Psalm 5: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

¹ Listen to my words, Lord, 

consider my lament. 

² Hear my cry for help, 

my King and my God, 

for to you I pray. 

³ In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; 

in the morning I lay my requests before you 

and wait expectantly. 

⁴ For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; 

with you, evil people are not welcome. 

⁵ The arrogant cannot stand 

in your presence. 

You hate all who do wrong; 

⁶ you destroy those who tell lies. 

The bloodthirsty and deceitful 

you, Lord, detest. 

⁷ But I, by your great love, 

can come into your house; 

in reverence I bow down 

toward your holy temple. 

⁸ Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness 

because of my enemies— 

make your way straight before me. 

⁹ Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; 

their heart is filled with malice. 

Their throat is an open grave; 

with their tongues they tell lies. 

¹⁰ Declare them guilty, O God! 

Let their intrigues be their downfall. 

Banish them for their many sins, 

for they have rebelled against you. 

¹¹ But let all who take refuge in you be glad; 

let them ever sing for joy. 

Spread your protection over them, 

that those who love your name may rejoice in you. 

¹² Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; 

you surround them with your favor as with a shield. 

 The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ps 5:1–12.

Theme: Turn to God in Conflict

Best Verse: 7^"But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple."

Command to Obey: --

Sin to Avoid: --

Promise to Claim: By God's great love I can come into God's house

Application to Make: Bow down towards God

Something New About God: --

Reflection: Because God loves me he sacrificed his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for my sins. Now I can approach God with confidence, I can come into his house because of his great love for me. And I should! I should respond to God's love by spending time with him each morning, reading scripture, journaling and praying.

Great Smokey Mountains National Park: Yesterday we hiked Middle Prong Trail looking for Lynn Camp Prong Falls about 1.3 miles in. We didn't find it, but the hike was lovely - it was like being at the beach, but instead of the constant sound of waves crashing on the shore it was the constant crash of water falling on rocks. After the hike we tried to attend the streams ranger program (inspired by our great tadpole finds the previous day) but there was no program due to staffing disruptions. So we hiked the short 1.0 mile Pine Oak Nature Trail right in our campground and that was awesome. But the highlight of the day was that I took Eva, my nine year old, on an evening hike (starting at 9:30 pm!) to see the fireflies in Cades Cove Loop. The Mountains were gorgeous at dusk and looked smoky. The moon and stars came out and we caught a couple fireflies!