a few moments, and we focus on God’s word with Sharon and Nicole. We pray this is a time of refreshing for you. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole:

Welcome to Sweet Selah Moments. We’re celebrating 10 seasons of sharing God’s word with you. And this season is our Selah Season. This is episode 142, Troubled Times. Sharon, are there ever times that aren’t troubled?

Sharon:

That’s actually the best question. No. When we get little moments of not trouble, it’s kind of stunning. It’s true. Jesus told his followers long ago on his way to the cross when you think he’d have other things in his mind, but he said all kinds of things. On the way to the cross, he said, “in this world, you will have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world”. That’s John 16:33. But you know what? I looked up the reference so that I could be prepared, you know, for this podcast. And I discovered, oh, that’s not the whole verse. I’ve always just quoted that thinking that was the verse. I somehow only memorized that part of it. The first part is so cool. So let me read it to you. It says this, “I have told you these things so that in me, you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” So I just love the first part. I have told you these things so that in me, in Jesus, you have peace. Even though troubles are going to come. So I love how the troubled times is bookended with take heart. I’ve overcome the world. And on the front end, in me you’ll have peace, even in the middle of troubles. Isn’t that beautiful?

Nicole:
Oh, that is beautiful.

Sharon:
I love it. I love it.

Nicole:
That’s a good verse. The whole verse is good.

Sharon:

Yeah. The whole verse. So I gotta memorize the whole verse. This is silly. So, can you think of a time in your life when right in the middle of trouble, you actually had peace? I mean, is this true? Is what Jesus says true? Have you ever had that happen?

Nicole:
Yes, I do believe it’s true. And I feel like I have had that happen.

Sharon: Tell me.

Nicole:
When I was pregnant with Clara, I was actually pregnant with twins. And halfway through about 15 weeks, I started to miscarry the twin, which none of the doctors had ever seen before. And they were all baffled. They didn’t know what to do, how to help it, and they just shrugged their shoulders and said, you’ll probably lose both babies. We don’t know what to do to stop this. Clara’s little heart was nice and strong and going great, but they didn’t know what to do. And I remember going home and just being first a little freaked out. A little upset. (Yes) But during, I was on bedrest from 15 weeks to 27 weeks.(Wow) And every day just waking up, going, okay, I have her one more day. We’ll see what happens. I didn’t know. But there was such a peace in that time. There was so many little things God showed me. And so many people that blessed me that didn’t normally have a chance to ’cause I move a lot and I’m never very still. I never give people opportunities to bless me. (Yeah) But so many people that unexpectedly came and just spoke just words of blessing over me. And peace. (That’s beautiful) I I’ve never experienced such peace as in that time.

Sharon:
Which, amazing. That’s only God

Nicole:
Doesn’t make sense.

Sharon: It doesn’t.

Nicole:

As a mama, it’s your worst fear. So to live through that and have such a peace, and I was able to go about fairly calmly and people didn’t really know what was happening.

Sharon:
Isn’t that something?

Nicole:
From the peace of God, I think, too. And, you know, there was not a lot of time to process it as well.

Sharon: Right. Right.

Nicole:
But the peace that I felt in that time is so precious to me.

Sharon:

It was supernatural. (Nicole: Absolutely) It really was. (I couldn’t have faked that) No. But how beautiful. (Yeah) How absolutely beautiful. (Yes) Well, I can think of countless times, Nicole, where I’d be in the midst of a storm of some sort and, you know, struggling with hearing loss, dealing with Ray going to war, coping with my father’s heart surgery, helping Dad Gamble when he lived with us. Grieving the loss of the eight tiny babies, that my girls, between them lost to miscarriages. The peace would come every morning in the quiet time that I had. That was my steady time of just sitting and being, when I sit myself down, regardless of all the storms around me, which there have been plenty, spend time drinking in God’s words to me in his word, crying out to him. He ‘peace-ifies’ me. I don’t know how to say it right. It
changes me. It just changes me. I sit in that space and I’m reminded of eternal truths and I’m calmed. (Nicole: Yeah) I’m just calmed. I can remember during the Persian Gulf War, especially, getting up from those couch times and not spending the day wondering if Ray was being hit by a scud missile. (Right) He gave me a peace that was supernatural, for a woman in a foreign country while her husband’s in another foreign country in the middle of a war. (Yeah) And that’s only God. Only God. So he doesn’t say we’re not gonna have trouble. But he does say he’ll give us peace in it. And he overcomes.

Nicole:
Oh, we’re so thankful for that peace.

Sharon:

So, so beautiful. So, well in a few minutes we’re gonna look at Psalm 9 and see how David responded to his own troubled times. But we’ve got to do our Selah word first ’cause it’s time for a Selah lesson. So last week’s word was silence. What is, drum roll please, this week’s word?

Nicole:
The word for this week is slow.

Sharon: I love it.

Nicole:
Which is not a word I’m very good at.

Sharon:
No, somebody told me that, she said, normally I speed up a podcast to, you know, double.

Nicole: Oh, yes.

Sharon:
She said, not with you and Nicole. I’m like,

Nicole:
Oh no. We don’t wanna waste your time, ladies.

Sharon: So.,

Nicole:

That’s so funny. So yes. Slow. I’ve learned a lot about going slow when I go at breakneck speed, rushing around, trying to multitask and do all the things and save time by fast, fast, fast, disaster almost always strikes.

Sharon: Yes.
Nicole:

And the casualties are usually my family. My loved ones around me, my children. My temper’s short. I’m dropping things, breaking things. Just chaos. It never works out how we think it will be.

Sharon: No.

Nicole:
You’re speeding. You get pulled over. Not that that’s ever happened to me.

Sharon:
But it could.

Nicole:

My oldest daughter, we were running late one morning and she’s like, mom, I know we’re running late, but you are going a little over the speed limit. And we were on our little back country road. I was like, oh, honey, you’re right. Thank you for reminding me. So I slowed right down. (Sharon: Yeah) I was so thankful for the little reminder. But man, our response to crisis is not slow. (No. It’s speed up.) It’s either, yeah, it’s outrun the pain or run toward a solution, or kind of keep ourselves so busy we’re not thinking about the trouble. So slow is the opposite of all that.

Sharon:
It is, and it’s so good for us because it shows trust (Nicole: Yes) when we slow down.

Nicole:
Slow is intentional.

Sharon: It is.

Nicole:

Slow is thoughtful and careful. And it provides that space for us to respond to something. (Sharon: Yes) Instead of react to it. (Yes) Because our reactions are sometimes out of bad habits and our sinful nature. I don’t always react with godliness. I react out of Nicole’s sinful, angry nature for sure. So I think slow gives us a chance to catch our breath.

Sharon: It does.

Nicole:
Ask for help from God.

Sharon:
Oh, what a thought.

Nicole:
What a thought. And then respond in a much better way.

Sharon:

Mm-Hmm. Yep. I love James 1:19 where it says be slow to speak. (Nicole: Yes) Slow to become angry and quick to listen. That’s the wrong order, but whatevers. But being slow to speak can save many a relationship. Can it? (Oh, can it? Yeah.) Yeah. Just, say nothing for a bit until you have collected yourself enough that you know that what you’re saying is helpful. (Yes) And not hurtful.

Nicole:
Is this kind, is it helpful? I say that all the time to my girls, and I forget to ask myself that more often.

Sharon:

Exactly. I had a slow moment this past week that was good for me. I had Kate Miller over and she was borrowing my computer to tape our Tuesday Talks on YouTube. Well, I love my computer. And I was in the middle of editing a book and in the middle of getting a new website. So, not the time I really wanted to give up my computer for three hours. Right? So, but we’d planned it and it needed to happen. And so she’s taping and I don’t want Bella to make noise in the house so I brought myself outside to sit and I started to think, you know what, Sharon, you have got 10 to 15 minutes outside while Kate is taping. Why don’t you actually enjoy the slowness of this pace and listen to the birds?

Nicole: Oh.

Sharon: And I did

Nicole: Oh, nice.

Sharon:

And I noticed these little tiny flowers that I never would’ve noticed that were kind of weaving around my rocks. And I kind of settled into the moment. (Nicole: That’s a great idea.) Instead of like tapping my toes about something I had absolutely no control of, and which I’d actually planned. (I know) I mean, I invited Kate over. (Right) Right? It’s not like she showed up and grabbed my computer outta my hands. So, anyways, the slowness was good for me, and it made the rest of the day go better. Funny.

Nicole:
Doesn’t it though? That’s so nice.

Sharon:
So when we slow, we’re taking Selah moments and we’re listening to the Lord better.

Nicole:
Oh, I love that.

Sharon:
Yeah.

Nicole:

I found that with my dogs when I take them out. I used to hate taking them outside. It’s cold. I had to get my shoes and my coat and now I really love, I use it just like you said. Like take ’em out, get ’em downstairs, couple deep breaths, listen to the birds, stretch. Sit on my porch that we just fixed up. Like there’s five minutes, five minutes of peace and calm real quick. It does. It changes you real quick.

Sharon: It does.

Nicole:
It’s a shift change in your heart.

Sharon:
And you can be all hurried in your brain for those five minutes, or you can slow and be all where you are.

Nicole:

Yes. And whether you decide to hurry and be frantic and annoyed at the dumb dogs for going potty again. Or sitting there taking a peaceful moment with God, nothing else is going to get accomplished. (Right) Like, you’re not gonna go any further with the hurrying, like nothing else gets done. you’re just grumpier. And feeling yucky inside and anxious and moving.

Sharon:

Exactly. Exactly. So just slowing down. And staying in the moment God gives us is a really good thing. So that’s our lesson. And, I still need practice in it?

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
It’s not like I’m giving these lessons ’cause I’ve somehow graduated.

Nicole:

No, slow is hard. I remember when we went to Texas, my dad was in the military so we went to Texas for a few months and everyone down there talks so slow.

Sharon:
Yes. They do.

Nicole:

So slow. And they would say to me, honey, you just talk so fast. And I just, I finished their sentences, I ordered things quickly. I’m just not a slow kind of gal.

Sharon:
Yep. Yep. So we’re still learning.
Nicole:
We’re learning.

Sharon:

Yep. Okay. Well, moving back to our Selah Psalm of the day. Today’s passage is going to recount a lot of David and Israel’s troubles with enemies. And tell us a thing or two about how to handle troubled times, which is our theme. We’re gonna read Psalm 9 in sections today. The first Selah actually comes almost to the end of the psalm. So, there’s so much to talk about even before the Selah that we’ll just break it down into smaller sections. And I wanna kind of discuss as we read, even before we get to the Selah, which doesn’t happen til verse 16. So here’s how it begins in verses 1 and 2. I’ll read those. We’re reading in the ESV, the English Standard Version because it has my Selah word in it. And I don’t like the word ‘interlude’ as well.

Nicole:
It doesn’t have as much of a ring to it as Selah does.

Sharon:

Right. So Psalm 9:1-2, “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exalt in you. I will sing praise to your name. Oh, Most High”. So what do we learn from just these beginning verses of this Selah Psalm?

Nicole:
I know even these verses have a lot.

Sharon: They do.

Nicole:

The focus is on God, “I will give thanks to the Lord, I will be glad and exalt in you, and I will sing praises to your name”. So his focus is on God, not on us. And it’s with his whole heart. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. So I love that we’re wholeheartedly focused on God and just praising him. It really is.

Sharon:

It’s beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. And I love the ‘I wills’, which are four of them. (Nicole: Oh yeah) Because it’s a choice. It’s not like every day I wake up feeling like I wanna be grateful. (That’s a great point.) I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad. You know, I think sometimes we have to kind of coach ourselves. (Yes) And then we, from the coaching of ourselves, we start to feel it after we do it.

Nicole:

Yeah. Like that ‘fake it til you make it kind of thing’. I think it’s like, well, maybe I’ll give thanks to the Lord, but it’s I will, I will no matter what. I will. (Sharon: Yep) That’s really good. (Yeah) So now we’re gonna go to verses 5, I’m sorry, 3-6. So after praise and thanks David reminds the people of Israel what God can do and has done for them in the verses. So, “When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence, for you have maintained my just cause. You have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment. You have rebuked the nations, you’ve made the wicked perish. You have blotted out
their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins, their city was rooted out and every memory of them has perished.”

Sharon:

Whoa. Okay. So God defended the Israelites in the past and those who tried to harm them were themselves harmed. (Nicole: Yeah) We need to remember all the times God has helped us overcome hard things and enemies in our own lives. I mean, depression is an enemy. Financial troubles can feel like enemies, relational enemies where people suddenly are really, really mean to you. (Yeah) So even though all these things sting, they can be overcome with God’s help. And they often are. We just have short memories.

Nicole:

We do. I love how he says like when the enemies have perished, how completely he gets rid of our troubles.

Sharon: Yeah.

Nicole:
Like blots them out. No memories, no trace forever and ever. Like the way it’s so complete.

Sharon:
It is. It’s done.

Nicole:
It’s not a covering of it. It’s not, it’s completely gone.

Sharon: Yep. Yep.

Nicole:
God removes it.

Sharon:
Let me help you that much.

Nicole:
Yes. More than you could ever want or do on your own. That’s really good.

Sharon:

Yep. I love that. It’s beautiful. So, and it is amazing how God took care of his people. They’re just a tiny little people. (Nicole: I know) And over and over again, he took care of them. (He has, he sustained them.) So beautiful. Yeah. Well, I love the next section. It’s just a reminder of who God is, Nicole, and who God is, is big and good and capable. So can you read verses 7-12?

Nicole:
Yes. “But the Lord sits enthroned forever. He has established his throne for justice. And he judges the world with righteousness. He judges the people with uprightness. The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed. A stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name, put their trust in you. For you Oh Lord have not forsaken those who seek you. Sing praises to the Lord who sits enthroned in Zion, tell among the peoples his deeds for he who avenges blood is mindful of them. He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.” Oh, there’s a lot in here.

Sharon:
There’s so much.

Nicole:

The first part that catches my eyes, “he judges the world with righteousness and judges the peoples with uprightness”. Just knowing that he judges fairly, he does it out of a place of righteousness, of only that God can do.

Sharon: Only him.

Nicole:

We judge wrongly. We’re afraid of being judged wrongly, but resting, knowing that God’s gonna make everything right. The wrongs and the everything’s gonna come out okay (Sharon: He knows) according to him. He knows

Sharon:

Exactly. Yeah. He knows our hearts. He knows our limitations. I often think with my own, you know, mean people in my life, you know, usually a mean person is a hurt person. (Nicole: Yes)And I can’t judge them because I don’t know how they’ve been crippled by their past. (Right) And what parts of their past are under their control. And what parts are not. I mean, I don’t know. I have no idea. God knows. (He does) And I can trust his judgment because of that. I love that.

Nicole:
Yeah. That is good.

Sharon:

I loved the last one where he says he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. (Nicole: That’s beautiful.) Isn’t that the sweetest thing? So, you know, it’s not like he, you can sometimes feel like you’re forgotten. (Right) But here’s the assurance. No you’re not. You’re not forgotten. He does not forget that.

Nicole:
That’s so nice.

Sharon: Yeah.

Nicole:
And he’s a stronghold in times of trouble. And he has not forsaken those who seek him.
Sharon:
Isn’t that beautiful?

Nicole:
That’s such a beautiful assurance.

Sharon:
Yeah, I was just gonna use the word assurance. It’s an assurance. This is a lovely assurance psalm.

Nicole:
It is. It’s lovely.

Sharon:

I like it. Lovely. Such my British word. So now, okay, so we’ve done all that, David turns from talking about God to talking to God in prayer. I’ve told this story before, but it’s just my favorite story about talking and then all of a sudden having somebody pray like in the middle of nothing. (Nicole: Yeah) Because I’m not normally in the habit of having a conversation with people and then breaking into prayer without at least saying, let’s pray.

Nicole:
Right. At least warning them a little bit.

Sharon:

It was this friend of mine named Marie, and I’ll never forget we were in Annapolis, Maryland. It was when we were both teaching at a school. I didn’t have any children yet. And we’re walking down the sidewalk and there’s millions of people. This is Annapolis. And you know, I don’t know, whatever the weather was, was good weather. There are lots of people out there. And I was, I was telling her that I was really frustrated with my haircut, ’cause my bangs were way too short. They were like halfway up my head.

Nicole:
Oh no, that’s the worst.

Sharon:

And I felt so self-conscious about them. It’s so funny ’cause I’m seldom self-conscious anymore. But at 22, you’re self-conscious. (Nicole: Right) And she said, she held my hand and she started praying. (Oh) She said, Lord, you hear Sharon’s need. (Oh) She started praying about my bangs. (Oh my goodness.) On the sidewalk, out loud. We’re frozen. People are walking by us and Marie is lifting up my bang problem to God.

Nicole:
That’s so funny.

Sharon:
I was so freaked out because this is not my normal way to talk to God.
Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

But I discovered the longer I got to know Marie, that was her. I mean, let’s face it, God’s always with us. Right?

Nicole: He is.

Sharon:

He’s the third Companion walking down the sidewalk. (Nicole: Yeah) And for Marie, God was so present that to flip from talking to me and hearing my sorrow about my bangs of all the things, it wasn’t even a deep issue because really- bangs?. But she just flipped to prayer. (Oh) So she was unique.

Nicole:
Yeah. That’s really neat.

Sharon:
She really was.

Nicole:
I love that. That she just went from talking to you to talking to Jesus who’s there with you.

Sharon:

It’s beautiful. It actually was beautiful. (Nicole: Yeah) So David does this and he does it a lot in the Psalms. You’re, hearing about God and all of a sudden he’s talking to God. And you’re like, wait, what? (Right) So, but if you think about it, God’s always there and we can always talk to God. (Yes) Always. So it’s kind of really cool. So I kind of love these parts where he’s talking to God, ’cause we can then pray them like he is (Right. Right.) in times of trouble. So let me read the prayer part, which is verses 13-14. That was a long introduction.

Nicole:
Oh, that was great though. I love that one.

Sharon:

So he’s just says, ‘God does not forget the cry of the afflicted’. He’s talking about God. Next sentence, ‘be gracious to me. Oh Lord’. He’s just flipped. Now he’s talking to God. ‘See my affliction from those who hate me. Oh you who lift me up from the gates of death. That I may recount all your praises that in the gates of the daughter of Zion, I may rejoice in your salvation. So he’s just turned from talking about it to, God be gracious to me.

Nicole:

Right. There’s so much like this is such a tender, vulnerable part, isn’t it? (Sharon: Yeah) He’s just talking about God and then it’s all his humanity kind of kicks in and be gracious to me, my affliction. He just becomes so honest and vulnerable and open with God.
Sharon:
Yes, he does.

Nicole:
It’s so beautiful.

Sharon:
Yeah. It’s like, see me.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
See me right now. See the problem here.

Nicole:

It’s almost like in comparing himself with God, he’s saying how wonderful God is. And he is like, oh, I’m nothing.

Sharon: Right.

Nicole:
I need You.

Sharon:
Yes, Exactly. It’s a beautiful flip. Love it.

Nicole:

It is. And it shows his heart, his humble heart of just looking to his, Abba Father, his Father, his Daddy. You know, there’s a closeness there that can only come from really fully trusting God and acknowledging your own pitiful strength. <laugh>.

Sharon:
Exactly. Exactly so, and he does it so easily.

Nicole: He does.

Sharon:

And the more we walk with God, I hope the more easily we constantly are aware that he walks beside us. (Nicole: Yes) And that he’s right there. He’s right there. You just talk to him about anything. (I love that.) It’s beautiful. Yeah.

Nicole:
This reminds me a little bit of the Moms in Prayer format where you start with praising him for who he is and then you confess. But there’s something really important about that instead of just always jumping into our troubles.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
And David’s always been a really good example of that too. The way he talks to God.

Sharon:
He confesses too.

Nicole: He does.

Sharon:
His faults and his needs.

Nicole:

Yes. And he’s always quick to acknowledge who God is and what he’s done in the past. So there’s a way to, it’s a good challenge to change our prayers a little bit. If we’re just in the habit of like, dear Lord, thank you for my food, please help my aunts and my sister and my dog. Like, we’re just praying for our troubles all the time. We don’t lift up our eyes and go, wow, you are a really big amazing God. (Sharon: Exactly) You are this and you are that. And you’ve done this for me and you can do this for me. (Yes. Yeah.) So I think there’s something so important to that.

Sharon:
There is, it pumps you up.

Nicole: It does.

Sharon:
And then when you’re asking for things, you’re asking someone you know? (Nicole: Yeah). It’s so cool.

Nicole:

We have to remind ourselves who we’re talking to. Oh yeah. Now that I’ve gotten to the part of my problem, it doesn’t seem quite as big as it did a minute ago because you’re really big. Right.

Sharon:

Because he’s so big. Right. So true. So true. So, alright, well we’re finally coming to the Selah sections. But you see that would’ve been too long to read all in one clump.

Nicole:
Yeah. There’s so much in it.
Sharon:

I think. Yeah. So anyways, I added extra Selah’s. (Nicole: Perfect) Basically. So David is back to talking after his prayer. We just did the little prayer and here’s what he says. And this is verse 15-16. “The nations have sunk in the pit that they made, in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught. The Lord has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion, Selah.” I have to look at my pronunciation again. So, this is so interesting because, you know, I knew the word Selah, but I’d forgotten about the word Higgaion.

Nicole:
I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that.

Sharon:

Which is another Hebrew word. And so of course I had to look up to see what it meant. It’s right there beside Selah, at the end of the two verses, Eastman’s Bible Dictionary says this, it says it’s a musical sign. Denoting probably a pause in the instrumental interlude. And other definitions said things like, it implies thought, reflection, meditation, consideration. So basically what we’ve got here is a double pause. Higgaion, Selah. Like really stop.

Nicole: Wow.

Sharon:
Isn’t that interesting?

Nicole:
That is interesting.

Sharon:

So they’ve sung all this stuff that David’s told them to sing, you know, with little prayers inserted in there, but also just stuff about God. And then it’s like, pause. Pause.

Nicole:
Right. Stop the music, stop the thinking and really dwell on this.

Sharon:
Yeah. So nothing,

Nicole:
Nothing else. No distractions.

Sharon:

Not just no words, but no music is what we think. (Nicole: Wow) I mean, you know, that’s the best guess. So, can we just stop and think then about all that David just sang about. (Yeah) So let’s ponder the psalm so far, including those last two verses. (Mm-Hmm) What would you think the overall theme of it is?

Nicole:
I think, again, he does such a good job of just leading us through steps to go to God, you know? (Sharon: Yep, yep, yep, yep) He thanks him. He’s acknowledging him. He’s reminding him. But there’s this, there’s this vulnerability and this honesty and this love that he approaches God. Like this isn’t something he’s just doing. He has a relationship with him. (Yeah) He’s walked with him before through troubles. And he goes to him with the confidence of a child who knows their dad’s gonna take good care of them.

Sharon: Exactly. Yeah.

Nicole:

It’s so beautiful to see that. But I love that he remembers what God has done. (Sharon: Yes) And that’s important. And then he wants us to stop and think, remember what he’s done. Remember how big he is. (Yes) This is huge. (Uh-huh) because just, we had mentioned a minute ago, just acknowledging how big our God is makes the problems get a little smaller just in that alone. (It does) Before he answers it, before we give him the burden of our problems, just that relationship with him changes us.

Sharon:

It changes us so much. It does. Yeah. And then the last two verses, it’s kind of, cheer up, the bullies lose. And guess what? They’re doing it to themselves. (Nicole: Right) Isn’t that cool? (That is interesting.) And then it’s like, pause. Pause. Remember that? (Mm-Hmm) You think they’re winning, they’re gonna lose. (Yeah) Bless them. So. Okay.

Nicole:

Thanks for the reminder, David. So now the psalm finishes with just two verses and then another Selah telling us to think some more. This psalm has us going slow, our Selah word of the day. Twice in a short amount of time, David doesn’t want us to miss this. “So the wicked shall return to Sheol. All the nations that forgot God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten. And the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, Oh Lord. Let not man prevail. Let the nations be judged before you. Put them in fear, Oh Lord. Let the nations know that they are but men. Selah.”

Sharon:

That’s such a wonderful ending. Let’s move to our questions, ’cause the first question will give us that Selah thought. What did we learn about dealing with troubled times?

Nicole:
Take it to God.

Sharon:
Take it to God.

Nicole:
Take it to God. Quick.

Sharon:

Yep. Absolutely. Yep. Yep. Yep. God is taking note. Don’t worry about the bullies and the fact that you think they’re winning. Man’s not going to prevail. God will prevail in the end. He is just and he is good. (Nicole: Yes) And even if we don’t see justice meted out the way we think it ought to be here on earth
(Mm-Hmm), we ought to pray for our enemies because it will be meted out. (Yes. Yeah) And we don’t actually want that for people.

Nicole:
No, We don’t.

Sharon:
So we can trust that God will be just.

Nicole:
Yep. And keep our eyes on him.

Sharon:

Yep. Yep. And in troubled times trusting him. And also I will, going back to that beginning part, I will give thanks. I will. The things that we should always do, even in the troubled times. I think is the other thing on that part.

Nicole:
Yep, that is good.

Sharon:
So, okay. What was your favorite verse?

Nicole:

Oh, what was my favorite verse. I like 10. “And those who know your name put their trust in you. For you, Oh Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

Sharon: Beautiful.

Nicole:

He’s so faithful, isn’t he? Even if I don’t seek him as much as I should or only come to him and in my troubles, he’s always there. And he will not forget me or forsake me.

Sharon:
I love it. Those who know your name.

Nicole:
I do know his name.

Sharon:
We know his name.

Nicole:
I know. He knows mine.
Sharon:
The name of Jesus is so beautiful.

Nicole:
I really like that verse.

Sharon:

Yeah, yeah. I love that too. And just thinking about it, he’s not a generic God. He has a name. (Nicole: Yeah) Yeah. (That’s beautiful) Okay. Well mine was verse 7.”But the Lord sits enthroned forever. He has established his throne for justice. And I have always loved that. My friend Kathy says to me over and over when I get worried, it’s one of her favorite sayings to me, Sharon, God is not up there in heaven ringing his hands. He’s sitting on his throne. Right? (Yeah) So just remembering that God is on the throne. (Mm-Hmm) Things are in control, even if they look out of control. Justice will prevail. It is all going to be made right? (Yes) It’s just very comforting to me.

Nicole:
It is. I love that. That’s good.

Sharon:
So, okay, well what did we learn about God from this passage?

Nicole:
There’s a lot in here. He is righteous.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
He’s a stronghold. He doesn’t forsake us. And he avenges. That part’s a little fun.

Sharon:
He does. He does.

Nicole:
He doesn’t forget us. He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.

Sharon:

I love that. You know, so many people say, I don’t wanna forgive because it sounds like when I forgive, people are getting away with it. They’re not.

Nicole: No.

Sharon:
We are letting go of it.
Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

And if we have any heart for the people at all, we’re praying that they will repent because God does avenge.

Nicole:
Yes. He’s a righteous God and a just God. He can’t let sin go unpunished.

Sharon:

He is. Right. Right. So there’s no such thing as getting away with it. (Nicole: Right) Either we pay for it in the end. Or Jesus says, I took it for you. (Oh, I know.) And he paid for it, but it’s paid for. (Yeah) It just is. So that’s a really good thing about just remembering his justice. That was my main thing. I don’t know why, but that was the main thing for me this time. (Yeah) So, and I like the stronghold part too. Just strong hold. I think of me having a strong hold on him too. (Oh yeah) Like I’m gripping you. You’re holding me. I’m holding you

Nicole:
Right. This is a treacherous path, but I’m not letting go of your hand.

Sharon:

So, okay. So let me pray. Oh, heavenly Father, thank you for the Higgaion, Selah. The pause, pause. That listen, listen. Help us to go slow when we read your word. Not to rush through it, but to stop and meditate on all you have to teach us, it’s so much. Thank you. Thank you for giving us your word and how you speak to us through it. In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen.

Nicole:

We are so happy you joined us today. We would love to hear from you, how has God helped you in troubled times? If you’re going through one now, let us know so we can pray for you. You can reach us through Sharon’s email at sharon@sweetselah.org or by going to our website, sweetselah.org/podcast. We look forward to being back next week with the episode 143, Blessings. Oh, there are a lot of wonderful truths to unpack next week. Thank you so much for listening and have a great week.

Speaker 1:

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found @sweetselah.org. Thank you for joining us.

You can download and print the transcript here.

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