May 31, 2024

Psalm 141.3 (NIV)

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.

Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.*

David is concerned about being surprised into sin. He could have allowed himself to express resentment toward his enemies, but instead he prays for the right attitude. David knew that our mouths are capable of spewing out damaging words we don’t even know we are thinking. In the “thoughtlessness of conversation,”* we often get caught up in the moment and say things we shouldn’t. It would be helpful if God would just lock the door of our lips and throw away the key, but there are times when you can’t not say anything. 

In court, we swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. In life, we must be careful to say nothing that could convey other than the truth. Someone has said that it would be a pity for a mouth that has been used in prayer to be defiled with lies or pride or anger.* It reminds me of what people say to shame someone who is using foul language: “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

Pray, like David, that God would put a guard over your mouth!

 An abundance of words is seldom heard.*

May 30, 2024

Psalm 139.23, 24 (NIV)
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

It is only by invitation that he comes in and cleanses us.*

Psalm 139 began with David proclaiming that God has searched him and knows him; so now why is he asking God to search him? Perhaps the previous search was for the sake of God’s information; now David wants to know for himself what God has found.

David is fully aware that he can’t fool God and so he is willing to surrender his disguises and let God reveal his hidden sins to himself. But knowing isn’t enough. Once his offensive ways have been exposed, he pleads for God’s direction.

When my first marriage was crumbling, I talked my husband into going with me to a Christian counselor. To friends and family, I had confided some of what we were going through but I feared they weren’t being objective in their advice – of course they would take my side! I believed that a counselor would be fair and unbiased. I wanted him to search me; to tell me what I was doing wrong in my marriage and to tell me what I needed to do to fix it. I was willing to do whatever he recommended that I do. Good practise for opening myself up to God!

Can we allow God to show us our offensive ways? He wouldn’t have to search long or hard as our sins are surely not few or small or unobtrusive. And those anxious thoughts – is it possible that he wants us to let go of them as well?  

Until we know how sinful we are in God’s eyes, we will never be able to be as good as God wants us to be.*

May 29, 2024

Psalm 139.13, 14 (NIV)

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

The very fact of something's having been made is certain proof of there having been a maker.*

The human body was purposefully made. It was not accidentally formed or gradually produced. God designed it and breathed life into it. He created the prototype out of nothing but his power. He is the God of biology. I may be the result of a genetic combination made up of parts of my mother and my father but I am not just a random product of my parents’ combined DNA. I am the person God meant for me to be. He chose the ingredients that would make me me.

We join David in exclaiming over the intricacies of the human body and marvel that this physical shell can contain our soul. What keeps the eternal part of us from breaking free from the body?  In Colossians 1.17, we get a clue: “In him all things hold together.”

How incomprehensible is God’s creation!

What a value hath God set upon the soul! He made it after his image, he redeemed it with Christ's blood.*

May 28, 2024

Psalm 139.1–4 (NIV)
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.

His care for us is personal and he deals with each of us individually.*

I hate to put this thought into your mind but perhaps you were already thinking the same thing: “He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good so be good for goodness sake.” Yes, a song about Santa Claus appears to have been taken from David’s psalm about God’s all-knowing character. 

Sometimes we don’t see God as the personal God that he actually is. Yes, he’s a great big God who knows everything but we fail to remember that he doesn’t have to prioritize his to-do list. He can keep the planets in orbit at that same time that he is reading my mind. David is saying that God has investigated us and thoroughly acquainted himself with us. He knows each of us on an individual basis - better than our spouse, our best friend, or our mom. He knows what I am thinking now and what I’m going to think later. He observes what we do and where we go. He knows what we said, what we are going to say, and what we meant to say. 

Is it a good thing to have the Almighty watching every move you make? Isn’t a bit creepy to have someone know you that well? Is there that same sense of fear we get when we think about Santa Claus knowing all about us? Then perhaps you will find comfort in this thought: if God does not know us perfectly, how can he prepare a perfect salvation for us?* 

Don’t think thoughts you don’t want Jesus to hear.*

May 27, 2024

Psalm 131.2 (NIV)
But I have stilled and quieted my soul . . . like a weaned child is my soul within me.

A good father doesn’t necessarily give his children everything they think they want.*

David claims to have stilled and quieted his soul. Did he – do we – have the power to do that? In the analogy of the weaned child he alludes to the struggle that took place before he arrived at this state of mind.

Not all children are the same but I have heard of many who were not ready to be weaned – from bottle, breast, or pacifier – when Mom was ready. It takes determination not to give in to the baby’s whining and demands but the mother wants what is best for her child so she demonstrates her love in a way that to the child doesn’t seem so tender! The psalmist is telling us that though it was a struggle to get to this point, now he knows how to feed himself. When we give up our determination to have our own way, God quiets our souls.  

When our broken hearts are given to God, he can make our lives beautiful again.*

May 26, 2024

Psalm 130.3 (NIV)

If you, O lord, kept a record of sins, O lord, who could stand?

We cannot justify ourselves before God, or plead Not guilty.*

What! God doesn’t have a record of my sins? Does that mean that the only reminder he has of my past transgressions is when I bring them up? I can’t seem to forget that the sin God forgave me for yesterday is the same one he forgives me for today. I think it would bother me less if I just picked out a “sin of the day” for the sake of variety.

I am thankful for God’s forgetfulness. When I say, “I’m sorry,” he forgives and forgets. I don’t have to wait for him to “get over it” or “work it out.” He doesn’t nurse a grudge, wallow in his hurt, or try to get even. He doesn’t question my motives or doubt my sincerity.

I am a forgiving sort myself. When someone wrongs me, I tend to get over it and go on with my life. But what I forget and what I remember seems to be completely out of my control. God – who knows everything – can’t even remember the sins he’s forgiven me for. Who could do that but an almighty God? Only God has the love and the power to forgive and forget. Why can’t we accept that we don’t have to carry the burden of our sin? Do we not believe his grace is sufficient? If it’s not, we don’t stand a chance!

With a biblical appreciation of God’s wrath, salvation becomes an object of joyful surprise and unending wonder. Instead of questioning how a loving God could condemn people to Hell, we find ourselves surprised that a good God is letting any of us into Heaven.*

May 25, 2024

Psalm 127.2 (NIV)

For he grants sleep to those he loves.

It is impossible to get exhausted in work for God. We get exhausted when we try to do God’s work in our own way.*

Everyone sleeps. Some high-energy types don’t need as much sleep as I do. Insomniacs may not sleep when they want to or as much as they would like but eventually their bodies shut down. Jesus was so tired that he fell asleep while on a fishing boat and would have slept through a fierce storm if his terrified disciples hadn’t decided to wake him. (Can’t you just hear the discussion among the other passengers? “You wake him up.” “No, you wake him up.” “How can he sleep through this?”)

Within context, this verse is talking about the futility of getting up early and staying up late to work for our sustenance. An alternate rendering says, “For while they sleep, he provides for those he loves.” In other words, we may work ourselves to death but it is God who provides for us. So whether the psalmist is telling us that God provides for our needs or that he provides us a good night’s rest, it is still true.

I like this writer’s thoughts: “We often feel guilty when we rest. Perhaps we ought to feel guilty when we refuse to rest. . . . Pushing hard through every day without a break may be an indication that we believe we are the ones responsible for our provision and success, when in reality God is in control of these things.”*

Everyone sleeps, but God’s children can rest easy in the confidence that God is in control.

Ours is so often a self-imposed busyness.*

May 24, 2024

Psalm 122.6 (NIV)
May those who love you be secure.

Being in God’s will is the only safe place to be.*

Within its context, this verse is part of a prayer for peace for Jerusalem, and could be regarded either as a promise or a prayer. Out of context or not, and whether it is a prayer or a promise, it can speak to us.

Some versions of the verse render it as a request for prosperity for those who love God. Prosperity and security might seem to go hand-in-hand but earthly prosperity comes and goes. Jobs, banks, investments – these all let us down. Where is our security then?

One Bible scholar says that the word “prosper” doesn’t really convey the original meaning of this verse either. The “essential idea” of the Hebrew word, he says, is that of “quietness or rest.”* I prefer that interpretation because too many people misunderstand God’s promises regarding prosperity. While material wealth is often enjoyed by Christians, we are not promised that kind of prosperity or security.

When we rest securely in the Lord, our sinful desires are subdued; our craving for truth is increased; our strength is renewed; we enjoy communion with God; and we are fruitful in good works.* That kind of security is certainly superior to worldly prosperity!

Health and wealth gospel dishonors Christ, since any gospel that is more true in America than China is not the true gospel.*

May 23, 2024

Psalm 121.7, 8 (NIV)
The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

God claims lordship over all the details of our lives.*

These verses remind me of a job description. In the employee manual is listed all the duties of the position and at the end is added “. . . and all other duties as may be assigned,” just in case they missed something. We certainly don’t want to hire someone and have them come back and say, “No one told me I would have to be in a parade or talk to a group of middle-schoolers.” (Things I hate and have had to do as part of a job.) It wasn’t enough for the psalmist to say that God would keep us from all harm. No, he had to make sure we understood the all-inclusiveness of God’s protection. He wants his readers to understand that God is on the job whether we are coming or going, from this moment on and forever.

 

To paraphrase something I read: God doesn’t protect us from affliction – but he doesn’t use affliction to punish us. He doesn’t keep us from all bad things but he uses them for our good. He doesn’t isolate us from sin but he provides strength to resist the temptation to commit sin and releases us from its power and consequences. He doesn’t remove us from the world and its evil – tribulation, reproach or persecution – but he frees us from wickedness and lust, from the power and wrath of wicked men, and from Satan himself.* He prevents the evil we fear and eases the burden of the evil we feel.*

God doesn’t just check on us from time to time. He watches over our lives - every boring and/or stupid moment. His love is unconditional. Although we come and go and change, God stays the same. How comforting is that?

Blessed are those who acknowledge that there is only one God and have quit applying for his position.*

May 22, 2024

5.22 Psalm 121.3, 4 (NIV)

He who watches over you will not slumber . . . he . . . will neither slumber nor sleep.

Watch for God’s provision and testify to his care.*

We need sleep. God made us that way. I can testify to the effects of not-enough-sleep on the human body. From trying to stay awake in class after an all-nighter; to falling asleep at the wheel and waking up in the next lane; to getting up in the night to take care of newborn twins and waking up in my bed with no recollection of how I got there or what I did with my babies.

God, on the other hand, doesn’t need sleep and doesn’t do it. He is always on the job. We never have to guess when would be a good time to get in contact with him; we don’t have to worry that we’ll wake him. It’s always the right time. 

And it’s a good thing that we can rest under his ever-watchful care; that we are benefactors of his “sleepless vigilance,”* because our enemy never sleeps either. The only time Satan takes a break from trying to ambush us is when he knows we’re already his. We aren’t guaranteed that we will never experience physical harm but we can claim the promise of God’s ever-present help in our spiritual battles.

As we are living out our lives on earth, the supernatural universe is simultaneously at war.*