Walking with the Creator: A Life Application Walk Through the Psalms

By Beth Marek

How do I go on?

How do I endure?

Can I be safe, protected and cared for?

Where or who can I run to in my time of need?

These are silent questions that have been asked throughout the years. How can the life of a king, shepherd or written accounts of ancient wars in the Psalms be relevant in the 21st century? Walking with the Creator opens up the psalms and brings them alive applying them to the struggles and issues of daily living. Struggles with trust, depression, sorrow and endurance have all been experienced since biblical times. The lessons learned by a Middle Eastern shepherd and King are lessons that can be easily applied today.

Knowing where to run to or who to call on in a time of need can be the source of great strength, it can be the single greatest key to making it through another day. On the battlefield of depression or loneliness or in the desert of hardship, redirecting focus on to what brings hope is catalyst to turning lives around and bringing about a bright future of promise. Walking with the Creator reveals the path of discovery which leads to finding this daily promise of hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973602798

Beth Marek

Beth Marek is a speaker, teacher, and mother of two who lives in New Berlin, Wisconsin. An award winning artist with a passion for sculpting she applies her creative talents to vividly worded stories sculpted into life lessons, inspiring many to a closer walk with God.

Book preview

Walking

with the

Creator

A life application walk through the Psalms

Beth Marek

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Copyright © 2018 Beth Marek.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-0278-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0277-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0279-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017914148

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/09/2018

Contents

Psalm 1 Blessed

Psalm 2 Pebbles in my Pocket

Psalm 3 Selah

Psalm 4 When Lightning Strikes

Psalm 5 But You Picked Me

Psalm 6 Turn Around

Psalm 7 The Window

Psalm 8 The Parrot

Psalm 9 I Thought of Something Wonderful Today.

Psalm 10 His Ways are Evil, Watch Out

Psalm 11 Unshakeable

Psalm 12 He Said it and it is Done

Psalm 13 David, God’s Chosen King

Psalm 14 Vision test

Psalm 15 Keep Going

Psalm 16 Understanding Blessing

Psalm 17 Final Reward

Psalm 18 He Rescued Me

Psalm 19 When the Last Desire Goes Away

Psalm 20 Best Wishes

Psalm 21 Contentment

Psalm 22 How Long

Psalm 23 Big Valley

Psalm 24 Mine

Psalm 25 State, Ask, State, Ask

Psalm 26 Blameless Life

Psalm 27 Choices

Psalm 28 Hope

Psalm 29 Joplin

Psalm 30 Hey Everybody

Psalm 31 The Delight of Friends

Psalm 32 Shadows

Psalm 33 Wait

Psalm 34 Learning and Applying

Psalm 35 Finding the Best, Looking for Help

Psalm 36 Watching the Wicked

Psalm 37 Brain Damage

Psalm 38 The Lawn Mower

Psalm 39 Circle of Light

Psalm 40 The Path

Psalm 41 His Will

Psalm 42 Bad Days

Psalm 43 Praises in Darkness

Psalm 44 In Sunlight and in Darkness

Psalm 45 I Own a Gold Mine

Psalm 46 Yank

Psalm 47 Happy and Sad

Psalm 48 Shield

Psalm 49 Turn Your Ears On

Psalm 50 Polished Shoes

Psalm 51 Heart Broken

Psalm 52 The Get

Psalm 53 Fools

Psalm 54 Selah and Realign

Psalm 55 I Trust in You

Psalm 56 Attention to Detail

Psalm 57 Choices, Doing the Right Thing

Psalm 58 The Wicked

Psalm 59 A Perfect World

Psalm 60 Working it Through.

Psalm 61 Lord Hear My Cry

Psalm 62 Restless People

Psalm 63 The Greatest Love

Psalm 64 Drama

Psalm 65 Shouting for Joy

Psalm 66 Remember

Psalm 67 Not Spooktacular, Spectacular.

Psalm 68 It’s a Parade

Psalm 69 Judged by Onlookers

Psalm 70 Hurry !

Psalm 71 To Continue

Psalm 72 Pick and Choose

Psalm 73 Sunday Afternoon

Psalm 74 Changing Gods Plan and Timing.

Psalm 75 Good Muffins

Psalm 76 Remember all, that God is Good

Psalm 77 In Confidence I Will Remember

Psalm 78 Remember and Teach

Psalm 79 Reminding God

Psalm 80 Loving Provider

Psalm 81 Learning Black and White

Psalm 82 To Our Leaders

Psalm 83 I Want Some of That

Psalm 84 No Longer a Tourist

Psalm 85 Do it Again. Our God of Second Chances

Psalm 86 Blessed Assurance

Psalm 87 Born, Zion, Israel

Psalm 88 Glory to God

Psalm 89 Looking and Seeing

Psalm 90 Insignificant

Psalm 91 No Fear

Psalm 92 Every Day Has a Song

Psalm 93 High and Mighty

Psalm 94 He’s Not Looking

Psalm 95 Future Plans

Psalm 96 My God is Awesome

Psalm 97 Into the Sun

Psalm 98 Stop What You are Doing

Psalm 99 Perfect

Psalm 100 What’s Happening?

Psalm 101 New Every Morning

Psalm 102 Dennis

Psalm 103 The All Inclusive Package

Psalm 104 Take My Picture

Psalm 105 Give Thanks, Make Known and Tell.

Psalm 106 Magnetize

Psalm 107 Where are you? Where do you want to go?

Psalm 108 Out of Control

Psalm 109 On all Sides

Psalm 110 Be Willing

Psalm 111 Go For a Walk

Psalm 112 Living Alone

Psalm 113 Pause

Psalm 114 Not a Little Man

Psalm 115 Where Does Your God Exist?

Psalm 116 All Men are Liars and Women too

Psalm 117 The Perfect Mate

Psalm 118 Gates of Praise

Psalm 119 One Hundred and Seventy Six

Psalm 120 Meringue

Psalm 121 Adventurer

Psalm 122 Prosperity of Blessings

Psalm 123 No Side Jobs for Slaves

Psalm 124 To God Alone Be the Glory

Psalm 125 Shaken-Not Stirred

Psalm 126 Pinch Me

Psalm 127 God the Foreman

Psalm 128 The Blessing

Psalm 129 You Have Been Set Free

Psalm 130 Daddy’s Home!

Psalm 131 Numbers

Psalm 132 Making a Home for God

Psalm 133 Peace on Earth and on West lane

Psalm 134 Third Shift

Psalm 135 I am NOT God

Psalm 136 Looking Back

Psalm 137 Bitter Memories

Psalm 138 Assurance

Psalm 139 Pull Chain

Psalm 140 The Battlefield

Psalm 141 Trouble

Psalm 142 Are You Alone?

Psalm 143 A Great Servant

Psalm 144 144 for Today

Psalm 145 Legacy

Psalm 146 Hope for the Future

Psalm 147 I’ll Show You

Psalm 148 The Horn

Psalm 149 Your Job

Psalm 150 Adornment

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my children Jacob and Olivia who are the gift and the joy of my life and to Rosemary Smith who encouraged me throughout this journey to step out and follow my passion.

Preface

Walk with me

Many people are familiar with the poem Footprints in the Sand. Two sets of footprints, then along the way, only one set. The question is asked, God, why did you leave me? I see at times there is only one set of footprints. God responds it was during those times that I was carrying you.

I praise God that there have been times in my life that God has carried me. All too often though, He has asked me to walk alongside Him while I have chosen to run ahead, or have chosen my own path and often run alone. Along the paths I have walked; alone, ahead or beside Him, He has laid out for me lessons to learn. To remember each of the lessons I wrote them down. It is these lessons that are contained here.

I start my day each morning the same way, looking to lock arms with the God of the universe and walk forward through my life in step with Him. It is my life’s dedication to read the Bible every day, learning more from the Creator of life. Looking to Him for my direction, strength, and protection. I have found this only when I am walking closely with Him. May the lessons He taught me, draw you into a deeper relationship with Him and compel you to dedicate time each day to listen for His voice through the reading of His Word.

Beth

Introduction

When I grew up my father had a small black leather-bound Bible with red edged pages that laid on my parent’s bedroom dresser. It never was opened or read from in our family, yet it sat there in a place of prominence. Weekly, it was my job to dust the furniture throughout the house. This meant that weekly, I would have to pick up that Bible and dust the surface it laid on. I don’t recall ever opening it, only making sure to place it back with respect.

I grew up in what people now call a C and E Christian household. We prayed at Thanksgiving, went to church on Christmas and then again at Easter. Except for those occasions our house was mostly void of any religious activity, but during the late 1970’s my mother became involved in a religious cult. Suddenly the Bible and church became a large part of our activities. There were Bible studies and religious newspaper pamphlets about current events and fights between my parents. My father’s black Bible from on top of the dresser and my mother’s new green Bible put my parents at odds and our family in turmoil. Dusting that small black book and the fighting in our house made me understand one thing for sure, that there was something to that book, a book that both my parents were now very passionate about.

In 1975; when I was twelve, a movie aired on television called Hey, I am Alive. It was a movie that chronicled the true-life survival story of Ralph Flores and Helen Klaben. The movie recalled the event when Ralph lost control of a tiny plane and crashed in a remote area of the Yukon with his only passenger Helen Klaben. For forty-nine days, without food or shelter, they survived the harsh Yukon Territory living mostly on melted snow. In one of the final scenes in the movie; Helen, now left alone; as Ralph looks for help, is shown reading from the final page of a Bible that was found in the wreckage. She reads aloud the final words of the book and then closes the cover. It was on that day that they were discovered and subsequently rescued. For forty-two years I never knew what the title of that movie was, but I never forgot the image of her finishing reading that Bible and being rescued on the same day. My life has been filled with many struggles that I’ve wanted to be rescued from. Struggles of pain, abuse, and heartaches which I often thought I could never recover from. I could have easily shouted at the sky like Helen Klaben’s character.

"What do you want from me?

Do you want me to promise to be good the rest of my life?

Why make me live like an animal? How can I survive?

Can you hear me GOD?

Can you hear me GOD?" (1)

In the early 1990’s; as a single mother of two, my struggles continued trying to provide for us. With bill collectors and regular intervals of no electricity, I pushed ahead into a time that seemed to have no hope and no end in sight. I regularly read my horoscope from various sources in hopes I would one day read about the day my life would change for the better. Month after month it never did. Then one night when I had read through every horoscope I had, a thought entered my mind taking me back to Helen Klaben; read your Bible. I dug out the little white Bible I received as a confirmation gift, poked my fingers into the pages and read where my eyes fell upon the page. My random selection of scripture lead me to the book of Romans chapter six, verses 19-23. I speak this way, using the illustration of slaves and masters, because it is easy to understand: just as you used to be slaves to all kinds of sin, so now you must let yourselves be slaves to all that is right and holy. In those days when you were slaves of sin you didn’t bother much with goodness. And what was the result? Evidently not good, since you are ashamed now to think about those things you used to do, for all of them end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and are slaves of God, and His benefits to you include holiness and everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (2) At the finish of reading those verses, I closed the book, threw away all my printed horoscopes and went to bed. I had no idea what just happened, but for that moment, I had hope.

In 1996 I was on the edge of entering what would be ten years of an abusive relationship. For Oprah Winfrey, she began her now famous Oprah’s book club. While Oprah challenged her viewers to read various novels, I worked weekends in Chicago to earn extra money creating floral arrangements that would eventually end up in her television studio. While I can now claim this as an achievement in my floral career, it came at the cost of having to sleep in my car in a parking garage in Chicago. I connected with her and her show through this and would watch her show when I could. One day; in 2004, she came onstage tickled to announce her newest book club choice. It was Leo Tolstoy’s, Anna Karenina. A novel of over eight hundred pages. I watched as her eyes glowed with delight to having accomplished this huge book. She challenged her audience to follow in her footsteps and take up the challenge. She said It has been on my list for years, but I didn’t (read) it because I was scared(3) She held the book out in front of her and surely the sheer weight of those eight hundred pages put a strain on her arm. It was then that I was impacted by the thought that if Oprah can read Anna Karenina; a fictional book, why not put that time and effort into reading the Bible. The Bible has been fought over and fought for. The information it contains has impacted nations to rise and to fall and with about the same amount of pages, to read the Bible would be a far greater accomplishment. There was no foundation for reading the Bible in my family. Its presence was only to be dusted, and its words were to be fought over and divide family. I faced reading the Bible much like Oprah faced Anna Karenina, it has been on my list for years, but I didn’t because it scared me.

As Helen Klaben faced the pages of the Bible she must have thought what worth is this to me? Looking only to survive the bitter elements of the Yukon how could the words in this book give any more help than what the pages would provide being thrown on the fire? Yet she read. I also questioned how an ancient book could be relevant to me in the twenty-first century. Could it help me survive? Could I accomplish a book of this size? I made it through that journey reading it from cover to cover. Greater was the accomplishment than anything Tolstoy could have offered and so good was the book I read it again. To this day I have read it cover to cover more times than I will share. Each time learning more, surviving better and fearing less.

Knowing that the power of the written Bible is far greater than anything I could write; when I first chose to publish this collection of lessons it was my intention to include the 150 chapters of the Psalms. Though including the original Psalms would have put the page count close to that of Anna Karenina. By sheer mass, I didn’t want to scare anyone so I chose to leave the original Psalms out. I believe each lesson I have learned will come alive at an even greater depth if the original Psalm is read first. It is through the Bible, the Word of God, that hope is found and a rescue from your struggles is provided. My desire is that through this book you will grow to have a greater thirst for reading the Bible and be able to say as the character of Helen Klaben said; after her rescue, in one of the final scenes; I did that thing you said, I read the Bible to which Ralph Flores replies God, He provides. (4)

Psalm 1

Blessed

Who can help living in this world and not wanting more? All around we are bombarded with the new and the exciting while each day we are hit with the desire for prosperity and driven to acquiring wealth. Surely a blessed life is one of comfort and opulence, is it not? At the end of the book of Job, it states The LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. (v.42:12) After that is the list of all the belongings of Job and they are truly more than what he had lost. With this statement in mind, we can easily think getting blessings from God means getting stuff, correct?

Job had to come to the end of himself. With all his fight and vigor he ended up realizing that the only thing he could do was, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. It was through this realization that Job obtained the true wealth. The realization that God is God and there is no other. That God canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. (v.42:2) Blessedness comes not from the acquiring of things unless the things are acquiring the awe of God.

Psalm 1 starts with blessings and ends with perishing. It outlines who is blessed and who is the wicked. It is the blessed that delight in God’s will. Blessings are not the big house and the fat bank account. Blessings come when we have a faithful response to God’s revealed directions for life. Many people, though, are working hard in the act of worshiping God in the hope that someday He may wave His blessing wand over their lives and bless them with stuff.

It is the old idea that somehow we earn God’s gift. This wrong idea is hard to snap out of our heads. The idea that if I’m good, I will get, has to be erased. Getting in a tangible way is not the indicator of a blessed life. Those following preachers that preach that you need to pray harder to get a new Cadillac are not preaching the way of God. A shiny new Cadillac is not a blessing; it is only a thing. A faith-filled response to God’s revealed directive for your life, which is a blessing. A real blessing is found in your response to God’s plan for your life. Now you ask how does that look? It is seeing as Job saw, first understanding that God is in control of everything, let me repeat everything. When you lose your job your response of faith is God has a plan. When you remain single for far too long, your response of faith is God has a plan. When you get a job that pays big, your response is God has a plan, and when you meet someone, your response is God has a plan. God has directives for your life, and some come wrapped in sorrow, and some come wrapped in joy. Job had to see the depth of sorrow to see the hand of God and see that God had a plan.

Job was blessed not because he endured but because he came to the realization that God’s plan, no matter what, is best. Today do not be in sorrow if you do not obtain a tangible thing, the thing your heart has been yearning for. Count it all joy knowing that you are blessed, blessed because you know God has a plan for you. Be delighted in the future, no matter what it may be and wait in anticipation of God’s perfect plan for you.

Psalm 2

Pebbles in my Pocket

Why do we continually pick up small stones? The beauty and glory of a beach full of glistening stones draws us to gather up a pocketful that we eventually end up taking home. Even when you force yourself to throw back the stones into the sea instead of keeping them, there are always one or two that ultimately make it home. Their attraction was too great, their beauty too wonderful or it may have had an exceptional shape. They are attractive, intriguing, or just unique. So into the pocket they go.

Psalm two verse one says Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? Why do we orchestrate, maneuver or place ourselves in situations and hope for an outcome that we have planned? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD (v.2) Even leaders’ plant their feet in places they hope to hold onto. We seek out a friend who will support our ideas and our personally developed plans, friends that will support our self-willed effort instead of God’s will for our lives. God laughs at all of this. (v.4) He scoffs at them, and he shows them that their plans are foolish. I am brought back often to the realization of just how many times I pick up a plan and put it in my pocket. I place myself somewhere in hopes of an outcome that I want to achieve or I orchestrate an outcome through my perfectly precise planning. These plans are not in the forefront of my mind, but they slip in, building upon one another until I have a pocketful. I am weighed down with empty hopes, unrealized expectations, and unfulfilled dreams. And each time that I rid myself of these and take a vow not to do it again, I find myself at the beach of life picking up another plan that is not God’s. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way. (v.10) Stop and read verse 12 one more time, and ye perish from the way. Your destruction will come at your hand.

Your plans, the ones you choose to dream, are the plans that will be your downfall. You are the one who chooses to pick up all those stones, and in doing so, you are the one who ends up being weighed down. Why do people plot in vain? (v.1) We need to stay focused on God’s plan. Though you may pick up an idea, an outcome, or future it is best if you take a moment to enjoy the thought and then quickly throw it back. Your plans are not God’s plans. Your hopes and dreams are not your future. The planned paths that God has in store for us is greater than any you might even think of or ever imagine. The future and outcome of your life are much greater than what you could ever dream of. The stone He has planned for you is greater than any you can put in your pocket. Cast aside what weighs you down Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. (v.12) Keep your focus on Him and take refuge in the plan and outcome He has for you. Rest in this. In this you will find much comfort.

Psalm 3

Selah

Rise on a morning before the sun breaks. Listen to the birds calling within the trees. Listen to each one call across the way to another as the crickets lay down the continual harmony across the field. Dew is in the air and rest fills the sky, this is a restful time. If only a moment like this could be boxed up and sold, or if morning could be produced like a blanket you could wrap yourself in. If this peaceful rest could be given to someone in need as a gift, how precious that gift would be.

In the stillness of the morning, I can imagine the Psalter writing psalm three. Looking into the day ahead and drawing strength from God above. Three times in this psalm the Psalter puts in a point of reflection, Selah. A point of rest where he ponders what his thoughts just were and prepares for the next, and in the middle, he finds strength in the Lord. How are they increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me.(v.1) Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God. Selah. (v.2) Often we feel the same. There are so many battles to fight each day, struggling for this and that as we struggle to stay close to God. People all around us give advice to point us in one direction or another, in essence telling us that God will not deliver us. But here is where thoughts must drift. Selah.

Thoughts need to rest and know what they have been taught. Rest needs to be found in the thoughts of the past that remind you what the truth is. But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head, I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me.(v.3) What strength, what resolve to reflect and then anchor to the thought that God will answer your cry. Again the Psalter stops to reflect. Internal thoughts build of how God has come through for him, provided for him and