Year 8, Day 181: Psalms 38-39

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Psalm 38 gives us a psalmist in a low spot in their life.  Clearly the psalmist is feeling attacked, perhaps entrapped, and certainly a bit on the helpless side.  In the midst of his pain, the psalmist asked not to be rebuked by God.

I’m not sure about anyone else, but I’ve been there.  I know the feeling well when something goes wrong and I realize my mistakes.  There is a sense of hopelessness when I recognize just how poorly I’ve acted or spoken.  Sometimes the feeling comes when I’ve been selfish and evil; sometimes those feelings come when I’ve been clueless about what I’ve been doing.  This feeling can come when I have been both intentionally and unintentionally involved in wrongdoing.

In that context, there is something I love about what the psalmist never does.  He never makes excuses.  He never tries to deny his involvement.  He never tries to pin it off on someone else and give away the blame.  The psalmist looks to God and acknowledges his wrongdoing.  He owns that his unhealthy life is due to his own sin.  He acknowledges that he is drowning in his own iniquities.  He confesses his sin.

This is maturity in action.  Everyone makes mistakes; some mistakes are intentional and others are not.  Everyone has sin in their life.  Everyone gets caught.  How we recognize maturity is when someone owns their error instead of trying to circumvent it.  That is what this psalm has for us today.

We can’t possibly know the whole context of the psalms and why they were written.  Psalm 39 seems to be about a time when David said something he shouldn’t have.  Now he is dealing with the consequences of his indiscretion.

What is the error about which David is guilty?  He tried to hold his tongue, but as he did his anger got the best of him.  In his anger, he lashed out with his tongue.  He said something he shouldn’t have said.  Now he is paying the price for it, because his enemies have gathered around.  As with the earlier psalm, I know that feeling, too.

Look at when the knowledge of his sin takes David.  David tells the Lord that his hope is in Him.  Redemption lies with God.  There’s no need to hide from our sin or place the blame on other people.  The reality is that the quickest way through our sin and into restoration is through acknowledgement and ownership of our misdeeds and turning to the Lord for redemption.  Our hope is in the Lord, not ourselves!  When we try to blame other people or try to hide from our sin, all we do is run from the possibility of redemption!

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Year 8, Day 180: Psalms 36-37

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There is a very simple lesson to be learned in Psalm 36.  When we have unchecked evil within us – even seemingly harmless evil like laziness or the occasional white lie – we get haughty and proud.  We start to think we are invincible.  We flatter ourselves and think we won’t be found out.  The evil and deceit grows, opening up paths for greater misdeed.

On the other hand, the presence of the Lord and His ways has the opposite effect.  We can take refuge in His love.  We can learn by His precepts.  He is our fountain of life.  He prevents the arrogance that comes with sin from grabbing a foothold within our existence.

Psalm 37 continues these themes and contrasts the righteous with the wicked.  There is a phenomenal piece of wisdom found amidst the comparisons of good and evil, wisdom that is worth bringing out.  What is the advice that David gives to the righteous?  Be still and wait for the Lord.  Don’t worry about those who prosper in their own evil schemes.

This is a huge angle to consider as we contemplate the choices in our life.  How often does it seem like the wicked prosper?  How easy is it to become envious of those who seem to win even though they clearly do wrong?  How typical it can be to wonder where justice is in the world and why we should do right especially when nobody is looking.

We are told to be patient and wait upon the Lord.  In other words, human beings see the now and focus on the present.  God sees the future and focuses on the eternal.  Where we see evil prospering, God sees a long chain of evil getting ready to destroy itself.  Where we see unrepentant sin prosper, God sees arrogance and pride growing before the fall.  In those moments when we are forced to choose between good and evil, we are told to wait upon the Lord.  We are told to see through His eyes and hear His wisdom.  We are told not to fret when we see evil prospering, as if we should give it no heed whatsoever.

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Year 8, Day 179: Psalms 34-35

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Psalms 34 and 35 give us two sides of the same coin.  David wants us to praise God for upholding the cause of the righteous.  He also wants us to praise God for punishing the cause of the unrighteous.

Within this greater context we can see a few neat working assumptions that David uses.  For example, look at those who are within God’s favor and who will listen to David’s words.  The humble hear and are glad.  The poor find salvation in Him. Those who fear the Lord have no lack.  Children listen and are taught. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and crushed.  There’s a trend here.  God is a God of the oppressed, those in need, and those who live humbly.

On the other hand, look at those with whom God contends.  There are those who seek the lives of others. There are the ones who devise evil schemes. There are those who act without cause. There are the malicious witnesses.  There are people who repay good with evil.  There are people who rejoice when another stumbles.  There are people who do not speak words of peace.

The dichotomy is pretty easy to see.  People who live humbly and do not take away from the community around them can find God – even find themselves within God’s embrace!  People who think more of themselves than they should and seek to lift themselves up above those around them often find themselves opposed by God.

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Year 8, Day 178: Psalms 32-33

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In this pair of psalms today, we can see a trio of messages.  To start, take the middle of psalm 33.  There is a tendency among human beings to place trust in things that are not really able to fulfill our trust.  We trust in warhorses and chariots.  Today, we might speak of trusting in the absolute protection of our military.  Human beings tend to trust that their house can protect them.  Often, such as in the face of a thunderstorm, it can.  But what can a house do in the face of a sinkhole, a tornado, or even a fire?  Human beings like to think that gold and money can save them.  While we can spend money on needs like food or clothing or even on desires like entertainment and transportation, the truth is that no amount of money can buy happiness.  Human beings like to search for places for us to place our trust.  There is only one sure place for our trust to find fulfillment.

That brings us to a second theme in these psalms: God.  God is where our trust should reside.  He is the one who saves us.  He is the one who can protect us.  He is the one who can bring us into eternal dwelling with Him.  He gives good counsel while frustrating the schemes of mankind.  He created this world and is master over it.  There is no better place to store our hope than within Him.

What then, should we do?  Our response is found best by turning to Psalm 32.  In the face of a God who is capable of securing our hope, we should acknowledge our wrongdoing before God.  We should then turn in our ways and embrace the ways of the Lord.  Then we may truly enter into the relationship with Him that He provides.  We can glorify His name.  We can learn from His teachings.  We can know His love.  We can glorify in His name.

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Year 8, Day 177: Psalms 30-31

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In Psalms 30 and 31 we can see a neat contrast between God and humankind.  Before I go too far, though, understand that I am speaking in generalities.  Naturally there will be specific moments of human existence that do not conform to what I say.  There are exceptions to every generic rule.

In Psalm 30, we hear about why the Lord should be extolled.  His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime.  He makes us strong when His face shines upon us.  He is merciful.  He turns our mourning into dancing.  He clothes us in gladness.  These are reasons to praise Him.

In contrast, we hear about David’s experience with humanity.  Human beings conspire against David and seek to entrap him.  They want what he has.  The people around him turn him into a reproach.  They turn him into an object of dread, causing others to disassociate from him.  They whisper behind his backs, scheming against him and making him as dead.  They lie in their pride.  They try to cut David off from his Lord.

God is often spoken of as holy.  In the Bible, holy means different.  These psalms show us why God is holy.  Whereas human beings are generally self-centered and self-seeking – even the best among us have moments of selfishness, God is looking for our edification.  God desires to lift us up.  God desires to bring us to a better place.  Human beings desire to sacrifice others for their benefit; God desires to sacrifice Himself for our benefit.

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Year 8, Day 176: Psalms 28-29

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Psalms 28 and 29 give us a great one-two punch today for meditating on the relationship between human and divine.  You could also think of this dynamic as eternal versus finite.  How do human beings relate to an eternal divine being?  Why do human beings relate to an eternal divine being?

If we look at Psalm 28, we see that the psalm begins with a return to the idea of fear of the Lord.  David begins the psalm by asking God to not drag him away with the wicked.  He doesn’t want to get lumped up with those whose hearts are not inclined to God.

I’m reasonably sure that this is a pretty natural response.  It’s human nature to worry that someone who has such a greater degree of power or authority will not be fair.  How many people doubt the fairness of governments or militaries?  How many students doubt the fairness of teachers?  How many employees doubt the fairness of employers?  The doubt is not always deserved, but the doubt is human nature for the person in a lesser position.

This is where Psalm 29 comes in.  How do we know that David has a recognition of God’s vastly more powerful position?  Read the psalm.  Look at all the things that David says about God.  God is strong, splendid, and holy (holy means different, remember).  God thunders over water.  God’s voice alone is capable of breaking cedar trees.  God’s voice shakes the wilderness.  God’s voice bursts forth like the flickering flames of fire.  God brings forth the birth of the next generation of all animals, not just humans.  God is also capable of bringing the end of things, including nature!  God rules over the uncontrollable forces like floods.  David has every reason to see God as a being of vast power.

Remember the other half of having a fear of the Lord, however.  Notice that in Psalm 28, while David has fear of the Lord and he asks the Lord to make sure that he is not swept away with the wicked, he also does not lose faith that God will hear him.  Even in the midst of doubt, the Lord is his strength and shield.  The Lord is where his heart trusts.  The Lord continues to be his refuge even in the midst of his desire to remind the Lord to not sweep him away.

This is a great picture of how fear of the Lord works.  Fearing something does not mean losing faith in it.  When we are doing it right, it shouldn’t.

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Year 8, Day 175: Psalms 27

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I am going to run the risk of sounding like a broken record today.  This is a good thing, though.  There is a principle that is important when it comes to Biblical study. Scripture should interpret scripture.  What that means is that when we read scripture, we should pick up on themes.  We should see common threads.  We should be able to see continuous messages throughout God’s Word.

As I read this chapter, I hear David crying out to God.  Yes, this is a plea serving as a reminder for God to protect him.  David is coming under persecution and he wants to be spared.  He wants to be brought into peace.  How many people cannot resonate with that, especially in a moment of persecution?

Look more deeply.  Where is David’s focus?  What is the one thing that for which he asks?  He simply wants to dwell in the house of the Lord.  His focus is upon God and His dwelling place.  In the midst of His turmoil, he does not forget where His heart resides.

This doesn’t mean that David doesn’t see the persecution around him.  This psalm begins with David’s plea.  David recognizes his plight.  What David does, though, is allow his plight to bring him back to his center.  David allows the turmoil in his life to remind him about his focus.

Once he has his focus upon the Lord, he can take confidence in what he knows.  The Lord is His shelter.  The lord will lift David’s head up.  The Lord will teach David in His ways because his heart is focused on God.  He has reason to be strong.  He has reason to wait upon the Lord.  He has reason for courage.

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Year 8, Day 174: Psalms 25-26

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Psalms 25 and 26 are both psalms asking God to look past transgression and bring the psalmist into righteousness.  This is not a surprise; both the psalms are written by David.  If anything is true about David, it is that he lived life to the fullest.  When he was righteous, he was gloriously righteous.  When he was in the wrong, he was gloriously in the wrong.  Furthermore, he was incredibly aware of his strengths and weaknesses.  This is why he was a man after the Lord’s own heart.

On this very point, I think one of the key verses in this chapter is Psalm 25:12.  Who is the man who will fear the Lord?  The one that the Lord instructs in His ways.  There is something deeply spiritual about this concept.

First of all, understand the inherent connection because fear and instruction.  When I say fear, I’m not talking about a paralyzing fear.  I’m talking about the kind of fear that recognizes authority and the ability to affect one’s life.  I know this feeling as a teacher.  The day before every test, I make sure that my students realize that I have the capacity of putting a few very challenging problems on the test.  I don’t make them feel like they will all fail as that would be defeating.  But I do make them realize their need to be masters over the material.  Their fear of my evaluation of their skill motivates them to study harder and eventually to do better.

This is the inherent connection between fear and instruction.  When we are afraid of God’s evaluation of our life – specifically His judgment that we are found wanting – we are motivated to become better.  When we fear that we may end up with an eternity of separation from Him, we are motivated to become masters of His ways.  The fear of the Lord is where our righteousness begins.  As other places in the Bible say, “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.”

We need to make sure that we don’t lose that.  Sure, we don’t want to have a paralyzing fear of the Lord.  But we do need to have recognition that the Lord is the final judge.  He is the one who will righteously determine our eternal fate.  He is the one who can save and make right.  When we understand this perspective properly, we become open to His instruction and we can change to become more like Him.

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Year 8, Day 173: Psalms 23-24

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There is no more iconic psalm than Psalm 23. This psalm has been said at more funerals - and weddings, go figure – than any other psalm in the Bible.  When someone says the word psalm, I’m willing to bet that if we associate it with anything that most of us immediately do so with some part of this psalm.

Why is it the quintessential psalm?  To be honest, I blame a lot of that on rote tradition.  People use this psalm because its just what people do.  Instead of being original and picking a psalm with genuine meaning, I think many people used this psalm because its all they know.  I bring this up because it lifts up an inherent danger of the psalms – or any part of scripture.  When some scripture becomes iconic we can stop thinking about it.  While we want to be familiar with scripture, we want to meditate upon it.  Familiar should never replace meditation.

There are good reasons for this psalm to be iconic, however.  This psalm speaks deeply to the nature of God in many stages of life.  While it is certainly not a universal psalm, it is widely applicable.  When we are feeling lost, we are reminded that the Lord is a shepherd.  When we are feeling anxious, we are reminded that the path of the Lord is to still waters. When we lose our identity, we are reminded that He leads us into righteousness for the sake of His name.  When we are tempted, we are reminded that He leads us with both rod and staff.  When we feel alone, we are reminded that He invites us to His table.  There are many reasons to find this psalm appealing.

Psalm 24 gives us a different perspective on the Lord.  Whereas Psalm 23 is about the more pastoral nature of God, Psalm 24 is more about His splendor.  He is the king of glory.  He causes us to look up and rejoice.  The entire earth is His domain.  He is strong.  He is mighty.

For me, though, the greatest part of this psalm is the central verses.  If the Lord is so full of glory, who can ascend up to Him?  We are told that the righteous can go up.  Remember, though, that the righteous are made righteous by God.  The psalm isn’t telling us that the good and perfect people can go up.  The psalm is telling us that those who are after God’s own heart – those that God makes righteous – can go up to Him.

I think this is a very powerful word for the day. The Lord is splendorous.  But we are invited to be with Him.  He makes it possible for us to participate in His glory.

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Year 8, Day 172: Psalms 21-22

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For those who worship in a liturgical style, Psalm 22 is very familiar on one particular day.  It is the psalm of Maundy Thursday.  It is the psalm of the stripping of the altar.  It is the psalm that puts up the framework of Jesus’ death.

That being said, remember that while the psalms can have a prophetic voice they are originally written in a context and for a context.  Psalm 22 is a psalm that David wrote when his enemies surrounded him.  It was a psalm from when he was at an ultimate low in his life.  It is a psalm when David most greatly felt the scorn of those around him.

There’s a cool point about this as it shows us what God is after.  As you listen to David’s words, note that you cannot find any doubt of the Lord within them!  When David is at his lowest, he’s not asking where God is to be found!  David is praising the Lord and calling for His salvation!  For a person after God’s own heart, coming under the eye and oppression of evil is not a reason to doubt God’s existence but an opportunity to express one’s faith in God!

This brings us back to the example of Christ.  For Jesus, the procession of the cross was an opportunity to grieve the evil of humankind.  It was also an opportunity to embrace the plan of God.  It was an opportunity to bring true salvation to those who will receive it.  Evil should always be grieved. Yet we should be quick to remember that it is every bit as much an opportunity to turn to God and embrace His salvation – even if salvation means waiting for the resurrection to experience His glory.  That’s exactly what Jesus did.

This brings us to the praise of Psalm 21.  In this psalm we hear more words about the greatness of God and what He is able to do.  He gives us life.  He bestows joy and blessing upon us.  He sees our enemies.  He will judge over them.  This is why He is God.

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Year 8, Day 171: Psalms 19-20

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Psalm 19 has some iconic verses.  It tells us that the law of the Lord is perfect.  It revives the soul. It is to be sought out more than God.  It makes the heart glad.  It makes the wise simple.  It is enlightening.  It is enduring.  It warns us from mistakes.  For all these reasons, it is greatly to be desired.

Yet, do we live that way?  I can’t say that I have, at least not for the vast majority of life. Most of the years of my life have been pursuing my own dreams, my own gold, and my own happiness.  That doesn’t mean that I denied God; I can’t think of a time in my life when I did not believe in a higher being.  But I wasn’t living as though God’s Word was my ultimate guidebook to life.  Even now, when I am much better about making it central, it is still challenging amidst the distractions of the world.

This psalm ends with an iconic verse.  When I was preaching weekly, this prayer was how I began every sermon.  “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”  This verse is the culmination of what this blog post has been about thus far.  We should be living in such a way that every thought and every word brings joy to the Lord.  Every breath we take and every action we make should be something that the Lord can use.  That’s the goal.

This is a wonderful way to bring in Psalm 20.  Psalm 20 is about the greatness of the Lord’s salvation.  Why do we live our live with His Word as our ultimate guidebook?  We live this way because He is the fulfiller of plans.  He is the one who saves.  He makes us upright.  This is why we trust in His name.

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Year 8, Day 170: Psalms 17-18

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Today we have two psalms of David.  Both psalms are focused on the nature of God and His deliverance.  Both psalms assume the righteousness of the psalmist.

Look at this second point.  There’s no doubt who David is.  This is the man who had Uriah killed so that he could take his wife.  In fact, he had multiple wives at the same time!  Here is a man who struggled to keep his children under control.  Here is a man who certainly had his faults, especially in his personal life.

However, David doesn’t assume perfection.  David is righteous because his heart desires the Lord.  There is a difference between perfection and righteousness in spite of the fact that we often conflate the two concepts.  Perfection means that a person is without error.  Righteous means that in spite of one’s condition God has deemed the person justified.  When our hearts incline to Him, He makes us righteous.  We, like David, can have significant flaws yet still be righteous in God’s eyes.  We need not be perfect, we simply need to pursue the Lord and His ways.

Having said all of this, now turn to what David says about the Lord.  It is the Lord who caused David to rise above his enemies.  It is the Lord who fought for him.  It is the Lord who delivered him.  The Lord thunders from heaven.

Look at what David says about the character of the Lord.  He is merciful, blameless, pure, saving, a light, a rock, and strength.  Against the wicked He is judgmental, tortuous, and confrontational.  He pursues what is good and casts off that which is evil.

All of these things combined is why David knows that God will listen when David calls to Him.  If the Lord is righteous, then the Lord will hear those who pursue righteousness.  It is a natural conclusion to make.  Why wouldn’t God desire to hear from the people whose heart is inclined in the same way as His own?

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Year 8, Day 169: Psalms 15-16

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The two psalms for today give us a shift in perspective.  Rather than focusing on the evil nature of the wicked around us, today’s psalms ask us to contemplate what it means to be a person who walks in the ways of the Lord.  Who are the righteous?  What does their life look like?  What does it mean to not simply speak one’s faith in words but actually live it out?

The first thing that we note is that a righteous person is righteous in their heart.  That righteousness comes from truth.  The heart of the righteous is focused on truth, not lies or deceit.  The righteous person’s heart seeks a fair look, and not a biased look, at their own life.  They are honest, not deceptive.

There are fruit to be had when one’s heart is right.  A righteous heart leads to productive relationships with one’s neighbors.  It leads to disgust when looking at evil or vile behavior.  It leads to fair and even generous sharing of resources.  In other words, the righteous person becomes a blessing to one’s community, not just oneself.  You can always tell the work of a righteous person because he makes the world around him a better place.

So how does one get a righteous heart?  Psalm 16 gives us some good advice.  The righteous person is informed by, not just in, the Lord’s ways.  The Lord’s ways aren’t something to be understood but lived.  It is the counsel of the Lord that the righteous seek.  It is the comfort that comes with closeness to the Lord that the righteous seek.  It is the joy that comes with walking with one’s God that the righteous seek.

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Year 8, Day 168: Psalms 13-14

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We have the same interesting dynamic that was spoken about yesterday.  The wicked seem to prosper.  The wicked seem to go unchallenged by God.  The wicked devour God’s people and God’s people wonder how long it will go on.

As with yesterday, notice how the psalmist does not allow this reality to question the nature of God.  Not once does the psalmist wonder if God is capable of being a savior, or if God is able to judge the wicked, or if God is even real in the first place.  The psalmist is not looking for gaps in God’s being.  The psalmist is not looking for inconsistencies between His promises and reality.

The psalmist is trying to make sense of his own experience, not make sense of God.  This is a really important point.  God is beyond our understanding.  It is one thing for us to try and understand Him; it is another thing – entirely wrong – to bring God’s character into question because of our limited human capacity. In one position we understand that the flaw or gap lies within us; in the other the assume that the issue lies within God.

That being said, look at how the psalmist deals with God’s perspective in Psalm 14.  In this psalm, the perspective that we get is a God who has given free will and who is looking down upon the earth to see how people are utilizing the gift.  Who is using their free will to obtain their own self-centered desires?  Who is using their gift to pursue God and His ways?  This is what a God who understands true freedom looks like.  This is what a God who understands true love looks like.

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Year 8, Day 167: Psalms 10-12

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The psalms for today are similarly grouped.  A common thread runs through the first and the last psalm.  The psalmist wonders how it is that the Lord sits back while evil prospers and righteousness fades from the land.

This is a fairly common dynamic among human beings.  We hear the prophets speak frequently about the growing evil among the people.  We hear Jesus speak in the Gospels about the corrupt generation around Him.  Paul is so frustrated with the corruption f the Jews around Him that he vows to only minister to Gentiles after Corinth!  These feelings have continued even into the modern age.  Every generation has people within it that feel that the world is slipping more and more into self-centered evil.  It is easy to go through life and wonder why God can sit back and watch evil prosper.

This is a good theological question to answer.  The reality is that God gives us free will.  He has given us this life to choose what we will.  We can choose good or evil; it is our choice.  After all, if we didn’t have the ability to reject God and His ways, would there actually be a choice to follow God and His ways?  Would that choice be meaningful at all?  The reality is that in order to give space for people to choose relationship with God, God must also give space to allow people to choose their own ways while rejecting God’s ways.

In each of the first and the last psalms, and especially in Psalm 11, there is a very important point to bring out.  While the psalmist does wonder how God can sit back, the psalmist never questions God and His omnipotence.  In each case, the psalmist believes in God’s ability to protect the poor, counter the oppressor, and judge over evil.  God’s ability is not what is in doubt here, it is His timing.

This is really important.  It is one thing to doubt God’s timing in the midst of our own human inability to see and know everything.  We can doubt God’s timing because we don’t see the big picture.  That’s understandable.  What we want to avoid is questioning God’s existence or His power.  It never should be a question of ability, we can question when.

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Year 8, Day 166: Psalms 7-9

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At first blush, the psalms for today seem dichotomous.  In Psalm 7, we talk about the Lord and His wrath.  The psalmist encourages the wrath of the Lord to come forth upon those who are pursuing Him.  He reminds us that those who do not repent will fell the sword of the Lord.  The wicked will fall into a pit that the Lord has prepared for them.  The point of the psalm is that the Lord is a righteous judge and will bring peace to those who are in God and judgment against those who are not.

Psalm 8 is entirely different is tone.  Psalm 8 is all about the glory of the Lord and His creative spirit.  God has made the universe.  He hung the stars and the moon. He has put splendor in its place.  Yet, God has been mindful of humankind and has lifted us above creation.  He has voluntarily lifted us up to be just short of His own splendor and glory.  He has done this for our sake and through His great love.

These psalms seem to be different in tone.  One is about wrath and judgment.  A second is about God’s splendor and righteousness.  How are these two things related?

Psalm 9 helps us see how these can be two sides of the same coin.  It is because of God’s righteousness that he can be a judge.  It is because of His glory that He can rule supreme.  Because of His great strength He can be the protection and avenger of the oppressed. 

So often we want to separate God’s love and His wrath.  We want to separate God’s ability to judge and His ability to protect.  These things are inseparable, though.  God’s wrath comes out when God’s love is unfulfilled.  God has the strength to protect the oppressed because He has the strength to judge.  One of the nice aspects about the psalms is that we can see multiple perspectives on God in proximity to others and help us see the fullness of God’s being instead of just focusing on the parts that we want to see.

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Year 8, Day 165: Psalms 4-6

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There is a common thread running through all three of the psalms for today’s reading.  God is our refuge against the unrighteousness in the world. God is the one to whom we should be turning.  We turn to Him when we want to be righteous.  We turn to Him when we want an escape from the unrighteousness around us.  He is the rock upon which our own repentance and turning is built.

In Psalm 6, we get the cry of a person who recognizes their own plight.  The psalmist knows that they are sinful.  They are even languishing in the consequences of their sinfulness!  Yet the psalmist longs for something better.  The psalmist wants to be healed.  The psalmist wants a time when evil is cast away and only righteousness abounds.  This is why the psalmist turns to God.

In Psalm 4 we have a similar scenario, except that the sin is external.  Psalm 4 is written from the perspective of one who has turned to God and knows the joy of restoration.  This person is encouraging the people around him to make the same choice.  The psalmist knows that if an entire community could turn to God and dwell in His ways, then we would not have to experience anguish from each other’s sin, too!

This leads us to Psalm 5.  This is a psalm of reflection.  The point of this psalm is to lift up God and what He does for us.  It also tells us the characteristics that God desires in us.  God does not delight in evil.  He does not appreciate boastfulness.  He despises liars and people who are bloodthirsty.

For me, though, the true point of this psalm is to where the psalmist looks for righteousness.  The psalmist is clear that we only enter relationship with God through His steadfast love.  It is God’s righteousness and God’s ways that will make a difference in our life.  When we are looking to change our life and live in righteousness, we must lean upon God and embrace His ways, leaving behind our own human self-centeredness.

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Year 8, Day 164: Psalms 1-3

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Psalms 1 and 2 stand in contrast to one another.  It’s not that they disagree.  Their topics are simply polar opposites.  They speak about two perspectives of humanity.

In one case we have the righteous.  These are the people who walk in the ways of the Lord.  These are like trees planted by water in that they can grow strong and healthy and not be in need.  They produce fruit in season.  Their leaves are strong, providing life for the plant and shade for all below.  They are useful and healthy in many ways.

In the other case we have the unrighteous.  They are like the chaff of grass, withered and easily blown away. The wicked rage against the ways of the Lord.  They are broken – one way or another – by God.

What does that leave for a person to do?  We can choose to live according to God’s ways or we can choose to live contrary to them.  We can try to provide for ourselves or we can ask the Lord to be our shield.  We can try to find glory in the temporary works of our own hands or we can find glory in God’s work ad the ways He asks us to join with Him.  We can live with the constant anxiety that comes from trying to provide and protect everything ourselves or we can live without fear knowing that God is our protector.

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Year 8, Day 163: Mark 16

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I love the history of this chapter.  The oldest manuscripts stop after verse 8.  Later manuscripts add one, two, or three of the alternate endings found in verse 9 and following.  However, all of the endings still fit the tone of Mark’s Gospel and the points that he is trying to get across.

Take the Gospel of Mark as originally written.  That stops after verse 8.  What is it that we hear?  Jesus is raised; He’s not in the tomb.  The women flee, afraid and uncertain of what is happening.  This fits brilliantly with what Mark has been saying all along about the human influence in God’s work.  The women don’t get it and run because they don’t know what to do!  Human beings are flawed.  Yet, God still invites us into the story.  He knows the women aren’t going to understand at first.  He knows that fear s going to be their primary response.  He still chooses them to be the first people to proclaim the resurrection.

Take the next two alternate endings.  Jesus appears to Mary to encourage her.  Jesus also appears to a pair of disciples to encourage them.  However, when these disciples return to the rest of the disciples they aren’t believed.  Again, this matches the tone of Mark.  A small group of people do pick up on what God is doing, but they are quickly rejected by others.  They aren’t rejected permanently, mind you, just temporarily.  This is what Jesus has had to do all ministry long!  Jesus is always fighting against the rejection of human beings who are quick to reject what they don’t understand and slow to gain momentum out of our safe little lives.  The first people to try and proclaim the resurrection struggle with the same issues that Jesus did.

Then, we take the last ending.  The greater population of Jesus’ disciples do get it.  Jesus appears to more and more people and the story spreads.  The Gospel takes root.  God wins in the end.  God’s will is accomplished through human beings.  God takes a group of flawed human beings and works through them to bring the message of our salvation and relationship with Him throughout the known world.

Jesus died.  He is raised.  God triumphs over sin.  He wants each of us, flaws and all, to be a part of that story.

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Year 8, Day 162: Mark 15

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This is the chapter where the story ends.  In a sense, this is also the chapter where the story begins.  Here we have the crux of human history.

As the story ends, the Jesus we see is remarkably quiet.  When asked by Pilate if He is the king of the Jews, Jesus merely parrots the words back to Pilate.  We faced by the accusations of those who would harm Him, Jesus doesn’t answer.  When mocked on the cross, Jesus takes it.  In fact, that only real time that Jesus speaks in this chapter it is to ask God why He has been forsaken.  The Jesus we see here in this chapter is so focused on completing the mission of the Father that He doesn’t refute lies, He doesn’t cast back insults, and He doesn’t seek His own salvation.  Jesus puts the will of the Father above His own.

Look at what happens in the midst of Jesus’ silence.  What we see happen is almost the prophetic realization when Jesus says that the “rocks will speak forth praise to God should He quiet the people.  When Jesus is silent, a Roman soldier declares Him the Son of God.  When Jesus is silent, a prominent Jewish leader named Joseph of Arimathea comes to touch his dead – and therefore unclean – body only hours before the Passover celebration is about to start.  When Jesus remains silent, Mary steps up and begins to take a leadership role.  In the midst of Jesus’ silence, unsung heroes rise up and give witness to Christ.  As Jesus prepares to die and close the story of God bringing salvation to humankind, the story of the church begins to unfold.

Look what else happens as Jesus is silent.  The religious leaders demonstrate their character.  They continue to insult and deride Jesus even though He offers no defense or fight.  The majority of Roman soldiers demonstrate their vicious nature by insulting Jesus and enjoying the torture they have been asked to inflict.  It is Jesus’ silence that makes the behavior of His opponents so inexcusable.

In the end, when we look at Jesus in this chapter we see a man who is willing to let God’s plan come about.  He goes to the cross to complete the salvific act.  He watches as other people, called by God, step up into leadership to do the will of the Father.  The Jesus that we see in this chapter is the perfect servant, doing the will of the Father in such a way that the Father’s will can be perfectly accomplished through Him and through others.

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Year 8, Day 161: Mark 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Today we start the serious climb to the apex of the Gospel of Mark.  Jesus is arrested; His trial begins.  The true character of Jesus comes out stronger than ever in the midst of His last few hours before the crucifixion.

What do we learn of Jesus?  First, Jesus marches on with unwavering focus.  Jesus has come to fulfill the work of the Father.  In spite of perpetually marching towards the cross, in spite of constantly angering the religious leaders with truth, in spite of knowing that every moment of teaching that goes by is one less moment He’ll have with His disciples, Jesus marches on with the plan.  He follows the will of the Lord without pause.

Second, we can see that Jesus continues to not be bothered by the humanity of His disciples.  Peter denies Jesus.  Judas takes money to lead the religious leaders and the Roman guards to him.  Several of His disciples argue over the money that could have been gained by selling oil used to anoint Jesus.  The whole lot of disciples are unable to focus and pray when Jesus Himself requests it.  Peter refuses to be humble and accept that he could possible do something wrong and then turns around and does exactly what he claimed he could never do by denying his association with Christ.  In the midst of this, Peter draws a sword and inserts violence into Jesus’ arrest by cutting off an ear from a servant f the high priest.  In the moment of high tension – when Jesus’ disciples could have proven their steadfast loyalty to Jesus – the disciples go all to pieces instead.  But Jesus doesn’t seem to care.  In fact, Jesus continues to invite them into the story.  He continues to want relationship with them.  Jesus accepts the humanity of those around Him and welcomes them, mistakes and all.

Third, we continue to see Jesus’ unwavering responsibility to the truth.  Jesus does not try to get out of the grasp of the religious leaders.  Instead, Jesus walks into their grasp willingly.  He does so in order to have an opportunity to proclaim truth.  He does this to show the feebleness of humanity.  He does this so that He has an opportunity to finally declare His identity to the religious leaders and bring about His own rejection at their hands.  Jesus is loyal to God’s truth above all else.  When push comes to shove, it is truth that Jesus cares about, not His own safety or popularity.

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Year 8, Day 160: Mark 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Mark 13 is largely an ominous chapter sparked by a simple question.  The disciples want to know when the end will be.  In that simple question we learn so much.

The first thing that we know about Jesus is that He doesn’t know the answer to the question.  Jesus specifically says that only the Father knows the time.  Some hear this and cannot wonder if this doesn’t mean that Jesus isn’t God because He doesn’t know.  Honestly, I think this tells us far more than that.  It shows us that Jesus was content letting some things be in the hands of the Father.  Jesus didn’t have to control everything and have all of His questions answered.  The Father was in control, and that is good enough.

How many of us could benefit from taking a hint from Jesus on that point?  How many of us want to control everything?  How many times have we said that when we die the first thing we do when we get to heaven is going to be to ask the Father to explain something?  Are we as content in our own lack of understanding as Jesus was willing to give some things to the Father?

The second thing that we understand is that Jesus is concerned.  He is concerned that we will be led astray.  He is concerned that we’ll go chasing after people and things that claim to be Him. He wants us to live in such a way that we finish the race before us well and finish still in relationship with the Father!  Jesus is concerned because He cares and because He knows us.

A third thing that we can learn is that Jesus does not waste time.  He takes advantage of this opportunity to teach the disciples.  They ask a very scary question and He gives them an even scarier answer.  He doesn’t feel the need to sugar coat the answer, nor does He say that we aren’t capable of understanding.  Jesus doesn’t hide the truth from His disciples.  Jesus answers the question in such a way as to convey the seriousness of the topic at hand.

The last thing that we can learn is that Jesus understands the moment.  He knows that the religious leaders are coming after Him.  He knows that His time is short and the cross is just around the corner.  He knows that the arrest is imminent and very soon He won’t be around to answer any more questions.  In this fact, Jesus tells His disciples to be on alert and not to be led astray.  Jesus gets what is coming and He uses His context to motivate Him into glory.  The moment doesn’t force Jesus’ hand, Jesus is master over the moment.

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Year 8, Day 159: Mark 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

What can we learn from the witness of Jesus today?  The lesson is simple.  Jesus does not shy away from the truth.  When given the opportunity, Jesus gives the truth and lets the chips fall where they may.

In this chapter Jesus takes on most of those who oppress Him.  To set it all up, Jesus gives a parable about the tenants in the vineyard.  The tenants despise the son because being a tenant is not enough.  The tenants want to own the vineyard, not just benefit from its presence.  Because they aspire to more than their position, they reject the true owner and heir of the vineyard.  They kill the heir.  This is the danger of ambition.  Ambition is good, but when we consider ambition more than we consider God’s ways, we depart from God’s ways and end up walking away from the truth and abandoning God.  This is Jesus’ critic of the religious leaders.  They aren’t content being God’s stewards; they want possession and ultimate say over God’s creation.

In this context, the Pharisees and the Herodians come to trap Jesus.  Jesus pursues the truth: give what belongs to a person to that person.  Jesus isn’t willing to get caught up in a debate about one side versus the other.  Jesus simply says, “Do what is right in the eyes of the owner and nobody will have any issue.”  This is still true.  So long as we pay our taxes and refrain from breaking any laws of the land, the government will not have an issue with us.  God won’t have an issue with us doing our duty, either.

Next come the Pharisees.  They try to trap Jesus in a teaching about the resurrection.  Again, Jesus sidesteps the trap with the truth.  There is a resurrection, but our puny human brains cannot fully contemplate that existence.  In heaven, we will be in relationship with God.  We are to be His bride.  Our own marriages and family will pale in comparison to our relationship with our Creator.

Having defeated all of the challenges, Jesus then reminds us about what faith is all about.  We are to be in relationship with God first.  We are to then look to our neighbors and care for them.  Love God; love our neighbors.  The challenge here is that Jesus doesn’t mention the self.  Certainly, Jesus doesn’t want us to hate who we are.  Yet, it is clear that in the greater scheme of things we are to put ourselves behind God and behind the people around us.  When Jesus teaches truth, the challenge naturally comes.

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