Singing a prayer

This past week-end Ray spoke to the church about Jonah and his attempt to run from God. We heard about the "Word from the Lord" that Jonah wasn't ready to hear. His attempt to run away was met with a short swim in the sea that was interrupted by becoming bait for a "big fish". Jonah is now in the belly of this fish for three days and nights. Ray told us how when Jonah realized his mistake, and was at his lowest point in life ( bottom of the sea ), he called out to God in prayer and God heard him. I know that Ray mentioned the prayer of Jonah, and he even highlighted a line within the prayer, but I wondered if anyone took time to read the complete prayer.

As I read through the prayer, I come across terms that Jonah spoke that sounded familiar to me; like, maybe I have read something like this before; not the whole prayer, but definitely parts of it. Do you ever sense that when you are reading in the bible? When it does happen to me, I start to try and find out where I have read this before. It didn't take long, and having references in my bible really helped me. Did you know that the prayer of Jonah is made up, almost entirely, from passages in the Psalms? Nearly every line is from a Psalm. Really!? That excited me; to know that here was a man; a prophet of God; in the belly of a big fish; near death; and he recites a personal psalm to God. Better yet, he sings a song to his God who hears from His "holy temple". Jonah is singing. At the lowest point of his journey, he sings and God listened and heard and responded.

To some people, we are about to be swallowed up by a big fish. I can feel it closing in on me. This big fish has a name; "questions". What's next? What will we do? What about...? They go on forever. I really don't want to spend any time in the belly of this fish. So, I have decided to sing; every Saturday night; every Sunday morning; everyday. And, I know that my God will listen to this song; He will hear; He will respond, and He will deliver us. Our song is His psalm, and His psalm is our song. This week-end we will sing, and our God will hear.

Sheep?

The other morning I was sitting quietly in my office at church. Quietly describes the area that surrounded me. But, inside my head is this constant whirlwind of thoughts of "What can I get done today?", "What needs my attention?", "Which songs?", etc. The questions go on and on. And in the midst of all the quiet, and the questions, I am trying to read my Bible; hoping to find answers; hoping for some direction, and I know they're there. I am reading in the Psalms this morning; no particular order. Just selecting one and reading it; then to another one. I will sometimes read a few of them from all over the book to setttle my thoughts, and then stay on one for a while to see what is being said to "me". Today it is Psalm 100. It is short (only 5 verses), but it has spoke to me for 4 days now. I keep going back to it; over and over. And, in 5 short verses, I am taught how to worship God. I have spent time writing out some of my thoughts on each verse and as I get to the end of the third verse I read, "we are his people, the sheep of his pasture". The part about "sheep" just speaks volumes to me. To be considered sheep, we must have a master, or in this case; a Master. We are to be His sheep. Let Him lead us where He knows the way. Be willing to listen to everything that He may say to us in an effort to make you, and me, the worshippers He has called us to be. Sheep know only the voice of their master. Anyone else could call out to them to try and lead them off to some other pasture, but unless it was the recognized voice of their master; the one being that spent all his time with them; that knew them as his own…they would not respond. That is why sheep is used in the passage. We are to respond only to the guiding voice of our Master. The One who has made us; the One that we belong to, we are His. When you think about it; I mean, really think about it......our Master has lead us to some amazing and wonderful pastures. I know there have been wolves out there on our journey from one pasture to the next, but our Master has safely lead us to where He wants us to be. And, being in His safe embrace encourages me to worship Him. So, whether I am surrounded by quiet, or bombarded by question after question in my mind; I will worship Him.