Ps 38:18-22 "I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. 19 Many are those who are my vigorous enemies; those who hate me without reason are numerous. 20 Those who repay my good with evil slander me when I pursue what is good. 21 O LORD, do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God. 22 Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior." NIV
David’s writing is an insightful glimpse into a heart under pressure. It is very revealing to listen to his words as he laments both his own sin and the pain of persecution from those who are his enemies. “I am troubled by my sins…” this phrase is such a picture of the turmoil in David’s heart at this time. It is often said that the first step to receiving help is admission of your need. In Psalm 38 David is accepting the responsibility he has for his own condition. One great difference between David and his predecessor King Saul was their response to their own sinfulness. David was called a man after God’s own heart and Saul was rejected and lost the anointing. Why? Not because of David’s perfect life certainly. David’s list of failings and sinfulness is quite long as was King Saul’s but what is different is their responses to their sinfulness. Saul repeatedly justified his sins, hardened his heart towards God and people and blamed others for the problems for his actions. But David, even though he committed some very grievous sins, consistently humbled himself before the Lord when those sins were confronted or exposed. When the dealings of God touched his heart as a result of his transgressions he was able to accept the discipline of God with humility and surrender instead of rising in anger to resist the hand of divine correction.
In this passage David is again acknowledging his sinfulness before the Lord and recognizing that there may be a connection between the oppression of his enemies and his own sinful acts. In this realization David presents his requests for help within the context of cries of repentance. “Do not forsake me; do not be far from me…” These are the heart cry of a man who fears the loss of his intimacy with God because of his sin. Saul on the other hand became harder and harder as the dealings of God touched his life. He drove David into the wilderness, offered unclean sacrifice because he feared the people, and ended his reign as king by consulting a witch because he could no longer hear God. His mind was so confused in his unrepentance that he even asked the witch to help him to contact Samuel so that he could get a word from the Lord. Here he was breaking the command of God in pursuit of a word from God! What a conflict of actions!
The good news for us today is that God’s word to us in Deu. 31:6,8 “the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." We have this assurance repeated more assertively by Paul in Rom 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Our sins may for a season block us from the enjoyment of God but we will never be abandoned! God is always there, reaching out to draw us back to himself. He extends cords of kindness towards his children through the grace that was purchased for us in Christ. Through Paul we are both made aware of this great gift of God and warned of neglecting such a gift when he writes in Rom 2:4 “do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?” Grace is available to those who will humble themselves and turn from their sins. For those who will seek God’s face in repentance and turn from their sins a God of kindness is waiting to lead us back into His arms. Let nothing separate you from the joy of His presence. Know that He has kindness waiting for you as you turn your heart fully towards him.
Saturday
Friday
Psalm 38:9 - May 1, 2009
Ps 38:9 "All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you." NIV
The struggle against personal sin and the longings of the heart are often deeply intertwined. For many people the sins that we fall into in our lives are a form of comfort to pacify the cry of the unfulfilled longings that are deep within us. Hopes that have not been fulfilled, desires that are delayed, and dreams that we are holding on to create a unique pressure upon our souls. Prov 13:12 paints a powerful picture of the force of hopes and longings upon our hearts; “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Many times we hover on the edge between heart sickness and longings fulfilled as we try to endure until the time of fulfillment. It is in the midst of this tension, when the pain of heartsickness at times can begin to rise up and challenge our faith that the voice of other comforts begins to shout and offer us an alternative path to ease the pain. The heart encounters a choice between believing, rejecting the hope, or distracting ourselves from the pressure through means of false comforts and wrong conclusions. In these cases we tell ourselves that our suffering has somehow earned us the privilege of compromise, but compromise is not the answer.
David has known these pressures. He gave his life to serving King Saul only to be persecuted and driven away. His friends counsel him on two occasions to murder the king when opportunity arises. David is a worshipper who was called by a prophetic word to be king. The longing that filled his heart after that divine encounter was not the fruit of his selfish ambition. It was the fruit of a divine purpose birthed in his spirit through a prophetic word. And yet it was the source of a longing that for years went unfulfilled and in many cases his life seemed to go in the opposite direction. He felt the pressure of an unfulfilled word burning in him as choices to find false comfort through compromise warred against his heart.
Throughout these trials David found strength in his intimacy with God. As Psalm 38:9 reveals about David’s understanding of this season of his life, he knew that every longing that burned inside him stood open before the Lord. David knew the sighs that come from a heart that has long awaited the fulfillment of an inner desire. Whether the sighs that spring from a longing for more of God, the sighs of disappointment from delayed hopes or the sighs of a promise unfulfilled David knew that the heart of God was there with him in those times. He had a clear revelation of God’s intimate awareness of even the deepest movements of his heart. This one verse is a powerful insight into the depths of God’s compassionate awareness of the issues of our lives. Not only does he know your circumstance, He knows your pain, He knows your heart cries, He understands every wordless sigh that gives expression to something so deep inside of you that there are no words to explain it. He wants to come and fellowship with us in the midst of our heart’s cry. He knows and most of all He cares! God needs no explanation!
He just needs an open heart!
The struggle against personal sin and the longings of the heart are often deeply intertwined. For many people the sins that we fall into in our lives are a form of comfort to pacify the cry of the unfulfilled longings that are deep within us. Hopes that have not been fulfilled, desires that are delayed, and dreams that we are holding on to create a unique pressure upon our souls. Prov 13:12 paints a powerful picture of the force of hopes and longings upon our hearts; “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Many times we hover on the edge between heart sickness and longings fulfilled as we try to endure until the time of fulfillment. It is in the midst of this tension, when the pain of heartsickness at times can begin to rise up and challenge our faith that the voice of other comforts begins to shout and offer us an alternative path to ease the pain. The heart encounters a choice between believing, rejecting the hope, or distracting ourselves from the pressure through means of false comforts and wrong conclusions. In these cases we tell ourselves that our suffering has somehow earned us the privilege of compromise, but compromise is not the answer.
David has known these pressures. He gave his life to serving King Saul only to be persecuted and driven away. His friends counsel him on two occasions to murder the king when opportunity arises. David is a worshipper who was called by a prophetic word to be king. The longing that filled his heart after that divine encounter was not the fruit of his selfish ambition. It was the fruit of a divine purpose birthed in his spirit through a prophetic word. And yet it was the source of a longing that for years went unfulfilled and in many cases his life seemed to go in the opposite direction. He felt the pressure of an unfulfilled word burning in him as choices to find false comfort through compromise warred against his heart.
Throughout these trials David found strength in his intimacy with God. As Psalm 38:9 reveals about David’s understanding of this season of his life, he knew that every longing that burned inside him stood open before the Lord. David knew the sighs that come from a heart that has long awaited the fulfillment of an inner desire. Whether the sighs that spring from a longing for more of God, the sighs of disappointment from delayed hopes or the sighs of a promise unfulfilled David knew that the heart of God was there with him in those times. He had a clear revelation of God’s intimate awareness of even the deepest movements of his heart. This one verse is a powerful insight into the depths of God’s compassionate awareness of the issues of our lives. Not only does he know your circumstance, He knows your pain, He knows your heart cries, He understands every wordless sigh that gives expression to something so deep inside of you that there are no words to explain it. He wants to come and fellowship with us in the midst of our heart’s cry. He knows and most of all He cares! God needs no explanation!
He just needs an open heart!
Thursday
Psalm 38:1-8 - April 30, 2009
Ps 38:1-8 A psalm of David. A petition.
"O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 2 For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me. 3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin. 4 My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. 5 My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. 6 I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning. 7 My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. 8 I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart." NIV
This passage is filled with opportunities for theological disagreement. What means will God use to correct or punish? Is all sickness from the devil? These and many other issues can become the source of controversy depending upon how we read this passage but a few issues are very clearly presented in the principles of these verses. God will rebuke and he can either do it in anger or in love. God will discipline in the same fashion and God will confront sin in our lives through resisting us in various forms. David makes these things very clear in just a few short sentences. God desires to turn us from destructive ways and so He will lift His hand in opposition to us to turn us from those things that separate us from receiving His love.
In this season of his life David is experiencing much affliction as a bi-product of his sin. He has been touched by the arrow of God that has pierced his heart. He is feeling the weight of God’s hand upon him. What is essential is that we connect with David’s description of how these things have manifested themselves in his life. David speaks of God’s arrow, God’s hand and God’s wrath but then he goes on to describe what he is experiencing. Sickness, overwhelming guilt, being brought down, mourning, filled with anguish of heart this is David’s description of God’s dealings. This passage is a gift to us to help us recognize when God is pressing us to bring us to repentance. God’s discipline is never intended to destroy us. It is rather intended to turn us to Him and to train us in righteousness. Heb 12:5-7, 11 give us a clear theology for God’s discipline; “And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’ 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons… 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.“
David has recorded for us a firsthand account of the inner workings of God’s discipline. I believe that many of us undergo the discipline of God for prolonged seasons that could have been greatly shortened but we have not understood that what is taking place in our lives is a discipline from God to correct or rebuke us. For a season I was having dreams where a well known American television minister named Rod Parsley was talking with me telling me things that I was doing wrong in my church services. At first I was confused about the dreams and so I shared them with my team of elders. One of them laughed and said, “That one’s easy, he’s the ‘Rod of Correction’.” When David prayed in verse one he asked the Lord not to rebuke him in His anger. As I considered my experience I realized that this was the fulfillment of that principle. The Lord was rebuking me but in a gentle tone, a humorous tone.
Paul was a tremendous example of the Lord’s hand of discipline. He ministered as a Father to the churches that he oversaw and was not afraid to bring the Lord’s correction to them. He would confront sin, correct error and praise a right life. In 1 Cor 4:20 Paul demonstrates the distinction between gentleness and strong correction, “What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?” There is a significant contrast between how God addresses those who humbly desire to receive His adjustments, and how He confronts those who must be first broken before they can receive the truths that God desires to impart to shape their lives. Keeping our hearts aware of the inner workings of God’s Spirit in our inner being is an important part of our relationship with God. He will be faithful to deal with us to bring us to maturity but our own sensitivity and responsiveness to His hand can greatly improve the nature of the process.
"O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 2 For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me. 3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin. 4 My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. 5 My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. 6 I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning. 7 My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. 8 I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart." NIV
This passage is filled with opportunities for theological disagreement. What means will God use to correct or punish? Is all sickness from the devil? These and many other issues can become the source of controversy depending upon how we read this passage but a few issues are very clearly presented in the principles of these verses. God will rebuke and he can either do it in anger or in love. God will discipline in the same fashion and God will confront sin in our lives through resisting us in various forms. David makes these things very clear in just a few short sentences. God desires to turn us from destructive ways and so He will lift His hand in opposition to us to turn us from those things that separate us from receiving His love.
In this season of his life David is experiencing much affliction as a bi-product of his sin. He has been touched by the arrow of God that has pierced his heart. He is feeling the weight of God’s hand upon him. What is essential is that we connect with David’s description of how these things have manifested themselves in his life. David speaks of God’s arrow, God’s hand and God’s wrath but then he goes on to describe what he is experiencing. Sickness, overwhelming guilt, being brought down, mourning, filled with anguish of heart this is David’s description of God’s dealings. This passage is a gift to us to help us recognize when God is pressing us to bring us to repentance. God’s discipline is never intended to destroy us. It is rather intended to turn us to Him and to train us in righteousness. Heb 12:5-7, 11 give us a clear theology for God’s discipline; “And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’ 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons… 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.“
David has recorded for us a firsthand account of the inner workings of God’s discipline. I believe that many of us undergo the discipline of God for prolonged seasons that could have been greatly shortened but we have not understood that what is taking place in our lives is a discipline from God to correct or rebuke us. For a season I was having dreams where a well known American television minister named Rod Parsley was talking with me telling me things that I was doing wrong in my church services. At first I was confused about the dreams and so I shared them with my team of elders. One of them laughed and said, “That one’s easy, he’s the ‘Rod of Correction’.” When David prayed in verse one he asked the Lord not to rebuke him in His anger. As I considered my experience I realized that this was the fulfillment of that principle. The Lord was rebuking me but in a gentle tone, a humorous tone.
Paul was a tremendous example of the Lord’s hand of discipline. He ministered as a Father to the churches that he oversaw and was not afraid to bring the Lord’s correction to them. He would confront sin, correct error and praise a right life. In 1 Cor 4:20 Paul demonstrates the distinction between gentleness and strong correction, “What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?” There is a significant contrast between how God addresses those who humbly desire to receive His adjustments, and how He confronts those who must be first broken before they can receive the truths that God desires to impart to shape their lives. Keeping our hearts aware of the inner workings of God’s Spirit in our inner being is an important part of our relationship with God. He will be faithful to deal with us to bring us to maturity but our own sensitivity and responsiveness to His hand can greatly improve the nature of the process.
Wednesday
Psalm 37:32-38 - April 29, 2009
Ps 37:32-38 "The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, seeking their very lives; 33 but the LORD will not leave them in their power or let them be condemned when brought to trial. 34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it. 35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil, 36 but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found. 37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace. 38 But all sinners will be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off." NIV
The attainment of justice requires time! The Lord knows the plans that the enemy has formed against each one of God’s children and he will not abandon us in our hour of need. Verse 33 is a clear affirmation that the Lord will not allow the power of the enemy to prevail over us and he will not allow false accusation to win the victory. The charge of the Lord is for His saints to stand confidently in patient faith, knowing that the victory belongs to the Lord. Justice does not always cooperate with our time schedules but the Lord is always just! David gives us assurance not only that the Lord’s justice will prevail but that we will be allowed to witness the Lord’s deliverance as He cuts off the wicked and their plans.
David’s observation of the process of justice includes the reality that in many cases for a season the plans of the wicked seem to prevail. For a season it may seem as if the Lord has allowed the wicked to triumph over the righteous. For a season it may seem that unrighteousness is flourishing but David draws our attention to the reality that in due season the enemies of the Lord and of righteousness will pass away. I am compelled to consider Hitler. For a season all of Europe trembled at the power of his disruptive agendas to control, destroy and to kill. For a season nations bowed and people fled from his terror. But where is Hitler today? Where is the philosophy of hate that fueled his rage against the Jews? Though other enemies have since risen and new trials remain to be overcome the Hitler’s grasp on Europe diminished and nations united to triumph over that evil.
What David offers in these verse is hope. David presents a powerful contrast between the temporary benefits of pursuing evil and the lasting rewards of a righteous life. Because the upholds the righteous and resists the wicked we can know that for those who maintain a blameless life, for those who choose the peace that comes from obedience to the Lord, there is a future that will endure beyond this life into the life that is to come. No evil in this life can rob us of the eternal blessing that the Lord has in store for those who love Him. We are called to rest in this knowledge and find comfort in the promise of God’s enduring justice against which no evil can triumph. Be patient and wait for it!
The attainment of justice requires time! The Lord knows the plans that the enemy has formed against each one of God’s children and he will not abandon us in our hour of need. Verse 33 is a clear affirmation that the Lord will not allow the power of the enemy to prevail over us and he will not allow false accusation to win the victory. The charge of the Lord is for His saints to stand confidently in patient faith, knowing that the victory belongs to the Lord. Justice does not always cooperate with our time schedules but the Lord is always just! David gives us assurance not only that the Lord’s justice will prevail but that we will be allowed to witness the Lord’s deliverance as He cuts off the wicked and their plans.
David’s observation of the process of justice includes the reality that in many cases for a season the plans of the wicked seem to prevail. For a season it may seem as if the Lord has allowed the wicked to triumph over the righteous. For a season it may seem that unrighteousness is flourishing but David draws our attention to the reality that in due season the enemies of the Lord and of righteousness will pass away. I am compelled to consider Hitler. For a season all of Europe trembled at the power of his disruptive agendas to control, destroy and to kill. For a season nations bowed and people fled from his terror. But where is Hitler today? Where is the philosophy of hate that fueled his rage against the Jews? Though other enemies have since risen and new trials remain to be overcome the Hitler’s grasp on Europe diminished and nations united to triumph over that evil.
What David offers in these verse is hope. David presents a powerful contrast between the temporary benefits of pursuing evil and the lasting rewards of a righteous life. Because the upholds the righteous and resists the wicked we can know that for those who maintain a blameless life, for those who choose the peace that comes from obedience to the Lord, there is a future that will endure beyond this life into the life that is to come. No evil in this life can rob us of the eternal blessing that the Lord has in store for those who love Him. We are called to rest in this knowledge and find comfort in the promise of God’s enduring justice against which no evil can triumph. Be patient and wait for it!
Tuesday
Psalm 37:30-31 - April 28, 2009
Ps 37:30-31 "The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just. 31 The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip." NIV
What we believe finds its expression in our conversation. What we value is what we speak about. In Luke 6:45 Jesus said, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” Each person has accumulated an abundance of ideas and beliefs in the very center of their being. The beliefs that flow out of how we have responded to our pain, the truths or lies that we have embraced as we have interpreted the events of our lives and things that we have chosen to place value on have all shaped every person to be who they are. Many people are simply a reflection of a series of passive responses to input. We have interpreted life the best we could based on the input we have received either right or wrong for understanding life and its events. The problem is that in many cases a significant portion of the information that we have used to find peace and interpret events has been based on lies. One man justifies the mistreatment he has received by saying to himself “I am unworthy of love.” Another man justifies his mistreatment of others by saying, “I was treated poorly by others therefore I am justified in treating others poorly.” This kind of thinking extends into all forms of wrong conclusions and ungodly beliefs. And out of these conclusions and beliefs our life is shaped and formed.
Prov 18:21 teaches us that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” The general principle operates in this manner: what we believe we speak, what we speak, we become. Our confession shapes us and our testimony reflects how we have interpreted our life’s experience. Two men have the same experience and for one it is the path of learned wisdom, for another it is the focal point of pain and a negative outlook. What is the difference; the lens through which we have interpreted our experiences.
The scriptures were intended to be the tool that we use to interpret life’s events. Within its pages there is a treasure of wisdom and understanding for building our values system and our philosophy for how we will respond to and interpret life. The life of Christ and his many teachings were given from the Father not just to provide salvation but to provide for us a living representation of God’s values and as a visible example of how to respond to life’s events both good and bad. There is much revelation about life that is revealed to the heart when that man walks uprightly. When our hearts have been formed by building them upon the word of God wisdom and revelation about life have access to our hearts. However, if we have never received the word of God into our hearts as the primary building block for our view of life and its journey then in many cases we will form ungodly beliefs within ourselves that poison us and distort what we believe and how we respond to the people and events that take place around us.
David’s exhortation in Psalm 37:30-31 is that the righteous man will speak wisdom and conclusions that are just. His message to us is that it is the word of God that is the source of this wisdom and this just interpretation of life. God desires to shape us through the implanting of the Word of God. David’s promise to us through these verses is that the life that is built on the Word of God will be a life that does not slip, a life that is stable and sure footed. Too many of us are overcome by the events of life rather than living as those who “overcome evil with good” as the word of God encourages us that we can. When our lives are touched by the challenges that all men face the knowledge of the word of God gives us a powerful weapon to speak into our own hearts and the hearts of others to build us up and keep our spirits pure and free from the stain of ungodly beliefs. There are two ways to interpret every event that touches our lives. One interpretation, that which comes from the scriptures, leads us to life and peace and makes us wise for helping others. The other carries with it the seeds of death as our hearts are formed around a wrong understanding that in time will produce death and pain. It is our responsibility to search out the counsel of the scriptures and form a godly interpretation of every life situation. If we do this we will build for ourselves a life that can stand the trials of the day with peace and joy. When I know that God is working in me in the midst of every circumstance it becomes an anchor for my heart!
What we believe finds its expression in our conversation. What we value is what we speak about. In Luke 6:45 Jesus said, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” Each person has accumulated an abundance of ideas and beliefs in the very center of their being. The beliefs that flow out of how we have responded to our pain, the truths or lies that we have embraced as we have interpreted the events of our lives and things that we have chosen to place value on have all shaped every person to be who they are. Many people are simply a reflection of a series of passive responses to input. We have interpreted life the best we could based on the input we have received either right or wrong for understanding life and its events. The problem is that in many cases a significant portion of the information that we have used to find peace and interpret events has been based on lies. One man justifies the mistreatment he has received by saying to himself “I am unworthy of love.” Another man justifies his mistreatment of others by saying, “I was treated poorly by others therefore I am justified in treating others poorly.” This kind of thinking extends into all forms of wrong conclusions and ungodly beliefs. And out of these conclusions and beliefs our life is shaped and formed.
Prov 18:21 teaches us that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” The general principle operates in this manner: what we believe we speak, what we speak, we become. Our confession shapes us and our testimony reflects how we have interpreted our life’s experience. Two men have the same experience and for one it is the path of learned wisdom, for another it is the focal point of pain and a negative outlook. What is the difference; the lens through which we have interpreted our experiences.
The scriptures were intended to be the tool that we use to interpret life’s events. Within its pages there is a treasure of wisdom and understanding for building our values system and our philosophy for how we will respond to and interpret life. The life of Christ and his many teachings were given from the Father not just to provide salvation but to provide for us a living representation of God’s values and as a visible example of how to respond to life’s events both good and bad. There is much revelation about life that is revealed to the heart when that man walks uprightly. When our hearts have been formed by building them upon the word of God wisdom and revelation about life have access to our hearts. However, if we have never received the word of God into our hearts as the primary building block for our view of life and its journey then in many cases we will form ungodly beliefs within ourselves that poison us and distort what we believe and how we respond to the people and events that take place around us.
David’s exhortation in Psalm 37:30-31 is that the righteous man will speak wisdom and conclusions that are just. His message to us is that it is the word of God that is the source of this wisdom and this just interpretation of life. God desires to shape us through the implanting of the Word of God. David’s promise to us through these verses is that the life that is built on the Word of God will be a life that does not slip, a life that is stable and sure footed. Too many of us are overcome by the events of life rather than living as those who “overcome evil with good” as the word of God encourages us that we can. When our lives are touched by the challenges that all men face the knowledge of the word of God gives us a powerful weapon to speak into our own hearts and the hearts of others to build us up and keep our spirits pure and free from the stain of ungodly beliefs. There are two ways to interpret every event that touches our lives. One interpretation, that which comes from the scriptures, leads us to life and peace and makes us wise for helping others. The other carries with it the seeds of death as our hearts are formed around a wrong understanding that in time will produce death and pain. It is our responsibility to search out the counsel of the scriptures and form a godly interpretation of every life situation. If we do this we will build for ourselves a life that can stand the trials of the day with peace and joy. When I know that God is working in me in the midst of every circumstance it becomes an anchor for my heart!
Monday
Psalm 37:27-29 - April 27, 2009
Ps 37:27-29 "Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. 28 For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; 29 the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever." NIV
Consistency, stability, continuity, this is the hope of the upright! God invites us into a life that has an anchor, a life that has roots, a life with a foundation. This invitation is not in the context of controllable circumstances but in the context of God’s character. Verses 27-29 give confidence to the man of character that protection, stability and love will flow from the heart of God to nourish the life of the faithful man. The Lord does not promise that there will be no changes in our lives in fact the scriptures call us to live as pilgrims. What the Word of the Lord does assure us is that if our ways please the Lord then no enemy will be able to displace us from living in the center of God’s will. The land referenced in these verses is reflective of every promise from God.
This is a year to enter in to your promises and to stand in faith that God will help you keep the ground which you have gained. Many people experience a season of breakthrough in their business, personal life or spiritual walk only to see much of that ground slip through their grasp and be lost, leaving them to fight for the same ground over and over again. The hope of Psalm 37:27 – 29 is that if our ways are pleasing to the Lord we will be able to endure in the breakthrough, not just visit the blessing for a season. Too many of God’s children are tormented by the fear of losing what has been gained. The problem with this consideration is that we are placing more faith in the negative possibility than in we are standing in the positive confidence that God will watch over the blessings he has placed within our lives. Verse 28 promises that those who are the Lord’s faithful ones will be protected forever, not just for a time. It brings God praise when we display to the world the enduring nature of God’s blessings upon our lives.
The power of what David is teaching us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is where our attention should be placed. Turn from evil, do good, live justly, walk faithfully, this is to be the focus of our lives. We are not encouraged to fight to hold on to the blessing, we are encouraged to fight to hold on to a right heart before the Lord, we are encouraged to live with a just and faithful response to people. Jesus taught a profound truth in Mt. 16:25, the path to truly find your life is to lose it in pursuit of the living God. This is the essence of flourishing in life and in God. Solomon was rewarded with riches and influence not because he pursued these things but because when given the opportunity to have anything that he wanted from the hand of the Lord, he asked for the wisdom to serve God’s people well. His attention to the Lord’s business brought unparalleled blessings upon his life as well as the very wisdom that he was in pursuit of. This response from the Lord was almost certainly the foundation for Solomon to later write in Prov 10:22 “The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.” Give your attention to the things that matter to the Lord and He will give His attention to the things that matter to you!
Consistency, stability, continuity, this is the hope of the upright! God invites us into a life that has an anchor, a life that has roots, a life with a foundation. This invitation is not in the context of controllable circumstances but in the context of God’s character. Verses 27-29 give confidence to the man of character that protection, stability and love will flow from the heart of God to nourish the life of the faithful man. The Lord does not promise that there will be no changes in our lives in fact the scriptures call us to live as pilgrims. What the Word of the Lord does assure us is that if our ways please the Lord then no enemy will be able to displace us from living in the center of God’s will. The land referenced in these verses is reflective of every promise from God.
This is a year to enter in to your promises and to stand in faith that God will help you keep the ground which you have gained. Many people experience a season of breakthrough in their business, personal life or spiritual walk only to see much of that ground slip through their grasp and be lost, leaving them to fight for the same ground over and over again. The hope of Psalm 37:27 – 29 is that if our ways are pleasing to the Lord we will be able to endure in the breakthrough, not just visit the blessing for a season. Too many of God’s children are tormented by the fear of losing what has been gained. The problem with this consideration is that we are placing more faith in the negative possibility than in we are standing in the positive confidence that God will watch over the blessings he has placed within our lives. Verse 28 promises that those who are the Lord’s faithful ones will be protected forever, not just for a time. It brings God praise when we display to the world the enduring nature of God’s blessings upon our lives.
The power of what David is teaching us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is where our attention should be placed. Turn from evil, do good, live justly, walk faithfully, this is to be the focus of our lives. We are not encouraged to fight to hold on to the blessing, we are encouraged to fight to hold on to a right heart before the Lord, we are encouraged to live with a just and faithful response to people. Jesus taught a profound truth in Mt. 16:25, the path to truly find your life is to lose it in pursuit of the living God. This is the essence of flourishing in life and in God. Solomon was rewarded with riches and influence not because he pursued these things but because when given the opportunity to have anything that he wanted from the hand of the Lord, he asked for the wisdom to serve God’s people well. His attention to the Lord’s business brought unparalleled blessings upon his life as well as the very wisdom that he was in pursuit of. This response from the Lord was almost certainly the foundation for Solomon to later write in Prov 10:22 “The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.” Give your attention to the things that matter to the Lord and He will give His attention to the things that matter to you!
Sunday
Psalm 37:25-26 - April 26, 2009
Ps 37:25-26 "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. 26 They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed." NIV
Verses 25 and 26 echo the preceding passage in their declaration of two principles; the Lord will not forsake the righteous and their nature is to relate to their personal finances with a spirit of generosity. It is impacting to consider that these concepts have so captured David’s heart in this season of his life that he expands on the same issues in verses 25-26 that he has just presented in verses 21-24. David is looking back over the span of his life and teaching from the wisdom generated by personal experience. David has been a shepherd, a military leader, a persecuted refugee, a king, a husband, a father, a musician and worshipper and in all of these diverse experiences he is able to make a powerful statement of the Lord’s faithfulness towards the righteous. “I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread.” What a compelling invitation to live uprightly!!
Here is a man of such incredible prominence and experience in the ways of the Lord and his testimony is that the Lord has been consistently faithful, not only to the righteous but to their heritage – their children. It seems as if the second verse in this portion of the psalm is the explanation of the lifestyle that has brought such blessing. David simply states “they are always generous and lend freely.” Of all of the justifications for receiving God’s faithfulness that David could have chosen to focus on it is thought provoking that his attention is on the fact that those who have been blessed have demonstrated a lifestyle of generosity in
giving and compassionately lending.
This passage is so confidently confirming in its witness as it echoes the principle that Jesus teaches more clearly in Luke 6:38 “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”KJV The righteous man has tapped into the principle of sowing and reaping in the very attitude of his heart. His generous nature perpetuates his prosperity. In Mt. 24:12 Jesus talks about the reality that in the last days lawlessness will increase and as a result the love of many will be greatly diminished. It can only be assumed that this same lawlessness will impact the culture and the economic realms in such a way that people will be greatly tempted to hoard and adopt desperate attitudes towards the meeting of their personal needs. This spirit will bring all of those who adopt its values into a place of barrenness and lack that flows out of their fear and unwillingness to continue to sow the seed of generosity. It is vital in this hour that God’s people believe God’s promise that we can prosper regardless of the current economy and give ourselves more fully to living a life that is sowing to the spirit not to the
realms of the flesh.
Verses 25 and 26 echo the preceding passage in their declaration of two principles; the Lord will not forsake the righteous and their nature is to relate to their personal finances with a spirit of generosity. It is impacting to consider that these concepts have so captured David’s heart in this season of his life that he expands on the same issues in verses 25-26 that he has just presented in verses 21-24. David is looking back over the span of his life and teaching from the wisdom generated by personal experience. David has been a shepherd, a military leader, a persecuted refugee, a king, a husband, a father, a musician and worshipper and in all of these diverse experiences he is able to make a powerful statement of the Lord’s faithfulness towards the righteous. “I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread.” What a compelling invitation to live uprightly!!
Here is a man of such incredible prominence and experience in the ways of the Lord and his testimony is that the Lord has been consistently faithful, not only to the righteous but to their heritage – their children. It seems as if the second verse in this portion of the psalm is the explanation of the lifestyle that has brought such blessing. David simply states “they are always generous and lend freely.” Of all of the justifications for receiving God’s faithfulness that David could have chosen to focus on it is thought provoking that his attention is on the fact that those who have been blessed have demonstrated a lifestyle of generosity in
giving and compassionately lending.
This passage is so confidently confirming in its witness as it echoes the principle that Jesus teaches more clearly in Luke 6:38 “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”KJV The righteous man has tapped into the principle of sowing and reaping in the very attitude of his heart. His generous nature perpetuates his prosperity. In Mt. 24:12 Jesus talks about the reality that in the last days lawlessness will increase and as a result the love of many will be greatly diminished. It can only be assumed that this same lawlessness will impact the culture and the economic realms in such a way that people will be greatly tempted to hoard and adopt desperate attitudes towards the meeting of their personal needs. This spirit will bring all of those who adopt its values into a place of barrenness and lack that flows out of their fear and unwillingness to continue to sow the seed of generosity. It is vital in this hour that God’s people believe God’s promise that we can prosper regardless of the current economy and give ourselves more fully to living a life that is sowing to the spirit not to the
realms of the flesh.
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