The college girls here at KFBC have been working through Beth Moore's Psalms of Ascent study. The Psalms of Ascent are a group of 15 Pslams, starting at 120, and are attributed to the 15 stairs in the temple. At each step, the priests would sing one of the separate 15 psalms until the steps had been fully ascended (or descended symbolizing God coming down to us).
This past weekend we had a "retreat" where while we were learning about the context and treasures in pslams we also journeyed , or as the old testament would say, 'pilgrimaged', to different locations - such as a garden where we went to pray (just as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane) and a very steep mountain which we hiked up that portrayed not only our memory chapter (Psalm 121-"I raise my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from?...") but also symbolized us stepping up in our faith. The climb was hard, but the view from the top was glorious. Being able to have time with the Lord on a mountain top was pretty amazing, especially as we sought to "quiet ourselves like a child" (Pslam 131).
I never knew how amazing the book of Psalms was until i started this study. It's filled with songs of praise, suffering, and of hope. The Three Great Feasts of the Israelites were also key in the context of the Psalms of Ascent (for this is where the pslams were sung), and even in the new testament when Jesus was quoted saying "I am the Light of the world" and "I will give you living water", was said in the context of one of the Great Feasts. Knowing the context of Jesus' words opened my eyes to the depth that He spoke them with....it's so cool!
This weekend really did grow me as a Christ Follower, and i'm excited to be able to praise the Lord with more joy than i had before! I'd like to send a special thank you out to Erin who leads the study and got this group of amazing women together. Also, another thank you to the other Aaren who encouraged me up the mountain and to Jen who rode the shuttle with me back down =).
