Numbers and Words

Have you ever had a number keep jumping out at you? Maybe a favorite number? Mine is the number 29. I've loved this number since I was a kid. Don't ask me why. I have no idea. A couple of years ago I felt inclined to read Psalm 119 several times. (As an aside, I'd really love to memorize this Psalm but I'm afraid that by the time I finished memorizing it I'd have forgotten the first part of it.) Anyway, for me words are fascinating. They make me wonder - they make me think. I don't mean words set out in a thought or statement, I mean individual, single, separate words. For instance, what if I were to paint the word "forgiveness" - or "mercy" - or "grace" - or "glory"? What would that look like? I wish I could paint. Sometimes I can see them in my head but transferring that mind picture to canvas escapes me. But back to Psalm 119 and #29. As I read the Psalm I kept running into the word "word". I thought that was interesting given my fascination with words, so I decided to count how many times the word "word" was used in Psalm 119. You guessed it - 29 times. For some reason that speaks to me.

So today in my quiet time I knew I needed to draw nearer to God. I've been sick and somewhat self-centered and I've kind of drifted away and I'm missing Him. I opened my Bible to Psalm 29. It's funny. I don't remember ever reading this Psalm before. I love it. I'll have to commit this one to memory. Here it is:

Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name, worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightening. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in His temple all cry "Glory"! The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever. The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace.

I have no idea what all this means, but I know it gives me great peace to know that He is God - and I am not, to which I cry "GLORY"!

"When your words came I ate them, they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty." Jeremiah 15:16