← Don't Miss This Study
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- [00:00]
A
Hey, everyone. I'm Dave Butler.
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And I'm Grace Smith.
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Welcome to. Don't Miss this, y'.
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All.
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It's our. We haven't recorded for a minute because Grace had to move to New York. You don't know that because we were together last week, but just. We know that in our recording schedule. So Grace is now a New Yorker. But the show goes on because she's still flying in. She's gonna be walking my sky diamond. Get that sky Club access.
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A lot of red eyes.
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Lights.
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Okay.
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So. So good. All right, you guys. The Psalms. The Psalms. The Psalms. I. So I had this friend, and she texted me the other day, and she said it kind of was like an emotional day for her, Like, a few things that happened. Interestingly, it was, like, really, really happy and also really, really sad things happening in the same day, you know? And she texted me and she was like, do you have a playlist for those days where you're just like, oh, I can't do this. Like, I just.
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B
Too much.
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A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And she's like, I do you have a playlist for. For one of those days? And I just was like, oh, yeah, yeah, here's my whole playlist. But I thought that was interesting, that that's what she was looking for, that. I want a. I need songs. I need something just that's kind of outside of regular words, something that's going to hit my heart differently for one of these days. And that is what the Psalms are. This is the book for one of those days when you are just really. When you. You don't have words to say. You want to talk to God, you want to be close to God, and. And you just. I. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to feel. I'm working through this. This is the book. And. And it's great because it actually covers every kind of day and every kind of emotion. I think that a person. That a person has. I. I am. What's your feelings on the Psalms?
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B
I love them. And listen, I know that sometimes they get looked over and you get called basic. If you like the Psalms. And if you tell someone that's your favorite book of scripture, I get it.
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Who says that?
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On my mission, everyone wanted to do that. Everyone wanted to shame you. If you loved the songs. Okay, listen, I'll stand up for you. I'll defend the book. I will. I will stand for the Psalms because I love them. This. But also, I will say the Psalms are the first book of scripture that I fell in Love with. And I think it's because first of all, exactly like you said, they're so relatable. They are such day to day scriptures. But also, if you are the type of person that opens up scripture and you think this is too over my head, for me, this is out of my league. I don't understand how people can find beautiful things in scripture. You might have just started looking in the wrong places. This is where you should start. Because for me, I like Scripture was so out of my league when I started reading it. And then I found Psalms and I was like, oh, this is why people love the scriptures. This is why people want to turn here when they're having those type of days, is because the Psalms wins you on that.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and I heard somebody say this once, that the rest of the Bible is God's words to his people and the Psalms are written to be our words back to him. And I know a lot of people who will borrow Psalms, borrow the prayers from Psalms, borrow the lines from Psalms to walk them through a scary moment, to help express an exciting day to just it. Just as it. It. I don't know. I love, love, love this book and, and what it is, by the way, it really is a playlist. Okay, so the Psalms were not written as a beginning to end book. That's what you have to know. Most Bible scholars think this is a collection of songs and poems across a lot of years and put together to be just this, this one book. But you know, sometimes people talk about when they read scriptures, they just like flip a page and then point to a verse and just read or whatever Psalms. You really can do that because that's like just pushing shuffle, you know, that's all you're doing. You're just like, I just want to find, you know, here. But there are also Psalms that if you're looking for, I, I need a, I need a psalm that's going to help me praise. I need a psalm that's going to help me kind of emote and lament. There are also Psalms that you know, are specific for that. It just is. It's such a good. It's a playlist for one of those days is what it is. So this is how we're going to talk about Psalms. We have three days of psalm talking, everyone. Hallelujah. Because they just, we're just, you can't.
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B
And by three days you kind of mean three weeks in case. Oh yeah, you're confused about that. We're not, we're not going to be recording 72 hours straight right now. Just for the record. You're fine.
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Yeah. Three weeks. Three weeks of studying the psalms, which I think is fantastic. Right. So if you. The lessons are divided up where, you know, into three different sections. So today we're only going. We're going to pick from Psalms 1 through. I can't even remember what. 40 something is it on that paper.
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B
40. 46, hypothetically.
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Okay. 46, hypothetically.
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Not confident.
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1 through 46. And something that we did in the journal that we're going to kind of do, we've decided to do as we talk about Psalms together, is we picked a theme for each of these weeks. Right. And the first section of Psalms 1:46, Grace and I both picked. These are our best lines from the Psalms on the theme of trust and the theme of faith. Just faith, by the way, is the old test. The Old Testament talks about faith with the word trust. That's what I was trying to get out. And so we're going to talk about that. Just relying on God, leaning on his strength, looking to him like that kind of theme is what's going to guide our. Our picks of our favorite ones.
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So we can't wait.
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So we really are doing a shuffle. We're doing a shuffle right now just to, like, get a taste of the Psalms, particularly on trust for. For today. Okay, so do you want to go first?
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Okay, sure. That's. I feel excited. Okay, sure. I will go first. My first favorite, we're trying to narrow
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it down to five by which was the most difficult. We'll see what happens.
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I know it's going to be impossible. And this is. I'm so excited about doing it like this. Reading the psalms and studying the Psalms and like, teaching the psalms like this. Because one of our family's favorite traditions is when a new album comes out of, like, someone's favorite artist.
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Yeah.
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Everyone sits down and listens to the whole album, and then they make a collection of all their favorite lines, and you have to, like, write it in a book. And everyone, like, takes it really seriously. And so when I was doing it, like, gave me, like, flashbacks to, like, those nights. And I was like, I'm a professional at this. I've had. I've spent my time finding good lines. I'm like, I know what to do. And my first one comes from.
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A
And hold on. Let me just throw this out. If you're a teacher, particularly of teens, the one of the weeks that you're studying the psalms, it would be awesome to do some sort of something like this. And we, as both as teachers, played March Madness.
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I have so much sadness that I am not teaching seminary while, like, I
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like doing the songs.
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Yes. It's tearing me apart. Anyway, anyways, keep going.
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So for this, yeah, just print out a tournament, you know, and everybody in the class picks their player, picks their team, right? And then you just go head to head. So, like.
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And what he means by picks their team in this case is find your best verse.
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You have to send the kids to find their best verse, which is fun
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because you can give them 15, 20 minutes, and you say, like, go through, read. They're finally going to love the scriptures because it's their first time they're ever going to read scriptures and be like, wow, I found something. Actually, this really works.
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Okay, so if you make like a tournament bracket and then you should do
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that in your family, too. Imagine how fun that would be every single night for the whole week to do that.
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Picking the best and let them choose
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dinner when they win. I'm doing that.
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You first, Trent.
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Me first Trend. We do 64.
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Okay.
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Anyways, we're ready for your first A lot of chaos. Psalm 8. Okay, that is going to be where I'm going to start. And I am choosing verses three and four. When I consider the heavens, thy work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou has ordained, what is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the Son of man that thou visitest him, for thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor. And what I love the very most about that is, first of all, it's poetry. It really is exactly like we said. But I went to Disney World this summer, and while I was there, I was, like, trying to like these. For some reason, I feel like with the psalms, exactly how you were saying that you were like, oh, here's a playlist for a day. For some reason, as I was going through these psalms and choosing my favorite, it was really interesting. Every single psalm almost felt attached to a day. Like, when I read it, I could feel it. And I was thinking about when I was at Disney World this summer, and I was, like, trying to choose something to eat. And I was like, at the bakery in Disney World. And I looked at the lady who was working. She was the cutest little grandma ever. And I was like, hey. I was like, I'm trying to decide about these two. Like, which one's better? And she said, honey. And she looked at me and she said. And she, like, pointed to one and she said, trust me. I made that one. I promise. It's good. And I was like, what am I supposed to do? I had to get that. I was like, that's exactly my choice. And instantly when I read this verse, I, like, heard the whisper of that lady at Disney World saying the exact same thing, but God this time, and saying, honey, trust me. I know you're good because I made you. And I think there's a lot of days when we can look out in the whole world and we can wonder. I don't know what I can trust and what I can do. And I think it's so beautiful. Like, especially in the days when we're trusting ourselves to be able to pause and say, I actually can trust that I'm good. And I can trust that I am worth something. And I can trust my value because I know who created me. And every part of the world that we look around and we look at the moon and the stars, and we're like, how on earth could I be anything good compared to that? How on earth could I. Like, how on earth could God even care about something like me when he made the stars and the moon and the sun? And I love thinking about a God who looks down and says, I made you. Of course you're good. Look how good I did with you. You're so incredibly good. Trust yourselves. Trust me. I am your creator.
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A
Yeah, I'm. I'm going to do this one right now. Because to kind of add along the same thoughts or similar thoughts. If you go over to Psalm 19:1, it says this. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. And then it just says, day unto day and night unto night. Keeps going on and talking about that. And I just kind of thought how often I go back to creation to kind of restore my trust and faith in God. I just feel like there are so many things that you can witness and so many things that are. That just fill you with awe, that it just like it's. I don't know. I just feel like whenever I sit and look at the stars in the night sky, it just does something to my belief in God. And I just think that creation. It's interesting that the whole story starts with creation, because it's just like there will be witnesses of God's ability, of God's power, of God's tenderness, of God's beauty all around you all the time as reminders. And I just think that's awesome. Especially as we talk about trust of God. Like Can I actually trust him? Can I rely on Him? Can I look to him? That when I see the. Be the bigness of creation, I'm just like, okay, if you are that big, I think you can actually help me. Like, if you can hang the moon and run the seasons. And I can. I can trust you. I can. And even some things too, about just like seasons themselves, where it's just like there are seasons of, you know, where things die and then they come back to life. And just. Just there's something about it does to me. I almost feel like God, you know, created the world as this everlasting witness of what he's like and. And what he can do. And there's just something about it, something you see all throughout the psalms. And that was just one example that that creation, like, just. It draws you back to him. It. It settles your. It settles you just into something bigger and greater than you.
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And it's so interesting that I was just talking to someone about this the other day, and they just went through a really big tragedy, and they were just kind of dealing with all of the aftermath of a tragedy and the healing that you're so desperate to search for and you just can't find. And they said some of the best advice they got was to go to the ocean. And they said, just so you could stand in the waves and over and over feel the tide roll in on your ankles and on your feet and trust that it's going to keep on coming. And they testified about how that, like, rest almost the restoration of healing that comes when you're like, wait, there are steady things, and in the midst of tragedy and disaster, there are some things that are continuous. And there's things as crazy and as insane as the ocean that God has control over. And if he has control there, he has control in my life. And it was so interesting to me that it would have been easy to look at someone and say in the midst of a tragedy, like, oh, read the scriptures a little more. Or like, get down and say your prayers. And those are really good pieces of advice. But I don't think it's. I like. I think it's actually really important to pause and say, go to nature and go to these things that are bigger than you and go put your feet in the ocean and go walk in the mountains and stare at the sky for a long time at night. Because just as much as scripture and prayer can lead you to trust him, so can the tides in the ocean, and so can the leaves changing in the mountains, and so can the. The stars in the sky?
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Yeah. Well, it's interesting because look at what I could say. This verse says, the heavens declare the glory of God. I could have said, the Scriptures declared the glory of God and the Scriptures showeth his handiwork. That is true, but it's true about both of them. You know, you could say to somebody, what's your favorite verse of Scripture? And they could say, the stars. And that would be true because they're witnesses of his handiwork. They're witnesses of his. Of his glory. And there's just something about that. There is something where it's just like I'm caught up in awe and wonder and now all of a sudden, whatever I was dealing with, it's not insignificant. But now it pales in comparison to the beauty and the goodness of God. You know, and so anyways.
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So good. Okay. Are you doing. Is that. Did. Was that yours?
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That was my number one. I did give away. I was gonna try and sneak that in.
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I was wondering. I was wondering if it was gonna be an add on, if that was gonna be a 0.5 or if that was going to be its own.
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That was my number one.
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Fine.
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Okay.
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Okay. My next one is Psalm 20, verse seven. And I. You can read it and you're already going to love it, but I think you love it extra when you read the. What's like the. What's this called again?
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The heading, the heading, the heading.
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Because you need to remember who is saying who is writing these. And it's cute David. And it's sweet, sweet David. And. Oh, of course, that's why you love the Psalms. Because of David. Because of David. Just bias by it.
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A
Let's just bring it up. We might as well bring it up. This is just biblical fact. All we're playing is Bible trivia right now. Solely Bible trivia. But most people attribute the Psalms to King David. But I will say this, even though there's an obvious reason, I love that David has such. David's life written in scripture. It just shows such a great picture of what a human life looks like.
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B
I agree. It makes the psalm so much better when you remember that David wrote that. Right? Right.
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A
Because you start. You start with little David being looked over. And then you have David the champion, and then you have David the. The forgiver and David the patient who waits 20 years before he becomes king that God promised him. You have David the mistake maker. You have David the, You know, the. The conqueror. You have David the encourager. Like you just. There's so many parts of David's life that we get. And we could assume that everyone we encounter in Scripture had that much variety of emotions and experiences in their life. And that's what's so awesome about the Psalms, because they are all from different sections and segments of a person's life. It was like, this is what I felt on that day. This is how I needed God on this day. This is how I was praying on that day. So I do think it's cool that we have a big, huge storyline of David to understand. Like, oh yeah, he was a really like. Like he had just a rich, full variety in his life, like all of us do. And so of course, his prayers would look like the Psalms, like some like this and some like that.
- [17:24]
B
Well, and when you know his story especially, I think for this verse, the verse is so much better. And I love verse number seven in Psalm 20. And it's kind of about fighting a battle. And it says, some trust in chariots and, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. And already that's a beautiful. That's a beautiful verse. But what I love to think about is the very beginning of little David's story and how he showed up at a battlefield and he was deeply unqualified for the battle that he was going to face. And when he gets there, everyone looks at him and says, you don't stand a chance. Like, you are tiny. Goliath is a giant. Like, this isn't. Doesn't make any sense. And then there's that little tiny part in the story when people try to offer him armor and he like, like here, like, you should have like this big armor because you're going to face a giant. And instantly when you read that, you're like, oh, yeah, that makes sense. You should have armor. But what you don't realize is in the offering of better armor, you're kind of diminishing what David has going for him. And it's like a little symbol of, like, you're actually not good enough to do this on your own. You're not strong enough to fight Goliath without better armor and better weaponry. You're not going to make it unless you have fill in the blank. And David's response on the battlefield that day is, I don't need any of that. Not because he is strong enough on his own, but because he has God on his side and that is all he needed. And this verse whispers the same truth. Some people trust in chariots and summon horses, but you don't need Any of that. If you have the Lord your God, you need a chariot because you don't feel like you, like, have enough protection on your own. You need a horse because you don't feel like you're strong enough, fast enough on your own in a battle. But that doesn't matter if you have God. And I think of all of the days that you show up that feel like a battle, and how many people in the world look at you and say, you're not strong enough to win that fight, you're not capable of the battle that's in front of you, and how many different sources people offer you. Here, you need this to survive. Here, you need this to win the fight. Here, use this. Then maybe you'll have a chance to be successful and how powerful to look back and say, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God, and that will be enough for us to conquer these battles. I don't need anything else, and I'm not capable of winning this battle on my own. Thank goodness I'm not. Because if I was, maybe you're right. Maybe I would need your version of chariots and your version of horses to survive the daily battle that I'm going through. But I know that with God, I'm capable of that fight.
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A
Yeah, I like that. What was that? 27 7. There's that line, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. And there's something about. There's another. There's another psalm that just says we, we trust you. Oh, maybe I wrote it down. This is not one of mine, so don't try and act like it is just a bonus onto what you just said. Okay, it's in Psalm 9 and it's 10 says they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. And that phrase to know thy name is equivalent to just knowing who he is. Because remember, in Old Testament times, the. The name of someone described the character of a person. And so to know the name of God means that you know the character of God. So that's what it's saying. And, and so that. That both of those are teaching. Because I know your character, I trust in you. Right? More than horses, more than. More than chariots. And I. We've said this before and talk about this a lot, but I just think the Psalms are reminding us again that when we come to know who he is, when we have experiences with his characteristics, with his attributes, with, then we begin to trust him more and more. Just knowing who he Is has precedes
- [21:31]
B
trust every time when I was very first. So these are my scriptures that I've had since I think I got them maybe my junior year of high school. And it was right when I like to be honest, I saw like an Instagram Q and A and they were like, what's your favorite book of scripture? And they said Psalms. And I was like, yeah, I'll read it. Never read it before. And I did. And I am a little embarrassed about this now because it looks so silly, but I'm not embarrassed about it because of how meaningful it was to little 16 year old Grace on like the very page that says like the book of Psalms. I like started writing because I noticed this is a pattern in Psalms that it tells you who God is throughout the whole entire story. And it says over and over and it gives different descriptions and different titles for who he is. And on my very front page of the book of Psalms, first of all, it says the book of Psalms two hearts by it. Listen, I loved it. Okay? Sixteen year old Grace loved the Psalms. But then I wrote at the top, I said, who is our God? And all around it, like I like went through all the Psalms and anytime I found something that described the character of God, that is what I like wrote in it. So I like wrote like, he's a king, He's a listener, he's my light, he's my strength, he is my shield, he is my refuge. And that is like everything that I learned about who God's character was because of this book. And I think that maybe if you are in like a season that is requiring a little more trust than you've ever needed to put in God before. Thank goodness that you're reading this book right now.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Couldn't be better timing. And maybe you're thinking, I actually am not sure that I trust God more than I trust chariots or horses or all these other things that the world has to offer that are a little bit easier to trust in than a God that seems so far away in heaven. You're reading the perfect book and maybe you want to stop and you want to make a little note in your journal of who is my God. And as you read this and as it describes who he is, maybe you want to write that in because that is how you come to trust him is once you come to know his character.
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A
Yeah. In fact, my. Is this my second one?
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B
Yeah.
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A
My second one is 18, right along these lines, Psalm 18, the first couple of verses one you just started where he says, I will Love the O Lord, my strength. And then he says, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. My God is my strength in whom I will trust. My buckler and the horn of my salvation and my hightower. And I just love that. It almost feels like David looking back on the end of his life and saying, you have been all of these things for me. And it's interesting. I'd never thought about this before, but I read that and I started to, like, ask myself, oh, in what situations do you need a rock? And in what situations do you need a force, fortress? And just kind of was wondering, I wonder what was happening in his life when he was just like, you know, in my teenage years, you were my rock. That one summer, you know, my best friend died. You were my. You know, and just him looking back and seeing all these things and. And I. I kind of made this little list where it just feels like. Like this with all of those words. For the Lord is my rock. For the person whose life just fell apart, the Lord is my fortress. For the person who feels like life just won't let up, the Lord is my deliverer. For the person trapped in an addiction they can't beat on their own, the Lord is my strength. For a caregiver who's emotionally and physically exhausted, the Lord is my shield or buckler. That's what that word means. For the person who has to walk back into the same hard situation tomorrow. And the Lord is the horn of my salvation. For the parent praying for a child who's wandered from God. And the Lord is my hightower. For the person who can't see beyond today's pain. And just how each of those would describe something that God is and something that God can be in the very, very different situations of our life. And one thing I love about that verse is that he doesn't say, the Lord gave me a rock and the Lord gave me a fortress, and the Lord gave me, you know, those things, but rather, the Lord is those things, and it just is. Like, in each of those situations of my life, he was in it with me, and this is what he was for me. I wouldn't have made it without him, is what I hear this person saying. It made me. Made me think about that song. I don't even know what it's called. It might be called Run to the Father.
- [26:05]
B
I think it is called that.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Nearly certain.
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A
And he just goes again and again and again, you know, And I. And he says in there, when my heart needs a surgeon, when my Soul needs a something. Yeah, something like that. Yeah, he just the lyrics of that. But then just I run to the Father again and again and again in whatever situation that I am in, and he will be each of these things for me.
- [26:31]
B
I this summer was working on a project for Good News Brand, and we were like, kind of talking about, like, how, like, in the middle of the year, you kind of just, like, want, like, a little, like, revival in your soul of, like, okay, wait, like, I need to, like, get back into things. And there's just, like, kind of like this, like, yearning in your soul for it. And we're like, kind of like, me and a few people were discussing, like, okay, like, what do you crave? And, like, maybe it's like getting back into your scriptures or getting back into prayer, like, becoming the person you want to be. And I was thinking so much about prayer. And with the project, we like, created these little boxes, like, kind of like, themed boxes for, like, kind of like to get you back into, like, the, like, the habits and the thoughts that you want to be having and, like, how to, like, make you, like, refall in love with that when you need, like, a little bit of revival for that, like, energy. And in the prayer one, we, like, made these little cards and all the other ones, like, the scriptures were, like, different studies to do, and there's like, a becoming box. And it was like, kind of like different questions to, like, encourage you to, like, when you, like, want to, like, become like a new kind of person, like, to, like, make you think and, like, journal about. And everyone's like, yeah, but, like, what do you do on a prayer one? Because it's like, so you can't write someone's prayer for them. And I instantly knew. I was like, oh, they need to be psalms. And, like, there's no prettier prayers, I don't think, than the psalms that you read. And so, like, I spent a few days just going through and reading as many psalms as I could to, like, help you fall in love with prayer. Like, are the words to prayers that you wish you could say but you don't know how to say. And as you're reading that list of. For the person whose life just fell apart or for the person who needs to feel like it's like, whatever all the things you just said. That list, it was so beautiful. It made me think of that box. Because the thing that I love the most about. About those little things is those little, like, papers in it is it goes through all these psalms. And what I started doing is I'd find one of those papers and that like, read one of the Psalms and I started putting them in different places where I would pray. And there's some days that you don't know how to pray the prayer that your soul needs to say. And that's one of the reasons I love Psalms so much, is because maybe as you're reading this book this summer, you might find psalms that feel like the prayer that you didn't have the words to say. Yeah. And you might have read like, you might have listened to, listened to David say that list and you might have said, I really do need to pray for him to be my rock. And you're going to find in this book that there's going to be a psalm that is that prayer. And maybe you want to put that up somewhere and maybe you want to like, write that down and maybe you want to like, repeat the words of the Psalm and let that be your prayer until you have the words to say it on your own. And that is one of the most beautiful parts of Psalms, I think, to me. And when you read that list, like, I was like, oh, people might want to take that prayer when they're in the middle of their trust journey and write it somewhere and put, put that somewhere anyways.
- [29:12]
A
So good. That was mine.
- [29:14]
B
What number was that? Am I on three?
- [29:15]
A
I think you're on three.
- [29:16]
B
Okay.
- [29:16]
A
Yeah.
- [29:17]
B
My third one is Psalm 25, and it. I'm doing a two parter. Okay. Sorry, I'm warning you right now. And Psalm 25 at the very beginning in verse number four almost feels like the beginning of a journey of trust with the Lord. And it doesn't feel like it's all the way there. It just feels like, wait, I know I need to trust him and I'm not sure how. And in verse four, it just says, show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths. If you're asking someone to show you their ways and teach you their paths, you are first of all in the middle of trying to figure out how to trust someone. And you're not there yet. You are in the middle of something unknown. And that to me is the most relatable verse ever in trust. It's like, listen, I just want you to show me what you're doing, and I just want you to teach me your ways. Because I, I'm so. There's never a moment you need to trust more than when you're stepping into the unknown. And there's nothing more you want in the unknown than to know where you're going and to know the path and to know the way that you need to go. And right after that, in verse number six, you get this other, like, part two of this journey with trust. And this is what it says. Remember, O Lord, your tender mercies and your loving kindnesses, for they have never been of old. And the thing that I think is so interesting is that he's not saying that I need to remember them. He's not saying, I need to remember what you did. He's telling the Lord to remember. He says, lord, I need you to remember who you have been. And what I love the most about these two verses together is what it teaches you about trust. And that there are going to be times that you say, show me your path. Show me your way. And the Lord really isn't going to. And the Lord's just gonna, like, it really is gonna be unknown, and you're not gonna know what's gonna happen, and you're not gonna know your step forward. And I love this prayer of trust that pauses and says, lord, I have no idea where you're leading me, and I have no idea what step you're gonna take. But I am praying, Lord, that you remember who you have been, because that is someone I can trust. I can trust in the God that parted seas and killed giants and found promised lands. I can believe in that God. And I need you to remember what you've done in the past, because that's what you will do for me, and that is who I can trust in. I can trust that you will lead me to good places, because that is what you have done for your people all along. And I want to copy that prayer forever on those moments of unknown, on the days when I'm uncertain, to look back and say, lord, I need you to remember. And I. When we just barely moved to New York. We have. I talked about moving to New York on here before.
- [32:01]
A
Maybe.
- [32:01]
B
Maybe. Sorry, everyone. Listen, you guys. Objectively, we did a really good thing because we chose a really cheap way to move to New York in the moment. This was the worst plan that has ever existed in the history of the entire world, okay? Because we did a pod. And usually that, like, a pod is going to work really great if you're a mover, because, like, they, like, put the pod in your driveway, and then they deliver it to your new driveway, and then it's, like, so close to your house. And that was really good until you realize in New York, you don't have a driveway. And then in my head, I started Wondering, so, where's the pod going to get dropped off to? And we, like, called, and my husband was on the phone with them, and I, like, heard the phone call, and they were like, oh. He's like, so, where are you going to drop the pod? And they were like, oh, like, the closest place we can. And he's like, like, in a parking spot. And they're like, yeah. And he's like, well, what if there's not parking on our block? And they're like, yeah, we just said the closest spot we could find. And I'm hearing this whole conversation. I'm like, okay, like, what? Like, what does that mean? And I hear my husband say, like, oh, but, like, what if there's not one close? And the lady on the other line was like, sir, that could mean your block. Or that could mean 100 blocks away. That's not our problem. Where the parking spot is. And I'm in the room, my face drops. I'm horrified. He hangs up the phone. It's like the night before that podcast. I need you to know that I've never been in a worse place. I have never been a worse human than that night. I laid on our air mattress in our empty apartment, weeping hysterically. My poor husband. Like, he didn't even. He tried everything to comfort me. There was nothing. There was no comfort coming. And in that moment, felt like I was living Psalm 25. And I know that that's a dramatic thing, but it is not a dramatic thing when you are in the depths of New York City, okay? Just trust me on that. And I remember thinking, because over and over, trending kept saying, it's gonna be fine, Grace. People, millions of people have moved to New York and they've been, okay, we can do it. Like, this is gonna work out. Like, this is gonna be fine. No matter what he said, it didn't help. I just need you to know, like, bless his. Sweetheart, you tried everything. I love him forever. It was not helping my anxiety. And I remember praying that night and being like, God, I have no idea how tomorrow's gonna go, but I need to trust that you're going to take care of it. And I wish that night that I prayed this same prayer. God, I remember who you have been, and tomorrow is going to be unknown, but I need you to remember that you're good, because that's who I need to show up tomorrow. And I love that prayer. So if you need a prayer, maybe you want number six.
- [34:25]
A
Okay, here's another prayer. Because we couldn't do the psalms without doing Psalm 23, which, just so you
- [34:32]
B
know, I almost took that and then I thought, David will want it.
- [34:36]
A
Thank you, Grace. We would have both. We would have just both done something on it. Because I. This, this psalm, I think could be studied. In fact, I, like, my neighbor one time gave me this book by a pastor just like this, this Psalms, only six verses. And then this pastor grew up as a shepherding in a shepherding family. And so the whole book was like, let me just tell you all about what Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, is talking about for somebody who would know what the relationship between a shepherd and sheep are. Because I think in all the world, especially the Old Testament world, the animal that. That is the symbol of trust in someone. And the need to trust in someone is the sheep. Because they just are. They're like, you know, we get called sheep over 100 times in scripture, and it's not necessarily a compliment, you know, because she forgets, you know, if they run out of grass, then they just eat the dirt. They don't know to go to new grass. And if there's danger, what are they going to do? You know, fluff something to death, you know, or if they just like that, you have to take them to water. You have to, like, they just need someone every day of their life to protect them, to feed them, to watch over them. They just need it. And so it just becomes the ultimate symbol of our relationship with God in Scripture because of how needy we are of him in all aspects of our life. So it's just. Just a beautiful, beautiful song, and one that I think someone could memorize and someone could pray as they're looking for trust in God in the different situations and scenarios that they're in. There's one thing about this psalm that I just noticed this time, reading it, and it's now become a new favorite part of mine. There's so many parts of this that are good, but this is what I noticed. It starts by saying, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And then it says, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. Now, I'm not sure if this was intended or not, but it starts by just talking about, he does this and he does this. He does this and he does this. And then a switch happens in verse four, and it says, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table, and all of a sudden it shifts to this. A personal instead of a third person. Like, he does this and he does this and he does this. It switches to this, and you are with me. And it almost, when I read it, kind of shows this. Now all of a sudden, whatever has happened, this person has moved from knowing about God to now knowing God. It's shifted to this personal relationship, you know, of a. You. You are with. You are with me. Like I learned in church that he maketh me to lie down. He restoreth my sou Leadeth, you know. But now I. I know him and we have a personal relationship with each other. And it's interesting to me that it happens in the valley of the shadow of death, that sometimes it is in our valleys and in our shadow days where we actually truly come to know God. And, and, and. And a personal relationship is forged in those moments. And no one wants them, no one likes them. But maybe the writer of the psalm looks back and says, but it was in that place that I actually became acquainted with God and came to know Him. And I imagine that their relationship forever after that moment will be different, but different in a personal and unique and tender way. So I love that whole psalm. I didn't even read the last one. I'll just read the last verse because now every other verse got a shout out, except this one, which might be awesome. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. That's what he just has come to know. That's what he come. He has come to trust that those things are going to follow him every day. Day.
- [39:13]
B
So good. And it's interesting because I think that there are moments, like, we kind of have talked about a lot of them today, honestly, as we're talking about trust, there's maybe moments when you, like, are stepping into a battle that feel like you need to trust the Lord. I think there's moments when you're stepping into a valley that feel like you need to trust the Lord. That is like the depths of grief or heartache or really hard, difficult times that make you trust. And I think that there's also times of waiting that make you really need to trust the Lord. And, and I feel like that was something that I didn't really necessarily, like, understand for a lot of my life. And then all of a sudden, like, hit me like a brick one day of like, I was like, I'm actually feel like I am living the waiting game right now. And I hate it, and I don't want to anymore. And I'm so bored of that. And it sounds terrible. And I was. It was, like, right before I met my husband. And I was not that old when I got married, but it felt like I was like, everyone on Earth I know is getting married, and I'm never getting married. And I was getting so, so sad about it. And I'd never cared about that in my entire life ever before. But for some reason, for, like, a month, like, that, like, kept me up, and I was so sad and disappointed. And I just kept feeling like I needed to wait. And I needed to wait. And I kept, like, in my prayers, replying to God, like, I'm actually done waiting. I don't really want to do a weight anymore. So I don't really like that answer because I'm not really feeling like I like a weight anymore. That's not worth it to me. And in the middle of all of that, one night, I, like, opened up, and I was reading in the Psalms, and I read Psalms 27. And the very last word, the very last verse of Psalms 27 says, Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. And when I read it, it finally felt like an answer in the waiting that was worth getting. And immediately when I read wait on the Lord, I was already bored. And I was like, no, I don't want to do that. Like, I hate when God keeps giving me that answer. And then it feels like in verse 14, this feels like the bridge of, like, oh, this is what it looks like to trust in the waiting. And it's so interesting to me that it says, be of good courage. I don't think oftentimes we think that you have to be brave when you're waiting. We don't teach waiting like you're brave. We teach rating. Like, you're patient. You have to be patient when you wait. Not courageous, not brave. But I don't think there's a braver thing that you can do. Like, waiting is really brave. Waiting does take courage. It takes courage to keep going and waiting. And I love that it said, like, this is a courageous time in your life. You're gonna need to be brave, and you're gonna need to stand up with courage. In the middle of waiting, you're not waiting around. You're being courageous. And the part that I loved the very most is it says, you be of good courage, and he will strengthen your heart. And to me, that is trust in the Waiting. It's sitting in the middle of the waiting and not just being passive or wishing you were somewhere else. Instead, it's pausing and saying, I'm going to be courageous when I wake up. I'm going to be brave in the waiting. I'm going to choose to be happy and to be proud of what my life looks like right now. And I am going to trust that he will strengthen my heart in the middle of this, that my heart will be changed in the waiting. That at the end of this, the waiting will not have been wasted like it wouldn't. It won't have been a waste because I will get up on the other side of the wait and I will look back and I will be able to say, I learned how to be courageous during this. And my heart was changed during this. And I love Psalm 27:14. I repeated that over and over in my brain. It might be one of the first scriptures that I ever like, memorized through and through because I said it so often in my mind. Because it was the first verse that I felt like, allowed me to give purpose to waiting. That made the waiting makes sense. That allowed me to trust the good things were happening in the middle of the wait.
- [42:56]
A
Yeah. Okay. That was also my same one. So you sunk my battleship.
- [43:01]
B
Okay.
- [43:02]
A
No, let me add on just this one other Psalm with it because they kind of go together. So we'll get a bonus one here over in Psalm 46. And I love, in verse one, it says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. And I would say I could replace that word trouble with waiting or any other word.
- [43:28]
B
The.
- [43:28]
A
But the thing that's so great is he's a very present help in those times. And I just love that, that verse that. One of the reasons I love that same verse in 27 is because you're not waiting for God to show up. What you're waiting for is something you hope God will do. Right? But God is a very present part of that waiting. Like the waiting can be relationship building. It's not like you're waiting for him. You're waiting because he is going to be very present. You're waiting for him to hopefully do something. But it's not like, like you said, I love that you're like, that is not a waste. In fact, if you were saying, what are you doing right now? You could be saying waiting. But what you meant by that is you're like, I'm, I'm trusting. I'm, I'm, you know, sitting in, in him and and then let me just throw this in from 46, too, because we see this all in scripture. 46, 10. Be still and know that I am God. And there's something about. It's interesting that he says, like, when you are still, that is when you realize that I am. I am God. That you can come to know him in the times of waiting, in the times of. Of stillness. And I think that's so important. I just love every psalm because I think a really important part of. Of trust and faith in God is waiting and just the idea of don't give up. I love when the Psalms say that. It feels so sweet to me to hear the words, like, I, you know, hey, don't give up, kid. Just be still. Wait on the Lord. Like the. The what? The thing you're waiting for is coming or something better.
- [45:18]
B
So good. Are we doing five or six?
- [45:21]
A
Was that five?
- [45:22]
B
I'm about to do my fifth.
- [45:23]
A
Okay, we'll do five.
- [45:24]
B
Okay, five. Okay. So my last one. And that's like, that's my last one. Because this is the greatest lesson that I ever learned on trust came because of a boy named Matthew at Chick Fil a and Psalm 33. And it has forever been my favorite. Psalm 33. It has always been my favorite because of that moment. And what happened is I was just eating at Chick Fil A, like, sat down and randomly, this worker came up to me named Matthew. And he like, he's like, hey, is anyone sitting by you? And I was like, no. And he just came and sat right by me, and we started talking. And I was like, oh. I was like, so you work at Chick Fil A? Wait.
- [45:58]
A
He just was a random guy.
- [45:59]
B
He's a random worker. He just gave me. He was a worker. He was a worker. And so I was like, yo, you work at Chick Fil A? I was like, I didn't know what to talk to him about. And he's like, oh, well, yeah. He's like, it's not really, like, that serious. His job isn't that serious to me. And I thought he was gonna say because, like, I'm, like, saving up to go to college or I'm, like, saving up for whatever. And he's like, honestly, I didn't even get this job because I need money. I just got this job because I'm actually at the end of this summer going to become a priest. And I got this job before then because I figured I wanted to try to make an ordinary place feel a little bit more holy before I go
- [46:32]
A
and become a Priest love this man.
- [46:34]
B
And of course, he told Chick fil a. I said, you're so right. You're doing a great job. And I was like, oh, whoa. And then I was like, like, did you all. Then all of a sudden, instantly, I had 18 more million questions after he said that. And I said, so wait a minute. Have you always wanted to be a priest? I was like, how do you even become a priest? Like, did you like you do you grow up? And everyone's like, I want to be a teacher. I want to be a please. And you wanted to be a priest? I was like, when did that happen for you? And he's like, it's kind of a long story. And I was like, well, you're the one at work. I was like, I have nothing. I was like.
- [47:02]
A
He's like, okay, how long's your break?
- [47:04]
B
Yeah. He was. He was like, well, I'm on break. He's like, I have a 15 minute break. I was like, okay. I was like, tell me. Then I was like, that's great. And he sat down and he's like, well, honestly, my whole entire life, I felt really drawn to become a priest, and I never wanted to. And I kept being like, no, I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. And he said, and then I went to a church camp one summer, and the theme of the church camp was rejoice. And everyone kept talking about rejoicing and rejoicing. And he kept thinking in his head, I don't feel like that. I don't feel like I've experienced rejoicing. And I don't feel like I, like, know how or that I want to. And I don't feel like when I think about my future, I'm, like, rejoicing about my future. And he was like, I was so confused. And the theme of the camp was Psalm 33. And he said finally one day, he read the very verse 21 in Psalm 33. And it says, for our heart shall rejoice in him because we have trusted in his holy name. And he said. He read that 18 million times in a row. And he realized that the reason he wasn't rejoicing in his life is because he wasn't trusting in the plan God had for him. And he knelt down right there and he started praying. And he said, God, I'm gonna become a priest, but if I do, I want you to show me what it feels like to rejoice. And he said since that day, he knew he was gonna become a priest. And so he started living his life to become one. And then he said, do you know the very first first word in Psalm 33? And I said, no. And he said, it's rejoice. And he took me to verse number one, and it is, rejoice in the Lord, oh, you righteous, for praise is comely for the upright. And he said, but what I realized is the most important part of Psalm 33 is not the rejoicing. That's the aftermath. The most important part of Psalm 33 is that it tells you that rejoicing comes because of trust. And he said, never in my life have I woken up and rejoiced every day until I realized that I needed to trust the plan God had for me. And he said, I have never been more happy than agreeing to become a priest with God, because in that moment, I finally got to experience what rejoicing felt like. And I have every single day since. And he said, that is impossible without trust. And I, like, I will never forget in my scriptures, I have next to Psalm 33, 12, 5, 19, Matthew at Chick Fil A. Because it, like, changed my life so much. Because ever since that day, I realized if I ever need rejoicing, I should probably look at my trust in God. And usually those are associated. And I think it seems a little bit backwards because so often we want rejoice and we don't want the trust. But how beautiful that God is teaching us. A pattern in Psalm 33 that you can experience a lifetime of rejoicing. But that comes when you trust God's plan for you. And that boy was such evidence of that for me.
- [49:43]
A
Oh, so good. It just. It just makes me. I just keep coming back to. You know, there's so often we talk about just the experiences of life or we have so many, like, unanswered things. We have so many questions of why, and we look at it, and it's true that my most sacred holy experiences are ones where I've said, I don't see how you're going to do this or what you're going to do, but I trust you and I believe in you.
- [50:13]
B
You.
- [50:14]
A
And there's something. There's something about that. There's something about choosing to, like, believe his promises before you see them, you know, come to pass. Like, it just. It's just a. It's. It's exalting, you know, to do that. Okay, my last one. Holy moly. Look at all those ones that I have. So. Well, here's the good news, everyone. You Just get.
- [50:39]
B
You can, you can discover them. You can discover.
- [50:42]
A
We're just giving you things to like, help. We want you to fall in love with, with Scripture and hopefully you're falling in love with the idea of reading the Psalms. I'm going to do this one as my last one. The, the very first psalm of Psalms, because there's just this line I, I really like blessed. It starts like this. This is how the whole book of Psalms starts. Blessed is the man, or happy is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, or standeth in the way of sinners, or sitteth in the seat of the scornful. That's not how you find happiness, but like this. His delight is in the law of the Lord. Or a better translation of that would be the words of the Lord. The, the promises of the Lord. He delights in the promises of the Lord and in those promises doth he meditate day and night. And then here's the promise for those who do. He's like thee will be like a tree that's planted by the rivers of water to, to. To trust in what God has said and to trust in what he says he will do. And to trust in who he is is like planting yourself by a river of water. And it says this. And that tree will bring forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall, shall not wither. And I love the imagery of this tree that sometimes doesn't have fruit on it, but is always alive because the leaf doesn't wither. That's what it means. And that's because of that river. Its roots are deep in that river. And sometimes in life it's not fruitful and it doesn't look like things are going great, but the tree is still alive. And that, I think, is what it looks like to trust in the Lord to have. You're waiting on promises, you're waiting on hope. And there might not be any fruit or something to show, but you're still alive. He's sustaining you, he's carrying you. And, and you are thriving even in your places of. Of waiting. Because trust is, is life giving. To trust in God is the first principle of the gospel. It is to connect to Him. And it's like being planted next to this ever flowing river that will just sustain you through it, like day after day after after day. And so I, I love just. It feels cool that that's Psalm 1, because it almost is saying like this was what this book can be for you. This book can be a river of water. Plant yourself in it and recite these prayers and feel these prayers and move through the emotions of this book and others. And you'll always be alive. You will always have, you know, you'll have good days you want to post about online, you know, but when you don't, you'll still, you'll still be kept and sustained. So such a good book.
- [53:51]
B
Okay, you guys, so one out of three.
- [53:52]
A
Yeah, that's part one. Oh my gosh, look at this. Sitting right here before you even go. Because it's August. We don't know what day you're gonna listen to this. August 17th.
- [54:00]
B
This August 10th.
- [54:02]
A
When's Labor Day? Whenever Labor Day is. Everyone. That is Swiss days.
- [54:07]
B
I'll tell you right now.
- [54:08]
A
Okay, you're and Swiss 7th of September, everyone. Yeah, Swiss Days. If you don't know what Swiss days is, it's a festival or something, a bunch of shops. But that's when we're launching all of our, all of our study materials for next year. And you guys, this is what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid of two things. One, we can only. We only ordered so many. So this might be why you want to get it early.
- [54:31]
B
I'm so afraid of that.
- [54:32]
A
But what's going to happen is when you get next year's stuff, I'm afraid you're going to abandon the Old Testament and start in the new because.
- [54:41]
B
And we always say this, it's never
- [54:43]
A
been like this, but this is worse. Okay, if you're watching, you could just see. Here's. This is the journal for next year. It's called the 2552. Because what we've decided to do for next year is to give you for 52 weeks of the year, a 25 minute study devotional. And what we're focusing on in this journal is just. We will walk you through the scriptures to just help you feel the heart and to connect with and find the application. In one story per week, it just becomes your just your Sunday devotional book. It's beautiful. The picture. You can't. You're gonna die. So I just want to give you the heads up.
- [55:25]
B
That's like a warning.
- [55:25]
A
That's. These are dropping on Labor Day weekend Swiss days. You can see them in person or online. So have that as a heads up, everyone.
- [55:35]
B
So many things to be excited about.
- [55:38]
A
Okay, we'll see you next week.