Year 5, Day 304: Proverbs 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Information

• Information: This is the initial phase of become a disciple of Jesus.  Before we can do anything meaningful we must begin to understand what we are doing.  We may never gain full understanding of God and His ways, but God calls us to study Him, His Son, and His ways as the foundation of being His follower.

Discipleship always begins with teaching.  We cannot possibly hope to put anything into meaningful practice before we have heard about it.  Thus, when we are looking to grow and mature, we must have a mindset of being willing to learn and open to those who can teach us the easy and hard lessons of life.

We get this lesson right off the bat in the first verse.  A wise son listen’s to his father’s instruction.  A scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

As we progress through the psalm, we hear even more of this advice.  Whoever despises the word brings destruction.  Whoever reveres a command will be rewarded.  The teaching of the wise is the fountain of life.  Good sense wins favor.  In everything the prudent acts with knowledge, but the fool flaunts his folly.  Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Clearly this chapter is concerned with the idea of passing along communal wisdom to one another.  We get a clear sense in this chapter that the foundation of wisdom and meaningful life starts with putting ourselves in a position to learn from those who can teach us.  Of course, we have to be willing to imitate what we learn and then innovate it truly into our life.

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Year 5, Day 303: Proverbs 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Calling

• Calling asks whether or not God has called the person to the particular work at this point in their life.

Quite often when we talk about calling we want to talk about the big picture.  We think about calling with respect to our job.  We think about calling with respect to our church.  We think about calling with respect to our future.  While all of those make sense and they are applicable to the idea of calling, I think we miss the true picture of calling.

What am I called to do today?  What am I called to do with the 16 hours that God has given to me today?

If we look through this chapter of Proverbs, we can get a glimpse of how we are called to live.  With respect to our attitude of life, we are to love discipline.  With respect to marriage, we are to bring honor to our spouse and not disgrace.  With regard to our station, it is better to have a station and be able to provide for ourselves than to try and have a higher station than we deserve and suffer lack because of it.  With regard to creation around us, if we care for creation – especially the beasts and land under our care – we will have it far better off than if we are negligent and abuse the land and beasts around us.  With regard to our speech we know that truth endures while our lying lips only bring trouble and distrust.

What to know your calling?  Live a life that loves discipline, lives within your means, respects the creation around you, honors your spouse, and ushers forth truth.  That is your calling.  In the end, that is often far more important than the big picture we worry about and never materializes.

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Year 5, Day 302: Proverbs 11

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

Once more we have a great opportunity to speak about character.  Proverbs continues to not disappoint.  We continue to have the ways of the righteous lifted up in comparison to the unrighteous.

For example, we hear that pride brings disgrace but humbleness brings about wisdom.  Riches will not help us in the end, but righteousness will help us in the life to come.  With our mouth we destroy our neighbor, but with our knowledge we preserve those around us.    Slanderers reveal secrets while those who are trustworthy know how to keep their mouth shut.  Those who give freely grow richer while those who without will suffer in want.

I think you get the point here in this second day of studying character.  Those people who have good character will live a life of fulfillment and eternal reward.  Those people who live their life without character may find temporal joy but they will neither find fulfillment nor eternal joy.  We live our life with a choice every day.  we can either life focused on our temporal desires or we can focus on our eternal character.

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Year 5, Day 301: Proverbs 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

I imagine that I am going to be speaking about character often during Proverbs.  It seems that the idea of developing one’s internal life has much to do with what Proverbs is all about.  After all, how much of Proverbs already has been about wisdom?

When we read through this chapter, we get all kinds of character contrasting scenarios.  Slackness causes poverty but diligence causes opportunity.  Wisdom receives commandment but foolishness babbles out of itself.  Love covers up offense while hatred brings about violence.  Those who heed instruction live well but those who reject instruction will lead others astray.  A wise person acts in ways that bring pleasure to the soul but the fool thinks of wrongdoing as a joke.

This is an iconic chapter of Proverbs.  In this chapter we get point-counterpoint all chapter long.  We see wisdom juxtaposed with folly.  It is easy to read through this chapter – and chapters like this – and readily get the point.  We know what a person with character looks like as we read through this chapter.  We know what a person whose character is lacking looks like.  This is the fun of Proverbs because Proverbs really makes this discussion easy.

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Year 5, Day 300: Proverbs 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Challenge

• Challenge: God does not merely wish us to be in relationship with Him as we are.  He challenges us to grow, stretch, and transform as we take on the mantle of being His representatives to this world.

Proverb 9 is all about challenge – especially in the beginning half.  “Whoever corrects a scoffer will get abuse … do not reprove a scoffer or he will hate you.”  These verses are completely about challenge.  To be more precise, these verses are about unwelcome challenge.  If we try and speak challenge into a life that is not ready to receive it, it will fall flat.  In fact, it can actually do damage and create a bad relationship or a bad impression.  We need to speak challenge, but we need to speak challenge where it will be heard.

On the other hand, we hear “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.”  If we speak truth into those who are willing to receive it, it will be welcomed and it will create relationship.  It will create growth.  When we challenge those who are willing to be challenged we can be the tool in God’s hand.

Isn’t that what we all really want in life?  Do any of us enjoy beating our head in unfruitful labor?  Wouldn’t we all rather be able to what we feel called to do?

Listen, simple ones.  Come and dwell in wisdom.  We can all learn from her if we are willing to give up ourselves and our agendas.  We can all walk in her insight if we will just be willing.  We can all choose to give challenge appropriately.  We can all choose to receive challenge appropriately, too.

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Year 5, Day 299: Proverbs 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Guidance

• Guidance: God grants us His guidance.  Sometimes this guidance is God leading us away from temptation.  Sometimes this guidance is helping us to follow in a direction for which He has chosen.  Our default position should be to wait for God’s guidance and then follow when it comes.

I find Proverbs 8 a welcome change to Proverbs 6-7.  In fact, I think one of my favorite verses in this chapter is Proverbs 8:12.  Yesterday I spoke on what happens to us when we impulsively let appetite rule our life.  But look at what this verse says.  Wisdom dwells with prudence.  Wisdom seeks knowledge and discretion.

I love the juxtaposition of these two concepts.  Appetite over anything, not just sex, seeks immediate fulfillment.  Appetite cannot fill us meaningfully because it reaches out for whatever it can find and see that is appealing. 

But in this proverb we learn that true wisdom – genuine fulfillment – comes from living prudently.  True wisdom doesn’t reach out for everything that looks entertaining or exciting.  True wisdom pauses and considers what will truly lead to fulfillment.  True wisdom plans, considers, and prudently steps out to find fulfillment.

True wisdom also seeks knowledge and discretion.  True wisdom isn’t involved in everything.  True wisdom seeks to study and learn before making decisions.  True wisdom stops and plans where we can have a lasting impact rather than trying to do everything.  Wisdom looks for discretion before acting rather than impulsively going out to gorge itself on what appears appealing.

In the end, what we see here is that one of the benefits of wisdom is in its guidance.  When we are seeking true wisdom, we will find guidance.  When we seek true wisdom we will be patient, seek knowledge, and act with discretion about what we are truly being called to do.

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Year 5, Day 298: Proverbs 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Appetite

• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.

Yesterday I put the talk about adultery on hold.  Today we have an excellent chance to pick it up.  But as I read through God’s Word and the commentary that I wrote three years ago I came across a concept that I want to bring forward.  There is an inherent difference between an act of prostitution and an act of adultery.  Of course, both are sin.  But prostitution is a business deal in which both parties understand what is being exchanged.  Prostitution is about money for the prostitute and about a sexual experience for the buyer.  There is no relationship or expectation beyond the moment.

On the other hand, adultery is a completely different beast.  Adultery is about the search for relationship.  Adultery is about a continued pattern of behavior apart from marriage.  Adultery is a person’s pursuit for relationship outside of marriage.  Yet, it is a pursuit that can never be ultimately fulfilling.  That is what makes adultery far more dangerous than prostitution.  Adultery baits us with the promise of something deeper and more meaningful but it can never live up to that promise.

In the end, this is a wonderful time to talk about appetite.  If you read through Proverbs 7, you can really see how this is a story of appetite.  The adulteress prepares herself.  She prepares her bed.  She goes out on the hunt for a man that she can lure back to her bed and consume.  The adulteress is looking for a man who is likewise unable to control his appetite.

Naturally, when we give in to our appetite because we are unable to control it we get ourselves into trouble.  When we allow our appetite for anything to control us we find ourselves pursuing things that cannot fulfill us on a deep level.  When our appetite is in charge, we lose control of aspects of our life and find ourselves making poor decisions.

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Year 5, Day 297: Proverbs 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

As we look at Proverbs 6, we’ll save the passages on adultery for tomorrow when we can focus on the topic in whole.  That means that today I’ll just be looking at the opening half of the chapter.  As we look into the first half of this chapter we understand that this chapter is about getting along in community. 

This chapter is about how to get along without taking advantage of the people around you.  This chapter is about how it is better for us to go and make amends while an offense is new rather than to allow an offense to fester.  This chapter is about making a good name for ourselves in our community.  This chapter is teaching us to not be a person in a community who sows discord.

In the end, this chapter is really about character.  This chapter is about who we are as a person.  Are we interested in doing what we desire or are we interested in what is best for the community around us?  It is difficult to live with a communal perspective, but that is the rewarding option.  The world around us tells us to focus on ourselves.  After all, it’s all about me, right?  But this chapter of proverbs tells us differently.  A truly wise person has a communal perspective.

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Year 5, Day 296: Proverbs 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Appetite

• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.

We’ll cut to the chase today.  Solomon has been dancing around this issue for a few days now, but today he makes it pretty clear what he is talking about.  He is telling his son that he needs to stay loyal to the woman to whom he’s been married.  Solomon is telling his son that chasing after women to whom he is not married is just not worth it.  Too many bad things happen when we make sexual decision with our appetite than with our rational thinking brain.

In truth, I love the way that Solomon says it.  “Drink water from your own cistern.”  “Should your springs be scattered around?”  “Why be intoxicated with a forbidden woman or be embraced in the bosom of an adulteress?” These phrases all speak about the appetite of a man.

But we should not be ruled by our appetite.  Our iniquities ensnare us.  We are held fast by the cords of sin that entangle us.  When we obey our appetite, we end up making poor decisions – especially in the case of our sexual appetite.  This is an area that we really need to be careful.

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Year 5, Day 295: Proverbs 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Guidance

• Guidance: God grants us His guidance.  Sometimes this guidance is God leading us away from temptation.  Sometimes this guidance is helping us to follow in a direction for which He has chosen.  Our default position should be to wait for God’s guidance and then follow when it comes.

When we look at this chapter, we hear Solomon saying again and again to listen to his words.  He exhorts his son to hear them and not stray from them.  Essentially, What Solomon is doing here is trying to provide guidance for his son.  He is trying to provide access to good decision making even when he isn’t around to be a part of the discernment process.

But isn’t that what wisdom is all about?  If we think about it, don’t we usually use the term “wise” to represent a person who can help us make reasonable decisions?  Doesn’t the term wisdom seem to naturally pair up with guidance?  Would any of us seek guidance from someone with a reputation of being unwise?  Would anyone of us label someone as being wise if they repeatedly give us bad advice?

So this is the fundamental premise of Solomon in this book.  He wants his son to have access to wisdom all of his life.  He wants his son to learn how to develop certain precepts that will keep him in the company of wisdom.  He wants his son to understand how to make wisdom a lifelong partner so that he will never lack the guidance that he will need to get through life.

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Year 5, Day 294: Proverbs 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

Solomon is talking about character all throughout this chapter.  In the beginning, Solomon tells his son that he should be careful to stay true to these precepts throughout his whole life.  As an aside, I think that this is a bit ironic since Solomon himself had his heart turned aside to foreign gods in the end!  However, His point is true.  A person of character will not turn aside.  A person of character will stay true to wisdom all of their life.  They might not do it perfectly, but they will strive for the goal and confess when they miss the mark.

However, I like even more the way that Solomon ends this chapter.  Don’t plot evil against a well-meaning neighbor.  Do not fight with other people just to fight with them.  In other words, treat people well.  If someone hasn’t done wrong to you, don’t do wrong to them!  If we all lived by that advice, this world would be a much better place!

The pursuit of wisdom is indeed wrapped up with our character.  As we grow in wisdom, our character should shine through even more.  As we put wisdom into practice, our character should be evident to the people around us.

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Year 5, Day 293: Proverbs 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Information

• Information: This is the initial phase of become a disciple of Jesus.  Before we can do anything meaningful we must begin to understand what we are doing.  We may never gain full understanding of God and His ways, but God calls us to study Him, His Son, and His ways as the foundation of being His follower.

The overflowing message of Proverbs 2 is pretty straightforward.  Seek wisdom.  But make sure that we hear that message to its full depth.  It isn’t just about wisdom.  Yes, wisdom is great.  But it isn’t just about wisdom.  We can’t just want wisdom and pray for it and get it.

We need to seek after wisdom.  We need to pursue it.  We need to chase after it.  This psalm is about us being proactive.  Gaining wisdom doesn’t just happen.  Gaining wisdom is a choice that we make.

We incline our ear to wisdom.  We raise our voice and call out so that those who have it can teach it to us.  The Lord stores up wisdom; we look to Him to release that store.  So many people think that they will get wise just by getting old.  No.  We get wisdom because we intentionally look for it in others and then learn from them what it is.

As we would expect, information leads to imitation and imitation leads to innovation.  What this looks like with wisdom is pretty straightforward.  We learn what wisdom is from other people who have it.  As we learn it, we can imitate it and put it into practice in our life.  As we practice it, we get better – wiser.  As we get wiser, we can be better at innovating it into our life for others to see.

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Year 5, Day 292: Proverbs 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Abide

• Abide: This is a moment, day, or even a season when we focus on God.  It is a time when we are rejuvenated by God.  It is the time for us to gather up what we will need for the coming growth after a season of pruning.  However, abiding is not the end.  We abide so that we can grow, bear fruit, prune, and abide again.

I’m going to take a different position on abiding than normal today.  Abiding is typically thought of as resting, relaxing, and regaining energy.  But as I read through my blog post for three years ago, I was reminded of one of my favorite childhood memories.  In High School, I would often come home from school and sit with my dad and talk.  I would usually ask questions, my dad would usually listen and then talk and invite me to think.  In many ways, that was some of my favorite moments for abiding that I’ve ever had.

That’s the same kind of spirit with which Solomon begins this book.  The wise person is willing to look for people around them that can teach them and then they sit and listen.  They absorb.  They recognize that they have a place to learn and grow their experience and they take full advantage of it.

Abiding doesn’t mean that we aren’t learning.  In fact, I might even argue that genuine abiding often involves learning.  As we prepare for growth, we need to study and learn so that when we grow we have something that we are ready to apply!

It really all does come back to wisdom, though.  Am I willing to abide?  Am I wise enough to listen when I feel like talking?  Am I willing to learn what I can when inside I’d rather be proving how smart I am?  Am I truly willing to abide and show wisdom in doing so?

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Year 5, Day 291: 2 Thessalonians 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Competency

• Competency: Being able to accomplish what one is called to do.

2 Thessalonians 3 is Paul’s natural conclusion from the guidance that he offered in the opening two chapters.  Paul tells us that we should work.  We should not mooch off of the people around us.  We should not take advantage of the people around us.  We should not seek a position of high status so that we can live off of the people below us.  We should all work for what we want.

This is really an issue of competency.  We all have the capacity.  With God, we also all have the character needed to do our part.  The question that remains for all of us to ask ourselves is if we are competent enough to actually do it.  Can we actually do what needs to be done?

God does not give us the character to do what is right without giving us the ability to do what is right.  God does not call us to a life that we cannot actually live.  God does not set anything outside of our reach.  That doesn’t mean that there aren’t things that are outside of our reach.  But what it does mean is that if God puts something into our life He will put it within our ability to grasp it.

Thus, we work.  Paul tells us to work.  Paul tells us to do our best and to earn our keep.  In doing this, we also become an example and a role-model for others.  This is why Paul also talks about imitation.  If people see us working for what we desire to have, it may just inspire someone else to also work hard for what they want as well.

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Year 5, Day 290: 2 Thessalonians 1-2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Guidance

• Guidance: God grants us His guidance.  Sometimes this guidance is God leading us away from temptation.  Sometimes this guidance is helping us to follow in a direction for which He has chosen.  Our default position should be to wait for God’s guidance and then follow when it comes.

2 Thessalonians 1-2 is largely a chapter offering guidance to the Thessalonian people.  They are experiencing persecution from all sides.  The Jews are accepting the Christians less and less.  The Romans are becoming hostile towards Jew and Christian alike.  It is getting to be quite difficult to be a Christian.  Even Paul himself is arrested often and taken to Rome to be tried for his faith.

In light of this reality, Paul sends this letter to the Thessalonians.  He doesn’t want them to fall by the wayside.  He doesn’t want them to lose faith when things get tough.  He doesn’t want them to be swayed under different teaching that makes life easier by compromising the faith.  He doesn’t want them to lose out on the promise to eternal life when it is free from God’s grace!

This is why they need guidance.  It is remarkably easy to fall prey to the wily ways of Satan.  It is easy to doubt yourself and start listening to the larger so-called wisdom of the world.  It is easy to get sucked into what the world is doing rather than be an oddity in the world as a god-fearer.  Paul knows all too well just how easy it is to fall when we are called to stand up.  Paul desires to guide them into a patient and enduring faith in the midst of the hard life of persecution that is no doubt coming their way.

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Year 5, Day 289: 1 Thessalonians 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Information

• Information: This is the initial phase of become a disciple of Jesus.  Before we can do anything meaningful we must begin to understand what we are doing.  We may never gain full understanding of God and His ways, but God calls us to study Him, His Son, and His ways as the foundation of being His follower.

As we open 1 Thessalonians 5 we get a taste of Paul’s reassurance.  He knows that when persecution comes that it is easy to get discouraged or confused.  He also knows that it is easy to doubt the future when we are under pressure.  So Paul tells them not to worry.  He tells them that he doesn’t even need to write to them about the future because they already know.  They don’t need to be concerned about it because they already know.  Paul is encouraging to live out of what they already know and to do it confidently.

This tells us a really good lesson.  We live out of what we know.  But to live confidently, we need to know, first!  We need to learn something before we can even try and imitate it.  But once we do know something, we should absolutely try and imitate it with confidence.  We have to know Jesus before we can live righteously.  But once we know Jesus, we should imitate His righteousness.

That’s Paul’s point about the future.  In times of persecution, live like you are confident of who will win in the end.  I know, that is easily said and much less easily done.  But that should be our frame of mind.  We know who wins in the end.  We need to live like it.

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Year 5, Day 288: 1 Thessalonians 3-4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

Paul continues to look into the lives of the Thessalonians.  He continues to commend them!  The Thessalonians continue to stand fast in the Lord!  They are continue to wrestle against sexual impurity.  They are striving to control the desires of their flesh.  They are continuing to love one another.  They are minding their affairs.  They are doing the best that they can do.  They are walking as an example to others.

That is character.  That is what God wants us to do with our lives.  God wants us to hear His will, obey, and then let that witness bear into the lives of others.  That is what the Christian walk is focused upon.

So then Paul turns to the natural result of having character.  Those who embrace and welcome the character of God into their life will be raised into life eternal.  When Christ returns, we will be resurrected with Him.  That will be the greatest fruit of character that we can ever taste.

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Year 5, Day 287: 1 Thessalonians 1-2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Imitation

• Imitation: This is the second over-arching step of the discipleship process.  First we gain information, then we imitate our spiritual mentor.  Imitation leads to innovation of spirituality in our own life.

I love the sense of imitation that comes through these first two chapters of 1 Thessalonians.  What is really neat is that I’ve never thought about these chapters as a lifting up of praise in the Thesalonians’ ability to imitate.  So often we hear the letters to Thessalonica in a theological argument.  But these opening chapters are truly a praise to the Thessalonians in their spiritual walk!

Look at chapter 1.  Paul tells the Thessalonians that they are influencing the people around them.  The people in the towns around them are witnessing their faith!  This is exactly what people of faith are supposed to be about!  We are supposed to present ourselves as people through whom God is giving the world something to imitate.

Then in Chapter 2, Paul takes us a little farther back in history.  He reminds them that he and his followers came to Thessalonica and gave them an excellent example.  The Thessalonians are able to be imitated because they were willing to imitate.  Here we see the key core to the discipleship process.  In order to make disciples, one must be a disciple.

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Year 5, Day 286: Psalms 149-150

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Up

• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.

As I blogged about yesterday, we get to end the psalms in praise.  Again, why shouldn’t we?  Is there anything better in the world than God?  Is there anything worthy in this world to be the center of our attention than God?

These psalms are different in focus than the psalm we had yesterday.  Yesterday we had a wonderful scope in the praise.  All creation was invited to lift up their praise to God.  Today the focus is far more limited.  The last two psalms focus us just on the human response to worship God.

However, we still have some great breadth in the situations that are presented.  We are to praise Him in the assembly of believers.  That makes sense.  But we are also to praise Him when we dance and sing and play instruments.  We are to praise Him when we go out for war with our doubled-edged swords in our hands (or whatever tools of war we develop).  We are to praise God when He lifts us up into an elevated position of importance.  We are even to praise Him with our last breath.  That’s a great way to end the psalms!

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Year 5, Day 285: Psalm 148

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Up

• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.

We get to end the psalms in praise.  Both today and tomorrow will focus us on giving glory to the Lord.  Truthfully, why shouldn’t it?  Is there anything better in the world than God?

What I really enjoy about the scope of Psalm 148 is that the focus is upon all of creation that praises God.  It isn’t just humanity that praises God.  It isn’t even the old and wise people who praise God.  It is the young and the old.  It is the people and the creation.  It is the sun and the moon and the stars that give glory to God.  It is the angels in heaven that declare God’s praise.  The very elements themselves attest to God’s glory.

I find that this idea really resonates within me today.  This world can sometimes feel like a very lonely place.  But I’m not alone when I praise God.  When I lift up God’s name, I join the rest of creation as we ascribe glory to God together.

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Year 5, Day 284: Psalm 147

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Power

• Power: This is the natural outcome when we truly get our authority from the king.  When our authority is from God, we are equipped with His power to accomplish His will.  We act on His behalf in a world that He desperately loves.

Once more we could talk about this psalm from the perspective of evangelism.  After all, isn’t this psalm about declaring the glory of the Lord?  That being said, I think the theme of the psalm is found in Psalm 147:4.  Great is the Lord, abundant in power.

It is His power that gathers the outcasts, binds up the broken, and heals the brokenhearted.  It is the Lords power that brought creation into existence and brings forth grass for the animals to eat.  It is through His power that we know His blessing.  It is through the power of the Lord that our human race can even know peace.  It is through His power that we even know season of the year.

God is indeed powerful.  He is more powerful than we could ever know.  But what I find amazing in this scenario is that as great as the power of the Lord is He still desires relationship with us.  I can bring nothing to Him that He cannot bring Himself.  Yet He still desires relationship.

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Year 5, Day 283: Psalm 146

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Evangelist

• Evangelist: One who looks for opportunities to proclaim the truth and is excited by it. The evangelist specializes in interacting with the world and reminding Christians that there are non-Christians in the world.  An evangelist is not timid about the faith and is often found have discussions with other people about the faith.

This psalm is in a classic juxtaposition to psalm 145.  In psalm 145 we saw a great psalm of worship directed up to God.  However, in this psalm we see that God is not the intended audience.  God is the subject of the psalm, but the people around the psalmist are his intended audience.

However, the content of the psalm is largely the same. The psalm is about the greatness of the Creator.  He is forever.  He executes justice.  He sets prisoners free.  He makes the blind see.  He gives food to the needy.  He watches over foreigners and people who are not in their homeland.

But what really makes this psalm memorable is the admonition in Psalm 146:3-4.  We are to put our trust in God, not the people around us.  That is so easily said but so incredibly hard in practice.  After all, doesn’t it make sense to put our faith in someone who will never get tired or old?  Doesn’t it make sense for us to put our trust in someone who will always be there?  But we don’t always do that.  Sometimes it is easier for us to put our faith and our trust in the flesh and blood people that are around us.  When we do that, we are wrong.  We need to be evangelized to and told not to do that.

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Year 5, Day 282: Psalm 145

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Up

• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.

Psalm 245 gives us another great perspective in the difference between Up and Evangelism.  Certainly this psalm can be used in an evangelistic context.  This psalm is a great psalm in telling how God has been active in the psalmist’s life.  But what makes this psalm a psalm of Up and not a psalm of evangelism it the intended recipient of the message.  This psalm is spoken in the 2^nd person.  The psalmist doesn’t say that God is awesome.  The psalmist says: you are awesome.  The psalmist is talking to God.  That makes this a worship psalm.  This is a psalm of Up.

If we look at this psalm, we get a non-stop list of ways in which God is active in the psalmist’s life.  He is gracious.  He is merciful.  He is good to all – not just those who love Him.  He upholds those who fall down.  He lifts up those who are beaten down.  He is near to us whenever we should call upon Him.

However, the psalmist expands this point of view.  Did you hear what the psalmist says in Psalm 145:4?  The psalmist declares that each generation to the next proclaims God’s praise.  The psalmist isn’t alone in worshipping God.  The psalmist is simply one man in a long chain of men who are giving praise to God.  Worship is passed on from one to the next.

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Year 5, Day 281: Psalm 144

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

I think I must be in a rather indecisive mood the past few days, because I find myself seeing many smaller points coming together to form a bigger point in this psalm.  I did that yesterday, too.  Either way, I do think that we have multiple perspectives coming together.

Of course we have the perspective of protection in Psalm 144:7 and Psalm 144:11 especially.  Once more we hear a psalmist asking God to save him from a time of trial.  It’s not any great shock, but it’s also very important to take note of it, too.

Of course, we have a strong inclination towards the idea of Up – and therefore worship – in Psalm 144:9.  Why wouldn’t we sing to a God who can save us?  Why wouldn’t we sing to others and declare His awesomeness?

We even have a nod towards provision in Psalm 144:12-13.  The psalmist asks for physical provision.  But more importantly he asks for communal provision.  He asks for the benefit of future generations.  He asks the Lord to provide spiritually sound people to follow after him.

However, I think that all of these ideas are truthfully wrapped up nicely in the idea of King.  This comes through loud and clear in Psalm 144:3-4.  What is man next to God?  That doesn’t mean that we are insignificant.  But it means that He is the center of everything.  He holds the world together.  He is the focal point.  He is, well, in a word: King.

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Year 5, Day 280: Psalm 143

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Father

• Father: This is the pinnacle of the Covenant Triangle.  God is the Father.  He is the creator.  He is love.  Our relationship with the Father is rooted in His love for us.  We get our identity through Him.  When the Father is in our life, obedience becomes clear.

When I read through Psalm 143, what I hear is a man crying out for relationship with God.  We can see this by looking at the many elements of the psalm, putting them together in a collective whole, and then seeing where it all leads.

We begin in a cry for help and a humble admission.  I believe that this is a great combination through which we can approach God.  It is good for us to understand our need for God as we enter into relationship with Him.  Furthermore, I think it just naturally makes sense that we do this humbly.  We cannot stand righteously before God without His help.

As we go into the middle of the psalm we begin to hear about the psalmist’s reflection upon his relationship with God.  The psalmist thirsts for the presence of God.  The psalmist stretches out to God like a child reaching out for a parent.  The psalmist remembers the past times in which God was present in his life.  The middle of this psalm is all about how much better life is with the presence of God in its midst.

As we get to the end of the psalm, we hear the familiar theme of protection.  This is one of the things that God does best.  He saves us from the evil in this world in a very literal sense.  But He also saves us from death in a very spiritual sense as well.  Our Father is a great protector and preserver of our life.

In the end, when we put all of this together we get a well-rounded perspective on the Father.  He is the one we humbly cry to help.  He is the one who does deliver protection to us.  He is the one who stands by us through thick and thin.  He is the one who celebrates with us and comforts us in our troubles.  This is what it means to have a spiritual Father.

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Year 5, Day 279: Psalm 141-142

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Protection

• Protection: In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray that God might deliver us from evil – even the Evil One.  Sometimes we need God’s protection from the sin around us.  Sometimes we need protection from the sinful people around us.  Other times we need protection from the sin that lies within ourselves. In any case, Jesus’ point is clear.  We need protection from the Father to make it through each and every day.

We speak a lot about protection in the psalms, because many of the psalms are written from the perspective of a person who is in trouble and needs the Lord to watch over them.  Such is the case for Psalm 142.  In this psalm we hear a typical plea for the Lord to watch over the life of the psalmist.  People have laid a trap for the psalmist.  They are looking for his downfall.  The psalmist knows that he cannot navigate the evil of mankind on his own.  He needs the protection of the Lord.

However, in Psalm 141 we have a really neat twist on this idea of protection.  Do you hear what the psalmist says in Psalm 141:3-4 and then carries throughout the rest of this psalm?  The psalmist asks for protection against his own tongue!  He asks that his mouth not be his downfall.  He asks the Lord to protect his heart.  The truth is that harm does not only exist outside of us.  Harm also exists within us.  We need the Lord to protect us from that which is outside of us as well as the sin that dwells within.

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Year 5, Day 278: Psalm 139-140

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Identity

• Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father.  Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.

Identity is a key issue in our life.  We make choices based upon who we are and what we are trying to achieve.  Where we will go in our future largely depends upon who we see ourselves as today.

In Psalm 139, we can see why this is important in the past.  Psalm 139 is a great psalm about where the psalmist’s identity comes from.  The psalmist knows that he is the Lord’s.  The psalmist tells us that the Lord even knew him while he was being knit together in his mother’s womb.  That’s identity.  Having that kind of belief about who you are and where you came from will make an incredible impact upon the decisions you make and the future into which you will step.

In Psalm 140, we have more of a present look into the idea of identity.  Once more we hear a psalmist writing in the midst of trouble.  The psalmist needs to find peace and calmness in his life in the midst of the pressure around him.  The psalmist wants to know in the midst of his trouble that he will be protected, remembered, and loved.  In this psalm we hear the psalmist’s identity bringing him peace and comfort in the present.

In both cases, though, we can see that identity is important.  Knowing to whom we belong helps us here and now.  Knowing to whom we belong will help shape us as we make decisions about the future, too.

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Year 5, Day 277: Psalm 137-138

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Protection

• Protection: In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray that God might deliver us from evil – even the Evil One.  Sometimes we need God’s protection from the sin around us.  Sometimes we need protection from the sinful people around us.  Other times we need protection from the sin that lies within ourselves. In any case, Jesus’ point is clear.  We need protection from the Father to make it through each and every day.

Psalm 137 is a fairly depressing psalm.  The psalmist is in captivity under the Babylonians.  As a trained musician, he is asked to perform.  Yet he doesn’t feel like performing because he is in captivity and sorrowful because he would rather be free in his own land.  This moment of sorrow brings the psalmist to a place of asking God to remember them and watch over them until they have been vindicated.

Psalm 138 is written several centuries prior to Psalm 137.  It is a psalm of David.  As David looks at his life, he realizes the reasons that he has to give glory to God.  Chief among those reasons is the protection that he has felt throughout his life.  David might walk in the shadow of trouble.  Who among us doesn’t?  But when David walks in the shadow of trouble he remembers the security of the Lord who walks with him.

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Year 5, Day 276: Psalm 135-136

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Teacher

• Teacher: One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it. The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.  A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life.

Psalm 135 and Psalm 136 are largely teaching psalms.  If we look at their content, they are psalms which look back into history in order to see the Lord’s hand at work.  Both of these psalms talk about how God has saved His people through the Exodus story.  Psalm 136 also talks about God’s hand at work in creation.  These are psalms designed to teach us about God and His work in the world.

However, these psalms are not just designed for our education.  If we hear about God’s hand and work and are simply content with the information then we have done a great disservice to the teacher – and more importantly to God!  The point of teaching other people about God is to give God praise.  In fact, that is the point of our being alive, period.  We are here to bring praise to God.

That is why these psalms are great examples of the process of teaching.  Clearly the psalmist is lifting up the work of the Lord in the presence of his listeners.  These psalms do teach us about what God has done in the past so that we can have hope for His hand to be at work in the future.  But most importantly, these psalms teach us about God so that we can lift up His name and glorify it.

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Year 5, Day 275: Psalm 133-134

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Identity

• Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father.  Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.

Psalm 133 is about unity.  But it is not about keeping the peace.  We are to be united.  But we are to be united in God.  God’s followers should be united in mind and spirit because we are following God.  In a nutshell, if our identity is truly in God, we should not have any difficulty being united with another follower of God.  Unity in Christ starts with identity in Christ.

Psalm 134 is all about the worship of God.  But if we remember this psalm’s position in the book of Psalms we can see how this fits into the idea of identity.  Psalm 134 is the last of the Psalms of Assent.  This means that it was either the last psalm that a spiritual pilgrim would say as they approached Jerusalem or else it was the last psalm a person would say as they climbed the last step of the temple in Jerusalem.  In either case, this psalm would focus the person upon God right before they came into His presence.  This shows us what our focus should be as we go through life.  Our lasting thought should be about God.  Our final moment of preparation should draw our attention to God.  That is our identity.

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Year 5, Day 274: Psalm 131-132

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Provision

• Provision: God gives us what we truly need.  God knows our needs better than we can know them.  We learn to trust God to provide for us.

Trust.  Trust is the issue into which we are drawn by these psalms.  Yet trust is in itself most firmly rooted into the concept of provision.

For example, take the idea behind Psalm 131.  Psalm 131 is an honest psalm about a humble man who is not going to waste energy overextending himself into areas to which God has not called him.  The psalmist trusts that God will provide with respect to the parts of his life that are beyond him.  He isn’t going occupy himself with things that are too great.  In a nutshell, the psalmist trusts in God’s grand provision.

Psalm 132 takes this idea of trust and provision and runs with it in a whole different way.  In Psalm 132 we have a ton of Messianic imagery.  In fact, every instance of Zion is itself a Messianic image.  Zion is the dwelling place of the messiah.  That is why Zion is a place of happiness, peace, joy, and security among a whole host of other things.

Yet, I believe it is Psalm 132:15 that gives me the greatest insight into the concept of provision.  The psalmist tells us that God will bless our provisions.  God will bless what He gives to us to live.  But even more specifically, God will satisfy the poor with bread.  Of course there is a physical and tangible understanding of this verse.  Yet on a deeper level, are any of us not poor?  Can any of us not be satisfied by the true bread from heaven that is God’s Messiah?  Who among us cannot be satisfied by Jesus Christ?  Has not God provided for us in the greatest way possible through His Messiah?

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