All of us have people in our lives that have influenced us or made a lasting impression on us in someway. Because of their faith in us or love they've shown to us, we consider such people our heroes. We look up to them. We admire the example they set for us. We want to be like them.
One of my heroes is Father Tim. I've never met him in person. In fact, he doesn't exist - except in the pages of the Mitford series of books written by Jan Karon.
Father Tim is the pastor of the Lord's Chapel in the fictional town of Mitford, North Carolina. Each of the Mitford books follows the life of the humble and devoted pastor as he cares for the people of his little community. I appreciate the fact that Father Tim knows what people need the most - the Word of God. And he uses the Psalms very effectively in his ministry.
For example, as Father Tim sought to minister to a young man who had been abandoned by his mother, he prayed Psalm 32:8b - "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you."
When searching for encouragement, Father Tim remembered Psalm 69:19 - "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."
To the individual near death, the first verse of Psalm 27 was Father Tim's prayer: "The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?"
You can't spend enough time in the Psalms. Luther loved sitting down with his psalter. The comfort and hope he drew from the Psalms was good medicine for those stressful and dangerous days of the Reformation. I pray that you find verses and chapters from the Psalms that give you comfort in troubled times and peace when your heart is troubled.
