“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

1 David sang this song to the LORD after the LORD had rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul.

2 These are the words he sang: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;

3 my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the strength of my salvation, and my stronghold, my high tower, my savior, the one who saves me from violence.

4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy of praise, for he saves me from my enemies.

5 “The waves of death surrounded me; the floods of destruction swept over me.

6 The grave* wrapped its ropes around me; death itself stared me in the face.1

7 But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I called to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry reached his ears.

8 “Then the earth quaked and trembled; the foundations of the heavens shook; they quaked because of his anger.

9 Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.

10 He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.

11 Mounted on a mighty angel,* he flew, soaring* on the wings of the wind.2

12 He shrouded himself in darkness, veiling his approach with dense rain clouds.

13 A great brightness shone before him, and bolts of lightning blazed forth.

14 The LORD thundered from heaven; the Most High gave a mighty shout.

15 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; his lightning flashed, and they were confused.

16 Then at the command of the LORD, at the blast of his breath, the bottom of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.

17 “He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters.

18 He delivered me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me.

19 They attacked me at a moment when I was weakest, but the LORD upheld me.

20 He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.

21 The LORD rewarded me for doing right; he compensated me because of my innocence.

22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not turned from my God to follow evil.

23 For all his laws are constantly before me; I have never abandoned his principles.

24 I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin.

25 The LORD rewarded me for doing right, because of my innocence in his sight.

26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity.

27 To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.

28 You rescue those who are humble, but your eyes are on the proud to humiliate them.

29 O LORD, you are my light; yes, LORD, you light up my darkness.

30 In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.

31 “As for God, his way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.

32 For who is God except the LORD? Who but our God is a solid rock?

33 God is my strong fortress; he has made my way safe.

34 He makes me as surefooted as a deer, leading me safely along the mountain heights.

35 He prepares me for battle; he strengthens me to draw a bow of bronze.

36 You have given me the shield of your salvation; your help* has made me great.3

37 You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping.

38 “I chased my enemies and destroyed them; I did not stop until they were conquered.

39 I consumed them; I struck them down so they could not get up; they fell beneath my feet.

40 You have armed me with strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my feet.

41 You made them turn and run; I have destroyed all who hated me.

42 They called for help, but no one came to rescue them. They cried to the LORD, but he refused to answer them.

43 I ground them as fine as the dust of the earth; I swept them into the gutter like dirt.

Ruckett

George Sweeting

In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.

Thomas Carlyle

There is no such thing as gratitude unexpressed. If it is unexpressed, it is plain, old-fashioned ingratitude.
Robert Brault

If you have lived, take thankfully the past.
John Dryden

You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.
G.K. Chesterton

No one who achieves success does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.
Alfred North Whitehead

You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
Albert Schweitzer

Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.
Alphonse Karr

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.
Alan Cohen

Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.
H. Ross Perot

A jug fills drop by drop.
Buddha

If you want to get somewhere you have to know where you want to go and how to get there. Then never, never, never give up.
Norman Vincent Peale

I’m proof that great things can happen to ordinary people if they work hard and never give up.
Orel Herhiser

How long should you try? Until.
Jim Rohn

Perseverance is a great element of success; if you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate you are sure to wake up somebody.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Perseverance allows you to get back on track when you hit a detour.
Catherine Pulsifer

We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.
Helen Keller

Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth.
Julie Andrews

~ Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness, or else forgiving another. ~
share this Forgiveness saying Jean Richter

~ The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. ~
share this Forgiveness saying Mahatma Gandhi

~ Forgiveness is almost a selfish act because of its immense benefits to the one who forgives. ~
share this Forgiveness saying Lawana Blackwell

~ The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. ~
share this Forgiveness saying Mahatma Gandhi

~ To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness. ~
share this Forgiveness saying Robert Muller

~ Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. ~
share this Forgiveness saying Paul Boese

~ Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge. ~
share this Forgiveness saying Isaac Friedmann

~ To err is human, to forgive, divine. ~
share this Forgiveness saying Alexander Pope

~ The motto should not be: Forgive one another; rather, understand one another. ~
share this Forgiveness saying Emma Goldman

~ Pleasure’s couch is virtue’s grave. ~
share this Pleasure saying Augustine J Duganne

~ Men may scoff, and men may pray, but they pay every pleasure with a pain. ~
share this Pleasure saying William Henley

~ Pleasure is the flower that passes; remembrance, the lasting perfume. ~
share this Pleasure saying Jean de Boufflers

~ Why not seize the pleasure at once, how often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparations. ~
share this Pleasure saying Jane Austen