Shalom,

Psalm 59 is:

Of David, a record of memorable thoughts when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

This is another Psalm where David speaks out what the enemy is trying to do to him, but then he encourages himself in the Lord by speaking out what God will do, Who He is and praising Him! We see this in verses 8-10:

⁸But You, O Lord, will laugh at them [in scorn]; You will hold all the nations in derision

⁹O my Strength, I will watch and give heed to You and sing praises; for God is my Defense (my Protector and High Tower). 10

My God in His mercy and steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look [triumphantly] on my enemies (those who lie in wait for me).

And then again in verses 16-17 David sings the praises of God:

¹⁶But I will sing of Your mighty strength and power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy and loving-kindness in the morning; for You have been to me a defense (a fortress and a high tower) and a refuge in the day of my distress.

¹⁷Unto You, O my Strength, I will sing praises; for God is my Defense, my Fortress, and High Tower, the God Who shows me mercy and steadfast love.

We can definitely learn from David how to handle adversity, tests, trials and tribulations! Doing this will make US people "after God's own heart"!

In Mark 3 we see Jesus continuing to set people free and the Pharisees continuing to try to catch Him doing something unlawful. Can't you just picture these men in their long robes lurking around the edge of the crowd or hiding behind a corner of a the building looking for something they could say: "gotcha" about? It would be comical if it wasn't so sad! These are the very ones who should have been looking for the Messiah and should have recognized Him when He came because of what the Word said about Him! They should have been leading the people TO Jesus and learning from Him themselves! Instead, out of jealousy and embarrassment, they kept trying to trip Him up.

Next we see that His family members weren't convinced about Who He was yet, either! Here is verse 21:

²¹And when those who belonged to Him (His kinsmen) heard it, they went out to take Him by force, for they kept saying, He is out of His mind (beside Himself, deranged)!

And in verses 31-35 we see what Jesus thought about all of this:

³¹Then His mother and His brothers came and, standing outside, they sent word to Him, calling [for] Him.

³²And a crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, Your mother and Your brothers and Your sisters are outside asking for You.

³³And He replied, Who are My mother and My brothers?

³⁴And looking around on those who sat in a circle about Him, He said, See! Here are My mother and My brothers;

³⁵For whoever does the things God wills is My brother and sister and mother!

I want to make sure that I am doing the will of God daily so that I can have confidence of who I am in Him!

In Exodus 27-28 we see the extremely precise instructions that Moses received from God for the building of the Tabernacle, including every utensil they would need for carrying out the sacrifices and worship. Make sure that you read over every word! Then the next time you are even tempted to think God may be "hit or miss" in his dealing with you, think again! We serve a very precise, accurate, organized, generous, loving, mighty and powerful God Who has a very definite plan for our lives! The "hit and miss" stuff is our own doing when we are not diligent and consistent in the Word, in prayer, in praise and worship, in fellowship with like-minded believers, or even in the natural things in our lives. It is NEVER God! He even instructed them on the pans for the ashes from the burnt offerings! He made sure that the garments of the High Priests had bells on them that would give off sound when he moved around within the Holy of Holies. It is said that they had a rope tied around them so that if they died while in there, they could be pulled out, because no one else would be allowed in. Like I said, EVERY detail! AMEN!

Shalom in Him!