“Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? 2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. 3 Those who refuse to slander others or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. 4 Those who despise persistent sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord and keep their promises even when it hurts. 5 Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend, and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.” (Psalm 15:1-5 NLT).
We began our study of this passage yesterday. The question is, “What are the requirements of worship?” The first requirement is found in verse 2 of our text: “Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.” Is the Psalmist suggesting for a moment that anyone of us can be righteous before God? Did he himself not observe in the preceding chapter, “All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 14:3 NIV)?
Naturally the only righteousness any one of us can claim is imputed righteousness –the righteousness of Christ credited to our account when we come to Him as Savior. But that is not what the Psalmist is referring to in this passage. “Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts,” is not a reference towards one’s vertical standing with God but a reference towards one’s horizontal standing with others. True worship affects our relationships with our fellow men and in fact impacts our relationship with our fellow men. We cannot worship God on Sunday if we harbor hate for others Monday-Saturday. The apostle John wrote, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:20-21 NIV). Worship that does not impact our daily relationships is not worship at all.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
True Worship
“Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? 2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. 3 Those who refuse to slander others or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. 4 Those who despise persistent sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord and keep their promises even when it hurts. 5 Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend, and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.” (Psalm 15:1-5 NLT).
Psalm 15 begins with a question that should be on all the lips of God’s children–particularly when we come to worship. Yet I find in this generation an almost flippant attitude to worship. Seldom is the question asked, ““Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?” Instead the modern questions are, “I wonder if I’m going to get anything out of this today? I wonder if I will like the music today?” Many seem to have forgotten that worship isn’t about them, it’s about God.
True worship cannot be had in a Sunday morning service. True worship begins in the heart and is reflected through the life. Isn’t that what David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is saying? Look at the text above once again. “Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? 2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. 3 Those who refuse to slander others or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. 4 Those who despise persistent sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord and keep their promises even when it hurts. 5 Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend, and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.”
In our next few thoughts for the days, we will examine the implications of this passage closer. But for today, let us never forget that God places certain conditions upon those who would enter His Holy presence. Let us not forget that, “God does not listen to empty cries, and the Almighty does not take note of it.” (Job 35:13 CSB).
Psalm 15 begins with a question that should be on all the lips of God’s children–particularly when we come to worship. Yet I find in this generation an almost flippant attitude to worship. Seldom is the question asked, ““Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?” Instead the modern questions are, “I wonder if I’m going to get anything out of this today? I wonder if I will like the music today?” Many seem to have forgotten that worship isn’t about them, it’s about God.
True worship cannot be had in a Sunday morning service. True worship begins in the heart and is reflected through the life. Isn’t that what David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is saying? Look at the text above once again. “Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? 2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. 3 Those who refuse to slander others or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. 4 Those who despise persistent sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord and keep their promises even when it hurts. 5 Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend, and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.”
In our next few thoughts for the days, we will examine the implications of this passage closer. But for today, let us never forget that God places certain conditions upon those who would enter His Holy presence. Let us not forget that, “God does not listen to empty cries, and the Almighty does not take note of it.” (Job 35:13 CSB).
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Fools
“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1a NIV).
The Bible does not use the term “fool” often or lightly. However it does use the term to describe those who declare “There is no God” (the dogmatic atheist) and those who live their lives as if there is no God (the practical atheist).
The Hebrew term for “fool” is rich in its imagery. This word finds its roots in a word that means “one who is powerless” and when used in the Psalms it is used to denote that idea of one who is morally deficient.
Atheism is not the child of intellectualism, it is the child of depravity. Harry Emerson Fosdick said, “Atheism is a theoretical formulation of the discouraged life.” That observation is both right and overly generous. To be sure, some turn to Atheism out of personal discouragement and hurt (such was the case of Madeline Murray O’Hare). Others, as the Psalmist imply turn to atheism out of a rebellious heart; out of a heart that is first morally corrupt and then seeks to justify its moral decadence. Atheists are not fools intellectually, they grasp the fact that in order to live a life free of moral constraints they have to construct a world without God.
The Bible describes such a person as a fool and I would add the only person they are fooling is themselves. The one who says, “There is no God,” is first an foremost a powerless creature trying to oppose the all-powerful Creator. One may believe that there is no God but all the belief in the world will not change the facts. There is a God and like it or not, every one of us will one day stand before Him and give an account of our lives–most importantly, every one of us will have to answer what we have done with His precious Son. Did we receive Him or reject Him? Those are the only two choices we have.
Not only is the one who declares “There is no God,” powerless to change the facts, but such a person far from revealing any profound truth is actually only revealing their own insecurities and declaring to all who hear their cry their own moral decay. Atheism is not the faith of the enlightened but the perversion of the deceived.
The Bible does not use the term “fool” often or lightly. However it does use the term to describe those who declare “There is no God” (the dogmatic atheist) and those who live their lives as if there is no God (the practical atheist).
The Hebrew term for “fool” is rich in its imagery. This word finds its roots in a word that means “one who is powerless” and when used in the Psalms it is used to denote that idea of one who is morally deficient.
Atheism is not the child of intellectualism, it is the child of depravity. Harry Emerson Fosdick said, “Atheism is a theoretical formulation of the discouraged life.” That observation is both right and overly generous. To be sure, some turn to Atheism out of personal discouragement and hurt (such was the case of Madeline Murray O’Hare). Others, as the Psalmist imply turn to atheism out of a rebellious heart; out of a heart that is first morally corrupt and then seeks to justify its moral decadence. Atheists are not fools intellectually, they grasp the fact that in order to live a life free of moral constraints they have to construct a world without God.
The Bible describes such a person as a fool and I would add the only person they are fooling is themselves. The one who says, “There is no God,” is first an foremost a powerless creature trying to oppose the all-powerful Creator. One may believe that there is no God but all the belief in the world will not change the facts. There is a God and like it or not, every one of us will one day stand before Him and give an account of our lives–most importantly, every one of us will have to answer what we have done with His precious Son. Did we receive Him or reject Him? Those are the only two choices we have.
Not only is the one who declares “There is no God,” powerless to change the facts, but such a person far from revealing any profound truth is actually only revealing their own insecurities and declaring to all who hear their cry their own moral decay. Atheism is not the faith of the enlightened but the perversion of the deceived.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Start the Climb
“1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 4 my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me. (Psalm 13:1-6 NIV).
“How long O Lord?” is the cry of many a heat. The New Living Translation renders verse 2: “2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
Too often we forget that the great hero’s of faith had the same clay feet as us. They have the same ups and downs, the same fears and concerns, the same joys and victories. Unlike the false counsel of Job’s friends and a host of false teachers today, we must remember and recognize that God’s righteous people do suffer in this fallen world and no matter how much the hope we have is, the fact is the suffering still hurts!
David understood such suffering. We don’t know when this Psalm was written. Was it early in his life, when, after receiving God’s promise of coronation as king he found himself running for his life from Saul? Certainly that was a dark period (an extended period) in his life.
Perhaps he wrote these words while suffering the guilt and punishment of his own sin with Bathsheba. That certainly was a dark period in his life.
Or maybe these words were penned when he was running for his life from his own son Absalom who decided that his father was no longer fit to rule Israel and staged his ill-fated coup.
We don’t know when David wrote these words, but we do feel the anguish of soul expressed in this Psalm. It seems at times that evil and suffering go unchecked at times and we wonder what God is doing; we wonder why He doesn’t act; why He is so deafeningly silent. Your feelings are not new. David felt them and expressed them. The fact that they are recorded in our Bible is testimony to the fact that God wanted them there, that they are more than the anguished thoughts of a distraught mind but the inspired words of God given to instruct us. I have learned from words such as these and experience that God is not afraid of our questions, though we may be reticent to accept His answers.
Whatever the circumstances were that occasioned this pleaful Psalm, my eyes and heart are drawn to those last two verses, “5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” David is hurting. He has expressed his hurt more eloquently than I could ever hope. But David decided that he would not focus on the dumps he was in, he chose to trust that the God of unfailing love knew what he was doing.
I don’t know what you may be going through today but you have a choice to make. You can either dwell on your sorrow or you can feast on His goodness. That is a choice. You can either wallow in the valley of pity and become bitter or you can climb the mountain of praise and become better. But please note carefully that last sentence. Mountain climbing is not easy, it is an uphill journey! Those who have climbed mountains know that at times you cling to the side of the mountain literally by your fingertips! Don’t think that deciding to praise in pain is going to solve the problem instantly. It won’t. God has much to teach you. The question is, will you stay where you are, or will you, with David ,start the climb?
“How long O Lord?” is the cry of many a heat. The New Living Translation renders verse 2: “2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
Too often we forget that the great hero’s of faith had the same clay feet as us. They have the same ups and downs, the same fears and concerns, the same joys and victories. Unlike the false counsel of Job’s friends and a host of false teachers today, we must remember and recognize that God’s righteous people do suffer in this fallen world and no matter how much the hope we have is, the fact is the suffering still hurts!
David understood such suffering. We don’t know when this Psalm was written. Was it early in his life, when, after receiving God’s promise of coronation as king he found himself running for his life from Saul? Certainly that was a dark period (an extended period) in his life.
Perhaps he wrote these words while suffering the guilt and punishment of his own sin with Bathsheba. That certainly was a dark period in his life.
Or maybe these words were penned when he was running for his life from his own son Absalom who decided that his father was no longer fit to rule Israel and staged his ill-fated coup.
We don’t know when David wrote these words, but we do feel the anguish of soul expressed in this Psalm. It seems at times that evil and suffering go unchecked at times and we wonder what God is doing; we wonder why He doesn’t act; why He is so deafeningly silent. Your feelings are not new. David felt them and expressed them. The fact that they are recorded in our Bible is testimony to the fact that God wanted them there, that they are more than the anguished thoughts of a distraught mind but the inspired words of God given to instruct us. I have learned from words such as these and experience that God is not afraid of our questions, though we may be reticent to accept His answers.
Whatever the circumstances were that occasioned this pleaful Psalm, my eyes and heart are drawn to those last two verses, “5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” David is hurting. He has expressed his hurt more eloquently than I could ever hope. But David decided that he would not focus on the dumps he was in, he chose to trust that the God of unfailing love knew what he was doing.
I don’t know what you may be going through today but you have a choice to make. You can either dwell on your sorrow or you can feast on His goodness. That is a choice. You can either wallow in the valley of pity and become bitter or you can climb the mountain of praise and become better. But please note carefully that last sentence. Mountain climbing is not easy, it is an uphill journey! Those who have climbed mountains know that at times you cling to the side of the mountain literally by your fingertips! Don’t think that deciding to praise in pain is going to solve the problem instantly. It won’t. God has much to teach you. The question is, will you stay where you are, or will you, with David ,start the climb?
Monday, July 27, 2009
Stand Fearlessly
“You, Lord, will guard us; You will protect us from this generation forever. The wicked wander everywhere, and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.” (Psalm 12:7-8 CSB).
Isn’t it wonderful to know that though “The wicked wander everywhere, and what is worthless is exalted by the human race,” God promises to guard and protect His children?
If we are not careful, as we look around the fallen world scene we could become easily discouraged. Politicians talk out of both sides of their mouths one recently declaring that he believed life began at conception but then turning right around and supporting the cold-blooded murder of that life through abortion from conception right up through partial-birth abortions which at least for the present stand banned. Truly “what is worthless is exalted by the human race.”
As God’s people we are called upon to make a stand. We must stand fearlessly on the side of truth and righteousness. In a world that wanders in wanton wickedness such a stand will not be popular, but then again, we were never called to be popular we were called to be faithful! Let us call on the Lord for strength and insight and stand faithful to Him knowing that even though our stance may bring misunderstanding and abuse from those who wander about in wickedness, ultimately God is the One we answer to and ultimately He will be the final judge. I would rather stand alone with Him than link arms with those who are perishing.
Isn’t it wonderful to know that though “The wicked wander everywhere, and what is worthless is exalted by the human race,” God promises to guard and protect His children?
If we are not careful, as we look around the fallen world scene we could become easily discouraged. Politicians talk out of both sides of their mouths one recently declaring that he believed life began at conception but then turning right around and supporting the cold-blooded murder of that life through abortion from conception right up through partial-birth abortions which at least for the present stand banned. Truly “what is worthless is exalted by the human race.”
As God’s people we are called upon to make a stand. We must stand fearlessly on the side of truth and righteousness. In a world that wanders in wanton wickedness such a stand will not be popular, but then again, we were never called to be popular we were called to be faithful! Let us call on the Lord for strength and insight and stand faithful to Him knowing that even though our stance may bring misunderstanding and abuse from those who wander about in wickedness, ultimately God is the One we answer to and ultimately He will be the final judge. I would rather stand alone with Him than link arms with those who are perishing.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Don't Run from Trouble
1In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain. 2 For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. 3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” 4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them. 5 The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates. 6 On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. 7 For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face. (Psalm 11 NIV).
How often do we, like David, hear the counsel of well-meaning but misguided friends encouraging us to flee difficult circumstances? A marriage has gone sour and friends counsel divorce. A job has become difficult and those around us encourage us to just quit and find something else. A conflict arises at church and we begin to look for other places of worship rather than dealing with the problem. The list can go on and on. You get the picture.
Human nature wants of course to flee, that’s why the advice of those who counsel us this way is so appealing. Rather than running from our problems let us instead take refuge in the Lord. That is the only safe place! He is still on the Throne and even when we have lost control He has not! In Him is found perfect peace and safety.
How often do we, like David, hear the counsel of well-meaning but misguided friends encouraging us to flee difficult circumstances? A marriage has gone sour and friends counsel divorce. A job has become difficult and those around us encourage us to just quit and find something else. A conflict arises at church and we begin to look for other places of worship rather than dealing with the problem. The list can go on and on. You get the picture.
Human nature wants of course to flee, that’s why the advice of those who counsel us this way is so appealing. Rather than running from our problems let us instead take refuge in the Lord. That is the only safe place! He is still on the Throne and even when we have lost control He has not! In Him is found perfect peace and safety.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
When God Seems Absent
“Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1 NIV).
Ever felt this way? I have. Why is it that there are times when God seems so near and dear, but when the chips are down seems so absent?
C.S. Lewis knew the feeling. Marrying late in life it wasn’t long before his new bride was discovered to have an aggressive cancer. Lewis did what any of us would do in those circumstances, he went to his heavenly Father and pleaded for a miracle. But it was not to be and shortly after they were married, Joy Lewis died. Devastated, Lewis began to journal his feelings. Early in that journal he wrote: “Meanwhile, where is God? This is one of the most disquieting symptoms. When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be – or so it feels – welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become. There are no lights in the windows. It might be an empty house. Was it ever inhabited? It seemed so once. And that seeming was as strong as this. What can this mean? Why is He so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent in time of trouble?” [Lewis, C.S., A Grief Observed, (Bantam Books, New York, 1961, pp. 4-5)]. Catches it perfectly doesn’t he?
The writer of this Psalm is struggling with those feelings. Why does God sit idly by and watch the wicked run roughshod over the righteous? Where is God when the arrogant wicked plot and plan against those weaker than themselves and abuse them? Where is God when the suicide bomber blows up a school bus full of children? Where is God when terrorists crash planes into building in New York? Where is God when radical Muslims capture and behead innocent workers who are trying to rebuild their very own country?
Tough questions. I wish I had the answer. I don’t. What I do know however is this: God is right there. He sees it all and He is keeping records. Look further down in this Psalm, “13 Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, ‘He won’t call me to account’? 14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.” (Psalm 10:13-15 NIV).
I don’t know what crisis may have you calling out to God today. I don’t know why sometimes God seems so painfully absent when our pain is great. Perhaps it’s like Lewis says later in his journal, “You can’t see anything properly while your eyes are blurred with tears . . . And so perhaps with God. I have gradually been coming to feel that the door is no longer shut and bolted. Was it my own need that slammed it in my face? The time when there is nothing at all in your soul except a cry for help may be just the time when God can’t give it: you are like a drowning man who can’t be helped because he clutches and grabs. Perhaps you own reiterated cries deafen you to the voice you hoped to hear.” (Grief pp. 53-54).
What I do know is this. God does hear your cries, “You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry.” (Psalm 10:17 NIV). And rest assured of this truth, even when you can’t see Him, He sees you. I think it was Charles Haddon Spurgeon who first said, “When you can’t see His hand, trust His heart.” I encourage you to do that today. You won’t be disappointed.
Ever felt this way? I have. Why is it that there are times when God seems so near and dear, but when the chips are down seems so absent?
C.S. Lewis knew the feeling. Marrying late in life it wasn’t long before his new bride was discovered to have an aggressive cancer. Lewis did what any of us would do in those circumstances, he went to his heavenly Father and pleaded for a miracle. But it was not to be and shortly after they were married, Joy Lewis died. Devastated, Lewis began to journal his feelings. Early in that journal he wrote: “Meanwhile, where is God? This is one of the most disquieting symptoms. When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be – or so it feels – welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become. There are no lights in the windows. It might be an empty house. Was it ever inhabited? It seemed so once. And that seeming was as strong as this. What can this mean? Why is He so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent in time of trouble?” [Lewis, C.S., A Grief Observed, (Bantam Books, New York, 1961, pp. 4-5)]. Catches it perfectly doesn’t he?
The writer of this Psalm is struggling with those feelings. Why does God sit idly by and watch the wicked run roughshod over the righteous? Where is God when the arrogant wicked plot and plan against those weaker than themselves and abuse them? Where is God when the suicide bomber blows up a school bus full of children? Where is God when terrorists crash planes into building in New York? Where is God when radical Muslims capture and behead innocent workers who are trying to rebuild their very own country?
Tough questions. I wish I had the answer. I don’t. What I do know however is this: God is right there. He sees it all and He is keeping records. Look further down in this Psalm, “13 Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, ‘He won’t call me to account’? 14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.” (Psalm 10:13-15 NIV).
I don’t know what crisis may have you calling out to God today. I don’t know why sometimes God seems so painfully absent when our pain is great. Perhaps it’s like Lewis says later in his journal, “You can’t see anything properly while your eyes are blurred with tears . . . And so perhaps with God. I have gradually been coming to feel that the door is no longer shut and bolted. Was it my own need that slammed it in my face? The time when there is nothing at all in your soul except a cry for help may be just the time when God can’t give it: you are like a drowning man who can’t be helped because he clutches and grabs. Perhaps you own reiterated cries deafen you to the voice you hoped to hear.” (Grief pp. 53-54).
What I do know is this. God does hear your cries, “You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry.” (Psalm 10:17 NIV). And rest assured of this truth, even when you can’t see Him, He sees you. I think it was Charles Haddon Spurgeon who first said, “When you can’t see His hand, trust His heart.” I encourage you to do that today. You won’t be disappointed.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Facing Life's Storms
“9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.” (Psalm 9:9-10 NIV).
Hurricane Ivan ripped a devastating path through the Gulf of Mexico and into the U.S. Almost daily I watch reports of new damage, deaths, and devastation due to its wind and rains. In the U.S. the damage extends from the Gulf Coast up to West Virginia. People in many of these areas had to be evacuated from their homes and rushed to places of safety set up in each state of the Hurricane’s ravaging path.
Many of us face our own individual Ivans–storms in our lives that wreck havoc with our peace, threaten our possessions, devastate our emotions and leave us wondering why me?
No human being can always answer that why question. Some things frankly we don’t know and won’t know this side of eternity. What we can know is the marvelous promises of God’s Word that assure us that (1) we can find safety in Him and (2) He’ll never let us down! The storms of life may rage, God never promises to keep us from them, but He does promise to be with us in them!
Perhaps you are facing a storm today I want to encourage you to cry out to God and put your trust in Him. I know from personal experience, He won’t let you down. Even if you can’t see what He’s doing, you can rest assured that He has not lost control of the situation and He has not forsaken you.
Alan Redpath put it this way: "There is nothing -- no circumstance, no trouble, no testing -- that can touch me until, first of all it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with some great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment. But as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to Him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is."
Hurricane Ivan ripped a devastating path through the Gulf of Mexico and into the U.S. Almost daily I watch reports of new damage, deaths, and devastation due to its wind and rains. In the U.S. the damage extends from the Gulf Coast up to West Virginia. People in many of these areas had to be evacuated from their homes and rushed to places of safety set up in each state of the Hurricane’s ravaging path.
Many of us face our own individual Ivans–storms in our lives that wreck havoc with our peace, threaten our possessions, devastate our emotions and leave us wondering why me?
No human being can always answer that why question. Some things frankly we don’t know and won’t know this side of eternity. What we can know is the marvelous promises of God’s Word that assure us that (1) we can find safety in Him and (2) He’ll never let us down! The storms of life may rage, God never promises to keep us from them, but He does promise to be with us in them!
Perhaps you are facing a storm today I want to encourage you to cry out to God and put your trust in Him. I know from personal experience, He won’t let you down. Even if you can’t see what He’s doing, you can rest assured that He has not lost control of the situation and He has not forsaken you.
Alan Redpath put it this way: "There is nothing -- no circumstance, no trouble, no testing -- that can touch me until, first of all it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with some great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment. But as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to Him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is."
Monday, July 20, 2009
Truth You Can Trust
“The promises of the Lord can be trusted; they are as genuine as silver refined seven times in the furnace.” (Psalm 12:6 TEV).
I had to chuckle at a recent news article where the candidate for a high political office was trying to "set the record straight" on a particular issue. He said (and I quote verbatim), “It is true I voted for it, but that was before I voted against it.” Television, newspapers, radio, magazines all have their own spin on the issues. It always amazes me how in this generation we make the bad guys look good and the good guys look bad.
In an age of skepticism brought on by the persistent fall of “heros,” it is hard to know what or whom to believe. In situations like these, I am so glad that God’s promises are 100% trustworthy–Guaranteed by Him and protected and delivered by His own power.
I had to chuckle at a recent news article where the candidate for a high political office was trying to "set the record straight" on a particular issue. He said (and I quote verbatim), “It is true I voted for it, but that was before I voted against it.” Television, newspapers, radio, magazines all have their own spin on the issues. It always amazes me how in this generation we make the bad guys look good and the good guys look bad.
In an age of skepticism brought on by the persistent fall of “heros,” it is hard to know what or whom to believe. In situations like these, I am so glad that God’s promises are 100% trustworthy–Guaranteed by Him and protected and delivered by His own power.
Choose to Praise
“1 I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” (Psalm 9:1-2 NIV).
What a wonderful privilege we have to sing praises to our God. There are so many wonderful things we could tell, if we were but open to see them!
This particular Psalm is an interesting one. It is believed that David wrote this Psalm after defeating Goliath. The interesting thing about Psalm 9 is this Psalm of praise was set in the familiar tune of “The Death of the Son.” David takes this tune of mourning and turns it into a Psalm of praise. In this wonderful Psalm David reminds us that God never ignores our cries for help (even though He may not respond the way we think He should respond!).
Look at our verses. True praise begins in the heart and escapes from the lips. So often we get it the other way around. We sing praises with our lips (in our worship services), but we don’t feel that wonder in our hearts. That ought not be.
Verse 2 is the key to turning our problems into praises: “I will be glad and rejoice in you . . . .” That, dear reader, is a decided choice not a warm feeling. David decided to overcome his circumstances rather than letting his circumstances overcome him! He chose to be glad and rejoice not in his surroundings but in His God. That decision put praise in heart and a song on his lips.
Each of us have but two choices in the difficult things of life. Either we can let them get us down, or we can lift our eyes to Heaven and let Him pull us up.
What a wonderful privilege we have to sing praises to our God. There are so many wonderful things we could tell, if we were but open to see them!
This particular Psalm is an interesting one. It is believed that David wrote this Psalm after defeating Goliath. The interesting thing about Psalm 9 is this Psalm of praise was set in the familiar tune of “The Death of the Son.” David takes this tune of mourning and turns it into a Psalm of praise. In this wonderful Psalm David reminds us that God never ignores our cries for help (even though He may not respond the way we think He should respond!).
Look at our verses. True praise begins in the heart and escapes from the lips. So often we get it the other way around. We sing praises with our lips (in our worship services), but we don’t feel that wonder in our hearts. That ought not be.
Verse 2 is the key to turning our problems into praises: “I will be glad and rejoice in you . . . .” That, dear reader, is a decided choice not a warm feeling. David decided to overcome his circumstances rather than letting his circumstances overcome him! He chose to be glad and rejoice not in his surroundings but in His God. That decision put praise in heart and a song on his lips.
Each of us have but two choices in the difficult things of life. Either we can let them get us down, or we can lift our eyes to Heaven and let Him pull us up.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Evidence of Creation
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” (Psalm 8:1-9 NIV).
Wow! What else can be said? This great Psalm of praise assumes something many today tend to forget. It assumes creation.
Let me be specific. The foundation of all of Scripture and salvation is found in Genesis 1-3, the creation account. Creation is not an interesting side issue that believers can side-step. Despite what a fallen media and biased so called scientists would have us believe all the evidence seen in this world points to creation and a Creator not to evolution and chance.
Sir Isaac Newton had a friend who, like himself, was a great scientist. The friend was an infidel while Newton was a devout believer. They often locked horns over the question of ‘Who made it?’ though their mutual interest in science drew them together frequently. Newton had a skillful mechanic make him a replica of our solar system in miniature. In the center was a large guided ball representing the sun, and revolving around this were smaller balls fixed on the ends of arms of varying lengths, representing Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, in their proper order (Pluto had not yet been discovered). These balls were so geared together by cogs and belts as to move in perfect harmony by turning a crank.
One day as Newton sat reading in his study, with this mechanism on a large table near him, his infidel friend stepped in. He was a scientist, who could recognize at a glance what was before him. Walking up to it he slowly turned the crank and with undisguised admiration watched the heavenly bodies move in their relative speeds in their orbits. Backing off a few feet to get the full impact of the work he exclaimed, “My, what an exquisite thing this is. Who made it?” Without looking up from his books, Newton answered, “Nobody.” Quickly turning to Newton the infidel said, “Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this thing?” Looking up now, Newton solemnly assured his friend that nobody made it but that the aggregation of matter had just happened to assume the form it was in. The astonished infidel replied with some agitation, “You must think I am a fool! Of course somebody made it and he is a genius! I would like to know who he is.”
Newton, now laid aside his books, rose and laid a hand on his friends shoulder.
“This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know,” he said. “I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker. Yet you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without either designer or maker. Now tell me, by what sort of reasoning do you reach such incongruous conclusions?” The infidel was at once convinced and became a firm believer.”
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Wow! What else can be said? This great Psalm of praise assumes something many today tend to forget. It assumes creation.
Let me be specific. The foundation of all of Scripture and salvation is found in Genesis 1-3, the creation account. Creation is not an interesting side issue that believers can side-step. Despite what a fallen media and biased so called scientists would have us believe all the evidence seen in this world points to creation and a Creator not to evolution and chance.
Sir Isaac Newton had a friend who, like himself, was a great scientist. The friend was an infidel while Newton was a devout believer. They often locked horns over the question of ‘Who made it?’ though their mutual interest in science drew them together frequently. Newton had a skillful mechanic make him a replica of our solar system in miniature. In the center was a large guided ball representing the sun, and revolving around this were smaller balls fixed on the ends of arms of varying lengths, representing Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, in their proper order (Pluto had not yet been discovered). These balls were so geared together by cogs and belts as to move in perfect harmony by turning a crank.
One day as Newton sat reading in his study, with this mechanism on a large table near him, his infidel friend stepped in. He was a scientist, who could recognize at a glance what was before him. Walking up to it he slowly turned the crank and with undisguised admiration watched the heavenly bodies move in their relative speeds in their orbits. Backing off a few feet to get the full impact of the work he exclaimed, “My, what an exquisite thing this is. Who made it?” Without looking up from his books, Newton answered, “Nobody.” Quickly turning to Newton the infidel said, “Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this thing?” Looking up now, Newton solemnly assured his friend that nobody made it but that the aggregation of matter had just happened to assume the form it was in. The astonished infidel replied with some agitation, “You must think I am a fool! Of course somebody made it and he is a genius! I would like to know who he is.”
Newton, now laid aside his books, rose and laid a hand on his friends shoulder.
“This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know,” he said. “I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker. Yet you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without either designer or maker. Now tell me, by what sort of reasoning do you reach such incongruous conclusions?” The infidel was at once convinced and became a firm believer.”
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The Boomerang of sin
“14 He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment. 15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. 16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head.” (Psalm 7:14-16 NIV).
The TEV puts this passage: “See how wicked people think up evil; they plan trouble and practise deception. 15 But in the traps they set for others, they themselves get caught. 16 So they are punished by their own evil and are hurt by their own violence.”
Over and over again Scripture warns us of deceptive practices. It reminds us that eventually our sin will become known (Numbers 32:23) and this passage warns those contemplating an evil or destructive course that eventually the harm they plan will come back on them!
How sad that sinful man perverts their God-given abilities to plan rebellion against God and evil against their fellow men. As I write these words, terrorists around the world and plotting and planning immense catastrophes for those who they see as enemies. For them an enemy is anyone who doesn’t agree with them (including people of different leanings within their own faith). They are heartless and cruel. But we can take heart. Eventually their plans will backfire; eventually the evil the export will be visited upon them and they will implode from within.
Only truth and righteousness can keep us from disillusionment. We can only know this truth and righteousness by studying the only book that is God-given: The Bible. I am the first to admit that there have been times in my Christian life where I have fallen prey to disillusionment, but as I studied the Word of God I soon discovered that the cause of my disillusion was that I had believed and illusion.
Those who decide to follow a wicked path will slip; those who walk with God will stand. (See Psalm 138).
The TEV puts this passage: “See how wicked people think up evil; they plan trouble and practise deception. 15 But in the traps they set for others, they themselves get caught. 16 So they are punished by their own evil and are hurt by their own violence.”
Over and over again Scripture warns us of deceptive practices. It reminds us that eventually our sin will become known (Numbers 32:23) and this passage warns those contemplating an evil or destructive course that eventually the harm they plan will come back on them!
How sad that sinful man perverts their God-given abilities to plan rebellion against God and evil against their fellow men. As I write these words, terrorists around the world and plotting and planning immense catastrophes for those who they see as enemies. For them an enemy is anyone who doesn’t agree with them (including people of different leanings within their own faith). They are heartless and cruel. But we can take heart. Eventually their plans will backfire; eventually the evil the export will be visited upon them and they will implode from within.
Only truth and righteousness can keep us from disillusionment. We can only know this truth and righteousness by studying the only book that is God-given: The Bible. I am the first to admit that there have been times in my Christian life where I have fallen prey to disillusionment, but as I studied the Word of God I soon discovered that the cause of my disillusion was that I had believed and illusion.
Those who decide to follow a wicked path will slip; those who walk with God will stand. (See Psalm 138).
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
No Injustice at Judgment
11 God is a judge who is perfectly fair. He is angry with the wicked every day. 12 If a person does not repent, God will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow. (Psalm 7:11-12 NLT).
Isn’t it good to know that God will always do the right thing? One day, this old world, full of its injustices will be judged justly. Wrongs will be made right and the judgments of the Divine Court will be perfectly just.
We love to talk about justice. We all want what is right–for others. For ourselves we want mercy. Notice our text. “God is a judge who is perfectly fair.” Chances of getting an unjust judgement from God are exactly none. I hear all the time liberal commentators claiming that there is no justice for the rich–they can buy their way out of anything. Not so with God. His judgments are just; His finding fair.
That’s great news until we realize that we all are sinners (Romans 3:23) and if God does the right thing by us we are doomed. Good news even here. God has made a way to satisfy His justice and extend to us mercy if we will accept His Son, Jesus, as our redeemer.
Now, the Psalmist goes on to say, “If a person does not repent, God will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.” That word “repent” means 180 degree turn. We have a change of mind, which results in a change of heart which leads to a change of direction. We were going one way away from God and now we turn and go with Him. If we refuse to do that we will face the just judge and receive justice. If we accept Him, Jesus takes our judgment and we will receive mercy. (See 1 Peter 3:18 & Romans 8:1).
At the final judgment some will receive mercy (ending in eternity in heaven) others will receive justice (ending in eternity in hell), but no one will be a victim of injustice.
Isn’t it good to know that God will always do the right thing? One day, this old world, full of its injustices will be judged justly. Wrongs will be made right and the judgments of the Divine Court will be perfectly just.
We love to talk about justice. We all want what is right–for others. For ourselves we want mercy. Notice our text. “God is a judge who is perfectly fair.” Chances of getting an unjust judgement from God are exactly none. I hear all the time liberal commentators claiming that there is no justice for the rich–they can buy their way out of anything. Not so with God. His judgments are just; His finding fair.
That’s great news until we realize that we all are sinners (Romans 3:23) and if God does the right thing by us we are doomed. Good news even here. God has made a way to satisfy His justice and extend to us mercy if we will accept His Son, Jesus, as our redeemer.
Now, the Psalmist goes on to say, “If a person does not repent, God will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.” That word “repent” means 180 degree turn. We have a change of mind, which results in a change of heart which leads to a change of direction. We were going one way away from God and now we turn and go with Him. If we refuse to do that we will face the just judge and receive justice. If we accept Him, Jesus takes our judgment and we will receive mercy. (See 1 Peter 3:18 & Romans 8:1).
At the final judgment some will receive mercy (ending in eternity in heaven) others will receive justice (ending in eternity in hell), but no one will be a victim of injustice.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Perfect Protection
“10 God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right. 11 God is a judge who is perfectly fair. He is angry with the wicked every day. 12 If a person does not repent, God will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow. 13 He will prepare his deadly weapons and ignite his flaming arrows.” (Psalm 7:10-13 NLT).
Two things you can always count on: (1) because we live in this fallen world system there will be struggles (some of which we may never fully understand) and (2) in spite of what it may appear like on the outside, God is still in control and He promises His protection (not to keep us from the troubles necessarily but to get us safely through them.)
I find it interesting that the Psalmist compares this saving power of God to a shield. Two things. First a shield is not an offensive weapon but a defensive weapon. God’s promise is protection not always victory as we may want to see it. (Ultimately there is victory, but sometimes there are losses and causalities in this life.) Second, it is possible for us to lower our shields.
My father was a boxer. He taught me how to box. I remember the frustration I would feel when we boxed. He always pulled his punches, never hit me really hard, but when we boxed, I could never land a punch on him. His guard was impeccable, impenetrable.
I had a pretty good guard as well (due to my extreme sense of survival). My father however would simply pound away at my fore-arms each and every round. Soon, I would find my arms sore and tired and I could no longer keep up my defense. Then he would land his blow (pulled), look me in the eye and say, “Keep your guard up!”
Here was the problem. I knew that. I tried the best I could to do that. But his repeated blows weakened me. Soon I was wide open, and, were he not pulling his punches, I would have been susceptible to what would certainly be a knock-out blow.
The devil works much the same way. He wears us down, beats us around the edges so to speak, and when we grow weary, when we lower our shield, he steps in for the knock-out punch. Notice our text says God is our shield, but doesn’t let us of the hook, our hearts have to be right.
Two things you can always count on: (1) because we live in this fallen world system there will be struggles (some of which we may never fully understand) and (2) in spite of what it may appear like on the outside, God is still in control and He promises His protection (not to keep us from the troubles necessarily but to get us safely through them.)
I find it interesting that the Psalmist compares this saving power of God to a shield. Two things. First a shield is not an offensive weapon but a defensive weapon. God’s promise is protection not always victory as we may want to see it. (Ultimately there is victory, but sometimes there are losses and causalities in this life.) Second, it is possible for us to lower our shields.
My father was a boxer. He taught me how to box. I remember the frustration I would feel when we boxed. He always pulled his punches, never hit me really hard, but when we boxed, I could never land a punch on him. His guard was impeccable, impenetrable.
I had a pretty good guard as well (due to my extreme sense of survival). My father however would simply pound away at my fore-arms each and every round. Soon, I would find my arms sore and tired and I could no longer keep up my defense. Then he would land his blow (pulled), look me in the eye and say, “Keep your guard up!”
Here was the problem. I knew that. I tried the best I could to do that. But his repeated blows weakened me. Soon I was wide open, and, were he not pulling his punches, I would have been susceptible to what would certainly be a knock-out blow.
The devil works much the same way. He wears us down, beats us around the edges so to speak, and when we grow weary, when we lower our shield, he steps in for the knock-out punch. Notice our text says God is our shield, but doesn’t let us of the hook, our hearts have to be right.
Monday, July 13, 2009
A Cry for Justice
“Our Lord, judge the nations! Judge me and show that I am honest and innocent.” (Psalm 7:8 CEV).
All of us want justice. David cries, “Lord, judge the nations!” And all God’s people say “Amen.” But suddenly David asks for something else, something that I am not sure I would be so quick to pray, “Judge me.”
If God were to judge you today, what would he see? An “honest and innocent,” person or a dishonest and guilty one? Certainly none of us left to ourselves can claim to be honest and innocent before the eyes of Him who sees everything including our thoughts and intentions (See Hebrews 4:12-13). That is why we need Christ. Only Christ can and does make one “honest and innocent” before the searching eyes of the Father. That is a positional standing that everyone who knows Christ as personal Savior has. I don’t understand it, but I am grateful for it!
But that is not the honesty and innocence that David is writing about in this passage. He is talking about a practical innocence, an innocence that gives him the courage to come before the Throne of God and plead his case. Do you have that freedom today? Is your life an open book? Can you with complete confidence say, “Lord judge the nations and judge me?”
Truth be told, someday God will judge the nations and He will judge each and every individual. Those of us who are in right standing with Him through Jesus don’t need to fear that we might lose our eternal home, but we do need to fear that if we are not living in integrity that we might lose our eternal rewards. Never forget that it is important how you live!
As I write this particular thought, I have been enjoying the Olympic games on television. It’s been exciting to watch. When someone from my country wins gold, I feel a sense of pride myself. I am reminded that the judges of those games sit on what the ancient Greeks called the “Bema” seat. The Bible uses that same word in 2 Corinthians5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat (Bema) of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” Are you playing for the gold or are you just playing around?
All of us want justice. David cries, “Lord, judge the nations!” And all God’s people say “Amen.” But suddenly David asks for something else, something that I am not sure I would be so quick to pray, “Judge me.”
If God were to judge you today, what would he see? An “honest and innocent,” person or a dishonest and guilty one? Certainly none of us left to ourselves can claim to be honest and innocent before the eyes of Him who sees everything including our thoughts and intentions (See Hebrews 4:12-13). That is why we need Christ. Only Christ can and does make one “honest and innocent” before the searching eyes of the Father. That is a positional standing that everyone who knows Christ as personal Savior has. I don’t understand it, but I am grateful for it!
But that is not the honesty and innocence that David is writing about in this passage. He is talking about a practical innocence, an innocence that gives him the courage to come before the Throne of God and plead his case. Do you have that freedom today? Is your life an open book? Can you with complete confidence say, “Lord judge the nations and judge me?”
Truth be told, someday God will judge the nations and He will judge each and every individual. Those of us who are in right standing with Him through Jesus don’t need to fear that we might lose our eternal home, but we do need to fear that if we are not living in integrity that we might lose our eternal rewards. Never forget that it is important how you live!
As I write this particular thought, I have been enjoying the Olympic games on television. It’s been exciting to watch. When someone from my country wins gold, I feel a sense of pride myself. I am reminded that the judges of those games sit on what the ancient Greeks called the “Bema” seat. The Bible uses that same word in 2 Corinthians5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat (Bema) of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” Are you playing for the gold or are you just playing around?
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Handling False Accusations
“1 O Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, 2 or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.” (Psalm 7:1-2 NIV).
The title to this particular song is “A shiggaion of David.” The idea conveyed by that title is that this was a piece–poetical or musical–written with intense feeling. The events which precipitated this cry for help are found in 1 Samuel 24:9-11. Let’s step back there to set the stage for today’s comment: “9 He (David) called out, ‘Why do you listen to those who say ‘David is out to get you’? 10 This very day with your very own eyes you have seen that just now in the cave God put you in my hands. My men wanted me to kill you, but I wouldn’t do it. I told them that I won’t lift a finger against my master—he’s God’s anointed. 11 Oh, my father, look at this, look at this piece that I cut from your robe. I could have cut you—killed you!—but I didn’t. Look at the evidence! I’m not against you. I’m no rebel. I haven’t sinned against you, and yet you’re hunting me down to kill me.’” (1 Samuel 24:9-11 MSG).
David was running from Saul. But the cry of this Psalm is not a cry for God to protect him from Saul’s hand, but from Cush the Benjamite’s mouth who had added fuel to the suspicious Saul’s mind, by accusing David of insurrection. Bottom line, if Saul caught David, he (David) was a dead man.
In our text, David impassionately cries to God for protection from false accusations! Do you remember the old child’s rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me?” It’s a lie. Words do far more damage than do sticks and stones. Sticks and stones bruise muscle and can even break a bone, but those things heal (trust me I have ample experience in this area), but words–they injure the psyche and do far greater damage both in depth and time. It is protection from the false accusation that has David crying out to God in our text.
What about you? Are you a victim of false rumors, unfair accusations? You can either take them upon yourself and become bitter or you can turn them over to God and get better. The choice is yours.
The title to this particular song is “A shiggaion of David.” The idea conveyed by that title is that this was a piece–poetical or musical–written with intense feeling. The events which precipitated this cry for help are found in 1 Samuel 24:9-11. Let’s step back there to set the stage for today’s comment: “9 He (David) called out, ‘Why do you listen to those who say ‘David is out to get you’? 10 This very day with your very own eyes you have seen that just now in the cave God put you in my hands. My men wanted me to kill you, but I wouldn’t do it. I told them that I won’t lift a finger against my master—he’s God’s anointed. 11 Oh, my father, look at this, look at this piece that I cut from your robe. I could have cut you—killed you!—but I didn’t. Look at the evidence! I’m not against you. I’m no rebel. I haven’t sinned against you, and yet you’re hunting me down to kill me.’” (1 Samuel 24:9-11 MSG).
David was running from Saul. But the cry of this Psalm is not a cry for God to protect him from Saul’s hand, but from Cush the Benjamite’s mouth who had added fuel to the suspicious Saul’s mind, by accusing David of insurrection. Bottom line, if Saul caught David, he (David) was a dead man.
In our text, David impassionately cries to God for protection from false accusations! Do you remember the old child’s rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me?” It’s a lie. Words do far more damage than do sticks and stones. Sticks and stones bruise muscle and can even break a bone, but those things heal (trust me I have ample experience in this area), but words–they injure the psyche and do far greater damage both in depth and time. It is protection from the false accusation that has David crying out to God in our text.
What about you? Are you a victim of false rumors, unfair accusations? You can either take them upon yourself and become bitter or you can turn them over to God and get better. The choice is yours.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Cry if you must, but then find comfort
“I am weary from my groaning; with tears I dampen my pillow and drench my bed every night. My eyes are swollen from grief; they grow old because of all my enemies.” (Psalm 6:6-7CSB).
While this verse may not be the best to start your day with, you must admit there are times when it is reality. Been there; done it. At such times it seems our hearts will break and our faith will fail. We cry out to God in agony of soul but the silence we seem to be met with is deafening.
In your despair, take heart. In another place the Psalmist reminds us “Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5 NASB).
I don’t know what struggle you may currently be facing. I know this: it is not worth giving up on God over. So many times when we struggle with the blows of life our tendency is run from the very One who can help us. He doesn’t panic. In fact, I’ve discovered that it is impossible to out-distance Him! How thankful I am for that fact (though truth be told, while I was trying to run away I wasn’t that thankful.)
No one put it better than Francis Thompson who wrote of his own flight in his poem, “The Hound of Heaven.”
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes, I sped;
And shot, precipitated
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat--and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet -
"All things betray thee, who betrayest Me."
The picture is ingenious! A man running terrified; the sound of chasing feet, hiding, dodging, ducking into alleys, and still the sound of pursuing feet come. The heart beats harder, sweat breaks out on the brow, in anger we shout into the gloom, “Leave me alone!” But the sound of those padding feet continue on. As you work through this poem, Thompson has run until he can’t run any more. Get the picture. He is laying in a rain soaked street, the feet now are louder. There is no escape. But the feet stop short. There is no vicious attack, no remonstrations, just a loving voice,
That Voice is round me like a bursting sea:
"And is thy earth so marred,
Shattered in shard on shard?
Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me! "
Strange, piteous, futile thing!
Wherefore should any set thee love apart?
Seeing none but I makes much of naught" (He said),
"And human love needs human meriting:
How hast thou merited - Of all man's clotted clay the dingiest clot?
Alack, thou knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou art!
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me?
All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand, and come."
Halts by me that footfall:
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
"Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
I am He Whom thou seekest!
Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me."
Cry if you must. Then find comfort in His loving arms.
While this verse may not be the best to start your day with, you must admit there are times when it is reality. Been there; done it. At such times it seems our hearts will break and our faith will fail. We cry out to God in agony of soul but the silence we seem to be met with is deafening.
In your despair, take heart. In another place the Psalmist reminds us “Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5 NASB).
I don’t know what struggle you may currently be facing. I know this: it is not worth giving up on God over. So many times when we struggle with the blows of life our tendency is run from the very One who can help us. He doesn’t panic. In fact, I’ve discovered that it is impossible to out-distance Him! How thankful I am for that fact (though truth be told, while I was trying to run away I wasn’t that thankful.)
No one put it better than Francis Thompson who wrote of his own flight in his poem, “The Hound of Heaven.”
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes, I sped;
And shot, precipitated
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat--and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet -
"All things betray thee, who betrayest Me."
The picture is ingenious! A man running terrified; the sound of chasing feet, hiding, dodging, ducking into alleys, and still the sound of pursuing feet come. The heart beats harder, sweat breaks out on the brow, in anger we shout into the gloom, “Leave me alone!” But the sound of those padding feet continue on. As you work through this poem, Thompson has run until he can’t run any more. Get the picture. He is laying in a rain soaked street, the feet now are louder. There is no escape. But the feet stop short. There is no vicious attack, no remonstrations, just a loving voice,
That Voice is round me like a bursting sea:
"And is thy earth so marred,
Shattered in shard on shard?
Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me! "
Strange, piteous, futile thing!
Wherefore should any set thee love apart?
Seeing none but I makes much of naught" (He said),
"And human love needs human meriting:
How hast thou merited - Of all man's clotted clay the dingiest clot?
Alack, thou knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou art!
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me?
All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand, and come."
Halts by me that footfall:
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
"Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
I am He Whom thou seekest!
Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me."
Cry if you must. Then find comfort in His loving arms.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Dipensers of Mercy
“Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger; do not discipline me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me Lord, for I am weak; heal me, Lord for my bones are shaking.” (Psalm 6:1-2 CSB).
How many times have we prayed a similar prayer? I can’t number my own pleas in this area. Later David will cry, “For troubles without numbers have surrounded me; my sins have overtaken me; I am unable to see, they are more than the hairs on my head . . . .” (Psalm 40:12 CSB–emphasis mine).
Have you ever noticed that when it is us, we want to be treated with mercy and kindness, but when it is someone else we want justice? We want the Lord and people to deal kindly with us but we think nothing of dealing harshly with others. We excuse our ugliness by claiming, “We’re just being honest,” or “They deserve it.” Too many of us live with a hypocritical double standard. We want to be handled respectably with “kid gloves” while pummeling others ruthlessly. We want God to show us mercy despite our many failings, yet we insist on the right to dispense “justice” on others. This ought not be.
Those of us who are recipients of grace should be dispensing grace; those of us who cry to God for mercy should be in turn merciful even to those who don’t deserve it. Both grace and mercy are undeserved by definition. We don’t receive God’s grace or God’s mercy because we are deserving, quite the opposite. It is testimony to our sinful, selfish natures when we cry to God for mercy yet refuse to show mercy to others. Jesus put it this way: 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:32-36 NIV).
How many times have we prayed a similar prayer? I can’t number my own pleas in this area. Later David will cry, “For troubles without numbers have surrounded me; my sins have overtaken me; I am unable to see, they are more than the hairs on my head . . . .” (Psalm 40:12 CSB–emphasis mine).
Have you ever noticed that when it is us, we want to be treated with mercy and kindness, but when it is someone else we want justice? We want the Lord and people to deal kindly with us but we think nothing of dealing harshly with others. We excuse our ugliness by claiming, “We’re just being honest,” or “They deserve it.” Too many of us live with a hypocritical double standard. We want to be handled respectably with “kid gloves” while pummeling others ruthlessly. We want God to show us mercy despite our many failings, yet we insist on the right to dispense “justice” on others. This ought not be.
Those of us who are recipients of grace should be dispensing grace; those of us who cry to God for mercy should be in turn merciful even to those who don’t deserve it. Both grace and mercy are undeserved by definition. We don’t receive God’s grace or God’s mercy because we are deserving, quite the opposite. It is testimony to our sinful, selfish natures when we cry to God for mercy yet refuse to show mercy to others. Jesus put it this way: 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:32-36 NIV).
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Finding Security in Uncertain Times
“But make everyone rejoice who puts his trust in you. Keep them shouting for joy because you are defending them. Fill all who love you with your happiness. For you bless the godly man. O Lord; you protect him with your shield of love.” (Psalm 5:11-12 TLB).
Where is your security today? Is it in something that can be taken away? If so, you are on dangerous ground.
What about your happiness? Does you happiness depend upon the outward circumstances of your life? If so, your happiness at best will be fleeting.
But, if your security is in God, if your happiness springs from within, from your relationship with Him, you are on solid ground; you are truly secure because you are kept by His power which is unlimited. What a marvelous place of rest that is! How comforting to know that even in the torrential down-pours of this life, those who put their hope in the Lord are promised the sure protection of His unfailing love.
Where is your security today? Is it in something that can be taken away? If so, you are on dangerous ground.
What about your happiness? Does you happiness depend upon the outward circumstances of your life? If so, your happiness at best will be fleeting.
But, if your security is in God, if your happiness springs from within, from your relationship with Him, you are on solid ground; you are truly secure because you are kept by His power which is unlimited. What a marvelous place of rest that is! How comforting to know that even in the torrential down-pours of this life, those who put their hope in the Lord are promised the sure protection of His unfailing love.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Watch Your Associations
“4 You don’t socialize with Wicked, or invite Evil over as your houseguest.” (Psalm 5:4 MSG).
In this verse David is talking about God’s purity. The Christian Standard Bible renders this verse, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil cannot lodge with You.”
Years ago J.B. Phillips wrote a book entitled “Your God is Too Small.” In that book Phillips discusses the many misconceptions people have about God. A.W. Tozer referred to such misconceptions as “the essence of idolatry” in his book “Knowledge of the Holy.” He said the seeds of idolatry begin with misconceived thoughts about God. Everywhere I go in our age I am amazed at the minuscule knowledge that even professed believers have about God; we have successfully de-elevated Him and made Him again after our own private images.
This de-elevation is most clearly seen in our conception of how God deals with sin. We have people today who teach that God understands and accepts certain sexual sins; preferences. In fact, we no longer want to call certain sins by their right name! Why? We’ve substituted a misconception of God, a God of wishy-washy love a God who only cares that people are happy, for the Holy God of the Bible. I heard one minister declare that God would rather have us happy than obedient. Apparently he has forgotten large portions of the Scripture including the portion found in our text.
I say all of this to make application of our text for today. How many Christians don’t follow the Biblical example and freely socialize with the wicked, inviting into their very hearts and minds the evil that God clearly condemns? I read recently of one singles group in Atlanta that has a weekly Bible study at Hooters restaurant. They need to read this passage.
Some will seek to justify such aberrant behavior saying, “But Jesus ate with sinners.” No question. The issue is not who you associate with as much as it is who you fellowship with–there is a world of difference. Jesus mingled with sinners but didn’t play with sin. We should follow that example.
In this verse David is talking about God’s purity. The Christian Standard Bible renders this verse, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil cannot lodge with You.”
Years ago J.B. Phillips wrote a book entitled “Your God is Too Small.” In that book Phillips discusses the many misconceptions people have about God. A.W. Tozer referred to such misconceptions as “the essence of idolatry” in his book “Knowledge of the Holy.” He said the seeds of idolatry begin with misconceived thoughts about God. Everywhere I go in our age I am amazed at the minuscule knowledge that even professed believers have about God; we have successfully de-elevated Him and made Him again after our own private images.
This de-elevation is most clearly seen in our conception of how God deals with sin. We have people today who teach that God understands and accepts certain sexual sins; preferences. In fact, we no longer want to call certain sins by their right name! Why? We’ve substituted a misconception of God, a God of wishy-washy love a God who only cares that people are happy, for the Holy God of the Bible. I heard one minister declare that God would rather have us happy than obedient. Apparently he has forgotten large portions of the Scripture including the portion found in our text.
I say all of this to make application of our text for today. How many Christians don’t follow the Biblical example and freely socialize with the wicked, inviting into their very hearts and minds the evil that God clearly condemns? I read recently of one singles group in Atlanta that has a weekly Bible study at Hooters restaurant. They need to read this passage.
Some will seek to justify such aberrant behavior saying, “But Jesus ate with sinners.” No question. The issue is not who you associate with as much as it is who you fellowship with–there is a world of difference. Jesus mingled with sinners but didn’t play with sin. We should follow that example.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Start Your Day Right
How does your day start? Is it like mine– hectic? I am not a morning person. Never was. In fact, I am convinced that mornings are a result of the fall! In creation we always find Adam walking with God in the cool of the evening (Genesis 3:8 NLT). The fall messed everything up!
Of course I am saying some of this tongue in cheek, but at the same time with some seriousness. I am not a good morning person. So what I am about to say does not come to me naturally but comes only as a result of personal discipline. The Psalmist wrote: “Each morning you listen to my prayer, as I bring my requests to you and wait for your reply.” (Psalm 5:3 CEV). The Message puts this verse, “Every morning you’ll hear me at it again. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend.”
There is no better way to start your day! My experience is that when my laziness gets the best of me in the mornings and I finally jump out of bed and hit the floor running at 100 mph I spend my whole day running at that speed and falling further and further behind in the race. But, when I take time to “lay out the pieces of my life on your altar,” no matter how far behind I think I am that day, it all works out and I take the “checkered flag.”
Try something the rest of this week. Begin each day laying out the pieces of your life to the Heavenly Father. Put your appointments, your activities, your concerns on the altar and stand back at watch what happens. I think you’ll be excited at the difference it makes.
Of course I am saying some of this tongue in cheek, but at the same time with some seriousness. I am not a good morning person. So what I am about to say does not come to me naturally but comes only as a result of personal discipline. The Psalmist wrote: “Each morning you listen to my prayer, as I bring my requests to you and wait for your reply.” (Psalm 5:3 CEV). The Message puts this verse, “Every morning you’ll hear me at it again. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend.”
There is no better way to start your day! My experience is that when my laziness gets the best of me in the mornings and I finally jump out of bed and hit the floor running at 100 mph I spend my whole day running at that speed and falling further and further behind in the race. But, when I take time to “lay out the pieces of my life on your altar,” no matter how far behind I think I am that day, it all works out and I take the “checkered flag.”
Try something the rest of this week. Begin each day laying out the pieces of your life to the Heavenly Father. Put your appointments, your activities, your concerns on the altar and stand back at watch what happens. I think you’ll be excited at the difference it makes.
Friday, July 3, 2009
When "God Bless America" will mean something
"Doing what is right makes a nation great, but sin will bring disgrace to any people." (Proverbs 14:34, NCV).
Since this is July 4th weekend, I thought it appropriate that my thoughts center on patriotic themes. Often I hear our political leaders ending their speeches with a perfunctory “God bless America.” Let me state right at the beginning of this article that such sentiments are useless as long as we as a nation persist in pursing courses in our private and public lives that God cannot bless.
In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, Israel thought it was safe because of their heritage, because they were the chosen people of God, because the temple of God was located in Jerusalem. " The Lord told me to stand by the gate of the temple and to tell the people who were going in that the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said: Pay attention, people of Judah! Change your ways and start living right, then I will let you keep on living in your own country. Don’t fool yourselves! My temple is here in Jerusalem, but that doesn’t mean I will protect you. I will keep you safe only if you change your ways. Be fair and honest with each other." (Jeremiah 7:3-5, CEV). I fear there are many in America who are making the same mistake Israel of Old made. We may not be declaring “This is where God lives;” our deception comes in the mistake belief that “God bless America” is a magic mantra that will somehow keep us safe!
Thomas Jefferson warned, "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed the only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God? That they cannot be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep forever."
George Washington said, “Of all the habits that lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would men claim the tributes of patriotism who would work to destroy these great pillars of human happiness. . . Do not let anyone claim to be a true American if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics."
John Adams warned: "There is no Government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion." He went on to say, "Our constitution was only made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Newsweek Magazine, August 1976 reminded us that "America was in fact born in the cradle of a powerful spiritual revival." And it was! We need to stop this silliness today that we call the separation of church and state. The founding fathers never intended to keep religion out of public life! Indeed, James Madison, one of the framers of our Constitution said, James Madison, the framer of the Constitution said, "We have staked the whole future of American Civilization not on the power of the Government, far from it. We have staked the future of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."
We’ve lost that today. We want God’s blessing on everything we happen to like doing. We cannot understand why we are in the condition we are in today as a nation. We are following history and we are on the sunset of our greatness. We cannot continue to defy God espousing unions that are sinful, murdering innocent unborn children, proclaiming immorality to be moral, promoting corrupt policies, and the list can go on and on. If we want to recapture America’s greatness, we must return whole-heartedly to the God of the Bible. We need to declare this July 4th, not our independence from God but our utter dependance upon him. Then, the words “God bless America” will truly mean something.
Since this is July 4th weekend, I thought it appropriate that my thoughts center on patriotic themes. Often I hear our political leaders ending their speeches with a perfunctory “God bless America.” Let me state right at the beginning of this article that such sentiments are useless as long as we as a nation persist in pursing courses in our private and public lives that God cannot bless.
In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, Israel thought it was safe because of their heritage, because they were the chosen people of God, because the temple of God was located in Jerusalem. " The Lord told me to stand by the gate of the temple and to tell the people who were going in that the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said: Pay attention, people of Judah! Change your ways and start living right, then I will let you keep on living in your own country. Don’t fool yourselves! My temple is here in Jerusalem, but that doesn’t mean I will protect you. I will keep you safe only if you change your ways. Be fair and honest with each other." (Jeremiah 7:3-5, CEV). I fear there are many in America who are making the same mistake Israel of Old made. We may not be declaring “This is where God lives;” our deception comes in the mistake belief that “God bless America” is a magic mantra that will somehow keep us safe!
Thomas Jefferson warned, "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed the only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God? That they cannot be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep forever."
George Washington said, “Of all the habits that lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would men claim the tributes of patriotism who would work to destroy these great pillars of human happiness. . . Do not let anyone claim to be a true American if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics."
John Adams warned: "There is no Government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion." He went on to say, "Our constitution was only made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Newsweek Magazine, August 1976 reminded us that "America was in fact born in the cradle of a powerful spiritual revival." And it was! We need to stop this silliness today that we call the separation of church and state. The founding fathers never intended to keep religion out of public life! Indeed, James Madison, one of the framers of our Constitution said, James Madison, the framer of the Constitution said, "We have staked the whole future of American Civilization not on the power of the Government, far from it. We have staked the future of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."
We’ve lost that today. We want God’s blessing on everything we happen to like doing. We cannot understand why we are in the condition we are in today as a nation. We are following history and we are on the sunset of our greatness. We cannot continue to defy God espousing unions that are sinful, murdering innocent unborn children, proclaiming immorality to be moral, promoting corrupt policies, and the list can go on and on. If we want to recapture America’s greatness, we must return whole-heartedly to the God of the Bible. We need to declare this July 4th, not our independence from God but our utter dependance upon him. Then, the words “God bless America” will truly mean something.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Rest in the Midst of Turmoil
“I can lie down and sleep soundly because you, Lord, will keep me safe.” (Psalm 4:8 CEV).
We live in an age of high anxiety. Many toss and turn restlessly upon their beds worried about what tomorrow may bring or regretting the actions done or stewing over ill-treatment received.
It would have been easy for David to be in such a state of anxiety. As he pens the words to this Psalm, his son Absalom is well into plans for a coup and his dear friend and confident Ahithophel has viciously turned against him and is spreading lies all over Jerusalem about him. Please understand that those who pen words such as the ones found in our text are not immune from struggles. Often we forget this when we read Scripture. We think it is easy for these men to write such lofty words of hope, they don’t know what real life is like! Truth be told, I wouldn’t trade places with any one of the Biblical characters for anything! Their great words of encouragement all come to us from the depths of trials.
David, who is heart-sick, never-the-less can rest in comfort not because the outward circumstances were all going his way, but because of his settled trust in God. He slept soundly on the eve of rebellion and he slept soundly while running for his life during that rebellion because he wasn’t focused on the outward circumstances but on the inner reality that God was still in control.
Are there things in your life that have you torn up inside–tossing and turning and unable to get a good night’s sleep from the stress. Try the Biblical sleep-aid, put your trust in God.
We live in an age of high anxiety. Many toss and turn restlessly upon their beds worried about what tomorrow may bring or regretting the actions done or stewing over ill-treatment received.
It would have been easy for David to be in such a state of anxiety. As he pens the words to this Psalm, his son Absalom is well into plans for a coup and his dear friend and confident Ahithophel has viciously turned against him and is spreading lies all over Jerusalem about him. Please understand that those who pen words such as the ones found in our text are not immune from struggles. Often we forget this when we read Scripture. We think it is easy for these men to write such lofty words of hope, they don’t know what real life is like! Truth be told, I wouldn’t trade places with any one of the Biblical characters for anything! Their great words of encouragement all come to us from the depths of trials.
David, who is heart-sick, never-the-less can rest in comfort not because the outward circumstances were all going his way, but because of his settled trust in God. He slept soundly on the eve of rebellion and he slept soundly while running for his life during that rebellion because he wasn’t focused on the outward circumstances but on the inner reality that God was still in control.
Are there things in your life that have you torn up inside–tossing and turning and unable to get a good night’s sleep from the stress. Try the Biblical sleep-aid, put your trust in God.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Promised Protection
“Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him. (Psalm 4:3 NIV).
Two marvelous promises to start our day! First, isn’t it wonderful to know that God has set apart for His special use and care those who are godly; that is, those who are in Christ Jesus and live like it? There is s similar promise in 2 Chronicles 16:9, “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” (2 Chronicles 16:9 NASB--emphasis mine). So, this first promise leads me to a questions and a promise. When God’s eyes fall upon you, does He see one whose heart is fully committed to Him? If so, you can be certain of two more things: one, He has you marked for His own and two, you can count on His strong support; he won’t let you down.
The second marvelous promise in our text is the promise that God hears when the godly call to Him in prayer. When people tell me that they never get an answer to prayer, that doesn’t make me wonder about the promises of God, it makes me wonder about them! God’s promise is that He will hear His people when they call to Him. But again notice the link: it is godly people God hears not those who claim to be His but are living godless lives. The Bible says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:2 NIV). Make sure there is no purposeful or unconfessed sin in your life.
Two marvelous promises. If you are living like a believer be assured that God has marked you for Himself and the God who marked you for Himself will surely hear your petitions when you cry out to Him.
Two marvelous promises to start our day! First, isn’t it wonderful to know that God has set apart for His special use and care those who are godly; that is, those who are in Christ Jesus and live like it? There is s similar promise in 2 Chronicles 16:9, “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” (2 Chronicles 16:9 NASB--emphasis mine). So, this first promise leads me to a questions and a promise. When God’s eyes fall upon you, does He see one whose heart is fully committed to Him? If so, you can be certain of two more things: one, He has you marked for His own and two, you can count on His strong support; he won’t let you down.
The second marvelous promise in our text is the promise that God hears when the godly call to Him in prayer. When people tell me that they never get an answer to prayer, that doesn’t make me wonder about the promises of God, it makes me wonder about them! God’s promise is that He will hear His people when they call to Him. But again notice the link: it is godly people God hears not those who claim to be His but are living godless lives. The Bible says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:2 NIV). Make sure there is no purposeful or unconfessed sin in your life.
Two marvelous promises. If you are living like a believer be assured that God has marked you for Himself and the God who marked you for Himself will surely hear your petitions when you cry out to Him.
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