Psalm 114 - The liberation of God's people from slavery and their dedication to Him made all of nature change - the sea "ran" from them, the river stopped flowing, the mountains "skipped like goats." Transformative - that is a word that captures what commitment to God's "leadings" in one's soul is like.

Psalm 115 - Trust in the Lord - trust. Do not be afraid of anything. That is not a problem for me, mostly. There are times when I go through turmoil, but mostly I have found these words to be true. Then, later in the psalm, I read "Heaven belongs to the Lord alone, but he gave the earth to us humans" (115:16). So the Lord trusts us too. No wonder He created us to be "like Him." May we be worthy of His trust.

Psalm 116 - Beautiful words:"The Lord saved me from death, he stopped my tears and kept me from defeat. And so I walk in the presence of the Lord in the world of the living. I kept on believing, even when I said, 'I am completely crushed,' even when I was afraid and said, 'No one can be trusted'" (116:8-11). This is the God I have known.

Psalm 117 - A very short praise verse, thanking the Lord for the great love He has for us.

Matthew 15:21-39  - Two stories here: one of the Canaanite woman who begs Jesus to heal her daughter of a "demon." This is followed by the story of Jesus healing the infirm and feeding four thousand + people on a mere 7 loaves and a few small fish. I think the stories are related because in the first account, the foreign woman, whom the disciples of Jesus want him to dismiss as a pain in the neck, tells Jesus even though she may be considered as a "dog" to those who think his mission should be to the Jews only, that she can be helped even with the crumbs left behind by those whom he has come to feed. I had an insight into the "feeding of the four thousand" story when I realized how very little of God's presence and support I need. The tiniest crumb of His love, of His presence in my life is SO GREAT and so nourishing, it does not surprise me he could feed so many and still have so much left over. He is not like any other food.