Psalm Summary - Psalm 39

 

Psalm 39- Summary

Reading over this summary again today,

 after some time with this practice in January.

Always amazes me that each time I look at this work,

I see something different.

For me- that day.

Perhaps something else the next time.

God's Word is really just like that.

Alive and active in my life- each and every day.

In other groups in my life we are looking at:

 Busy, Rushing, and Fleeting time.

Merely moving shadows....

Each of us is but a breath...

The turmoil in me grew worse...

Remind me that my days are numbered...

How fleeting my life is...

Deep breath, and step into the tomorrow knowing that:

My ONLY HOPE is in you, Lord.

 

Devotional Journaling- Psalm 37- Leap Day 2024

 

I return to my Psalm prayer journal often on days for

 more focused prayer time.  Next up was Psalm 37. 

Today I needed to read it from The Message.

Just a black Sharpie non-bleeding pen,

and 4 colored pencils.

I call this process Psalm Summaries or 

Praying the Psalms.

A Psalm distilled down 

to my take aways for TODAY.

Moving through my day with:

"Quiet down before God,

be prayerful before him."

AND

"God, ALERT, is also on watch."

Psalm Summary- #34

 

Psalm Summary- #34

Review of this Psalm brings some 

powerful phrases to the forefront.

- get me out of a tight spot

-disciples so often get into trouble

-Yahweh is listening and ready to rescue

-if your heart is broken, Yahweh is right there

-do something good, embrace peace

-worship opens doors to all of His goodness

-Yahweh met me more than halfway

Some beautiful prayer thoughts here

 and an honest call to Yahweh for help.

I often call this process- Praying the Psalms.

Supplies:

Magazine cutouts

Inked cork stamp

Color pencils 

Fine-point Sharpie pen

Psalm Summary- #33

 I keep photos of my Psalm Summaries 

right on my cell phone. 

 Today I was going over this one

 in a moment of quiet reflection.

 I like having them with me 

so they can be pulled up even when traveling.

It is an 8 1/2 by 11 journal.

I add magazine cutouts and 

some inked wine cork stamping.

 I often use The Message- Peterson

or Psalms Now- Brandt

 for a more contemporary version to read.

 I look for my take-aways in the reading,

add the phrases, some doodling, 

and colored pencils

 They are also the perfect thing 

to send in a text to someone needing

 a bit of Visual Scripture encouragement. 

Praying the Psalms- Psalm 121

Last weekend I led a wonderful 

women's retreat at St. Luke's Lutheran Church

in Oviedo, Florida.

One of the prayer processes we did together was to

engage in a Lectio Divina reading of Psalm 121.

"Holy Reading", or "Slow Reading" 

is a wonderful way to deal with the challenges 

that keep us from participating

 in uplifting spiritual formation practices.

We all have problems with:

slowing down, 

saying attention,

 and dealing with distractions.

We used an abbreviated version of Lectio and read

 the Psalm outloud in 3 versions of the Bible.

We looked for words and phrases that "stood out"

 to us and underlined, circled 

or colored them in with color pencils.

We had prepped a journal page the night 

before with "wine cork" stampings

 and glued in some magazine cutouts.

  It was no longer a blank journal page.

Then we asked them to transfer a couple of their 

"main points" and then add in words or phrases

 from the selected reading.

They could pull from any or all of the readings.

They could add lines, doodles, color and 

"make it their own."

This part of Praying the Psalm then becomes a 

Visio Divina process.

 The image allows them to recall it better

 for prayer time, and they can come back

 to it again and again

 as it strengthens their prayer time.

These prayer practices were well received, 

and they jumped right into this new experience.

For me these words have nestled into my spirit-

HE WILL KEEP MY LIFE.

Supplies:

8 1/2 by 11 inch wire bound journal

wine corks

stamp pad

magazine cutouts

glue

colored pencils

Sharpie fine-point marker

 

 

Psalm Summary- Psalm 30

Psalm  30 Summary 

I had stepped away from this practice

 for a couple of years.

That happens- things go in cycles.

Then I had a strong nudge to come back yesterday.

It is just an 8 1/2 by 11 journal

  that is set up with wine cork circles added with stamp ink.

Then it is no longer a blank sheet of paper.

I usually read it in multiple versions, 

as well as my usual ESV version.

I set down to the task with prayer for the

Holy Spirit to  point out special passages

 for me to PAY ATTENTION to as I read.

The lettering takes a bit of time as I find 

phrases that seem to jump out from the reading.

Sometimes, I add the same phrase in from multiple resources.

So, it was over two years

 since I had sat down to do a Psalm Summary.

As I was working on coloring in the phrase-

 Joy Comes in the Morning,

a song played on the Christian radio station

 with that phrase while I was coloring.

Joy Comes in the Morning.

It strikes me on this side of amazing- 

that in all the things God was busy with yesterday, 

there was this fine tuning in my life.

Let me say this again...

In the exact moment, I was coloring this phrase,

 the song with that phrase plays on the radio.

Sometimes, I think that all the years 

of practicing Visual Faith have helped me

 to SEE more and HEAR better.

I sure don't want to miss

 all the things He continues 

to plan and work out in my life.

You DID IT-

turned wild lament into

whirling dance!

Praying the Psalms-Psalm 30

 Bible Journaling- Psalm 30

Sketchnote style.

Praying these words into my life

 and those on my prayer list.

 "Lord, I can't define or describe you,

but I know by personal experience

your power and presence in my life.

Help me out of this tangled mess.

 You turned my griping into Gratitude, 

screams of despair into proclamations of JOY."

"Now, I can explode with Praises,

 I will spend eternity

 in Thanksgiving to YOU."

Supplies:

Psalms Now/ Brandt

 8 1/2 by 11 journal

 Fine point Sharpie

Colored pencils

Tag

Cork and stamp ink

Praying the Psalms- Psalm 29

Spending some time

 in my Psalms Journal.

Praying Psalm 29.

Reading this Psalm in multiple versions.

Thinking about it.

Meditating on it.

Psalms/Now by Leslie Brandt

 is the version I landed on for journaling.
Writing it out.
Perhaps condensed.
CliffsNotes version.

Give credit to whom

Credit is due.

God is Alive.

He deserves our perpetual praise.

His beauty is Manifest in all of nature.

There is a reason for REJOICING.

There is a God to worship and love.

All of our achievements and the advances

 of science are by the wisdom 

and power of the eternal God.

The Gory is not ours but God's.

We are to rejoice in the God

 who blesses us,

seek His grace to serve Him,

 by serving others 

by the abundance He blesses us.

This sketch note style works for me,

 as I use limited drawings.

It is the slowing down to write it out.

 I love to see how the words fit together

 when they are put together a bit differently.
Time to pray the psalms.

Supplies:
Psalms/Now- Leslie Brandt
Micron pens
Colored pencils

Visual Faith- Psalm 28

Visual Faith

CliffsNotes style

in a Sketchbook.

Psalm 28-

You are SILENT.

I'm calling out-

from a black hole.

I am in the same cell as the crooks.

They work for the evil one.

They have no idea how God works.

Smash them and walk away.

Yea God! Blessed Yahweh!

He HEARD me praying!

HE IS ON MY SIDE!

 I am with HIM.

I am jumping, shouting and singing!

Carry them like a good shepherd.

How often we forget 
that we are not the ones
 working things out.
We are participating
 in an eternal story.
When the down and out times come-
and they do, 
and they will.
Got to remember-
He is on me side!
That changes everything!

Supplies:
Psalms- by Eugene Peterson

Sketchbook

Wine cork

Stamping Ink

Precision Pen

Yoobi Colored pencils

VaLENTine's Day

Bible Marginalia Series- #281

Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day
 on the same day.
How often does that happen?

This year Ash Wednesday 

and Valentine’s Day

 are overlapping for the 

first time since 1945.

So this is the first time in my lifetime.

The two dates have also overlapped

 in 1923 and 1934 

and will coincide again in 2024 and 2029.

Hanging out in Psalm 51-
 in my Large Print Crossways Bible.
Using the printable margins 
from the Visual Faith Ministry website 
designed by Pat Maier.
ash-wednesday-margins

Prayer time devotions:

 mercy, steadfast, blot and transgressions

So I pray:
 There is NOTHING
 I can do to make up
 this great deficit in my life.
May YOU, O God,
come near. 
Create in Me a Clean Heart.
Restore to me the Joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a wiling spirit.
Rework what needs to go,
and bless me with the gifts
 to be wholly and only your new creation,
Amen.

What a blessing to walk into my church
 for Ash Wednesday services 
and see some of the resources from 
Visual Faith Ministry
www.visualfaithmin.org 
ready for those that connect this way for LENT.

So, may we REMEMBER 
that on this day of ashes and turning back, 
that at the center of this great gift
 is the cross and the great LOVE
 our Father has for each of us.

Supplies:
 printable margin- visualfaithmin.org
colored pencils 
scrapbook paper
assorted die cut printables
fine-point Sharpie pen- non-bleeding

Bible Marginalia- Comings and Goings

Bible Marginalia Series- #243

Psalm 121: 7-8

"The Lord will keep you from all evil; 

he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep your going out

 and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore."

Sometimes in a day of rushing here

 and there,

 it is easy to think that 

I manage the ins and outs of a day.

Perhaps when it is going well-

I'll take credit for that.

Then when it is not...

that might be my doing too.

But, above all of this,

is this promise above....

in ALL,

forever

and evermore-

the Lord

KEEPS ME.

Supplies:

Pat Maier Bible Margin Design

found  in the FILES section here-
DC Metro Visual Faith Community

Colored Pencils

Page from Better Homes and Garden magazine

PPA Matte- Paper Adhesive

Praying the Psalms-4- Sketch Notes

Your steadfast Love is before my eyes!

Sometimes it is good 

to come back to a practice.

Sometimes it has been 

"reinvented" in the brief span of letting it rest.

I had a friend ask me in a conversation

 if I had seen any Bible sketch notes. 

When I looked it up on Pinterest, 

well it is the same thing I do-

 calling it Praying the Psalms.

My eyes are ever toward the Lord!

 I also call this practice- 

Psalm "CliffsNotes".
 In an 8 1/2" by 11" Sketch book.

The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.

I often take about a week 

to finish the one page study.

 Reading the Psalm in various versions.

Maybe a Martin Luther 
devotion about the Psalms.

I was kind of stuck on the 23rd Psalm.  

Then I saw this on the internet.

And it was just what was meaningful

 to me that week.

Psalm 22-

Tell your children so they

 hear the Good News!

Your great power is sufficient

to set me free from the 

things that hurt My Soul.

He can transform 

our failures into Victories.

Supplies:

Colored Pencils 

 Wine cork 
Stamping ink

 Fine Point Sharpie- Non-bleeding

 and Pottery Barn magazine cutouts.