James Hutton

This was a nice study for me to read. It is amazing how so many passages in the bible can be overlooked because there is simply so much to learn and read in God's Word. It is easy to not see particular verses all that often. The psalms are great, but there are so many of them that they can be easily missed, or not thought about for significant amounts of time. This is one such psalm for me. I appreciated the comment on vs. 3, "But thou, O LORD, [art] a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head." The idea of the shield actually being a buckler and covering the person all around is good. Vs. 7, "Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies [upon] the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.", was also helpful for me. Specifically the comments about the cheek bone etc. When one's foes are disarmed, it is a great thing. It is also beneficial with the idea that people can try to bite and devour those who are trying to do what is right. Sometimes they may succeed (if but for a moment, or longer), but if people rely on God, He will raise them up physically and spiritually. Thanks!

It looks like this thread was brought back to activity in December, so I will just go ahead and and do a post. I believe because the Bible is the only religious text that actually makes sense to me. Though I went to church some as a child, I quickly quit going and stayed away for decades. I read the bible practically zero for those decades, nor do I remember anything concrete about what I was taught as a child. Before I was a Christian, I had a broken life, and did not even know for sure if God existed. In college, I learned about different religions such as Islam, Buddhism, and Shinto. Yet, I had no interest in following any of them. I did not read the bible nearly all of those years, until the tail end of my college years. I didn't think about religion much at all, and I was afraid to read the bible because of what could be found within its pages. Once I started reading the bible, I simply tried to read a chapter a day, starting with Matthew. I remember reading weeping and gnashing of teeth. That stuck with me, to say the least. Anyway, over the time, I learned from the bible, and by going to different churches at the time. I did see that the bible was confusing, and I didn't fully understand it at the time (nor do I fully understand today), but the general unity was there. The explanations of why the world is the way it is made sense to me. About the "And what has He done for you?" question, a simple spiritual answer is: Jesus Christ died for my sins, and for the sins of the whole world. He added me to his church, which is his body when I was baptized into his death. I have had my sins forgiven, and he has taken them away from me in Jesus Christ. He also forgives me of any new sins I commit when I confess them and repent of them as well. I can also take pleasure in the incredible love of God that is in Jesus Christ. On the physical level, Jesus has given me a wife, and a sense of general peace and joy that I never had before. I have a purpose in life now, and do not feel lost or in a maze of confusion anymore. I have the gift of being able to pray to God the Father which I was not able to do before as well. I could go on, and there is a lot of things I have left out, but that is my answer in a nutshell. Thanks, James

Some verses that came to my mind concerning loving Jesus: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15 "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." John 15:14 "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. / He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." John 14:23-24 "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3 (1 John 5:2 also goes with this thought) Thanks! James