Bursting With Joy

 King David pretended to be insane in order to escape king Saul. The following Psalm is a song King David composed following this incident: 

"Lord! I'm bursting with joy over what you've done for me! My lips are full of perpetual praise.

I'm boasting of you and all your works, so let all who are discouraged take heart.

Join me everyone! Let's praise the Lord together. Let's make him famous! Let's make his name 

glorious to all." ~ Psalm 34: 1-3

As we continue to read the rest of Psalm 34, consider writing down each and every promise it contains. There are many. Writing them down helps cement them inside the mind and heart. One of my girls writes verses she wants to remember on colored 3x5 index cards and tapes them to her bathroom mirror. When she is washing her hands she sees the verse and reads it. She says it doesn't take long at all for her to remember the verses she puts up there. I enjoy writing verses in a notebook or journal and dating them. They become a visual testimony, almost a spiritual scrapbook, of God's teaching and leading in my life. 

Psalm 34 contains several verses that are also very helpful in training our children in righteousness, specifically verses 11 - 22. If you have a book where you write specific scripture verses for individual discipleship/discipline/teaching/training topics, there are a number of verses from this chapter you will probably want to include. This chapter is a treasure trove of wise commands. Let us glean all we can from the richness of its depths. As we begin our preparations for the upcoming Thanksgiving feast, may we:  

"Drink deeply of the pleasures of this God. Experience for yourself the joyous mercies he gives to all

 who turn to hide themselves in him. Worship in awe and wonder, all you who've been made holy! 

For all who fear him will feast with plenty." Psalm 34:8-9