From the Inside Out

From the Inside Out

Joel Houston

A thousand times I've failed

Still your mercy remains

And If I stumble again

I'm caught in your grace



Everlasting,

Your light will shine

When all else fails

Neverending,

your glory goes

Beyond all fame


In my heart and my soul

I give You control

Consume me from the inside out Lord



Let justice and praise

Become my embrace

To love You from the inside out


Everlasting,

Your light will shine

When all else fails

Neverending,

Your glory goes

Beyond all fame



And the cry of my heart

Is to bring You praise

From the inside out

Lord my soul cries out


Your will above all else

My purpose remains

The art of losing myself

In bringing You praise



Everlasting,

Your light will shine

When all else fails

Neverending,

your glory goes

Beyond all fame

Psalm 60 - 64

When I started reading Psalm 60, I thought here is another whiny Psalm where the author feels God has rejected him… and in a way that is true… but then I saw how timely and pertinent this Psalm is. 

So many feel God rejected our nation with election of Barak Obama.  They fail to acknowledge that God establishes authority (Rom. 13:1) or that he has a plan in all this (Hab. 1) 

This Psalm sounds like the “cries” I’ve heard recently. 

Verses 1- 3 “You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; You have been angry – now restore us!  You have shaken the land and torn it open… you have shown your people desperate times…” 

Certainly we are seeing desperate times and our land has been shaken and I personally feel more is to come. 

Verse 4 proclaims hope and truth “But for those who fear You, You have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow.” 

Jesus is our banner – our faith in Him – we must cling to Him … walk in faith no matter our circumstances. 

God is at work. We need to seek Him and trust Him always… for “the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory.” (v. 11 & 12) 

Psalm 61 follows as a prayer crying out to God in time of need. 

“… lead me the rock that is higher than I .  For You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.”  (v. 2 & 3) 

Jesus is the Rock and He is most definitely higher. 

Psalm 62 is a familiar friend. 

“My sould finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”  (v. 1 & 2) 

What verses to pray and promises to stand on! 

And the Psalmist reminds us again of who God is… 

“Find rest, O my soul,. In God alone; my hope comes from Him.  He alone is my fortress, I will not be shaken.  My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge.  Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.”  (v. 5-8) 

Psalm 63 is another familiar friend... one of the most wonderful Psalms David wrote. 

“I God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my body longs for You in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (v. 1) 

How I want to always long for and seek God in this way. 

“Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.  I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands.  My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You.”  (v. 3-5) 

This should be my heart… my life… each day… to praise God because He is good.. He is better than life! 

And for David it is 24 / 7… in Verse 1, earnestly can also be translated early… so early will I seek you. 

Then in verse 6 He says “on my bed I remember You; I think of You throughout the watches of the night.” 

For David, seeking God … praising Him… worshipping… was all day and night… every moment. 

Psalm 64 again finds the Psalmist crying out to God, but not in a whiny way… it is more of an “OK, God, here are the problem in my life.. take care of them.”  In a way the Psalmist is doing what Ps. 55:22 says to do. “Cast your cares on the Lord…” and he knows God will take care of Him.  Verse 10 “Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in Him; let all the upright in heart praise Him.” 

Psalm 56 - 59

Written November 18, 2008 

In all four of these Psalms, the Psalmist is crying out to God for or about something. 

In Psalm 56 he is under attack and seeks God’s mercy and deliverance.  I love the choice laid out in verse 3 & 4… “When I am afraid, I will trust in You.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid.  What can mortal man do to me? 

In Psalm 57 once again the Psalmist seeks mercy n the face of his enemies’ pursuits.  He cries out to “God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.” (v. 2) 

I love this reminder in the midst of turmoil that God is God Most High and that he has a plan… a purpose for each of us.  Verse 2 here reminds me of Phil. 1:6 “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” 

Psalm 58 is yet again crying out to the Lord… it has, to me, an angry tone at times and while I know all scripture is God-breathed and useful, this passage seems, to me, to have little value.  I think, for me, it is God showing where to take our anger… to Him instead of pouring it out on others. 

Psalm 59 once again finds the Psalmist seeking God’s deliverance.  In verse 12 he says of his enemies “For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride.” 

This actually is a verse worth praying for ourselves and our children.  Pride is so deep rooted and leads to a multitude of sins.  I pray God would let me be caught in it, so that I might recognize it and repent … I pray the same for my family… for my children.  No doubt the process isn’t pleasant, but the result is a heart more like His.

Psalm 35

I have lived Psalm 35... I think most of us have. Obviously David is under attack and he starts off calmly crying out to God for help. He basically says, "When you do this, then I will rejoice." (v. 9) But apparently God isn't working the way David wants. I get the impression His time line is different than that of David's and David feels his prayers are going unanswered.. that God is not responding. "... when my prayers returned to me unanswered, I went about mourning." (v. 13-14)



He continues to cry out, but now with a bit of panic... excitement... in his words. Again, it is as if God's not there. "Don not be far from me, Lord. Aware and arise to my defense." (v. 22-23)



So why include a Psalm like this in the Bible? Because we all have times where we can't see or feel God at work. It may be a time of testing... of growth.. it could be of our own doing - unconfessed sin puts up a wall between us and God... no matter the reason, it isn't a fun place to be.



If you are there, ask God to show you if there is unconfessed sin in our life... truly seek to know this and deal with whatever He shows you.



If it isn't there, accept that God is at work in your life, just not in the way you want. Choose to trust Him. Follow David's example to cry out to Him.... tell Him how you feel...He can take it. And know that He is there at work and He has your best interest at heart.

Psalms 4,5,& 6

From today's walk in the Psalms....

I find it interesting that Ps 4 begins with the plea in verse 1 for the Lord to "be merciful to me and hear my prayer" and Ps 6 ends with (v 9) "The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer." Cool, huh? He always hears us... and He always responds.

Ps. 4 verse 3 "know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself; the Lord will hear when I call to Him." I pray to be one of His godly. I certainly can't be on my own, but like the righteousness I talked about yesterday, my godliness comes through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. Set me apart for You, Lord, set me apart.

Love theses promises found in Ps 4... verse 7 assures me the God fills my heart with greater joy... not just ordinary joy, greater joy! ... and in verse 8 I learn that I can have peace because I know the Lord makes me dwell in safety.

Ps. 5:3 should be a verse every believer prays... "In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation." I have no problem laying my requests before the Lord, but my impatient flesh doesn't like to wait and my mind fills with doubts and I find myself not waiting and not expecting. I pray that the Lord will teach me to be still and know that HE is God... to rest in His everlasting arms... to EXPECT Him to be who He says He is and to do the things He promises in His Word.

Ps 6 is a "cry out" Psalm. I love how the Psalmist is crying out to God in verse 1 - 7 and in what feels like an instant, he has confidence in God (v. 8). It is also interesting to see that this comes after he admits his weakness in verses 6 & 7... there is a sense of surrender and then God steps in... God doesn't force Himself on us... we have a choice. In verse 6 & 7 the Psalmist is weak and tired... in verse 8 he is rebuking his enemies and proclaiming the Lord. Their is confidence in surrender.

Oh that I would let go of despair when it is upon me and go straight to surrender!