Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 36 (October 30, 2025)

October 30, 2025:  Friday Bible Study on Old Testament of Psalm 36

May the joy of this cool desert morning fill your heart with wonder at the glory of God's creation.

Good morning my dear friends. Well, for all the children, tomorrow is a big day, parties at school, trunk or treating, costumes, family get-togethers, and CANDY! With all that we make of Halloween, it has become more difficult for us to truly acknowledge the very next day in the life of the Church, and Her Saints. All Saints is the Saturday, and we will honor those who have joined God's triumphant saints in heaven on Sunday at worship and realize that we are saints too. Be sure to bring pictures, and please label them so people will know how they are related to you. There will be a special area set up in front of the church on the main floor. In the traditions of the Day of the Dead this area is called an ofrenda, the place where family can come together to remember and honor family and friends who have moved on to the next life. Remember that we will be blessing the animals on the 9th of November. If your pet cannot attend, please just bring us a picture with your name and your pet's name on it. You will be able to place that picture on the table on the main floor in front of the altar, just like we did for All Saints the week before.

In our Psalm for today, #36, David offers a song about what it means to be a person who worships and honors YHWH with their lives, vs a person who does not believe, or may offer lip service about knowing their God, but whose lives have been lived, and continue to be lived, with that belief making no difference.  Those folks who have had no change of heart because of the benefits that are there just for believing and honoring God. Today I have a small assignment for you. I want you to read the Psalm carefully, because I believe that every one of us can identify people who are in both circumstances, and the ones who are faithless, are definitely the cause for David singing about the need for God's continuing benefits, blessings, and protection, because the others without faith, can act to destroy and damage the people of true faith.  In fact, their intent is to do exactly that. On the other hand, those who have faith, and that includes you and me. are really in a luxurious relationship with God, where His abundance and blessings are always with us, and his provision of Grace is powerful and helpful in every difficult situation that comes to we who are faithful. God will always choose to protect us from the evil doers with whom we must all do battle in this life. When we pray, we are affirming that our relationship with God has been filled with integrity on our part, and, of course, we must remember that no one is perfect in their faith, and that is exactly why God sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the price for our sins when we slip up.  I know that I can turn to the LORD at any time, and all of the time, to pray and seek His healing and hope for those who are ill, for peace in the world, for my caring for His creation in better and better ways, for my own strength and faith growth, for confession, and when those folks who don't believe, and serve only themselves, wealth, and power, who are willing to deny morality, justice, and love, God will always be our resource no matter how tough those people who are filled only with avarice and self-service make our lives of faith and trust in the truth of God's caring for us, bringing His defense to protect us from  those who only pretend to believe so that they may reap a benefit from those who remain naive in their faith lives.

Please pray for those you identified in your life who are not faithful, and who lack the character of the faithful heart which is pleasing to God. Pray that they have a change of heart at the bidding of the Spirit. And give thanks to God for having that continual change of heart as we go through our lives depending on the goodness of the LORD.

With the Love of Christ, Pastor Kim