Scripture
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
~Psalm 103:1, NIV
Quote
The transforming power of the gospel gets worked into our inner being when we learn to speak forcefully to our soul.
~Timothy Keller
I just beginning to follow David’s practice of speaking to the soul. The Hebrew word for soul is nephesh and although it can refer to the person as a whole, it usually refers to our inner being which includes our mind [what we think], our heart [what we feel] and our volitional will, [what we do]. The emotions are a big part of the soul and we must learn to command them just like David. When things are going awry, the soul can become a chatter box. When this happens, I go to YouTube and listen to “Be Still My Soul.” Another word for “be still” is shut up. The first line of Be Still My Soul reads…Be still my soul the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; leave to thy God to order and provide. Very good advice for the soul.
To renew the soul, we focus on truth, the truth from God’s word. God’s word always trumps our soul and its incessant chatter. In Psalm 103, David focuses on God’s forgiveness of sin and the fact that eventually, He will deliver us from all sin, sorrow and suffering. Then David makes a list of benefits of being a child of God. In other words, he was counting his blessings.
Years ago Bill Bright came up with a great illustration. He drew a little train with Engine, coal car and caboose. The engine that pulls the train is the FACT OF GOD’S WORD. The coal car is FAITH which we put into the fact of God’s word. The caboose is the SOUL. We cannot allow the soul to lead: it must be kept in its proper place. When the soul is in the lead, you have a roller-coaster instead of a train. The soul is unreliable but the word of God can always be trusted.
Well hallelujah, they missed it yesterday. It did not reach a 100 and we got a shower. Ryder had a game at 6:00 and it was nice: middle 70’s. The bad news is: they have raised the tempts for this weekend. It’s 90 degree weather for most of September.
By the way, the 7-8 grade had a big game last night. They amassed over 300 yards rushing and won 50-26 over the Decatur Heritage Eagles. Louis Weaver had over 100 yards rushing and three TD’s. We had such a commanding lead that Charlie and Homer emptied the bench.