Episode 143- Blessings

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 143, Blessings. We’ve talked about blessings in earlier

podcasts, and mostly focused on how we can speak a blessing over a child or loved one. We’re going to

expand that thought a lot today. But first, because this is our Selah Season, we’re going to talk about our

Selah word for the day, the tip that we have to help us all practice pausing and simply being with God

who loves us. So far, we’ve talked about the beauty of silence and the need to sometimes go slow. Sharon,

what is our word for today?

Sharon:

Well, the Selah lesson of the day is the word solitude. And solitude actually does differ from silence. So

let me explain. Silence is actually just what it sounds like. No noise. Shush. And my favorite thought of

silence comes from my father in the car when all four of us kids were loud and rowdy, and we were

driving five hours up to Bar Harbor, which is near where my grandparents lived. My mother and my

father could only handle the noise for so long. There’d be, he is looking at me and get your elbow out of

my ribs. And when are we there? You know, all the things. (Nicole: Yep) And then my sister, oh my

goodness, Nicole, my sister’s, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard this song. It’s, ‘There’s a Hole in my

Bucket Dear Willie, Dear Willie’? (Yes) Yeah. She would not stop singing it. I cannot even tell you, (It’s

kind of an annoying song too) how painful it was. Yes. So, anyways, it was evidently painful to my father

too, because my mother would say, my father’s name was Ray, like my, my husband, so she’d say, Ray, I

cannot take this noise in her little British accent. And my father would say, ‘all right, children, silence

treatment’. And silence treatment meant not a sound or we will pull over the car and there will be

consequences.

Nicole:

Consequences.

Sharon:

Right. So instantly the car, I mean, mid-sentence, ’cause Daddy was not messing around baby. (Nicole:

Wow) we had to be absolutely silent. And my mother would say, ‘thank you, Ray’.

Nicole:

Oh my goodness. And it worked.

Sharon:

Oh well, the threat of pulling the car over after he’d done it a couple of times, we got the message. Yeah.

So, okay. So that’s silence. No noise. Okay. Solitude is different, on the other hand, it’s simply being by

ourselves. So we don’t have to be quiet when we’re alone. We can actually sing to God out loud. We can

play the piano, which I used to do during my quiet times. We could pray out loud. We could do all kinds

of things if we want to. So solitude is just being comfortable being alone. With not other people, not

needing other people kind of thing. (Nicole: Yeah) So, do you find that hard to be all by yourself? Some

people do, or do you like it? What are your thoughts on that?Nicole:

I’ve always been okay being on my own. I dunno if it’s an oldest child thing, but I’ve always been the one

to go off on my own and play quietly. My younger sister was always wanting to be with someone all the

time. She’d follow me or my mom. (Sharon: Yeah) But I love, I crave solitude. I just love being on my

own, (Just you, just you) just doing my thing. Yeah. (Me too) And it’s hard to find it. It’s definitely hard to

find it as you get older and there’s more people in your life.

Sharon:

It is hard. Yeah. With retreats, sometimes I give the Selah hour where people are to go off on their own.

(Nicole: Yes) And for some women that is really hard. (Mm-Hmm) because they’re not comfortable with

solitude. They wanna be with other people. So, I’m not sure I’d like it all the time, but I absolutely love

solitude because of course I’m not alone. God is with me. Like, I can walk the beach, Ogunquit Beach is

one of my favorite beaches to walk, and there’s people going by all the time, but they’re not talking to me.

(Right) You know, and I hear their little conversations for a moment, but I feel that aloneness. It’s me and

God. It’s our day. (Yeah) And not everybody can do this either, ’cause I’ve recommended it and people

look at me like, well, good for you. But, I like having a meal alone. (Yes) I bring my selah bag, and I have

my little journal, and I have some books to read and whatever I feel like doing, I’ll sit but in a pretty spot

and usually have to tip the waitress double because I stay too long. And I remember as a waitress when

people would not let me turn over my table to get tips. (Oh yeah) ’cause you lose out. Right.

Nicole:

Oh, I love that you do that. That’s a great thought.

Sharon:

I do a double tip. And then my credit card always writes me and goes, did you mean to do that with your

tip? I’m like, well, yes I did. (Nicole: Actually, yes) I just sat there for two and a half hours at one table.

(Right, right) I tripled my tip.

Nicole:

Oh, that’s so nice. That’s a good thoughtfulness to do.

Sharon:

So, but I like solitude. I like being alone. So why do you think solitude is important sometimes?

Nicole:

I think it’s really important for us to learn to be with ourselves. I think, I don’t know if you’ve been doing

it longer, so solitude is easier if you’re out with people? It’s still is a discipline I’m learning. If I do a Selah

day, and I’m out with lots of people, I’m still distracted by Oh, what’s going on with them? Oh, my

attention span is not great, but we have to learn solitude because there’s a lot of times in life where we

cannot have people around us.

Sharon:

That’s so true.

Nicole:

We do not have the ability to reach out. I mean, I think even during, most recently during Covid, we were

not able to go and meet up with our friends and just hug them and hold them and weep together. (Sharon:Right) We just, we miss some of that human contact that some people desperately craved. (Right) But it

forces us to, it forces me to turn to God. (Yes) So if I don’t have an easy human contact to reach out to tell

my problems to ’cause they’re right there, (Mm-Hmm) I have to talk to God.

Sharon:

That’s all you got.

Nicole:

That’s all I’ve got.

Sharon:

And that’s all you need.

Nicole:

And it’s all I need.

Sharon:

Right.

Nicole:

But we forget ’cause it’s like an easy fix to just talk with a person next to you.

Sharon:

Exactly. I’m thinking of Job saying, ‘naked I came from the womb, naked I will return’. You know, you

enter the world alone. (Nicole: Yes) You leave the world alone. (Yeah) You know, and in between, there

may be times, you know, if I’m widowed, if my Ray dies before me, I will be alone. (Right) And to be

used to my own company (Mm-Hmm) with the Lord, I think is a good thing. I really do. I think solitude’s

important. And I think the Bible emphasizes that. Jesus, before he started his ministry, had solitude in the

desert (Yes) for 40 days. (Yep) And actually, right before he died, there was another little wilderness time

in there.

Nicole:

That’s right. Yeah. We discovered that recently.

Sharon:

Yeah. And then Paul, when he accepted Christ, he said, I did not go right up to Jerusalem, but the Lord

brought me out into the desert, alone again with solitude. Elijah spent time alone, he needed it. He went

and took that nap under the broom tree.

Nicole:

He did. I love that nap.

Sharon:

So I think that God speaks to us. I think you kind of nailed it when you said, if there’s no one else around,

you kinda have to turn to him.Nicole:

It sounds so bad, but it’s true.

Sharon:

Yes.

Nicole:

There’s no other option. You go, oh, you should have been my first option. But I forget because–,

Sharon:

So solitude is a definite Selah word. (Nicole: Yes) It really is. We need times of solitude.

Nicole:

And even the short, Jesus got up, I think every morning and met with his Father. There’s so many

passages where he gets up early in the morning (Sharon: He did) to go meet with God. (Yep) With his

Father. So even those shorter times of solitude are equally as important. (They are) if we don’t have the

time to go to the desert for 40 days. It does sound kind of nice though. Forty days of alone time, I’m

telling you, some days.

Sharon:

That part does. But the not eating and drinking part?

Nicole:

Oh yeah. I forgot about that. And Satan tempting us. Never mind. I’ll just do the morning quiet time.

Sharon:

Exactly. Oh my,

Nicole:

Oh my goodness. So I was thinking about this, and sometimes with my kids too, I’ll tell them, the girls

will blame each other, or they’ll get in a fight and Oh, well, she told me to do this and she told me to do

that, and it’s her fault. And I’ll say to them, you are gonna stand before God someday by yourself.

(Sharon: Yes) You can’t point and say, Danielle made me do it. This girl made me like, we are alone

before God accounting for our life. And we have to remember that. And not to frighten them, but to just

impress the weight of their actions upon them. (Exactly) I think that’s really important (Exactly) for

myself to remember. (You’re right) But it’s so easy, like, well, my husband didn’t do devotions with our

kids, so we don’t do, you know what? I have to stand before God and give an account about how I raised

my children or how I did my quiet time with Him.

Sharon:

We can’t point to anybody else.

Nicole:

We can’t.

Sharon:Right.

Nicole:

It’s not a good excuse. It won’t hold up.

Sharon:

You’re right.

Nicole:

So we gotta be careful about that.

Sharon:

You’re right.

Nicole:

So, let’s see, what are we at now?

Sharon:

You are going to talk about the Selah Psalm.

Nicole:

Perfect. Oh my goodness. I jumped ahead. It’s like, wait a minute, where are we? Alright, so let’s get back

to today’s Selah Psalm.

Sharon:

There we go. You were too busy walking away in solitude. And I’m like,

Nicole:

I like quiet time. So instead of just seeing a blessing as a way to speak encouragement to another person,

today we’re going to expand on an idea and add it to a desire to wish another person well, basically

wanting God’s best for them, Sharon. Although it should be easy, there are times when it isn’t.

Sharon:

It isn’t always easy to want the best for someone else. If I’m competing for an award, it’s really hard if my

friend is competing too, to root for her. (Nicole: Yeah) Right? (That is hard) I mean, it is, it just is hard.

So, or if someone’s hurt me, it’s hard for me to want blessing for them. (Yes) My natural desire is that

they would feel as hurt as I felt. (Right) Right. (I know) So, but we are supposed to desire good for others

not harm. I sure want people to want my best for me. So I should for others. How do you help kids with

that? How do you help children, in tricky situations want the best for others?

Nicole:

Ooh. Yeah. That’s hard. I think I just try to help them imagine them in their other person’s shoes, in their

sister’s circumstance. Like, if this happened to you, how would you feel? How would you want to be

treated?

Sharon:Right. Right. I think that’s the best way.

Nicole:

Keep it really simple.

Sharon:

The golden rule. Yep.

Nicole:

Yeah. It goes back to that.

Sharon:

There’s a few bible verses that I found that kind of drive the point home. And I wanna read them because

they’re so important for understanding the importance of wanting to give blessing. So let me read the first

passage, and then I’ll have you read the second. It’s Romans 12:15-20. And I’m reading in the NLT for

this one. “Be happy with those who are happy and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each

other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people and don’t think you know it all. Never

pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all

that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous

anger of God. For the scriptures say, I will take revenge. I will pay them back, says the Lord. Instead, if

your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they’re thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you

will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”

Nicole:

That verse is so funny.

Sharon:

So, I know. So, okay. So I’m gonna just unpack a couple of things here. Be happy with those who are

happy and weep with those who weep. So we’ve gotta be careful who we talk to about our happiness. I

have a lot of grandchildren. I love my grandchildren. Not every friend has been blessed with

grandchildren. The person to brag on my grandchildren to, is not the person that wishes she had them. Is

it?

Nicole:

Oh, Right.

Sharon:

No, no. So we need to find the people that share the happiness and share that with them. And then

someone that needs to weep, we need to weep with them. (Nicole: Right) That’s being thoughtful. That’s

blessing them. It’s no blessing. To tell them about all your blessings if they’re not experiencing them.

Right? (Yeah) So, I also love, do everything you can to live at peace with people. We’re not supposed to

be stirring up trouble. (No) We’re supposed to be doing the opposite. And the burning coals of shame on

their head just makes me giggle. Because when you are really nice to someone who hasn’t been nice to

you, it kind of annoys them a little bit. (Right) Because they wanna be justified in their meanness. (Yes)

And when you’re kind back, it’s hard on them a little bit. So.

Nicole:Right. Well, it kind of fizzles out their little fire, like, wait a minute. Oh.

Sharon:

Exactly. Oh,

Nicole:

What’s going on?

Sharon:

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So anyways, I thought that was sweet. And it helps us remember, the goal is to bless

others. The goal is not to make their life worse.

Nicole:

Right. And in the moment when we’re angry, we’re not thinking about that.

Sharon:

Okay. What’s your passage?

Nicole:

So, Philippians 2:1-4. “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love?

Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly

happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one

mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish. Don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better

than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take interest in others too.” Ooh, this is

good. It’s similar, you see a couple of different things mentioned again. (Sharon: Yeah) So it’s definitely

important. Our hearts, our fellowship, if we’re close to God, it starts with any fellowship together in the

Spirit, or encouragement from belonging to Christ. So our mutual binding should be Jesus. (Yes) We have

to remember, you’re my brother or sister in Christ. Even if we have conflict, unresolved issues, we’re still

brothers and sisters. (Yes) So start from that place, (Mm-Hmm) and move toward resolution, like you

said, it’s, our goal is not to punish or to make sure they know they’re wrong or whatever. Even if they are,

our goal should be restoration in that relationship. (Yes) So, like you said, then make me truly happy by

agreeing, wholeheartedly loving each other and working together with one mind and purpose. So that’s

what God’s heart is for.

Sharon:

It sure is.

Nicole:

you’re all fighting.

No one wants to listen to kids fighting. It’s the worst. I tell my kids that all the time. It’s so awful when

Sharon:

Yes. We wanna,

Nicole:

Get along.Sharon:

Yes. It’s so much sweeter.

Nicole:

Yes.

Sharon:

It really is. Absolutely.

Nicole:

And then he ends with just some ways to do that. Don’t be selfish. Don’t try to impress them. Be humble.

Don’t look about your own interests, but those of others as well.

Sharon:

Take an interest in others as well. It’s not all about us.

Nicole:

And that’s the key to it. Right.

Sharon:

And that’s blessing. (Nicole: Yes) Blessing is wanting good for another. (Right) And we can get so

wrapped up in our own selfish little selves that we don’t wish good for others as much as we should.

(Yeah). And this is something we’re supposed to do. And this Selah psalm is going to teach us how.

Nicole:

Here we go.

Sharon:

So, okay. The Selah psalm of the day is Psalm 20. And then we’re going to read it through and talk

especially about the part that comes before the Selah. We’ll be reading in the English Standard Version so

that I can get my Selah word, and I’ll start with verse one, and we’ll go back and forth and then stop when

we get to the Selah. All right, so, the introduction is To the Choir Master a Psalm of David. So Psalm

20:1, “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.”

Nicole:

“May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion.”

Sharon:

“May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices, Selah” So let’s pause

here. We’re supposed to pause and think about it. What kinds of blessings and well wishes does David

want for his people? Look at the things he’s wishing for them.

Nicole:

He wants God to answer them. Protect them. Send them help from the sanctuary. The sanctuary. Wow.

That’s a, (Sharon: Yeah) that’s a big word. (Yeah) And give you support from Zion. (Mm-Hmm) That’ssome pretty good support. (Mm-Hmm) Remember and regard with favor. Those are all beautiful things to

wish on people.

Sharon:

May God regard with favor. It’s so sweet. And the ‘May God’ turns it from, I’m gonna wish upon a star for

you, Right? To, ‘May God, may the only one that can do these things (Nicole: Yes) do this for you.

(Yeah) So that turns it prayer-like, do you know what I’m saying? (Mm-Hmm) When you say, may God

bless you, you’re actually wanting God to do good things for that other person. That’s why it’s a blessing.

Nicole:

It says in verse 1, ‘the name of the God of Jacob protect you’. So he mentions that all of this can only

come from God Almighty.

Sharon:

From God. Yeah. Yeah. It’s so pretty. I really like it.

Nicole:

That is good.

Sharon:

So, okay. Well, let’s continue now and finish the psalm. And there’s gonna be more ‘May God’s’ in this.

And wishing well with God’s help for other people. So I forget completely. Oh, it’s your turn. Verse 4.

Nicole:

Okay. “So may he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.”

Sharon:

“May we shout for joy over your salvation. And in the name of our God, set up our banners. May the

Lord fulfill all your petitions.”

Nicole:

“Now, I know that the Lord saves his anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving

might of his right hand.”

Sharon:

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

Nicole:

“They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.”

Sharon:

“Oh Lord, save the king. May he answer us when we call.” Look at all the blessings there.

Nicole:

This is beautiful.Sharon:

part of this.

Isn’t it a, I mean, this is something if you and Josh ever do a blessing over your girls, you could just read

Nicole:

Oh.

This one’s like, pull out blessing, read it through. (Sharon: Yeah, exactly) It’s all laid out there. (Exactly)

Sharon:

We’re wanting the heart’s desire of the other to be fulfilled.

Nicole:

Yes. Isn’t that sweet?

Sharon:

Yes. Yes, yes. Yes.

Nicole:

We shout for joy over your salvation. Oh, that’s, so they’re rejoicing for them, for their salvation. Again,

that looking to the other’s interest.

Sharon:

And not just our own.

Nicole:

That is a huge for them.

Sharon:

This is selfless. (Nicole: Yeah) Blessing is selfless. It’s what I want, what’s best for you. Yeah. May God

fulfill all your petitions.

Nicole:

Oh, and your prayers.

Sharon:

May he answer your prayers. I know it. I know it. And then there’s like this little reminder in there. That

some people trust in other things than God. Back in the day, I mean, I’m not really trusting much in

chariots nowadays, they’re not my thing, you know? But what do I trust in, you know, sometimes we trust

in things that are not God and it says they all collapse and fall. Anything that’s not God could collapse and

fall. (Nicole: Right) Or anything that’s not God. (Yeah) So we trust in the name of God. So, it’s just so

beautiful. (Yep) So, okay, well, we’re gonna look at our questions today in light of blessing. And, I really

wanna be more selfless in wanting good for others. I really do. So, all right. What do we learn about that?

This desire for a person or group of people to be protected? And how can we apply this to daily life? How

can we do this thing?

Nicole:I think it starts out, for me, it’s that looking toward the others’ interests ’cause I’m not even gonna notice

people around me if I’m so focused on myself and what I’m lacking or even pride in what I have or

whatever. So I think it starts with looking to the interest of others before myself. (Sharon: Yeah) So I can

see, oh, they’re struggling for this. Oh, I’ll pray this blessing over them. Oh, I’ll pray this for you. Oh,

God’s going to answer your prayers. His his mighty hand will be beside you and restore you. (Mm-Hmm)

So, I think it’s noticing,

Sharon:

I think a lot of it is noticing, and I think it flows from love when someone is dear to you. You want them

to do well. I mean, I really want my kids to succeed and do well.

Nicole:

Oh, yeah.

Sharon:

That’s easy.

Nicole:

Right. Right. Hopefully.

Sharon:

However, some of the things are not as easy when it’s not somebody that I’m as close to, to extend to them

a blessing as well. (Nicole Yes) I can remember a time, I think I’ve shared this in a blog, I can’t remember

if I’ve shared this in a podcast or not, but I was walking an older dog of ours, Portia, our dog named

Portia, and we were walking up Back River Road and I just was walking, I was innocently walking. I was

just me and my dog doing no harm. Right? (Right) And all of a sudden, this woman comes out of her

house and starts swearing at me. She is red in the face. She’s so angry with me. (Oh no) And she tells me

to stop leaving my dog’s what-sie woos in her garden. (Oh no) Well, I hadn’t done that. (Oh no) I was

shaking. (Yeah) She was, you know how anger makes you scared sometimes? (Yes) She was outta control

mad at me. (Oh, wow) She really was, evidently somebody that looked like me with a dog like me had

just not cleaned up after their dog. (Oh yeah) So I took out my little bag and I tried to explain to her (I

was shaking like a little leaf) (Yes, Oh) But she was not interested in listening. And so I finally just slunk,

I slinked away. So I went back home and I thought, she’s a really angry person. I think I wanna bake her

cookies.

Nicole:

Oh my goodness.

Sharon:

I know. So I told Ray what I was gonna do, and he said, take the cell phone with you. (Nicole: Yes) I’m

not sure you should be doing this. She may be dangerous. (Right) You know, do not enter her home.

(Right, right) I said, I just feel like I’m supposed to bless my enemy. And for whatever reason, she’s my

enemy, but I don’t think I’m her enemy, you know? So anyways, so I made the cookies. Yeah. It was so

violent. I felt like I had to be nice. So God gave me a love for her. (Wow) Which is weird, but he did so,

and it was nice of him to do that. So I went back with my cookies without the dog.

Nicole:Or the bag of poo, which is nice.

Sharon:

Or the bag,

Nicole:

I probably would’ve brought that just in case I needed to like sling it and run. So you’re very kind.

Sharon:

So, and I knocked on her door. She opens the door. And Nicole, she burst into tears. (Nicole: Oh) She

said, I have never spoken so rudely to a person in my entire life. (Wow) I have been feeling miserable.

She said, right after you left, the woman that had done it came by. (Mm-Hmm) And I spilled out all my

frustration on you. And now you’re bringing me cookies. (Oh) Isn’t that the sweetest?

Nicole:

That’s so beautiful.

Sharon:

So I ended up hugging her.

Nicole:

Yeah. Oh, wow.

Sharon:

The woman that had just been swearing at me and making me shake and tremble.

Nicole:

Scared you witless.

Sharon:

Yes. Yeah.

Nicole:

That’s so beautiful.

Sharon:

So I brought blessing to her, and then she brought blessing back to me.

Nicole:

See, and that’s why God calls us to do it, because we don’t know what happened to her that day. (Nicole:

Right) We just know the moment and how we feel. And we felt horrible. And you were justifiably, you

were innocent.

Sharon:

I was so innocent.Nicole:

hurt people.

You were innocent and you were just yelled at. But I love that God calls us to more because hurt people,

Sharon:

Yes.

Nicole:

And she was hurting for whatever reason. (Sharon: Yes) And you happened to be the poor target of her

vehemence that day, but because you listened to God. Oh, I just love that you were able to bless her and

help her. That’s such a beautiful story.

Sharon:

Yeah. Yeah. And let us take a pause here to say, I am not always the hero. This is one of those rare

occasions where I was, just so no one gets the false idea that I walk around baking cookies for people all

the time. But that particular time, the Lord had me do that. And this is what it means to bless, you know,

and to remember that hurt people, hurt people like you just said. And to think, okay, this person that just

really wounded me, (Nicole: Yes) they are wounded. (Yeah) How can I turn this into a way of, what do I

want? How can I want the best for them? I think that’s the way to say it.

Nicole:

Yes. How can this be turned into a blessing? You turned a curse into a blessing.

Sharon:

Yeah, yeah.

Nicole:

With God’s help.

Sharon:

Right. Right. Because really the best thing you want for your enemy is to turn nice. Right? So if you pray

for their blessing, it’s better for them and for you (Nicole: Right) as a matter of fact.

Nicole:

Because responding in kind never solves a problem.

Sharon:

Oh, it doesn’t. Anger begets anger.

Nicole:

Right.

Sharon:

That’s why the Bible says ‘a gentle answer, turneth away wrath’. So if we can get in the habit of saying,

may God bless you, or even praying for them, Jesus says, pray blessings for your enemy, Lord, help thishurt person who’s wounded me to discover how much you love her, whatever’s broken in her, would you

mend it, please?

Nicole:

Oh, that’s so good.

Sharon:

Those are the kind of blessings we need. We need to be for other people.

Nicole:

Yes. And starting with the ‘may God’ puts him in front of us. It takes us out of the, ‘well, I think this

should happen, or this, or I’m feeling’, may God just step in front of me, God, because I’m going to say the

wrong thing or do the wrong thing.

Sharon:

Oh, yes, I am.

Nicole:

So I love that. ‘May God’ whew, you do it, because I cannot.

Sharon:

Right. Exactly. So that’s practical. (Nicole: That is good) And we always wanna be practical. (Yeah) So,

okay, favorite verse? What’s your favorite verse?

Nicole:

Verse 6 of Psalms, I think we read a couple different passages. “‘Now I know that the Lord saves his

anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.” I love that

verse. He saves me and he answers me. And the might of his right hand. He’s just so strong. I can trust in

that.

Sharon:

I love ‘ his right hand’, ‘he holds us with his right hand’. He does all kinds of things with his right hand.

Nicole:

That’s the special hand, apparently. (Sharon: I guess) People that sit, sit on his right hand. So, but I

appreciate that he’s offered it to me.

Sharon:

I know it. And I love the words, ‘I know’. (Nicole: Yeah) He knows. And that is faith.

Nicole:

It is for sure.

Sharon:

Just knowing even in the midst of trouble.Nicole:

Yeah. No, I like, that verse.

Sharon:

Oh, so cool.

Nicole:

What about you?

Sharon:

Well, mine was verse 3. “May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor, your burnt

sacrifices? May he see what you do and be pleased? Oh, isn’t that just the nicest thing?

Nicole:

Oh. That is good,

Sharon:

Because you know, a lot of times people don’t see what we do, but God does, and God sees the heart and

God sees our effort, even if it fails. So may God see it, and of course he does, but (Nicole: Right) it’s kind

of reminding us that God’s a Person (Yeah, yeah, yeah) You know, that, God sees you, God sees the

things that you think aren’t seen.

Nicole:

Oh, that’s a beautiful thing to speak over someone.

Sharon:

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Nicole:

That really is.

Sharon:

So, so good. So what did we learn about God from this passage? Well, I’ll let you go first.

Nicole:

Okay. He’s mighty to save. I love that phrase. And, we see it so many times, times here. He answers us

and protects us and sends us help. (Sharon: Uh-huh) And we can trust him. We can trust in the name of

the Lord ’cause he saves us when we call to him. (Yeah. We can.) We can just rest in him knowing that

he’s got all of this.

Sharon:

Right. Right. Those horses and chariots, not so much.

Nicole:

Nope.Sharon:

But God, yes.

Nicole:

But God, yes.

Sharon:

Yep. Yep. Yep. He’s able to answer us. He’s able to protect us. He knows our heart’s desires. (Nicole:

Yes) You know, may God answer the desires of your heart. I’ve loved this quote from Tim Keller as I was

thinking about, ‘may God answer the desires of your heart’. (Yeah) Because I immediately thought of

people who desire to be married, who aren’t, or women that wanted children who did not get them. (Yeah)

And I’m like, okay, so how do you reconcile this? (Mm-Hmm) So this is what Tim Keller says, and it has

really comforted me for the hard times when, wait a second, my desire is this and I haven’t been granted

it.

Nicole:

Right. It feels like a good desire, it’s nothing evil.

Sharon:

Exactly. So this is what Tim Keller says, and I just think it really helps, it helped me anyways. “We have

the assurance that God, our heavenly Father always wants what’s best for his children. God will either

give us what we ask or give us what we would have asked if we knew everything he knew.”

Nicole:

Ooh.

Sharon:

Isn’t that a profound little thought?

Nicole:

Wow.

Sharon:

We don’t know sometimes why a desire of our heart is not answered, but we don’t know what he knows.

Nicole:

Right. It reminds me of that verse, ‘He works all things together for his good’. (Sharon: Right) And we’ll

sit sometimes in trouble and go, this doesn’t feel good, God. (Mm-Hmm) This feels sad, losing someone

you love or not having the desires of your heart met. (Mm-Hmm) But I think we forget that our idea of

good is not God’s idea of good. (Right) Our idea of good is comfort or not being in pain or whatever,

getting what we want right away. (Yeah. Yeah) But God’s desire for good is, I think the rest of that verse

is so that we’ll be conformed to the image of his Son. (Mm-Hmm) It’s a refinement. He’s making us into

something beautiful, making us into more like Jesus. (Exactly) That process can look painful, but it’s for

our good.

Sharon:It’s for our good. Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole:

Oh, that’s really good.

Sharon:

Yeah. Yeah. He will either give us what we ask or give us what we would have asked if we knew,

(Nicole: If we knew) everything he knows) Yeah. (That’s so good) So, just beautiful. (I love that) So, all

right, well, let us, how about if I pray with a blessing?

Nicole:

I like that.

Sharon:

Would that work well? Oh my goodness, Lord, bless those that are listening today. May you show your

favor to them. May you turn your face toward them and give them your peace. May you answer the

prayers of their heart. Thank you, Lord, that you always want our best. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Nicole:

Amen. Thanks for joining us today for another look at s Selah Psalm and the word, solitude. How about

you? Do you enjoy solitude or does it feel frightening to you? Write us and let us know at

sh****@********ah.org. We’d be so grateful if you would review our podcast and share it with others so

more people find us. There are a lot of podcasts out there, and we rely on you to spread the word. If you

want to help us produce the podcast, go to sweetselah.org/donations and donate with any gift of any

amount. We’ll send you our monthly Podcast Partner newsletter filled with information about the podcast,

and also about us and our families. It’s like a family note. Once a month, we’d love to add you to the

Podcast Partner list. We look forward to being back next week with a challenging topic. Episode 144 is

All About Forgiveness. Thanks 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

fo***@********ah.org. Thank you for joining us.