Psalm 25: "A Plea for Defense, Guidance, Pardon"

Psalm 25

1.  "To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

2.  O my God, I trust in You;

Let me not be ashamed;

Let not my enemies triumph over me.

 3.  Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

 Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

4.  Show me Your ways, O Lord;

Teach me Your paths.

5.  Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

for You are the God of my salvation;

On You I wait all the day."

Amen.

These were the words of the Psalm from our morning devotions, and again they seem to be right on target for all we are going through during these days of unrest and chaos in our land.

"Bull's eye"

The pictures are from our walk in the rain, except for the pictures of the Buzzard, who was sitting atop our tall dead pine tree in our yard early this morning when I stood outside on the deck to see how the rain was helping the water to refill our "Still Waters Pond".

 Believe it or not, this is much better than it was a week or two ago! Little by little it is getting better with each day of rain!  We're getting quite a bit today it seems! That's okay with us. Praise God!

Back to our walk in the rain this morning, I mentioned HERE a week or so ago about someone cutting  up trees and leaving them in the woods where we walk.  Well, they are still at it, but apparently they are cutting down trees right there in the woods and leaving them like this. I am not sure why. They are not trees that were in anyone's way or in danger of falling on anyone that I can tell. These are vacant wooded lots that no one seems to care about, but someone has been selectively cutting down a tree here and there...maybe they plan to come back and cut them up for firewood later after they dry out. I don't know, but I thought these pieces of wood were very interesting with the rain bringing out their grain and texture.  Made for some interesting designs that I enjoyed seeing. I also happen to love the smell of fresh cut wood, and these were still fresh enough to be very fragrant.

For some reason I am drawn to this place, even as the rain was coming down and we needed to get back to the car before we got totally drenched. But I couldn't resist another look at this cool, peaceful sanctuary. Perhaps we just need that right now in our lives and hearts...a place to retreat from the world and find some peace and quiet...

 Lots of fresh sawdust if you want to come gather it up.

I love the designs on these cut logs.

This one looks like the eye of the tree is looking at me, maybe he's weeping because he's been cut down and left to die there alone in the woods. 

Maybe it's weeping for the state of our country right now.

Well, maybe that's a bit too much for us to think about, but I love this picture. Actually reminds me of a horse's eye. I think I like that thought better.  They say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Back to our Psalm of the day:

Psalm 25:8-11, 20-22

"8.  Good and upright is the Lord;

Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.

9.  The humble He guides in justice,

and the humble He teaches His way.

10.  All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,

to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

11.  For Your name's sake, O Lord,

Pardon my iniquity, for it is great."

20.  "Keep my soul, and deliver me;

Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.

21.  Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,

For I wait for You."

Verse 22 says:

"Redeem Israel, O God, Out of all their troubles!"

I would like to add to that prayer:

"Redeem America, O God, Out of all OUR troubles." 

Amen.