Give Thanks to God!

Psalm 140: 12-13,

I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.

Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto Thy name: the upright shall dwell in Thy Presence.

This psalm begins with David’s prayer for protection. He had a lot of enemies, including some of his own children, who longed to see him deposed so they could assume his powerful throne. He refers to his enemies as serpents, adders with poison under their tongues. They set traps and gins (snares) for him, and sought his death.

Through it all, David had to deal with his own sinful nature, repenting and grieving over his sin throughout his long life.

At the end of the psalm, he turns to praising God for His strength and salvation; and in the last two verses he praises God for His care over the poor and the oppressed. He declares that God will dwell with the righteous, who will not forget to give thanks to God.

Don’t Worry!

Psalm 139:23-24.

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Glenn Payne and George Younce are in heaven now, rejoicing with the Lord and joining in the heavenly choir.

This psalm is a favorite of mine. I love the verses that tell about how we are fearfully and wonderfully made; how God knew us in our mother’s womb. The final two verses, though, are the ones I love the most.

David pleaded with God to search his heart and show him if there was sin hidden there. We need to do that, too, because our hearts, according to Jeremiah 17:9, are deceitful and desperately wicked; we can’t know the depths of our own sin nature. The popular advice these days is to follow our hearts. Doing so will get us into a heap of trouble! We need to follow God’s heart, which is pure and untouched by sin.

I’m pretty sure I’ve pointed out before that when David said, “See if there be any wicked way in me,” the Hebrew word is more accurately translated anxious. See if there be any anxiety in my heart. Anxiety is just another word for fear, and God addressed fear over 350 times throughout His Word. II Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Philippians 4:6 tells us to “be anxious (worried, fearful) about nothing!”

Isaiah 41:10 urges, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.”

Contrary to what some people think, anxiety is not a virtue. Worry, fear, doubt–all of these things take up way too much of our time and our thinking. It is futile to worry about something we can’t fix–it’s a waste of time and energy. And if you CAN fix it, then why worry about it? Just do what needs to be done!

One last thought: Planning and preparing are not the same as worry or fear.

God Respects the Humble

Psalm 138.

 I will praise Thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto Thee.

I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth: for Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy Name.

In the day when I cried Thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

All the kings of the earth shall praise Thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of Thy mouth.

Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.

Though the LORD be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me: Thou shalt stretch forth Thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and Thy right hand shall save me.

The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of Thine own hands.

David was bountiful if praise and thanksiving to the God he served and worshiped all his life. Of course, David didn’t know the story of the self-important Pharisee who praised himself, while the poor man spoke humbly to the Lord. That is the story that came to mind for me when I read v. 6 of this psalm.

In Luke 18:11-12, we read what the Pharisee thought of himself: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”

But in v. 13 we read, “And the publican (tax collector), standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.”

Apparently the Pharisee didn’t need God’s approval, since he already thought so highly of himself. The publican, though, was not so self-important, and he is the one that won the regard of Jesus.

Sunday Morning Coffee: What Do You Fear?

Because of something I wrote yesterday, I’ve been thinking about this: What do I fear?

Well, I’m deathly afraid of snakes. They are my worst nightmare. It’s not as bad as it used to be. I can actually look at a picture of a snake now, but I definitely don’t seek them out.

I used to be afraid of the dark, and of being in the house alone overnight. Doesn’t bother me at all now. No monsters under the bed. Some dust bunnies, maybe, but no monsters.

I’ve talked with a few people who fear losing their salvation. They are afraid that if they sin, and don’t get it forgiven right away, they could die and go to hell even though they’ve accepted Jesus and believe in Him with all their hearts. So I’ve been thinking about that.

I was always taught that Jesus died to save us from sin. That is clarified by understanding that He died for the sin nature with which we are all born. His death and resurrection does not automatically save every person who ever lived. Our part is that we need to acknowledge our sin, repent of the nature that causes us to sin, and believe in His death and resurrection as our only way to heaven. When we do that, He gives us the gift of eternal life. The best part is that He said, in John 3:16, that whoever believes in Him shall NOT perish, but have everlasting life. Later, in John 10, He say that He holds us in the palm of His hand, and nothing or no one can take us out of His hand. Not even when we sin.

I like to compare it to a parent/child relationship. Once you have given birth, that child is always yours. Period. The child may, later in life, turn his back on you, tell you he hates you, that he never wants to see you again. That’s very sad, but it does not change the fact that he is your child.

Once you become God’s child, nothing can change that relationship. If you choose to follow a sinful path, your relationship with Him may no longer be close. You won’t experience the joy and blessing of being in tune with Him, in the same way that rebellion against your parents will change the relationship. But you are still His child. Period.

Here’s the thing. No one–not a single person–is able to live a sinless life. We may not be living in what we refer to as deep sin, or open sin. But there are sins of the heart that no one knows about but you–and the Lord. Being proud of living without sin is, in itself, sin.

I Peter 1:16 says, “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” Some people take that as a present imperative command. However, in the original language, the verb tense is comparable to our English present progressive tense. It would be better translated as “Be ye becoming holy,” which is still an imperative, but it is a process, not a single event in which anyone is suddenly completely holy and free of the sin nature. It is a process in which we are becoming more like Jesus as we study His Word, pray, and learn to love Him more deeply every day.

Only when we get to heaven will we be able to enjoy having a nature without sin. We will be like Him.

I can’t wait!

Saturday Soliloquy: Life Goes On

Terry is doing better, although is still not his old self. Maybe never will be. He is nearly 81, after all.

My cold has retreated back to whatever hell colds inhabit.

So life goes on.

A new baby has been born into our church family. A fine older gentleman went to heaven a couple of months ago, and his dear wife is bravely continuing to bless everyone around her.

An old friend who is still in his sixties has developed tumors in his brain. His future right now is radiation. His wife has battled her own cancer, some years ago, and is no stranger to the process.

Young people are graduating from college–students I had in my homeschool co-op, and four of them will be donning cap and gown soon. There is a great deal of talent in this group: Science, writing, music, math. They’ve made their parents proud, and me too!

Older folks are graduating to the position of elders and counselors, a source of encouragement to the younger set.

This is the natural course of life. I remember, when I was very young, thinking of death as a thing to be feared and dreaded above all things. It was strange to me, not having come into close contact with it. I remember thinking about dying sometimes as I lay in bed waiting for sleep to come.

I don’t think about it much these days. I don’t fear it. I used to say that the only thing I feared about death was the possibility of great pain. I don’t fear that so much any more, either. I’ve had my share of pain already, and it’s going to grow worse as time goes on. I’ve learned to accept it and accommodate it as much as possible. Pain will not have the final victory!

If I didn’t know the Lord, I wonder if I would feel differently about pain, sickness, and death. Maybe, because the fear of the unknown is strong in us.

I refuse to live my life in fear. I don’t like what I see developing in the world, in my country. But I will not fear, because Jesus is always with me. He has promised never to leave or forsake me. Even in dying and in death, He will not forsake me.

I’m really not trying to be morbid here. It’s just that I’ve lived long enough to understand that death is a part of life. Knowing the Lord takes the worry out of death and dying.

And I do SO look forward to heaven!

Woe to Babylon!

Psalm 137.

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

Israel had been defeated by Babylon, and thousands had been removed from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was a time of great grieving, and the people had gone so far as to literally hang up their harps on the tree branches. The music was no longer in their hearts, because of their grief over their homeland.

It is possible that this psalm was written in remembrance of their captivity once they had returned to Jerusalem; or, it could have been written at some point during their captivity. In any event, the psalm captures the sorrow and grieving that the Hebrews experienced in their captivity. Over what, specifically, did they grieve?

• They wept over the death of so many loved ones.
• They wept over the loss of almost everything they owned.
• They wept over the destroyed city of Jerusalem and her great temple.
• They wept over the agony of a forced march from Judea to Babylon.
• They wept over the cruelty of their captors.
• They wept over the loss of such a pleasant and blessed past.
• They wept over the forced captivity of their present.
• They wept over the bleak nature of their future.
• They wept over their sin that invited such judgment from God.

Guzik, BlueLetterBible

The Babylonians could see the open grieving, yet they taunted the Israelites: “Come on, sing us one of your songs!” They wanted their captives to entertain them, but the Israelites had no heart for it.

The final verses of this psalm call down judgment on Babylon: “Let them be treated as they have treated us!” We may recoil at the violence, but it was what the Hebrews had experienced at the hands of the Babylonian soldiers. Warfare was just as ugly and horrendous then as it is now.

His Mercy Endures Forever

Psalm 136. This psalm is so beautiful and powerful that I’m making no comment at all. His mercy endures forever.

O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever.

O give thanks unto the God of gods: for His mercy endureth for ever.

O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for His mercy endureth for ever.

To Him who alone doeth great wonders: for His mercy endureth for ever.

To Him that by wisdom made the heavens: for His mercy endureth for ever.

To Him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for His mercy endureth for ever.

To Him that made great lights: for His mercy endureth for ever:

The sun to rule by day: for His mercy endureth for ever:

The moon and stars to rule by night: for His mercy endureth for ever.

To Him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for His mercy endureth for ever:

And brought out Israel from among them: for His mercy endureth for ever:

With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for His mercy endureth for ever.

To Him which divided the Red sea into parts: for His mercy endureth for ever:

And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for His mercy endureth for ever:

But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for His mercy endureth for ever.

To Him which led His people through the wilderness: for His mercy endureth for ever.

To Him which smote great kings: for His mercy endureth for ever:

And slew famous kings: for His mercy endureth for ever:

Sihon king of the Amorites: for His mercy endureth for ever:

And Og the king of Bashan: for His mercy endureth for ever:

And gave their land for an heritage: for His mercy endureth for ever:

Even an heritage unto Israel His servant: for His mercy endureth for ever.

Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever:

And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for His mercy endureth for ever.

Who giveth food to all flesh: for His mercy endureth for ever.

O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for His mercy endureth for ever.

He Does Whatsoever He Pleases

Psalm 135:6-7.

Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightnings for the rain; He bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

This psalm opens with the demand that all God’s creatures should praise Him, all the time! It tells us to sing praises to Him. It says that He is great above all gods, which are made by man and have no breath, no sight, no hearing.

These two verses spoke to me in this time when mankind is so arrogant that we think we can control the weather. Blocking the sun by spraying chemicals into the air, for instance, seems to be a really arrogant effort to manipulate God’s creation.

I have seen rainstorms like that pictured above. We are powerless in the face of the power of Almighty God, Who does “whatsoever He pleases in the heavens, the earth, the seas, and all deep places.”

We are helpless before the power of Almighty God! We think we can control weather, and disasters including tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. The best we can do is to take protective measures whenever possible when these events take place. We can even predict some of it, but we cannot stop that which God has ordained.

Sometimes we forget how small we are, and how little we know.

Night Watchmen

Psalm 134.

Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.

The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.

I didn’t grow up in a church in which lifting one’s hands in prayer or praise was practiced. It is indisputable in God’s Word that He not only allows it, but encourages it. It is certainly a form of acknowledging His authority, power, love, grace, and mercy. Still, it isn’t comfortable for me to do so in church. What I do in private is very different, and very personal.

Clearly, part of the Levitical duties included appointed night watchmen who stood at the doors, or perhaps posted throughout the Temple, to guard it during the night. This short psalm would indicate that while they went about their duties, the watchmen were also to spend time raising their hands to God in prayer and praise. I wonder if they did that individually, or if it was done at appointed times when they gathered together as they did their guard duties. Did they sing together? I would love to have heard that!

Here’s an interesting quote:

“We read, 1 Chronicles 9:33, that the Levitical singers were ‘employed in their work day and night;’ to the end, doubtless, that the earthly sanctuary might bear some resemblance of that above, where, St. John tells us, the redeemed ‘are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in the temple.’ Revelation 7:15.”

Horne, BlueLetterBible

The Family of God

This is the song I woke up to this morning:

If your church isn’t like this, or you don’t even have a church family, I promise you that there are still good churches out there who will welcome you as part of the family.