Ps 76:8-10 "From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet — 9 when you, O God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land. 10 Surely your wrath against men brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained." NIV
Does God get involved in the affairs of the nations? Does God judge the wicked with power and vengeance? Yes, Yes, Yes, the answer is a resounding yes. God observes the nations of the earth and their injustice and wickedness towards one another. From the beginning of time the scriptures record God’s careful observation of the hearts and ways of man. Gen 6:5-8 tells us that “5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” By this passage we can see the extent of both God’s concern and His willingness to act in regard to dealing with man when his heart has turned to wickedness and away
from righteousness.
The gift that Psalm 76:8-10 provides for us is that it presents to us not just a glimpse of God’s wrath but an insight into the motives of God’s wrath. Ezek 18:30-32 introduces us to the heart of God in regard to people "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” God would rather see men turn from their sinful ways than have to send judgment upon them but men have too often refused God’s appeal to turn from their sins. But God does not stop at a warning and a call for change. Even in judgment God’s heart of mercy is calling to those who remain and that is the message of Psalm 76:8-10.
There are at least three overriding principles at work in these higher realms of divine judgment. Verse 8 says that when God pronounced judgment the land feared and was quiet. God’s first effort at turning the hearts of men is to announce intended judgment. His intent is that this warning, much like a parent warning a child, will remind the nations of the need for Holy Fear and cause them to be still and silent before Him. However, in many cases the peoples of the earth continue in their rebellion against God and so He is forced by their stubbornness to propel His judgments to the level of action. In God’s restraint of evil He is bringing forth both judgment upon the rebellious and deliverance for the oppressed. This is an expression of the supreme ability that God possesses to produce multiple outcomes from one event. The third outcome that flows out of the release of God’s judgment against the unrepentant is again two-fold in its outcomes; on one hand those who love the Lord are strengthened in their confidence that their allegiance to God will be defended and rewarded by His eternal justice, this results in their increased security and produces praise in their hearts, the second component to this dimension of God’s dealings is the reality that when many are swept away by God’s unseen hand in an act of awesome judgment those who survive that act of judgment are restrained for a season from committing further evil. Righteousness is given a chance to flourish in the earth by this season of restraint created in their earth through the release of the waves of reverent fear that follow after judgment.
Friday
Psalm 76:7-8 - July 31, 2009
Ps 76:7-8 "You alone are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? From heaven you pronounced judgement, and the Land feared and was quiet -..." NIV
What is it that you fear? Most everyone has struggled with fear of some kind or another at some point in their life’s journey. Some fear death, others fear lack, some fear sickness, some fear the rejection of people, and still others have fear concerning the potential for bad things happening in other areas of their lives. Fear can be a controlling force that paralyzes us and hinders us from making wise decisions or it can limit our ability to enjoy the good things that are available to us in this life. Fear can lead to depression, or isolation, fear can open the door for sickness or timidity. Each one of these fears has a tremendous potential to rob us of our ability to live a full life and to reach the purpose that we were created for.
It is with this understanding of the damaging power of an unhealthy fear that the psalmist identifies the only truly healthy fear, the fear of the Lord! “You alone are to be feared.” The pages of scripture provide much comfort concerning our tendency to struggle with all forms of fear. There are over 240 references to the word fear alone not including the use of other words that convey the same principles. And amongst this abundant variety of comforting thoughts a few passages stand out clearly to point us away from the wrong
kinds of fear.
Proverbs 29:25 warns us that the fear of man will prove to be a snare for us. When we fear man it causes us to yield to human desires without first respecting the desires of God. The book of Daniel is a tremendous manual for understanding biblical courage as both Daniel and his three friends had to make very public choices to fear God and not to fear man. Though each one was vindicated by a supernatural deliverance from God they were willing to align themselves with God and face the rejection and persecution of men regardless of the cost. Jesus spoke of this kind of courage in Lu. 12:4-5 where he said "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” This principle identifies a foundational truth that is the source of much overcoming faith. “Nothing can be done to you by the hand of man in this life that the goodness of God in the life to come cannot outweigh and overcome!” When we are armed with this understanding the need to fear what people can do or say to us is conquered by the assurance of God’s justice and reward in the eternal realms.
Once we have found victory over the fears associated with the mistreatments of man in all of their various forms the rest of the fears of life are much more readily conquered. Strengthened by the knowledge of God’s eternal vindication and focused on eternity as our true source of reward it is much easier to face the giant of fear in regard to other areas of life. Pr. 3:25-26 instructs us that we do not have to fear sudden disaster because God will be the source of our confidence in this life! Get happy! It is not your strength but God’s that gives confidence for living!
So how do we grow in this confidence in life? How do we overcome the enemy of fear and all of its troubling influence on our hearts and minds? Proverbs 1:32-33 gives us a powerful life contrast that, if we learn the wisdom of, will propel us on our way to victory, “the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm." This verse gives us two choices in life that provide the border between fear and peace. Each one of us has a choice between living a wayward life independent from submission to the direction of God and a life spent living under the guiding hand of God. So many people, believer and unbeliever alike have chosen independence from God in all or part of their life and so they are subjected to the fear that comes along with the responsibility of self-direction.
Jesus taught us to pray in Matt 6:13 with a focus of thought that is rooted in a submission to God’s guiding hand and a dependence upon Him for our life that many people have overlooked or taken for granted. This prayer is a yielding of the course of our lives into the hand of God by saying “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, KJV” When taken in context with the preceding passage we have been looking at in Pr. 1:32-33 the wisdom of God is displayed very simply, “ask God to lead you away from temptation and evil and then listen to His voice!” Many of us pray the prayer but never take the time to listen to direction. Freedom from fear will come quickly when you are living in the assurance that comes from knowing that God has directed your steps. It is with this confidence that Jesus was able to stand before Pontius Pilot and say that the only power Pilot had over him was power granted by the Father. The source of Jesus’ confidence was the knowledge that even in this hour of great persecution He was right in the center of the Father’s will for his life. When we are armed with this confidence in life even the greatest challenges fall are met with a deep inner peace that
the Father provides.
What is it that you fear? Most everyone has struggled with fear of some kind or another at some point in their life’s journey. Some fear death, others fear lack, some fear sickness, some fear the rejection of people, and still others have fear concerning the potential for bad things happening in other areas of their lives. Fear can be a controlling force that paralyzes us and hinders us from making wise decisions or it can limit our ability to enjoy the good things that are available to us in this life. Fear can lead to depression, or isolation, fear can open the door for sickness or timidity. Each one of these fears has a tremendous potential to rob us of our ability to live a full life and to reach the purpose that we were created for.
It is with this understanding of the damaging power of an unhealthy fear that the psalmist identifies the only truly healthy fear, the fear of the Lord! “You alone are to be feared.” The pages of scripture provide much comfort concerning our tendency to struggle with all forms of fear. There are over 240 references to the word fear alone not including the use of other words that convey the same principles. And amongst this abundant variety of comforting thoughts a few passages stand out clearly to point us away from the wrong
kinds of fear.
Proverbs 29:25 warns us that the fear of man will prove to be a snare for us. When we fear man it causes us to yield to human desires without first respecting the desires of God. The book of Daniel is a tremendous manual for understanding biblical courage as both Daniel and his three friends had to make very public choices to fear God and not to fear man. Though each one was vindicated by a supernatural deliverance from God they were willing to align themselves with God and face the rejection and persecution of men regardless of the cost. Jesus spoke of this kind of courage in Lu. 12:4-5 where he said "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” This principle identifies a foundational truth that is the source of much overcoming faith. “Nothing can be done to you by the hand of man in this life that the goodness of God in the life to come cannot outweigh and overcome!” When we are armed with this understanding the need to fear what people can do or say to us is conquered by the assurance of God’s justice and reward in the eternal realms.
Once we have found victory over the fears associated with the mistreatments of man in all of their various forms the rest of the fears of life are much more readily conquered. Strengthened by the knowledge of God’s eternal vindication and focused on eternity as our true source of reward it is much easier to face the giant of fear in regard to other areas of life. Pr. 3:25-26 instructs us that we do not have to fear sudden disaster because God will be the source of our confidence in this life! Get happy! It is not your strength but God’s that gives confidence for living!
So how do we grow in this confidence in life? How do we overcome the enemy of fear and all of its troubling influence on our hearts and minds? Proverbs 1:32-33 gives us a powerful life contrast that, if we learn the wisdom of, will propel us on our way to victory, “the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm." This verse gives us two choices in life that provide the border between fear and peace. Each one of us has a choice between living a wayward life independent from submission to the direction of God and a life spent living under the guiding hand of God. So many people, believer and unbeliever alike have chosen independence from God in all or part of their life and so they are subjected to the fear that comes along with the responsibility of self-direction.
Jesus taught us to pray in Matt 6:13 with a focus of thought that is rooted in a submission to God’s guiding hand and a dependence upon Him for our life that many people have overlooked or taken for granted. This prayer is a yielding of the course of our lives into the hand of God by saying “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, KJV” When taken in context with the preceding passage we have been looking at in Pr. 1:32-33 the wisdom of God is displayed very simply, “ask God to lead you away from temptation and evil and then listen to His voice!” Many of us pray the prayer but never take the time to listen to direction. Freedom from fear will come quickly when you are living in the assurance that comes from knowing that God has directed your steps. It is with this confidence that Jesus was able to stand before Pontius Pilot and say that the only power Pilot had over him was power granted by the Father. The source of Jesus’ confidence was the knowledge that even in this hour of great persecution He was right in the center of the Father’s will for his life. When we are armed with this confidence in life even the greatest challenges fall are met with a deep inner peace that
the Father provides.
Thursday
Psalm 75:6-7 - July 30, 2009
Ps 75:6-7 "No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. 7 But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another." NIV
Have you ever been in a situation where your heart was set on reaching a new position through promotion or hiring either in work or in the body of Christ? Have you ever watched as someone else was chosen and you were overlooked or passed by? Have you ever been denied that opportunity and struggled to keep your heart right concerning the people who were chosen? This passage is powerful for its ability to place our focus in the right direction and turn our hearts towards a place of rest. The simple message is that no man should be the attention of your frustration or disappointment in regard to being chosen for a desirable position. It is God and God alone that exalts a man.
When our hearts are able to accept this reality it is a powerful revelation that greatly aids our hearts. So many people endure the experience of being overlooked or passed by as a great blow to their self-esteem and their hearts are tempted with thoughts of bitterness towards those who have chosen someone else instead of them! When surrender to the fact that God is at work in either experience our acceptance or the experience of passing us by then we can turn to a new way of thinking in our inner most being. “You mean man didn’t reject me?” Correct! “You mean God was the one who withheld the release of favor in the eyes of man?” Exactly! We must accept that it is God who gives favor or withholds it. It is God who is at work and He always has a plan.
To accept that it is God who has withheld promotion or favor can be threatening to our hearts if we relate to favor in the eyes of men as a statement of our worth. This happens most often when we have associated our identity and value in life with how men treat us and the favor we enjoy before them. But here is the foundational truth; the withholding of something is not a statement of your worth in the eyes of God! God is more interested in your spiritual development and maturity than He is in making you either rich or famous! Yes he cares about your prosperity but His first desire is that your soul prospers and that your spirit flourishes!!!
In addition to that God is at work to arrange the times and seasons of our lives so as to accomplish his sovereign purposes. Consider Joseph, he was betrayed by jealous family members, sold into slavery in a foreign land, falsely accused, imprisoned as a result over the course of 13 long years or potential disappointment, all of the while holding on to a prophetic dream that had promised him that he would be the leader over his whole family! Now that is a trial! To have a promise of great success only to watch your whole life fall apart and to be left in a prison isolated from all the people that you have known and loved. Welcome to the “Holy Spirit Academy of Spiritual Development”, growth through suffering, maturity through overcoming emotional pain and conflict! Do you want to enroll? No, well sorry, the moment you became a Christian you put your name on the contract! God is at work! Joseph was still believing the Lord’s promise, even while in the dungeon, and God still found a way to stretch his faith a little more. Two prisoners with positions in the king’s household each had a dream and Joseph interpreted those dreams for them. Out of gratitude the one man promised that when he was restored to his position he would help Joseph, well… he forgot! God is at work. “Wait a little longer Joseph!” “Keep your heart right Joseph!” God is at work. Man’s timing and God’s timing are seldom the same and God uses the difference of opinion to train us in patience and perseverance! Stop looking to man. Stop complaining in your heart! God is at work and His ways are perfect!
Wednesday
Psalm 75:2 - July 29, 2009
Ps 75:2 “You say, "I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge uprightly.” NIV
“Are we there yet!?” How many times have we heard this question; from our children, from our own hearts? “How much longer?”, “Will we ever get there!?” For most people life has a way of bringing us to the pressure point of our souls. We begin in faith, hearts full of great expectation, only to see that those expectations have not been realized. In our minds we expected sooner, bigger, better, more people, higher score, more money, more customers, whatever the measuring stick we had measured by, for many people our dream just hasn’t measured up to the picture we had formed in our minds. Can you say “reality check?” Now say “character development!”
Having been in the construction industry one of the most common errors in that field is to grossly underestimate how long the job will take to complete. We calculate to our best efforts, anticipating every possibility, only to see a pile of things we never could have dreamed would happen creep in to change the face of the project we conceived of in our minds. A common saying in the building trades is “calculate how long it’s going to take and then double it.” In many ways this is a similar concept to walking with the Lord. He has an appointed time for everything! Solomon addressed this very simply in Eccl 3:1 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” We may view a situation as a failure, we may be tempted to doubt that we heard the Lord correctly but in the middle of all of this we are invited to instead enter into a place of rest! Faith is not the absence of struggle but a patient rest in the promises of God that are the foundation of what we have invested our lives in.
God is the conductor of the great orchestra of life and like the conductor of a giant symphony He is at work to merge and blend the roles of many musicians and their contributions to the whole of that orchestra into one beautiful harmonic song. Often we fall into the trap of only considering our situation from the perspective of our situation but God is at work on a much larger scale. He is not only concerned with the affairs of your life in an isolated vacuum, He is coordinating your maturation, personal development, and life purpose into the giant symphony of every other life that He is at work directing and all of this is in the context of creating one overarching sound called the purpose and plan of God in the earth. We must remember that the work of God in our lives is not in a vacuum! We are a part of a much bigger picture and God’s ways are perfect. David could have been frustrated if he related to his sufferings on simply a personal level. Moses could have been offended and quit on God if he allowed himself to forget the reality that God’s dealings with him were in the context of a much greater plan of raising up a deliverer for the people of Israel who were crying out in their pain and bondage. Yes God is at work on your behalf. Find rest today knowing that God’s timing is perfect and His purpose good! Find rest in the sound of that heavenly song that your life is becoming a part of!
“Are we there yet!?” How many times have we heard this question; from our children, from our own hearts? “How much longer?”, “Will we ever get there!?” For most people life has a way of bringing us to the pressure point of our souls. We begin in faith, hearts full of great expectation, only to see that those expectations have not been realized. In our minds we expected sooner, bigger, better, more people, higher score, more money, more customers, whatever the measuring stick we had measured by, for many people our dream just hasn’t measured up to the picture we had formed in our minds. Can you say “reality check?” Now say “character development!”
Having been in the construction industry one of the most common errors in that field is to grossly underestimate how long the job will take to complete. We calculate to our best efforts, anticipating every possibility, only to see a pile of things we never could have dreamed would happen creep in to change the face of the project we conceived of in our minds. A common saying in the building trades is “calculate how long it’s going to take and then double it.” In many ways this is a similar concept to walking with the Lord. He has an appointed time for everything! Solomon addressed this very simply in Eccl 3:1 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” We may view a situation as a failure, we may be tempted to doubt that we heard the Lord correctly but in the middle of all of this we are invited to instead enter into a place of rest! Faith is not the absence of struggle but a patient rest in the promises of God that are the foundation of what we have invested our lives in.
God is the conductor of the great orchestra of life and like the conductor of a giant symphony He is at work to merge and blend the roles of many musicians and their contributions to the whole of that orchestra into one beautiful harmonic song. Often we fall into the trap of only considering our situation from the perspective of our situation but God is at work on a much larger scale. He is not only concerned with the affairs of your life in an isolated vacuum, He is coordinating your maturation, personal development, and life purpose into the giant symphony of every other life that He is at work directing and all of this is in the context of creating one overarching sound called the purpose and plan of God in the earth. We must remember that the work of God in our lives is not in a vacuum! We are a part of a much bigger picture and God’s ways are perfect. David could have been frustrated if he related to his sufferings on simply a personal level. Moses could have been offended and quit on God if he allowed himself to forget the reality that God’s dealings with him were in the context of a much greater plan of raising up a deliverer for the people of Israel who were crying out in their pain and bondage. Yes God is at work on your behalf. Find rest today knowing that God’s timing is perfect and His purpose good! Find rest in the sound of that heavenly song that your life is becoming a part of!
Tuesday
Psalm 73:21-26 - July 28, 2009
Ps 73:21-26 "When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, 22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. 23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." NIV
Grief and bitterness are like a poison working in the spirit of man. It is natural to suffer grief at the loss of a loved one or some other tragedy but there is a normal healthy process we are intended to go through to allow that grief to work through us as we find comfort in the Lord. In psalm 73 the psalmist is reflecting on what his bitterness and grief had produced in his heart. It made him senseless and ignorant, even beast like in his attitude before God. Bitterness clouds how we think. Rationality is pushed aside and a strange force darkens our thoughts as we tend to let accusing or depressive thoughts gain influence for a season in the flow of our minds. It is during this process that we must wrestle with our thoughts and fight to replace the darkness of this bitterness with the light that comes from God’s word.
Bitterness is deeply associated with a sense of loss; whether a lost loved one, lost opportunity, lost resources, lost relationship, lost respect or some other form of loss. When we are struck by a painful disappointment such as these many times our perspectives about the future are equally damaged resulting in a loss of hope. The scriptures refer to the impact that this has upon the heart in Prov 13:12 which states “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” and it is this heart sickness that when left unchallenged by meditation upon the scriptures grows up into bitterness and grief. In Psalm 73 the psalmist describes a bit of his struggle as he has wrestled with the pain of a bitter spirit. The good news is his story does not end in bitterness. Though he has tasted a season of pain he is restored to his confidence in God. He maintains a positive confession that is centered around his hope in the Lord. In Verses 23-26 the psalmist writes “… I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” This confession has six tremendous assertions of faith that are hope builders. Confession one: “I am not alone because I am with you.” Confession two: “God, you are in charge, you have me by the hand”. Confession three: “My life still has direction, because you are guiding me.” Confession four: “There is an even greater eternal destiny awaiting me.” Confession five: “I am an eternal being and that is where my life focus is.” Confession six: “Even though I may struggle in my human emotions for a season I will find my strength in the Lord.”
When our lives have been touched by pain it is vital that we learn to fight for the focus of our thought lives. During times of trial it is a common occurrence to be tempted by bitter or hopeless thoughts. In those times we must remember these confessions and direct our hearts towards God. We cannot allow our minds to be overcome by our grief. Turn to the Lord in your pain and be strengthened by the riches of his word. Trade heartsickness for hopefulness, mourning for joy! The ministry of the Holy Spirit of God into your life is the same today as it was in the time of Christ which he spoke of during his earthly ministry: Isa 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning.” Turn your eyes to the Lord and your heart towards His word and He will meet you with gladness that can overcome any bitter thought or painful grief and restore you to a life full of hope and meaning.
Grief and bitterness are like a poison working in the spirit of man. It is natural to suffer grief at the loss of a loved one or some other tragedy but there is a normal healthy process we are intended to go through to allow that grief to work through us as we find comfort in the Lord. In psalm 73 the psalmist is reflecting on what his bitterness and grief had produced in his heart. It made him senseless and ignorant, even beast like in his attitude before God. Bitterness clouds how we think. Rationality is pushed aside and a strange force darkens our thoughts as we tend to let accusing or depressive thoughts gain influence for a season in the flow of our minds. It is during this process that we must wrestle with our thoughts and fight to replace the darkness of this bitterness with the light that comes from God’s word.
Bitterness is deeply associated with a sense of loss; whether a lost loved one, lost opportunity, lost resources, lost relationship, lost respect or some other form of loss. When we are struck by a painful disappointment such as these many times our perspectives about the future are equally damaged resulting in a loss of hope. The scriptures refer to the impact that this has upon the heart in Prov 13:12 which states “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” and it is this heart sickness that when left unchallenged by meditation upon the scriptures grows up into bitterness and grief. In Psalm 73 the psalmist describes a bit of his struggle as he has wrestled with the pain of a bitter spirit. The good news is his story does not end in bitterness. Though he has tasted a season of pain he is restored to his confidence in God. He maintains a positive confession that is centered around his hope in the Lord. In Verses 23-26 the psalmist writes “… I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” This confession has six tremendous assertions of faith that are hope builders. Confession one: “I am not alone because I am with you.” Confession two: “God, you are in charge, you have me by the hand”. Confession three: “My life still has direction, because you are guiding me.” Confession four: “There is an even greater eternal destiny awaiting me.” Confession five: “I am an eternal being and that is where my life focus is.” Confession six: “Even though I may struggle in my human emotions for a season I will find my strength in the Lord.”
When our lives have been touched by pain it is vital that we learn to fight for the focus of our thought lives. During times of trial it is a common occurrence to be tempted by bitter or hopeless thoughts. In those times we must remember these confessions and direct our hearts towards God. We cannot allow our minds to be overcome by our grief. Turn to the Lord in your pain and be strengthened by the riches of his word. Trade heartsickness for hopefulness, mourning for joy! The ministry of the Holy Spirit of God into your life is the same today as it was in the time of Christ which he spoke of during his earthly ministry: Isa 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning.” Turn your eyes to the Lord and your heart towards His word and He will meet you with gladness that can overcome any bitter thought or painful grief and restore you to a life full of hope and meaning.
Monday
Psalm 71:18-21 - July 27, 2009
Ps 71:18-21 “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come. 19 Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you? Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. 21 You will increase my honor and comfort me once again." NIV
In our last devotional we considered the psalmists reflection on his past, present and future in the Lord and the testimony that flows out of a life that has developed a history in God. This continuation of the verses in psalm 71 adds to the flavor of the psalmist’s reflection. In verse 18 a father’s heart emerges as the psalmist looks beyond this current generation to express his desire to pass on what God has done in his life. This is the true nature of spiritual fatherhood and mature Christian experience. The psalmist’s vision does not stop with himself. His longing is to pass on what the Lord has imparted to him over the years and he is turning that desire into active prayer. “Do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation…” During a time when it is many people’s vision to retire and to think of self this psalmist’s life vision is to persevere as a mentor to build faith in the younger generation even when he is old and gray. Lord raise up this kind of heart in our day and age!
After this appeal concerning his future role as a father to the next generation the psalmist continues to lift up his confident praises and a confession of his certainty of God’s faithfulness. His praise for the Lord is the message that he desires to impart to the next generation. Righteousness that reaches to the skies, God of power and might, God who is beyond comparison, this is the message that he desires to implant in future hearts. One of the powerful considerations of this passage is that the psalm itself is what God used to fulfill the psalmist own prayer. Even today, thousands of years later the psalmist’s prayer is still being answered as he instructs the generations to come through this very psalm itself. Our hearts are strengthened in their knowledge of God and the psalmist’s prayer is fulfilled as we learn from his testimony of God. It is truly awesome to understand the reality that God answers many times progressively and to a much larger scale and scope than we could have imagined when we pray them. This knowledge should encourage us to pray bigger prayers and believe for even bigger answers from a God who has prepared for us more than we could ask, think or imagine!
This portion of psalm 71 also contains within it a powerful reflection on God’s faithfulness in the context of a life that has tasted pain. The psalmist acknowledges that his life has tasted pain, that God has allowed him to experience trouble. He is not naively confessing that God would never allow such things to touch his life. Where his faith is directed is to the reality that even though his life has been touched by hard things God will be faithful to restore! The psalmist is able to confidently declare his assurance of the final destination. God will restore his honor. God will again bring comfort. This is faith. Not denial of reality, but assurance of outcome! Though the road may pass through the “valley of the shadow of death” it will not end there!!! This is the assurance of faith. It is confidence in the final state that carries us through the rocky road! This is the faith that the psalmist has learned over a life spent with God. Don’t set your eyes on the mountain that you face today. Lift your eyes up and look upon the promise that is waiting for you in God!
In our last devotional we considered the psalmists reflection on his past, present and future in the Lord and the testimony that flows out of a life that has developed a history in God. This continuation of the verses in psalm 71 adds to the flavor of the psalmist’s reflection. In verse 18 a father’s heart emerges as the psalmist looks beyond this current generation to express his desire to pass on what God has done in his life. This is the true nature of spiritual fatherhood and mature Christian experience. The psalmist’s vision does not stop with himself. His longing is to pass on what the Lord has imparted to him over the years and he is turning that desire into active prayer. “Do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation…” During a time when it is many people’s vision to retire and to think of self this psalmist’s life vision is to persevere as a mentor to build faith in the younger generation even when he is old and gray. Lord raise up this kind of heart in our day and age!
After this appeal concerning his future role as a father to the next generation the psalmist continues to lift up his confident praises and a confession of his certainty of God’s faithfulness. His praise for the Lord is the message that he desires to impart to the next generation. Righteousness that reaches to the skies, God of power and might, God who is beyond comparison, this is the message that he desires to implant in future hearts. One of the powerful considerations of this passage is that the psalm itself is what God used to fulfill the psalmist own prayer. Even today, thousands of years later the psalmist’s prayer is still being answered as he instructs the generations to come through this very psalm itself. Our hearts are strengthened in their knowledge of God and the psalmist’s prayer is fulfilled as we learn from his testimony of God. It is truly awesome to understand the reality that God answers many times progressively and to a much larger scale and scope than we could have imagined when we pray them. This knowledge should encourage us to pray bigger prayers and believe for even bigger answers from a God who has prepared for us more than we could ask, think or imagine!
This portion of psalm 71 also contains within it a powerful reflection on God’s faithfulness in the context of a life that has tasted pain. The psalmist acknowledges that his life has tasted pain, that God has allowed him to experience trouble. He is not naively confessing that God would never allow such things to touch his life. Where his faith is directed is to the reality that even though his life has been touched by hard things God will be faithful to restore! The psalmist is able to confidently declare his assurance of the final destination. God will restore his honor. God will again bring comfort. This is faith. Not denial of reality, but assurance of outcome! Though the road may pass through the “valley of the shadow of death” it will not end there!!! This is the assurance of faith. It is confidence in the final state that carries us through the rocky road! This is the faith that the psalmist has learned over a life spent with God. Don’t set your eyes on the mountain that you face today. Lift your eyes up and look upon the promise that is waiting for you in God!
Sunday
Psalm 71:17-18 - July 26, 2009
Ps 71:17-18 "Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. 18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come." NIV
These two verses capture the span of a life spent serving God; a reflection on the journey past, a testimony of God in the present and a prayer for the journey future. Imagine growing up with the Holy Spirit as your teacher. This is the psalmist’s journey past. This verse illustrates the reality that God is reaching for us even in our youth and if our hearts are open to Him He will instruct us in His ways even from the earliest years of our lives. Samuel was a boy when he first heard the voice of God, Josiah became king at 8 years old and was used to restore the nations spiritual health and Jesus was already confounding the priests in the temple as a 12 year old boy. Look back across the years of your life and if you are honest with yourself and thoughtful concerning your younger days you will see moments when understanding beyond your years touched your heart. God speaks in many ways; dreams, visions, impressions, the instruction of a friend or authority figure. What sets those moments apart is not the source but the light that comes inside of us. When God speaks it is deeper than just a transfer of knowledge. Truth touches our spirit and something changes inside of our emotional makeup because of that momentary encounter.
When a life has been touched by the voice of the Spirit of God in this transformational way it secures the sense of relationship with the Lord if we have truly recognized that it was the Lord talking and not simply a natural source or psychological phenomenon. As we distinguish that God has really been talking to us faith rises in our hearts and the comforting knowledge that God is with us and involved in our lives anchors us on a deeper level than ever before. Imagine the impact on the heart of the disciples who had been walking on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-32 when their eyes were opened to realize that the one who had been there instructing them in the scriptures was actually the Lord himself speaking to them. They knew that their hearts were burning from the words of the one who had been speaking to them but it was not until their eyes were opened that they realized that it was the Lord speaking. This is how it is when God is speaking to us today. The words of an individual, a dream a sudden flow of inspired thought, or some other form of communication burns in our hearts and moves us deeply but it is not until our eyes our opened that we realize that it has actually been the Lord talking to us through that means.
The more we live in this place and acknowledge these experiences for what they are the stronger our faith becomes and the result of a blossoming faith is a compelling need to tell others of the good things that God has done for you and said to you. This truth is expressed very clearly in the continuation of Luke 24. After Jesus disappears suddenly the disciples are so impacted by both His words and the experience of His presence that they immediately had to return to Jerusalem and testify to the other disciples of what God had done
for them.
These two verses capture the span of a life spent serving God; a reflection on the journey past, a testimony of God in the present and a prayer for the journey future. Imagine growing up with the Holy Spirit as your teacher. This is the psalmist’s journey past. This verse illustrates the reality that God is reaching for us even in our youth and if our hearts are open to Him He will instruct us in His ways even from the earliest years of our lives. Samuel was a boy when he first heard the voice of God, Josiah became king at 8 years old and was used to restore the nations spiritual health and Jesus was already confounding the priests in the temple as a 12 year old boy. Look back across the years of your life and if you are honest with yourself and thoughtful concerning your younger days you will see moments when understanding beyond your years touched your heart. God speaks in many ways; dreams, visions, impressions, the instruction of a friend or authority figure. What sets those moments apart is not the source but the light that comes inside of us. When God speaks it is deeper than just a transfer of knowledge. Truth touches our spirit and something changes inside of our emotional makeup because of that momentary encounter.
When a life has been touched by the voice of the Spirit of God in this transformational way it secures the sense of relationship with the Lord if we have truly recognized that it was the Lord talking and not simply a natural source or psychological phenomenon. As we distinguish that God has really been talking to us faith rises in our hearts and the comforting knowledge that God is with us and involved in our lives anchors us on a deeper level than ever before. Imagine the impact on the heart of the disciples who had been walking on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-32 when their eyes were opened to realize that the one who had been there instructing them in the scriptures was actually the Lord himself speaking to them. They knew that their hearts were burning from the words of the one who had been speaking to them but it was not until their eyes were opened that they realized that it was the Lord speaking. This is how it is when God is speaking to us today. The words of an individual, a dream a sudden flow of inspired thought, or some other form of communication burns in our hearts and moves us deeply but it is not until our eyes our opened that we realize that it has actually been the Lord talking to us through that means.
The more we live in this place and acknowledge these experiences for what they are the stronger our faith becomes and the result of a blossoming faith is a compelling need to tell others of the good things that God has done for you and said to you. This truth is expressed very clearly in the continuation of Luke 24. After Jesus disappears suddenly the disciples are so impacted by both His words and the experience of His presence that they immediately had to return to Jerusalem and testify to the other disciples of what God had done
for them.
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