Psalm 119 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 119) pt 12

Psalm 119:88-96

Lamedh.

89 Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.  90 Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands.  91 They stand this day according to Your ordinances, For all things are Your servants.  92 If Your law had not been my delight, Then I would have perished in my affliction.  93 I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have revived me.  94 I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your precepts.  95 The wicked wait for me to destroy me; I shall diligently consider Your testimonies.  96 I have seen a limit to all perfection; Your commandment is exceedingly broad.

God is eternal. Our eternal God has eternally set His Word above all other things, such that His Word can never fail.  Men promise.  Men swear by heaven above, earth below and all things in between.  And yet their promises fail, either for lack of strength, wisdom or will.  But never so for God.  His Word is as eternal as He.  And just as it can never be said that God is not, for to be is a part of His essence – if He is God, He must be – it can never be said that His Word has  failed.

And on this basis, the Psalmist expresses great confidence in God.  That in the midst of his turmoil, he cries out to God for strength.  His own strength has failed, his enemies have overwhelmed him and at his lowest, he cries out to the eternal God who has promised to be a shield and refuge to all who call upon Him.  He cries out to this God because He alone has forever secured His own word in heaven.  Thus there is no one who can thwart His promise.  There is no one who can stay His hand of grace upon those who are His.  There is no one who can deter Him from lending help to those who are humble and contrite before Him.  All who are His shall be saved!

And this too is our confidence beloved.  We have no need to be ashamed when we look upon His law.  When we gaze upon His ordinances, when we proclaim His Word in the streets, we have no need to shrink away.  Because God’s Word is forever established in Heaven!  He does hear your cry for help.  He does see your turmoil and distress.  And He will answer.  He will not abandon your soul to Sheol.  He has safely hidden your life in Himself in Christ.  And as sure as His Word is to His Son “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.  “Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee With the oil of gladness above Thy companions.” And, “Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Thy hands;   They will perish, but Thou remainest; And they all will become old as a garment,   And as a mantle Thou wilt roll them up; As a garment they will also be changed.  But Thou art the same, And Thy years will not come to an end” so sure is His Word to us “you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

Deuteronomy 33:27-29  27 “The eternal God is a dwelling place, And underneath are the everlasting arms; And He drove out the enemy from before you, And said, ‘Destroy!’  28 “So Israel dwells in security, The fountain of Jacob secluded, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens also drop down dew.  29 “Blessed are you, O Israel; Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, Who is the shield of your help, And the sword of your majesty! So your enemies shall cringe before you, And you shall tread upon their high places.”

2 Samuel 22:1-7  And David spoke the words of this song to the LORD in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.  2 And he said, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;  3 My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, Thou dost save me from violence.  4 “I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; And I am saved from my enemies.  5 “For the waves of death encompassed me; The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me;  6 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.  7 “In my distress I called upon the LORD, Yes, I cried to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears.

Psalm 5:11-12   11 But let all who take refuge in Thee be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And mayest Thou shelter them, That those who love Thy name may exult in Thee.  12 For it is Thou who dost bless the righteous man, O LORD, Thou dost surround him with favor as with a shield.

Proverbs 2:1-8  My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you,  2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding;  3 For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding;  4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;  5 Then you will discern the fear of the LORD, And discover the knowledge of God.  6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.  7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,  8 Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones.

1 Peter 1:23-25   you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.  24 For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off,  25 But the word of the Lord abides forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.

Coram Deo thought: The death of pride

The Christian life is full of a thousand little deaths.  The death of pride in one’s heart is probably one of the most frequent…or at least should be.  “This I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” Paul wrote this in the context of a discussion of God’s mercy towards the Church.  He has been merciful to us, in abundance in Christ; and therefore we should present our bodies to Him as a sacrifice.  He goes on to say that this sacrifice entails offering up our bodies to His body through the gifts which He has given us in the Spirit.  This Paul says is a service that we ought to render with humility.  The spirit of humility then is a necessary response to the contemplation of God’s mercy in salvation.  As we recognize that our salvation is truly the mercy of God, our minds are being transformed and as our minds are transformed our lives will reflect a greater awareness of our dependence upon Him, gratitude towards Him and humble service to our brethren who are also recipients of God’s mercy.  Mercy serves to place us all on the same level playing field.  None of us have earned God’s mercy, mercy itself being what is undeserved.  And all of us in Christ and even apart from Christ are recipients of God’s mercy at all times.  All that we have and all that we are is as a result of God’s mercy towards us.  this one doctrinal truth I believe should revolutionize our lives.  Paul viewed it as that which should produce a complete transformation of life for new believers.  Here are just a few ways in which mercy should transform our lives.

Our life should be sacrificial.  There ought to be a true and lasting pursuit towards sacrifice.  So often in life we pursue that which is our right.  We pursue that which leads to comfort for us.  Our society is extremely comfort oriented.  But the mercies of God should impel us to sacrifice.  None of what we have is our own.  None of what we have and what we are is given to us for our own sakes.  Therefore it should all be freely offered back as a sacrifice to God.  Furthermore we ought to look for opportunities to sacrifice what we have for the sake of others.  We should not be quick to hold on to what we have.  We should be quick to give because what has been given to us is not for us alone.  And all who are around us = our brothers sand sisters in Christ – regardless of what they have or have not worked for (materially speaking) are recipients of God’s mercy as we are.  And therefore we ought to be quick to share and to give whatever it is that we have for the glory of God.  My family has received great benefit from many who have understood this principle.  And we endeavor to exemplify the same to others and before our children.  “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Our life should be service oriented.  God has given us a measure of grace.  That measure of grace is to be used for the sake of His body which is still on earth.  That measure of grace has been left to us for the sake of building up His body and therefore we must make every effort to determine what grace the Lord has left for us and to use that grace with fervency “not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” v 10.  To do any less would be disobedience to the Lord who called us by His grace to serve.  A servant should do nothing less than that which is reasonable for a servant to do.  That is to serve.  A servant should not just serve when they know that they will reap in return.  A servant does not just serve when it will be easy for him to do so.  A servant does not expect gratitude or appreciation.  A servant serves because it is his lot in life and because he is a servant.  A servant serves because he has a master whom he desires to please.  Because when the master is pleased the servant will be blessed.  It is not the joy of the servant which is in the mind of the master but his own joy.  And his joy means good for the servant.  His displeasure means wrath.  A servant’s life is unremarkable.  It is not full of pleasure and extra luxuries.  Our society scoffs at the terminology “servant.”  Man desires to be servant to no one.  Our society declares that it is not the one who serves who is greater but the one who is served by others.  Jesus said on the contrary that the one who would be great in His Kingdom must be a servant to all.  Jesus said of Himself that he came to “serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”  Are the subjects of the Kingdom greater than the King?  If the King had to spend His earthly life as a service to the will of His Father in Heaven, how much more should we who are infinitely less in honor than He?  It is not wrong for a person to have luxuries or to be entertained by them.  However the true believer who is rich in this world is commanded to hold loosely to what he has and to always be ready to give to others who are in need (I Tim 6:17-19).  Furthermore why would one who has true riches in Christ desire or pursue that which is fleeting and temporary?  It would behoove one to question the motives of their own heart in pursuing or actively striving to maintain these things for any other sake than to impart them to the body as needed.

Our life should be sober. Again, the gospel is the great equalizer.  The mercy of God in salvation is His withholding what we truly deserve which is only death for our rebellion from Him.  One who understands the gospel doesn’t see themselves as deserving anything good.  Perhaps we understand and fall back on the assurance that God is working for our good in this life.  However we don’t expect for God to give us any good as if there has ever been a time in which we actually deserve it for our own sake.  We are children of God.  We are children of the King.  We are His beloved.  However that is all by His mercy and not because He is obliged to give us anything. A sober life is seen in three ways.  1)  Our thoughts towards outsiders, unbelievers, obstinate ought to always be that of mercy.  Even for those who are harsh, unbearable, obstinate and even hostile towards us or the cross.  We are to consider the mercy of God to us who were just as they dead in our sin toward God.  “But God,” as the scripture says “on account of his great mercy” made us alive together with Christ.  And so He may for them according to His time and His will.  2)  Our thoughts towards one another in the body of Christ should be that of mercy.  We ought to consider one another, regardless of faults, in light of God’s mercy.  There is no room for complaining about anothers fault as if we deserve only good.  Again, the one who has truly understood God’s mercy knows that it is not the bad that we should marvel at for that is what we deserve.  But it is the good things which also come from above, that we should marvel at.  When we are treated as servants by a bother or sister, that should not shock us.  However when we are blessed above and beyond that of a servant, when we are given the King’s ransom; then we should marvel, then we should stand in awe.  Even to be treated as a servant is God’s mercy to us.  God is sovereign over all, thus we know that even the foolish decisions of others which may hinder us are all under God’s providential gaze.  Thus it is not to others that we should turn but to God in calamity, not so as to find fault but to reaffirm our dependence upon Him and to thank Him for the mercy which He shows us with our very existence and much more in those times of trial.  Furthermore, He has mercifully granted us that we should have gifts to give to one another for the good of the body.  And when we do not serve the body with those gifts we are spurning the mercy of God and showing disdain for it.  3)  Our thoughts about ourselves ought to be lowly.  We are what we are by God’s mercy.  We have nothing with which to boast in ourselves.  God has been merciful to us and continues to be merciful to us by upholding His creation and His own integrity in faithfulness towards those whom He has wed to His Son.  Any good that we have or that we are is not as a result of our work but God’s work in us (Phil 2:13, Eph 2:10).  Furthermore, possibly the greatest mercy which God has shown to us is that He enables us to glorify Him.  What joy does the standard bearer have in raising the banner of his country or king?  What joy is there on the lips of the bride at the praise of her groom on their engagement?  What joy does a parent have to announce the birth of their firstborn?  We who are recipients of the salvation of the Lord may have great joy in announcing the glory of our King who has overlooked our transgressions and paid our infinite debt by His own grace and the life of His Son.  Paul said that by our transformed minds,” by our sober thoughts of God’s mercy in our lives…we may “prove that which is good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”  What a blessing we have by God’s mercy to proclaim to this deaf and dead world the good and acceptable and perfect will of God?!

We pray “thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”  Our heavenly Father’s response to our prayer is to show us mercy that we may in turn proclaim His excellencies to others that they all may behold the glory of the Lord and to know His will (I Peter 2:9).

Coram Deo – “Before the face of God”

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer”

The LORD, to whom David prays, is both his strength and his redeemer. He is the One who enables by His strength within, the believer to speak and think in a manner that is acceptable. And He is the One who has and must sanctify because we do not often speak or think what is acceptable to Him. By nature we speak and think from our fleshly inclinations. By nature we speak and think from our own desire and our own will. We speak and think according to what is acceptable to us. Thus it is necessary for the believer, who fears the Lord – knowing that he is ever before the face of the Almighty, to seek His grace in order to do what is pleasing to Him.

David’s request is both confident and realistic. It is confident because he knows that the One to whom He prays is Supreme and Sovereign over all, even the will of man. And it is realistic because he understands that his own nature is contrary to this request, he himself being but dust. Thus, if God wills - which we know that He does – then the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart will be acceptable in His sight, because God will both give strength and redeem us for that purpose.

May we all have that same confidence.  May we all believe that we are ever “before the face of God” that we may make this same request.

Our Strength and our Redeemer
What wondrous love You give
Our wretched hearts condemn us
But by Your grace we live

Each day we must seek You
If ever You we’ll please
Each day You must redeem us
Till us Your grace receives

Psalm 16 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 16)

God is faithful.

This Psalm is considered by many, myself included, a Messianic Psalm.  The reason why for this, in part, is the NT interpretation that it’s reference is not David – its author – but in fact Christ the Messiah.

The Psalm itself drips with an overwhelming confidence in the faithfulness of God towards His people.  David calls the Lord “my Lord” and says that he has “no good besides [Him].” That is the height of confidence and trust.  No only to declare the LORD, “my Lord” – my master, my sovereign King, but also to declare that there is no other good on earth or in heaven besides Him.

What other confidence do we have really?  What other thing is there that one might place their confidence and trust in?  When you look around at the things of this world, what is there that is completely trustworthy?  What thing is there that will not rust, spoil or fail?  After all, why would you put your confidence in something that is bound to fail you?

Furthermore what man can you look to who will not ultimately fail you?  If not for their lack of faithfulness, lack of strength, or for their lack of ability to preserve their own life will sooner or later fail you?  Who do you have as your confidence and trust?  David’s confidence and trust was none other than the Lord.  To trust in anything else, to him, was foolish.

He called the LORD “the portion of [his] inheritance and [his] cup.” Not only is there none in the present who may satisfy, there will be none in the future to sustain him but the LORD. And indeed, he has seen the fruit of trust and confidence in the Lord already for he says “the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places, indeed my heritage is beautiful to me.”

He says further “I will bless the Lord who has counseled me, indeed my mind instructs me at night.  I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” What confidence, what trust, what hope do we hear in this description of David’s Lord.

This, however, is where David’s voice ceases…this is the extent of the Psalm which can rightly be ascribed to David.   The interesting question in many of these “Messianic Psalms” is how much or at what point does the Psalm cease to be about David and start to be about the Messiah?  Is there a single intended reference or can it be with reference to both David and the Messiah?  In many of these such Psalms, some have sought to figure out what danger or issue David may have had in mind when he penned this Psalm in order to make it fit both him and the Messiah.  For the New Testament writers, however that is not an issue.  For them it was clear.

Both Peter and Paul ascribed this Psalm to Christ.

Peter says in Acts 2:25-32 “For David says of Him, ‘I was always beholding the Lord in my presence; for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken.  Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will abide in hope; because thou will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow thy holy One to undergo decay.  Thou has made known to me the ways of life; though will make me full of gladness with thy presence.’  Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day.  And so because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neighter abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay.  This Jesus God raised up again to which we are all witnesses.”

And Paul Acts 13:32-37 “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm ‘thou are my Son; today I have begotten thee’ and as for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no more to return to decay, He has spoken in this way ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm ‘though will not allow thy holy One to undergo decay.’  For David after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.”

According to both Peter and Paul, David could not be the reference to these final verses because David’s body has undergone decay.  However Christ, having been raised from the dead on the third day, did not undergo decay.  He, having been raised, has brought fulfillment to God’s promise (establishing God’s faithfulness to His people and to David) and also signifies, by His resurrection, the future fulfillment of God’s judgment and reign over all the earth (Acts 17).

God is faithful.  He is faithful to Himself, in fulfilling His purposes.  He is faithful to His Holy One, both to David and to Christ.  And He is faithful to His people, in meeting their greatest need by sending His Son Jesus, to redeem us from our sins and to rescue us from the wrath which is to come.

If He has thus proven Himself faithful in these great things…what reason will we ever have to worry?

My hope is built on nothing less…

Psalm 33:1-22

Psalm 33:1 Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright.  2 Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.  3 Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.  4 For the word of the LORD is upright; And all His work is done in faithfulness.  5 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD.  6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.  7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses.  8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.  9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.  10 The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.  11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.  13 The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men;  14 From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth,  15 He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works.  16 The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength.  17 A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.  18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness,  19 To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.  20 Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.  21 For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name. 22 Let Thy lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us, According as we have hoped in Thee.

I came across this Psalm in my studies.  I haven’t actually reached day 33 in my 150 days of purposeful meditation yet, but I couldn’t resist.  What or who are you trusting in today?  Victory does not come from men.  Strength does not come from men.  Life does not come from men.  Choose this day who you will serve…choose in whom you will put your confidence.

As for me and my house, we will hope in the LORD!

Psalm 6 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 6)

God is salvation to His godly ones.  To whom do you turn when you are distressed?  To whom do you turn when you are dismayed?  Where do you go for guidance when you lack direction?

Many in the world today seek rest in pleasure.  They drown their sorrows in alcohol, drugs and sex.  They stimulate themselves to death with these things in hopes that their pleasure will, in the end, outweigh their sorrows.  Or that perhaps by enjoying some momentary excitement, their sorrows will disappear.  How incredibly deceitful is their sin.  And it becomes painfully obvious to them, as soon as the moment passes, that their enjoyment is not sustainable.  So it is necessary for them to continue to indulge themselves in it over and over again in order, they feel, to make that temporary excitement last.  Their lives become as futile and profitable as the dog which chases its tail in circles.

To whom do you go for refuge?  Who is your comfort?  What is your hope?  The Psalmist describes his heavily burdened spirit.  You may think that God does not understand your plight.  You may think that God does not understand your pain, your misery, your suffering.  But He does.  It is spoken of right here in His word.  He has not allowed His godly ones to travel through this life without suffering the plight of all who are under the sun.  He describes his pain “I am pining away…my bones are dismayed…I am weary with my sighing, every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears, My eye has wasted away with grief…”  Do you suppose that you are alone in your rejection?  Do you suppose  that no one else has encountered the same grief and feelings of dispair that you have?  Do you suppose that God does not care for you because you have encountered such dejection and depression?

God knows, for He has seen it in His godly ones.  Even His Son was called “a man of sorrows.”  There is no special hedge of protection around those who know God such that they never encounter heartache, sorrow, or grief.  If someone told you that true religion or Christianity was about living a pain-free, trial-free life; then they have lied to you.  It has been said once, something to the effect that “God will not use a man greatly whom He has not greatly humbled with suffering.”  Why?  Why would God allow His godly ones to suffer?  Why would God allow His godly ones to hurt?

Listen to the voice of the Psalmist.  He does not answer why, so neither will I attempt to here.  He responds with what he knows.  God is for His godly ones.  He pleads God’s salvation on the basis of God’s disposition towards His people.  “Return O Lord, rescue my soul, save me because of Your lovingkindness.”  What else is there that we need to know?  God loves His people.

It must be said that there is a clear distinction made in the Psalms between those who are truly His people and those who are not.  It is the difference between those who are referred to as “righteous, godly, His people” as opposed to those who are “enemies, foes, wicked men, unrighteous.”  Those who are His godly ones may always expect His disposition toward them to be love and salvation.  But those who love wickedness and who are against His godly ones may only expect retribution and judgment from God.

Hear again his confidence “depart from me all you who do iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping, the Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord receives my prayer.  All of my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed, they shall turn back and will be suddenly ashamed.”  He knows that God’s disposition towards him is love.  Though he hurts, though he is greatly saddened and dismayed.  Though his tears drench the pillows of his bed by night; he knows and is confident that the Lord is his salvation and does hear his prayer.

What is your confidence?  What is your hope?  To who or what do you turn when you are down hearted?  Hope in the Lord.  Call upon the Lord, He is faithful to His godly ones.  They shall never be ashamed.  He will not abandon His godly ones to death.