December 31, 2024 • 9 mins
Psalm 8: Day 1 of our 10-day devotional journey through the Psalms, you'll gain fresh insights and spiritual strength each morning. This series encourages you to offer your shortcomings to God, trusting in His ability to turn them into sources of strength and glory. Whether you're a morning go-getter or a lover of the snooze button, these reflections aim to imbue your day with peace and purpose found in His Word. Join us for an enriching experience that promises to renew your spirit and ignite your faith.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Julie (00:19):
Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for
women to be encouraged by God'sholy word.
I'm your host, julie Colbeth,and I am overjoyed to dig into
the Bible with you today.
Kia ora, friends, and welcometo our brand new series Through
(00:40):
the Psalms.
When I first launched Whispersof Grace podcast, the story that
kept running through my headwas about Elijah.
Everyone remembers his bigshowdown with the prophets of
Baal on Mount Carmel from 1Kings 18.
But what sticks out to me ischapter 19, when Elijah is
utterly spent and spirituallyexhausted from his triumph, he
(01:03):
slumps into this deep depressionand then he literally asks God
to take his life.
We don't tend to focus on thismoment as much, but I believe
it's these moments that connectus to these spiritual giants.
These weaknesses connect Elijahto me more than anything else,
because I see myself in hisexhaustion and confusion.
(01:24):
I feel his hopelessness and hisdistraction, and I am guilty of
the same incorrect assessmentof my situations and fear.
I understand stress and feelingoverwhelmed.
My life sometimes feels likeit's just too much for me to
handle.
We are weak and we can only goso far on what little strength
(01:46):
we can muster.
We need the Holy Spirit tobreathe life into our moods and
our plans and our decisions andactions and our reactions.
We need Jesus every single hour, so I have designed this 31-day
devotional to help us start theyear and the day in the
(02:07):
strength of the Lord.
Whether you are a snooze buttongirl or a perky morning person,
these encouragements aresomething that you can put on
while you're brushing your teethor even before you get out of
bed to start your day with Jesus.
I'm going to walk through 31different Psalms with you and
look for those bright truthsthat help to set our feet on the
(02:27):
right path for the day.
God was so patient and kind toElijah when he was struggling.
God fed him and gave him water,and then he let him sleep, and
my prayer is that these littledevotions would be like a
spiritual snack and a nap foryour soul, and that you would be
able to start your day offmeditating on the goodness of
God.
(02:49):
The very first Psalm that we'regoing to start with is Psalm 8.
It is a Psalm of David, and itstarts and ends with the very
same conclusion O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in
all of the earth?
Who have set your glory abovethe heavens, out of the mouth of
(03:09):
babes and nursing infants.
You have ordained strengthbecause of your enemies, that
you may silence the enemy andthe avenger.
When I consider your heavens,the work of your fingers, the
moon and the stars which you'veordained, what is man that you
are mindful of him?
And the son of man that youwould visit him For?
You've made him a little lowerthan the angels and yet you've
(03:32):
crowned him with glory and honor.
You've made him to havedominion over the works of your
hands.
You've put all things under hisfeet, all sheep and oxen, even
the beasts of the field, thebirds of the field, the birds of
the air and the fish of the seathat pass through the paths of
the ocean.
O Lord, our Lord, how excellentis your name in all of the
(03:54):
earth.
When David says, oh Lord, it'scapitalized in all big letters,
l-o-r-d in your Bible.
When it's recorded as that itis the covenant name of God,
which is Yahweh, it means thebecoming one.
And then he says, oh Lord, ourLord.
(04:15):
Now, when he calls him Lord,there, that's Adonai, which
means our master and our rulerand our judge.
So David is realizing that Godis Yahweh, the creator, the
becoming one, and because ofthat he is also our master and
our ruler and our judge.
Then he moves on to talk aboutGod's excellent name and the
(04:40):
glory that exceeds even theheavens.
And yet the beauty is that theweakest among us can reflect his
glory and find strength in thepower of God.
1 Corinthians 1.27 says but Godhas chosen the foolish things of
the world to put to shame thewise.
(05:00):
God has chosen the weak thingsof the world to put to shame the
wise.
God has chosen the weak thingsof the world to put to shame the
mighty.
And isn't that the way of ourGod?
It's the constant drip that canwear away the stone, or the
tiny, tiny seed that becomes atree.
It's the pollen in the air thatcauses your hay fever.
(05:20):
It's the five loaves and thetwo fish that God can make
enough to feed thousands.
It's the cry of a tiny baby inBethlehem, born to poor
teenagers, that saved the world.
God is powerful enough to useeven the small things, the small
(05:40):
victories, the small sacrifices, the small amounts of energy
that we have to give glory tohis name.
This reminded me of the storyfrom Matthew 21,.
Jesus in the temple.
In verse 12, it says Then Jesuswent into the temple of God and
drove out all those who boughtand sold in the temple and
(06:02):
overturned the tables of themoney changers and the seats of
those who sold doves.
And he said to them it iswritten my house shall be called
a house of prayer, but you havemade it a den of thieves.
Then, after this, after Jesusdrives out the money changers
with whips, it says then theblind and the lame came to him
(06:24):
in the temple and he healed them.
So the weak people felt safeenough to approach Jesus even
after this.
But in contrast, it says inverse 15 but when the chief
priests and scribes saw thewonderful things that he did and
the children crying out in thetemple saying Hosanna to the son
of David, they were indignantand said to him do you hear what
(06:48):
these are saying?
And Jesus said to them yes,have you never read out of the
mouth of babes and nursinginfants?
You have perfected praise.
So in this story, jesus doesthis incredible thing.
He gets rid of all, all thepeople that were taking
advantage of others in thetemple.
He heals a bunch of people thatare incredibly vulnerable and
(07:10):
children are crying out in thestreets Hosanna to the son of
David, but the professionalreligious leaders?
They completely missed theMessiah.
But who was still therepraising him?
The children, it says out ofthe mouth of babes and nursing
infants you have perfectedpraise.
(07:30):
God absolutely loves to use thesmall, insignificant things in
life to put to shame the wise,because it silences the enemy.
To be outdone and beaten by thebest and the brightest gives
lots of room to hope for afuture victory.
But to be beaten by a nursinginfant that can't even hold its
(07:52):
head up, that is absolutelydevastating.
Now, thinking about the authorof this psalm, david, he
absolutely knew the value ofweakness because he was the
young boy that stepped out ontothe battlefield when all of
these grown, armored men werequaking.
He's the one that stepped outand fought Goliath and killed
(08:13):
him.
David knew that the small thingsthat we give to God are enough,
because it's not about us, it'sabout him.
And then, back in the psalm, hegoes and considers creation,
all the things that God'sfingers have made, the sun and
the moon and the stars,considering how vast this
(08:34):
creation is and how big our Godis and how powerful he is.
And yet he still cares for usand he's put that creation under
our feet.
It's kind of like he painted aPicasso and he left it in the
playroom, because God is notfragile.
(08:54):
He makes beauty from the messand he is excellent.
Oh Lord, our Lord, howexcellent is your name in all of
the earth, lord, how excellentis your name in all of the earth
(09:23):
?
So today, my friends, as youstart out your day, give him
your flaws and your mistakes andwatch him redeem and create and
glorify his name.
Thank you.
Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for
women to be encouraged by God'sholy word.
I'm your host, julie Colbeth,and I am overjoyed to dig into
the Bible with you today.
Kia ora, friends, and welcometo our brand new series Through
(00:40):
the Psalms.
When I first launched Whispersof Grace podcast, the story that
kept running through my headwas about Elijah.
Everyone remembers his bigshowdown with the prophets of
Baal on Mount Carmel from 1Kings 18.
But what sticks out to me ischapter 19, when Elijah is
utterly spent and spirituallyexhausted from his triumph, he
(01:03):
slumps into this deep depressionand then he literally asks God
to take his life.
We don't tend to focus on thismoment as much, but I believe
it's these moments that connectus to these spiritual giants.
These weaknesses connect Elijahto me more than anything else,
because I see myself in hisexhaustion and confusion.
(01:24):
I feel his hopelessness and hisdistraction, and I am guilty of
the same incorrect assessmentof my situations and fear.
I understand stress and feelingoverwhelmed.
My life sometimes feels likeit's just too much for me to
handle.
We are weak and we can only goso far on what little strength
(01:46):
we can muster.
We need the Holy Spirit tobreathe life into our moods and
our plans and our decisions andactions and our reactions.
We need Jesus every single hour, so I have designed this 31-day
devotional to help us start theyear and the day in the
(02:07):
strength of the Lord.
Whether you are a snooze buttongirl or a perky morning person,
these encouragements aresomething that you can put on
while you're brushing your teethor even before you get out of
bed to start your day with Jesus.
I'm going to walk through 31different Psalms with you and
look for those bright truthsthat help to set our feet on the
(02:27):
right path for the day.
God was so patient and kind toElijah when he was struggling.
God fed him and gave him water,and then he let him sleep, and
my prayer is that these littledevotions would be like a
spiritual snack and a nap foryour soul, and that you would be
able to start your day offmeditating on the goodness of
God.
(02:49):
The very first Psalm that we'regoing to start with is Psalm 8.
It is a Psalm of David, and itstarts and ends with the very
same conclusion O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in
all of the earth?
Who have set your glory abovethe heavens, out of the mouth of
(03:09):
babes and nursing infants.
You have ordained strengthbecause of your enemies, that
you may silence the enemy andthe avenger.
When I consider your heavens,the work of your fingers, the
moon and the stars which you'veordained, what is man that you
are mindful of him?
And the son of man that youwould visit him For?
You've made him a little lowerthan the angels and yet you've
(03:32):
crowned him with glory and honor.
You've made him to havedominion over the works of your
hands.
You've put all things under hisfeet, all sheep and oxen, even
the beasts of the field, thebirds of the field, the birds of
the air and the fish of the seathat pass through the paths of
the ocean.
O Lord, our Lord, how excellentis your name in all of the
(03:54):
earth.
When David says, oh Lord, it'scapitalized in all big letters,
l-o-r-d in your Bible.
When it's recorded as that itis the covenant name of God,
which is Yahweh, it means thebecoming one.
And then he says, oh Lord, ourLord.
(04:15):
Now, when he calls him Lord,there, that's Adonai, which
means our master and our rulerand our judge.
So David is realizing that Godis Yahweh, the creator, the
becoming one, and because ofthat he is also our master and
our ruler and our judge.
Then he moves on to talk aboutGod's excellent name and the
(04:40):
glory that exceeds even theheavens.
And yet the beauty is that theweakest among us can reflect his
glory and find strength in thepower of God.
1 Corinthians 1.27 says but Godhas chosen the foolish things of
the world to put to shame thewise.
(05:00):
God has chosen the weak thingsof the world to put to shame the
wise.
God has chosen the weak thingsof the world to put to shame the
mighty.
And isn't that the way of ourGod?
It's the constant drip that canwear away the stone, or the
tiny, tiny seed that becomes atree.
It's the pollen in the air thatcauses your hay fever.
(05:20):
It's the five loaves and thetwo fish that God can make
enough to feed thousands.
It's the cry of a tiny baby inBethlehem, born to poor
teenagers, that saved the world.
God is powerful enough to useeven the small things, the small
(05:40):
victories, the small sacrifices, the small amounts of energy
that we have to give glory tohis name.
This reminded me of the storyfrom Matthew 21,.
Jesus in the temple.
In verse 12, it says Then Jesuswent into the temple of God and
drove out all those who boughtand sold in the temple and
(06:02):
overturned the tables of themoney changers and the seats of
those who sold doves.
And he said to them it iswritten my house shall be called
a house of prayer, but you havemade it a den of thieves.
Then, after this, after Jesusdrives out the money changers
with whips, it says then theblind and the lame came to him
(06:24):
in the temple and he healed them.
So the weak people felt safeenough to approach Jesus even
after this.
But in contrast, it says inverse 15 but when the chief
priests and scribes saw thewonderful things that he did and
the children crying out in thetemple saying Hosanna to the son
of David, they were indignantand said to him do you hear what
(06:48):
these are saying?
And Jesus said to them yes,have you never read out of the
mouth of babes and nursinginfants?
You have perfected praise.
So in this story, jesus doesthis incredible thing.
He gets rid of all, all thepeople that were taking
advantage of others in thetemple.
He heals a bunch of people thatare incredibly vulnerable and
(07:10):
children are crying out in thestreets Hosanna to the son of
David, but the professionalreligious leaders?
They completely missed theMessiah.
But who was still therepraising him?
The children, it says out ofthe mouth of babes and nursing
infants you have perfectedpraise.
(07:30):
God absolutely loves to use thesmall, insignificant things in
life to put to shame the wise,because it silences the enemy.
To be outdone and beaten by thebest and the brightest gives
lots of room to hope for afuture victory.
But to be beaten by a nursinginfant that can't even hold its
(07:52):
head up, that is absolutelydevastating.
Now, thinking about the authorof this psalm, david, he
absolutely knew the value ofweakness because he was the
young boy that stepped out ontothe battlefield when all of
these grown, armored men werequaking.
He's the one that stepped outand fought Goliath and killed
(08:13):
him.
David knew that the small thingsthat we give to God are enough,
because it's not about us, it'sabout him.
And then, back in the psalm, hegoes and considers creation,
all the things that God'sfingers have made, the sun and
the moon and the stars,considering how vast this
(08:34):
creation is and how big our Godis and how powerful he is.
And yet he still cares for usand he's put that creation under
our feet.
It's kind of like he painted aPicasso and he left it in the
playroom, because God is notfragile.
(08:54):
He makes beauty from the messand he is excellent.
Oh Lord, our Lord, howexcellent is your name in all of
the earth, lord, how excellentis your name in all of the earth
(09:23):
?
So today, my friends, as youstart out your day, give him
your flaws and your mistakes andwatch him redeem and create and
glorify his name.
Thank you.
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