The Mountains That Surround Me

The Psalms have been the joy of my heart lately.  It seems that every distress....every joy....every thanksgiving...every hope within me --- they are all expressed so perfectly by God Himself in His Word.

I'm leafing through the pages of my now heavily highlighted Bible, trying to decide which one to write here.  It's nearly impossible to choose a favorite.

The section that stood out to me (for me) this morning over breakfast is Psalm 125:1-2,

"Those who trust in the Lord 

are as Mount Zion, which

cannot be moved but

abides forever.

As the mountains surround

Jerusalem,

so the Lord surrounds His

people

from this time forth and

forever."

I read these verses to my son, Ben.  I told him how I loved the thought of our Mighty God standing strong and lovingly around us as the mountains do.  Ben could relate because we literally live in a valley between two mountain ranges.  His response was perfect,

"When I hear you read about God being like a mountain surrounding us, it reminds me of how our mountains here make it so we're safer.  We don't have tornados because of our mountains."

Indeed!  I hadn't thought of it quite like that!  Ahh, these children...such incredible gifts!

Do we have rain?  yes.
Fog? yes.
Accidents? yes.
Snow? yes.
Hail? yes.

But a storm so massive that it can destroy us...sweep us away and destroy us?  NO.  We are protected by our mountains.

So is our loving God.  We'll have the occasional rainy, grey, scary day.  But we will never be swept away.  We will be hard pressed, but will not be crushed.  Oh Lord...thank you!

And by the way - the mountains are the most beautiful places here.  The few times we've piled in the car to head to the hills for camping, I'm always astounded by the majesty found within our mountains.  From the towering trees and spectacularly bright sun...down to the purity of the very dirt, and the intricate beauty of even the bugs --- breathtaking.

There is strength, power, and beauty within the God who knows me personally and loves me enough to die for me.

My heart...it overflows.

The Lord has done great

things for me;

I am glad.

Psalm 126:3