Elliott's Muses

This last week I had another eye set-back.  The left eye had a retinal tear, which meant I had to return to the retinal specialist for laser surgery.  I have to admit I was really down.  The surgery isn't that painful, but it's not fun either.  The after-effects are lots of soreness, floaters that don't go away, some bleeding and pressure...so I did very little except sit around feeling sorry for myself. This morning as I awoke I started to think and pray - Lord, everything happens for a purpose in my life and you said that it was all for the good...but I'm struggling to find the good.  I picked up my Spurgeon morning devotional and he must have been writing it to me. And the king crossed the brook Kidron.  2 Samuel 15:23 David passed that gloomy brook when fleeing with his sorry company from his traitorous son. The man after God's own heart was not exempt from trouble; in fact, his life was full of it. He was both the Lord's Anointed and the Lord'

Last week I began a teaching series I'm calling "A Summer in the Psalms". Of all of the books of the Bible, the Psalms are breath-taking in scope and substance.  There are 150 individual Psalms, but in reality, there really are 5 Books of Psalms.  For centuries, the Church met to sing the Psalms - called the Psalter - because the Psalms are poetic, rhythmic, structured to be used for Worship and Prayer more than give us information.  Yet the Psalms also give us instruction, which is why they fit into the Wisdom literature of the Bible.  More than anything the Psalms point us to Jesus Christ.  He is the Messianic promise of so many of the Psalmists as they cry out to God for deliverance and Redemption. A couple of notes to you if you're interested in learning more of the Psalms.  First, follow along this summer as we teach the Psalms.  You can listen to messages on our website www.nlfellowship.org , under the teaching heading. Secondly, read the Psalms.  Begin