“For I know that the Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps” (Psalm 135:5-6).

Psalm 135

What are your “positives?”

Either God exists or He doesn’t.

Yes                  No

Either God is the cosmos creator or He’s not.

Yes                  No

Either He is sovereign or He’s not.

Yes                  No

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“To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He is gracious to us. Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious to us, for we are greatly filled with contempt” (Psalm 123:1-3).

Psalm 123

The complexity and capacity of the human eye is mind-boggling! The retina of your eye has 10 million cells, tiny machines unmatched by any ever built by man. Every thousandth of a second, each of those cells performs 500 nonlinear differential equations 100 times each! Talk about a calculus assignment! That’s why Darwin himself said, in his renowned book On the Origin of Species, “To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree.”

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“I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1).

Psalm 122

The Oval Office of the president of the United States, located in the West Wing of the White House, is an awe-inspiring visit for a patriotic American. The current space was built by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1934 and features various historic paintings, a fireplace, an impressive grandfather clock, a beautiful rug with the seal of the president, and the Resolute Desk made from the timbers of the British frigate HMS Resolute. This magnificent desk was presented to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880 by Queen Victoria. The office is respected throughout the world as the workplace of the most-powerful person in the world. A tour of the White House and a chance to walk in the footprints of dozens of U.S. presidents who have served there is an experience of a lifetime.

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“He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:3-4).

Psalm 121

Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, conquered Persia under the rule of Darius III in 334 BC. During his quest to conquer and rule most of the civilized world, this son of King Philip II was loathed by many a man across Asia. Knowing his father had been assassinated and that his life also lay in jeopardy, every night when he closed his eyes he was asked, “How do you sleep at night?”

His reply was simply, “Because my guards do not sleep.”

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“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Psalm 119

Out on the mountainside, the shepherd communicates clearly with his flock through the skillful use of his rod, his staff, his voice, and in many cases his sheepdog. As a well-trained sheepdog understands and respects the voice of his master, so you and I have a direct line to the voice of God. No place in Scripture describes that great truth more thoroughly than Psalm 119.

A depressed and bewildered college student who worked on our camp staff sought me out for counsel one summer day many years ago. I had known her for several years and was aware that her condition was chronic and had crippled her emotional health for some years. Our counseling session was surprisingly short, but I assumed it would be only the beginning of the solution to her deep psychological issues. After we prayed, I asked her to go memorize Psalm 119:1-11.

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“I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications” (Psalm 116:1).

Psalm 116

One of Jesus’ most-beloved teachings that exposes God’s tenderness toward the tiny, prayerful outcry of one of His most-remotely secluded lambs is the one about the lost lamb. Listen to Jesus’ words as if you’re hearing them for the first time:

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“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth” (Psalm 115:1).

Psalm 115

Some idols are large and audacious. Some are small and subtle. Some idols destroy a Christ-follower quickly; most destroy slowly. Some idols are obvious; most are elusive.

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“When Israel went forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah became His sanctuary, Israel, His dominion. The sea looked and fled; the Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills, like lambs” (Psalm 114:1-4).

Psalm 114

Depression is a deep, thick, stormy, gray cloud that travels ominously over the emotional sky of a person’s heart 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The cloud seems permanent and immoveable. It’s reinforced with layers of sadness, worry, fear, and personal defeat.

I’ve been under the cloud twice–once as a young college football coach, and once as an older ministry leader. I cried during those dark days until it felt as if my tear ducts became barren and ran out of tears to shed.

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