Psalm 9 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 9)

God is worthy of all praise!

All of us would heartily agree that God is worthy of all praise.  He is truly praise worthy.  Thinking about the upcoming holiday of Thanksgiving this is especially significant.  And for what do we typically give thanks?  For the meal that He has provided, our family and friends, prosperity, peace.  For what does the Psalmist give thanks and what can we learn about it?

“I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, I wil tell of all your wonders.  I will be glad and exult in You, I will sing praise to your name O most high”

He is a God of wonders.  He is a God whose very name is wonderful.  His works and His name bespeaks His essentially marvelous character and worth.  Only One who is truly marvelous can do marvelous things.  And this is the end of all of God’s works and ways, namely that His name might be magnified.  He is worthy of all praise and therefore His works envoke praise from those who truly know Him.

I think its interesting that the first thing which the Psalmist mentions is His acts of righteousness in judging those who are enemies of his people.  God is a God of vengeance.  And yet His is not so as we are.  We often react to those who wrong us because of the inconvenience, hurt or frustration that it has caused us.  We react, possibly, in order to be seen as more righteous than they are.  God Himself is eternally Righteous.  And therefore it says of Him that He judges righteously.  “But the Lord abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the people with equity.”  He is forever, they are for a moment.  Those who work iniquity shall come to an end.  He will “blot out their name forever and ever.”  They will not stand.

What have we who have trusted in His name to fear?  What have we to worry about, concerning those who work iniquity against us?  Must we seek vengeance?  Can we exact equitable vengeance greater than God?  Can we execute justice more efficiently or decisively than God?  Then why should we concern ourselves with revenge?  Certainly we should be concerned with justice.  Certainly we should look for those who govern us to be just (good luck with that).  But ought we concern ourselves with the development of the most righteous looking (outwardly) society that we can?  Does it say in vain that “the wicked will return to Sheol, even all the nations who forget God.  For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.”

There will come a day in which the Lord will judge the world through righteousness.  He has given the righteous standard of His Son for the nations to behold and to repent.  Yet they have ignored and have scorned His righteous Son.  And so His vengeance will be just and decisive upon all.

Don’t seek for the salvation of this world.  It is wicked and shall perish in its wickedness and by its wickedness, “The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made; in the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught…in the work of His own hands the wicked is snared.”  He who has ears to hear, let him hear and let not the Psalmist say alone, “Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged before you.  Put them in fear, O Lord; Let the nations know that they are but men.”

Beloved, turn your hearts from a love for this world and the things of this world to a love for God and His Righteous Kingdom.  Trust in the God who “abides forever,” who is “a stronghold for the oppressed,” who is a God who will never forsake, and in whom you will never be ashamed.

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!

Election Day

Here is my prediction…God still reigns.  Feel free to stone me if that’s not true.  We will choose many to preside over this nation.  But God presides over all.

Many today are in awe at the prospect of “change” from the hardships that we are facing to a prosperity that we expect to have because we are America.  Prosperity is an illusion.  Peace and security is an illusion.  There will be no prosperity and no peace unless you elect to submit yourself to the true Sovereign of the Universe as Lord over life.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.  This is the most important election of your life.

Psalm 5 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation – (Day 5)

God hates sinners.  That is not a popular nor politically correct thing to say.  In fact, some people will disagree with me and question my interpretation…Its a good thing the word of God is not  up for discussion.  You may hate or disagree with what I say, but scripture is clear.  He says “You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, no evil dwells with you…you hate all who do iniquity…the Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.”

Part of the reason why we react so strongly to the idea that God hates sinners is because of our understanding of what it means to hate and also because of our low view of sin.  We find it necessary to say rather that God hates the “sin” but loves the sinner.  That may be true in some sense…depending on how you view God’s electing purposes.  Not to go too far down that path, though I do believe it is related, but if God has chosen some to save; certainly it can be said that He loves those whom He has chosen.  And that His love is clearly seen in His choice of them and His provision of salvation for them.  However clearly God has not chosen all.  For all are not saved, nor will all be saved.  Furthermore, it would not make sense that God loves those whom He has not chosen…at least not in the same way those whom He has chosen…for why wouldn’t He simply choose them too, so that they would be saved.  Of course I am assuming that those whom God chooses, He also saves (Rom 8).  If that is the case then it would stand to reason that God chooses those whom He loves (or loves those whom He chooses, either way); but hates those who are not chosen (Rom 9).  I will not discuss here whether He chooses them for condemnation or simply does not choose them to be saved.  I think that is an irrelevant point here.  Then we understand God’s hatred of the sinner in terms of His choice not to choose to be gracious towards them.  After all, we are all sinners.  There is nothing to separate us in Gods eyes as more worthy or less worthy of His choosing.  Therefore its simply a matter of His either choosing to be gracious towards us or not.  Those whom He chooses, naturally He loves.  Those whom He chooses not, He hates.

But its more than that.  Our understanding of sin is often quite lower than Gods.  With God, “no evil dwells.”  Evil does not and cannot dwell with Him.  He is Holy, Pure, Righteous and alltogether perfect and without blemish.  We are wrought with weakness and conceived in iniquity.  We are “prone to wander” as the hymn writer said.  Our view of righteousness and holiness is tainted by sin and will be until we are released from our frail and wretched fallen flesh enraptured existence.  When we “hate” it is often for selfish reasons.  We hate and we love based on our emotions, or based on what is done for us or against us.  When God hates, He hates based on an affront made against His perfect, holy character.  All He does is upright.  All He does is perfect.  Therefore, any sin against Him is rightly hated in His sight.  Whereas any sin done against us is done by one who is conceived in iniquity and prone to wander from God’s righteousness just as we are.  He has a perfectly upright and just hatred of sin and the sinner.  Ours is tainted by the same disease that caused them to sin against us.  Therefore when we initially look at the phrase “you hate all who do iniquity,” we think surely it must mean that He merely hates the sin.  But no.  He perfectly and rightly hates all who do iniquity.

God hates sin and sinner alike.  He is perfectly holy and righteous and good.  And He will not abandon the sinner to sin forever.  He will judge the sinner.  I suppose that’s another reason that we understand that God is not merely against “sin.”  If He were merely against the sin; then there would be no good reason for Him to punish sinners.  But He does punish sinners.  He punishes them for an eternity because they have sinned against an eternal God.  And here we are reminded of the nature of sin and consequence.

A wrong done is given a consequence proportional to the honor due the one who is wronged.  For example, a homeless man on the street who is mugged by another in a dark alley in which no one else sees will likely not be met with immediate or dire consequence.  Because there is not much honor given to a homeless man.  There is not much glory due to him and therefore there will not be much consequence to the mugger for sinning against him.  However that same mugger who happens to run into the President of the United States in a dark alley, and attempts to rob him; will likely be met with deadly force, or at least an extended prison sentence.  And that is because the honor due the President of a nation is so much greater than the honor due a homeless man.  And therefore the consequence for offending the President is much greater.  Consider now the wrong done to an all powerful, all knowing, infinitely great being.  One who is perfect and holy and righteous.  One who is infinitely holy and so is offended by even the most “insignificant” offense; one who is infinitely wise and so is able to conceive of the best possible way to judge an offense; and also one who is infinitely powerful so as to measure out the best possible judgment for any offense.  If the consequence is dire for a wrong done to someone who is like us in our essential nature; what manner of consequence is due for offending such a one who is infinitely greater than us?

Have you offended a Holy God?  Any sin committed is ultimately a sin against Him.  Perhaps you have not done a “great” sin, but even our thoughts and words are subject to sin and corruption.  The Psalmist describes the sinner who has offended God as one whose sin from within is shown in his words “There is nothing reliable in what they say, their inward part is destruction itself, their throat is an open grave, they flatter with their tongue.”  Have you sinned against Him?  If so, tremble.  Fear.  Bemoan your current state, turn from your wickedness and turn to the Lord.  He is able to cleanse you from within with His righteousness.  He is able to give you a new heart and a new mind, even a new tongue.

You who trust in the Lord, “be glad!”  This Psalm is really about you.  You always have reason to rejoice.  The Psalmist says “let them ever sing for joy…for [He] blesses the righteous man…[He] surrounds them with favor as with a shield.”  The favor of God us upon us.  First in teaching us of our sinfulness and our impending judgment.  Then in being gracious to us and giving us His righteousness.  Rejoice!  Sing for joy and shout for all to hear!  The Lord is your righteousness.  He has granted you favor which surrounds you, even as a shield.  Take refuge in Him, man of God.  Continually put your confidence in God, who is our King, our Rock; the one who hears and answers our prayers.  Again, I say, rejoice!

Psalm 2 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 2)

God is laughing hysterically about the state of our election process.  Why?  Our election process is for the purpose of electing someone to govern us.  We assume that this person will be able to govern us well and even that he (or she) will be capable of leading us (back) to a position of prosperity and prominence in the world.  We want him to lead us, to guide us in this life.  We want him to tell us how we ought to live…the very implication of governance.  However; this notion is foolish and laughable to God.  The Psalmist says it is a “vain thing.”

The Kings of Psa 2 “take their stand together against the Lord and His anointed…[so that they may] tear [the Lord's] fetters…and cast away [His] chords from them.”  Really what they are saying is that they want the rights to rule and govern themselves apart from God, their creator.  They want to make their own decisions about right and wrong.  They want to make their own standards of law and morality.  They want to write their own commandments to live by.  They do not want the Lord or His anointed sticking their noses into their business.

Regardless of how you slice it, or what spin you put on the political process; we are looking to elect a leader.  We (the collective that is the United States of America…and humanity for that matter) as a whole, do not want God’s governance over us.  We do not want His “chords” to entangle us.  We do not want His rules, His ways, His commands, slowing us down.  So we elect officials from our own ranks in hopes that this one will lead us in the right way.  What is the right way?  Our own prosperity and power.  Our national pride.  Our national identity.  Our way is the way of tolerance.  It is the way of sycretism.  Our way is the way of man’s right to choose and to determine his own destiny.  Our way is the right to free speech, even if that means slandering the very God who made us.  Our way is the disregard for God’s life for our choice.  Our way is the disregard of God’s design for our preference.  Our way is the disregard God’s boundaries for our pleasure.

But God has determined His ruler.  God has determined His Lord.  He has determined the One that He desires to rule over the nations.  And His decision is final.  After all, He is the One who “sits (enthroned) in the Heavens.”  His word shall endure.  And that One whom to whom He has given authority shall “break [the nations] with a rod of iron…and shatter them like earthenware.”  He will rule over them with a rod of iron until they are broken in subjection to His Lordship.  God will not allow us to rebel against Him forever.

Hear the warning “O kings.”  Take heed “O judges of the earth.”  Listen, o man, woman, child.  Do not put your trust in man. “Kiss the Son.”  Bow before the Son.  Worship the Son.  Obey and submit to the Son…”that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled.”

But you, who do obey the Son, you who submit to the Son and who await His return.  Rejoice!  Be of good cheer.  Rest in knowing Him, who holds all authority both in Heaven and on Earth; who Himself is returning soon to claim His rightful throne as Lord over all.  For “blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

The irony (and folly) of the democratic process…

Millions of people who 1) have a difficult, yeah even impossible, time making wise decisions for their own life and for those of their families and who 2) have a difficult enough time agreeing with those who they know personally and love; trying to come together to agree on who should govern them.  And they pick someone from their own midst, one who also has the same issues mentioned above.  They put their confidence in him and their faith that he will lead them collectively into prosperity and blessing, while all along he is wrought in the same iniquity, stricken by the same disease of selfishness and blindness to that which does not ultimately suit his own purposes.  They praise him, they put their confidence in him, they love him and finally they hate him.  They hate him for possessing the same characteristics that drove them to pick him to govern them to begin with.  They hate him and they reject him, casting him aside in the 4th or 8th year for another one from among their ranks who they believe will do better.

This is what we seek to promote in the world.  A philosophy that makes much of man’s wisdom.

Hear the cry of democracy: Psalm 2:3

Hear the warning: Psa 2:10-12

Maranatha!