Archive for the 'Psalms' Category

27
Mar

Reflections on Psalm 46 - The Omnipresent, Advancing Fortress

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Categories: Psalms

Psalm 46:4 - There is a river whose streams make glad, the city of our God, the Holy Habitation of the Most High.

This verse is in the context of a psalm about the end of the age, God bringing and establishing peace by bringing “desolations” (vs.8) on the earth. The Prince of Peace’s fury is unleashed as the harvest of righteousness and wickedness is being brought to full measure during this time (Matt. 13). In this time that is so terrible that it must be shortened or no flesh should survive (Matt. 24), and increasingly more so until then - the people of God are exhorted to look unto the Lord as a mighty fortress, and a refuge in that time of trouble.

Though the earth be removed and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, we can trust in the heart of our God. He is for us, and His intentions are pure towards us! God is “in the midst” of His holy habitation, and though the nations shall rage against His leadership and His supremacy, He can not be shaken. No matter what the news says or who is elected where and when - we, who are in Him, should not fear at all, as “the Lord of hosts is with us.” (vs. 7) And if He is for us, who can be against us? Oh, my soul, take remembrance of this wherever I go!

However, God is not merely staying put in that holy habitation, blocking us from all harm and keeping us safe in a defensive posture. Consider that He is actually the one that is “bringing desolations to the earth”. God actually desolates the earth to end war. What a statement! God’s wrath actually brings peace. He “breaks the bow and shatters the spear and burns the chariots with fire.” (vs. 9) God is the One on the offensive. And we are tucked in the shadow of His wings.

Romans 16:20 says it is the “God of peace that will soon crush Satan underneath our feet.” The gates of Hades shall not prevail against the church, and gates are not offensive weapons, but defensive. The stronghold of the Lord, the fortress of our God, is the place of refuge, but also the place of offensive victory, tearing down the strongholds of the enemy and advancing the Kingdom of God in violent supernatural power.

We are not speaking of physical war, as “we wrestle not with flesh and blood” and “our weapons are not carnal but mighty, pulling down strongholds and every idea or imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.” (2 Cor. 10:4) From the place of the shelter of the Most High, where the knowledge of God is pure because the experiential revelation of Christ is near and dear, God wages war, even through the saints, against the powers of darkness that keep people and the earth in bondage. God will destroy the earth, not entirely, but using the least severe means necessary to bring about the greatest harvest of souls at the deepest level of love without violating any man’s free will.

God is our refuge, and our fortress, but “Come, behold the marvelous works [active tense] of our God”. Jesus said “my Father is always working, and therefore so am I” (John 5:17) And “The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8) The Trinity is tirelessly working to destroy the kingdom of darkness and reveal the Kingdom of the Light, and the more that we abide in Christ, the more we understand for ourselves the knowledge of God (who He is), and therefore understand and have security in the fortress that He is, beholding the marvelous works of the Lord that we may worship in Spirit and Truth.

Imagine - the omnipotent, omnipresent, and transcendent God - and we are in the midst of Him! This omnipresent, transcendent fortress that makes desolations on the earth to destroy the works of the devil and bring an end to war! His eyes are like fire, His voice like the sound of rushing waters!

Speaking of water, what then is the stream that flows into this habitation, which makes the people, who are already in the midst of God Himself, glad? (vs. 4)

05
Jul

Reflections on Psalm 84 - I’m Going to the City!

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Categories: Psalms and Vision

Psalm 84:5 “Blessed is the Man whose strength is in You; whose heart is set on pilgrimage”

This verse has really had my heart the last few days, after I heard it sung on a song that I placed on the “prayer room” section of the site. The idea of pilgrimage really grabs me, as it’s not something I hear alot. However, the Bible says that we are “aliens, strangers in this world” which are other words for “pilgrim”. The “pilgrims” we usually think about are those who encountered the new world, and new freedom, over here in America from Europe. A whole new land, a whole new realm to explore, a whole new place to roam, finding new things.

That’s really how I feel alot when I really press into the Lord through the scriptures - like I’m encountering things that I’ve never really heard about or considered that are thoroughly biblical, especially about the Lord’s heart and wrestling through the issues of His character. He’s altogether merciful, yet altogether Holy, Just. His mercy is His justice and His justice is His mercy. Things like that, the issue of Israel and the Church, the Last Days, the covenants, etc make me feel like I’m a pilgrim standing near a mountain range waiting to discover fresh springs, dense forests, high peaks, and low valleys.

Webster defines a pilgrim as “A wanderer; a traveler; particularly, one that travels to a distance from his own country to visit a holy place”. The key issue in my pilgrimage in the Lord, learning the depths of His heart, the height of His love, and the winding path of His ways - however, is that my strength be found in HIM. I can bring no provision of my own flesh, my own carnal nature, my own repository of strength and expect it to help me at all on my spiritual pilgrimage. The journey in relationship with God will provide the strength necessary for the pilgrimage. (”Man does not live on bread alone…”)

Often times I feel like I’m waiting for more of my own strength to go onwards, when really the Lord is bringing me to weakness so I can rely on the strength in Him during the actual journey, and therefore find the blessing Psalm 84 is talking about. I’m not sure if all this is making sense, but this has been some of what is on my heart lately. I feel like the Lord is showing me so many things, and they are not always easy to take, but some very, very difficult. It’s like the ocean that Dom was talking about, it looks deep and dark and far-reaching, so much so that we are sure if we dived in we would surely sink to the bottom, but we know in our Spirit we would not! But in fact, we know the very diving in is what is keeping us alive at all! (spiritually-speaking)

The struggle often times is not losing heart in the journey, but pressing on as a pilgrim, and I think that brings us to the reason for our pilgrimage. If we forget for what reason we set out on the journey we will find ourselves wandering or even turning back. But, as Abraham we must remember the point of our journey:

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going… For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” (Heb. 11:8,10)

Abraham left the place of earthly security to find His eternal inheritance in God. The journey was faith, the provision was the principles of God (”Your principles have been the music of my life throughout the years of my pilgrimage.” - psalm 119:54), and the goal was the eternal city whose designer and builder was God, that place that’s foundation is in Christ, that city where God will dwell with His people.

That city actually has a name, the Bible tells us it is called the Bride of Christ. “And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband…I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.” (Rev. 21:1,3)

What perfect application (writing it out always helps me) of “setting my mind (even heart!) on things above!” (Col 3:1). One of those very things above is the city whose builder and designer is God! And it’s coming down to earth! God’s plan, completed in the mystery of the ages, to sum up all things in Christ by joining Heaven and Earth back together in Him and dwelling on the Earth in a real city with His people as He originally intended when He created us!

Imagine this city - which comes from Heaven to Earth! No more sorrow! No more crying! No more death! No more pain! What a tremendous thing to set our hearts on pilgrimage through the difficulties, trials, and tribulations of this life, for the joy set before us in this city with God, leaning on our Bridegroom for strength the entire way! Praise God, oh my soul, praise God!!!

Forgive me O Lord, for having such a low vision. I repent, O Lord, for downgrading my inheritance in you to some great ministry position or missionary assignment. It’s so much more than that, it is eternal communion with you in a real city that You built Yourself! OH, for a HEART that would BEAT for the things ABOVE and not BELOW! Why do I weary myself by waiting/searching for moldy bread when I could be journeying into the great city of feasting! And I tell myself - this moldy bread is my inheritance, its what I’m to have, and I learn to be (un) satisfied with waiting for that. Oh what a low depth of understanding I have - what low perception of your eternal gift to your people. Your gift is not simply a good life, a good ministry, a nice family, a peaceful journey - your gift is YOURSELF!!! And to dwell in that city where you will be - as Abraham, may it be, by your grace, my journey’s only goal.

25
May

Reflections on Psalm 56

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Categories: Psalms

In this psalm, David is hounded on all sides by his enemy, but he makes that time as good as ever to break out the harp and the praise and worship. It seems that often David’s greatest psalms are from the most difficult circumstances of His life, and perhaps that would and should be the same testimony of our own worship.

“You give and take away… my heart will choose to say…”

Perhaps this is why this is called a “michtam” of David, or a “golden psalm” of David. Historically, David is running for His life from Saul and ends up in Gath, the Philistine (enemy) capital. The tune that accompanies the psalm is “A Dove Afar Off” - an almost prophetic statement of David and even the Lord Jesus.

Matthew Henry notes - “Some apply this to David himself, who wished for the wings of a dove on which to fly away. He was innocent and inoffensive, mild and patient, as a dove, was at this time driven from his nest, from the sanctuary (Psa_84:3), was forced to wander afar off, to seek for shelter in distant countries; there he was like the doves of the valleys, mourning and melancholy; but silent, neither murmuring against God nor railing at the instruments of his trouble; herein a type of Christ, who was as a sheep, dumb before the shearers, and a pattern to Christians, who, wherever they are and whatever injuries are done them, ought to be as silent doves.”

Jesus of all people was “a dove” (picture of a pure vessel) “afar off” as he left His home in heaven to be with us. And then again, He is the “word of God” that came down from heaven.

It is interesting to note that David focuses His praise on “the word” of God in verse 4 and twice in verse 10. Usually when we are in a rough spot, the word of God is one of the first things to go, because the promises therein all of the sudden feel distant, unconcerned with us, unable to help us at all. But it is in these very times, when David is being pursued unto death, that He chooses to stake His claim anew on the Word of God and the promises there.

I believe it is most important to take the promises of God when we are in distress. Then we get the raw experience and the spiritual history of trusting in God for the moment. Many of us feel that if we never have such moments of distress then we are embracing a life of such promises, but it is not primarily so, for it is a life full of often difficult things that will allow the promises to more brilliantly gleam in our lives. Even Jesus “learned obedience by the things he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8).

Not merely the promises, but the character of God and His heart come more clearer into view as we learn to praise “the word of God”, even Christ, in the midst of difficulty. Look at the confidence of David in verse 9 - “on the very day I call unto you for help, my enemies WILL retreat.” Wow! In fact, David is so sure of His victory in God that He praises God in the past tense for it at the end of the psalm, as if it had already occurred. Talk about relying on the promises and taking them seriously!

Oh, Lord, give me that depth of seeing, that true, real vision that is so confident in your word that I pray for something and leave knowing FOR SURE it will happen, so much so that it is pronounced as already done because you have said it!

Probably my favorite part of this psalm is found  in verses 7 and 13. In verse 7 David says “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”

David knew the heart of God. So much so that he wrote it down, by the Holy Spirit, and God says yes, that’s eternally correct about me, and I’m going to put it in my Holy Word.

God is not a man that he should lie, so when the word of God says that God records every sorrow and tear that we have in a book, he means it! There is actually a book in heaven with my tears recorded! Have you ever thought about that? Seriously!

And that’s the God that I worship, one that knows me so deeply, understands me so intimately, and longs for my friendship so passionately, that he, the creator of the universe, by the way, meticulously takes account of my every sorrow - so as to know my heart and in doing so invite me to know His.

Why does He do that? Because He is not the God of islam, which demands rote obedience for a possible reward (if your lucky) sans relationship. He is not the God of the greeks, afar off on some mountain waiting to be pleased by someone while playing games with other gods. No! Jesus is a lover, a pursuer of His creation, so passionately in love with who He made that He intimately records every tear that falls, even the minute details of life!

What a friend I’ve found! Closer than a brother! Jesus!

The Holy Spirit records these things so that we can have a glimpse into this God who is outside of time. We can have a window into the eternal God, what He feels like and what He acts like. And David had this revelation because in the midst of his hardship, he took a simple stance on the word of God, trusting it and singing about it.

Lastly, David knew that God rescued Him for a reason. Why? Was it because David had enough merit, was it because God was having a good day and said “Ok, this time I will.” NO! Verse 13 says “So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light.”

God’s word is His invitation to be with Him, as He really is, to give us the light of real, authentic, life.

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad to have a friend like that.

05
May

Reflections on Psalm 35 - Jesus as Rescuer

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Categories: Psalms

There’s something hidden and great inside these psalms of David that are filled with expressions like “Help, Lord!” and “My enemies rise against me!”. I know in my own humanity I’ve often brushed aside these passages as for “people who are at war, like David was”, or those whose lives are threatened physically.

This, albeit true, forfeits me a far greater reality, and that which I believe God has intended me to taste and understand about His character and purpose here on earth.

“O LORD, oppose those who oppose me.
Declare war on those who are attacking me.
Put on your armor, and take up your shield.
Prepare for battle, and come to my aid.
Lift up your spear and javelin
and block the way of my enemies.
Let me hear you say,
“I am your salvation!”" (vs.2-3)

I’m pondering on the reasons why I would typically skim through verses like these, where as I wouldn’t other psalms such as “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked…”. (psalm 1)

I think at the surface level it is because I do not feel oppressed by “war” and “those who are attacking me”. I don’t feel like I have people “waiting to eat me alive” (vs. 25), and “shouting profanities at me” (vs. 16). So, because I don’t feel like this really applies to me, I don’t pay too much in-depth attention to it.

Now, the obvious thing that I overlook here is that, WOW, I am missing something altogether! The devil and his minions are indeed here to “steal, kill, and destroy” and surely are waiting for me behind corners to bring me to ruin. So, I can then in some sort of cursory way look over the passages again and pray them as some sort of spiritual warfare exercise, but EVEN YET I think I have missed the point.

I think the point here is this: The deeper reason why I don’t (insert “we” as is appropriate) feel connected, if you will, to passages such as these, is because my DESIRE to see the Lord show Himself in such ways is altogether lacking!

And why? Let me examine. Let’s say something was happening and I was being attacked on all sides, enemies snarling at me, talking behind my back saying all sorts of horrible things about me. You know what I would think my “be-a-good-christian” response would be? It would be this - to simply gut it up, gird it up, be strong, and not let it seem to affect me, ESPECIALLY not in front of God!

For what if God were to see me as the man of weakness that I really am, afraid of my enemies, worried about their attacks, their arrows actually wounding my heart? Well, then, surely the Almighty God would look down upon me with arms crossed and say “You weak, pathetic soul! Get it together! C’mon already!” - to which I would, with a few yes sirs! along the way, get it together.

Now, this may be a bit exaggerated even in our response, but is there not a hint of this in your life as there is in mine? A hint of that which views God as “Christianity Coach” and me as “good young, and in need of much learning student”? And what I am saying is to the degree that this hint of “let me suck it up” is in us - to that same degree we are missing out on the REVELATION of the man Jesus as protector, defender, and “the Lord who fights for us”.

Because when we just “gird it up” and “be strong” in the name of “being a good christian”, we are missing golden oppurtunities to hear Jesus say “I AM YOUR SALVATION!” (vs.3) and see Him lifting up His spear and javelin!

David says “Then I will rejoice in the LORD. I will be glad because he rescues me.” I will be glad because He rescues me! Not because I feel strong in no need of rescue because im that mature already! Ha! Jesus says.

David says, “I will praise him from the bottom of my heart “LORD, who can compare with you? Who else rescues the weak and helpless from the strong? Who else protects the poor and needy from those who want to rob them?”(vs. 10)

This isn’t mere head knowledge for David,because He was unwilling to cry out to Jesus for even the sake of His pride, but this was powerful revelation from the Throne, words that still speak Holy Spirit Life unto our souls almost 3000 years later!

So lets realize that the situations that we are in,may be situations and circumstances sometimes sent not from the devil, but from the Lord Himself, that we would learn to call on His name like David did, and experience first hand the revelation of a Christ who rescues still today!

Hallelujah!

27
Apr

Reflections on Psalm 27

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Categories: Psalms

Beginning Note - Please do not read this quickly or lightly, nor consider it unprayerfully. This is something deep the Lord has done in my heart, and pray that it would do a similar work in your own for His glory.

Psalm 27:1 -  The Lord is my light and my salvation - so why should I be afraid?

Meditating on the cross this morning, and Jesus on it. After all the wickedness perpetrated against Him, blasphemies spoken about Him, He is betrayed by a kiss and nailed to a cross.

Then, near His death - He cries “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Have you ever meditated on that verse, and on the heart of Christ there pictured? There are few greater revelations of the person and heart of Christ than in that sentence on the cross.
I confess I don’t fully understand this. My mindset would tend to think - Jesus is so jealous for the Father’s glory and perfect justice to be had, why would he not say -  “Father, you are Holy, Perfect, Wise, and Just! Let the wicked here be judged so that your perfect righteousness is upheld!” After all, who knows the heart of the Father more than He who has been with Him for all eternity. Who understands His Holiness like the One who was and is and is to come? But, to think Jesus would think or say this shows a major and basic misperception of the person of Christ.

Jesus said, I came not to condemn the world, but that through me the world might be saved (John 3:17). Jesus is the person and work that God has sent TO ACHIEVE God’s righteous justice in the earth. He is the one who pictures God’s perfect justice, for He is the judge. But, my misperception is this - God’s perfect justice (his perfect heart)  is not displayed in judgment at the expense of His mercy, but His judgment reveals the triumph of His mercy! For Mercy Triumphs over Judment! (James 2:13)

I would think God’s justice means that He must destroy the wicked, for He is the Holy one, too holy to even look upon sin, and that in order for His name to be upheld He must wipe out the wicked. But this is not primarily so! First, He wipes out SIN itself. Somehow, he doesn’t destroy the people that sin has infected and indwelt so powerfully, but squashes SIN itself and literally extracts it from the earth starting at the cross. Instead of proving His justice with great judgment on the earth by destroying people, He proves His great justice on the earth by destroying Sin through mercy, through mercy and justice personified, Jesus the Christ.

Jesus is the defeater of sin, the cure for the cancer, the light that dispels all darkness (John 1:2). He is the personification of the most powerful force in the universe, the embodiment of the Love of God. Love indeed CONQUERS all!(1 Cor. 13) Jesus given for the world IS God’s perfect justice displayed, and His perfect love displayed.

Therefore, when we have Jesus crying out “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We don’t picture Jesus holding back the Father saying, “Wait! Don’t do that which is in your heart to do (mainly, to destroy them). Hold back! Let’s do something different!” No! Jesus isn’t saying that at all. Jesus, oh beautiful man that He is, is crying out for the Father to do EXACTLY what is in the Father’s heart to do, FORGIVE them.

And what is to “ForGive”? It is to to “Give For” - it is God giving His Gift For the World. It is God giving Himself for the World. It is God giving His justice for the world. It is God giving His character for the world. It is God giving His life for the world. It is God giving His love for the world. It is God giving His heart for the world.

It is God giving God for the world.

Selah!

The Lord IS my light and my salvation. It’s almost like David wrote this about himself, but so did God about Himself. The Lord Jesus is both our light and our salvation and God’s light and God’s salvation. Shouldn’t surprise us, the author of this text is the Holy Spirit after all!

I feel like if I think as I formerly thought, mainly that God was just begging to pour out His wrath and Jesus intervened and stopped Him through the cross and provided another way, than I have a major misunderstanding of the God I worship. I can not continue my relationship with Him until I get right about this. I feel that this morning’s revelation is the Lord correcting my perception of that event, and revealing Himself as He really is, and not as I had mistakenly thought Him to be.

I believe the reason behind my “completely missing the point” previous view, was that I figured Jesus was altogether like me. Oh, what sorrow! Because if I was on that cross, then I would probably say “Father, these people don’t deserve anything but your fiery judgments. Here they are killing your diving instrument of love!”. But that is not the heart of Christ.

The heart of Christ is the heart of the Father, is the heart of the Holy Spirit - and is the heart that we must have, be given, and be “given for” the purpose of our heart being like His. For our transformation into the image of Christ means that we look at people that wrong us, people that are wicked in a whole new light. When we ask God to forgive them, we aren’t saying - God, disregard your holiness and forgive these wicked people for no good reason - we are saying “Father! Reveal unto them Christ, YOUR For-Giveness!”

God The Father’s forgiveness and justice is the person of Christ. So when we pray, and when Stephen prayed “Father forgive them…” We are in essence praying - “Father, reveal unto them the Lord Jesus.” Amazing that it was after that very prayer of Stephen as he was being stoned, that the hardest hearted sinner probably on the earth had this MASSIVE revelation of Jesus in the sky! Do you see that!? Do you catch that?

When Stephen exhibits the heart of the Father in such a way, when he GETS IT in that way, the Father’s heart (Jesus’ heart) is moved in such a wholehearted way that He moves into action to “Forgive them” by a widespread revelation of Jesus the Christ to Saul! And Saul goes around to all the people there and many, many others places, teaching forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus! God Answers according to His heart!

Look at what happened when Jesus Himself prayed that prayer -

“Mat 27:54  When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

The heart of the Father, the justice of the Father, the mercy of the Father, all in perfect keeping - is to reveal Jesus the Christ.

Wow! That we would ask and ascertain the heart of Christ, the heart that was in Stephen, and cry out to God to forgive our families, friends, loved ones - much less nations of the earth that need a revelation of Christ - “God forgive them!”!! His forgiveness is His light, is His salvation, His “God saves”, His Jesus! Halelujah!

Jesus, reveal unto us this Holy, Loving, and perfectly Just heart that the Father has and that You have and that Stephen and many others have. Your heart is one of mercy to tens of thousands! Your love endures forever! Give us a right understanding of why and how you “forgive” man of their sins! By revealing light into darkness! You are our light and salvation! Amen.

post edit - A disclaimer simply saying that I absolutely believe God judges the wicked as is clearly seen throughout the Old and New Testaments. I simply believe His first act of justice is to reveal Christ, and if people persist in darkness (John 3:18-20), then the very scorning of His light and love instigates God’s fiery wrath from heaven as seen (for example) in the bowl, seal, and trumpet judgments of Revelation. However, even these very acts are in of themselves acts of perfect love designed to bring people to understand their need for Jesus and run to Him!

As A.W. Tozer says - God never downplays His mercy to act in judgment or His justice to act in mercy - but EVERY action He ever takes is in PERFECT KEEPING and perfectly consistent with EVERY attribute He possesses. God’s judgment is mercy, and His mercy is judgment. Makes sense, when you look at Jesus. He is both the lamb that takes away the sin of the world, and the King that will judge the earth and rule all nations with an iron sceptre. This is our God!!! Aleluia!

25
Apr

Reflections on Psalm 26 - Proving and Testing

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Categories: Psalms

“Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.” - Psalm 26:1-2

David desires a deeper purity of heart and mind, and so should we! He asks the Lord to prove, try, and test him, but notice how he doesn’t turn away from the Lord in the asking! Often we ask but then shrink back in fear or wait not for the answer or redeeming work to come.

The very thing that proves Him in the asking is the next statement - “For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.”

He can ask the Lord to try and test him without fear of condemnation because its the Lord’s love and faithfulness that He can trust in to act perfectly according to His great character - steadfast goodness. It’s not even David’s own desire that he trusts in, nor his own faithfulness, but the steadfast love of the Lord and His faithfulness! Too often we try to walk in our own faithfulness and say, Look Lord! When He is saying, I want you to walk in my faithfulness!

A deeper trust of God is required for a deeper work in the heart of man.

I like how the NLT puts the verse “Put me on trial, LORD, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and affections.” Motives and affections. Talk about a deeper work in our heart - its one thing to confess obvious sins and outward mishaps, but  inward motives, hidden affections for other things? Definitely a deeper rending of the heart is necessary, Lord help us!

Surely this cleansing will lead us deeper into your presence, so that we can cry (vs. 8) “I love your sanctuary, Lord, the place where your glory shines!”.

Jesus, we look to your faithfulness, your steadfast love perfectly exemplified in the shedding of your blood on Calvary. We pray for the desire to be tested and tried as David had, that we might know You, Your kingdom ways, Your glory! That we might behold you in your sanctuary most beautiful. Only give us the grace to trust in you as these hidden motives and affections are exposed. For we know that the very light that exposes us comes from the only being that can cleanse and redeem us. Thank you Jesus, Amen.

“All who are thirsty, all who are weak! Come to the fountain! Dip your heart in the streams of life! Let the pain and the sorrow be washed away in the waves of His mercy, as Deep cries out to Deep. We sing - come Lord Jesus come. Come Lord Jesus come. Come Lord Jesus come!”

25
Apr

Reflections on Psalm 25

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Categories: Psalms

Psalm 25 -  “Of David. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.”

The soul is the deepest, most core part of a man’s being, the eternal part that will live forever. To lift up one’s soul to God is to lift up or lay down all one’s greatest desires, most inward thoughts, the very depth of who we are in our being. Surely there is only one being in heaven or on earth who is perfectly trustworthy to receive our soul and do what is best with it - “whom have I in heaven but you?” (Psalm 73) Interestingly, the regular practice of lifting up his soul in trust to God is the very thing that stirs him with the desire to know God!

Thinking about God as refuge, as protector, thinking of Him as the eternal savior who provides ultimate sanctuary for those who trust Him, does something deep in the heart of David, where he begins to yearn for the knowledge of God. Jesus said, “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the One true God, and Jesus the Christ whom you have sent.” (Joh_17:3) Jesus describes the “living water welling up from within us” (Joh_4:14), this eternal life, as the desire of and the fulness of the knowledge of God.

A great key lies within here - for our hearts do not always flow with the desire for God to “make me to know your ways, teach me your paths!” in the pursuit of the knowledge of God. Perhaps the root is that we have not done the first thing, lifting up our soul unto God. In our hurriedness, we forget to entrust everything to Jesus. The cares of this life are said to “choke the seed” of the Word of God (Mar_4:19). If we don’t lift up to the Lord our burdens, lay down our anxieties, and cast our cares upon Him, they will surely “choke out” the desire to know the ways of the Lord and the knowledge of Him.

“Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” (vs. 5) As David lifts up His soul, He worships, but His worship isn’t merely words to God, but a desire to hear words from God Himself. His recognition and acknowledgement of God as savior provokes in Him desire for a Holy dialog with God.

God desires that the light of His countenance be that which draws us in to more of Him. He gives revelation of Himself to draw us nearer, to take us deeper into who He is. As an unraveling ball of yarn, one revelation can quickly lead to another and another and another.

This is why it is good to meditate on one aspect of God, say as Savior, for a period of time, thinking and going over scriptures about that aspect of God, until something breaks and the Holy Spirit illuminates that not only that aspect but another as well! Jesus said, don’t just read the scriptures to go over them, read them so that you may come to me and know me, for the scriptures are that which testifies of me! (Joh_5:39)

David desires this with God, and doesn’t want anything in the way. The guilt of His soul from the sins of His youth threaten to push Him away from the Lord, so He pleads the mercy of God over His soul! Of late I’ve experienced this to some degree, as I mentioned in the last study, that the closer I draw to Jesus, the more I feel the enemy accusing me of former sin, condemning me with guilt and keeping me weighed down with a distressed soul. This he does for the sole purpose of distracting me from Jesus.

This is partly the case because the closer we are to Jesus, the more His light shines into the deeper depths of our heart, indeed exposing hidden areas and perhaps sins we weren’t aware of previously. When this occurs, Jesus’ desire is always to redeem and Satan’s desire is always to condemn. We MUST recognize this and go onwards towards Jesus’ redemption of that area, not shrinking back in fear, condemnation, and the guilt that is thrown at us to keep us from getting free of it in Jesus’ name!

If we are able to go through this HUGE hurdle, which many never make it over, then we will go on to a deeper cleansing of heart and a greater knowledge of Jesus. David’s thirst in this passage is satisfied, His asking for instruction is almost immediately satisfied after he passes the hurdle of trusting Jesus for the redemption of His sinful heart in vs 7.

Look carefully in vs.4-6, David asks to understand God’s “ways” “paths” and “truth.” Then, after vs. 7, David receives revelation of God’s “truth” in vs. 8, His “ways” in vs. 9, and His “paths” in vs. 10. Amazing! God answers prayer!

“Good and upright is the Lord” - truth, and knowledge of God. “He instructs sinners in the way” - truth, and knowledge of God. “He leads the humble in what is right” - truth, and knowledge of God. “He teaches the humble His way” - a “way” of the Lord. “All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness - ” - the “paths” of the Lord.

So, in summary of vs.1-10 - we have David first lifting up His soul to God, all that He is trusting in all that God is as sufficient to protect and save Him. This action stirs in his soul a desire to know the Lord, to have that eternal life well up from within Him. He begins to cry out that God  would show Himself, His ways, and His paths to Him. In that moment, the Lord draws near to reveal Himself, and David is caught in a curious crossroads. He has the Lord approaching, His marvelous light exposing even greater depths of His heart, and he then has his own thoughts (and perhaps the enemy himself) accusing him, drawing back from the Lord as Peter did, thinking, I’m too unclean for the presence of Jesus!

However, instead of ending the psalm with a quick praise and then shrinking back, He acknowledges his feeling to the Lord and cries out for God to remember His steadfast love in dealing with him. Then, something great happens in between vs. 7 and 8, namely, God revealing Himself to David! 3 verses of answer specific to the very questions he asked in the first place! He wouldn’t have had this revelation if he has shrunk back, and neither will we!

To go on would find David again face to face with His guilt, His affliction and trouble once more, but He takes His stand on the promises of God and says “my eyes are ever toward the Lord” - and so should we! He recognizes that God ALWAYS acts in goodness and love towards Him, though it not be as he would expect, He ALWAYS acts in goodness, there for our eyes should ALWAYS look unto Him.

20
Apr

Reflections on Psalm 19 - Part 2 - Psalm 42

By couch 0 Comments
Categories: Psalms

As Psalm 19 declares - There is no place on the earth that is hid from the revelation of God’s glory revealed in creation.

Romans 1 even says that men are without excuse -“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”

But what is it about creation that actually reveals the God of Heaven? If the sky in all of its beauty is His mere handiwork, then what is His full labor? I can’t wait for the new heavens and the new earth! Even the Bible says that the creation will be so restored from its current state of rejection and futility that the whole earth will be full of His glory, being like the Garden of Eden! (Ezek.36:35, Joel 2:3) Whoa!

But it is true, the creation brings about much revelation of the Lord Jesus. Just ask Jessie Harris about God’s favorite color - quite a revelation!

Let’s take the waterfall for example. Psalm 42:7 says - “Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.”

Now let’s think about a waterfall for a minute. It’s water, that falls. It is said to fall because it comes from a high place all the way down to a low place. Not only that, but is pummels itself, showers itself, throws itself off the top of the waterfall to the spring below with absolute delight. Also, it seems as if there is a limitless supply of it, as it continues to gush and gush night and day. I think of Niagara Falls, where something like millions of gallons of water fly over a massive edge every year. The waterfall is a marvel of creation, and a reflection of the God who created it.

Eph 5:25-26 says “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.”

In the Bible, water symbolizes the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord is said to wash over us, Jesus’ bride, as water does, and husbands are commanded to wash their wives with the “water of the word” as Jesus Himself does. This washing is a continual, deeply sanctifying work that goes unlimited from a high place (heaven) to a low place (our lowly selves).

His word is always flowing, His power and love is continually ministering to the low places of this earth, and those who are lowly. God says “with this person I will look unto - with he (or she) that is lowly and humble of heart, and who trembles at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2)

It’s hard not to tremble while standing next to the great tumult and roar of a waterfall. It’s constant gushing and load sounds are alluring yet a bit frightening. At times you want to just jump in and sit underneath it, but at other times you are afraid at what effect it may have on you. Either way, the waterfall yet continues to flow, a strong and powerful display of the great word of God that flows even now and even stronger than all the world’s waterfalls combined.

“Deep calls out to deep..” Deep is a perfect word to describe both ends of a waterfall. The high part is surely deep, for there is a continual and constant flow of water. The low part is surely deep, for there is a depth that the water has certainly plunged from the gravity that PUSHES it down. The water goes down DEEP into the water below, and fills the void that was created by that very waterfall itself. Wow!

Jesus longs and desires for His deep to call out to our deep. For His Word to call out to the very limits of our heart and soul, for His great redeeming love to sanctify and cleanse every part of my heart. Sometimes I feel like the harder I pursue the Lord, the more I realize the wickedness of my own heart. The more I sit under the water of the word, the more I despise my inward selfishness, my carnal lusts, my stubborn pride - as it only keeps me from totally  embracing this great water, this great Word, this great Word made flesh - this Jesus.

Perhaps that is why David says “Why so downcast oh my soul, why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.” (Psalm 42:5,11) He has indeed been thirsting for God, desiring God, but even in that increased desire for the Lord, He feels inwardly downcast, as if His own soul which is so thirsting in verse 1 and 2 is now drawing back. Perhaps its the same thought of Peter, when he drew near to the Lord but then said “Lord, come no closer to me, for I am an unclean man” (Luke 5:8)

Not without a wrestling with His soul, but David resolves then, to go after the Lord, praising God “yet again” and commands His soul to put hope in God for it’s own cleansing and washing - though it may feel all the more dirty as it continually goes after the Lord.

The Lord is the kinsman-redeemer, He who reveals the true depths of our soul with His light as we approach Him, and then washes the very depths of it with the very depths of His Word if we do not draw back but press on towards Him.

“As the deer pants for FLOWING STREAMS, so pants my soul for you, O God!” Psalm 42:1

19
Apr

Reflections on Psalm 19

By couch 0 Comments
Categories: Psalms

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words,whose voice is not heard. Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” - Psalm 19:1-4

Two primary means of revelation spoken of in this beautiful psalm - the creation and the Word of God. Revelation is not some mystical concept, it is the means by which we earthly beings can glimpse or understand that which is heavenly and eternal. Jesus told Peter “Blessed art thou - for flesh and blood has not REVEALED this unto you, but my Father which is in Heaven.” Matthew 16:17 It is the Father that reveals, through the Holy Spirit, of the Lord Jesus, His perfect and Holy Word sent down from Heaven. It is perfectly understandable that He is the source and the author of revelation, for He created all things, and all things are made for Him. We could say that God is in the business of revealing His Son in eternal glory to the entire universe, to His own Glory!

Therefore we have revelation of Him in the creation pictured here - the heavens, the sky, and the seasons with which the heavenly bodies (sun, moon) provide - namely, night and day.

Verse 1 says - The “heavens” declare the glory of God. Glory literally translates “weighty splendor” or “honorable brilliance”. Interesting that David remarks about the “heavens” plural. If you meditate on the concept of the heavens, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12 (most commentators believing that he was speaking of himself) - “I know a man in Christ … caught up the third heaven and shown marvelous things.” Third heaven? What does that mean? We have a clue from the latter part of verse 1 in Psalm 19.

“The sky” is also translated “the firmament” which means a divider or a partition. A partition is something that divides one thing from another. Since “the heavens” is plural, we know there is more than one, and since it is also translated to mean “the air”, we start to get a picture here of what Paul means by “third heaven”.

If the third heaven is the very throne room of God, where Paul heard “wonderful things not permitted to speak of” than the second heaven would be the space below it, or the place where the sun and moon are in orbit, the celestial bodies that dictate day and night on the earth. From here then, the first heaven would be below that, namely the sky above where the clouds roam about to and fro and where we fly our planes! Amazing how far our very prayer travels - above the clouds, above outer space, into the throne room of God, which no telescope can grasp a glimpse of!

We get confirmation of this in verse 6 when the Word talks about the sun, the correct translation is that the sun goes “from one end of the heaven (singular!) to the other”. The KJV has this correct - because although we can see the sun, it is not really “in the sky”, but more in outer space, the second “air” or second “heaven” that is above the earth. It is distinguished specifically.

This is important to realize because the different “heavens” each “declare the glory of God”, because each display different things, and I’d be willing to say that each is a different and higher degree of revelation. We know that Paul was revealed unutterable things in the very Throne Room of God, so much so that God sent him a thorn in his flesh to keep him from “being exalted beyond measure due to the exceeding revelation.” That’s intense! What incredible revelation of God’s glory and His splendor in the most Holy Place of Heaven did Paul receive when taken to the third heaven! Wow! Wow! Wow! Amazing!

If that was given Paul in the third heaven, the place of greatest revelation, where the Bible says we will “fully know even as we are fully known”. (1 Cor 13:12) If thats the case, then what is available in the first and second heavens that speak of the glory of God?

The second heaven below is where the sun and moon regulate day and night, which is mentioned next in verses 2-4. Day to day pours out speech, night to night reveals knowledge. Perhaps this speaks of the constancy that God wants to reveal His glory to us, both day and night, continually, forever! Notice that it isn’t merely one day that pours out speech, but in the sequence of days, day to day, and in the sequence of nights, night to night, that revelation comes. We should not therefore expect to “come to revelation” all at once, but progressively as time goes along.

Just as it would be silly for us to eat all of our food at once and expect it to last us for months or years, we must come into revelation gradually and continuously. The good news is, day and night its available to be had, through the person of the Holy Spirit bringing light to our minds and hearts!

12
Apr

Reflections on Psalm 13

By couch 0 Comments
Categories: Psalms

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

The struggle of David in this passage - his soul and his heart. How often do we interpret our own “freaking out” as God’s departure from us? Has he not said “I will never leave you nor forsake you?”. Too often I believe we interpret our frustration as cause to think the Lord has left us, when all the while we have simply turned our gaze away from Him to ourselves.

His soul is “taking counsel long”. In other words, he is churning thoughts, advice, and voices in his head until he grows extremely weary and bogged down in His soul. Overanalyzing every thought, word, and action of ourselves and others often leads to this feeling. I recognize this feeling as “anxiety” in me, and find that once I cast it upon the Lord, who’s burden is light, I find true freedom. The mind is a great wonder God has given us, but the Bible says we are to be “transformed by the renewing of our mind.”

Matthew Henry says “It is some ease to a troubled spirit to give vent to its griefs, especially to give vent to them at the throne of grace, where we are sure to find one who is afflicted in the afflictions of his people and is troubled with the feeling of their infirmities; thither we have boldness of access by faith, and there we have parrēsia - freedom of speech. ” Hallelujah!

His heart has sorrow in it all the day, surely because His mind is so anxiously pondering everything, never reaching any conclusions. Because of this, he recognizes that the enemy is exalted over him. Why? The enemy’s goal is to bring us to confusion, God’s goal is to bring us to Himself, the epitome of steadfastness and consistency. “God is not the author of confusion..”

The answer to all of this is simple - that God would “light up His eyes”. God must bring the illumination of the situation, the revelation into the matter, break through all the darkness of his mind and heart with His marvelous light. His light reveals. His light opens up, His light discovers, uncovers, understands, and brings a right seeing of Him in the situation.

His light is “the light of life” that causes him to live and not sleep in death nor be shaken at all. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation, because your love is steadfast, even when my mind is going crazy and my heart is filled with sorrow - your love is the one thing that never changes, the rock that is higher than I that I can cling to when the storms rage inside me.

“I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.” I love the word bountiful, its the word that was used to describe the fruitfulness of the Garden of Eden. It is the word that describes the life we have access to in Christ, wherein is “every spiritual blessing.” I’m not sure David wrote the last few verses because He had “figured out” the entire situation or that he left in the middle to defeat his enemies and come back, I believe he was still uncertain of what was to come. However, it was the realization and the seeing of God’s steadfast love and light which is ABLE to help in all situations that prompted Him to worship and be at rest in His mind and soul.

Often it is not God’s desire to take us away from the trial we are enduring, but to know the hand that holds ours within it. That lesson is far worth the effort!

Not to mention that the Lord loves the singing it produces!