Outloud!

Yes, that’s right.  Spoken.  Verbalized.  All 150 of them.  I have read the Psalms out loud. The cat, my primary audience, showed only a mild amount of interest. To keep myself from feeling like a dork, I pretended I was reading bedtime stories.

Now what?

Is my life radically changed? Not as of today. Did I learn anything? Definitely. Why am I doing this crazy thing of reading scripture out loud and then writing about it? To keep myself accountable. To try something new. To spend time with God. To experience transformation through the Word.

What did I learn from the Psalms?

That I am exactly like my fellow obnoxious, stubborn, persnickety ancient Hebrews trudging through the desert trying to find the Promised Land.

That when I get scared, I tend to create my own idols to trust in, rather than trusting in the Living God.

That when I ask God to search and examine me to reveal any sin in my heart, He will, such as the fact that I share the same bad attitude and ungrateful heart with my fellow Hebrews – the same bad attitude the delayed their blessings as well as mine.

That I need to remind myself daily of how much God has blessed me and how good He is in order to combat my penchant for silently grumbling and complaining.

That rather than nagging Him for things I think will make me happy, and then accuse Him of not answering prayers, I need to learn to experience satisfaction in just His presence.

That consistent, genuine worship and praise is so important.

That the diligent, honest pursuit of the Holy is hard, but well worth it.

***

Clearly, God still has his work cut out for Him in dealing with me, but maybe I’m ready to move on to the second grade in the elementary school of Getting to Know my Savior Better.

The next stop will be Proverbs.