Year 2, Day 243: Psalms 113-114

Psalms 113

Obviously, Psalm 113 is a psalm of praise.  The whole psalm is focused on reminding us to give praise to God.  What is neat about this psalm is that the author seems more intent on reminding us to praise God than he seems interested in telling us why to praise God.

Don’t get me wrong.  The psalmist does indeed give us a few reasons as to why we should give praise to God.  After all, God raises up the poor.  He lifts up the needy.  He brings children in the life of the barren.  These are all reasons that the psalmist gives to justify why we should give praise to God.

But these are not the thrust of the psalm.  They don’t even appear until two-thirds of the psalm is over.  The thrust of the psalm is a call for the faithful to turn to God and give Him praise.  As I read through the psalm, I am reminded of the Great Thanksgiving that is said or chanted in liturgical worship services right before Holy Communion.  In the Lutheran Church we often sing, “The Lord be with you.  And also with you.  Lift up your hearts.  We lift them to the Lord.  Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.  It is right to give Him thanks and praise.”  (Cantor in normal print, congregational response in italics)

In Christian circles, we usually give thanks to God before we celebrate communion.  That is a very appropriate place to turn and give praise to God because our salvation comes to us only by His grace.  This is why immediately before communion we spend a little time focused on praising God and giving Him the praise He deserves for saving us.

It’s nice to see this same dynamic within the psalms.  It’s nice to see that the psalms once a while take time simply to praise God.  There is a time and place for teaching.  There is a time and place evangelism.  There is a time and place for discipleship.  But there is also a time and a place for praising God with no distractions.

And why shouldn’t we?  As the psalmist says – and this is probably my favorite line from the whole psalm – who is like our God?  Who has done for us what our God has done for us?  For me that is the verse that really focuses my mind on giving praise to Him.  Who is like our God?  Why should we not praise His name?

Psalm 114

Psalm 114 is a humble confession of God’s power.  It is a reminder back to the ancient past of the Hebrew people through which we see God’s power.  Like many of the psalms, in this psalm we hear many references to the wandering Hebrew people in the time of the exodus.

I love the references to the sea and the river looking to God and fleeing.  Traditionally, the sea especially is symbolic of the danger and evil in the world.  This is probably because so few people could swim and water was therefore quite dangerous.  What is being said in this psalm is that the dark and dangerous places in this world look upon God and flee.

In almost the complete opposite light, we hear about the mountains and hills skipping like lambs.  The act of skipping is traditionally a symbol of joy and happiness.  The Promised Land looked forward with anticipation as God was bringing His people into the land.  The Promised Land longed for a people who would live according to God’s ways and with God’s agenda.

I think it is neat to see references to the power of God.  I also think that it is neat to hear the anthropomorphosis of the earth and its reaction to God.  There is much we can learn through the symbols within this psalm about God, human nature, and the world’s reaction to God.

Completely apart from the psalm, I am always amazed by how many references there are in the Old Testament to the time of the exodus.  Don’t get me wrong.  I understand that God did many great and wondrous things in the wilderness.  There is reason to remember those.

However, that was one of the darkest generations of Hebrew people.  The whole nation – save Moses, Joshua, and Caleb – were rebellious and died in the wilderness.  Even Moses, although allowed to gaze upon it, was unable to cross into the Promised Land.  The Hebrew people of the exodus were not a particularly faithful people.  Yet they are remembered unlike any other generation.  I’ve been thinking about this lately and I really think that this is intentional within scripture.  I think part of the reason we have so many references to the exodus in the Old Testament is because it shows God’s incredible work in spite of a rebellious and grumbling people.  Each reference to the exodus in the Old Testament is a reminder to us that God is at work in this world regardless of our circumstances.

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Year 2, Day 242: Psalm 112

Psalm 112

Psalm 112 is an incredible psalm.  There are so many talking and teaching points here that I’m sure I’m going to miss something or simply run out of space.  So, let’s start in the beginning.

Blessed is the one who fears the Lord and who rejoices in His commandments.  Think about that for a second.  How many of us like obeying the rules?  How many of us genuinely stop at every stop sign?  No, rolling stops don’t count!  How many of us really obey the “no tasting the grapes before buying them” rule at the grocery store?  How many of us genuinely obey the “maximum 20 pounds of weight for this shelf” rule?  As a group, we tend to be rebels.  We tend to like to push the envelope a little.  We like to follow our own understanding of what the rules should be rather than actually following the rules.  {For the record, sometimes it works out and sometimes we get burned…}

But what does this psalm say?  Blessed is the one who fears the Lord and rejoices in His commandments.  Blessed is the one who has enough awe for God to actually live the life that He would have us live.  To summarize, blessed is the one who obeys God’s ways!

What happens to people who follow God’s ways?  They will be mighty in the land.  They will be upright.  Again, think about that.  This morning I heard a great expression that I’d love to pass on.  Here is the expression: “He’s one of those people that I can genuinely say that my life is better because I know them.”  That’s an awesome expression and a great compliment to the person about whom it was said.  But do you know who that expression represents?  The subjects of expressions like that one are the people who are upright in this world.  The people who are upright are those who fear the Lord and who rejoice in His commandments.

What else happens to those who fear the Lord?  Wealth and riches are in the house of those who fear the Lord.  Now … I know what you are thinking.  There are plenty of poor Christians throughout this world.  As Tevye says at the beginning of the song If I Were a Rich Man from the musical Fiddler on the Roof, “Oh dear lord.  You made many, many poor people.  I realize of course, it’s no shame to be poor.  But it’s no great honor, either.”  There are many poor Christians in the world.  It’s undeniable.

On the other hand, I don’t think the psalmist is talking about sheer materialism in this line.  Have you ever experienced the faithful and their approach to “stuff?”  Sure, everyone can likely make the comment, “If I had more, this is how I would spend it.”  But really?  I’ve many faithful people who manage just well with what God has given them.  They not only manage, but they are grateful for it.  They may not be “rich” in the eyes of the world, but they are “rich” in their mindset because they recognize it all as God’s blessing.  All who fear the Lord and love to obey His ways are indeed rich in Him.

What else happens to those who fear the Lord?  Those who fear the Lord are not afraid.  We’re not afraid of bad news.  We’re not afraid about what the future holds.  We’re not afraid of tomorrow.  We’re not afraid of the enemy.  We’re not afraid of those who would come against us.  We are not afraid because we know it is all held by God in His hands.  We’re not afraid because we know the promises of God and we know that He is faithful to those promises.

Indeed, it is good to fear the Lord and be obedient to His ways.  It is good to love His commandments because we trust that they are for our blessing.  God is good, all the time.

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Year 2, Day 241: Psalm 110-111

Psalm 110

Psalm 110 is a psalm of the Messiah.  The reference to the Lord sitting at the right hand of the Lord makes this point clear. 

Additionally, we have the reference in this psalm to the order of Melchizedek.  For cross referencing in the New Testament, see Hebrews 5-7, which makes reference to this concept on numerous occasions.  There is a reason that this concept is significant – especially with what we know of Jesus’ lineage.

It was long believed that the Messiah would be both priest and king.  However, there is a bit of genealogical issue with this idea.  The priests came from the tribe of Levi.  David’s offspring would be king, but they were from the tribe of Judah.  The problem is how to have someone come from the tribe of both Judah and Levi.

This problem is solved when we turn in our Bibles back to Genesis 14:18.  In this passage we hear about Melchizedek, who was both king of Salem but also a priest of God.  {Note that historically this story in Genesis occurs well before the priestly order of the Levites was established during the Exodus out of Egypt.}  What this means, then, is that the king of Salem is also a priest of God.

However, we also know that Salem is the prior name of Jerusalem.  {See the name Salem within Jerusalem?}  This means that the kings of Jerusalem who are of the line of David can be both priest and king – although their priestly nature is not at all from Levi but through the means of Melchizedek.  This means that Jesus, who is of the lineage of David, can be both priest and king.  He does indeed fulfill the prophecy of the Messiah.

And what of this Messiah?  Why is this concept so important?  He is at the right of God.  In the Day of Judgment He will execute judgment upon the nations.  He will watch as the ways of the world are smashed before him.  The Messiah – and therefore the people who are aligned with the Messiah – will be brought in peace with God in the end.  We will drink from the brook that runs by God’s dwelling and lift up our head with the Messiah.

In a life filled with hardship, this is an important psalm to remember about the future.  If our hope is in the Messiah, we will one day be at peace with God.  If peace with God is the promise, then what is a little hardship to be endured in the short term?

Psalm 111

This leads us quite naturally into Psalm 111.  Psalm 111 is a psalm of praise.  God is great because His works are so significant that they are remembered.  Think about that for a second.  How many people do you know whose works are remembered like God’s works are remembered?  Sure, we might know about a few ancient Pharaohs.  We might even know about a few Roman Emperors.  We might know about a few ancient historians and philosophers.  But do we know anything about anyone like we know about God and His works?

Furthermore, what works we do know of human beings are works that come and go.  They don’t last.  Quite naturally, the works of people start and stop within our lifespan.  But not so with God.  We know of God’s work millennia ago – how He came to Abraham, led His people out of Egypt, gave the Law to the world, brought His Son to this world to reconcile us to Him, etc.  We know of God’s work yesterday and the days before because it is in our own lives.  And we know of God’s work in all the time in between – work such as with Luther, Bonheoffer, Augustine, etc.  God is remembered throughout all time; God is great!  There is no end to His ability to work wondrous deeds!

This brings us to the end of the psalm.  The beginning of wisdom is fear (awe) of the Lord.  It might seem easy to ignore the works of the Lord in this life because we can’t exactly see His hand without seeing through the eyes of faith.  But what is life when it ignores God?  Is life worth living apart from the greatness of God?

No.  The reason that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord is because it is only when we fear the Lord that we really start living.  It is only when we turn to God and see the big picture of life that life becomes worth living at all.  Without God, all we do is satisfy our own desires.  With God, we find something bigger than ourselves for which to live.

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Year 2, Day 240: Psalm 109

Psalm 109

This is a difficult psalm for me to read.  I’m going to be quite honest here.  This is a psalm to which I have a fairly negative reaction.  So, as you read through this post, keep that in mind.

I don’t really have an issue with what David says in the psalm.  After all, we know from the account in 1 and 2 Samuel that his time as king was fraught with antagonism.  We know that there were many plots against his life.  Plots were made before he was king.  Plots were made after he was king.  We know that his reign was not an easy one.

Knowing that there were plots against his life, I don’t also have a problem with David feeling antagonism against those who are against him.  I think that is also a pretty natural feeling.  When people rise up against us, I think that it is natural to dislike them.  It is natural to see their faults.  It is natural to want vindication.  It is natural to desire that they get what they deserve.

So from a human perspective, I really don’t have an issue with most of this psalm.  This psalm reads as a human being responding quite naturally as human beings will.  I don’t see anything within this psalm that is out of the ordinary for human nature.

However, my problem with this psalm is that I believe Jesus calls us to a higher standard than this.  Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek.  In a similar line of thinking, Paul tells us to show love to our enemies; for when we do “we heap burning coals upon their head.”  For the record, this is a citation from Proverbs 25:21-22.  Jesus tells us that if someone asks us to walk a mile, then we should walk two.  If someone demands our tunic, we should give him our tunic and our cloak as well.

It is absolutely human nature to be antagonistic to our enemies.  But since it is human nature, when we follow human nature how are we different from the rest of the world?  We are called to be God’s people; pointing to God rather than pointing to human nature.

I think that is my primary issue with this psalm.  Like I said, I don’t have any particular issue with anything that is said.  From the perspective of human nature, it absolutely is spot on as to how David would have been feeling about his enemies when they rose up against him.  From that perspective I think this psalm is a valuable historical account of David’s life.  But theologically speaking, I think there is much we should learn contrary to the example of human nature that we find on parade within this psalm.

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Year 2, Day 239: Psalm 108

Psalm 108

Today’s psalm is an interesting psalm.  Psalm 108 begins as though it is a psalm of praise, but it is not.  However, let’s take a moment and remind ourselves that although this is not a psalm of praise, the praise of God still fits within the psalm.  What is the greater message that we can learn here?  The praise of God fits into many different contexts.  The praise of God is always appropriate – assuming it is appropriately done.

So if this is not a psalm of praise, what is the psalm about?  The psalm is actually a petition for God’s help.  As David writes this, he is facing battle.  David is worried.  David fears that the Lord is not going to go out to battle with him and his troops.  Thus, David comes to God with a petition to ask for his help.

Here we can learn a few more things about our relationship with God.  First, to pick up from the point I gave in the opening paragraph, it is always appropriate to give praise to God.  In fact, in those moments when we are preoccupied with our own troubles it is especially appropriate to give praise to God.  Giving praise to God gives us an opportunity to focus on something besides ourselves for a moment.  It helps center us back upon God.

We can also learn that it is appropriate to take our needs and our concerns to God.  Although, notice that the bringing forth of the petitions follows the time of praise.  Once we have taken the time to make sure that we are genuinely focused where we need to be focused, then we can genuinely present our concerns to God in a manner that is not self-serving.  For me, that’s really the key point here.  If we come to God in prayer simply to have Him fulfill our list of needs, then we are treating God much like we treat Santa Clause.  Instead, the idea is to refocus ourselves back upon God so that when we bring our petitions before God we are not interested in having God accomplish our objective.  Rather, when we are properly focused on God we can bring our petitions before God and consider the answer that He would have us accept.

Why should we not go to this God for help?  After all, God has taken a single couple and made them into a nation.  He has taken the Canaanites – the native people of the Promised Land – and displaced them simply because the rejected Him.  He makes the rebellious His footstool.  He makes the repentant into tools for His agenda.  It is God who is in control – far more control than any of us can exert upon this world!

It is this God that we should desire.  We should want Him to fight with us; or rather, we should want Him to shape us so that we are the ones fighting with Him!  We should desire that He brings us into glory and into His presence because of His greatness.  We should desire that relationship to be strong so that we might be established in His presence.

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Year 2, Day 238: Psalm 107

Psalm 107

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”  How often do you think of yourself in those terms?  I’m sure that you do every once and a while.  In those moments when we are keenly aware of our sinful nature we tend to be grateful that we are redeemed.  In those moments when a pastor is delivering a particularly challenging sermon we might remember that we are redeemed.

However, we are not just redeemed in those times.  Furthermore, we are not in need of redemption in only those times.  We are redeemed all the time.  We are in need of redemption all of the time.  Honestly, what good could my hands ever do apart from God’s redemption of my action?  What good could come out of my mouth unless the Holy Spirit is there to redeem my tongue?  We live redeemed every moment.

Much of the rest of the psalm deals with the people who were redeemed.  Some were in desert wastes.  These are akin to people who spend time living while genuinely searching for truth.  I’ve known some people who spent a considerable amount of their time honestly looking for truth before they heeded the call to God.  Once they heard the truth of God they came straightaway into God’s kingdom.  But that doesn’t mean that they didn’t go from one thing to another while looking for truth.

The psalmist mentions a second category of redeemed: those in darkness.  These are akin to the people who heard truth but rebelled against it.  They had the promises of God in their midst, but they turned against it and pursued their own desires.  I’ve not only known people in this category, but I’ve been in this category.  I grew up in a solid Christian home and was taught the truth of God from a very young age.  However, that doesn’t mean that I always embraced God’s truth.  Sometimes I pursued my own agenda.  Although I knew where the light of God’s truth was, I chose to dwell in darkness until God redeemed me.

Other people are redeemed out of their foolishness.  These are people who knew the truth of God – and perhaps even desired to follow it – but they had a tendency to just make the wrong decision.  These aren’t necessarily outright rebellious people; these are people in whom a lack of forethought leads into a life of rebellion.  Unlike the prior category of people, who chose darkness, these people need redemption simply from their own lack of good sense.

The last group of people are those who “went out in ships and saw the mighty works of the Lord.”  These are people who aren’t so much in outright rebellion as they are just self-interested.  These are people who are interested in their own agenda – in this case merchants looking to make some money.  As they go out into the world, suddenly God breaks into their world and gives a demonstration of His power.  He redeems those who respond.  God redeems us when we are in those moments of being more interested in our own life more than we are interested in the life that He would have for us.

God redeems us when we are searching but not finding.  He redeems us when we are outright rebellious.  He redeems us in our moments of foolishness.  He redeems us when we are self-interested.  There are many times when we are redeemed in this world – not just when we think about it.

The really cool part about this psalm is that God doesn’t have to do any of it.  He could let us search knowing that we are not worthy enough to find Him.  He could let us dwell in the darkness without calling us out into His light.  He could let us destroy ourselves in our foolishness.  He could let us wallow in our selfishness.  But He doesn’t. He redeems us.  He calls us out of that life and into a new life.  He takes us out of that unsatisfying life and gives us a life of redemption – of purpose!

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Year 2, Day 237: Psalm 106

Psalm 106

The last three days (or so) of study have really been powerful for me.  Perhaps it is because I am in the process of moving and I am going through many changes.  That makes me vulnerable and therefore in great need of spiritual support.  Although, if it takes stress for me to have a deeply moving connection with God, then I think there is something genuinely wrong with me, too!

However, over the last few days I’ve really been focusing a lot on looking for God in the midst of the stress of life.  In the comment section for my post on Psalm 105 I was able to do some internal processing on what it means to have a good day or a bad day.  It is great to have these moments each day where I can feel myself being stretched by the world and then feel that my response is to equally stretch spiritually in the Lord.  A few years ago I would have retreated into my introverted shell and shut out the world.  Now my response is to stretch even more and look for God in the day.  That’s so cool!

The reason I went through all of that processing above is to set up my reaction for the beginning of Psalm 106.  “His steadfast love endures forever.”  Yet at the same time, “Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord?”  Or even, “Who can declare all of His praise?”

Those opening words struck me today.  With all that God is doing in my life right now, I still can’t praise Him enough!  I am still missing stuff!  There’s still more to learn!  As cool as it has been to grow in the Lord the past few days, I’m still not getting it all!

For the record, that isn’t a complaint.  Nor is it meant in a self-degrading “I’m not smart enough to get God” kind of way.  I mean that prior paragraph in an exciting way.  There is still more for me to learn!  I can get up tomorrow knowing that my growth in God is not complete!  I haven’t “arrived!”  There is a purpose to life – and that purpose is to realize that there is a tomorrow that I can use to draw me even more closely to God.

This line of thinking is literally unfolding as I type the words, so please endure my stream-of-consciousness approach to this blog post for just a little while longer.  As a pastor, I am well aware that one of the most difficult times of life is retirement.  The year or so after retirement is usually such an incredible struggle for many people.  The reason is simple, although we’d all deny its truth if given the opportunity.  When we retire, we lose identity and purpose.  When we retire, “we arrive.”  We’re done growing and were done being stretched by our job.  This is why most of the people that successfully transition into retirement either go back to work in some form {Greeter at Walmart is the popular choice these days}.  Some people do volunteer work {often hospital or animal care is a popular choice for volunteering, too}.  The way to successfully transition into retirement is … well … to realize that retirement isn’t good for most if not all people.  Sure, we can retire from one job, but we still must do something with our life!

Here’s my point.  Human beings long for the day when we can retire and live the easy life.  But most of us don’t actually do well without the challenge of growth.  We need a job to stretch us.  We need a volunteer organization to dive into.  We might even look for a new “family” to help raise as our own family grows older and leaves the nest.  We think we want to arrive, but “arriving” is really not that healthy for us.  We need that challenge of tomorrow.

This is precisely the power of these opening verses in Psalm 106.  Who can fully declare all that the Lord has done?  Nobody!  I can’t; you can’t.  But that means that there is more to learn about God today, tomorrow, and tomorrow’s tomorrow!  I am really inspired by the challenge of these opening words!  We shall never be done growing in the Lord.

What’s neat is that all that I’ve talked about so far isn’t even the main point of the psalm!  This psalm is actually a call to repentance.  This psalm is a listing of the national sins of Israel.  It recounts how the people rebelled, had a lack of faith, demonstrated distrust, lusted after other gods, didn’t take God’s ways seriously, mixed with the secular in ways that compromised the faith, and genuinely disobeyed.

Any of that apply to our own life?  Have I not been rebellious from time to time?  Have I ever lacked faith?  Have I ever demonstrated distrust?  Have I lusted after other gods {perhaps not literally, but have I ever put anything before God}?  Have I ever not taken God’s ways seriously?  Have I ever mixed with the world in a way that compromised the faith that God gave to me?  Have I ever been genuinely disobedient to God?  Indeed.  Guilty on all accounts.  I have no defense but the grace and forgiveness of God, because I am guilty.

But here’s the way I shall tie the main gist of the psalm to my comments to the opening few verses.  What an incredible opportunity to then praise God!  Look at all the ways I have been disobedient to God – and trust me, I’m sure I haven’t recounted them all!  How forgiving has God been in my life?  How forgiving has God been in your life?  How many things has God forgiven in the lives of His faithful across the globe throughout time?  How many displays of His grace have we yet to learn about?

Who can fully declare the works of the Lord?  There is more for me to learn about God’s grace and love, and I am eagerly anticipating the challenge today, tomorrow, and the days to come!

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Year 2, Day 236: Psalm 105

Psalm 105

Psalm 105 is about a single word: remember.  This is a really neat word in most ancient languages – and it is really a neat word in English if we don’t neuter its meaning as we so often do.  So often when we say “remember” what we are really saying is simply to bring to mind.  So often the words “remember” and “recall” are used as synonyms.  While that’s not really wrong, it is a serious neutering of the word.

The word “remember” in most ancient languages {and English, too} actually takes on a connotation of “bring to mind vividly enough to participate in the event once again.”  {That’s my definition; you won’t find that in Webster’s dictionary.}  Think about it.  What do I really mean when I say to a loved one, “Remember when we did this?”  Am I simply asking the loved one to recall the event?  Or am I really trying to get the loved one to mentally revisit the event and the emotion that goes with the event?  Here we see the difference between recall and remember.*

 What is it the psalmist wants us to remember?  We are to remember the covenant that God made with the patriarchs.  We are not simply to recall them, but we are to live those promises.  We are to know that as God made those promises to the patriarchs He also makes the same covenant to us.

We are to remember how the people of the covenant had a slow beginning.  Abraham and Sarah only had one child (and a few faithful servants).  Isaac had two children.  Jacob had twelve.  They were a tiny nation, but God was with them and He prospered them.  We are to live knowing that God prospers us in a similar way.  The faithful might be small in this world, but God is still with us.  He can do mighty things with few in number.

We are to remember how God saved His people through Joseph.  God sent Joseph into Egypt to prepare a way for His people to survive the famine.  We are to remember that Joseph went into Egypt as a slave and in bondage.  We are to live and know that sometimes following God’s ways implies that we will be in bondage.  We will make hard decisions and be faced with hard consequences.  But as God was with Joseph, God will be with us.

We are to remember how God used the plagues to bring out His people in Egypt.  We are not simply to recall the story, but to join the story and know that God can do the same for us.  If we are in bondage and cry out to God, He will hear us.  We are to live as the Hebrew people lived while watching God deliver them from their oppression.  We are to be a people who are amazed at God’s ability to do the unthinkable through means that are equally unthinkable.

We are to remember how He brought the people out of Egypt.  God adorned His people with wealth they did not deserve.  He allowed them to possess a land to which they had no claim.  He fed them with food for which they did not toil.  He gave them a Law that they did not deserve.  We are to live knowing that God can do the same for us as well.  He is with us and He blesses us.  He gives us a life that we do not deserve filled with things for which we do not work.

What is the point of all of this remembrance?  We sing for joy to the Lord.  When we recall what God has done in history, we are glad.  But when we remember – when we realize that those stories are lived out in each of us in all of our lives – we have reason to glorify God and give praise to Him!  When we live out our true remembrance of all that God has done, we genuinely desire to be obedient to God’s ways.  When we genuinely remember God and not simply recall His actions, we become truly repentant and our lives are changed irrevocably.

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*For the record, this understanding of the word “remember” really affects our understanding of the celebration of Holy Communion.  When Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me,” Jesus is telling us more than simply to “recall” the event.  Jesus is telling us to remember it vividly so as to relive it with Him.  Jesus is telling us that the event of taking communion should be done as if we were joining Him at the original celebration before His trial and crucifixion.  Communion is so much more than simply “recalling” the death of Jesus on the cross.  Communion is about joining Him as He prepares to die for our sake and realizing that this death of His will bring us the forgiveness of sins.

Year 2, Day 235: Psalm 104

Psalm 104

I’ve got something to confess.  After cleaning my old house and driving till nearly midnight, I had some really serious confusion about which psalm to blog about.  I was certain that I was ready to blog about Psalm 104.  But then I read those first words: Bless the Lord, oh my soul.  So I checked the reading schedule.  It was the right psalm.  So then I thought maybe I did the wrong one yesterday.  But I hadn’t.  Instead, God saw fit to have two psalms in a row beginning with “Bless the Lord, oh my soul.”

There is a bit of a reason why I went through all of that explanation.  Yesterday I made the point that this line is a reminder from the psalmist to himself.  The psalmist is telling his soul to remember to bless the Lord.  It does us good to recognize that other people – even authors of the Bible – have to remind themselves to bless the Lord!

Today was a rough day.  I wanted nothing more than to come into the hotel and absolutely crash into the bed and not wake up until the sun was in the sky again.  I wanted to put this day behind me.  But I have committed to studying God’s Word, so I cracked open the Bible.  {Okay, technically I powered up my computer and started Logos.  But that just doesn’t have the same meaning as “cracked open my Bible.”}  I read that opening line of the psalm again.  Bless the Lord oh my soul.

My mind went back to this day I’d really like to forget.  God was with me (us). 

• My wife didn’t sleep much at all last night, yet we arrived safely into our new hometown without any affects from tiredness. 
• In spite of the stress of moving and the short fuse that Cara and I have had with each other for the last week or two … we had a wonderful dinner together at a Wendy’s Restaurant and had a really deep spiritual conversation about how we need to do a better job communicating and supporting each other in the weeks to come.  We gave audible praise to God for taking a time in our life that could have easily become a wedge of division and instead making it into a learning experience that ultimately draws us closer to God and closer to each other in our marriage.
• I was almost creamed pulling out of the Wendy’s by a woman in a car who was taking a shortcut and turning into the exit instead of using the entrance.  Her car screeched to a halt and she stopped short of hitting my car. What could have been a horrible memory of Greenville, SC, turned into a near miss with absolutely no harm done.
• In spite of getting on the wrong road as I drove through Atlanta, I arrived safe and sound in the motel without anything lost but a little bit of gasoline and a few minutes of time.
• I was alone in the car with both a cat and a dog.  What could have been a very nerve-wrecking trip was actually a trip where our girl dog slept most of the day away and our cat likewise slept (after having an accident, but that got dealt with).

God was with me (us).  I have every reason to bless the Lord.  I needed this opening line today.  I needed to remember to take my focus off of the things in my day that did (or almost did) go wrong.  I needed a time to stop and remember to bless the Lord.  It was a tough day, but it is a day that the Lord redeemed and brought good out of it.  Bless the Lord!

Okay, my little foray down the “Bless the Lord” trail aside – let’s spend a bit of time on the actual psalm today.  Look at the claims that are made about God.  He is clothed by light.  He stretches out the heavens.  Stop for a second.  Ever think about how massively expansive the heavens happen to be?  God dwells in the whole of the heavens!  They are but a tent to Him!

God made the hills and the valleys.  He made the mountains rise up out of the earth.  God clothed the low spots of the earth in a garment made from the oceans.  God causes the grass to grow for the livestock.  God brings forth rain to water the earth.  The great Leviathon – a sea beast feared by all people – is simply a play thing in God’s world.

This brings me back to where I began in my blog.  This God who spans the vast scope of the universe likewise touched my day. He touched your day.  This God who looks at and holds the universe in the palm of His hand likewise cares about the intricacies of our life.  No wonder the psalmist says that when He looks away we are dismayed.  This is a God that deserves to be praised!

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Year 2, Day 234: Psalm 103

Psalm 103

Given the comments on my Facebook “synopsis” for yesterday’s blog post, I think that it is really cool how this psalm begins.  Yesterday a number of my friends and I engaged in some conversation about how we should respond to God versus how we typically respond to God on a normal day.  As if God desired to weigh in on the conversation, we open with the words, “Bless the Lord, O my soul.”

Here’s the neat thing about these words.  The words are a reminder that David is giving to Himself.  David is telling himself that He needs to remember to bless the Lord.  David needs to not forget what God has done for him.  David needs not forget about forgiveness and healing.  David needs to remember how God redeems him. David needs to remember how God crowns him with love and mercy that he doesn’t really deserve.

It seems as though it is David’s personal struggle that prompts the writing of this psalm.  David seems to have difficulty remembering that he should praise God on a daily basis.  He knows that he needs to remind himself how to act towards God. 

The opening of this psalm really does bring me a fair amount of peace.  I might forget to praise God as much as I should.  But at least I am not alone in this.  Furthermore, if God can love David and David had this same flaw, then I can have hope that this flaw of mine will not necessarily keep me from God’s love either!  The same is true for any of us.  Yes, we do need to remember to praise God more.  But we don’t need to fear this flaw and we don’t need to worry that this flaw will keep us from salvation.

From this point on in the psalm, David turns to talk about the character of God.  He has good reason to do so.  We can always benefit from reflecting on the nature of God.  If we are His followers, we are always in the process of becoming more like Him.

So what is the nature of God?  God cares about the oppressed.  God cares about the afflicted.  He cares about the people who need protection.  What about humanity?  Is it our nature to care about those who need it?  Or is it more in our nature to care about those who care about us – especially those who can do something for us?

We also learn that God is merciful.  He is slow to anger.  He is abounding in steadfast love.  Again, this is a quality that I know I as a human being can learn.  So often I am quick to anger – especially as the stress level goes up.  Or when my quality of sleep goes down.  Or when I have too little “down time.”  You see what I am saying?  As the quality of my life decreases, I am quick to anger.  We all are, I think.  The triggers might vary from person to person, but most of us have triggers that make us quick to be angry. 

Not so with God.  He is slow to anger.  He is merciful.  As David says, God does not deal with us according to our sins and He does not repay us for our iniquities.  For this, God is absolutely awesome and I know I could benefit from spending more time contemplating how to accomplish this same feat in being slow to anger in my life.

Having pondered the nature of God, David again returns to ponder the nature of humanity.  David starts by remembering that we are dust.  We are like a flower in a field that is beautifully in bloom for a short amount of time before fading away.  How many beautiful flowers have I seen in a lifespan, only to go on with life eagerly anticipating the next flower to bloom?  So it is with God.  He treasures each of us, anticipating our bloom.  Just as He is anticipating our bloom, He is also present to experience the time after we fade as well.

How does God respond when we fade from life?  He drives away our iniquity.  He separates us from our sin.  He establishes those who obey His commandments into His kingdom.

Indeed, like David we should bless the Lord.  Like David we should remind ourselves of the importance of taking time to bless God.  He does incredible things for us; we should praise Him!  We should also not forget that when we bless the Lord, we do it in the great company of the saints and even the heavenly host!

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Year 2, Day 233: Psalm 102

Psalm 102

Psalm 102 gives me a really bleak image.  Bones withering away.  Flesh withering away like grass.  Eating ashes.  Tears mingling with one’s drink.  {Ironically, my mind can’t help but going back to the story of Job!}  This is a bleak psalm.

Interestingly enough, though, the effect of this psalm on me today is one of surprise.  I am humbled by this psalm.  As any picture of me would indicate, I don’t experience my flesh withering away.  I don’t know what it is like to go through too many lean years.  I’ve had a pretty good life so far.  I really don’t have much to complain about.

I was talking to a parishioner the other day and they were speaking about an organization such as World Vision.  World Vision is one of those organizations that you can buy animals and give to people and villages in impoverished areas of the world.  You can buy egg laying chickens, milk producing cows and goats, and wool producing sheep.  As I read this psalm, I couldn’t help but to think about all those people in Africa and other places of the world who literally will know what it is like to feel their bones and their flesh withering away if they do not receive any help.

I am humbled.  God has blessed me so graciously, and how do I respond?  Needless to say, I spent some serious time today looking through a World Vision catalogue.  I need to do more of that kind of ministry in my life.

Then the psalmist turns to God.  God does not wither away.  God is not threatened by the selfishness and greed of the world.  God’s name will forever be praised!  God’s character will forever be true!  God has the same agenda yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

How neat is it to think that God cannot be threatened by the famine of the world – or the famines that are not averted on account of the greed of the world?  How neat is it to think that this God is so generous that even though people in this world may waste away, they can find life everlasting and eternal peace in this God?

That brings me to one of the final points of this psalm.  This should be our witness.  We should be out there inviting people into a relationship with this God.  We don’t need to be out there inviting people into a relationship with the football season or the local YMCA or their television or some addictive substance or some addictive behavior.  We should be letting our testimony to God be upon our lips and seen through our deeds.

God is great.  He is greater than I, for sure.  People may waste away in my presence … but nobody who is found in Him will waste away on His watch.  That is God and I will praise Him!

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Year 2, Day 232: Psalms 100-101

Psalm 100

I love the initial focus of Psalm 100.  But before I go into that, please note the expression “joyful noise.”  I checked the Hebrew just to make sure.  It is what I suspected.  Rua!  Make a joyful noise!  Give a jubilant shout!  Bring forth the battle cry!  {That remains as my new favorite way to translate this word.}  Enter into the Lord’s presence and let loose with calls of joy, fellowship, and loyalty.  Let’s rua in the presence of the Almighty, people!

Knowing the context of this psalm, look at the flow of the psalm.  After all, it is short enough to summarize the verbs in a simple list: rua, serve, come, know, enter.  Those are great verbs to use when we talk about our relationship with the Lord.

I’ve already spoken about rua, so let’s move right into serve.  Serve: to do something for the sake of another.  Whether we are doing it for the person being served or doing it at the request of another regardless of who gets served – service is something done on behalf of another person.  In this case, the person is God.  After making a rua to Him, we are to then look for ways to serve Him.

I had many interesting conversations with my mom over the past few days.  Without going into too many details, I found myself being mindful of an expression that I need to hear more about.  {For the record, don’t you just hate when your own words convict you?}  I found myself saying over and over again, “For me, the most important thing is how an action will affect my witness for Jesus Christ.  If something doesn’t promote that witness, why do it?”  I’ve asked myself that question many times in my own head the past few days.  I think that is an important question to ask as we develop a servant’s mentality.  If it doesn’t promote my witness of Jesus Christ in some manner, why am I doing it?

The next verb is come … come into His presence with joyful singing.  The Hebrew word to describe the singing is renanah – a joyful shout or a ringing cry of triumph.  Again we hear the importance of declaring our allegiance to God!

Even more, we are to come.  He wants us there!  In this line I hear echoes of the sad parable of Jesus in Matthew 22:1-14.  Here we find a Jesus who tells us that it spite of humanity’s attitude towards God, God has prepared a wedding banquet and He wants us in attendance!  God desires that we come!  How cool is it that He desires us to come!  We don’t deserve it, but He desires it anyway!

The next verb is know.  We are to know that He is God.  We are to know that He made us.  We need to know that we are His people and we belong to His pasture.  Do you hear the prior two points within this expression?  God wants us as His people.  God wants us to come and partake of His pasture.  But in doing so, we need to recognize that we are not the one in charge.  We are His people.  Thus, we serve Him.  So often we get that backwards.  We may not say it this way, but we often act as though we are in a relationship with God so that we can get Him to serve us.  No, we are the people of His pasture.  He is God.  We need to know that.

Finally, we come to the verb enter.  It might seem strange to have this verb last, but it is a great summary of the other points.  In order to give a rua or a renanah in His presence, must we not enter?  In order to serve Him, must we not enter?  In order to partake of His pasture, must we not enter it?

The great part of this verb is that it is a verb of response.  It shows that we have an expected action.  God has invited us.  He has laid out His salvation for us to embrace.  The work of salvation is entirely His.  But we do need to respond to that work.  We receive His grace.  We enter.  We leave the world and its ways behind as we enter into His presence with a rua on our lips and blessing His name!

What a great experience of God in such a short little psalm!

Psalm 101

Psalm 101 shifts the focus entirely.  It should not surprise anyone that this is a psalm of David.  This is a great and challenging psalm that talks about how we as human beings deal with sin and evil.

I’m going to be blunt, because I chose to spend most of my space today talking about being in the presence of God – which I think is the higher priority.  So in being blunt, look at what David says about dealing with evil.  Verse 3 tells us to not set the work of anything worthless before our eyes.  It also tells us to hate the work of those who fall away from God.  It doesn’t get any blunter than that.  If it’s not of God, don’t bring it into your life regardless of how much you enjoy it or how harmless it seems.

We are to cast away slander, haughtiness, and arrogance.  {That’s a pretty blunt and tough verse for people of the American culture, too!}  We are to not even allow deceit to enter our house.  People who continue to practice unrepentant lying are not supposed to be allowed to continue in our presence.

That’s a pretty tough list there, but I think there is something that we can really learn from it.  David sets a high bar.  He sets expectations of himself {And by inference, the faithful}.  David doesn’t let people just “slide through” their faith.  No, he calls people to set and attain expectations.  That’s what I appreciate most about this psalm.  It is about bringing our expectations up to God’s rather than rationalizing the lowering of God’s expectations to meet ours.

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Year 2, Day 231: Psalms 98-99

Psalm 98

I see Psalm 98 as a three-part psalm.  It begins with praise.  Then it moves into reasons for praise.  It concludes with evidence of the praise.  What is the theme that runs through this whole psalm?  Praise the Lord!  He is mighty to save and is worthy of our praise!

The Lord remembers His promises.  The Lord reveals Himself – even to an undeserving creation such as humanity.  His love is steadfast as demonstrated through His people and through the death of His Son.  He is righteous.

I am inspired this morning to sit back and think about some of the ways that the Lord has revealed Himself in my life.  So I have to tell about this experience that happened this past Friday.  I texted one of my teens in my current congregation about the fact that I was just beginning a worship service with leaders from all across the country.  She replied that it was cool and then she said that she had a song stuck in her head.  It is a camp song that we often sang together called Romans 16:19.  I texted her back a quote from the song: “Be excellent!  Be innocent!”  She laughed and replied.  Then I texted her and I said that my absolute favorite line of the song was “And the God of PEACE will soon CRUSH Satan underneath your feet.”  (Romans 16:20) She replied that this line was one of her favorites as well.  So the whole rest of the day I had that song – especially that line – stuck in my head.  She reminded me of the song, and it became lodged in my brain.

Now, what is really cool about this story is that about 4 hours later as our denominational meeting was about to close, our final speaker got up to read from God’s Word and preach.  Want to guess what the reading was upon which he preached?  Yup.  Romans 16:17-20.  The thrust of his message?  We go forth in ministry and discipleship knowing that God will crush Satan under our feet and we should have no fear of him.  Only God could use a teenager half-way across the country to prepare my mind to hear a message from a man who had no foreknowledge of the role he was playing in the story of God unfolding Him in my life.  Only God can do that.  I give the glory and the praise and the witness to Him!

It’s moments like that that I confidently know that I receive witness that there is a God and He is in total control.  It is then that He reveals Himself. 

I am now reminded of the story of Elijah in the cave.  God was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire.  But God was in the quiet moment with Elijah.  So it was with me and those around me that day.  God did not reveal Himself in great and wonderful acts of nature.  He revealed Himself in the simple and subtle relationship of two spiritual people carrying on a texting conversation between Minnesota to South Carolina.

Why shouldn’t we praise this God?  Why shouldn’t we lift our voices and sing a new song unto Him?  Why shouldn’t we sing to Him with the lyre and the harp and the guitar and the organ and the piano and the drums?  Why should we hold back?  No, let us come and worship Him with all of creation!  Let us worship Him with the grandeur of the mountains and the ever-present bubbling of the streams.  He is mighty to save and He promises that very salvation to us – even demonstrating this power to accomplish His promises along the way.

Psalm 99

Psalm 99 continues the cry to praise God that we heard in Psalm 98.  But to the witness of Psalm 98 we add an additional means for which we can praise God.  God not only reveals Himself in our present and our future, but also often most clearly He reveals Himself in our past.

God was with Moses and Aaron.  God was with Samuel.  His witness is strong.  His salvation was present in them.  If His salvation is present in them, why should it not be present within us as well?

I can add to that list.  Was God not present with David?  What about with Daniel?  Although he did not appreciate it, was God not with Jonah?  Certainly He was present with Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  He was clearly present with Ruth.  Ester was clearly a tool in God’s hand.  God embraced the sacrificial commitment that He received from John the Baptizer.  Certainly God was with Peter and Paul and James and John and Stephen and Philip and Thomas and all the other disciples.  He was clearly with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.  He was with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.  He was with Lydia and Timothy and Silas and Chloe and Phoebe.  He was with many of the church fathers such as Benedict and Francis of Assisi.  He was with Luther.  He was with Wycliff.  He was with Jonathon Edwards and George Whitefield.  He has been with missionary after missionary into China and other places where their witness is not welcome.  He was with Bonhoeffer and all the other religious people who rose up to try and oppose the evil regime of Nazi Germany.

Think about that list.  I wrote that in the course of about 2 minutes.  Had I more space and more time, I could make that list grow far beyond its current scope.  Is that not a great witness?  God is with them, He is with us who are also His witnesses.  Praise be to God!  Let’s go and worship Him!

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Year 2, Day 230: Psalm 97

Psalm 97

Psalm 97 contains what is often called a theophany of God.  A theophany is a description of spectacular supernatural phenomenon in the heavens and the intent of a theophany is to reveal God’s presence.  Here in the opening verses of this psalm we have a grand theophany.

In the beginning of the psalm we talk about thick clouds and darkness that surrounds the Lord.  The thick clouds and darkness are often a symbol of the judgment of God.  If we think about this, it really should make sense.  When we undergo God’s judgment – even those of us who are redeemed by Christ – we will face our deeds.  We will face the realization of our judgment and understand just how much we need grace.  While it will be a great day to fully be embraced in God’s grace, it will also be quite scary to know the truth of just how sinful we are.  This is often why things like dark and thick clouds are used as an analogy about judgment.  This is also why it makes sense that things like righteousness and justice are paired with this analogy of the thick and dark clouds.

Furthermore, we hear discussion about lightning, fire, and earthquakes.  These are all further symbols of God’s penetrating judgment.  Remember the idea of the refiner’s fire?  This is the fire that melts away all the dross.  Or, think about what an earthquake does.  It tears down those things that we think are so strong in order to expose the non-eternal quality of the things of which we boast and take pride.  Or, think about lightning.  Lightning is an uncontrollable force that seemingly strikes at random with incredible destructive force.  Here in this psalm we have another testimony to God’s judgment and His power.

What is the effect of God’s judgment?  We are put to shame.  Thus of us who have ever sinned and put our trust in idols and other things that are not God are shamed on account of our unfaithfulness.  We come to a realization of just how futile our pursuits of things other than God actually happen to be.

This is why I love the call at the end of verse 7.  The plea is for us to worship God!  The plea is for us to turn to Him and recognize Him as God.  Human nature is sin and one way or another we make ourselves out to be God.  We make ourselves out to be more than we are.  Thus, our response is to turn and worship Him.  We should recognize that it is all about Him.

When we hear this message and respond, we are indeed glad.  It is a strange thought to think that we rejoice upon judgment, but we really do.  It might be strange to think that God’s discipline is desired and that we are glad to remove ourselves from the spotlight and put Him into the spotlight.  But that is precisely what faith is all about.  When we recognize that we are not the Almighty, we are drawn to identify the One who is.  We are made glad by finding the one being in this world who can righteously be the Almighty.  It makes us glad to understand our place.

We end with an admonition.  If we love the Lord, we should hate evil.  The Lord preserves us from evil; why should we want to embrace it?  No, we should respond by learning the Lord’s ways and trying to live them out as well as possible.  That is the response of the faithful.  It is light, not darkness, that is sown from the righteous.  Why should we then want to live among the ways of evil?

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Year 2, Day 229: Psalm 96

Psalm 96

Sing to the Lord a new song.  It’s the opening line of Psalm 96.  I’m going to try and put an interesting spin on this.  We’ll see how it works out.

Today I got to thinking about the “new” part of this line.  Why would we need to sing a new song?  What’s so wrong with the “old” song?  An answer hit me like a ton of bricks.  “Because the old song is not the one that God wants to hear anymore.”

Think about it.  What is the old tired song of humanity?  “Life’s all about me, me, me.”  The tired old song of humanity is a song born in self-mongerism.  Does God need to hear that tired old song?  Does God need to be convinced of our sinfulness over and over again?  Do we really need to give God that old song about how much we’re missing the boat with respect to what God wants to be doing with our life?  Does God really need to know just how much our life revolves around ourselves?

Shouldn’t we be interested in singing to the Lord a new song?  Isn’t that what Christianity is all about?  Do we not stress the importance of repentance?  Is not repentance involved in confessing the old and turning to something new?  When I hear this psalm read, my ears hear the ring of Christ’s call.  Sing to the Lord a new song.  Repent.  Turn to God.  Quit living for the human agenda.  Do something new!  Live for God!

Why do we sing?  We bless His name.  We declare His salvation day in and day out.  We declare His glory to the nations.  He is great.  He is worthy to be praised.  He is to be feared (reverential awe).

It really isn’t about us.  It isn’t about our desires.  It isn’t about us.  It’s all about Him.  That’s the new song.  The new song is anti-humanity.  It is a song against the self-monger that is within us.  The new song is a song about our willingness to step aside and recognize that God is in our life.

The rest of the psalm is about exalting God.  We are to ascribe to Him many things.  Our ascribing those things to Him should cause us to exult. 

This is an interesting word.  To exult in something means to rejoice.  But it also means to triumph.  We are to rejoice in God’s greatness.  We are to take pleasure in His triumph.  Because He is great, we should swell with spirituality because He is our God.  We triumph in His triumph.  We triumph – exalt, rejoice, praise His name – because He is judge.

He is judge.  He is the only fair and righteous judge that can be.  He is amazing.  He will look upon us, see our sin, and although He is righteous He will judge us in faithfulness.  Thanks be to God that through Christ we know that His righteous judgment will come through the lens of Christ’s faithfulness.  We shall know God’s love through His grace in judging us through Christ’s righteousness.

What reason do we have to not give Him praise this day?

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