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Micah Nordtvedt < 2  3  4 > Jeremy Flinn

Randy Mortenson
Pastor and author / Mayville, North Dakota
Writing

I'm so glad David wrote down his psalms. Many psalms are preceded by a short note stating who wrote them. Some include a bit more information. For instance Psalm 142 has this preface: "A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer." Notice anything unusual about that (other than the word maskil)? David wrote this psalm when he was in a cave. "...rescue me from those who pursue me," he writes in verse six. He was hiding in a cave, fleeing for his life, and he penned words that we read in our homes and at church today. Amazingly, the words still resonate with us. We can all "cry aloud to the Lord" using David's inspired words written under duress in a cave 3,000 years ago.

Words can carry us across time and resonate within us in different cultures and contexts. At home and when I travel, many of my favorite moments occur when I take out my journal and pen and pour out my heart on paper. Sometimes I lament. Other times I give thanks. Oftentimes I simply jot down thoughts, which become recorded memories I can look back on years later-vividly-because I wrote them down. "Thank You, God!" and "Help me, Lord." show up a lot in my journals. Whether at home in my study, or at the Touriste Motel in Garoua, Cameroon, or aboard a Navy ship in the South Pacific-my personal "psalms" remind me not only where I've been in life, but more importantly where God's been with me.

May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2

(above image: Landon Snow fantasy series published by Barbour)

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