A Key to Contentment ...

 

Be content to go on quietly. When you discover somewhat in yourself which is earthly and imperfect, be patient while you strive to cast it out. Your perceptions will grow,--at first God will show you very obvious stumbling-blocks;--be diligent in clearing these away, and do not aim at heights to which you are not yet equal. Leave all to God, and while you earnestly desire that He would purify your intention, and seek to work with Him to that end, be satisfied with the gradual progress He sets before you; and remember that He often works in ways unseen by us.

~ Jean Nicolas Grou

Something to Rejoice About

For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature]. And you [a]are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].

~ Colossians 2:9-10 (Amplified Version)

For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [[d]full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue). By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature.

2 Peter 1: 3-4

Tried, Refined, and Purified

Psalm 66

To the Chief Musician. A song. A Psalm.

 ¹MAKE A joyful noise unto God, all the earth;    ²Sing forth the honor and glory of His name; make His praise glorious!
    ³Say to God, How awesome and fearfully glorious are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power shall Your enemies submit themselves to You [with feigned and reluctant obedience].
    ⁴All the earth shall bow down to You and sing [praises] to You; they shall praise Your name in song. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
    ⁵Come and see the works of God; see how [to save His people He smites their foes; He is] terrible in His doings toward the children of men.
    ⁶He turned the sea into dry land, they crossed through the river on foot; there did we rejoice in Him.
    ⁷He rules by His might forever, His eyes observe and keep watch over the nations; let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
    ⁸Bless our God, O peoples, give Him grateful thanks and make the voice of His praise be heard,
    ⁹Who put and kept us among the living, and has not allowed our feet to slip.
    ¹⁰For You, O God, have proved us; You have tried us as silver is tried, refined, and purified.
    ¹¹You brought us into the net (the prison fortress, the dungeon); You laid a heavy burden upon our loins.
    ¹²You caused men to ride over our heads [when we were prostrate]; we went through fire and through water, but You brought us out into a broad, moist place [to abundance and refreshment and the open air].
    ¹³I will come into Your house with burnt offerings [of entire consecration]; I will pay You my vows,
    ¹⁴Which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in distress.
    ¹⁵I will offer to You burnt offerings of fat lambs, with rams consumed in sweet-smelling smoke; I will offer bullocks and he-goats. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
    ¹⁶Come and hear, all you who reverently and worshipfully fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me!
    ¹⁷I cried aloud to Him; He was extolled and high praise was under my tongue.
    ¹⁸If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me;^{(A)
    19}But certainly God has heard me; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
    ²⁰Blessed be God, Who has not rejected my prayer nor removed His mercy and loving-kindness from being [as it always is] with me.

~ Amplified Version

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

DO not try only to abstain from sin, but strive, by God's grace, to gain the opposite grace. If thou wouldest not slip back into sin, thou must stretch forward to Christ and His holiness. It is a dull, heavy, dreary, toilsome way, just to avoid sin. Thou wouldest not simply not be impatient; thou wouldest long to be like thy Lord, who was meek and lowly of heart. Thou wouldest not only not openly murmur; thou wouldest surely long, like the beloved Apostle, to rest on Jesus' breast, and will what He wills.

~Edward B Pusey

Psalm 77

 Psalm 77

Comfort in Trouble from Recalling God's Mighty Deeds.

For the choir director; according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

    ¹My voice rises to God, and I will ^(A)cry aloud;
         My voice rises to God, and He will hear me.
    ²In the ^(B)day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
         ^(C)In the night my ^(D)hand was stretched out ^[a]without weariness;
         My soul ^(E)refused to be comforted.
    ³When I remember God, then I am ^(F)disturbed;
         When I ^(G)sigh, then ^(H)my spirit grows faint. Selah.
    ⁴You have held my eyelids open;
         I am so troubled that I ^(I)cannot speak.
    ⁵I have considered the ^(J)days of old,
         The years of long ago.
    ⁶I will remember my ^(K)song in the night;
         I ^(L)will meditate with my heart,
         And my spirit ponders:
    ⁷Will the Lord ^(M)reject forever?
         And will He ^(N)never be favorable again?
    ⁸Has His ^(O)lovingkindness ceased forever?
         Has His ^(P)promise come to an end forever?
    ⁹Has God ^(Q)forgotten to be gracious,
         Or has He in anger withdrawn His ^(R)compassion? Selah.
    ¹⁰Then I said, "^(S)It is my grief,
         That the ^(T)right hand of the Most High has changed."
    ¹¹I shall remember the ^(U)deeds of the LORD;
         Surely I will ^(V)remember Your wonders of old.
    ¹²I will ^(W)meditate on all Your work
         And muse on Your deeds.
    ¹³Your way, O God, is ^(X)holy;
         ^(Y)What god is great like our God?
    ¹⁴You are the ^(Z)God who works wonders;
         You have ^(AA)made known Your strength among the peoples.
    ¹⁵You have by Your power ^(AB)redeemed Your people,
         The sons of Jacob and ^(AC)Joseph. Selah.
    ¹⁶The ^(AD)waters saw You, O God;
         The waters saw You, they were in anguish;
         The deeps also trembled.
    ¹⁷The ^(AE)clouds poured out water;
         The skies ^(AF)gave forth a sound;
         Your ^(AG)arrows flashed here and there.
    ¹⁸The ^(AH)sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
         The ^(AI)lightnings lit up the world;
         The ^(AJ)earth trembled and shook.
    ¹⁹Your ^(AK)way was in the sea
         And Your paths in the mighty waters,
         And Your footprints may not be known.
    ²⁰You ^(AL)led Your people like a flock
         By the hand of ^(AM)Moses and Aaron.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 77:2 Lit and did not grow numb

Cross references:

1. Psalm 77:1 : Ps 3:4; 142:1
2. Psalm 77:2 : Ps 50:15; 86:7
3. Psalm 77:2 : Ps 63:6; Is 26:9
4. Psalm 77:2 : Job 11:13; Ps 88:9
5. Psalm 77:2 : Gen 37:35
6. Psalm 77:3 : Ps 42:5, 11; 43:5
7. Psalm 77:3 : Ps 55:2; 142:2
8. Psalm 77:3 : Ps 61:2; 143:4
9. Psalm 77:4 : Ps 39:9
10. Psalm 77:5 : Deut 32:7; Ps 44:1; 143:5; Is 51:9
11. Psalm 77:6 : Ps 42:8
12. Psalm 77:6 : Ps 4:4
13. Psalm 77:7 : Ps 44:9
14. Psalm 77:7 : Ps 85:1, 5
15. Psalm 77:8 : Ps 89:49
16. Psalm 77:8 : 2 Pet 3:9
17. Psalm 77:9 : Is 49:15
18. Psalm 77:9 : Ps 25:6; 40:11; 51:1
19. Psalm 77:10 : Ps 31:22; 73:14
20. Psalm 77:10 : Ps 44:2, 3
21. Psalm 77:11 : Ps 105:5; 143:5
22. Psalm 77:11 : Ps 105:5; 143:5
23. Psalm 77:12 : Ps 145:5
24. Psalm 77:13 : Ps 63:2; 73:17
25. Psalm 77:13 : Ex 15:11; Ps 71:19; 86:8
26. Psalm 77:14 : Ps 72:18
27. Psalm 77:14 : Ps 106:8
28. Psalm 77:15 : Ex 6:6; Deut 9:29; Ps 74:2; 78:42
29. Psalm 77:15 : Ps 80:1
30. Psalm 77:16 : Ex 14:21; Ps 114:3; Hab 3:8, 10
31. Psalm 77:17 : Judg 5:4
32. Psalm 77:17 : Ps 68:33
33. Psalm 77:17 : Ps 18:14
34. Psalm 77:18 : Ps 18:13; 104:7
35. Psalm 77:18 : Ps 97:4
36. Psalm 77:18 : Judg 5:4; Ps 18:7
37. Psalm 77:19 : Is 51:10; Hab 3:15
38. Psalm 77:20 : Ex 13:21; 14:19; Ps 78:52; 80:1; Is 63:11-13
39. Psalm 77:20 : Ex 6:26; Ps 105:26