Need quiet for your heart and mind? Try this.👇🏻

Put your phone in a drawer and write out a passage of scripture

A lot of people are looking for solace, meaning, and hope right now. People celebrated and justified the assassination of Charlie Kirk last week as he shared his faith and ideas on a university campus. The ugly banter online exposed a soullessness in our culture underneath the evil of that terrible and violent act.

People are turning to prayer, to church, to each other.

If good can come from tragedy, that’s it.

In my own online spaces, I shared a Prayer in a Time of Anger and Violence. Quite honestly, I was surprised at how many views and how much engagement it received across my social channels.

It showed me how startled people are. People are truly grappling with the evil they witnessed online, as they well should.

Put Down Your Phone, Write Out a Psalm

Today I wanted to point you to a new resource I created that’s now available on YouVersion. I’m sharing it because I think it can help. I invite you to use it.

A few months ago I did a series sharing my experience as I transcribed Psalm 119 by hand, word for word. I found it was a really effective way to quiet the heart and focus my mind. On truth, on words that give life.

It was a way to turn my heart to hope.

That’s part of the reason why, on Wednesdays, I take time in the early morning to write out a passage. I’ve been working away at the Psalms for a few years now. This week I hit Psalm 139, which was like drinking a cool glass of water on a hot day.

The plan asks surprising Qs, like:

• Can I be confident in my walk with God?

• What do I do when I face real, actual troubles?

• Do I have to park my brain on the roadside of faith?

• How can I meditate and pray?

Each day there's an invitation to write out a portion of the Psalm. In that act of quiet reflection, as the pen hits the page, you’ll glean truths that will transform discouragement into hope, troubles into peace.

I released it quietly at the beginning of September. I’m encouraged to see that close to ten thousand people have already engaged it on YouVersion (the power of that platform and its global reach is incredible!) I’m happy people are finding it and using it.

It’s not a typical plan, so head’s up….

It’s unique because you read it on a phone or device, but then the plan asks you to put that device away (hide it in a drawer, leave it in another room) to pull out your Bible and a journal, and write out the words. Just you and the Book.

It’s a 13-Day experience that you can tackle at your own pace. (I transcribed the Psalm over five or six Wednesday mornings. For this devotion plan I cut that down into smaller chunks so that it’s not overwhelming. We’re not ancient scribes here, amiright?).

As I point you toward the plan, I feel like that guy on the tarmac with the orange vest and the two light wands, directing the plane. Park safely here, friend. You’ll find some rest and peace as you disembark from the crowded, turbulent space you've been flying in.

If you’re looking for a place for your mind and heart to go in these weird and troubling times, consider using the plan.

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Here’s an excerpt from the plan that fits the moment: Day 3 of 13.

Scripture Passage

Psalm 119: 20-30

Life on Earth is tough (the Bible tells me so)

Human reality isn’t for the faint of heart. And this psalmist in particular has it rough:

• his soul is consumed with longing for God’s ordinances at all times (20).

• princes plot against him (23).

• his soul clings to dust and he needs revival (25).

• his soul “melts from sorrow” (28).

There are external, circumstantial pressures coming against him from all sides. And the desire for the things of God is almost as agonizing.

The spiritual life, as characterized in the passage we're focused on today, isn’t some barefoot walk on a beach. It’s not even a flower-picking picnic in sunshine. At least not the default state. It is a rollercoaster. It has adrenaline. There are terrors, real and perceived. Without help from God and from others, there’s no sense or hope for survival.

In each high-stakes human experience, the word of God and meditation on it are the way through. The written precepts and words, in and of themselves, do not revive. An active, compassionate Person restores the soul.

Hear these cries from David and how they depend on a living God:

• “Revive me according to your word” (25).

• “Make me understand the way of your precepts” (27).

The agency, will, and activity of God in these circumstances bring the situation resolution, pulling one from the jaws of despair back into the confines of hope.

To experience a peaceful way, even in the midst of hardship and trouble, these first thirty or so verses make clear that active even desperate and physical acts of turning to scripture to seek God makes the difference. For, he clearly guides, instructs, corrects, and directs.

Meditating on these verses by slowly writing them down will bring refreshing. May you be filled and encouraged as you take time to transcribe them!

Action steps

• Take time to write out Psalm 119:20 - 30 verse by verse.

• Get a journal or some paper and a pen.

• Put your phone in a drawer or another room.

• Get a physical Bible (so you won't get distracted by anything else).

• Reflect on what God is highlighting for you.

If you do read it, let me know what you think! And slap a 5-star review so that more people see it.