Saturday In The Psalms—A Sabbath Psalm

January 13, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day (preface to Psalm 92).

The Sabbath is—

  • a day of reflection
  • a day of rejoicing
  • a day of reconnecting
  • a day of meditating on past blessings
  • a day of strengthening for the upcoming week
  • a day of acknowledging the Creator
  • a day of appreciating creation
  • a day of assessing the investment of my God-given talents
  • a holy day—different from all other days

So … “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night” (vv. 1, 2).

Sabbath is not just a noun, but a verb—sabbathing—something that can be done every day, but something which also takes on special significance for the one day each week that we set aside as our holy day or worship and reflection. 

The Creator’s works and wisdom should be pondered and praised as we sabbath (vv. 4-6), something “a fool” doesn’t take time to do.

As we sabbath, we should confess to God—and then turn over to Him—those things which have overly preoccupied our minds (vv. 7-9).

We should recommit that the place of growth and blessing is in God’s presence (v. 13) as we endeavor to keep our hearts there. And then we can be energized and joy-filled as we contemplate His blessing which never diminishes nor grows old (vv. 14, 15).

Truly sabbathing is a good thing!

Do you have a Sabbath day? Do you find time to regularly sabbath in God’s presence? 

UPDATE: I dive deep into this idea of sabbathing in my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter. 

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Overloaded Recap

March 28, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

We all have times that life feels overwhelming. Like there is too much to do, but not enough of us (or our time, or our money, or our willpower, or…) to accomplish what we need to. In a word: we are overloaded.

I just finished a 4-part series about God’s ways for finding relief for our overloaded lives, and I thought this quick recap might be helpful.

If you’re feeling OVERLOADED, remember…

Less Is More

When the “less” is stuff, the “more” is relationships.

Off Makes On Better

A day OFF (a Sabbath) helps you appreciate ON more.

Study To Be Quiet

Tune out all the noise so you can tune in to God’s voice.

Trust God First

Give God the first 10% of your income and enjoy His blessing.

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When Nothing Is Something

February 13, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

I’m not a typical Type-A person, but I do find it very hard to take time off. As soon as I find I’m doing Nothing I’ve immediately got to start doing Something… Anything.

When I’m doing Nothing I feel guilty.

“Who do you think you are? What makes you so special that you can do Nothing! Everything is not finished, so get up and do Something. Do Anything. Just don’t do Nothing!”

By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done (Genesis 2:2-3).

God did Everything in six days. There wasn’t Anything left to do.

So God did Nothing.

And yet that Nothing was Something special.

The Hebrew word for rest is shabath which means, “sit down and sit still.” Why? Was God tired? No, the resting is not Nothing; it is Something.

God paused from His work because He wanted to reflect on what He had accomplished. That’s the point.

Doing Nothing is really doing Something. When we take a shabath we’re taking a day to reflect on God’s blessing, His provision, His faithfulness.

I did Nothing today.

My Nothing was really Something special! I began the day by thanking God for all of the blessings in my life. And the more I gave thanks, the more reasons I realized I had to give thanks! After all that thanks-giving, I found that I had one of my most creative and encouraging days.

It’s amazing how Nothing can be a very special Something.

If you’re not already, find a day to do Nothing. I think you too will discover that Nothing is Something.

***A postscript for my pastor friends. Just a reminder: If you have church services on Sunday, then Sunday is not your shabath—it’s a day you’re doing a whole lot of Something. Find another day to do Nothing. God will bless the rest of your week when you do.***

I have some other posts about sabbathing that are worth your time here, here, and here.

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