Psalm 68:4 “Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song to Him who rides through the deserts; His name is the Lord; exult before Him!”
My Hallelujah
©12-26-15 Hannah McLean
This is my hallelujah
Hallelujah
This is my hallelujah
There are times when
no other word will do
just hallelujah
Hallelujah
This is my hallelujah
May it always hold great wonder
May it always ring with praise
May it always flow with thanksgiving
May it always exalt Your name
This is my hallelujah
Hallelujah
This is my hallelujah
Though I’m broken
a hallelujah
And in rejoicing
hallelujah
And in confusion, in pain or sorrow
still hallelujah
hallelujah
still hallelujah
This is my hallelujah
Hallelujah
This is my hallelujah
Always the same
Lord, You always remain
Your worth does not change
nor Your heart fall away
Eternal Your way
Who You are always stays
so hallelujah
hallelujah
hallelujah
This is my hallelujah
Hallelujah
This is my hallelujah
Monday, December 28, 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
Unquenchable love
Many waters cannot quench love
neither can floods drown it.
Song of Solomon 8:7a
I have always liked this verse, I find myself writing it in wedding cards to newly weds because it declares a truth about real love that is assuring for the conflicts and life difficulties that will inevitably arise when you unite two sinners in marriage.
The other day while I was driving, I was talking to the Lord and this verse flooded my mind as I spoke my praise and gratitude to Him...it resulted in a prayer that went something like this:
Lord, I love You with this love; the love that hasn’t been quenched by many waters or drowned by many floods. There have been many waters, Lord, You have been with me in them. And there have been floods, You have given me breath when the waves closed over me. But there is STILL love in me for You that overflows, and it is more than when I entered in. And THAT is real love; it is a result of being in the presence of and on the receiving end of YOUR steadfast love and faithfulness. And what a wonder that is, Lord, that this faulty heart of mine could be rooted so deeply by being covered so thoroughly by the outpouring of Your love and affection. What a glorious God You are; faithful and true and kind and steadfast...so steadfast that I am steadfast because of You, so loving that I can love because of You, so generous that I can be generous because of You, so free that I can be free because of You. Thank You for Your unquenchable love, this moment I pour it back out on You. Rooted in Jesus I pray, Amen.
neither can floods drown it.
Song of Solomon 8:7a
I have always liked this verse, I find myself writing it in wedding cards to newly weds because it declares a truth about real love that is assuring for the conflicts and life difficulties that will inevitably arise when you unite two sinners in marriage.
The other day while I was driving, I was talking to the Lord and this verse flooded my mind as I spoke my praise and gratitude to Him...it resulted in a prayer that went something like this:
Lord, I love You with this love; the love that hasn’t been quenched by many waters or drowned by many floods. There have been many waters, Lord, You have been with me in them. And there have been floods, You have given me breath when the waves closed over me. But there is STILL love in me for You that overflows, and it is more than when I entered in. And THAT is real love; it is a result of being in the presence of and on the receiving end of YOUR steadfast love and faithfulness. And what a wonder that is, Lord, that this faulty heart of mine could be rooted so deeply by being covered so thoroughly by the outpouring of Your love and affection. What a glorious God You are; faithful and true and kind and steadfast...so steadfast that I am steadfast because of You, so loving that I can love because of You, so generous that I can be generous because of You, so free that I can be free because of You. Thank You for Your unquenchable love, this moment I pour it back out on You. Rooted in Jesus I pray, Amen.
to be and to remain
“And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep. And they went and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And He said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?” Matthew 8:23–27
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10a
There seems to be the expectation in these two verses that not only can we BE still, but we can REMAIN still if we know who the Lord is. This should be of great encouragement for us; when fear, anxiety and worry rear their ugly heads, we can dismiss them by being still and considering “what sort of man this is,” by simply knowing He is God. If we align these thoughts with the Bible, this consideration should produce a quietness of spirit in us...one that remains so that when the next storm appears on the horizon or the next wave washes over us, we do not have to fear, panic or worry. When we are with the One whose voice holds authority over all of creation, there is relief and peace to be had.
Let us rest in it together. :)
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10a
There seems to be the expectation in these two verses that not only can we BE still, but we can REMAIN still if we know who the Lord is. This should be of great encouragement for us; when fear, anxiety and worry rear their ugly heads, we can dismiss them by being still and considering “what sort of man this is,” by simply knowing He is God. If we align these thoughts with the Bible, this consideration should produce a quietness of spirit in us...one that remains so that when the next storm appears on the horizon or the next wave washes over us, we do not have to fear, panic or worry. When we are with the One whose voice holds authority over all of creation, there is relief and peace to be had.
Let us rest in it together. :)
A prisoner of hope
“Return to your stronghold, o prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.” Zechariah 9:12
I don’t even know how to begin writing my thoughts on this passage; I am at a place where these words hold such weight and promise that I just have to sit for a moment when I am finished reading them to gather myself before I can proceed.
When reading this verse in the past, I was struck by the phrase “prisoner of hope” and considered it with curiosity. At one point it even inspired a poem, but the phrase never resolved in my heart and I moved past it with a sense of wonder that a generally negative word like “prisoner” could be used in relation to such a lovely word as “hope.”
But during a time of prayer the other day, this phrase set upon my heart with affirmation on the depth of identity. I am a prisoner of hope.
I am a prisoner of hope: I am bound to it, I cannot shake it, I cannot move beyond it, I cannot ignore it...I find myself with conviction of promise in the face of real impossibilities. And as I have looked back over my life since I began walking with Jesus, I see my beautiful "chains" again and again. Let me explain.
Over the last 12 years of my life, I have learned Who God is. I have discovered through His word and prayer and people what are His character, His nature and His promises. I have learned to recognize His voice and to trust the Spirit. I have found Him to be proven and sure and the ONE thing that is certain.
I have also become convinced of His worth, His goodness, His power, His beauty, His faithfulness...and I have found that no matter what life has thrown at me, He has held me and drawn me both to Himself and through the fires where I have emerged victorious and fortified on the other side. And even the battles that currently rage around me have found themselves unable to separate me from this true and magnificent God.
If the Lord has said it, it will be/it is true/it will stand. I am certain of this; not because I can tell you how He will do what He says He will do, but because I know who He is and that He is able to accomplish what He has said He will accomplish.
So here I am, 10 days till the new year begins; my health is worse than it has ever been in my entire life, the state of my body more devastated than it has ever been, the solution to how it can even be repaired from the pit it slumps in is beyond my understanding. But I find myself encouraged, excited and eager. My journal no longer is counting up (Day ___ of praying/waiting/praising for healing), it is now counting down (____ days till healing). And sometimes I feel crazy, because looking into my situation, WHY should anyone in their right mind think healing would come? When there aren’t even answers to the problems that lie inside me, WHY would I think that my health could be resolved?
But Zechariah explains it, I am a prisoner of hope. I cannot shake the promise of the Lord to me. I can’t stop believing that what He said will be...and instead of looking at the 10 days before me and the 15 years of damage done to my physical body and curling up in a hole of despair, I for some reason am feeling uplifted and excited that this is almost over. Why?! Because I know who God is and what He said and what He is able to do...and no matter how much I or life or well-meaning people try to adjust my expectations, here I am.
Because “faith is the ASSURANCE of things HOPED for, the CONVICTION of things NOT seen” (Hebrews 11:1). And I am assured and convicted...a prisoner of hope in the faithfulness, promise and love of the One True Living God.
My season is changing, come January 1, 2016, I will either be healed or healing. And in that, this prisoner of hope rejoices at the utter kindness of her loving Father.
I don’t even know how to begin writing my thoughts on this passage; I am at a place where these words hold such weight and promise that I just have to sit for a moment when I am finished reading them to gather myself before I can proceed.
When reading this verse in the past, I was struck by the phrase “prisoner of hope” and considered it with curiosity. At one point it even inspired a poem, but the phrase never resolved in my heart and I moved past it with a sense of wonder that a generally negative word like “prisoner” could be used in relation to such a lovely word as “hope.”
But during a time of prayer the other day, this phrase set upon my heart with affirmation on the depth of identity. I am a prisoner of hope.
I am a prisoner of hope: I am bound to it, I cannot shake it, I cannot move beyond it, I cannot ignore it...I find myself with conviction of promise in the face of real impossibilities. And as I have looked back over my life since I began walking with Jesus, I see my beautiful "chains" again and again. Let me explain.
Over the last 12 years of my life, I have learned Who God is. I have discovered through His word and prayer and people what are His character, His nature and His promises. I have learned to recognize His voice and to trust the Spirit. I have found Him to be proven and sure and the ONE thing that is certain.
I have also become convinced of His worth, His goodness, His power, His beauty, His faithfulness...and I have found that no matter what life has thrown at me, He has held me and drawn me both to Himself and through the fires where I have emerged victorious and fortified on the other side. And even the battles that currently rage around me have found themselves unable to separate me from this true and magnificent God.
If the Lord has said it, it will be/it is true/it will stand. I am certain of this; not because I can tell you how He will do what He says He will do, but because I know who He is and that He is able to accomplish what He has said He will accomplish.
So here I am, 10 days till the new year begins; my health is worse than it has ever been in my entire life, the state of my body more devastated than it has ever been, the solution to how it can even be repaired from the pit it slumps in is beyond my understanding. But I find myself encouraged, excited and eager. My journal no longer is counting up (Day ___ of praying/waiting/praising for healing), it is now counting down (____ days till healing). And sometimes I feel crazy, because looking into my situation, WHY should anyone in their right mind think healing would come? When there aren’t even answers to the problems that lie inside me, WHY would I think that my health could be resolved?
But Zechariah explains it, I am a prisoner of hope. I cannot shake the promise of the Lord to me. I can’t stop believing that what He said will be...and instead of looking at the 10 days before me and the 15 years of damage done to my physical body and curling up in a hole of despair, I for some reason am feeling uplifted and excited that this is almost over. Why?! Because I know who God is and what He said and what He is able to do...and no matter how much I or life or well-meaning people try to adjust my expectations, here I am.
Because “faith is the ASSURANCE of things HOPED for, the CONVICTION of things NOT seen” (Hebrews 11:1). And I am assured and convicted...a prisoner of hope in the faithfulness, promise and love of the One True Living God.
My season is changing, come January 1, 2016, I will either be healed or healing. And in that, this prisoner of hope rejoices at the utter kindness of her loving Father.
Friday, December 11, 2015
Meditations from Psalm 65:4
Blessed is the one You choose and bring near,
to dwell in Your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
the holiness of Your temple!
To be chosen, to be near, to dwell with You is to be truly blessed and fully satisfied.
It isn’t a given, brothers and sisters, that we “dwell” in His courts. He chooses us and brings us near for the purpose of dwelling in His courts, but it isn’t a given. It is an intentional action on our parts. We have been invited, but will we come? Will we take the time to not just enter into His courts, but to dwell there?
To abide in His presence; to rest our heads upon His lap, to wash His feet with our tears, to know the satisfaction of His goodness and holiness? To abide in His courts; to be held in the strength of His arms, to be carried by the freedom of His wings, to be washed by the blood that flowed from His side.
Will we delight enough in the fact that He has chosen us and brought us near to hang out with Him in His courts, to know the atmosphere of His throne room and the glorious weight of His presence?
Because it is there that we are satisfied; it is there that the cares of the world are swallowed up in the glories of His praiseworthy character and perfect work; it is there where earthly desires are trumped by Who He is and we can find that all we TRULY desire is Him. I have found that in this place, all the things I intended to pray about escape my mind and all I can do is delight in the One who is before me.
Blessed and satisfied.
to dwell in Your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
the holiness of Your temple!
To be chosen, to be near, to dwell with You is to be truly blessed and fully satisfied.
It isn’t a given, brothers and sisters, that we “dwell” in His courts. He chooses us and brings us near for the purpose of dwelling in His courts, but it isn’t a given. It is an intentional action on our parts. We have been invited, but will we come? Will we take the time to not just enter into His courts, but to dwell there?
To abide in His presence; to rest our heads upon His lap, to wash His feet with our tears, to know the satisfaction of His goodness and holiness? To abide in His courts; to be held in the strength of His arms, to be carried by the freedom of His wings, to be washed by the blood that flowed from His side.
Will we delight enough in the fact that He has chosen us and brought us near to hang out with Him in His courts, to know the atmosphere of His throne room and the glorious weight of His presence?
Because it is there that we are satisfied; it is there that the cares of the world are swallowed up in the glories of His praiseworthy character and perfect work; it is there where earthly desires are trumped by Who He is and we can find that all we TRULY desire is Him. I have found that in this place, all the things I intended to pray about escape my mind and all I can do is delight in the One who is before me.
Blessed and satisfied.
Meditations from Psalm 65:3
When iniquities prevail against me,
You atone for our transgressions.
When my iniquities are winning...
when my spirit cannot withstand my flesh...
when the guilt of my sin is too great...
when my failures and faults have beaten me down so that I cannot stand...
You step into my atmosphere and atone for my transgressions, changing the outcome of the battle.
Your atonement is ALWAYS victorious;
Your holiness and who I am in You is ALWAYS greater than my wickedness and who I am without You;
Your holiness is ALWAYS enough to cover my transgressions;
Your blood ALWAYS pure enough to wash me white as snow.
The only thing that will truly prevail when You are for me and I am in You...is You.
And if that doesn’t make us overwhelmed with gratitude and praise, then I would venture that it is because we don’t understand ourselves or our need for you.
You atone for our transgressions.
When my iniquities are winning...
when my spirit cannot withstand my flesh...
when the guilt of my sin is too great...
when my failures and faults have beaten me down so that I cannot stand...
You step into my atmosphere and atone for my transgressions, changing the outcome of the battle.
Your atonement is ALWAYS victorious;
Your holiness and who I am in You is ALWAYS greater than my wickedness and who I am without You;
Your holiness is ALWAYS enough to cover my transgressions;
Your blood ALWAYS pure enough to wash me white as snow.
The only thing that will truly prevail when You are for me and I am in You...is You.
And if that doesn’t make us overwhelmed with gratitude and praise, then I would venture that it is because we don’t understand ourselves or our need for you.
Meditations from Psalm 65:1–2
Praise is due to You, O God, in Zion,
and to You shall vows be performed.
(Side note: The NKJV words this “praise awaits You...”)
The month of November for me was a month spent in praise. I looked back over the Lord’s work in my life and praised Him for His faithfulness...and then I added to my former praises the praise I had not yet offered to Him for the effects of His work that, before that point, I had not yet seen. There was praise waiting for Him that had not yet been pondered or offered, and in November, I brought to Him some of the praise that was “due” to Him.
There is endless measure to His endless mercy if only we open our eyes to see it; which means, there is endless measure to His deserved praise that if we take the time, we get to bring to light and to life and to Him. How glorious a God to walk and work in such a way that there is ALWAYS praise to be found for Him.
O You who hears prayer,
to You shall all flesh come.
Oh man, can I just tell you that for me this title is utterly beautiful: "O You who hears prayer." I think that being heard in and of itself can brings so much comfort. There are times Nathan will ask me, “What did you pray about today?” and I will tell him, “Nothing. I just sat with the Lord and cried.”
Sometimes prayer doesn’t require words because God listens to the cries of the heart. And sometimes prayer doesn’t require words because it just requires presence. And it doesn’t matter who you are or what you believe or don’t believe or what you have or haven’t done, your soul longs for the living God, and when you come to Him, He promises to draw near.
and to You shall vows be performed.
(Side note: The NKJV words this “praise awaits You...”)
The month of November for me was a month spent in praise. I looked back over the Lord’s work in my life and praised Him for His faithfulness...and then I added to my former praises the praise I had not yet offered to Him for the effects of His work that, before that point, I had not yet seen. There was praise waiting for Him that had not yet been pondered or offered, and in November, I brought to Him some of the praise that was “due” to Him.
There is endless measure to His endless mercy if only we open our eyes to see it; which means, there is endless measure to His deserved praise that if we take the time, we get to bring to light and to life and to Him. How glorious a God to walk and work in such a way that there is ALWAYS praise to be found for Him.
O You who hears prayer,
to You shall all flesh come.
Oh man, can I just tell you that for me this title is utterly beautiful: "O You who hears prayer." I think that being heard in and of itself can brings so much comfort. There are times Nathan will ask me, “What did you pray about today?” and I will tell him, “Nothing. I just sat with the Lord and cried.”
Sometimes prayer doesn’t require words because God listens to the cries of the heart. And sometimes prayer doesn’t require words because it just requires presence. And it doesn’t matter who you are or what you believe or don’t believe or what you have or haven’t done, your soul longs for the living God, and when you come to Him, He promises to draw near.
Meditations from Psalm 65
The Psalm of 2015 for me is Psalm 65. The Lord gave it to me during my month of devoted prayer for healing, and it has been my plumb line. As I close out the year, I have been memorizing it because honestly, I just want it inside me always. I rarely sit down and intentionally commit large portions of scripture to memory, I grew up doing it, but have found that I don’t really remember stuff longterm that I “memorize” it. However, as a follower of Jesus who has spent countless hours in the Bible, my memory is filled with large portions of scripture because I have found that it sticks around in this flippant mind of mine when I have poured over it--meditating on it and praying though it--again and again and again; allowing it to reverberate through my heart like a chord plucked on a guitar until I know it...not just by word, but by meaning and feeling and sound and purpose. So when I say I am memorizing Psalm 65 this month, it is going to take me the entire month...not because I couldn’t do it in a day, but because I want it to remain longer than a day.
And as I slowly commit this Psalm word-for-word to memory, I keep encountering more and more truths that have really sweetened my world. (You’d think that after a year of reading this Psalm I would have wrung it out, but nope. Apparently I have barely brushed the surface.) So I wanted to share some of my meditations this month with you.
So hang tight, they are coming your way. :)
And as I slowly commit this Psalm word-for-word to memory, I keep encountering more and more truths that have really sweetened my world. (You’d think that after a year of reading this Psalm I would have wrung it out, but nope. Apparently I have barely brushed the surface.) So I wanted to share some of my meditations this month with you.
So hang tight, they are coming your way. :)
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