P.S.A.L.M.S.
of DAVID
Positive Spiritual Articles to Lift My Savior
By david lewis bowens
P.S.A.L.M.S. Of David
Positive Spiritual Articles to Lift My Savior - Inspirational, Word-inspired, and sometimes goofy stories from my walk with GOD
There have been so many times when I've felt like giving up, but God encouraged me through
P.S.A.L.M.S. 4
July 21, 2014
"A BAD Birthday"
inspired by a Psalms 90:12, Rick Warren, and a 6 year-old summer school student
It was the best prayer I’ve ever heard.
I was volunteering for a program at my church in the summer of 2000. My pastor had a vision to spend four weeks teaching manners, etiquette, and down-home respect to elementary-age kids in the church. He called it the IBOC Love and Discipline Camp. I’d just completed my first year of teaching, the worst professional year of my life, and I needed a little love and a lot of discipline.
One day, I was asked to cover a first grade class. I remember walking them to the classroom, thinking about some spiritually profound things that I could say or do to inspire a dozen 6 year-olds. We got to the room, I saw the lesson plans, and my only thought was to start off with a prayer and then see what happens.
We got in a circle, and as I started to pray, I paused and asked the kids if they wanted to pray. A shy, male student raised his hand, then we bowed our heads and held hands. His prayer went something like this…
“Lord, just let the devil have a bad day! In Jesus name, Amen!”
I opened my eyes and looked at the kid. He smiled, and I’ve smiled every time I think about that powerful prayer.
As I woke up this morning, I thought about that prayer for a special reason. Today is my birthday, and I have one wish…I REALLY WANT THE DEVIL TO HAVE A BAD DAY!
The older I get, the more I think about the life I’ve lived and the choices I’ve made. I think about the good days and the not-so-good days, and I keep coming to the same conclusion: I've got to make everyday count.
Psalms 90:12 in the Amplified bible says it like this… “So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom.”
As a kid, I thought about death a lot because of medical issues that I dealt with. As an adult, I give glory to God for those sick days, because it caused me to get in the habit of making the most of my days.
One of my all-time favorite books is The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. In the introduction after the contents, Mr. Warren writes about the number 25,550, which was the average number of days that the average person lived when the book was published in 2002.
I don’t know what the average life span is now, but I know that everyone doesn’t make it to 25,550. I’ve been to my share of funerals with big caskets, and I’ve been to my share of funerals with small caskets. Since none of us know what our final number of days will be, doesn’t it make sense to make all of our days good days? We can only do this by renewing our minds.
I’m 37 years-old today, that's 13,517 days old, and I’ve discovered a secret:
MY GOOD DAY MAKES THE DEVIL HAVE A BAD DAY.
When I make a conscious choice to…
Rejoice in spite of,
Praise in spite of,
Smile in spite of,
Shut up in spite of,
Focus on the Word in spite of,
Fail and try again,
Forget the crap of my past,
Challenge myself to think bigger,
Help others and get my mind off of me,
Inspire and motivate others in goofy,creative ways,
THEN I’m giving the devil and his demons a bad day. In this case, a bad birthday.
So thank you Lord for 37 years. Let’s do more great things together.
Family and friends, let’s give the devil more bad days.
Your brother,
David
July 21
12:36PM
P.S.A.L.M.S. 3
July 13, 2013
"Daddy, I Make A Mess!"
inspired by Psalms 103:8-14, Hebrews 4:16, and my 2 year-old son
I knew my son would mess up.
I knew it when I picked him up from school that day. I knew it when we walked to the car. I knew it when I put him in the car seat.
“Daddy, I want fruit snack!”
It was my son’s daily-dad-demand during our drive home from school. Most of the time, I would open his Elmo backpack, take out the package, and give him 2 or 3 of the gooey goodies. It would keep him quiet for about 30 seconds, then…
“Daddy, I want MORE fruit snack!!!”
It’ a joy to hear my son speak. He sounds like a chipmunk with an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent. When he gets mad, he sounds like Incredible Hulk Jr.
“Daddy, I want fruit snack!!!!”
“Ok son,” I replied as I searched his backpack on this eventful day.
I emptied out the usual items contained therein – pull ups, wet wipes, medicine, more pull ups, my ID card from work that had been mysteriously missing for the past two months, (kids are sneaky little boogers aren’t they) and more pull ups.
“Daddy, I want fruit snack! Daddy, I want fruit snack! ”
“Ok, son. Just a minute!” I said, still searching.
“Daddy, I want fruit snack! Daddy, I want fruit snack! DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDY!!! ”
Problem.
DADDY NO HAVE FRUIT SNACK.
Then I noticed something. A ram in the bush. A substitute. A trick to keep my son from crying, whining, and wailing all the way home. It was a small bag of cereal.
“Joshua, look at what daddy has… CEREAL!!! I love cereal. Do you want some cereal?” I said, trying to make cereal sound like it was the best thing since Vanilla Almond milk.
“No!” said the Schwarzenegger chipmunk.
Pause. Think. Reconsider.
“Hey Daddy… I want cereal!”
Fatherhood definitely changes you. I used to get excited about sports, seeing a good movie, or hearing a great song. Now I get excited about a few minutes of quiet car time. Then the phone rang.
I don’t remember who it was or what the call was about, I just remember giving my son the bag of cereal and talking on the phone the rest of the way home.
Fast-forward to the garage.
After parking and gathering my stuff, I turned around to give a high-five to my unusually quiet son, only to discover the result of my son’s sinister silence.
Let’s just say the cereal never made it to his mouth.
“Daddy, I make a mess!” he screamed, pointing to the cereal all over the seat and floor. I could only laugh. This wasn’t the first backseat disaster, and I knew that it wouldn’t be the last.
I think God kinda knows that about us too.
I can’t tell you how much of my Christian life has been spent NOT trying to mess up, then messing up. NOT trying to make a mistake, then making a mistake. Mess ups are a part of life for everybody, but there’s a bigger mess up that most of us make after we mess up.
We don’t take it to Daddy.
The lesson that my son taught me that day had nothing to do with making a mess, but it had everything to do with who he called out to.
Wouldn’t it be crazy if I saw the mess in the backseat and heard my son say, “Mess… I don’t know what you’re talking about dad.”
That’s messed up!
Wouldn’t it be weird if my son tried to hide the mess in the backseat by covering it with his Elmo toys and Barney books?
That’s messed up!
And that’s usually what we do with our sins… deny’em and hide’em.
"Hey Adam and Eve... Is something wrong? Is there anything you need to tell me?"
"Naw God... see what had happened was...Eve just wanted to use these leaves so we could have matching outfits for picture day."
"Hey Jonah... Is something wrong? Is there anything you need to tell me?"
"Naw God... see what had happened was...we're gonna fry up this big fish at Uncle BoBo's cookout."
"Hey King David... Is something wrong? Is there anything you need to tell me?"
"Naw God... this fine, married lady was just in my palace all night and we were just talking about how much we like that new Lil' Gabriel album."
THAT'S MESSED UP!
God already knows who we are! He knows we mess up! And here’s the kicker… He’s ready to forgive.
Consider what the Word says...
Psalms 103:12-14
Here’s the King James Version
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Here’s the Message Bible Psalms 103:8-14
God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he’s rich in love. He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children, God feels for those who fear him. He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Did you really read that? God feels for you! Just like I felt for my son that day. The good thing is, my son started the conversation by acknowledging his mess.
Consider one more scripture with me. Here’s Hebrews 4:16 in the The Message Bible
Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
I like that. God does too.
Let’s do a better job of taking our messes to Daddy.
NEVER GIVE UP!
Your brother,
David
July 13
10:55PM
P.S.A.L.M.S. 2
July 10, 2013
"THRILLER"
inspired by Psalms 1:2
I had to have that baby tiger.
Don’t get me wrong. I wanted the white suit and I wanted the juicy jheri curl. But the tiger was it for me.
“What black man have I ever seen that has a tiger as a pet?” I thought to myself as I was riding in the back seat of my dad’s Lincoln Town Car, on the way back from a trip to my oldest sister’s house in the small West Texas town of Midland.
It usually took us about 6 hours to drive from Midland to Dallas. I’m talking about miles and miles of flat land, oil derricks, cacti, and an occasional dead animal in the middle of the highway.
The Bowens family tradition on this biannual trip usually involved eating some hamburgers in the car, listening to whatever radio station gave us clear reception, stops at the nastiest rest areas ever, gas station crackers with cold Pepsi, laughing at my dad singing crazy songs, and going to sleep in the back seat hoping that we’d be home when I woke up - which usually resulted in opening my eyes to the sight of more flat land, oil derricks, and cacti.
But on this trip, I didn’t care.
My 7 year-old brain cells were mesmerized, stimulated, and awestruck because of the gift that my sister gave us. Gloria Bowens was already a family favorite in my book (Yeah, there were some relatives that I didn’t really care for as a kid). She faithfully sent me $5 or $10 in the mail every year for my birthday. She was pretty, and she always made me feel special. She’s always had a giving heart, and the gift that she gave us before we headed back to Dallas on this day in 1984 changed my life forever.
It was Michael Jackson’s Thriller album
The joy of just holding that album in the back seat on that trip still makes me smile. Not only was Michael a sharp-looking brother with a tight Jheri curl, but the pic on the inside of the album of Mike with the baby tiger was swag before swag was swag.
I’d heard several MJ songs on the radio by then, and Michael-Mania was sweeping the country – correction – the world. And now, the Bowens family finally had our own copy of this piece of pop history.
I can’t go into all of the memories I have of listening to that album… there are just too many to count.
From lip-singing the songs in the mirror with a spoon in my hand, to arguing with my other sister about who would sing the first verse and who would sing the second verse.
From wanting to take the album to show and tell, to being told that I couldn’t. From asking my mom to buy a Thriller magazine at Kroger, to being told that she wouldn’t.
From telling my mom that I was going to run away from home because she didn’t buy that Thriller magazine, to boldly walking out of the garage, down the driveway, and down the alley on a rainy afternoon with my Big Bird rain coat.
- Then turning around to realize that my mom wasn’t going to run after me
- Then walking up the alley, up the driveway, and into the house
- Then telling my mom that I was still going to run away
- Then hearing my mom tell me that I could run away when dad got home
- Then finally deciding not to run away at all because I wouldn’t be able to listen to the Thriller album if I lived in a box behind the grocery store
I’m telling you, when it came to anything Thriller-related, I was serious!
Unfortunately, I can honestly say that I haven’t been as serious about what God wants me to be thrilled with.
Here’s the King James Version
But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Here’s the Amplified Version
But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.
Uh oh, here’s the Message Bible
Instead you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night.
Oooooo!
I’m assuming Eugene Peterson used the word “thrill” in the Message Bible to amplify the word delight, which, in Hebrew, means to incline to, to bend toward, to be pleased with or to desire. I’m sticking with THRILL.
THRILL because it’s been 31 freakin’ years since Thriller, and I still bust a move in the car when I hear one of the 9 tracks from that album.
THRILL because it’s still the best-selling album of all time.
THRILL because that album had the biggest-selling music video of all time.
THRILL because that album won 8 Grammy awards and spent 37 consecutive weeks at number one on Billboard 200. That’s almost 9 months out of a whole year!
THRILL because that album crossed racial lines, redefined videos on TV, and filled this writer with a love and appreciation for creativity.
If you’ve read this far, God’s got a word for you…
He wants us to start THRILLING to His word.
“THRILL to God’s word”, in the D. Bowens Bootleg Dictionary, means…
1. To get your lazy butt up and show some excitement about the Bible again
2. To not leave your Bible in the car after church
3. To remind yourself of those hard times when a scripture, a story, or a message from the Bible was the only thing that kept you going
4. To at least give the Bible some time in our day, and to stop letting Facebook and (non)reality TV consume hours upon hours of your day
5. To find a version of the Bible that makes reading it understandable and enjoyable
6. To know that I don’t have to read an entire chapter of II Chronicles to feel like a good Christian that day – sometimes one scripture + some quiet time thinking about it is enough
7. To not limit the Bible as just another app on my phone or tablet, but to understand that it’s life-changing words
8. To think about something you’re really excited about, then think
“How much more excited should I be for God?”
Hold up! Wait a minute!
SUPER CHRISTAN ALERT!!!! – SUPER CHRISTAN ALERT!!!!
After reading that list, the Spirit of Super Christian might be coming upon you. Let me be clear. I am not saying that we will have enthusiastic, eager attitudes about reading the Bible every day. It’s easy to over-spiritualize your life. Trust me – I’ve been there.
“Hey David, wanna watch the Cowboys tonight?”
“Naw bro! You watch the boys, I’m gonna watch, fight and pray and get in this Word!”
“Hey David, wanna go out to eat?”
“Naw bro! The word of God is bread when I’m hungry and water when I’m thirsty!”
“Hey David, wanna go play outside?”
“Naw bro! I’m gonna mediate on the word and play on streets of gold when I get to heaven.”
Ok, I was never THAT spiritual, but my point is simple. God wants us to grow to be excited about His Word. God wants us to be mesmerized, stimulated, and awestruck about His Word.
God wants me to show excitement for His Word like I showed for…
My favorite smoothie – Just mentioning a blueberry smoothie brings a smile to my face
Olivia Newton John – Yes, she was the only white lady that I’ve ever had a crush on. Yeah I said it! I used to turn the channels on the weekends, seeking a station that would show another rerun of Grease.
My bike – I cut a picture out of the Mongomery Ward catalog and looked at it every day. My desire to have that black 10 speed literally consumed me, and I think that’s a good thing.
I want the thought of God's Word to bring a smile to my face.
I want to be a Christian that desperately and gratefully seeks insight.
I want to be a Christian who is consumed by God-centered thinking.
I think God allows us to experience strong desires and emotions for people/things because we can get a small taste of how He feels about us.
I think He wants us to feel the same about Him… and His word. After all, it is the biggest selling and most distributed book of all time.
So let’s make time, and take it one day at a time. Grow... Develop...
Get the passion back.
Let’s THRILL to God’s word.
NEVER GIVE UP!
Your brother,
David
July 10, 2013
1:38PM
P.S.A.L.M.S. 1
July 9, 2013
"THE MOTTO"
inspired by Micah 7:8
I couldn't believe that I was THIS depressed.
My dad was my pastor, my role model, and the greatest dad ever. My mom was the sweetest example of a virtuous woman. I was raised to know and love God. Church was not just a part of my life. Church WAS my life.
Fast forward to my early 20's. I graduated from college. I have a great job. I'm a part of a great ministry. I've got my own car and my own apartment. But on the inside, I WAS MISERABLE.
One night around March of 2001, I couldn't take it anymore. I sat on the floor of my apartment, searching for a scripture or some notes from church. I just needed a word that would take my mind off of some issues that I was dealing with.
Couldn't find a scripture. Couldn't focus when I tried to listen to a cassette tape from church (Whoa, why do I feel old typing about listening to cassettes?) Anyway, it was as if every minute that passed caused me to feel more frustration. And for me, a frustrated christian wasn't a real christian.
So I did something that I don't do. I took out a sheet of paper. Got my pencil. Sat on the floor and...
I cursed.
Bad Christian!
I don't know if I was thinking that writing on paper would be less offensive to God, but here was the top half of my angry page to God.
"My life sucks, #@$%^&*!"
Yes, I put a comma after sucks, and yes I wrote out the symbols to represent my curse words to God. (It's okay to laugh)
I remember pausing for a while, probably eager to fill the rest of the page with more symbols. It was the wee hours of the morning, and even though I was frustrated, I was still tired.
I sat there on the floor thinking about my problems, then it hit me. I started thinking of all of the church services. All of the Sunday school lessons. All of the week-long revivals. All of the Vacation Bible School lessons. All of the sermons from my dad and other ministers over the years. All of the times I was in the hospital with asthma. All of the positive, dynamic people who poured into my life and encouraged me to make a difference.
I looked at the bottom of that page and wrote five words.
I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!
I stood up, tacked that page on my wall, and went to bed.
Now, when I think back to that early morning, I smile and shake my head. The words that I wrote on the bottom half of that page have become the motto of my life. I was looking for a deep, spiritual word from God to get me feeling better, but after digging deeper and deeper in the pit of everything that was wrong in my life, the breakthrough that I experienced was a simple concept.
YOU CAN'T WIN IF YOU QUIT. YOU CAN'T OVERCOME IF YOU GIVE UP!
That's great motivational stuff, but I want to go back to those curse words. You see, it's the goofy-cursing-symbols that I wrote on the top half of that page that inspired this website. My frustration with my issues taught me a valuable lesson that night - EXPRESS YOURSELF.
I've always been a person that kept everything in. Smile on the outside, sad on the inside. Praise God openly, but don't question Him. Struggling with issues, but keeping them all to myself because I was SUPER CHRISTIAN.
How awesome it is to know that God can handle our keep-it-real conversations! I can go to Him with the deepest issues in my heart, and He can handle it. I think that's the true essence of a simple thing called prayer.
So, I'm writing on this website to share my thoughts, revelations, goofy stories, and lessons from my frustrations. But more than anything, I hope to inspire and motivate anyone who reads these words to get closer to God.
So excuse me if you see mispelled words or mistakes in usage or punctuation. I'm going to present this page like I live my life - moving forward...flaws and all.
Years after that morning in 2001, I found a painting and a scripture that perfectly described the breakthrough I experienced. The painting is above the title for P.S.A.L.M.S. 1 on this page. I found in on the intenet one night. Don't know the artist or the title, but I've used it as motivation for years now.
I found the scripture a few months later, and I like it because it sounds like a person who's tired of being defeated. It sounded like I felt that morning... like a christian with an attitude. It's the Bible verse of my life, and it still gives me a spiritual spark everytime I read it.
Micah 7:8 - "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise, when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me."
Here's how the MESSAGE BIBLE breaks it down -
"Don’t, enemy, crow over me. I’m down, but I’m not out. I’m sitting in the dark right now, but God is my light. I can take God’s punishing rage. I deserve it—I sinned. But it’s not forever. He’s on my side."
And just like I did in 2001, I "tack" this letter on the "wall" of this website, and I'm going to bed.
NEVER GIVE UP!
Your brother,
David
July 9, 2013
6:29AM
PS - I don't have anything on the tabs at the top of the page yet.
Still learning how to do this website stuff, and I've got to get some sleep before my two year-old wakes up!
More to come!
"HAMILTON"
A Lyrical Testimony by David Bowens