I read a psalm every day. I’ve done it for years and years. Today, I want to share a little of my past and why I think you should read a psalm every da,y too. The Book of Psalms is one of my favorites, but not until I was a young mom.
When I was in college, before marriage and children, I would study God’s word and spend an hour before classes each morning reading, doing Bible study, and praying. Christian music was always playing, and my Bible was marked up with notes. There was a deep sense of intimacy that I didn’t have to fight for with God. My life bloomed and blossomed as I dove into scripture and realized I was in love with His Word. His presence felt tangible. It was a sweet time of intense spiritual growth as I struggled with growing up and finding myself during those years.
BIBLE READING WORKED UNTIL IT DIDN’T
Marriage came towards the end of my college years. Motherhood came just two years after finishing school. In the throes of sleepless nights and crying babies, I lost the energy to read and study the Bible like I had in college. For a long time, I thought that was the only way I could connect with God, but with gentle reminders from my mother and other spiritual mentors, I realized that God would meet me here – in the midst of the chaos of babyhood.
It was then that I did a simple study called “Intimacy with God” by Cynthia Heald. I highly recommend any of her Bible studies because they are so easy to use and help you dive deep, even if you are struggling with finding the time to study.
After discovering the truth about what intimacy with God looked like, I dove even deeper into the Book of Psalms. I began reading it every day when my boys were little. Those same boys who ushered me into motherhood are not 17 and 15. As teenagers, they still keep me up at night, but I no longer feel distant from God.
STAY CLOSE TO GOD
Reading a psalm every day helps keep me close to God, even if I don’t have time to study deeply. Right now, I’m finishing up a deep dive into the Book of Hebrews, but I don’t have time to do it every day. But every day, after pouring my cup of coffee and before I pull out my journal in the morning, I pull out my worn Bible and open it up at the ribbon bookmark attached to the Bible. It is always somewhere in the Psalms.
Today I read Psalm 27 again. I’m lingering there because I have a podcast episode for that psalm available here. But my heart needed the reminder:
The Lord is my light and my salvation
whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1
GOD ALWAYS MEETS ME IN THE PAGES OF THE PSALMS.
Sometimes I go in order, sometimes I pick the same psalm for several days in a row, and sometimes I memorize a verse or two before moving on. Whatever you choose to do each morning, I pray you can reach for the Book of Psalms. You will find God there, I promise.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Sarah Frazer
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