How to practice a Psalm

August 29, 2025

Maria Fear, Psalm 5, Refuge, Satan, Trusting God , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy. Psalm 5: 11 NLT

For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:12 ESV

We’re back from the Italy trip and feeling so grateful for God’s good care each day and night. Leading up to our departure, I had to fight against using my imagination to project: What if there are problems and they dampen the trip!  

This morning while reading these two verses from Psalm 5, I saw what I should have done, how I should have prayed and what the Lord actually did despite my failures.

Headed into the trip I gave into Satan-inspired fears more often than I want to admit. I should have fought against those ‘voices’ with vigor, by copying the psalmist: But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. 

Had I continually affirmed the goodness of God in providing me a refuge against Satan, I would have felt secure and been able to sing God’s praises with gladness of heart. 

Once IN God’s shelter, resting in His safe covering, I could have then more easily followed King David’s example as he asked the Lord through prayer: Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy.

For example, traveling to Italy via an overnight stop in Zürich where we rented a car, I could have prayed this verse and felt assured that God would protect us and the car.  Without a doubt Mike and I LOVE God’s name.

(Note to Self: Could asking someone if they love God’s name be a useful way to open up a Gospel conversation?)

I would have saved myself a lot of pre-trip anxiety had I soaked in the comfort of verse 12: For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

As I mentioned, despite exercising a fear-perforated confidence in God, He graciously DID cover us with favor.

We DID rejoice with relief upon turning in the rental car in Zürich with no scratches or dents. With both of us shooting up arrow prayers, Mike safely drove south over the Alps and back as well as navigated single lane Italian roads through hillside hamlets during our eleven days in Lombardy.  

And talk about God’s favor! From spectacular warm and sunny weather, to fresh Italian bread delivered to our Airbnb each morning, to awe-inspiriting vistas, to an overnight visit from Italian friends and plenty of hanging out and observing local Italian life in restaurants, grocery stores and on walks, we were the recipients of so many of God’s gifts. 

Father, You really are so good. Forgive me for doubting.

Now, considering future trips, including this next one to Seattle, may I recall HOW to count on You and reject Satan’s ‘suggestions’.

Centered on Jesus for protection

August 11, 2022

Maria Psalm 5, Refuge 1 Comment

…let all who take refuge in you be glad;….you surround them with your favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:11-12 NIV

Lightening shattered the sky as torrential downpours hovered over us.  This storm had caught us unaware half-way into our hike. Besides being soaked through and picking our way carefully among the roots and gullies, I had slipped on a rock and landed on my right forearm. Thank God for his grace, for my arm fell on dirt rather than something sharp.  Nonetheless, the scrape was bad.  I held my arm up to catch the rain, washing off the blood.

When we hike, I follow Mike.  This day, I had been focusing on his backpack.  That morning I had meditated on Jesus’ promised provision of daily bread. I pictured all my stockpiled supplies in that backpack that the Lord daily carries for me. During the rain, I stayed close to Mike’s heels. This gave me a good visual of how closely I need to follow Jesus with my eyes locked onto that backpack full of planned provision.

Once the rain started, we hurried downhill as quickly as we dared. The ominous circumstances triggered a reminder of Satan’s lurking. Those storms seemed to park themselves right over us for the entire long descent.  Encountering two large snakes reenforced my awareness of evil’s presence. Gingerly, we stepped around these serpents, one while we ascending and one on our way down. Neither of them scurried out of the way.  What’s up with that?  I thought snakes avoided people.  Were they intent on catching us unaware?

By God’s mercy, almost an hour after the heavens opened up, we reached Mike’s red truck and found shelter.  Mike’s relief was palpable in his words, “Never again are we going to hike when the sky looks questionable!”  Mike has a healthy respect for lighting.  He knows fellow Ranger candidates who died, having been struck by lightening during patrols.

The next morning, Sunday, our Bible reading plan included Psalm 5.  Given our experience the day before, I immediately connected our safety with the words of verses 11 and 12 cited at the top of this post.

I pictured myself sheltered by God’s three-person shield. In my mind’s eye I ‘saw’ each member of the Holy Trinity with his back toward me. The father positioned himself on my left. Jesus planted himself right in front.  And the Spirit closed me in on the right.  The three locked shields to keep me surrounded and protected. 

I imagined them so close to me that I felt almost cocooned.

Friends, this is what God’s surrounding favor looks like.  No wonder the psalmist rejoiced in the midst of danger. 

God doesn’t block all the storms or the enemy’s attacks on us, but he keeps us safe and provides just what we need to stand firm, not giving into fear.

Make it obvious, Lord

May 24, 2015

Maria Acts 14, Prayer, Psalm 5 , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Psalm 5:9 – Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies—
    make your way straight, before me.

Straight path

How kind of God to give us the specific words to pray for obvious, ‘in-your-face’ guidance and direction.

If you’re anything like me, you don’t want to have to GUESS what God wants you to do!  Therefore, it is doubly good news that our Heavenly Father tells us to pray for a straight path that is unmistakable.  Does that mean the path will be easy?  or provide us with a constant view of the destination? Not necessarily.  Come with me and take a moment to think about what a ‘straight path’ implies:

  • In the photo above, can we see any obvious stopping point or terminus?  No.  But we do see enough of the path to walk on for probably 5 more minutes. From past experience, God gives just enough light for the next step.  I certainly WANT more, but I’m learning that this is God’s way and He is giving me practice in trusting Him.
  • A straight path is not necessarily a level path.  Sometimes the way ahead is UPHILL.  We live in the Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina.  In our cove, the incline is about 13 % on average.  So when we walk DOWN the half mile to get the newspaper, we have to walk back UP.  It’s hard.  And it doesn’t FEEL like it has gotten any easier in the 2 years we have lived here.  My point is that even straight paths are difficult.  Somehow knowing that ‘hard is normal’ make it easier to accept

To amplify this ‘Life is difficult by design’ truth, I’ll share with you a verse that Joni Eareckson Tada spoke about this week on her radio broadcast Link to the radio page of her website.  She told the story of Paul undergoing a sudden furious stoning that was meant to kill him.  Paul’s own analysis of this murderous attack was that this was God’s training. So Paul explicitly used it in his instruction of new believers:

  •  Acts 14:21-22 – after being stoned and left for dead (acute suffering) Paul taught the following, with Barnabas accompanying Him –  “They preached the gospel in that city (Derbe)  and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

One final thought about God’s provision of the righteous path, the God-glorifying path: He will show us how to live, where to go, what posture or lifestyle to adopt in the face of enemies.  That we will live among enemies is a given!  What sort of enemies are these?

As many wise Christians have counseled, we should not be collecting enemies needlessly because we are jerks! But there WILL be enemies set on our destruction if we are showing our true colors as redeemed, forgiven, beloved children of the King. As long as we are sons and daughters who fearlessly, with joy, share news of available freedom from guilt and adoption as a sibling of Jesus we will be opposed.  Satan and his spiritual forces of darkness DON’T consider what we herald as good news.  And they sow lies as often as they can, through whatever means they can, both IN the church and in secular society.

Satan's plan