Psalm 145:8-9 - December 31, 2009

Ps 145:8-9 "The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. 9 The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made." NIV

Can you say, “Thank God for mercy?” If the Lord was not intensely patient, and full of compassionate understanding who could stand before Him? David marveled at the Lord’s kindness to us when he said in Ps 8:4 “what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” NIV David was a sinful man at times, one who not only fell into temptation but committed on at least one occasion intense acts of cruelty to hide his own transgressions from the public eye. He committed adultery with a vulnerable woman and then robbed her of her husband and him of his life by arranging for his death by betrayal in battle. And yet history knows him as the man after God’s own heart. How could this be?
This is a question that is answered in this revelation of God that David walked in. David was an imperfect yet passionate worshipper who loved God and was radically committed to serving God’s purposes in his generation. He fought the Lord’s battles, led the Lord’s people, sang the Lord’s praise, prophesied the Lord’s purposes and yet was a man who sinned against God and his people in diverse and damaging ways. In many ways it could be said that if any man deserved judgment David did. And yet he received mercy from the Lord. This is where David’s revelation of God came from. He knew he deserved God’s anger. He knew he deserved judgment. But he also knew the merciful God of heaven. His testimony of God is so clear; “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all…”

What separated David from so many other leaders was his readiness to repent. David had a heart for God trapped in a human, sinful body! But because he had a revelation of a merciful God he knew that each time he turned towards the Lord in genuine repentance and humility that grace and mercy would be waiting there for him. David knew a God who is “rich in love!” Do you? David knew the Lord who is slow to anger. Do you? So many of us lose out on the confidence we can have in life because we do not understand the compassion that the Lord has in his heart for us. David writes out of this same spirit of revelation earlier in Ps 103:13-14 “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” It is this understanding that enabled David to rise up after every failure and be restored to a place of grace before God. The good news is that Acts 10:34 states that God is “no respecter of persons.” The same mercy that He has shown to David, He will show to you when you fall short as you turn your heart to Him in repentance!

Psalm 145:3-7 , December 30, 2009

Ps 145:3-7 "Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. 4 One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. 5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. 6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. 7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness." NIV

Who can truly comprehend the greatness of God! Creator of all things, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and so much more, God is above all things and within all things. He is all wise, perfectly just and holy and yet His very being IS LOVE! No one can understand the infinite God! Our minds are too limited by their point of view. How can the finite comprehend the infinite? How can the imperfect comprehend the perfect? It is impossible.
God has allowed Himself to be known by those who seek Him, but who can fully grasp all that is God? This is an impossible task, yet we are encouraged to seek Him, to desire Him, to reach for this knowledge that is beyond knowing! We exhorted by the writer of Hebrews in Heb 11:6 that God “… rewards those who earnestly seek him.” The Lord also declares through the prophet Jeremiah in Jer 29:13 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” God makes himself known to man and invites us to explore the depths of who He is. David spent his whole life in pursuit of God and yet he only touched the fringe of who God is. Every page of every book contained in the scriptures is a reflection of the men and women who lived their lives in pursuit of God and yet there is so much more of God yet to be unveiled to the human heart.

In Psalm 145:3-7 David celebrates the power of testimony to spread the knowledge of God. The story of what God has done and is doing is alive and contagious. The disciples spoke of this power when they recounted one of their post resurrection encounters with the Lord as He opened the scriptures to them. In Luke 24:32 they say “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”KJV The testimony of Christ awakened an inner burning in the hearts of the disciples and that same power is still at work today! In reference to the testimony of God David describes God’s mighty acts, the splendor of His majesty, His awesome works and His great deeds! As he tells of these things he recounts how they have moved him to meditation on the greatness of God. This is the power of testimony. God wants to make you think!!!!

When we take time to really consider the works of God from a spirit of faith how can we not rejoice? When we slow down enough to invest ourselves in considering the works of the Lord how can we not be moved to marvel at God’s ways. God wants to be known by each one of us. He has revealed himself through a manifold, multi-generation spanning love affair with mankind. God has not done his work off in a corner somewhere. He has positioned himself right in the center of all human activity, plainly displayed through both His son and His people so that anyone who would seek after God can speedily find him if he will but stop, look and listen! God is waiting to make himself known to you today. Make the time to become a seeker!

Psalm 139:13-16 - December 29, 2009

Ps 139:13-16 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

God knows you from the inside out! He knows your deepest thoughts. He understands you body soul and spirit. From the moment of conception God is conscious of your entire life. He knows where you have come from and He knows the fullness of everything that you will ever do. This truth is a vital aspect to living life to its fullest. David reflects not only on the wonder of God creating his human body, he is conscious that God created the inner being as well as the outer being. When God created us He didn’t just create a body, He placed within us our spirit and soul. These are the eternal parts of our being. Our bodies will decay and pass away, being replaced by a new glorified body for those who believe, but our spirit and soul will live forever with God.

Two principles make this knowledge vital to a full life: When we grasp the reality that God has formed us and that we are HIS wonderful creation it places great value on our lives. The Psalmist states I am…wonderfully made, and … your works are wonderful! That means that as God’s creation, I AM WONDERFUL! Secondly, when we understand the value of our lives it compels us to live that life to the fullest for the glory of God. Knowing that every day of our lives, past, present and future is already in the mind of God from before we are created invites us to live a life of purpose. If every day of our lives is recorded in the book of God then the implication is that every day matters.

Even when we were unformed, God was watching. God is a master craftsman and it is He who formed us and ordained our life purpose for us. It is because of this that David’s heart is filled with praise. God desires to fill your life with wonder as you live in the reality of the miracle that your life represents! God is intimately involved with your every moment on a level that is far more vital and engaged than most of us have comprehended. In verse 4 of this Psalm David marveled at this same principle Ps 139:4 “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely.” Each one of us would be greatly benefited by continually stirring up this knowledge in our hearts: “My life matters and God is not only watching, He is working with me to make the most of my days!” Live today in the reality of the divine partnership.

Psalm 141:1-2

Ps 141:1-2 "O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you. 2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice."

Psalm 141:1-2 is such a powerful image of a heart of passion being released to God in prayer. “May my prayer be set before you as incense…” this heart cry creates an image of the fragrance of our prayers arising before God as a pleasing aroma! In Ge. 8:20 Noah sacrifices a burnt offering to the Lord and God’s response in verse 21 states “the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in His heart…” From the very beginning of biblical history the fragrance of offerings given to the Lord arose like incense before God and influenced his heart. What is important to realize about such passages is that it is not the smell of burning flesh that touches the Lord’s heart, but the knowledge of the costly sacrifice surrendered willingly to the Lord that creates the pleasing aroma and moves the heart of God.

David understood this concept as he cried out to the Lord in Psalm 141:1-2. His desire for his prayers to be set before God as incense reflects his understanding that God finds pleasure in a heart lifted up before Him in humility and faith. His cry is a longing to be received, a desire to find favor with the Lord, as if to say “let this sacrifice of my heart’s cry be acceptable to you.

It seems of great significance that David’s son captures the essence of this passion in the bridal imagery of Song of Solomon. It seems that David must have allowed his son to see this aspect of his walk with God because on two occasions in Song of Solomon, Solomon illustrates the pleasure that our hearts bring to the Lord through the images of a lover. Song 4:10-11 “How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice! 11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue.”

Oh that we would understand the pleasure that God finds in a right heart expressed through worship and prayer. Listen to the language of Solomon: “How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride…” This passage is the Lord talking about you! He loves your love! When we worship Him it brings him joy, not because we have fulfilled our duty but because we have offered ourselves freely as an expression of our love. “How much more pleasing is your love than wine…” Do you realize that your love for God is intoxicating! He is talking about you!!!!! Consider verse 11 “Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue.” This is how the Lord views the words of worship and prayer that come forth from your mouth. “Your lips drop sweetness…” Every loving word, every song of praise, every prayer of remembrance that strengthens the bond between your heart and His heart is like sweet honey to the heart of God. When we speak life giving words to the Lord in the secret place of His presence we bond our hearts to him more and more completely. Understand who you are to the Lord and lift up a fragrant offering to Him today!