Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
Be With Me is a daily 7 minute chronological walk through the New Testament hosted by Michael Smith. It is for everyone who is curious about what Jesus actually said and did in the gospels. Most episodes will leave you with at least one good thought to chew on for the rest of the day. We start with the Bible and hopefully end with Awe. We are walking through the chronological events of Jesus' life and then thoughtfully considering them. It is meant to spur the devotional life of the Christian and the not-yet-Christian. We occasionally venture into the Old Testament when it helps our understanding of the New Testament events. Everybody has 7 minutes. Everybody needs to wonder. Be With Me is hosted by Michael Smith who has absolutely no special qualifications to do a podcast. He is not a pastor. He has not been to seminary. He does not lead a mega-church. He is not a professional and he has no more credentials than you do. He does, however, follow a great God with an observant eye and a curious heart. Each day, he starts with a study bible and aims for astonishment. ‘be with him’ for 7 minutes as he sets out daily to discover the God who invites us to ‘Be With Me.’
Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
When your spiritual gas tank is EMPTY S30e177
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Today might be the day when you are running on empty. If so, cry out, "Lead me to the rock"
If today is not that day, and you have got some reserve in your tank, then let's cry out FOR that person. Pray that the DEW OF YOUTH might be returned to them.
Then, on the day whey YOUR tank is empty, they might intercede for you.
Subscribe, for that day might be tomorrow.
https://youtu.be/_4AgyZFmBvw
When your spiritual gas tank is EMPTY S30e177
Just a word of encouragement today if you don’t have any juice left.
When your heart is faint, think about psalm 61. Ps 110
When you are at the extremity of your soul: turn to somebody who has been there before you. Psalmist. Christian Community. Who are with you now.
When you find yourself in circumstances that you do not prefer, go find psalm 61.
It says: 1 Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer;
2 from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I,
It goes on: lead me to the Rock. Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings.
You have been my refuge
You have heard my vows
You have me in your heritage and in your family
You steadfastly receive my daily praise and actions.
When?
When I cry out from the ends of the earth LEAD ME TO THE ROCK
When I wail because my spirit doesn’t have much juice left.
When I am at the extremity of my soul LEAD ME TO THE ROCK
When The spiritual gas tank is on empty LEAD ME TO THE ROCK
When I find myself in circumstances that I do not prefer, I wail to you
From there, this is what I say Lead me to THE ROCK
Psalm 61 does not. Pull any punches. When it is bad…lead me to the rock
Today’s other reminder is from psalm 110 is one that describes a certain day:
On the day of His wrath
On the day of His power
On the day His mighty scepter is sent forth and enemies are ruled over
It is the day when rebellious kings are shattered
It is the day when judgment and justice are achieved among the nations
This is a psalm of prophesy, power, judgment, future reign.
Make no mistake, though we wait: active spiritual, anticipation
We will not be waiting for all days. There is a day of recompense. There is a day of wrath—
Ps 110 from the womb of the morning,
the dew of your youth will be yours.
AS THE ESV NOTES SAY The “womb of the morning” is probably a poetic expression for the east, or for the dawn(which is when the dew appears). The “dew of your youth” may be a poetic term for refreshment, implying that the king has continual sources of fresh energy;
May you, at this time, at the womb of the morning
Have the spiritual DEW OF YOUTH upon you. May you be refreshed in Him. May you have the beauty and vigor of renewed youth. Like jumping on the bed.
I’m thinking of the day of weariness and despair as we mentioned earlier today
For those who are weary: Ps 110 is a prayer
Anitdote to weariness: that the dew of yout would be theirs.
This week, I went to play with my favorite 2 ½ year old, thinking we’d do some sedate adult activity, build something, read books or something. But no! I walked in the door, and he said, “we’re going to do some JUMPING” and then for the next 1.5 hours, with very few interruptions, jumped on the bed. This, ladies and gentlemen is the best picture of the DEW OF YOUTH that I can give you.
The Lord says, that He can and will restore the Dew of Youth to us on the day of His power. Spiritually, we get this back. We get the fountain of spiritual youth. We get the DEW of youth, renewed every morning. This is something that He generously, bountifully gives us.
I suppose it is not inappropriate to pray for the weary: Hang on until the Lord takes you. Hang on until He returns with the DEW OF YOUTH to re-energize you.
May you have the every day, everlasting gobstopper renewal of the dew of youth upon you.
May he is giving us unlimited, revitalized, invigorated, recharged energy and enthusiasm for HIM and HIS WAYS.
Psalm 61 describes a weary soul1 Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer;
2 from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I,
Isolation is at least one of the problems.
Who can you turn to: who can you encourage?
Who can intercede for you when you got nothing left?
Who can you intercede for who may have no reserve left? Think of someone now. Here is the prayer:
That the spiritual dew of youth would be theirs.
He doesn’t want you to stand ASIDE, he wants you to stand in for
The weary. The juiceless. Those empty of their spirual tank.
Pray that they can say, along with my favorite 2.5yo, Today we’re going to do some jumping. Some spiritual jumping.
If that is you. Cry. Cry out.
If that is NOT you, cry out for them.
If You’ve Got Gray Hair, This Is One’s For You S30e176
I’m not OLD, but I was born a long time ago.
What should I be doing with my older agedness?
What is God’s relationship with those who were born a long time ago?
Our official review psalm is ps 71
3for you are my rock and my fortress. .ROCK
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
you are he who took me from my mother’s womb.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength is spent.
18 So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come. .
Is 46:3-4 echos this prophesy. Clarifies it a bit:
Is was written in 600 b.c. Psalms in about 1000bc. Psalms was first.
Is. Clarifies the concept IMHO
3 “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
4 even to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save. .Even to your old age, I AM he
.And to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear
I will carry and will save.
Listen to what this is saying. You have been born,carried be BEFORE BIRTH, Carried in the womb even to OLD AGE I am HE. I am God
And to gray hairs I will carry you. SAME GOD
It is a time-stamp. How long is this going on:
When your strength is spent
When someone is standing on your last nerve
When your special feature is God’s faithfulness to you
When you might be tempted to think it is another generation’s turn…
What is God’s relationship with those who were born a long time ago?
Made by the Good Lord in the first place
Borne by me from before birth
Carried in the womb
Carried unto the gray hair season
The Lord declares: I HAV MADE AND I WILL BEAR YOU.
I will CARRY YOU , I will SAVE You.
He is faithful: present as the I AM
He is Helpful: you might need to be carried during certain seasons
He is purposeful: I got stuff for you to do:
UNTIL I PROCLAIM YOUR MIGHT to another generation.
What should the OLD be doing? Look at a time of gray hair, when the majority of your strength is spent
If He’s made you He’ll carry you. And for how long? To old age and gray hairs
If you have gray hairs you must have another generation in mind.
At least part of why God has you hanging around with gray hairs is that He wants His might proclaimed into a generation behind you.
Find someone 20 yearsish younger than you in the church.
Older attach themselves to the younger by generosity and attention
Proclaim the might and power and steadfastness to this younger person
For this reason you have been sustained.
If you are old, and “carried by the Lord” and you are wondering why…
This is the reason. At least a reason, for the next gen
Here’s the worry: a worry of the aging
V9: do not cast me off in the time of old age
Do not forsake me when my strength is spent
We’ve got stuff to do. Generation, that is not mine to impact. How?
Show them God is real: I AM
Show them that in gray hair He will carry.
What does another generation need to see? If you’ve got not much gray hair, what do you need to see? What can the gray hair’s teach?
That the Lord does not forsake, even to gray hair and old age
That an older generation can proclaim to another generation
By definition that gen is YOUNGER. For there aren’t any older
That might and power and other divine attributes are proclaimed
That the Lord does not cast off the veterans of the faith
That this relationship is real, and that even to your old age I AM HE
He will carry to gray hair
He will bear those whom He has made
He will save when strength is spent.
Joshua 13:113 Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.
.If you have gray hairs, the Lord has stuff for you to get busy with:
The younger generation. Proclaiming power. Not cast off. Still in the fight, Look at me, I am carried to gray hair. The Lord is faithful. Watch me and I will show you that He will bear those whom He has made. He will save those whose strength is spent.
He promises that to you He will stay the I AM
That If He’s made you He’ll carry you WHY?
If you have gray hair, you have stuff to do!
He doesn’t want you to stand ASIDE, he wants you to stand in for
Proclim Him to another generation! Go get em.
When You Feel FORGOTTEN By God S30e175
124 When you feel like your are forgotten forever.
Ps 13:1 asks from David: 1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me? feel like God’s face is hidden
Not hidden in, which is a comforting, protected concept,
but hidden FROM the Lord. That is right, David, our knucklehead spiritual hero feels separated from God,
Therefore, on the day when you find that you cannot find God…
Remember, you are not the first. You are not the Last.
You have an opportunity, just like David here, to do this right:
Get it off your chest and then get going. But not yet done
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
I just don’t feel you at all.
I go for a visit in my soul, and the only person I note there is MYSELF
Just lonely little ol’ me taking counsel there.
A place that You Lord have typically occupied WITH ME is now occupied by ONLY ME.
I am alone in my soul
Plus: I feel sad. I have sorrow in my heart all the day.
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
Light up my eyes
This is something the Lord does.
Ps 19: the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of th
His Word enlightens the eyes
What a great prayer Pr 29:13 13 The poor man and the oppressor meet together;
the Lord gives light to the eyes of both.
Even the new testament echos this is Eph1: may (God) give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,
:give light to our eyes, enlighten our understanding.Light up our eyes with history; with presence and with the wisdom for the future.
Give light to those I am in conflict with
May the Lord give light to have ME see the other side and for them to have the light to see my side.
Think about the eyes of your heart and what you might ask of them.
Eyes without light are of little use
Call for eyes and for light from God for them to work.
YYou give eyes, You give light. We need both.
For David, he gets lIGHT as so often he does as the psalm goes on
There is nothing like WRITING a song, singing a song. Getting melody and ideas in a great soup of creativity, to then write it down.
Not an immediate process, for me days weeks and months.
I wonder how long the Lord took to give David light to his eyes:
This psalm so far, is not THEOLOGICALLY correct. David is not Forgotten. Hidden from. Alone. Not ultimately conquered. We all know how this actually ends.
What David is,however, is feeling all of it.
on the day when you find that you cannot find God…cry out TO HIM. Get it off your chest and then get going.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
This is 50 seconds of frustration to finding His way back
Feeling like a wreck to resoration
50 second masterpiece
Feeling like a wreck to resoration
I’m a mess to I got stuff to do here: YOU are the LORD
I’m going to do some hard spiritual work of where I am placing the weightof my effort and concern.
We can get stuck in wallowing of our feelings
Or WORSHIP
We can feel of Hidden from God or remember the harvest of His bounty
Note to self: the harvest was of me. He put me into His family by no particular righteousness of my own.
Rejoice in what He has done for me in salvation.
Above my paygrade. Impossible to do for myself.
Trust in your steadfast love.
Hey, I am loved. I am with a safe Person. Solid. Steadfast
Sing to the Lord and remember the bountiful treatment that I didn’t deserve
50 second masterpiece
Little engine that could: Turns the whole train around from emotional feelings to spiritual fact.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
When you feel forgotten by God, don’t forget Ps 13
Don’t forget to remember His steadfast love and to trust and sing and remember His dealing bountifully with you.
Kissing or Kicking the Son S30e174
We dictate the direction and the content of what we throw at God. Kiss or kick the Son. Join me in Ps 2 today
To praise means to hurl stuff at God
So let’s be careful what we throw at God. Do we kiss or kick the Son?
Ps 42 yesterday 2 seasons. When it is a party for sure. But also on the day when tears aon on the menue for breakfast lunch and dinner Got that from
Trust, patience, hope and our praise? Our sincere questions? Longing.
Fondness? Affection for his people?
Or accusation, grumbling, unbelief, cursing, mutiny?
Psalm 2 addresses 2 responses: it beautifully:
2 Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed,
This is a messianic psalm—the anointed is CAPITALIZED by the translators with intent—this psalm refers to Jesus, as an occupier of David’s throne; of being anointed as messiah and Christ
This is a psalm founded on REBELLION to the reign of the regent of David’s throne.
Is it a surprise that there is push back against Christians today? Are they not on Jesus’ team. Is it not Jesus that many are grumbling against.?
If you are a Christian and feel the rage of the world, or you watch your brothers and sisters in Christ receive the world’s rage, should we be surprised? No. We should expect it
For how long? For a while longer, apparently
But not forever. He who sits in the heavens LAUGHS and holds them in derision v.2:4
6: As for me, I have set my King on Zion.my holy hill. Revolt results in wrath
God surely has a sense of humor and laughs. Imagine there will be plenty of it in heaven. But not this kind of laughter.
But this isn’t chuckling at humor. This is Ha! I don’t think so…
You are powerless, you have no ability to stand against the rule and reign of the Kingdom of God.
To attempt otherwise is laughable.
The Lord is going to HOLD people accountable, in derision for choosing the wrong end of the iron rod. We’re getting to that…
The fury correctly follows the foolishness of this posture
though the wicked have their day and may prosper for a time, In the end, God is not mocked and has the last laugh7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Don’t let this go unnoticed. The NT refers to and quotes and gives the correct interpretation of the OT truths.
It clarifies what sometimes is unclear.
Here it claims that Jesus is God. Here it claims that Jesus fulfills the promise, made to David, that one of his Heirs, literally from his human lineage, will occupy the Davidic throne forever. From that throne will come unassailable dominion for all times.
Those that oppose it will be overruledthey will be on the wrong end of the rod of iron.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 2 Christ will rule over all nations and all people for all timeand even when there is just eternity
Which end of the rod of iron do you want to be on?
Remember: We dictate the direction and the content of what we throw at God.
Are you ready to be on the winning team? Or do you choose to be a rebellious piece of pottery when the proverbial “bull in a china shop” comes to dash all that stand in mutiny?
Lords Fury will follow foolishness of decisions today. Of what we throw at God….
Correlation for those that hate the followers of Jesus and Jesus.
But God will have the last laugh of judgement and wrath
We have choice as to which end of the rod of iron we want to be on
In the meantime, don’t be surprised that the world hates you..
Ps 2 talks beautifully about being on God’s team. It says to KISS THE SON 2:12
How do I know if I am on the right team? If I have Kissed the Son
Examine your Proclaimation and Practice; beliefs and behavior
Have you SET yourself with the Lord? Proclaimed him? What of practice. Belief and behavior.
Let’s first understand:
God knows if you are on the right end of the rod of iron:
Here are behaviors by which that YOU will demonstrate that you are on the right end of the rod of iron
Set yourself in fellowship who are the people you are with each wk?
Set yourself in Service who are the people you SERVE
Set yourself in the word. Who is the God you regularly seek in Word? In worship. Are you hurling praise, unity and work at the Lord? All can please Him.
Let me say this negatively:
1to Set yourself Outside of fellowship, sets. You against the Lord
Do you fail to run to church on Sunday?
2To set yourself outside of SERVICE, sets you against the Lord.
3To Set yourself outside of His WORD sets you against the Lord
If you are outside of fellowship, service, or awe for His word, I’d be sobered. God isn’t mocked. To say one thing and not follow it by the doing, calls into question the sincerity of the proclaimation.
Here is how you kiss the Son: procalimation, confession, belief.
Also by your feet where they regularly go to fellowship;
what your hands regularly do to service, the Body of christ first
what your eyes regularly do to behold Him in Awe
This it is to kiss the Son.
Throwing stuff at God S30e173
None of us want to change much. None like to say that I am wrong. Or I MUST go in a different direction
But it is in this that real spritiual change happens.
How does it happen? By the visitation and the presence and prodding of God.
So we have asked, what does this presence of God, this closeness of God, this communication of God feel like? It often feels like a heavy hand.
So then, If you feel the heavy hand, you may be in for the greatest of days
ps 32: 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
Psalm 39 the gift of anger psalm he feels it too: 10 Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
Now I have cooled down and considered your heavy hand.
The wonderful forgiveness of the Lord is accessed by the heavy hand of conviction
The presence of God sometimes feels like a HEAVY HAND.
We can say: Blessed are the FORGIVEN for sure.
I’d add: Blessed are the unforgiven who have the heavy hand of God up on them
The last thing you want from God is his indifference.
It is described in Romans 1: 24 Lord gives the incorrigablely unrepentant Up to lusts and lies. It is a terrifying concept. It is when He finally says, OK you stiff necked person, you want to go play in the street? Fine. I now deliver you into the consequences that I have up to this point been protecting you from.
If you do not occasionally feel the heavy hand of God, I’d question whether you are a Christian at all, at least not a growing one. You SHOULD feel it.
If you are cruising on all cylinders spiritually, you might even ASK for the heavy hand of God. Help me feel the heavy hand. Help me yield to it.
Then, when you feel the heavy hand of the Lord, TREASURE it. It is a life line
The heavy hand is the favor of the Lord.
This longing for God and His input is poetically described in Ps 42
My soul thirsts fo r God:
1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God. Longing of the HEART
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
This is a psalm when Tears are on the menu for breakfast lunch and dinner MSG
What do I do when my soul sings the blues?
Is it even OK for a soul to sing the blues?
Phrased: WHY are you downcast o my soul
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me? SINGING THE BLUES
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
I shall again PRAISE Him: to throw. To cast. To directionally hurl praise, which is to steer and name correct attributes in His direction.
So what DID you throw on your finest day?
It is also this tough thought: what DID you throw at God on your worst day?
Is what you are throwing at God Praise?
Or is it criticism. Or is it doubt. Or is it anger?
Or is it disappointment. Or is it contempt
In the PROCLAIMING we demonstrate who we think HE IS.
You are God, Divine, Rock, Fortress, Creator, Rule-maker, Steadfast lover
In the PROCLAIMING we demonstrate what we think HE DOES
You are Savior. Rescuer. Doer of what we could not do for ourselves.
Just because your worship leader might be getting this right, doesn’t mean that everybody else in the pews, or even anybody else is getting this right.
In short, we interrupt a very real, compelling interaction of a human who has brought FEELINGS and FACTS to a fellowship with God
Feelings: panting, thirsting, longing, tearful, sad, questioning.
Pour out soul, remember the good old days
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me? SINGING THE BLUES
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation 6 and my God.
When one is SINGING THE BLUES
What do you do?
It is almost too embarrassing to read for us.
We dictate the direction and the content of what we throw at God.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, GOD PROMISES TO LOVE ME
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me? WHY DID YOU LET ME DOWN?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Are you throwing your best at God, when circumstances are worst?
When tears are on the menu, lets THROW our best, our praise to GOD!
If you have “the gift of anger”… S30e172
161Yesterday David left a psalm, a song for when the temple was dedicated.
Of note, he was dead for 11 years when the temple was opened.
He left an image which was the Lord DRAWING HIM UP. We extended it just a bit to the Lord BENDs DOWN to DRAW UP the BENT OVER
So today Let’s turn to Ps 39
This is a psalm for all who “Have the gift of anger”
Here’s how you know you have an anger problem
If your anger interfers with, or has interfered with ONE relataitonship, you have an anger problem. Watc;h what happens:
1 I said, “I will guard my ways,
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,
All good so far.
Unfortunately, the internal life, the internal thoughts, the internal temperature is judged.
We have a meat thermometer here that accurately judges the INTERNAL temperature. So does the Lord. He has a heart probe. Sometimes, even when there is the lack of angry WORD, the internal heart probe of the Lord finds a HEART THAT RUNS HOT. In other words the HEART IS SINNING, but the mouth is not.
We shockingly said, that for those of you that run HOT, and perhaps especially for those that are well-trained, polite, angry sinners, this will be the most practical, important and hopefully HELPFUL psalm you every consider
The tongue is a raging fire, most destructive thing on earth next to the human heart
But then this happens:
2 I was mute and silent;
I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
3 My heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
I held my peace inside, but got no peace
.I shut my mouth and shut inside a burning anger
I ate my words, which is good and holy and godly BUT bad things happened inside
I ate my words and they ate me up ***
You can have a sinful HEART and have a sinless mouth at the same time
The Lord desires MORE than just a mouth that doesn’t become angry
The Lord seeks a HEART that doesn’t burn HOT against the sinners around me. THEN COMES THE PRAYER THAT BEGINS THE THOUGHT THAT begins the internal rescue:
4 “O Lord, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
If you knew that this was your last day, would you using your precious emotional resources on this topic?
If you were measuring your days, would you want this hot heart, to even make the cut?
In a sense, the psalmist is going all the way to his deathbed: is this really what I want with my heart? Do I really want to be this way?
Thogh I have hve external control, do I want the internal rage, the internal hostility of converstation.
If yo have the gift of anger this is for you.
O Lord, make me know my end—so I can put an end to wrong thinking/feel
O Lord, make me know the measure of my days—so I can see whether my HOT HEART measures up before You
LMK how fleeting I am, so as to know what sinful heart whether to commit my fleetingness towards
If you often eat your words, and then get eaten up on the inside.
If you have “the gift of anger”, this may just be a lifesaver for you.
Ps 39 can be the MOST PRACTICAL psalm you’ll ever read
Specifically, if you have the well-heeled gift of anger, where the anger burns hot INSIDE, but not often OUTSIDE, then David and God urge that there is more to be done.
If this is you, He gives you a tool of comparision of the calendar:
Compared to the fleeting, fading days I have, is there a place for my fierce fury, even when it is in opposition to the wicked? David’s answer is NO. Not if it is sinful.
Wait, I stand as a mere breath. I am as fleeting as a shadow here
I am not wasting my precious remaining days burning hot, to no effect, or worse: a hot heart of sin which is primarily against the LORD.
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
9 I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
for it is you who have done it.
10 Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
11 When you discipline a man
with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
:My hope is in you. I am a sinner. HOW TO BE FORGIVEN
NOW I don’t talk, just like at the beginning of this psalm
He’s not quiet in burning anger; he’s quiet in repentance and regret + rebuke
But this time, I am doing it in holy posture: I am mute before you, (not that old guy who also was silent, but burning) Now I have cooled down and considered your heavyhand.—the hostility of your hand. Your: o no you don’t hand
12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you,
a guest, like all my fathers.
13 Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more!”
Here David: Oh no, I am sinning, again, against You Lord. Oh we have done this so many times before. My hope is in you. Please get me out of this. I am tearful before you.
All I have is you.
I am here on this planet doing my best sometimes, and worst sometimes
But I am here with You. I am a sojourner WITH YOU
I am a weepy mess. I have given you my regret,
I am a guest here. My days are few. Please give me peace
This is a psalm, one of the best in HOW TO GET FORGIVENESS
Let your sin STRIKE you. Test the temperature of your heart and if you are at the wrong temp, let the sin strike you.
It is not hard to be repentant if you are STRUCK first.9
Then turn to the Lord. Realize how small you are, how fleeting and resolve to return to the good graces of a forgiving, forbearing, faithful God.
How do I get forgivenss? Psalm 39
Pictures Painted With Words s30e171
May the Lord BENDs DOWN to DRAW UP the BENT OVER.
There are great anthropomorphical imagery in Psalms.
In many ways, as I look back, review, it is PICTURES that I am left with.
It is of course a book of WORDS, but they are supposed to be conveying something, ideas, realities.
One of the ways it does that most effectively is to paint a physical picture with the words that it uses.
Consider with me what trouble you may be in.
If you are in a bit of trouble, this picture will be for you:
Here is my favorite image, favorite picture for today: ps 301 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
The Lord bends down to draw us up
YOU HAVE DRAWN ME UP
It is the Image of what a person would do to get water out of a stream
He bends over to draw us up and ultimately then Save from ruin, destruction or harm
David mentions that HE cries in appreciation for the help of the Lord for himself
This is a viable and real personal, individual decision point towards the almighty.
Oh that more of us would be drawn up by the Lord and rescued in that way
Oh that more of us would ASK the Lord to personally DRAW US UP
3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.
4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
The Lord reaches down to draw up and rescue David.
WHAT ONE AREA OF OUR LIFE WOULD YOU ASK THE LORD TO DRAW YOU UP TO HIMSELF? What topic would you ask the Lord to bend down and scoop you up and help you in? Perhaps your integrity? Your diligence? Your zipper? Your tongue? Or the thoughts that underpin each of those?
I think it is also not an inappropriate picture that we can use to ask of the Lord for others around us that need rescue:
Who do you know that needs the Lord’s care in such a way today:
Who is in mourning? Who is in the hospital today? Who is in relational strife? Who needs a job? Who is in spiritual peril? Who needs to forgive? Who needs to askforgiveness? Who is suffering desperately with temptation?
Who needs the Lord’s help with all of that?
Who needs to be drawn up by the Lord?
What person could use the rescue, the care, and the capture by the Lord
I’m extending David’s ask: Draw ME UP
To DRAW US UP.
Draw this person to spiritual intimacy and insight with you
Draw this person up to comfort in grief
Draw this person to steel them against temptation
Draw this person to healing of relationship, & the courage required
Draw this person to real, by that I mean messy, Christian fellowship
Draw this person towards using their gifts with zeal
Draw this person to break selfishness and move them toward service
Draw this person up to the blessing of discipline and the conviction of sin
Draw this person up to favor in bearing the burdens of their work
Draw this person up to Yourself even as they face death for PRECIOUS IN YOUR SIGHT if the death of your saints Ps116:15
I heard some one use the phrase, HUMBLE PRAYERS. I’d ask, are there any other kinds!?!?!?!? Prideful prayers? Sure there are, but are they effective, pleasing?
We’ve been on a little bit of this theme: Blessed are the meek. Remember, meek means BENT. We are a bent people. My favorite people certainly are. My least favorite people are unbent.
Here is the combined metaphor picture. May the Lord BEND DOWN to DRAW UPthe BENT OVER. Say this again****
Will you come Lord to draw us unto Yourself in our need, our desperation
We all have a most needful-thing. Some thing we don’t understand. Some great Something we are most afraid of. Some most severe test.
For those God, would you draw us up
To where, to Yourself. To the bosom of intimacy and communion and communication. You know we are dust. You know our frame.
This Psalm , 30, ends with a song and a praise and a dance.
Draw me to gratefulness
Draw me up to a dance for you
Draw me up to a dance WITH you as I walk this walk with you with a little bit of rhythm
Do you dance? Some schools have a NO DANCING code of conduct.
Asked a student who was giving us the tour: do you dance
OH NO we do NOT DANCE here. However we do on occasion, collectively gather together to move rhythmically to music. But no, we don’t dance here.
I think if you experience the bending down of the Lord to draw you up that perhaps a little rhythmic movement would be in order.
And if you COLLECTIVELY experience the bending down of the Lord to draw you up collecively then perhaps then a collective dance would be in order.
Remember this: Ps 30:1
May the Lord BEND DOWN to DRAW UP the BENT OVER.
Remember the words, if not, remember the image
My favorite people are all a little BENT S30e170
Yesterday we sat under the short and sweet ps 8.
8:4: what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him—Humbling phrase. Humbling reality.
We just might “need a bigger boat” as Martin Brody, played by Roy Schneider said of the very big Jaws
It is OK to be struck hard by a tiny psalm, or any small unit of Scripture.
Any of them can appropriately and thoroughly rock our spiritual understanding
They can affect our appreciation and worship
He remembers we are dust He knows our frame Ps 103:14
Will he eventually DWELL with us? Ps23: 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
As it is promised in Leviticus 26:11 Leviticus 26:11–12
11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
As we will be experiencing and enjoying someday future: R Revelation 21:3
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
We end up occasionally appreciating our size: speck, dust, small
YET, God visits. God is mindful. God cares.
This is the great paradox of Psalm 8. The great tension.
We have a great God who is so near.
We have majesty enthroned who visits us.
We have perfection, who comes to speak and so to test us.
We have God rejoicing and delighting in the children of man
Our response: We’re gonna need a bigger boat
Zephaniah 3:
17 The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
We sing, children of the Lord because of what He does:
He rejoices over us with gladness
He quiets us by His love
He exults over us with singing
We sing, because He sings over us. He has made much of us, the least we can do is make much of you
We’re gonna need a bigger boat
It reminds me of my mother’s favorite verse:
One of the first she ever underlined in her bible:
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
Ps 46:10
Let’s talk about that stillness for a moment:
BE STILL, and know something about me
Stillness is our superpower
Ps 37 The meek shall inherit the earth.
In God’s kingdom: TheMeek, the bowed the bent will inherit earth
The oppressed will occupy
Those curved will take custody
Reinforces the distinctives, that the stillness is the strength.
Associates and honors that the stillness, rest, quietness the trust in Him is the key to unlocking strength and salvation
There is strength in stillness. There is strength in stillness
This rest in the Person of God is our power—He’s got this. He is working all things for good. Others might mean things for evil. I am still in Him. Resting in Him. Trustingin Him
Stillness is our SUPERPOWER
It is in stillness, in a quiet, trusting posture that our inexplicable experience of the kingdom is expanded. Stillness is our superpower.
Spiritual acrage is achieved by the returning and resting in Him.
Stillness is our superpower.
I pray for you: that you may have awe.
That you may have stillness, meekness, bowed appropriately, that you would be bent before him.
Imagine this powerful, bent people. Bowed before Him. Bent in awe and in need.It is this cadre that will conquer the world.
Those who have been conquered by Jesus that He will best use to conquer the world
It is our security in HIM that facilitiates our usefulness
We are bend because we really are dust,
But if He inhabits and dwells and indwells that dust we become strong., useful, of use to our maker
With Him indwelling we are safe, secure, unsnatchable, and of particular usefulness
What’s happening before my mothers’ favorite verse: Be still and know…
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
,There is trouble,The earth is giving way, the mountains are moving into the sea
Its waters roar and foam, and mountains tremble
Yet, WE WILL NOT FEAR why: God is our refuge and strength
A very present help in trouble.
He is helpful…when?
When we are still before Him
When we are meek.
When we cry out.
When we are needful.
When we are bent.
It is a strange group of us Christians, are we not? Be still and know I am God.
The Meek inheriting the earth
The Bent being His favorite kind of people?
Yesterday we sat under the short and sweet ps 8.
8:4: what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him—Humbling phrase. Humbling reality.
We just might “need a bigger boat” as Martin Brody, played by Roy Schneider said of the very big Jaws
It is OK to be struck hard by a tiny psalm, or any small unit of Scripture.
Any of them can appropriately and thoroughly rock our spiritual understanding
They can affect our appreciation and worship
He remembers we are dust He knows our frame Ps 103:14
Will he eventually DWELL with us? Ps23: 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
As it is promised in Leviticus 26:11 Leviticus 26:11–12
11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
As we will be experiencing and enjoying someday future: R Revelation 21:3
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
We end up occasionally appreciating our size: speck, dust, small
YET, God visits. God is mindful. God cares.
This is the great paradox of Psalm 8. The great tension.
We have a great God who is so near.
We have majesty enthroned who visits us.
We have perfection, who comes to speak and so to test us.
We have God rejoicing and delighting in the children of man
Our response: We’re gonna need a bigger boat
Zephaniah 3:
17 The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
We sing, children of the Lord because of what He does:
He rejoices over us with gladness
He quiets us by His love
He exults over us with singing
We sing, because He sings over us. He has made much of us, the least we can do is make much of you
We’re gonna need a bigger boat
It reminds me of my mother’s favorite verse:
One of the first she ever underlined in her bible:
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
Ps 46:10
Let’s talk about that stillness for a moment:
BE STILL, and know something about me
Stillness is our superpower
Ps 37 The meek shall inherit the earth.
In God’s kingdom: TheMeek, the bowed the bent will inherit earth
The oppressed will occupy
Those curved will take custody
Reinforces the distinctives, that the stillness is the strength.
Associates and honors that the stillness, rest, quietness the trust in Him is the key to unlocking strength and salvation
There is strength in stillness. There is strength in stillness
This rest in the Person of God is our power—He’s got this. He is working all things for good. Others might mean things for evil. I am still in Him. Resting in Him. Trustingin Him
Stillness is our SUPERPOWER
It is in stillness, in a quiet, trusting posture that our inexplicable experience of the kingdom is expanded. Stillness is our superpower.
Spiritual acrage is achieved by the returning and resting in Him.
Stillness is our superpower.
I pray for you: that you may have awe.
That you may have stillness, meekness, bowed appropriately, that you would be bent before him.
Imagine this powerful, bent people. Bowed before Him. Bent in awe and in need.It is this cadre that will conquer the world.
Those who have been conquered by Jesus that He will best use to conquer the world
It is our security in HIM that facilitiates our usefulness
We are bend because we really are dust,
But if He inhabits and dwells and indwells that dust we become strong., useful, of use to our maker
With Him indwelling we are safe, secure, unsnatchable, and of particular usefulness
What’s happening before my mothers’ favorite verse: Be still and know…
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
,There is trouble,The earth is giving way, the mountains are moving into the sea
Its waters roar and foam, and mountains tremble
Yet, WE WILL NOT FEAR why: God is our refuge and strength
A very present help in trouble.
He is helpful…when?
When we are still before Him
When we are meek.
When we cry out.
When we are needful.
When we are bent.
It is a strange group of us Christians, are we not? Be still and know I am God.
The Meek inheriting the earth
The Bent being His favorite kind of people?
If we could look inside the mind of God, what would we find? S30e169
I love the questions of scripture. They are the portholes into which we gaze to figure a few things out.
When God asks them, someone doesn’t know the answer to the question, and that Person is never God.
God asks a question so that WE can think about it, and maybe figure it out. Just maybe.
This today might be the best question in all of scripture.
To answer it would answer WHY God went through all of His trouble to make, be betrayed by, and then rescue the pesky group known as humanity:
It would tell us why He’s so very faithful, perfectly faithful in fact, to a wobbly person and a wobbly People on the other side of a relationshiop.
Psalm 8 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
So the heavens and nature is pretty spectacular. No question about it. The guys that work at the Hubble telescope and now the James Webb Space Telescope should, if they are paying attention, FALL down and WORSHIp every other day. But more than those who look to the heavens should be awed.
Those who look to the mindfulness of God in a specific direction should be so silenced:
Those who look towards figuring out what God is looking towards will begin to understand the greatest of all mysteries.
Here’s a picture, since we are on telescopes:
Imagine we had this great and wonderful telescope and one day it discovers heaven itself. We could see inside heaven and we could see the movenments and actions of God. Then, by those activities we could figure out what are the priorities of God.
What would we find that is Gods priority? What would be occupying the mind and vision and concern of God?
We’d find God looking at US. Careing for US. Interceeding for US.
What is man that you are mindful of US? And the son of man that you care for US?
Psalm 8 tells us that if we look carefully to God, we find God looking with care at us
Later, the same psalm tells us that You have given him dominion over all the works of Your hands and put all things under his feet:
Beasts, birds, fish, and every thing in the created order
He loves us enough to give us stewardship, volition, control, over something He went to great care to create.
He loves us enough to give us meaningful work to do.
He describes this as crowning mankind with glory and honor
To do the work of God Here, on earth, in a stewardship relationship glorifies mand and glorifies God Himself.
There is something under your feet today, some dominion. Perhaps it is children, perhaps it is a series of jobs, perhaps it is fixing something, perhaps it is preparing your taxes, or working towards something, or learning math or history.
When He puts these things in subjection to us as stewards He puts all things in our control to honor Him
The passage says that you are mindful of us. It means that we are remembered. In a sense, that His mind is full of Us.
If we could look inside the mind of God what would we find?
THAT INSIDE YOUR MIND OF GOD, AND HEART OF THE DIVINE AND THOUGHTS OF THE MAJESTIC CREATOR, IS MAN AND IS WOMAN.
It blows my mind. Too wonderful to think about that you are mindful of man.
What does God think about? If we could look inside the mind of God, what would we find? We’d find YOU.
1 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
Matt 21:16 is quoting out passage 8:2 .
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
“ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
The NT is quoting from Hebrew, rendering into Greek, and we render to English
Remember Ps 82 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength
It rightly interprets STRENGTH of our Hebrew passage: Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength
STRENGTH is “the strength attributed to God in song”
Strength is PRAISE.
And yes, they are a highway to God himself. Have you ever seen a little baby? Have you ever been struck with the glorious noises they make?
Out of the mouths of those that cannot use words, God is uniquely praised.
God uses babies, to stop adults in their tracks and listen, and hold, and touch and smell and MARVEL.
He uses those who cannot talk to shut the mouths of those who can
He uses those who cannot talk to most clearly sing the strengths of God and to invite adults to joining them in stating those strengths in word and song
The world’s best worship leaders are infants
The Lord’s best worship leaders are infants
I love that God thinks about us
Ilove that God is particularly touches by the voices and cooings of infants
Go find a baby, a toddler or a kid and listen to the wonder and their praise
They will be a HIGHWAY to God Himself
When we get to God, what do we find Him doing? He is thinking about us.
If we could look inside the mind of God, what would we find? S30e169
I love the questions of scripture. They are the portholes into which we gaze to figure a few things out.
When God asks them, someone doesn’t know the answer to the question, and that Person is never God.
God asks a question so that WE can think about it, and maybe figure it out. Just maybe.
This today might be the best question in all of scripture.
To answer it would answer WHY God went through all of His trouble to make, be betrayed by, and then rescue the pesky group known as humanity:
It would tell us why He’s so very faithful, perfectly faithful in fact, to a wobbly person and a wobbly People on the other side of a relationshiop.
Psalm 8 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
So the heavens and nature is pretty spectacular. No question about it. The guys that work at the Hubble telescope and now the James Webb Space Telescope should, if they are paying attention, FALL down and WORSHIp every other day. But more than those who look to the heavens should be awed.
Those who look to the mindfulness of God in a specific direction should be so silenced:
Those who look towards figuring out what God is looking towards will begin to understand the greatest of all mysteries.
Here’s a picture, since we are on telescopes:
Imagine we had this great and wonderful telescope and one day it discovers heaven itself. We could see inside heaven and we could see the movenments and actions of God. Then, by those activities we could figure out what are the priorities of God.
What would we find that is Gods priority? What would be occupying the mind and vision and concern of God?
We’d find God looking at US. Careing for US. Interceeding for US.
What is man that you are mindful of US? And the son of man that you care for US?
Psalm 8 tells us that if we look carefully to God, we find God looking with care at us
Later, the same psalm tells us that You have given him dominion over all the works of Your hands and put all things under his feet:
Beasts, birds, fish, and every thing in the created order
He loves us enough to give us stewardship, volition, control, over something He went to great care to create.
He loves us enough to give us meaningful work to do.
He describes this as crowning mankind with glory and honor
To do the work of God Here, on earth, in a stewardship relationship glorifies mand and glorifies God Himself.
There is something under your feet today, some dominion. Perhaps it is children, perhaps it is a series of jobs, perhaps it is fixing something, perhaps it is preparing your taxes, or working towards something, or learning math or history.
When He puts these things in subjection to us as stewards He puts all things in our control to honor Him
The passage says that you are mindful of us. It means that we are remembered. In a sense, that His mind is full of Us.
If we could look inside the mind of God what would we find?
THAT INSIDE YOUR MIND OF GOD, AND HEART OF THE DIVINE AND THOUGHTS OF THE MAJESTIC CREATOR, IS MAN AND IS WOMAN.
It blows my mind. Too wonderful to think about that you are mindful of man.
What does God think about? If we could look inside the mind of God, what would we find? We’d find YOU.
1 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
Matt 21:16 is quoting out passage 8:2 .
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
“ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
The NT is quoting from Hebrew, rendering into Greek, and we render to English
Remember Ps 82 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength
It rightly interprets STRENGTH of our Hebrew passage: Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength
STRENGTH is “the strength attributed to God in song”
Strength is PRAISE.
And yes, they are a highway to God himself. Have you ever seen a little baby? Have you ever been struck with the glorious noises they make?
Out of the mouths of those that cannot use words, God is uniquely praised.
God uses babies, to stop adults in their tracks and listen, and hold, and touch and smell and MARVEL.
He uses those who cannot talk to shut the mouths of those who can
He uses those who cannot talk to most clearly sing the strengths of God and to invite adults to joining them in stating those strengths in word and song
The world’s best worship leaders are infants
The Lord’s best worship leaders are infants
I love that God thinks about us
Ilove that God is particularly touches by the voices and cooings of infants
Go find a baby, a toddler or a kid and listen to the wonder and their praise
They will be a HIGHWAY to God Himself
When we get to God, what do we find Him doing? He is thinking about us.
Yesterday we found The wonderful forgiveness of the Lord accessed by the heavy hand of conviction
What does the presence of God feel like?
It feels like a hand was heavy upon me.
The presence of God sometimes feels like a HEAVY HAND. S30e168
182 I am hesitant to leave Psalm51. Perhaps of all of the psalms, it merits a returning to day after day. Why?
Because we cannot call out for God until we have called out our sin
At least that is phase one of calling out for God
And mentioning what might separate us.
How often is that? Well, it is probably more often than we care to admit.
So let’s turn again and again to the I’m sorry psalm.
Psalm 51: 1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Thruough the sadness of repentance is the gladness of restored relationship
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
David expects humbly, or at least hopes humbly the Lord will un-see his sin
It is OK, even desirable to ask God to do what He has promised to do even when it is still hard
What am I gonna do when the day has no rainbows? When the story ends without a really happy ending. Many psalms present as a problem, a spiritual resolve, and a resolution and big time praise at the end. This is not one of them. This is a lament. It is real. What do I do when times are tough, when I am living in a world without rainbows?
When my circumstances continue to be bad and it is the dark night of my soul, please turn to ps 89
46 How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
47 Remember how short my time is!
49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
Lord we cry out, in this wilderness spiritual experience:
I want to see this again. Show me your steadfast love by showing me the throne of David!
This psalm is labeled a. LAMENT: It doesn’t start or end with rainbows
And what will we do when the world without rainbow?
At least when there are no rainbows in sight.
When the day does not end with rainbows do this:
Remember the creation and activity of God
Remember the specific goodness You promised thru David’s throne
Remember the covenantal faithfulness x7 as demonstrated by throne
Cry out to God on this day of no rainbows52 Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
Glimmer of hope: blessed be the Lord forever!
Also Ps32 Blessed are the FORGIVEN. I’d add: Blessed are the unforgiven who have the heavy hand of God up on them
Situation: 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;******
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
When God’s hand of correction is heavy
When we face the discipline of the Lord, the loving re-direction of aparent
First, how to do this wrong.
Knuckleheads and forgiveness: a primer
Keep silent. It will eat you from the inside.
Keep silent. It will never leave you day or night.
Keep silent. You will feel the hand of the Lord upon you. Not the helping hand, the HEAVY hand. The OH NO I gotta do something about it. The exhausting, debilitating kryptonite of unforgiveness and impaired relationship with the Lord
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
HOW TO BE FORGIVEN
I acknowledge my sin—that sin is sin in the first place
I acknowledge my sin—That sin is primarily done against God, 2 people
I asknowledge My sin—that my primary target of forgiveness is You God
I askn. My sin. I uncover it.
I aknow. My sin. I confess
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
God’s heavy hand is hard. It is also the greatest of graces.
If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart.
If today you feel His hand, His heavy hand, harden not your heart
The HEAVY hand of God is the greatest of graces available. WRITE
What is worse than God’s heavy hand? His indifference? His letting you go.
Him leaving you to the compounding consequences of sin.
The day when He lays His heavy hand upon you it will seem unbearable
And that is exactly the point. His heavy hand is a correcting hand.
What do you do BEFORE you restore relationship?
You might feel pressed upon. Spiritually pushed in this direction.
God does not force repentance. God encourages it.
The direction by God to head in the direction of conviction, confession and repentance can be Spiritually felt.
Here is what it feels like: Here is what the PRESENCE OF GOD feels like:
It feels like a spiritual hand directionally
It feels like a HEAVY hand: burdensome, laden,
It feels like an HONOR: hey, I dodged a bullet here.
I get to have a relationship with God?!
I get the awareness to start to get out of this mess, this funk I’m in?
If you do not occasionally feel the heavy hand of God, I’d question whether you are a Christian at all, at least not a growing one.
You can even ask for this: Help me feel the heavy hand. Help me yield to it.
What does the presence of God feel like?
It feels like a hand was heavy upon me.
Remember repentance is David’s specialty: His superpower.
He’s got a phD in FORGIVENESS. How do you get that?
You super-feel the heavy hand and respond to it.
IMHO this is the most important skill to learn for a successful life? Reading.
This is why David is described as a man after God’s own heart.
The path of an ongoing relationship to a holy God MUST be marked with conviction, correction, repentance and forgiveness.
The wonderful forgiveness of the Lord accessed by the heavy hand of conviction
I hope you feel it. What does the presence of God feel like?
It feels like a hand was heavy upon me.
If you feel the heavy hand, you may be in for the greatest of days
190The most important “how-to” skill of life s30e167
If there is another, I cannot think of it
The I’m Sorry Psalm 51
This is perhaps the greatest life skill that I could teach you.
Most important Christian-life skill
Most important Marriage-life skill; Church – life skill
David kills a guy
David commits sexual impurity with a beautiful woman not his wife
And all along, he knew better
We are watching David do the hardest thing. Moving from: what I do is OK. OF COURSE my ways have been correct…to: I could be wrong about this. In fact I amwrong. He will do repenting first: I’m wrong. He will do the hard, embarrassing work of restoration.
All along, he is suffering the embarrassment that, for all time, he will be an example of a great knucklehead in the house of God, a great knucklehead in the history of God’s people. He will be pulling down his spiritual pants for all to see the most important life skill: forgiveness.
Also watching the even harder process of watching God UN-SEE sin.
.Only you can fix this. Wash me whiter than snow.
He wants MERCY. 1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit. .
One of the questions I come back to regarding every human attempting in human ways to have a relationship with God is: WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT YOUR SIN?
In this psalm he does many forgiveness techniques right:
Ownership: 3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me. David’s sin has struck him. “Oh my goodness, what have I done”
:Identification: 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
Calls a sin a sin. Then, he calls for God Himself
He is asking for: PROXIMITY to God; PRESENCE of the HS; a restored POSITION of a joyful, saved place; the PLEASURE of a willing relationship.
Sometimes you need to ask for more than mercy
Want God to UN-see sin—which God has promised to do
How does the most holy of God forgive?
You have to help here. Hide your face from my sins. How can I deal with sin that is ever before an all-knowing God? How can God forgive? In the gospels, miracles and healings by Jesus were one thing. They were tolerated by the religious officials. But claiming this very power: the power to forgive sins, to make them disappear theologically, to make them as far as the east is from the west, This is exactly why they wanted to kill Jesus. This is something that only God can do. David knows that. David is banking on that exact truth:
I trust you are Divine. Please do this Divine thing: make these sins go away.
Ps 51 doesn’t stop at repentance, it goes to relational restoration
10Create in me a clean heart o God, and renew a right spirit within me11 David does not stop at repentance and dealing with the sin situation.
David asks for MORE THAN MERCY. I want you.
Here is what strikes me today: David asks for mercy. Starts with murder and he gets to mercy. Then he goes further: He asks for MORE THAN MERCY. He asks that God UN-SEES sin, which is bold enough, but then He asks for God Himself.
Yet, we honor David today. All of Israel honors David. Christ sits on David’s throne…How is all that possible? Shouldn’t we be condemning David? Shouldn’t David be the Jeffery Dahlmer of the Bible? Isn’t David “as bad as Hitler?” as we are apt to say?
Yes. Except that ps51 happened. Except for Ps51, and the process that is summarizedin this song, We would be reviling David to this day.
It could have ended like that. But something rare happened: repentance. Something precious was restored.
Without ps51 there is no psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd…
Every good thing you might say about David, and every good thing that David said takes place in the context of forgiveness.
All his forgivenss takes place in the context of repentance.
It is a process, and a posture that cannot be overemphasized
We would do well to follow in his footsteps to ask Have mercy on me.
To identidy 4 that against you, you only hve I sinned and done what is evil in your sight
Finally to restore relationship Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit. .
this might just be the most important how-to-skill of life
If there is another, I cannot think of it
Don’t call for God until you have called out your sin
What might the Lord bring to your heart for you to cry out like David? Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
I Want You to be PROSPEROUS s30e166
There is a hero of Psalm #1:3 In all that he does, he prospers
1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
We discover a man, blessed and prosperous. He is fruitful. He is enjoying the fruitfulness of decisions he has made. For our benefit, they are geographical and visual.
To begin they are defined negatively; by where this man is not:
1Walking In the 1in the counsel of WICKED influence
2standing WAYS of sinners, PATTERN of —unrepentant sinners
(every pathway is full of sinners, are they sorry?)
33We won’t find him sitting in the seat of scoffers—
Those who talk the talk of scoffing
Speak barbarously, --in a way foreign to blessed, holy
Speak in a way foreign to ways, the Words of God
‘w’here is our hero, our prosperity example:
What are his proactive engagements? This is not “poof” I was spiritually prosperous. Ps 1
3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
A Man who is :
Planted in the right PLACE –probably smack dab in the house of God
Where the spiritual streams flow the strongest
POWERED right things: spiritual engines of faithful, regular
fellowship, service, study of Word, worship
PRODUCING the right fruit at the right time
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Man who takes PLEASURE in the Lords principles
the law of the Lord, the commandments,
Man who delights in the very PERSON of God
Just like the psalmist is claiming right plant location yields right fruit. Here we get right spiritual engines, ending with the right fruit
I’d imagine the leaves of this fruitful life( my editorializing here) are the inputs of fellowship, of service, of generous giving, of study, of attendance, of addressingparticular personal flaws, worship, and of Awe before the Lord. Encourage you to consider using these 7 minutes as part of that
My prayer for you is that you become this blessed, prosperous, known, fruitful man/woman. How: Same ways.
Don’t do some stuff: words, ways, stay away from wicked
Do do some stuff: be planted, be powered, be producing, be principled under law of Lord and be pleased by the Person of God.
This is how you get to be a powerhouse, a spiritual powerhouse.
And just why might God want to turn you into a spiritual powerhouse?
Well, for His pleasure and glory for sure.
What should I do if I find my butt in the buttertub of grace?
What if I find my feet and my head bathed in oil?
Maybe God can be good to me so that I may go and be good to others
When I say< God is good, of course I mean MERCIFUL.
He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust Ps 103
In a moment in his life, David moves from a position of making a decision for lust, adultery and murder. He writes about it in ps 51. Greatest I’m sorry pages in human history.
He repents and is restored. I want to talk aobut how to ssay I am sorry tomorrow. But what good can sorry be in the long term? Why would God want to prosper humans by forgiveness? By restoring relationship with them?
(I’m not recommending or endorsing a life of sin) but if you HAVE done, what I have done, and gone outside the borders of God’s ways, His resorations can have benefits:
So I can be educational 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
I can share the story. I can write my own ps 51 of my life and share it to the benefit of others within hearing distance.
So I can be evangelical: 13b and sinners will return to you. I’m not just in this for me. Are there any other sinners out there that may benefit from my knuckleheadednessand forgiveness
So I can be worshipful: 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise. What a voice it ccan be from someone who was so far off to be brought back home. What a tongue to sing out loud of this event; what a mouth to give you all the praise that you deserve.
So I can intercede for the house of God
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
I want YOU to do good to Zion. I know I don’t deserve it. The HOUSE of God does not deserve it.
And yet, I ask for your favor. Yes, I am asking for the special favor upon the people of God. Let us walk in a broad place. Let us stand in the shadow of the Almighty. Leadus not into temptation. Deliver us from evil.
Don’t forsake the righteous
Why might God be so good to me? Prosper me? so that I may go and be good to others, to the house of God. So they can be educated, evangelize, example in worship, and I can intercede for others.
I pray the Lord would indeed prosper you. That your feet would be bathed in butter. That every favor of this world and the next can be achieved by you. Why? So that you can be a blessing to your house, and to the house of God.
How do I get to be powerful? S30e165
Being a Christian is an upside down existence.
For in it we find that Stillness is our SUPERPOWER
It is in stillness, in a quiet, trusting posture that our inexplicable experience of the kingdom is expanded. Stillness is our superpower.
Spiritual acreage is achieved by the returning and resting in Him.
Stillness is our superpower.
I get this from the gray haired psalm 37
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
Call to fret not, don’t be envious,
Delight yourself in the Lord, commit your way to Him
WAIT FOR THE LORD
Ps 37:11 11 But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.
Echoed. Restated. Reinforced :Mt 5: 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
It is not that there will be evildoers, mis-prospering, wicked, drawn swords
Note that the meek are inheriting something.
This inheritance is the promise of the Lord
The Christian walk is to have faith in something that is not yet seen
It is to believe in that future, and to act as if it is already accomplished
God doesn’t forsake His people because it is founded on not forsaking His Promise.
In God’s kingdom: TheMeek, the bowed the bent will inherit eart
The oppressed will occupy
Those curved will take custody
37:11The meek shall inherit the earth.
God has not forgotten the humble: 18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
There is a posture of calmness amidst the calamity in Ps37
The superpower of stillness is shown in the storm
There is a mentality of waiting even when surrounded by wickedness.
We rest, even now, in the promises and the Person of God.
It is the assurity of these that allow us to wait; to rest; to rely
There is strength in stillness
This rest in the Person of God is our power—He’s got this. He is working all things for good. Others might mean things for evil. I am still in Him. Resting in Him. Trustingin Him
Stillness is our SUPERPOWER
It is in stillness, in a quiet, trusting posture that our inexplicable experience of the kingdom is expanded. Stillness is our superpower.
Spiritual acrage is achieved by the returning and resting in Him.
Stillness is our superpower. Ps 37, also a theme in Ps62:1
Concept is reinforced and enhanced elsewhere in scripture . Ps62:1
For God alone my soul waits in silence
From Him comes my salvation.
Then there is Ps 46: 10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
What are the benefits of meekness? Of quiet waiting?
It is only in the stillness that I can most accurately hear to what truths I cling
stillness, rest, quietness is the key to unlocking strength and salvation
striving, working gets you nowhere.
Lam 3 summarizes the Lords’ part and our part. Note to self: He does the heavy lifting. : 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
The lamenter says the Lord is my portion. I want a slice of Him.
When all is said and done, I want HIM. I want Him as my inheritance.
In Him I find GOODNESS of character. Enough so, that I can wait quietly for the day of His salvation
We can be still because He is not still.
In God’s kingdom: The Meek, the bowed the bent will inherit eart
The oppressed will occupy
Those curved will take custody
The meek shall inherit the earth.
What is meekness: it is humility, spiritual poverty and neediness, a bowed person. It means to be BENT.
I have a great love for the people of the church. Why? Because they are the bent ones. Everybody has an illness, a bad history, a relational breakage, a shameful sin, and actions and thoughts that they have “trespassed-against”.
Here is one of the many geniuses of God:
The more BENT we are the BETTER we are
THke. More HUMBLE the more effective
The more we are meek, the better we can minister
The poorer, the more powerful.
Some go to church and say, oh my it is full of sinners. Yes, every pew.
But this is our strength in the upside down world of God’s spiritual economy
Being a Christian is an upside down existence.
For in it we find that Stillness is our SUPERPOWER
Be meek. Be curved. Be bent before Him.
You will never be more powerful
You will never be more powerful than when you are bend before Him
For: stillness is our strenghth, meekness powers the maching
How do I get to be powerful?
Be meek. Be curved. Be bent before Him.
S30e164
p.211 Here is an amazing characteristic of God: The Lord is high, but regards the lowly.
Psalm 138 is for the day of trouble. When there are no rainbows.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
Here is an amazing characteristic of God: The Lord is high, but regards the lowly. It is those who bow down that He bows down to.
Like it says in Ps 18: 9 He bowed the heavens and came down.
It is the Lord that bends heaven toward the humble before Him
The rescue of the Lord is in the context of a relationshiop, not rebellion
The lowly make themselves lowly. The haughty make themselves haughty. We have something to say as to whether the Lord regards us closely, or whether he knows us from afar.
How you doing in the humility department? …the “I could be wrong about this..”
There is a posture of spiritual growth, of spiritual friendship with God,
Of curiosity. Ask God something today
If psalm 138 is true imagine this. HE REGARDS. He attends. He listens to. He walks with the lowly when they walk through trouble.
He is with the humble on their day with out rainbows.
Are you in trouble. If you poke your head in to the sky of your life, do you see clearing rain and sunshine and a big rainbow? Or is today a day without rainbows. If so, bow your head to the One who bows down to walk with the humble.
Next lets remember WHY God may plant our butt in the buttertub of grace.
This is the most selfish psalm if you only read ONLYv. 1: Be gracious to me and bless me and make his face to shine upon me.
This is the most unselfish psalm if you read PAST v. 1: So the WORLD may know. The earth would understand. The nations would receive salvation; that all people would ultimately praise You
Could God bless ME enough that the world would be saved? Welcom ps67
Make Your Face Shine upon Us
67 To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
2 that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
Bless us so that…YOUR way may be known on earth
Your saving power among who? Nations.
How many nations? All nations. All earth. All the people.
Why? So that ALL the peoples praise you.
What is the purpose of the church? To Give praise to God
How? The MEANS we are using that all those things take place is this:
Lord, be gracious to me and the family of God
Bless me and your chosen people
Make your face to shine upon us…
THAT your way may be known, your power known, that your judgement would go forth.
This is what Psalm 67 cries out for: GRACE for me. Grace for us. My people
WHY: just so I make it into the kingdom? Nope. There is more: so OTHERS make it into the kingdom. That they’d receive justice transferred: Jesus gets the punishment. By HIS wounds, we are healed.
That THEY’d receive a pass of mercy. That they’d be granted favor and their feet would be bathed in butter. That there butt would be in the buttertub of grace, just like mine.
Could it be, that the Lord would be really really really good to you, SO THAT by that favor, He would save the world?
What do the OLD know that the young need to know? S30e88 ps37:25
I was wondering: What do the OLD know that the young do not?
It is a psalm for the young as written by the OLD.
It is a psalm that ONLY the old could write.
It is a psalm whose truths have enjoyed the run of the years
This is a psalm with gray hair
This is a psalm of David nearer the end than the beginning. He’s in the fourth quarter of his spiritual career here.
25 I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Point one: I have been young. I should have some street cred with the young because I have been young
Point Two: I am old. The OLD didn’t start that way. Inside every old person is a young person wondering what has happened to them! An old person is two people: An OLD person has both the lived spiritual experience of being young, carried in their memory and being old in current daily practice.
Point Three: I have been watching.
Point #4: I have NOT seen something. I am OLD BUT I have yet to see the righteous forsaken.
I have had some time to put to this observation, in fact all my years.
In all of them I have seen some stuff and I Have NOT SEEN something:
I’ve seen many many years, but not the righteous forsaken
You mean to tell me, He will not forsake the righteous?
25 I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
WHO ARE THE RIGHTEOUS
The truth of the verse says I act righteously, blamelessly, innocently, I am not perfect, none are. I am not abusing the forgiveness He offers.
The righteous before God are not passive, not cavalier, not casual, not haughty
I am keeping short account, obedient, submissive, receptive to his correction.
I’m endeavoring to match my behavior with my belief.
What is it that God does not forsake? People for sure, but His steadfast love; promise
God does not forsake His HESED, His ongoing commitment of faithfulness to an often uncooperative people
God does not forsake His PEOPLE because God does not forsake His PROMISE.Thank you for Ps 37.
What if I don’t have a spiritual home? S30e163
There are no good pictures of solo sheep out there.
There are no admirable examples of unflocked Christians. He always calls us to gather and then do the activities of a grateful people. It’s on every page!
84 To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere. ******
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Even the sparrow finds a home. In the house of God
Ps 84 is a call and a reminder to dial up our FONDNESS for the
PLACE of God., His house. A day in the church is better than disneyland
PERSON of God : ultimately I am seeking the One true God in the one true way that He instructs
PEOPLE of God: If you have a heart for the house of the Lord, you must also have a heart for the others that He has invited into the house of the Lord
The heart that seeks the courts of God also seeks the other knuckleheads He has invited into those courts
Should be no daylight between the pursuit of the Place of God, the Person of God and the pursuit of the people family of God in fellowship and service
Products of God: what happens in the church every Sunday morning? Just to name a few: worship, generosity, service, conviction, changed minds.
These are the handiworks, the Products that God is engaged in making
If you don’t have a solid spiritual home, meditate on Ps 84. Assess your fondness for the Place, the Person, the people and the products of God.
My prayer is that Ps 84 can ignite your passion for all that God has for you in a real practical place. With real people, making real spiritual products, serving and worshiping our real God.
Similarly, Here is an image about that the Lord uses in Psalm 9210 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
you have poured over me fresh oil.
11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house of the Lord; **********
they flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
15 to declare that the Lord is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
May the Lord pour over you fresh oil
Plant you like a cedar in Lebanon; PLANTED in the house of the Lord
Planted in the right place
Flourishing in the right place
Still bearing fruit in old age13 Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.
They are ever full of the mechanics of growth, habits of growth.
A good plantsman doesn’t just focus on the fruit, but on the sap the xylem and floem and chlorophyl that makes a tree function.
How do I become an asset. A net PLUS? Be of some use.
It is a blessing to be of use. Particular blessing to be of particular use. How do I do that? How do I get to be a helpful, fruitful, growing tree?
Put yourself on the path of fellowship in the house of God: bear burdens, forgive, encourage, outdo each other in honor, exhort
Put yourself on the path of service in the house of the Lord
If you want to grow: serve. If you want ot lead: serve. If you want to please God: serve. If you are not SERVING you should be GRIEVED for yourself, your wife, your kids, your church and your God
This is the great secret of the church
1. v Let you in on the secret
a. It teaches your heart the heart of Jesus, the great servant of us all.
b. It allows you to imitate the work and the character of Jesus, which He desires for all of His followers
c. You meet the best Christians in the bowels of the Chruch. Go find some unpalatable area of service. Two criteria: One that is inconvenient. One that is exhausting. Find someone who poops in their pants to serve. The unlovely. The awkward. The children. The elderly. The weak. The incompetent. The knucklehead wont be hard
d. Here is one of the secrets: While you are there you will also find this: You will look around you and you will find a bother or a sister who GETS PS 100: SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS. If you cannot yet serve the Lord with gladness, then serve along side someone who is serving the Lord with gladness. Where do I find these people? Serving the unlovely.
What if I cannot serve the Lord with Gladness Yet? Does that mean that I should notserve? Absolutely not. What it tells you is that you MUST SERVE. Put yourself in the thick of it. Why? Because that is how He is going to give you gladness. AFTER you step into service.
Put yourself on the path of study. What is written is written for your instruction. How do I know if I am in a bible study? Who studied this week. What are you studyingright now. You should have an answer.Put yourself on the path of Awe. Devotion. Worshiop. Time of treasuring.
This is the engine that will power your service, your study and your fellowship. Gotta grow in loving God
Even the sparrow finds a home, even in the house of God. So can you.
If you don’t have a spiritual home, and desire one, know that the Lord is aligned and 100% agrees with that desire of your heart.
Church hopping? Possible, Exceptional. Occasional. Rare. Should be as frequent as the Transplant of great Cedar. Criteria: Must flourish more in new place.
More service. More fellowship. More giving. More awe. More Person,84 92
For strength when EVIL does not STAY IN ITS LANE s30e162
Ps.27 But what if Evil does not stay in its lane?
Can there be bad things that happen to good people?
But what about the day of trouble?
What makes Ps27 beautiful is the non-beautiful setting it blossoms from
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
.I wish to dwell in the house of the Lord
Means to desire the person of God
Means to desire the people of God
We should favor the people of God because God favors His people
This geographic center of intimacy with the Lord that ironically, we can get in our living rooms; in your prayer closet,
There are false witnesses, adversaries,&enemies who breath out violence
We should favor the place and people of God because where else are we to go from evil?
3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
David is doing some hard mental work, by that I mean spiritual work. By that I mean work of the soul.
He’s asking of himself: What shall I set my mind on?
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
Of whom shall I fear?
What should I be doing with my spiritual affections when EVIL does not stay in its lane? 8 You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
On that day what should I do? Run to His house. Enter His presence. Inquire in the temple of your soul. Seek His word, His people.
Be courageous. Be of intent. Look for God in the right place: His Word , His house and His people
Wait for Him. Spiritual, active waiting. Standing firm in belief on His promises and His Word.
Meantime: be strong. Be courageous. Wait for Him.
Ps27 is for the strength when EVIL does not STAY IN ITS LANE
But what about the STUPID you may ask
Agree with me that certain spiritual behaviors are stupid
92 A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.
5 How great are your works, O Lord!
Your thoughts are very deep!
6 The stupid man cannot know;
the fool cannot understand this:
Rare and strong word. If you are a parent of 4 year olds, there is a reason that your child is probably not allowed to declare the stupidity of their sibling. Why? Because it is a powerful word now too.
12x. marked by lacking knowledge; brutish: a strong commitment to insensitivity, stupidity. Two feet strongly in the stupid camp
Clearly, Bad things are going to happen.
But it doesn’t start like that. The stupid start this concept flourishing:
v.the wicked sprout like grass
evil-doers flourish
There is stuff here the stupid cannot know, limits in depth and duration
Duration: the stupid/fool/wicked/evil-doer are in a season of growth, and flourishing now, but the finish line is not today
At the end of this time of peeking, and apparent production the end isn’t pretty: doom to destruction for ever
Enemy of God – separated from the One that made you.
Leaving the PRESENCE of God= Perishing
Ironically, this is a question the stupid rarely asK: is it me?
What question do the stupid never ask? Am I being stupid?
Am I florishing because I have pushed God away on this day,
only to be ultimately judged and punished on that day
specifically: separated from True God, truths, separated from the path of mercy that He gives us all a chance to opt for now.
Agree with me that if I did that, it would be stupid
So it is a fair question to ask;
Am I on the road of stupid? Florishing is not a marker
Separation is what awaits the stupid, and they may not realize it.
Give us eyes to see stupid
Give us the brokenness to be struck if need be
The humility to repent and turn
Give us the strength to do what needs to be done functionally to get out of the stupid lane
Give me the JOY to turn the car and my feet towards You
4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy
Don’t be stupid for sure: don’t be a sour pus either.
If this stuff about God is true, we should be pretty jazzed up about it
I sing for JOY.
Write a song, or find a song written that touches your heart.
How great are your works 5
You have made me GLAD by your work 4 at the works of your hands I SING FOR JOY
I leave you with that I may dwell in His house, Pursuing the Person of God with the people of God. that I may gaze at His beauty
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
especially when evil does not stay in its lane of Ps 27
I leave you with the assessment our stupidity
singing JOY of Ps92
As we and turn to the The Joy of His presence
I l
But what Page of the Psalms should I turn to? S30e161
Where should I turn if I need protection? If I need to bend heaven herein rescue? If I am underserving? Or if my soul melts for sorrow
234 Why might I turn to ps119?
If you want to hear from a guy who knows his Bible
If you want to hear from a guy who knows his God
The God of Ps 119 hears and answers, saves
If you want to hear from a guy who is KNOWN BY GOD; wants to be known
For all my ways are before y9u
If you want to hear from a guy who knows TROUBLE
If you are suffering from affliction, adversaries, sickness,
If you are surrounded by the wicked
If you want God to be NEAR v151
If you want to allow yourself to be spiritually discovered
Lord come after me. Seek your servant. Search for me. Then Search in me.
Ps 119 is not for sissies. Hard circumstances.
Thru all of the the solide stance of faith. Hard trust in hard times.
If Ps.119 was the only thing you know of from the OT, you’d be in pretty good shape. It is all in there. Teach me. Show me. Be with me!
It is for you if you want MORE OF GOD
It is for you if you want to PROFIT from your suffering
71 good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.
It is for you if you are a fan of spiritual history, God’s faithful interaction
It is for you if you want real intimacy 55 I remember you name in the night o lord
It is for you if you want some weapons against temptation
It is for you if you want fellowship: it will help you
It is for you when your soul clings to the dust; when your soul melts away for sorrow
May I also suggest turning to Psalm 18 which declares in
18 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:
.Real.Scary. real enemies. Real power. Real spears. Saul famously threw spears at him and send armies after him.
1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
The Lord answers: 9 He bowed the heavens and came down; .He bent heave toward earth
We asked, does God answer EVERY call
The rescue of the Lord is in the context of a relationshiop
Attach to the people of God with the same grace that the Person of God has attached to you***
Does God answer the haughty? The insincerely?
Does God answer everyone who asks sincerely, humbly, submissively? YES.
Service underserving, not undeserving
Psalm 84: 10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
O my goodness please serve
There is nothing that turbo’s your prayer life (Word #1)
We need doorkeepers. Make a difference. It should be inconvenient and exhausting and expensive in some way. Should cost you something.
Pro Tip: serve in the most unglamourous job you can find in the church and the goodpeople there will show you how to serve there with GLADNESS
Be a doorkeeps for the One who is your Keeper
Ps 121 Turn there if you need protection: need to be KEPT
I lift up my eyes to the hills
Where does my help come from
My help comes from the Lord
Who made heaven and earth
3He will not let your foot be moved.
I stand here. In all the important ways, I am not going to be moved.
Martin Luther said: Here I stand, I can do no other
It is less about the strength of my foot, or the skill of my balance
It is about the power and abilities of the foot keeper.
He keeps you in the DAYtime.
5The Lord is your shade on your right hand
The sun shall not STRIKE you by day
The Lord is your keeper
He keeps you in the NIGHTTIME
The moon shall not strike you by night.
3He who keeps you will not slumber
He keeps you when you are tired
He keeps you when you are defenseless
The Lord is your keeper
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
He keeps you from EVIL
Lord’s prayer
Lead us not into temptation but deliever us from evil
Protect us on the front end of evil
Prevent it from even being an issue in the first place.
He is our evil-sweeper. This is how Those who follow God lead better lives: they are confronted with less evil; protected.
Likely, we are not even aware of how it could have been.
Perhaps some day we will find out how much evil we’ve been protected from
The Lord is your keeper
Will you keep the One who Keeps you?
Will you hold the One who holds you?
Will you Look to the one who has looked after you?Will you keep the One who keeps you? If so, then Ps 121 is for you
The Lord is your keeper. If you need protection.
when your soul melts away for sorrow. If you know trouble or if you know God, then look to Ps 119
If you will serve the Lord with gladness, then turn to Ps 84 as doorkeeper
If you wish to bend heaven toward the earth in difficulty then Ps18
Will you keep the One who keeps you? If so, then Ps 121 is for you
The value of GOLD is how much now? S30e160 Ps119
261 About 100 days ago I did a podcast:
“Gold is worth $4000/oz. This is worth more”. 10x the views on you tube.
Convenient, universally recognized, portable store of value GOLD that our world uses was also used as an example and as a comparison of an ultimate value in ps 119: it is compared to the word of God.
The psalmist uses gold to compare to something else of emminant value: the value of the Word of God
127 Therefore I love your commandments
above gold, above fine gold. *********
Of note: Ounce of Gold is worth even more now $5000
By all measures, all across the world, in every financial venue, between our initial exposure to this verse and now, the Financial value of Gold has has quantifiably and dramatically increased $1000 per every Ounce of it. 25% increase. In 100 days.
I wonder, has your appreciation for the Word increased more than the increase in the price of Gold.
Don’t blame me: This is not my comparison, this is from God, from His Word. This is not my challenge—it’s His
This psalm teaches that Your affections for the word are SUPPOSED to stay ahead of your affections for gold.
do you love the commandments and precepts and truths of the word 25% more than you did 100 days ago?
Taken literally, Your valuation of God’s truth is supposed to keep pace with, and stay ahead of your valuation of gold.
Taken figuratively, The treasure of God is to be greater than the treasures of the world.
Gold is fun, because everybody can quantify its value
Do you love the Bible 25% more than you did 100 days ago?
Do you value the Bible more than gold. This is the call.
Let’s make every effort to increase our valuation of the storehouse of Gods’ truth: His WORD, like it calls for from Ps119
Psalm 119 flat out tells you what I love: I love Your_________ word law. When?
107 I am severely afflicted;
give me life, O Lord, according to your word!
109 I hold my life in my hand continually,
but I do not forget your law.
What should I do with the Bible? Incline my heart toward it. When ?
When times are terrible In affliction. When desperation is on the menu.
When I hold my life in my hand and when wickedness is all around me.
Brothers and Sisters: do not waste your affliction. Do not waste your cancer, your conflict, your enemies that mean you actual harm.
Thru all this…I incline my heart.
Thru my wounds…I incline my heart
Incline me directionally towards you
Incline my affection and fondness toward you
Incline my joy to what brings you joy
The spiritual walk is not for sissies. It is done With some difficulty.
It is done THRU some difficulties.
You mean to tell me that the closeness of the Lord can be directely related to the closeness of difficutities, enemies, and even death?
Have you ever noticed, that often times those in the most difficulty are often enjoying an enviable closeness with the Lord?
those who frankly are suffering the deepest bear the fruits of intimacy;
\
Listen to the circumstances and the responses that reveal the circumstances to ask: WHEN IS GOD NEAR.
145 With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!
I will keep your statutes.
146 I call to you; save me,
that I may observe your testimonies.
147 I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I hope in your words.
148 My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promise.
149 Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;
151 But you are near, O Lord,
and all your commandments are true.
I Cry. I call I rise I awaken I cry with my whole heart.
I call TO YOU; SAVE me WHY
That I may observe you testimonies
The psalmist pledges:I will keep your statutes
I will observe your testimonies
I Hope in your Words
I will meditate on your promise even in the watches of the night
Let’s talk about HESED
How can I relate to a perfect, wonderful God?
I’m gonna need some help
I’m gonna need to be graded on a curve: according to your steadfast love.
It’s like the always forgiving, biased, tolerant, disproportional love of a grandparent to a grandchild.
(Lord, will you be faithful to me so I can keep being faithful to You?)
I am small, wobbly, unfaithful, sinful.
Think about how important HIS faithfulness is: Without His PERFECT faithfulness, our imperfect faithfulness could be imperfectly expressed.
This is the kind of platform I am going to need my voice to be heard from: The HESED place. Deal with me thru the LENS OF HESED
Earlier, I asked that we continue to VALUE and increase our valuation of our relationship with God.
The only reason that we can perhaps do this, is because HE HAS FIRST VALUED US.
Our value of HIM, takes place in the faithful valuation of His relating to us.
This is expressed and quantified by what was given in exchange for us.
He gave His LIFE to come and get you; in exchange for you.
We can value HIM more than Gold, we shuld value Him more than GOLD
because HE first has valued us…MORE THAN GOLD.
Get your head around this: He values YOU more than Gold. He exchanged not gold, but His very life for you.
The least I can to is value him as much as Gold itself.
It’s all there in Psalm 119 S30e159 Ps119
276
Not quite true, but it is close.
I was wonderfully tricked into taking a look at Ps 119
Psalm of greatest structure
It takes 22 letter of the Herew alphabet 8 verses each for 176 verses
So too it is a Psalm of Great substance gravitas purposefulness
Longer that some whole books of the Bible.
It is a love song for the WORD OF GOD
Now The OT is an expression of God Himself to mankind.
It is as if the psalm says: Lord, You have communicated yourself to us and for us and I am going to sing about it!
To contrast: Think about What if God was silent. What if we never knew much about Him. What if He was a strong silent type only.
NO! He gives us Himself via this Word
And we best be happy joyful of song about it--
It is an antidote to SIN. Quotable antidote
In it, we expose ourselves to YOUR ways Lord, so that what?
So that it affects MY WAYS.
Specifically that I may not sin against you
For example: 9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
. You will struggle with porn unless you love something more.
You will not have victory in purity until you love something more.
It is a landing zone for SORROW
25 when my soul clings to the dust.
28 My soul melts away for sorrow; ************
50 This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.
When your soul melts for Sorrow, where will you go? Ps119
We come with melted souls for sorrow and then we ask the Lord, a few things Teach, give me understanding, lead me, Incline my heart turn my eyes confirm your promise and turn away the reproach
But there is much we can DO: Put self under teaching. Study for understanding. Be led. Actually incline my heart downhill towards your Word, turn my eyes actively away from some worthless things… and turn toward the valuable.
Like peter in John 6: where else are we to go? You have the words of eternal life
Here is an internet question: have you ever been trapped into watching some news feed, or tik tok, or Instagram just doom scrolled?
Time goes by 5 minutes 55 minutes 5 hours—designed to harvest your eyeballs and serotonin in your head. Don’t be surprised 37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.***********
Ps 119 is a source of memorizable, practical wisdom
Ps 119 is a REMINDER a keepsake
It is essentially people, reminding God not to forget His word,
which He cannot help but do,
reminding us to remember God remembering His law,
which we cannot help but to fail to do.****
Ps 119 is a promise of SPACE
45 and I shall walk in a wide place,
for I have sought your precepts. *****.
A narrow place is When the options are NARROW, limited. Choices are few and they are bad. Hemmed in in a bad way
But walking in a wide place, with possibilities before me.
In general, following God’s rules results in more options, better opportunities.
It reminds us what to do in suffering: when trouble is danger-close, God is shadow – close
It reminds us who to associate with in fellowship: 63 I am a companion of all who fearyou, of those who keep your precepts****.
Is a life with God lonely?
Am I unaccompanied in this journey?
Is the spiritual life to be lived alone?
Reminds us what to do with our hands:
If my hands are made by HIM, then what these hands do regarding work; what these hands consider regarding who they hold—both in affection and in fellowship, and to WHO THESE HANDS ARE RAISED IN WORSHIP
Three big W’s of life: work, women, worship. 3 things you gotta get right
Finally, answering the question: what do the eyes of your soul long to attain?
81 My soul longs for your salvation;
I hope in your word.
82 My eyes long for your promise;
I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
I notice Two things regarding what He desires:
1. You cannot see it NOW except in promise
2. You cannot see it HERE except in shadow
Here the psalmist longs for… something: YOUR SALVATION; fulfillment of the promise. I want what you said was going to happen, to HAPPEN.
Ps119 is a tour de force of the themes of the OT and the thems of God.
“Its all there” not quite true, but it is true enough to recommend highly
The people whom He has saved from judgment are to be a part of, or at least a witness to, His judgment. Ps 149
Sin 137:4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
GREAT QUESITIONS OF SCRIPTURE. HOW CAN I SING AT A TIME LIKE THIS. WILL I SING AT A TIME LIKE THIS? Will I REORIENT MYSELF TO THE LORD. Here is the light bulb starting:
Though sin always looks attractive on the front end, it unleashes unpleasant unintended consequences on the back end.
The Lord sometimes takes individuals OUT of His good graces
In order to put them BACK in His good graces Have you ever experienced the discipline of the Lord? Was it for a good reason?
Have you lived through the unpleasant consequences of behaviors unfitting for a follower of Jesus?
The Lord sometimes puts us under the Thumb of Babylon so as to push us back into His hand
The Lord sometimes puts us under the Thumb of discipline, so as to push us back into His hand
“I don’t care what God thinks” S30e158 Ps139
Closeness, Creation, Conviction and the Curiosity of Ps 139
CLOSENESS
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
We have a God a little too close for comfort.
If your proximity alert is going off here, you are on the right track
On thing you are not is HIDDEN. The Lord knows our steps, our words, our futures
To escape from Him is an inclination; it is also an immpossiblity
Am I known. “I just want to be known”…for all my good parts.
I just want to be hidden…for all the bad
It probably is a good spiritual marker to be known before the Lord, to be exposed before the Lord
It is a good spiritual marker to WANT to be known before the Lord
Creation
The greatest witness to me, of the existence of God, is the existence of ME
That is, we cannot “explain” creation without coming to a point of what will I do in the existence of God as creator
That is applicable to seeing red pandas, and sunsets
But it also is in relationship to the very existence of myself.
I know I didn’t create me…So who did, Who is this Fashioner?
It asks: WHO MADE ME 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
CONVICTION
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Search me, know me NOW.
There is a moment or maybe a season when we think things and do things that are not pleasing to God, but as of yet, as of this momen they do not displease us
In this absence of conviction there is in Psalm 139 a call for self-consideration
Search me, know me NOW.
Try me, test me, know my thoughts NOW. SEE if they come to GRIEF Why?
It is a request to Dial UP in me the conviction of Sin
See if there is a grievous way. See if I’m travelling any dreadful and dangerous paths that I am not aware of.
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Search me, know me NOW.
Try me, test me, know my thoughts NOW. SEE THE GRIEF Why?
See if there is a grievous way. See if I’m travelling any dreadful and dangerous paths that I am not aware of.
The AWARENESS can be the warning. The protective hand
Look intently, search this out in me, find the shameful paths that will lead to my harm.
Keep me OUT of danger by revealing the dreadful before I travel toofar upon its way
So I 1. Don’t come to harm
2. So you lead me in the way everlasting
There are, I suppose, many many ways to NOT end up in the everlasting way
May I receive it, listen for the warning shot.
Lord, It is a request to Dial UP in me the conviction of Sin
May it be a call 139 a call for self-consideration
You know me. You see me. I welcome You
CURIOSITY
How precioius to me are your thoughts v.17
Then today, DO I VALUE the thoughts of God. Another way of saying:
Do I value what God values?
What is my enthusiasm for the thoughts of God? His ways, yesterday, his people
It is a call to be eager to be searched
Are the thoughts of God PRECIOUS, treasured by me?
Practically, do I have a CURIOSITY for the words and point of view of God?
We encouraged beginning to do the behaviors of esteeming
so as to then lead to eventually regarding those thoughts as treasure.
How would I assess in you that you value the thoughts of God?
Is your heart inclined devotionally towards Him?
Assess this in intent, but also in structure.
Have you structured study, inquirey, prayer, listening, fellowshiop with the people of God, Isonlation with the Person of God.
Then : submission
To value God correlates with valuing His thoughts
If God is my treasure, If His thoughts are my treasure, it probably would show in the acreage of my time, my priorities, my calendar, my habits.
If you are not curious about the word, My bet is that there is a direct correlation as to how you calculate the WORTH of His word. Curiosity = value held
No INTEREST in the thoughts of God compounds correlates to no significant regardfor the thoughts of God.
Your esteem of the thoughts of God is betrayed by your interest in the thoughts of God.
The value you hold the thoughts of God can be gauged by vigor towards them
So, let’s see if you do really care about what God thinksIf your goal is to make it your prize, then act like it already IS YOUR PRIZE. Do the behaviors as if it were your prize and it will become your treasure.
Let’s be Close, be in awe at Creation, be occasionally Conviction and always Curious
Let’s care what God thinks“I don’t care what God thinks” just like ps 139
What makes God Happy? 30e157
People. What if I don’t like CHURCHY PEOPLE?
Let’s talk about the PEOPLE of God
If you want to be friends with God, it makes sense to be friends with the People of God in the house of God
When you become friends with God, you get a whole new set of friends.
Like getting engaged. You get to know and commit to love her friends and relatives
A marker of your friendship with God is your friendship with those who God has made friends with.
There is no alternative to being enthusiastic toward the people of God
He’s enthusiastic about the people of God, His children , family, adoptees, , what is our problem
What if I cannot be friends with the friends of God?, at least right now.
Ask God to give you eyes to see them AS HE SEES THEM:
He saw them and esteemed them, right thru their sin
He VALUED them enough to exchange His Son’s life for
Pray for an inordinate affection towards the knuckleheads in the house of God
The Psalmist asked to dwell in the house of the Lord. You find the LORD there of course, but uniquely, you also find His people there.
When He directs you to HIMSELF, He almost always directs. You to His PEOPLE.
Why should I favor the people of God? Because God faithfully favors His peopl
God faithfully favors His people from the first page of the Bible until the last. We are the apple of His eye. The Lord’s portion is His people. Dt 32.
besides Himself, People are the favorite thing of God,
The Lord takes pleasure in His People! Ps 149 ….and so should you
Christian Fellowship is assumed on every page of the new testament
God feels disproportionately attached to those in His kingdom,
Sometimes you just gotta ask WHY? Don’t know but HE DOES demonstrate excessive bias, and so must you demonstrate such an excessive bias
God strangely calls people his friends. To be a friend of God is to be a friend of the knuckleheads that God is friends with.
God is inexplicably fond of His people, and if you are not similarly fond for His people, you have some explaining to do!!
WHERE is the correct place to gather and WHY is it this way? Where gather? Geography question: “I’ve stopped attending church.”Why cannot you do this online in your living room.
Don’t let your grouchiness towards the people o f God mar your intimacy with God Himself.
Here is your assignment if you don’t like the church: Psalm 149: Sing to the Lord a new song. His praise in the assembly of the godly.. The Lord takes pleasure in His people.
And Ps 27One thing I have asked of the Lord…that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life
God Likes people sooooo much He promises the most valuable : Himself
He promises to be with them.
Ps91: 14 “Because he holds fast to me in love***********, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
Ps91 God is shadow close and I chose this. I choose Him. I put my stake in the ground in His shelter and in His shadow
He is With us in trouble. Quotes directly from God:
Trouble doesn’t go away, but the LORD PROMISES His presence
Over and over, the Psalms promise us trouble, at least recognize its reality
Yes it will be trouble to fight temptation and sin internal and external:
Yes, it will be trouble to have many stand against you because they stand against the Lord.
When many stand against you, it is time for your to stand WITH the people of God in the House of God.
One of the images that is repeated in the OT is “giving God your back”
That is, physically turnin your face away from Him. Jer 32:33 they have turned to me their BACK and not their face. Though I have taught them persistently , they have not listened to receive instruction.
Do you have a church you Love?
Do you have a people in that church that you love?
It is impossible to understand the truths of the OT and the NT outside of God’s interaction with the people of God. It is on every page.
So, don’t give the Lord your back on this.
It likely will mean fellowship, service, membership, commitment, financial generosity, inconvenience, and exhaustion. These will be the new markers as to whether you agree with this truth.
If you are going to experience the discipline of the Lord, where better to do then in a body, and even sometimes AS A BODY.
Sometimes, the Lord seeks to put us BACK in His good graces
exactly by taking us OUT of His good graces—it is the story of the Bible.
A faithful, covenant keeping God who disciplines us back into
If you are going to experience the THUMB of the Lords corrective attention, let’s do it together
If you are going to experience the COMFORT of the Lord, likely you will experience it in the Comfort of His people. We often say in grief or death, How do people do this who don’t know the Lord?...and the people of the Lord
The people of God SHINE in grief.
If you are going to experience WORSHIP, PRAISE, Spiritual Awe, I hope you aim for it PERSONALLY. I also hope you achieve it Corporately.
In conclusion, we are reviewing Psalms of 150 days study and exposure.
We ask today: What makes God Happy? 30e157--PEOPLE
People. What if I don’t like CHURCHY PEOPLE? –not really a place to end on.
If that is you, don’t stop there. Ask God to help. And you help God. Don’t “give God your back “ in this. Thanks.
How can I be a friend of God? s30e156 Ps 25, 91, 27
Be His friend Ps 25
Be Shadow close Ps91
Be in His house with His people Ps27
First:Let’s go back to the delicious crumbs of Psalm 25
Is God’s track record trust worthy? I’ve got my precious trust. Where should I place it?
This is not God’s first day with you or with His people
We You should go forward with God because of what has already passed
He’s already proven reliable over thousands of years, with thousands of people, so He is worth our consideration wholeheartedly.
And what is that relationship like. Are you a friend of God?
14 The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, FRIEND of GOD
and he makes known to them his covenant.
Are you a friend of God? Three questions to asses this relationshiop
Are you fond of Him. Are your affections inclined towards Him?
Are you familiar with Him? Are you under His instruction and counsel? Do you gather with the people of God to Listen and learn? Are you studying the Bible personally? Reading His Word.
Are you in fear of Him?
By this we mean reverence. Holy fear, respect. Honor His opinion, His character, His revelation
Friendship = Fondness, familiarity and reverent fear
We’ve been calling this series: the psalms of my friends…that is I have leveraged one of my real life friends affection for a particular psalm and brought it into this series as a little tribute and reminder of them personally
Bigger question: Could we change this series title to the psalms of my FRIEND
That is, God Himself? It boggles the mind that HE extends friendship to us.
Our fondness, familiarity and fear of Him are markers that we are making use of that access.
I want us all to be able to say: I am a friend of God
Secondly, I wish to remember an image from Psalm 91
91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. *****
what is the physical location of a believer in relationship with God?
Here the Psalmist gives us two: DWELLING in the shelter and even moreso ABIDING in the shadow.
The Lord is our protector. Where else can we go to for spiritual guardianship?
I know it is ridiculous, but I picture connecting that shadow, attaching to that shadow. Dwelling in the shadow.
I put my stake in the shelter of His shadow
It carries on the theme, the image of Ps 25 friendshiop of God: familiarity and fondness
the Lord responds: I will be with him in trouble. I will be with him in trouble. I will be with him in trouble.
Describes a faithful follower who dwells so close to the Lord that he is within shadow-distance.
2 . I put my stake in the ground in His shelter and in His shadow
who dwells so close to the Lord that he is within shadow-distance.
I want us all to say: My relationship with God close. How close? SHADOW-CLOSE
Final thought from a final Psalm: If you could ask God for ONE THING, what would it be? S30e47 Ps27
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
And to inquire in his temple
What is at the house of God that is no where else? Worship, fellowship, presence
Corporate worship. I did a podcast a month ago about Cynthia arevo, who I heard in concert. She understood, and displayed, THE POWER of a SONG.
This happens every Sunday in the house of God. Group singing. Melodicproclamation of truth. This connects with your soul in a way you cannot get in your living room your car or even your shower. YOU CANNOT DO THIS AT HOME. You MUST go to the house of God to be in this, share in this and do this right. Covid proved this.
Fellowship with the people of God.
You need the people of God and the people of God need you. Yes, you will occasionally be disappointed by them. But Yes, they will occasionally be disappointedbyt You. There is no such thing as a spiritual lone-ranger. To find a healthy Christian on a Sunday morning is to find them in the church. If you do not find yourself in Church on Sunday, is to be injuring yourself.
Why should I favor the people of God?
Because God faithfully favors His people from the first page of the Bible until the last.Christian Fellowship is assumed on every page of the new testament
God feels disproportionately attached to those in His kingdom, and so must you demonstrate such an excessive bias
God strangely calls people his friends. To be a friend of God is to be a friend of the knuckleheads that God is friends with.
God is inexplicably fond of His people, and if you are not similarly fond for His people, you have some explaining to do!!
In summary:
I want us all to be able to say: I am a friend of God Ps 2514 The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
I wish that you have the fondness, the fear and the familiarity that = friendship.
Secondly. I want us all to say: My relationship with God close. How close? SHADOW-CLOSE91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. *****
Thirdly I want me and you to have a special relationship with the HOUSE of the Lord. There we will find HIM and His peoplePs27
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
Be His friend Ps 25
Be Shadow close Ps91
Be in His house with His people Ps27
This is not the best question in the Bible S30e155 Ps 24,25
Yesterday we reviewed the heroism, the horror, and the utterances of Jesus on the cross as prophesied in Psalm 22.
We made an observation, that at least according to Ps 22, Jesus was not abandoned on the cross, but embraced by the Father
Today we remember Psalm 24 This is not the best question in the Bible
But it is pretty darn good:
v.3 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
Ahh the great questions of scripture: Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord.
Humbly, fearfully, how can we approach this terrible God? Powerful. Mighty . Just. Right?
Who shall stand in His holy place? I joke about us knuckleheads, by that I mean sin. Iniquity. Stain. Unacceptability before Him.
Spiritually, it is ultimately incompatable with God
When we stand before Him for 10,000 years, with angels and creatures
We will be in His presence. Worship. What will NOT be in heaven? SIN
Who shall stand in His holy place? Answer #1 is nobody. Nobody. Not me not you. Not the best of us. Not David. Not billy Graham. Not Charlie Kirk. Not your pastor. Not your mother.
Who shall stand in His holy place? Answer #2 is NOT nobody. Wait, you mean to tell me our like is invited into the holy place of God.
If you come to my church what will you find: We are all in the same boat of
Error, transgression, rebellion, stepping on His toes
Why are we there? Where else can we go
How are we there? He makes a way for the unrighteous to be acceptable
We can go up this mountain without being smote?
We can pursue Him realistically, relationally, and possibly?
He makes a way for us to relate to Himv. 4 cleaned, pure hearted, truth
Mouth that is consistent with the belief
Could you stand in the presence of God? Nope. Not unless He says so.
But Psalm 24 is an invitation into the presence of God.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Gates here are personified: Life up your heads o GATES.
DO SOMETHING Mr. Gate. DO SOMETHING Mrs. Door.
Imagine a fortified, walled city. Every city had a gate.
Every gate is the vulnerable part of the city.
IT is at the gate that all the powerful discernment propberties of a whole city are concentrated.
Gates are opportunities. Opportunities for commerce, provision, flourishing.
Also opportunities for enemies to get in. for forces arrayed against the city to breach. All the wisdom of the city is concentrated there. The gate is the brain of the city.
CANNOT UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GATE TO THE CITY.
AS THE GATE GOES, SO GOES THE CITY.
THAT IS WHY ALMOST INFINITE RESOURCES WENT IN TO THE DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND THEN THE MANNING OF THE GATE.
THIS WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF A CITY. NO GATE. NO CITY.
GREAT CITIES, HAD GREAT GATES.
What do these gates tell us about our good Lord?
PS. 24 personifies the discernment and activity that takes place at the gate of the city.
We are watching gates and doors to teach us something about right response.
DO SOMETHING Recognize Him: that some Person may come in. Wake up. Be alert.Watch for Him. Be ready. Not another. Not an imitator.
And then when the moment is right:
DO SOMETHING Respond to Him: lift up your heads, o gates.
DO SOMETHING Receive Him: 7c that the King of glory may come in
DO SOMETHING Reverence Him. This is the King of glory. Glory
If GATES can get it right, so can you.
Getting a degree from the SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS S30e39 Psalm 25
What will I do when the Knocks are hard
Asking something of you. Something even heroic. What? WAITING
25 Of David.
1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
What is this waiting?
bind myself to the strength of YOU; twist myself with you in strength
I hope in the Lord—not hope, pie in the sky, I hope I wish I was taller
I EXPECT. I am solidly voting with my mind first and my feet and my hands
Not a passive waiting. Samsonite chair. Expect the answer.
Look forward to the fulfillment to the extent that
When it happens I am not surprised.
Faithfully living in the meantime.
In a sense, this is living in the promise. Living BEFORE the promise is real
Living in the waiting. Living in the wait.
Ps 25 is not about getting seminary degree;
Most of you are in the school of hard knocks.
What is your hardest class in the school of hard knocks right now?
What will you do with this. Where will you “put” your soul?
All have is the choice. Choice of what to do in the the waiting.
I choose to wait. Actively. Dynamically. Bound up with Him. Trusting Him.
As I am living the school of hard knock, I trust you in the waiting. Living in the wait
Review our review of the twin psalms 24, and 25
Who shall ascend? Nobody. Except those He invites: everybody and responds: not everybody.
Lift up your gates: be smarter than a door, than a gate
In you I trust, I wait for you.: Bind yourself to him.
Is the “Why have you forsaken me” psalm really about FORSAKING?
S30e154 Ps 22 again
366Yesterday we reviewed Ps 103 We have a God who, at least for now, and He has perfect justification to be wrathful whenever He wants, Currently does NOT deal with usaccordingly
He doe NOT repay us correspondingly to the trespass
He FORGIVES the iniquity v. 3
He remembers we are dust.
He does not treat us as our behavior, in light of His holiness, deserves
He knows our frame. He exhibits steadfast love toward us.
He removes our transgression. He “forgets” sin. As far as east from west.
You put sins behing your back. Blots them out. Tramples them underfoot. Hurl into the depth of the sea
We, like David in Ps 103, might end up in just blessing the Lord over the top why?
His response to us, HESED, steady, forgive is not the same as our response to Him. Rebellion, testing, sin
Ps 34:18The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Remember,The presence of God is curiously promised to the
Smashed & shattered
It is in brokenheartedness that there is a more porous awareness of the divine
Someone you know is in the thick of it with God. Trying to trust Him. We should remember them.
Psalm 22
My God my God why have you forsaken me.
Like many psalms it starts with a feeling and ends with a fact. 24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
Let’s ask, if you were suffocating slowly, what psalm would you quote, TWICe? Today we have the answer.
Jesus quotes the beginning of the psalm on the cross: My god my God, why have you forsaken me.
Jesus quotes the end on the cross: It is finished. It is done. That he has done it! In Hebrew.
Even His enemies, contemporarily associated and quoted Ps22 when Jesus was on the cross. Mt 27: 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.
First, they too quote Ps 22. The bad guys also point to it. “The bad guys say that Ps 22 is about Jesus on the cross.”
A fun fact about something horrible
Earliest recording of crucifiction is in 519 bc.. Invented by the persians, Borrowed by the Carthaginians, perfected by the Romans.
y have pierced my hands and feet. If you can think of another circumstance that this was a prerequisite, piercing hands and feet.
Here is the kicker: When David wrote this in 1000BC, no one knew about crucifiction.It was un-invented in human history.
This prophesy is 480 years before crucifiction was invented.
Specifically fulfilled by Jesus.
In many ways, to read Ps 22 is to join Jesus on the cross.
Dehydration, 14 I am poured out like water, ; and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
dislocation, and all my bones are out of joint;
Cardiac tamponade, probable cause of death, from cardiac effusion my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
Exhaustion Suffocation…
14 I am poured out like water,
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, you lay me in the dust of death.
Bunch of parallels of the crucifiction of mt27: My God My God. They mock me. They wag their heads. They divide my garments
Christ is the great subject of this psalm, or at the very least,
a great subject of this psalm.,
Jesus has won the superbowl of salvation against the opponents of death, evil, demonsand all the forces of evil.
Watch what happens during Ps 22.
Let’s ask: Is the sufferer forsaken, left alone? Abandoned?
To people who say YES, I recommend: read ALL the verses of the psalm
See the intimacy the togetherness
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
If Ps 22 is about Jesus, He was NOT abandoned, forsaken, left, by His Father.
Say it again: For he has NOT despised. Not abhorred the affliction of the afflicted
Not hidden his face from him, but heard him.
Of all the psalms, I probably have the biggest soap-box of any for this psalm.
I humbley say, I could be wrong about this.
It probably makes a theological important point. Was Jesus abandoned on the Cross by the father? Not according to Ps. 22. Read the whole psalm.
If you are making the argument that the father “turns his face away” as we sing in a song at my church, you will have to find a different psalm.
: Is the “Why have you forsaken me” psalm actually about FORSAKING?no.
The Fathers face did not turn away, was not despised or abhorred.
I hear the Father leaning IN in the reading of Ps 22.
_________________________
Hungry soul: Psalm 107. Beautiful, longer, repeatitive, structured song. Just like our songs today: they have verses
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, THANKSGIVING
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
He is thanking God for an attribute of Himself. Highlighting it.
Hesed is God’s STEADINESS in the context of our WOBBILYNESS
This is the kind of God we have, steady when we are wobbly.
Kind to us when we don’t deserve it. . The HESED of God is not optional it is critical. It is necessary. We desperately depend upon the Dependablilty of God******
Sometimes even deliverance from their distress
If not deliverance, then presence, then nearness.. then Himself.
Here is where we Bend your circumstances toward the ultimate satisfaction in Him
Be thankful now…be thankful for the past…be thankful for the future
If you have. Hungry soul. Turn to 107. Thankful soul: turn to 107
How does God HELP us? S30e153 Ps34,19,103
God helps us when we are brokenhearted. Ps 34
God helps us in nature and in His word Ps 19
God helps us by remembering we are dust and forgetting our sin Ps 103
Psalm 34
Ps 34 A psalm for the smashed, shattered and broken-hearted I will bless the Lord at all times
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Taste memories help you recall the characteristics of God when you are not currently enjoying the characteristic of God
34:18The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Here we find a spiritually geographic association; a proximity to those who have the right heart toward Him. : Broken-heartedness. smashed into pieces. Shattered.
What is the response of God toward the broken hearted?
His response is a closeness of the Person of HIM to the person of YOU
He allows a more porous awareness of His presence when the heart is in this condition: and it is brutal broken smashed shattered
What is the response of God toward the broken hearted?
God has a special response, toward that woundedness:. NEARNESS.
I don’t mention this lightly.
Are you: brokenhearted? smashed into pieces. Shattered?
If so, It is often there that the nearness of God is easiest to see.
It is easiest to feel God when you are smashed shattered and brokenhearted
Do you ever ask retrospectively:How was your crisis? “I never felt God closer.”
Good news ultimately: who doesn’t want to be near God?
Because it is He that made our hearts and our affections in the first place.
God is near to the broken hearted .the smashed; proximal to the shattered.
If that is you, be ready to enjoy the nearness of God
often More brokenheartedness = more NEARNESS.
Prayer: let me have the humility to break my heart before you, to smash myself first before any external smashing is required. God Helps brokenheart
In Ps 19 we learned that God has something to say in two places nature, word
First, The sky has something to say
If Nature could TALK, What Would It SAY?
Ps 19: 1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
His Glory, Work, knowledge and voice are partially communicated by nature
Sky isNot silent. Teeming with meaning. Communicating. Banishing ignorance.
That is: The character and the characteristics of God are exposed in it
soI can learn something about God just by going for a stroll
The Psalm is about the communication of God in nature, but doesn’t stop there
But I can also learn something about God by the STUDY of His Word
the communication of God is also in His word.
The second half of Ps19 talks about the wonderfulness of the Bible:
The testimony of the Lord is perfect, sure, pure…and then makes a valuation:
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Absent the perfection, surety, truth of the Word
It cannot have any reliable effect: soul revival, changing heart, wisdom
Because the Word is holy, and pure, we can trust on it’s reliable effects Ps 19 is a call to Remember to pursue the treasures that are in God’s world in God’s Word, before pursuing the treasure of the this world: Gold.
Why learn about God in nature and in His word? Just for knowledge? No.
David LANDS on being changed. Being pleasing before the Lord
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
I want to be changed into someone who is pleasing to YOU
I do not stand before the sky for nothing
I do not study your Word for naught
Nature is not without an effect. His word is not without an effect
No, I want those activities, and many others, please you. So don’t crack your Bible or put on your hiking shoes without wanting the pleasure of God as outcom
Finally let’s remember how God HELPS US in Ps 103
Bless the Lord, o my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name.
It is a sustaind celebration of God’s goodness and benevolence
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
What does God NOT remember? Our faithfully placed sins
Where? Into His lap. On the cross. Perfect sacrifice
How effective? Perfectly. As far as east from west
God forgets our sin
And remembers we are dust.
Life is painful. Temptation is hard. Purity comes at a cost. Integrity is not without a price. Service is exhausting. Justice comes slowly. Forgiveness is tremendously difficult.
The Lord is compassionate
Heb 2: 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Heb 4: . 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. ?
What if we did not have such a God
What if He was not good to us in shuch a way
What way:
By forgetting our Sin.
The God who cannot forget actively forgets our sin
By remembering our Dust. How much. All the way to be made like us
To be made faithful priest to make propitiation for sins. What’s that: to make them disappear
Help ON THAT DAY: sin. Help with the day to day.
Are you tempted now? You’ve got.help, real time real God help?
God helps us when we are brokenhearted. Ps 34
God helps us in nature and in His word Ps 19
God helps us by remembering we are dust and forgetting our sin Ps 103
If you are under the sky you are under the communicated understanding of the Lord.
There is no place of ignorance. All who have had sunshine upon them are without excuse.
I know you have forgotten this S30e152 Psalm 124 & 100
411 Psalm 124 says: All of your problems go away in the Lord. Just kidding.
The Bible does not promise an untroubled life
The appropriate mark of God’s children is not the absence of trouble.
the presence of bad circumstances does not indicate the absence of the presence of God
God does not make your problems disappear,
He does change the scenery. 2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side
when people rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
If the Lord was not here, things would be different
Ps124:8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He is for us, with us. At our side during real problems
Then we got 2 pearl from Psalm 100. Small but mighty psalm. Don’t ever dismiss a short psalm as not having much to say. We did some MIGHTY psalms, famous psalms, long psalms, Here: short. Powerful. Humbling. Suitable for changing my practice in real life
Serve the Lord with gladness. What if I cannot serve with GLADNESS?
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! service
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Y What if the only way I can serve is as a grouch
Here is a secret of the church. Why must every believer serve?
2. Because God says so. Command. Not optional.
3. Because this is the labor the Lord uses to make His church function in all its arms: administrative, organizational, mercy, worship and evangelism
4. Because you benefit from service.
a. If you are not serving you should be. Why? To your BENEFIT
5. Let you in on the secret
a. It teaches your heart the heart of Jesus, the great servant of us all.
b. It allows you to imitate the work and the character of Jesus, which He desires for all of His followers
c. You meet the best Christians in the bowels of the Chruch. Go find some unpalatable area of service. Two criteria: One that is inconvenient. One that is exhausting. Find someone who poops in their pants to serve. The unlovely. The awkward. The children. The elderly. The weak. The incompetent. The knucklehead wont be hard
d. Here is one of the secrets: While you are there you will also find this: You will look around you and you will find a bother or a sister who GETS PS 100: SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS. *****If you cannot yet serve the Lord with gladness, then serve along side someone who is serving the Lord with gladness. Where do I find these people? Serving the unlovely.******
What if I cannot serve the Lord with Gladness Yet? Does that mean that I should notserve? Absolutely not. What it tells you is that you MUST SERVE. Put yourself in the thick of it. Why? Because that is how He is going to give you gladness. AFTER you step into service. AFTER you step out in faith.
You will get gladness in service AFTER you serve with those who have gladness,
After you meet the saints that have already gotten the memo.
Rub shoulders with them.
Find someone who loves the apparently unlovable, those who you love only with some difficulty. Maybe the 2 year olds, maybe the middle schoolers, maybe the curmondgeonly, maybe the far away, Maybe the addicted, maybe the arrogant.
Find the difficult to serve.
There you will find the best saints in the church. Trust me on this. I have seen this over and over and over.
Serve with them.
It is they that will teach you to be GLAD
It is The Servants that serve the unlovely that will teach you how to be glad.
They will show you how to be glad.
This is the secret of the church.
Serving with the saints, that serve the supposedly unlovely, are the ones that will also be serving YOU.
By asking: What if the Lord should drop me after 1000 years. 5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
We realized His faithfulness is one of His critical characteristic before and during our earthly lifetimes. Here was a new one for me:
Lets say 1000 years from your death, God stops being of the character of HESED. Faithful loyalty to His knucklehead people somehow stops
If He is unfaithful, then we fall out of heaven.
It is the pillar upon which we will stand before Him for eternity
For if there is No steadiness with God,
there is nothing to stand on or at least nothing to stand on for long
Do you see ? It is Him, His grace, His steadfastness that keeps us there. Without His Hesed we’d be in trouble NOW, and in the future.
Without the pillar of HESED, 1000 years from now, we ALL FALL OUT OF HEAVEN
For if there is No steadiness with God,
there is nothing to stand on or at least nothing to stand on for long
Here is an amazing new thought: we absolutely depend upon the HESED character of God to put us into heaven, (or at least allow us a way that we could get there) AND we depend upon it for our continuance there**********.
We desperately depend upon the Dependablilty of God******
Hesed isn’t theoretical. It is Necessary*****
____________
Ps 34I will bless the Lord at all times
,In this psalm I am going to set my mouth to the blessing setting
I am going to use my will to Move my lips regularly to Praise Him
I am putting the center of my being toward the goal of putting Him in the Center
in the place of making Him bigger, more prominent, exhaulted,
But also it is o
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Set the Flavor of what God is like, in your brain so you can recall it.
Set the mouth, the praise, the song in a certain way to end up in a certain place.
Thank you for re-joinging me in the pearls of service and permanence of Ps.100, the setting of the tastes Ps34, and in acknowledgment of real problems, for real Christians, to call us to real faithful action.
A Reminder from the Psalms S30e151 Psalm review #1
429 We started about 6 months ago with the most famous psalm of them all: Ps23.
It was familiar. Comforting. Realistic. Ps 23 has everything. It Has: Suspense and peril comfort, presence.6 verses written by the chief knucklehead of the OT: David
Mean no disrespect, as it is one of his features. Luster, murderer,
Passionate, feeler, repenter, re-follower singer, poet, dancer, leader, killer, hunter, HUMAN HUMAN.
Let this be a go to psalm when you walk through the valley of death.
Rememver that YOU ARE WITH ME, one of the essential messages of the Bibl
If heaven is you are with me. Hell is you are without me.
I recall that you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
This blew my mind.: the presence of of God is noted not when the enemies were FAR but when they are CLOSE…
One should not expect the absence of enemies when one is seeking the closeness of God. Not only is He’s leading in a direction of righteousness
He’s carrying a big stick. Staff and a rod. Tools at the ready. Weapons at the ready: for prodding and direction, but also for whooping on attackers
Is the Lords rod and staff big enough for smiting ALL my enemies, yes.
Every need, every poverty, every sickness, every relationship
Then why not? He is building a kingdom of the willing, not of the conquered.
The Lord is allowing enemies, for now, witnessing what is happening from without as they watch what is happening within 5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
Why are the enemies here? Perhaps to benefit them, win them.
Christianity is about WINNING enemies
Somehow He is sovereignly using you for exerting influence on your enemies.
Somehow He is sovereignly using the enemies for exerting influence on YOU
I am supposed to be in a flock: We’d best see wheat kind of heart is in David: Acts 13:22
22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
Identifying who the Lord is for Him, cooperating, being restored, recognizing enemies, death and difficulty. Setting His min, replacing or reprioritizing at least the bad with the good: YOU ARE WITH ME
He does not take His faithful sheep out of the world. It almost sounds like He is putting us in the world, possibly even putting us at risk? But youre not alone
A solo sheep is a sheep in trouble. A solo sheep is a sheep emergency Don’t make yourself a sheep emergency is no theological or practical understanding of a solo individual Christian today in the eyes of God, outside the Church********
Our Lord has not come unarmed to this Psalm. This is a psalm of velvetcomfort, but inside the fuzzy is the iron fist of the Lord.
Do not be surprised when these carried weapons become active and utilized.
The Lord must bust out the sword so He can be with you forever
It is a call for us to make the shepherd of David, MY shepherd. That the Lord is David’s good shepherd does you no ultimate good. Do I want the shepherd? Do I want the comfort? Do I want the Rod? The alternative is the crisis of the lost sheep.
73 A Psalm of Asaph.
The guy who almost gets it all wrong s30e10
The Psalms of My friends. Psalm 73 is about a guy who ALMOST GETS IT WRONG
Have you ever almost toppled over, and realized if you did, you’d be in big trouble-like I would have fallen a great distance and hurt myself terribly?
That is what happens. This guy Asaph has a “come to Jesus moment”. Oh my goodness, I ALMOST GETS IT WRONG. I almost lost it all. I almost made a fatalmistake. I was ½ way there.
There is a great word in Ps 73: BUT…He catches Himself. He unstumbles. He gets it right. He goes from almost getting it wrong to getting it right.
There is so much to learn in the story of a guy who almost gets it wrong
1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart. ---HERE THE SPALM STARTS WITH THE GOAL THAT IS ALMOST FAILED: A PURE, UNDIVIDED, IN TACT, WHOLE HEART THAT IS DESIRING THE WRONG THING.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped. –HERE IS THE FIRST BUTT.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. I WANTED WHAT THEY HAD. I WANTED WRONG THING.THEN HE WILL DESCRIBE THE WICKED, UNTROUBLED, RICH, HEALTY, PRIDEFUL
SETTING THEMSELVES AGAINST HEAVEN
I almost set the ladder of my heart against the wrong building
I nearly took pride in those who have a horrible thing: Pride against God.
I almost stood before God, elevating a type of person who thinks they do not stand before God.
I almost modelled a rebellious, prosperous, anti-God person who in the end will be destroyed in a moment. In the blink of an eye. Swept away like in a Tsunami
Oh, I almost got it wrong.
Here is the conclusion of Ps 73: 25 Whom have I in heaven without you?
You are my only hope. You are my only trust.
I almost bet on the wrong horse. I almost put my trust in the sleek, rebellious sleek prideful guy rather than you
Wait a second: you are what I really desire. There is nothing on earth I desire besides you.
What is there to learn in the guy who almost gets it totally wrong.
I almost slipped. I almost desired, and then did the activities of that desire, towards the wrong thing. I almost was unfaithful to my 1st love.
Asaph gets distracted by the bright shiny things, the deer, for a while and he almosttrades the precious for the passing, the priceless for purchased, and the Person of God for the possessions of the world.*******
WHO DO I HAVE BESIDES YOU? NOBODY
Here’s the thing: there is nothing in the psalms that isn’t applicable to today
We enter into the battle for the attractions of your heart in contrast with the affections of your heart today. Welcome to psalm 23, and 73.
We should study, devote and sit in the psalms because I could get this wrong. I can make all the same mistakes that were on offer when these were written.
Conclusions
Be careful, don’t get this wrong. Don’t slip. us and others. Let’s walk through today with our pride sensing glasses on.
What are you setting yourself towards to day? WHO are you setting yourself upon?—The Lord, the people of the Lord, the book of the Lord
Have a biblical world view by reading the Bible
Have a heart that is ready to be struck if the Lord so chooses.
Let us not be too many steps away from conviction.
Whom have I in heaven but you? Nobody. Where else can I go? Nowhere. What people do I belong in but Yours?