Sandyknowes Blog

Living beside the busiest roundabout in Northern Ireland gives plenty of opportunity for watching the world go by. Sandyknowes Blog is the personal blog of Niall Lockhart (minister of Ballyhenry). Pull in and have a read…

Psalm 144 - Come down

7 September 2020

Read: Psalm 144 vs 1-15

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Psalm 143 - Your will

6 September 2020

Read: Psalm 143 vs 1-12

When you read some of the psalms you are struck by reading words of quiet trust, others contain words of hope in the midst of difficulty, or trust in the midst of trial. Psalm 143 reads differently, it has a different tone to it, a different tempo. Reading through Psalm 143 you find yourself reading words that at times feel close to real panic.

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Psalm 142 - Look and see

4 September 2020

Read: Psalm 142 vs 1-7

When it comes to reading a book or watching a TV programme, different people like different things. Some people like things that have lots of mystery to them, twists and turns, with surprises along the way. I actually like things that are quite straightforward; here’s the ‘good guys, here’s the bad guys’, and by the end of the show everything has been worked out, no lose ends, no unanswered questions. 

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Psalm 141 - Set a guard

3 September 2020

Read: Psalm 141 vs 1-10

When I was studying to become a minister as part of our course we had to write a ‘dissertation’. It was a 20,000 word project on a particular subject or part of the Bible. I chose 1 and 2 Samuel, which tell the story of David. Over a period of a number of months I remember working closely through these books and being fascinated by stories from David’s life that I had never really known before. 

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Psalm 140 - I Know

2 September 2020

Read: Psalm 140 vs 1-13

Yesterday at the end of Psalm 139 we saw how David glances in his rear-view mirror and sees ‘enemies’. It would be lovely if this glimpse was merely a blip, a one off intrusion, from which David could get on with a happy, straightforward, peaceful life. However turning today to Psalm 140 we realise that this is not the case.  No sooner has David affirmed his strong and confident trust in the LORD (Psalm 139) than we hear him crying to the LORD with urgent intensity:

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