Living with eyes wide open.....

Open my eyes that I may see
Wonderful things in your law.

(Psalm 119:18)

This was one of those mornings when I just don't seem to get it.

Like I am reading a scriptural passage I know is important but I can't get my brain to focus on what that message is. The ideas are blurry and indistinct. I know there is something more....something that adds to my picture of God's character and would direct me toward more holiness and obedience....but I can't seem to shake off the feeling that I am hopelessly distracted from what He is wanting to tell me.

So I pray: "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." I am asking, not just for assistance at this moment, I am asking for a miracle.

The word open used in this verse is the same word used in the story in Numbers 22 when the Lord opened Balaam's eyes so he could see the angel of the Lord standing on the road in front of him with his sword drawn.

And when Hagar was fleeing with Ishmael and was in the desert, thirsty, desperate for water -- Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.


And in Luke 24 we read about the two grief-stricken disciples on their way to Emmaus, who didn't realize they were walking and talking with the risen Savior --
then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

When I ask God to "open my eyes" to more of His truth, I am asking Him to reveal Himself to me, not in an ordinary physical way, but in a supernatural way.

When Hagar saw the well, when Balaam saw the angel, and when the disciples saw Jesus, they were not seeing things that had not been there before.

God wasn't miraculously causing the well and the angel to appear -- they were already there.
The miracle was not in the appearance of the well and the angel and Christ, but the miracle was the Holy Spirit's work so they could see what was already there.

Were they so distraught by grief, by unbelief, by desperation that they couldn't see?


I think I am sometimes that way. The words and phrases are there, but because of my distractions, my disobedience, or my unbelief I just can't really get His message.

The word has to do with removing a veil, or a covering from our eyes. And I can't do that for myself.

It is a good time to remember that everything we have is a gift from God: our faith, our joy and peace, and even our repentance -- He is the source of all. And that includes our understanding of His Word --

Another Miracle When God Opened Someone's Eyes....

William Tyndale translated much of the Bible into early modern (contemporary) English in the early 1500's. He was the first to draw directly from the Hebrew and the Greek texts. (He was a well-known linguist -- fluent in at least 8 languages.)
He was also the first to take advantage of the new printing press and so copies could be distributed fairly quickly.

The Catholic Church and the English monarchy arrested Tyndale and he was burned at the stake in 1536.(Some records say he was strangled by one of the King's men before being tied to the stake, and some say a dear friend pierced him with his sword so he wouldn't feel the fiery pain -- I hope one of those is true.)

His last words, though, expressed his final prayer: "God, Open thou the King of England's eyes."

Was this prayer answered? Well, within 4 years of Tyndale's death, there were already 4 English translations being circulated in England. These included the Miles Coverdale version, Thomas Matthews', Richard Taverner's, and the Great Bible.

And then in the early 1600's the England's King James was gathering an assembly of the great linguists and theologians of the day to publish a brand new translation which would be called The Authorized King James Bible. It was completed in 1611.

So Tyndale's last prayer was answered in ways he could not even imagine.


(And we think things change fast these days!)

King James' scholars owed a great deal to Tyndale-- 83% of the King James New Testament and 75% of the Old Testament came directly from Tyndale's translation.


So really most of the credit for the "Authorized Version" should not go to all those scholars, it rightly belongs to William Tyndale!

Tyndale was the first one to substitute "love" for "charity." And he was the first to use the word "Jehovah" for the transliterated sacred Hebrew tetragrammaton, YHWH.

Living With Eyes Wide Open...

But back to David, the writer of Psalm 119. He doesn't just pray that God will open his eyes. He tells us why. He wants to live by God's law. And if he is to live by it, God will have to teach him from it (verse 26), give him understanding (verse 27)and keep him from false ways (verse 29).

And David was acknowledging that he would do his part: he would cherish and long for God's law (verse 20), he would meditate on God's decrees (verse 25) and delight in God's statues (verse 24), and let God's statues be his counselor (verse 24) and that he would obey God's law (verse 21).

Asking God to open our eyes is not something to be taken lightly. There are obligations and responsibilities for me when I am being instructed by the Holy Spirit. It makes me more accountable!

I should not pray this prayer without serious intent to live out what He is teaching me within.

How do people see God?

 

You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,  or like any creature...and when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon, the stars -- all the heavenly array -- do not be enticed to bowing down to them and worshipping them....."  Deuteronomy 4:15-19

God always makes His instructions perfectly clear.....in this case He illustrated it with a profound example -- God has no form --You saw no form of any kind -- There was nothing His people could see -- so always remember, My people, your God can't be seen -- so don't try to make up a god you can see ..... because I have no form and I alone am God!

How could He have made it any clearer -- I AM GOD AND I CAN'T BE SEEN! - Don't try to make Me into something you can see! Don't try to make Me less than what I am!

What we used to call "object lessons" - with a profound Object and a profound lesson - don't try to take a picture of Me - put away your camera! I am bigger than all that - You will have to see Me with your "other" eyes -

Maybe is this because the Holy God is to live in us? People who want to see what God is like should be able to observe us?

Who Could Imagine?

                                     

                                      Who Could Imagine?   

      Jeremiah 31:34 tells us that God says, "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." And in Hebrews 10:17 He says, "Their lawless acts I will remember no more."

      In both of these passages 'remember no more' is equated with 'forgiveness.' 

      Psalm 130:4 states this truth another way: "If You, O LORD,  kept a record of sins, O LORD, who could stand?  But with You there is forgiveness."

      So God deliberately chooses to not only forget our sins but also to not even keep a record  -- a list somewhere that He could go back to and check if He wanted to refresh His memory...like if He got tired of fooling with us and wanted to really punish us! 

     Since God is all-knowing, this act of forgetfulness is a conscious deliberate act of His divine will. And  'no more' means it is permanent! 

      Who could even imagine a God like this?

      Thanks to Him and praise Him forever that we don't have to imagine -- He has explained it to  us - and showed us at the Cross!    

Creation or Re-Creation - Which is the most Difficult?

       Creation or Re-Creation -  which is the hardest?


One of my favorite saints, Bernard of Clairvaux, wrote this 900 years ago:*

     'Creation was not so vast a work as redemption; for it
     is written of man and of all things made...'He spoke the
     word and they were made' (Psalm 148:5)

     But to redeem the creation which sprang at His word, what               hardships He endured, what shames and pain He suffered!

     In the first creation He gave me myself, but in His new
     creation He gave me Himself, and by that gift restored to me
     the self I had lost.'

I love that idea....At creation He gave me myself, but at my
redemption He gave me Himself!

It's the history of the world - from creation to re-creation...all that matters is what He did in the first place and then later in the second place, and then what He will do in the future!

It's all about Him - history is simply his-story!


*From On Loving God, by Bernard of Clairvaux

C S Lewis - A Pleasant Inn - But Not Home

The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about the world we live in.

The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure and merriment He has scattered broadcast.

We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy.

It is not hard to see why.


The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and pose an obstacle to our return to God. A few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, or a football match, have no such tendency.

Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.

   - From The Problem of Pain

Not all that sure? C S Lewis

Just as the Christian has his moments when the clamor of this visible and audible world is so persistent and the whisper of the spiritual world so faint that faith and reason can hardly stick to their guns, so well as I remember, the atheist too has his moments of shuddering misgiving, of an all but irresistible suspicion that old tales may after all be true, that something or someone from outside may at any moment break into his neat, explicable, mechanical universe.

Believe in God and you will have to face hours when it seems obvious that this material world is the only reality; disbelieve in Him and you must face hours when this material world seems to shout at you that it is not all.

No conviction, religious or irreligious, will, of itself, end once and for all this conflict in the soul.

Only the practice of Faith resulting in the habit of Faith will gradually do that.

          --From 'Religion: Reality or Substitute?'
                  in Christian Reflections, by C S Lewis

Another Prayer from Daniel

 

                               Another Prayer from Daniel

Another notable prayer in the Book of Daniel is in chapter 9.

He begins, as in the prayer in chapter 2, with a song of praise and adoration: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all those who love Him and obey His commands..."

And then he confesses the great sins of his countrymen..."We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and rebelled,, We have turned away from your commandments and laws. We have not listened to our servants, the prophets."

He doesn't make excuses or blame their circumstances for their faithlessness to their ever-faithful God.

He just admits their sin.

And his conclusion to his prayer?

Maybe the most audacious request in Scripture: "We do not make our request of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy.  Lord, listen; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, do not delay."

Remember the gospel song -- 'Grace that is Greater than all our Sin' --? 

And the contemporary song, 'His Mercy is More' -- "Our sins they are many, but His mercy is more"!

That's what Daniel is counting on! And so am I!

Without His mercy there would be no forgiveness. Without His Grace there would be no hope.

The God Who Keeps His Promises - Andrew Murray

Men know the advantages of making covenants.

A covenant has often been of unspeakable value as an end to hatred or uncertainty, as an agreement of services rendered, as an assurance of good quality and honesty, and as a basis for confidence and friendship.

In His infinite descent to our human weakness and need, God's pledge of faithfulness goes beyond the ways of men.

He gives us perfect confidence in Him and the full assurance of all that He, in His infinite riches and power, has promised to do.

He has consented to bind Himself by Covenant, as if He could not be trusted.

Blessed is the man who truly knows God and his covenant God and knows what the Covenant promises him. What unwavering confidence of expectation it secures!

All its terms will be fulfilled. What a claim and hold it gives him on the covenant-keeping God Himself.

To the many who have not thought much about the Covenant, it would mean the transformation of their whole lives to have a true, living faith.

The full knowledge of what God wants to do, the assurance that it will be done, and the being drawn to God Himself in personal surrender makes the Covenant the very gate of heaven.

May the Holy Spirit give us some vision of its glory.

---From Covenants and Blessings, by Andrew Murray

For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not

abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath. 

 (Deuteronomy 4:31).

Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God,  keeping covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments.

(Deuteronomy 7:9)

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised,

he confirmed it with an oath.

God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered us may be greatly encouraged. 

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

 (Hebrews 6:17-19).

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,

for he who promised is faithful.

(Hebrews 10:23)

He is the ever-faithful One!

"Though the  mountains be shaken, and the

hills be removed,

Yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken

Nor my covenant of peace be removed,"

says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

(Isaiah 54:10)

His covenant guarantees that he will never depart from us - his kindness will never cease - he will secure us in his love forever.

Though we are faithless --

HE IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL!

My Ebenezer Stone - 2

Forsaking God and His commandments, Israel experienced a time of trouble and defeat at the hands of her enemies.

When the new priest and judge, Samuel, appeared and declared God's love and faithfulness, the people repented and re-committed their hearts to their LORD.

          If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts,
             then rid yourselves of the foreign gods...and commit
             yourselves to the LORD and serve Him only, and He
             will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.....

             Then Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and
             I will intercede with the LORD for you."
                                 
             On that day they fasted and there they confessed, "We
             have sinned against the LORD."

The Israelites then defeated the Philistines.

             Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between
             Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer [which means
             stone of help], saying "Thus far has the LORD helped
             us."

             So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade
             Israel territory again.
                         -- 1 Samuel, chapter 7.



1. Samuel placed the stone at the time the restoration began. They repented and he memorialized it then.  "He cried out to the LORD on Israel's behalf, and the LORD answered him" (1 Samuel 7:9).

2. The stone was a visible reminder of what the people had done. As they returned to their lives and
daily work, it stood there reminding them of their
commitment to follow the LORD.

3. The stone represented a new beginning, a new page, a clean slate. What we all yearn for!


Is it time for us to erect our own Ebenezer Stones?

It could be a physical stone, a special bracelet, a prominent sticky note somewhere, or a note in our Bible or prayer Journal, or any visible sign to remind us that we are new people. We belong to the God of the Universe!

This is the day I changed course  - I am returning to the God I love!


My friends in AA tell me how long they have been sober. They do not go back to the earlier days and relate their experiences with alcoholism - only of the last drink they took - and then forward - and they move further up the road of sobriety. They do not mention the number of days they spent drinking - they count the days they have been walking in the new direction.

You and I must do the same - don't rehearse the past days of sinful actions, or mistakes and bad judgments -

because the Ebenezer Stone is also a reminder of forgiveness.




We should write 1J19 on our stone - 1 John 1:9 -




     If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us  
   our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.




Forgive and purify....All unrighteousness...not some of it....

My sin, not in part, but the whole

Is nailed to the Cross and I bear it more!

Praise the Lord - Praise the Lord - O my soul!

  -- from It Is Well with My Soul,

by Horatio Spafford

Trust God. He has forgiven us and removed our sins "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12).

My Ebenezer Stone reminds me that I serve a living, loving and faithful God, whose covenant with His people is everlasting.

He welcomes me back with open arms.

The old pioneer song, "I will arise and go to Jesus, He will embrace me in His arms" says it all......


      
            

The Ebenezer Stone - 1

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek.

The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield.
           -- 1 Samuel 4:1-2

The Israelites were soundly defeated.

As the narrative continues, the elders of Israel asked
each other, "Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go well with us and save us from the hand of our enemies."

So men went to Shiloh and brought back with them the sacred ark.

When the ark of the LORD'S covenant came into camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.

Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?"

When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid.   

"A god has come into camp," they said. "Nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues....Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!" 
        -- 1 Samuel 4:5-9

The Philistines fought hard, and the Israelites were defeated again. They fled back to their tents and "the slaughter was very great" -- Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.

Not only that -- their sacred ark of God was captured
and taken by the Philistines from Ebenezer to Ashdad and placed in the temple of their pagan god, Dagon, and set beside the idol.

The Philistines were in for a surprise, because the next morning Dagon has fallen prostrate on the ground before the ark of the LORD.


They stood the idol back in its place, but the next morning when they came into the temple, there was Dagon fallen again on its face before the blessed ark, with its head and hands broken off.

The ark of the LORD caused destruction and panic in the land of the Philistines and they begged Israel to
retrieve it and stop God's judgment on them.

So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They took it to Abinadab's house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD.
          -- 1 Samuel 7:1

So the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim and the Philistines continued to plague Israel.


Finally, "The people mourned and sought after the LORD," we read in 1 Samuel 7:2.

The prophet Samuel told them:

If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods...and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.  So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths and served the LORD only.

Then Samuel assembled all Israel at Mizpah and they prayed to God, fasted and confessed their sin.

The Philistines heard the Israelites were gathered at Mizpah, and advanced.

The Israelites were frightened, telling Samuel, "Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines."

The Philistines drew near to engage in battle.

But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men  of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued them along the way to a point below Beth Car.

So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again.

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.
He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."

(Read all of this important saga in the Old Testament, 1 Samuel, chapters 4-7.)

Ebenezer means "stone of help."

Samuel was marking the occasion and site of God's help in defeating the enemies of Israel.


It wasn't the ark that saved them: they had the ark with them when the Philistines defeated them
in battle.

What saved Israel was their repentance and re-commitment to serve their God.

Samuel placed the large commemorative stone at the place where their restoration began.

And that stone stood there, visible for all to see, to remind them, not just of God's judgment, but also of His mercy and grace "to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

An "Ebenezer Stone" represents a fresh beginning, a reversal of our course. It also reminds us that His mercies are everlasting and His covenant is forever.

As I look back on my life I see some "Ebenezer stones" I have placed at critical times in my journey with Christ.

They point to a time when I changed course - when I reconsidered my life and decisions - when I reversed my direction and came back to God's purpose for me.

But even more, these "Ebenezer stones" remind me that I am forgiven, that I chose a new direction, and that God has a permanent covenant with all who put their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Samuel was a wise Servant of God. He understood the importance of "markers" and he understood that we are all forgetful and need reminders of God's calling.

Israelites could stand beside that Ebenezer Stone and remind themselves that they served a living, loving and faithful God, whose mercies are everlasting.

                                                *******

Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to in heaven.
             --Philippians 3:13-14, written by the Apostle Paul to  
                            the Christians at Philippi, in the New Testament


Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
            --Psalm 136:1, recorded in the Old Testament.

A well is not a stream.....

The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

"Sir," the woman said, "You have nothing to draw and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
                                            ----John 4:9-14


Jesus offered the woman "living water."

What did that mean? In Jewish speech the phrase "living water" meant water that was flowing, not water that was stagnant, as in a cistern or a well.

Fresh, flowing water would always be preferred over
well water.

So the woman He was speaking to naturally thought of a stream.

She seems skeptical. Here was a man who thought he could produce better, finer water than did her ancestor Jacob.

After all, had Jacob known of a stream he certainly would not have taken the trouble to dig a well, probably a hundred feet deep.

He goes on to talk about living water that cures thirst forever. Not only that, it becomes a spring inside us that wells up continually.

No one as ever seen a well of water spring up. Only the water in a spring springs up.

The water in a well just lies there.

So Jesus is not talking about a well at all.

The woman had come to a well. Jesus has invited her to a spring.

Now He adds that if she allows Him to place this spring in her, the spring will never cease but will continue to bubble and bubble on forever.

Perhaps you want to build a house on a piece of property on which there is a well. But you don't want the well -- you will have city water.

You will just ask the bulldozers to push some dirt into the well and the well will be gone forever.

This won't work with a spring on your property. (Of course, you probably wouldn't want to stop up a lovely spring of fresh water, but if you did you would find it a much more difficult task.)

You could push a large pile of dirt over the spring and it might appear to have stopped the flow. But by morning, the stream will be there again, simply by pushing its way through the ground.

A well can be covered. A spring seeps through anything you may place over it.

That's what Jesus is talking about. He is promising to place a spring within the life of anyone who will come to Him.

His spring will be eternal, free, joyous, and self-dependent.

But He is also warning us that we will never be able to stop it - we can't bulldoze anything over it to stop its flow!

We might try -- I know I have.

Sometimes His Presence in my life has seemed inconvenient and maybe intrusive - certainly He seemed to interfere with my plans.

So I tried to "put a plug on it" and go my own way.

But, like the stream the builder tried to cover up with dirt, my life became muddy water.

Obviously, muddy water did not come from the stream itself -- the stream water was clean and pure -- it was because I pushed dirt into the water source that it produced filthy, not fresh and clean, water!

So I came back to the Source of the Living Water, to Jesus, and asked Him to clean me up again - to remove the dirt and grime and let His lovely sparkling water flow freely again!

It took some work, but He did it!

And if I mess up again, He'll certainly clean me up again. I'm confident of that.

Being confident of this, that He who began

a good work in you will carry it on to completion

until the day of Christ Jesus.  

Philippians 1:6

Did YOU forget to ask? John 4 -

What Jesus Reminds Us....(Recorded in John 4)

Remember the woman at Sychar? 

She was a Samaritan woman and I purposed to meet her at the ancient Jacob's well.

I asked her for a drink of water. She was surprised
at the request. But she didn't ask Me for anything.

Right there, in front of her, the Creator and Sovereign Lord of the Universe, the One able to bestow any gift to any humble creature.

But she didn't ask. I had to call it to her attention -
Look, I said to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Me and I would have given you living water.

She still didn't understand. She didn't "know the gift" and she didn't know who I was.

I explained it to her, just as I have patiently explained it to you.

Now you do know.  You know the gift I bring and you know who I am.

It delights Me to give my Children gifts.

So why don't you ask for more?

You have not because you ask not.

James 4:2

The Path We Are On Now - Looking Back

Lord, I feel myself getting tired and growing discouraged.

I am weary of  trying to work things out. I am tired of toilet paper jokes. I am tired of wearing a mask. I am tired of distance markers in my usual stores.  I am tired of wondering if I can approach and greet my friends.

I miss church.

But I remember You never grow weary or impatient.
You never give up.

Your love is never-ending  and without limit.

It always covers me, no matter where I am or what I am doing or what I am feeling. And it fills me with joy.

I praise You because I can count on that and I know that this path we are on has a purpose.

It is taking us somewhere. Somewhere You want us to be.
And this path is exactly where You want us to be right now.

And so I am content.  Just work Your will in us.

Our Father, You and pleasing You are all that matter to us!!!

What I love about Psalm 1

Blessed is the man who does not walk

in the counsel of the wicked,

Or stand in the way of sinners,

Or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on His law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season,

And whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous,

For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous

But the way of the wicked will perish.

I wonder -- who arranged the Psalms? Who decided this one should be first? Originally the Psalms were individual songs, or hymns, that were eventually collected into 5 books. All five of these Hebrew books make up our Book of Psalms today.

Most of the 150 psalms have titles from the Hebrew -- all but 34. Psalm 1 is one of these "orphan psalms."

Which Psalm came first? Probably Psalm 90, written by Moses.

But who arranged the collected Psalms in the order we read them today? Who numbered them?

I don't know. Maybe we will find out someday.

Anyway, it appears to me that Psalm 1 is the perfect way to begin to reading of the Book of Psalms. It is like a forward or a preface, or an introductory paragraph that leads right into the rest of the Book.

What I like about Psalm 1:

1. It is short and easy to memorize.

2. It is practical, reminding us that that should be our own mind-set as we read the rest of the Book so that God will achieve His purpose for our reading and studying His Word.

3. It reminds us that we have choices to make in this life. There are paths we should choose to follow God's plan. In this way it reminds me of Christ's Sermon on the Mount. At the closing He talked about contrasting ways to live: two gates and two roads, two trees and their two types of fruit, two houses and their foundations. All of these are about choices. A good thing to remember each day! Whose side are we on anyway?

4. About blessed... It means supremely happy or fulfilled. This is what James Montgomery Boice says:

In Hebrew the word is actually a plural, which denotes either a multiplicity of blessings or an intensification of them. The verse might correctly be translated, O the blessednesses of the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.

5. I love the way the contrast between God's people and Satan's is pointed out right at the beginning of the first verse -- exactly where we start out on our Christian journey. We know right at the beginning that there are two roads to choose from, and they lead to distinctly different destinations. The signs are clearly marked. There are no detours. There are no shortcuts.

6. I like the way the words are chosen -- I know the main characteristic of Hebrew poetry is its parallelism and the repetition of thoughts in various ways --and these verses illustrate it perfectly -- but I also think that the words are chosen deliberately -- (1) walk, stand, sit, (2) counsel, way, seat, (3) wicked, sinners, mockers.

If I am walking with someone I am likely talking about casual things, or in a casual way. If I am talking earnestly I am probably sitting. There is a progression here that helps me understand how I get off track so often! It is a downhill progression -- from walking and having conversation with ungodly people to actually sitting down, or settling down, with those who reject God.

7. Another thing I like is this: the ungodly people hang out with their ungodly friends and associates....and what do the godly people hang out with? God's Word! We don't just hang out with God and His Word -- we delight in it! We meditate on it and we prosper. God's Word tells us about God -- what pleases Him and how He provides for us and directs our paths -- how He loves us and calls us to join His family! God's Word makes us supremely happy -- blessed!

8. And I love the phrase He is like a tree planted by streams of water. The tree has been planted -- it did not just spring up. It was planted in a certain place so its roots could reach deeply into the soil and find moisture and nourishment -- so that it could thrive and yield its good fruit.

The Hebrews knew of many dry areas, many deserts, where plants could not thrive. Only some brush and certain seasonal plants could survive.

But this tree is not planted there -- it is planted by streams!

9. And the chaff! Chaff was useless and chaff was burned! This pictures the life of the ungodly -- it is futile and empty and unrewarding. And then there is the judgment!

And the wicked will not be able to stand -- they will fall down before God.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it
leads to death.
-- Proverbs 14:12

Mid-way to Christmas!

Six months from today is Christmas  - the happiest, most glorious time of the year!

I think I "Need a little Christmas now!"

Yes, right now!

I am putting on my Christmas music and singing loudly - and remembering that old wonderful Christmas carol, "What Child is this?"




Remember that 2nd verse:

 Why lies Him here in such mean estate

Where ox and ass are feeding

Good Christians fear:

For sinners, here, the silent Word is pleading.

I had two thoughts:

(1) the glorious fact of our rescue plan...

designed by God before the creation of the world...

described to mankind at the beginning of history...

reminded to mankind continually throughout history....

revealed to mankind in the incarnation of Jesus Christ the Word....

explained to mankind through the

written record of the New Testament...

and finally, totally, accomplished through the coronation of Jesus Christ as Lord of all.

Then "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord." (Philippians 2)

When Mary laid Him there in that manger, when the shepherds came to worship, when Joseph stood by to protect Him, in that tiny Body God's grace was already being worked out.

(2) God loves to surprise us!

Think of it!  The Creator--God--King arriving in Bethlehem of Judea in a stable! Who would ever make up a story like that!

And then in the last days John sees the throne of God and the elders call, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed."

And what does he see: "Then I saw a Lamb, looking as it it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne" (Revelation 5).

Not a fearful mighty Lion, but a wounded Lamb....the Lamb that was slain from the beginning of the world (Revelation 13).

God's amazing rescue plan -- wrapped in a surprise package -- and so we can now begin to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!

May the awe and wonder of Christmas astonish us every day!

Charles Spurgeon - The Winter in My Soul - Even in June

You have made summer and winter.

Psalm 74:17

My soul, begin this wintry month with God.

The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind you that He keeps His covenant with day and night and serve to assure you that He will also keep that glorious covenant that He has made with you in the person of Christ Jesus.

He who is true to His Word  in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world will not prove unfaithful in His dealings with His own well-beloved Son.

Winter in the soul is be no means a comfortable season, and if it is upon you just now, it will be very painful to you: but there is this comfort, namely, that the Lord makes it.

He sends the sharp blast of adversity to nip the buds of expectation. He scatters the frozen dew like ashes over the once fresh green meadows of our joy.

He dispenses His icy morsels, freezing the streams of our delight.

He does it all; He is the great Winter King and rules in the realms of frost, and therefore you cannot murmur.

Losses, crosses, heaviness, sickness, poverty, and a thousand other ills are of the Lord's sending and come to us with wise design.

Frosts kill harmful insects and restrain raging diseases; they break up the clods and sweeten the soul.

O that such results would always follow our winters of affliction!

How we prize the fire just now!  How pleasant is its cheerful glow!

Let us in the same manner prize our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and comfort in every time of trouble.

Let us draw near to Him, and in Him find joy and peace in believing.

Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of His promises, and keep working, unlike the lazy man who refuses to plow because it is too cold; in the summer he will have nothing and will be forced to beg for breed.


---- From Morning and Evening, by Charles Spurgeon

We Reap What We Sow

Meantime I seek no sympathies, nor need;
The thorns which I have reaped are of the tree
I planted -- they have torn me, -- and I bleed.
I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.

-- From Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, by Lord Byron


And from the New Testament....

Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person
plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others --ignoring God! --harvests a  crop of weeds. All he'll have a show for his life is weeds! But the one plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real, eternal life.
Galatians 6:7 (MSG)

Whose Work is More Spiritual? C S Lewis

                                           

                                                Whose Work Is More Spiritual?

Is your work more spiritual than mine? Is a musician's performance more pleasing to God than a ditch digger's labor?

Thoughts from C S Lewis:

"I reject at once an idea which lingers in the mind of some modern people that cultural activities are in their own right more spiritual -- as though scholars and poets were intrinsically more pleasing to God than scaverners and bootblacks...this is a dangerous and anti-Christian error. Let us clear it forever from our minds.

The work of a Beethoven and the work of a charwoman become spiritual in precisely the same condition: that of being offered to God, as being done humbly 'as to the Lord.'

This does not mean, of course, that it is a mere toss-up whether he should sweep floors or compose symphonies.

A mole must dig to the honor of God and a cock must crow. We are members of one body, but differentiated members, each with his own vocation."

     "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men...It is the Lord Christ you are serving."   (Colossians 3:23)

Memo from God

 

My child,

Don't worry so much about the world. 

Just love everyone.

I'll sort it all out later.

I promise.

Your Father

Who Is A God Like Our God?

                               

                                     Who is a God Like Our God?

"Who is a God like You, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy.

You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be faithful to Jacob and show love to Abraham, as You pledged to our ancestors in days long ago. (Micah 7:18-20).

Micah spoke these encouraging words to remind his people that God would redeem and restore them after their time of captivity.

Notice that his audience is God Himself. The Hebrews would be listening in on his  conversation with God and marveling at his ability to enter into God's Presence and speak openly with the Sovereign Creator of everything!

Micah's name actually means "Who is like our God?" So this understanding about Jehovah had been part of Micah's world-view for many years!

I especially love the reminder that our God "delights to show mercy."

And I love the picture of Him 'hurling' our sins away into the depths of the sea. 'Hurling,' not dropping or letting fall, but powerfully casting them as a discus thrower propels his burden as far away as possible, eager to win the gold medal!

As far as we know, the deepest place on earth is the Marianas Trench in the south Pacific. It is about 6 miles deep, except for a section called the "Challenger Deep", that is over 7 miles deep. We base that on specially designed deep-sea diving units we send down -- no human can survive those depths.

Try to imagine 7 miles deep! That's how far God hurls away our sins. Another place tells us He removes from us  our sins  'as far as the east is from the west' - so far a distance it can't be measured!

 Christ did all that for us! Yes, who is  a God like our God? And we could add from those last lines - who is a God like our God who always keeps His promises? How blessed we are to have a God like this!

Overwhelmed and Forgiven

 

                                    Overwhelmed and Forgiven

"When we were overwhelmed by sin, You forgave our transgressions"

                                    (Psalm 65:3).

It's all due to His grace. So how should we live?

How can we display His grace each day?

"Lord, because Your grace is underserved I should be humble; because it is costly I should be holy and loving; because it is unconditional I should be at peace...and through it all I should  be supremely grateful every moment. Amen."

"Lord, help me be to others as You have been to me. Amen."

He Longs to be Gracious

                              

                              Our Father God Longs to be Gracious to Us!

From Isaiah:  "This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says, 

'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it....yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore, He will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of Justice, blessed are all who wait for Him.'" Isaiah 30:15-18.

What an amazing God we have! He 'longs to be gracious to us!' He even rises up to greet us and show us mercy when we approach His throne.

The prophet Micah says this: "You delight to show mercy!" (Micah 7:9).

Who would ever even imagine a God like this?

P.S. And notice where our strength lies? "In quietness and trust..."

"Be still and know that I am God" He tell us.

What is God Longing For?

From Isaiah:

"This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:

     'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,  but you would have none of it....

     'Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore, He will rise up to show you compassion. 

For the LORD is a God of justice, Blessed are all who wait for Him.'"

                                                                      --Isaiah 30:15-18

What an amazing God we have! He 'longs to be gracious to us'! He even rises up to greet us when we approach His throne to show us His mercy.

The prophet Micah says this: 'You delight to show mercy'!

(Micah 7:9)

Who could ever imagine a God like that?