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Rooted in Rivers

January 9, 2022 • Gerrit Dawson • Psalm 1

Psalm 1 is a wisdom psalm. It contrasts two life trajectories. One denies the end is coming and believes we can figure out lives ourselves. It flows along with all the glitter and worry and concerns of those with no roots in the reality of God. It’s a life that withers with nothing to show for it. Ultimately, it’s a desert.


The other is a life drawing from the deep wells of God’s Word. We drink the living water that is Christ. He turns the desert of self into an oasis. He puts the name, “Abba, Father” in our hearts and on our lips. When we follow that trajectory of life, we step out in faith to call him Father. To come to the Father by the love and sacrifice of his Son. Then we find, experientially, the joy that we are not our own. We belong to the family of God. We are not alone, we are in relationship with our Creator. We don’t have to fear the end or anything else, because we are living for the faith, hope and love that makes life truly blessed.

He Makes Storms Be Still

January 23, 2022 • Gerrit Dawson • Psalm 107:17–32

We reach our wits’ end and collapse in a puddle of tears and frustration. We drop to our knees in helplessness. We are not the lords of the universe. We are not the captains of our destiny. We are just frail children of dust and as feeble as frail. What a mercy it is to realize that! What freedom to stop trying to do God’s job and let him be God. What peace to lean back on the everlasting arms. We can stop being so frantic, so demanding, so demeaning, so frustrated and annoyed all the time. The LORD God reigns, and God is good, and we are his people.

He Shatters the Doors of Bronze

January 16, 2022 • Gerrit Dawson • Psalm 107:1–16

Psalm 107 gives us hope that we’re not locked into wandering and futility forever. We don’t have to be prisoners of the past. Nor do we need to despair over the future. We’re called to cry out to the LORD I AM exactly where we are hurting. And in the process to offer ourselves to him, broken as we are, to go wherever he leads us.