“I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.”
~ Psalm 34:1

 

Hi James and Ellen,

What are you hoping to be doing when you get as old as your dad and ma are now? How do you plan to use the education and training that you are getting while you are kids? How do you plan to use the life experiences that you are going to have as you grow older? How do you plan to use the talents that you have been uniquely hardwired to use? How do you think that your Father God wants you to use the education and training that He is having you have while you are kids? How do you think that your Father God wants you to use the life experiences that He is giving you as you grow older? How do you think that your Father God wants you to use the talents that He has uniquely hardwired you to use? Is having prestige and/or prominence something that is going to be really important to you to have as you grow older? Is having power and/or control something that is going to be really important to you to have as you grown older? Is having position and/or status something that is going to be really important to you to have as you grown older? Do you think that your Father God will think more of you if you have prestige and/or prominence over guys, gals and kids on planet Earth or do you think that your Father God will think more of you if you turn to Him, come to Him, keep Him, taste Him and fear Him? Do you think that your Father God will think more of you if you have power and/or control over guys, gals and kids on planet Earth or do you think that your Father God will think more of you if you turn to Him, come to Him, keep Him, taste Him and fear Him? Do you think that your Father God will think more of you if you have position and/or status over guys, gals and kids on planet Earth or do you think that your Father God will think more of you if you turn to Him, come to Him, keep Him, taste Him and fear Him? David in Psalm 34 wrote that He turned to the Lord – his Father God. David also in this Psalm Song wrote that he feared the Lord – his Father God, that he came to the Lord – his Father God, that he kept the Lord – his Father God and that he tasted the Lord – his Father God. David starts out this Psalm Song in verse 1 saying, “I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” This verse has been a verse that your grandpaa always tries to remember and to do no matter what happens in his life.

Your grandmaa and grandpaa did not know what they were doing when they got married. Your grandmaa and your grandpaa just knew that they wanted to be husband and wife so . . . your grandmaa and grandpaa had no plans for or thoughts of becoming rich. Your grandmaa and grandpaa had no plans for or thoughts of becoming leaders. Your grandmaa and grandmaa had no plans for or thoughts of becoming faithful servants of God. Your grandmaa and grandpaa just wanted an ordered life that was not punctuated with conflicts and fighting. Your grandmaa and grandpaa just wanted a peaceful life that had a church, home, jobs and kids in it. Your grandmaa and grandpaa ended up in a marriage that was not ordered or peaceful. Your grandpaa grew up on a farm in eastern South Dakota. Your grandmaa grew up in houses in the largest city in Delaware. Your grandpaa was not cultured. Your grandmaa was refined. Your grandpaa is intuitive – which means that your grandpaa often does something without having a lot of information. Your grandmaa is not intuitive – which means that your grandmaa needs information before she is ready to make a decision. Your grandpaa is not very good at verbalizing what he wants to say. Your grandmaa is very good at verbalizing what she wants to say. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are both introverts. Your grandmaa and grandpaa – after they were married and when they got together with other young couples, would sit in a corner and not say anything to anyone. Your grandmaa and grandpaa know what it is like to not have enough money to pay bills. Your grandmaa and grandpaa know what it is like to not to have a home that they can call their very own. Your grandmaa and grandpaa know what it is like not to have a church family that has welcomed them with open arms.

Your grandmaa and grandpaa know what David was writing about in this Psalm Song when David said that the Lord – his Father God, hears the guys and gals who are literally poor calling to Him and that He saves these guys and gals from their troubles. Your grandmaa and grandpaa know that the Lord – their Father God, is always sending angels to camp around them to keep them safe and to deliver them from danger. Your grandmaa and grandpaa know that they are to fear and praise the Lord – their Father God, just as David wrote in this Psalm Song that he was doing because of all that the Lord – his Father God, was doing for him. Your grandmaa and grandpaa began their lives together very inconspicuously and unobtrusively as a married couple. Your grandmaa and grandpaa were like an invisible couple who were there but who no one saw. Your grandmaa and grandpaa went to church but they did not do hardly anything as part of the church family except sit in a pew and listen to a preacher preach. There never has been any reason at all why the Lord – God the Father, should bless your grandmaa and grandpaa as wonderfully and rewardingly as He has over the last nearly forty years (now over fifty-seven years as of this editing) as a married couple. Your grandmaa and grandpaa have said that God found them at the bottom of a barrel the day that He was looking for a couple to become missionary servants for Him. Just as David learned that the Lord – his Father God, is always to get the credit, so have your grandmaa and grandpaa learned to always give the Lord – their Father God, the credit for directing them on the ever-changing, strenuous life path that He has kept them on together that has led them to experience over and over again the Lord – their Father God, do something for them that only He could do.

Psalm 34 (453)