Today's passage really strikes home for me as I find myself focusing on, and complaining (and worse) about all sorts of situations both near and far. (Complaining and being fixated on things, especially problems that I can do nothing about, seems to be a constant occupation and temptation for me). Our psalmist tells us to forget all these things and forget all the nasty and harmful people out there and focus instead simply on God and His will and purposes. And then, to trust Him and obey Him and leave all the rest in His more than capable hands. It is good advice for me, and for all of us.

How many times as parents we have said, 'listen up', to our children when they didn't seem to be listening. And, it's not just children. The lack of listening to others seems to be epidemic in our society and our world today. That, too, seemed to be the problem with much of Jesus' audience in today's passage. Actually, they were listening, but they weren't paying close attention to it or taking it in or examining carefully the implications of what He was saying. I pray that this won't occur with any of us.