April 30, 2024

Psalm 66.2 (NIV)

Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!

Faith brings forth praise. He who can trust will soon sing.*

I told someone recently that getting a new body when I get to heaven is fine, but what I’m really hoping for is a new voice. Elsewhere in the Psalms we’re told to make a joyful noise but I think I could make his praise much more glorious if I could stay on key!

We sing about a lot of things; love, of course, but any subject can be put to music:  a dead skunk in the middle of the road; the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald; Grandma got run over by a reindeer. While there’s nothing wrong with songs about love or bizarre subjects, the psalmist suggests that we let God’s glory be our reason for singing.

Singing isn’t the only means by which we praise God. As the verse says, “Shout with joy!” We can praise him quietly and privately but sometimes praise needs to burst out of us and be heard by the world. It is always glorious when we praise God. Let’s live a life of praise!

Do we hope that praising God will be the blessedness of our eternity? Surely, then we ought to make it the business of our time.*

April 29, 2024

Psalm 64.1 (NIV)

Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint.

People never felt belittled by Jesus for their focus on the unimportant. They felt challenged.*

The psalmist seeks protection from the “threats and plots of his enemies,”* which for him was a real and present danger – a far cry from the reality of our lives. But then, most of us are our own worst enemies!

Even though my complaints may sound suspiciously like whining, still God listens. And cares. My gripes may be petty and seem to be beneath his regard, and the things that make me happy may be small as well, but God doesn’t roll his eyes and say, “Big deal.” He shares in my joy and in my whining. He provides the grand and awesome blessings as well as the tiny grace notes of life.

It is amazing that he wants to hear from us, but he is big enough to handle our complaints. We are not going to shake him up or cause him to question himself or have a crisis of faith. We can pray our feelings honestly. “Directing our complaining to God is actually an act of trust.”*

When once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely, we never need sympathy, we can pour out all the time without being pathetic.*

April 28, 2024

Psalm 62.11, 12 (NIV)
One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.

We speak often and say nothing; God speaks once and utters eternal verities. All our speaking may yet end in sound; but he speaks, and it is done; he commands, and it stands fast.*

We know that God has said more than one thing and we have heard more than two, but let’s allow the psalmist to make a poetic point! When we say something like, “Well, I know this much . . .” we don’t mean to imply that that is all that we know.

“That you, O God, are strong,” may be translated, “that strength is the Lord's," by which we may understand that he is “the Origin of power.”* He isn’t just strong; he is where power comes from! But God is also the source of love. David knows that these two qualities are intrinsically combined in the nature of God. They are “the two grand truths”* revealed on every page of his Word.

We acknowledge and fear his power, but we don’t really know God unless we also recognize his mercy.  

God is an inexhaustible fountain of mercy, the Father of mercies.*

April 27, 2024

Psalm 62.1  (NIV)
My soul finds rest in God alone.

We are not living in the world our souls were made for.*

According to language experts, the exact meaning of this verse is not clear. One such expert claims that the literal translation from the Hebrew is, "Only unto God silence my soul." Other translations include:

• Only in God does my soul rest. (The Douay Version)      
• For God alone my soul waits in silence. (RSV)
• Truly my soul waiteth upon God. (KJV)
• I wait patiently for God to save me. (The Good News Bible) 
• Only in God do I encounter peace. (Translated from Dios Habla Hoy)
• Shall not my soul be subjected to God? (LXX)

Whatever words convey the exact intended meaning of the verse, the theme is consistent: longing for peace and rest - which we find only in God. Long, relaxing vacations and transcendental meditation are only band-aids on the gaping wounds in our hearts.

 

I wish that I could provide step-by-step procedures for learning how to find rest in God. Of course, Bible study and prayer are essential but they are merely “prep” work – you can study and pray and study and pray and on and on and still not find that peace that comes from giving God control of your life. Does it require faith? Yes, but full-grown faith is not necessary. Perhaps we could look at it as a one-step procedure: you will not rest in God until you just do it. One baby step propelled by a tiny bit of faith and suddenly you realize: I’m doing it! I’m resting in God!

Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.*

April 26, 2024

Psalm 61.4 (NIV)

I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

How can a man be prepared for an eternal heaven who finds the worship of God on earth irksome and tedious?*

I don’t have any experience with life in the ancient Mideast but I imagine David’s sentiment is similar to the feeling I get when I think of being at my Mom and Dad’s house: clean sheets; my favorite food; being loved; feeling secure. God is the perfect host who provides protection from thieves and bad weather; fulfills every wish for our comfort; always makes us feel welcome.

David’s longing wasn’t just for the physical security of his personal tent. God’s tent – the tabernacle – was considered the dwelling place of God. At the time this psalm was written, David had been banished from the tabernacle. According to Romans 8.38 and 39, nothing can separate us from the love of God; but David’s physical exile symbolized spiritual separation from God’s “sacred hospitality, and sure protection.”* David missed the rituals of sacrifice and worship, and the fellowship of people who weren’t trying to kill him or who weren’t on the run with him from those same people. He longed for Heaven – a place of permanent refuge.

While nothing can separate us from the love of God, we separate ourselves from his shelter and protection when we choose to wander away from the tabernacle. God created us with a natural longing for home and nothing is closer to it than the experience of worshipping and fellowshipping with other believers. “Let us not give up meeting together . . . but let us encourage one another.” (Hebrews 10.25)

The church is designed not only to fulfill the Great Commission but to provide a place for believers to grow and find encouragement.*

April 25, 2024

Psalm 61.1 (NIV)
Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.

Powerful prayer speaks from the heart.*

It seems that David should know that God hears and listens to him. Even though he was a sinner (like every human), God called David “a man after my own heart.” Did he really doubt that God was tuned to his cries?

The Old Testament is abounding with examples of prayers ignored by God. Idolatry was a big deal-breaker back in the day. In Job 35.12, we read that the arrogance of the wicked causes God not to answer prayers. In Psalm 66.18, we are told that God does not listen if we cherish sin in our hearts. According to Proverbs 21.13, anyone who ignores the cry of the poor will be ignored. In the New Testament, James 4.3 tells us that God denies our requests when we have wrong motives.

In truth, the only thing that sets us apart from the wicked whose prayers aren’t heard is the blood of Jesus Christ.

Whether we got rewarded based on how good we are, or got punished for how bad we are, we would be in big trouble. We could be sure that we earned our punishment and equally certain that we don’t deserve a reward. We, like David, know that our hearts are not pure. Yet, God continues to pour out his blessings. Not just things but reminders (proof) of his presence. 

Our faith does not deserve mercy, but it always wins it from the sovereign grace of God when it is sincere.*

April 24, 2024

Psalm 59.4 (NIV)
I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.

Your spiritual walk has a slight limp.*

I’m sure that David was being falsely accused and was in danger for his life, but doesn’t this sound a little bit like whining? Perhaps he is not saying that he has not sinned at all – just that he has not done anything to provoke these particular enemies.

There are times, though, even as we bristle over being falsely accused, that we are guilty all the same. When I was in high school, I attended a party where people were indulging in an activity of which I disapproved. I was pretty vocal in my criticism but at the same time my behavior was not a shining example of Christian conduct. (Forgive me for being vague.) When I overheard one of the other guests call me a hypocrite, I got in a bit of a huff over it. After all, I wasn’t doing the same thing I was criticizing others for. It didn’t take long, though, for the truth to sink in. She was right and I was as wrong as everyone else. Guilty as charged!

It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.*

April 23, 2024

Psalm 57.1 (NIV)
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

God does not expect us to stand firm in our own inadequate strength.*

I have always heard that this verse refers to a hen gathering her chicks under her wings. While the little chickens may feel safe under there, it doesn’t seem like such a secure place to me. A mother hen can’t stop a larger animal from snatching her and leaving her babies unprotected. For me, the phrase, “shadow of your wings,” paints a picture of a great bird of prey hovering over me and scaring away the predators on the ground around me. An eagle is lot more fierce than even the angriest chicken!

I am reminded of how secure I felt in our house as Hurricane Charley passed over us. The refuge in my house differs from God’s wings, though. In my house, I wasn’t 100% sure that I was safe and secure. The roof could have blown off; trees could have fallen on the house (instead of all around it!). But no matter how flimsy the shelter on earth, we are always safe in the shelter of God’s wings until the disaster has passed . . .  And it will pass.

Even at our technological finest, we are still frighteningly frail.*

April 22, 2024

Psalm  56.8 (NIV)
Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll – are they not in your record?

Humanity is not a faceless crowd to God.*

In college, we had to do a “project” during our study of the book of Exodus. I don’t recall if the whole class did the same thing or if we had choices but I remember that I made a poster depicting the specifications for the tabernacle. I miscalculated on my drawing of the curtain and got the dimensions wrong. (If I had been a mathematician, I would not have gone to Bible college.) As I had put off starting the project until after curfew on the night before it was due, and I had no more posterboard, I was stuck with my mistake. I’m sure the professor was impressed with how I improved on God’s design by labeling the excess inches as “extra fabric.”

 

While the experience should have taught me a lesson about procrastination, what I did take away from it was an awe of God’s attention to detail. He didn’t give vague instructions about the number of rooms and how big to make them; he designed the whole décor of the place, right down to the color-scheme, the finishing touches, and the priests’ garments. I don’t know if Professor Black intended it, but I got better acquainted with my God that semester. I began to understand that if God cared that much about the interior decorating of his house, how much he must care about the details of my life.

My tears? Of course he cares about them. I like the idea that my tears are important enough for God to keep a record of them. But how many tears have I shed over silly things? I would rather he didn’t keep a record of those tears, but how sweet it is to know that he cared about something that seemed worthy of crying over at the time. Never would God make me feel stupid for being – well, stupid. He might lead me to the realization that I am being foolish but never would he make me feel that I am a fool.

In Matthew 10.30, Jesus says that our Father knows how many hairs are on our heads. Is that important information? It is to him. If our tears and our hairs are important to him - the creator of the universe and the God of details - how much more he cares about the big picture: our eternal salvation.

In the light of the sovereign God and this sacrificial Christ, we weep at our own pettiness. How can we have been thinking about anything else?*

April 21, 2024

Psalm 56.4 (and 11)(NIV)
In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

If we don’t trust when times are tough, we don’t trust at all.*

What is the worst thing that another person has ever done to you? Did he do it on purpose? Did she know she was hurting you? Human beings can do some very awful things to each other. Jesus’ death is confirmation of man’s depravity. The news reports bombard us with stories of the atrocities humans can inflict on each other. It is natural to be afraid in the face of evil.

  

“Trembling and trust often co-exist in us,”* but our faith in God sets us above the fear of man. If human power is too puny for us to trust in it, then neither is it something for us to fear. We must do what is right – even if we can’t defend ourselves against those who twist and pervert our intentions.

When I am facing the unknown I like to ask myself, “What is the worst that can happen?” Jesus tells us, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” (Matthew 10.28) The worst that can happen could be some pretty bad stuff but it can’t touch the soul that trusts in the Lord.

Jesus calls us to engage the world in spiritual battle, not retreat from it in fear.*