Psalm 121:8

Is your sword being sharpened? Are you ready for battle?

Today is the last day for our memorization of Psalm 121. Eight verses! I must confess that I am still working on yesterday's. I copied the chapter on a piece of paper so I could read it whilst out on the lawnmower for over four hours; however, I forgot I had it in my pocket until after I came back into the house. haha.

So, today and tomorrow I can concentrate a bit more on it. Probably tonight I'll work harder on it since I have a bridal shower to attend this afternoon. (Best wishes, Helen!)





Without further delay, let's bring on verse eight.





Psalm 121 (NIV)
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Nice to know, eh?... that the Lord watches over our coming and going. Not just today, but FOR-E-VER-MORE! That's a loooooong time, folks. God's got your back... and your front... and your sides... and overtop... and underneath... You're fully covered.

I'll let you know what chapter I'm going to work on next. I should probably spend some time polishing Psalm 139.... I'm still having trouble with a couple of verses. But for a few days, I'll continue working on Psalm 121, getting it etched in my brain. ANY memorizing of the Scriptures that we do will sharpen our swords for battle.





The fight before the victory.... are you ready for battle?

Psalm 121:7

And moving right along...... haha





Sorry about the delay in getting these last two verses posted. With Blake's hospital trips and tests this week, along with everything else that's been thrown my way, I'm just a bit behind. (Just ask the lawn! It's about a foot tall!) But, pressing on, we will complete this chapter by tomorrow.





How are you doing at it? If you haven't been joining me since the beginning of our memorization, might I suggest you tackle this chapter, Psalm 121. It's not difficult at all. I can't believe how many times I've quoted it this week, to simply ease my mind and keep me from worrying. We don't know what lies ahead of us on the 'road of life'; but we can be assured that God is still God and is still on the throne.... He is keeping us from all harm and watching over our lives, even when we can't see what's around the next bend.





Psalm 121 (NIV)
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life;





What a good, reassuring verse. No need to worry.... He's watching.





The fight before the victory.... let's get ready for battle.

Psalm 121:6

Today I am out of town at a friend's wedding, but that doesn't mean we slack on the Scripture memorization, folks!

Keep memorizing! Keep praying! Keep asking the Holy Spirit to help you retain what you've learned.

Day 8's verse is:

Psalm 121 (NIV)
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

Yesterday's verse was "shade"; today it's "sun & moon". Let those visuals help you remember.

The fight before the victory.... let's get ready for battle.

Psalm 121:5

Do you realize we have memorized HALF of this chapter already?







It's only eight verses, so I knew it wouldn't take long. But how exciting that we've halfway reached our goal!





So, here we are on Day 7; and we're working on Verse #5 today of Psalm 121.





Psalm 121 (NIV)
5 The LORD watches over you — the LORD is your shade at your right hand;






And with all this humidity, man oh man, have we ever needed shade! So that might help in remembering this verse.





We are working our way to getting God's Word in our heads.... don't stop now. And if you haven't started...... git goin'! This is a fairly easy chapter for beginners!





The fight before the victory.... let's get ready for battle.

Psalm 121:4

'
Today I feel as though I've been run through the ol' wringer washer.
'



'
I woke up with a terrible wicked migraine that, I believe, set my stomach churning. I thought I was getting a stomach flu; however, after sleeping the whole day.....
'

Yes, you read that right......

'
the whole day...........

'
....I am feeling a lot better. Mr. Migraine has turned into Miss Headache, so I'm sure I'll soon be coming around. I think it's because of the drastic change in humidity today. Even though it went from a sickening humidity to a much fresher day today, the sudden change affects me drastically.



'
'
'
OK, enough about that. On to bigger and better things.

'
I am posting Verse #4 today of Psalm 121.


'
'
Psalm 121 (NIV)
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.


'
'
What an appropriate verse for ME today! Isn't it wonderful that the Lord never dozes off or falls into some deep sleep and leaves us hanging on our own?
'

He---does---not---sleep! He is always watching over us.

'
I slept all day today, only up a few times to answer the phone or visit the Little Girls Room. Other than that, I remember hardly anything of the day. I was zonked out. I slightly remember Jared returning from his job and I remember Jake cooking us up some lunch. That's it.

'
Our Lord is not like that. He remembers it all because He does not slumber nor sleep. He's on duty, watching over us. 24/7.

'
What a comfort.

'
The fight before the victory..... let's get ready for battle.
'

Psalm 121:3

We are already on Day 4 of our Scripture memorization of Psalm 121. Yesterday was review day and today we are working on Verse 3.




Psalm 121 (NIV)
3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;






I'm going to have to crack the whip on myself to stay at this. I always have such good intentions when I start at something, but somewhere along the line I get sidetracked.

Keep me on track, folks! Hold me accountable for what I'm doing here!

But I know this is a project that the Lord is happy about. Why wouldn't He be overjoyed that His children are learning His Word......

C'mon along for the ride. It's not too late to start (Janna!).





Now I'm off to clean the kitchen and work on some laundry... all the while quoting Verse #3. Won't you join me?





hahaha... feel free to help me with the kitchen clean-up and laundry; but I was more referring to the memorization of Verse #3.





The fight before the victory..... let's get ready for battle.

Psalm 121:2 ~ The Fight Before The Victory ~ Let's Get Ready For Battle

And moving right along to Verse #2 of Psalm 121.....



Psalm 121 (NIV)
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.



How did you do yesterday with Verse #1? Get it memorized?

I hope so.


Today is Verse #2, and tomorrow will be a review of Verses 1 & 2.


So.... shall we get crackin' on Verse #2?








The fight before the victory..... let's get ready for battle.

Psalm 121:1 ~ The Fight Before The Victory ~ Let's Get Ready For Battle

You may recall this post where I threw out a challenge for you to exercise your brains with me. I have decided that today is the day I'm gonna get crackin' on Psalm 121.


So, dear fellow eager-to-learn Christians, might I suggest that you pull up your socks and we'll give that ol' cranium a workout?




OK, pulling up socks might not be a good idea right now.... too humid for wearing sockies. But you get where I'm goin', eh?.......


So, I'll be memorizing Psalm 121. Today, August 15th, will be Verse #1, which is:



Psalm 121 (New International Version)
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?




Then tomorrow we'll do Verse #2, then Monday will be a review of Verses 1 & 2. OK? That's not too hard. Then we'll keep taking these baby steps until we're done the chapter. Only eight verses.... that's not very many, really. Psalm 119 has 176 verses, so now quit your whining before I flip back two chapters!





I just feel like today I have some mental, physical, and spiritual battles going on (gee, I'm a wreck!) and I need to get more of His Word in me so I've got some armour and weapons when the fiery arrows get thrown at me.





Are you having a good day today? GREAT. That's wonderful.





However, the fiery arrows are heading your way soon. You're either coming out of a trial, you're in one, or you're heading for one. So you need to be ready. I'm not being pessimistic here, which is my humanly natural first instinct; however, I'm being realistic. We will have some battles to fight before this life is over and we go to be with Jesus. Today I'm just cheesed enough and in the right mood that I want to say to that ol' devil, "Bring it on!". But I'm not quite that stupid. I need to get ready for battle, ready for war.





Come battle with me. Psalm 121:1.





Read it.





Say it out loud.





Memorize it.





The fight before the victory...... let's get ready for battle.

Exercising My Brain

This brain of mine is in need of some exercising!



With all this humidity that we've been experiencing the last week or so, the barometric pressure has affected me in such a manner that it literally hurts my head to even THINK! The pressure is so intense, the pain is moving to my face and even my jawline. Sometimes it seems that even blinking my eyes causes me distress! The pain in behind my eyes can get so intense (Matt, how do you spell 'intense'? [wink, wink]) that I have to lay down with complete silence surrounding me.



My late mother-in-law, who studied nursing, told me a story of how years ago doctors would have bricks put around a person laying in bed who was suffering from arthritis, to keep them from moving. They thought that keeping the patient still was the best therapy. However, as time went on, researchers found that the opposite was the most therapeutic..... they needed to get moving, be active, and not be stationary.



So I figure since my head hurts, I need to do some brain exercises. Maybe that will help my brain from seizing up and experiencing brain freeze.... although I don't think anything could freeze in this humidity!!!!







Last December I started reading a blog, Angie Smith's Bring The Rain, and she challenged her readers to join her in memorizing Scripture. They set out to memorize all 24 verses of Psalm 139 within about two weeks. I thought I would give it a try with them and I did pretty well at the beginning..... lost a bit of steam.... regained some momentum..... and now I kind of know most of it, but could improve immensely. Twenty-four verses is a LOT, but I looked back to when I was just a wee one and I remember Mrs. Wilson teaching me in Sunday School and we were instructed to memorize Psalm 23. If I could memorize a whole six verses when I was ten or twelve years old, then I'm sure twenty-four shouldn't be a problem now, right?



I recently came across Psalm 121 and decided that would make for some good memorizing, and I've decided that's my next Scripture to memorize.



And what I'm wondering is...... how many of you brave souls out there want to join me? It's good to do it with someone else because you can encourage one another (or try to get a verse ahead of them! Ooooo..... it's OK to be competitive when memorizing Scripture, isn't it? haha).



So, what say you, gang? Wanna give it a whirl? We can break it down like Angie did....
Day One - Verse 1
Day Two - Verse 2
Day Three - Review Verses 1 & 2
Day Four - Verse 3
Day Five - Verse 4
Day Six - Review Verses 1 -4
Day Seven - Verse 5.............
and so on.
Every three days is a review.



I'm gonna start soon, so anyone who wants to learn along with me, let me know. I have heard so many sermons lately about getting into the Bible, reading God's Word, memorizing Scripture, quoting Scripture through the hard times, etc. that I realized I HAVE to do this. I have quoted portions of Psalm 139 as situations arise and am thankful that I can refer back to it, even though it's not 100% memorized yet. I have always appreciated people who could pull Scripture from the filing cabinets in their brains.... even giving the reference as well! That's amazing. I want to be able to do that.



Don't use the excuse that you're not good at memorizing. I used to say that too. Of course the Lord wants His Word in our hearts, so through the Holy Spirit we will be able to do it. The older I am getting, the more I am realizing this is so important. Wish someone had kicked my butt into doing this a long time ago, just like when I was a kid.



Thank you, Mrs. Wilson, for kicking my butt when I was little. Why have you stopped? hahahaha



So, Psalm 121. Below are both the New International Version and the King James Version; however, if you choose to join me, you can use any version you like. I haven't decided yet which one I'll memorize, I like both NIV and KJV.



Psalm 121 (New International Version)
A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip — he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you — the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.



Psalm 121 (King James Version)
1I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

And maybe you are currently memorizing something else. If so, let me know.... maybe I'll memorize your choices along with you!

We don't know what tomorrow holds, and someday we might have our Bibles taken from us....... then what will we do?



Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.(Psalm 119:11 KJV)



Have you hid it in your heart? Well then, let's get crackin', shall we?