SOME GOOD BIBLICAL VIBES
Psalms 4:3-5 NKJV
3 But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly;
The Lord will hear when I call to Him.
4 Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And put your trust in the Lord.
I think it's humorous that the word vibes has come back around. Good Vibrations was a Beach Boys song from the sixties. Since everything seems to boomerang, I am keeping all my disco shirts from the 70s, just in case. In today's verses, there are some good thoughts. Good biblical vibes. And God's vibes are far better than anything man can come up with.
"Know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly." In two different translations, the words "set apart" are translated as made wonderful. How about that for a great thought? God has made wonderful for Himself, the person who is godly. This would be the person devoted to and making the effort to live for God.
Here's another great thought. "The Lord will hear when I call to Him." That would be a solid verse to commit to memory, and even more solid to commit to belief. A good word to confess when you pray. Thank You, Lord, that You hear me when I call to you. Too often, we pray and wonder if God heard us. Or we check how we feel when we pray to determine if He heard. A better thing is to believe that God hears us when we pray.
"Be angry and do not sin." That's a great thought, but how do we implement that practice into our lives? The next couple of sentences give us a great strategy. "Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still." That's a great way to start. Slow down enough to get quiet and think while you are relaxing. Meditate is to go over and over in your mind. Some biblical definitions of meditation include muttering to yourself. Obviously, this is not meditation on what has been done to you or what has made you angry. Meditating on God's promises and His goodness to us is a way to cool down the anger.
Another strategy is to offer the sacrifices of righteousness. There are some sacrifices to living right before the Lord. We sacrifice our fleshly feelings when we pray for someone instead of verbally trashing them. It feels temporarily better to get revenge, but that's not the way of the righteous. The old question from the 90s - What would Jesus do? - is applicable here.
"And put your trust in the Lord." I love how these verses progress. God has set us apart and made us wonderful for Himself. He hears us when we call to Him and helps us through times of anger by showing us strategies that help us stay solid. Great thoughts. Great vibes.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, that You hear me when I call on You. Thank You for ways to stay strong and steady in a turbulent world. And I am so appreciative that You have set me apart for Yourself. I do trust in You!