Terrific Tuesday with Inge from Dementia for 2

Today's Terrific Tuesday guest is Inge, who writes at Dementia for 2. Inge has blessed me repeatedly in many ways. She is a former Marine (I guess this is not exactly true since I've heard that Once a Marine always a Marine), Mother, God Lover, and a Granddaughter who is actively involved in the life of her Granny. She's got a lot of awesome posts about dealing with a loved one in a nursing home, daily life, and most of all mingled through every one of her posts is her desire to seek God foremost.

Enjoy this Best of Dementia for 2 post...

A Man After God's Own Heart

My favorite book in the bible has to be Psalms. I just love David. I know that all of the Psalms were not written by him, but a majority of them were.

David has been called a lot of things by a lot of people. I often hear people refer to him as a tattle tale and have even done so myself. The more I read the psalms, the more I realize how wrong that description of him really is.

David had an extraordinary life from the beginning. He was the youngest of 8 boys. When Samuel went to anoint the man God had chosen to be king, it was a lesson in the way God thinks for everyone present. Samuel is thinking the firstborn will be named by God. God tells him don't look at his countenance (facial features) or the height of his stature. God further states that He doesn't see as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart. 1Samuel 16:7. I find great comfort in that. To know that God goes beyond the physical and looks at what really matters, your heart hence your true self is a wonderful thing to me.

So the big procession goes on and after the 7th son and still no word from God, Samuel asks Jesse if these are all of his sons. Jesse says no I have one more the youngest who is tending the sheep. so Samuel waits until someone goes and gets David. The thing about tending sheep is this was a lowly job. You were gone sometimes for days. Imagine spending days tending sheep. Keeping them in line, watching for wild animals, not bathing, all that fun stuff.

So here comes David. Smelly, dirty, young, David. David is described as ruddy. Some have said this means he had red hair. I don't know where they got that from. His face was red or rosy. Spending all that time keeping sheep I suppose. Anyway, he walks past all his brothers and is anointed by Samuel then and there. While he doesn't become king for awhile, I can only imagine how the other brothers felt. The Bible doesn't say but you can bet there was envy, anger, bitterness, the works.

Now for the whole tattle tale thing. If you really read the Psalms, you will see a pattern with David. He always starts by praising God. he reminds himself of who God is and what God has done not only for him but, for the Israelites. Then he reminds God of what is going on in his life at the moment. David spent a lot of time in caves running for his life. He reminds God that his enemies are out to get him. He sprinkles more reminders of who God is in these recounts. He ends by praising God. You can see David's despair turn to encouragement in reading his writings.

While some people don't believe in "reminding" God you are instructed to do so in the Word. This is not for God's benefit, He doesn't need it. This is for your benefit. When you remember what God has done for you, you want to thank Him for His mercy, protection, etc. By reminding Him of what is going on in your life, you are petitioning God. I find for myself that when I do this, God also reminds me of things. My own thoughts or actions concerning the particular situation. This often leads to confession which leads to praise.

My son is 25. When he was a teenager, he decided to make some very poor choices concerning his life. This caused me to go almost completely white headed. So now I have become best friends with Miss Clairol. During that time, I spent some time in the Psalms.

Last year my husband and I separated for a year. I grew closer to God than I can ever remember being. Once again I was back in the Psalms.

During these two occasions in my life, I have 2 particular verses that really comfort me from the Psalms. So I am going to end this post with them. I hope they can comfort you as they have comforted me.

Psalm 91:4
He will cover you with His feathers,
and under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Psalms 56:8
You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?