Psalm 17 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 17) Part 3

God is generous.  David’s prayer here is against the ungodly.  It is against the “wicked who despoil” him.  It is against his “deadly enemies who surround” him.  They have “cold unfeeling hearts, their mouths speak proudly, they surround him in his steps, they set their eyes to look down upon him.“  Have you ever known people that way?  They set traps for you.  They speak proudly over you, as if they are better.  They seek your position, your job, your possessions, your life to destroy it.  They speak harmfully against you and look at you with condescending and proud eyes.  They seek you as a lion lurking about in the fields waiting for its prey.

How do you respond to such?  Those who seek to defame your name, though it may be righteous.  Perhaps they don’t seek to defame you directly, but they seek to harm your family, your kin, your close friends and loved ones.  How would you respond then?  What if you had unlimited power, unlimited resources and infinite wisdom in order to dispose of such people?  How would your respond then?

David speaks of God in this passage, seeking justice from Him, knowing that He is just, that He is righteous, that He is all powerful, that He has all of His infinite resources available and all wisdom in order to use those resources to the best of His ability in bringing justice upon those who would strike out against the “apple of His eye.”  And yet this all powerful, fully sufficient, all wise God does not strike back first.  Certainly there are many cases in which judgment comes swiftly to those who seek to defame the good name of the Lord or His people.  But for others the mercy of God is seen in His long suffering.  Even in His generosity by which He grants good to all of mankind.

And what greater good can God grant than the precious gift of children.  Children to love, children to nurture, children to inspire, children to revitalize, children to carry on their name.  And God in His general mercy to all, provides children to those who are His enemies.  This is what David speaks of when he speaks of the “men of this world, whose portion is in this life, and whose belly You fill with Your treasure, they are satisfied with children, and leave their abundance to their babes…”  For the ungodly and profane, this is their portion.  And it is a great portion in deed.  Children are a blessing from the Lord.  The fruit of the womb is a reward to men under the Sun.  And yet for those who seek to harm the righteous, those who are called by the name of the LORD, it is their only portion.  They may enjoy the satisfaction of the womb while they continue under the Sun.  But once they breathe their last, their enjoyment will be complete.

For in the afterlife, there is no more mercy available to those who scorn the name of the LORD.  There is no more grace.  There will be no chance nor opportunity for penance.  There will only be judgment.  And in this the righteous, even as David does here, may find comfort.  That God is not unjust so as to forget the hardships that His people endure at the hands of sinners.  Even in seeing the prosperity that they seem to enjoy in this life.  Even the prosperity of having their wombs filled with His treasure, little children.  Even when there are many who do believe and who are faithful, who may go a lifetime without such treasure.  It is the goodness and generosity of our God, the LORD that allows for this.  He grants them treasure on this side of eternity, He suffers long their arrogance, their self seeking and sinful indulgences.  He allows for them to persist in their constant belligerence towards His people until the day that He choose to “arise, to confront them [and] to bring them low.”  On that day, they will sleep and awake to His judgment.  In His generosity towards those who love Him, His promise to them is not necessarily that they will visibly see His judgment of the ungodly on this side of eternity.  But that there will come a day when we “shall behold His face in righteousness, [when] we shall be satisfied with His likeness when we awake.”

While it is still today, let us walk as children of our gracious and merciful heavenly Father.  Let us seek to do good to those who seem to desire harm for us.  Let us seek to show love to them, generous and abundant; though in their sin they may seem to escape the judgment of God here and now, though in their sin they may seem to enjoy much of what our hearts may desire, let us seek to be generous in our love now.  If perhaps God might grant them repentance.  Because we know their end.  We know that in the end the judgment of God will come swiftly and without mercy.  And let us persist in our love, however it may be rejected, entrusting ourselves to the God who has promised to refresh us in the end with His abiding righteousness, with the satisfaction of His likeness when we awake.

Make that your ambition this new year.  Not to harbor feelings of resentment or anger towards those who have wronged you, and who seem to prosper in what they do.  But to rejoice in a generous God who is leaving room and time for their repentance.  Entrust yourself and your generosity towards them to Him who judges rightly and who will ultimately reward you with His good grace.

Maranatha!

Think long, drink deeply, rejoice!

Paul prays “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.  He demonstrated this power in raising Christ from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens far above every ruler and authority and power and dominion, and every title given not only in this age but also in the one to come.  And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church which is His body the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.” (HCSB)

Paul here unlocks the key to one of the greatest needs in the Church of our day…and really of any age.  We need to know the grace of God better.  He just finished exhorting the believers to praise the God of our Lord Jesus Christ because of all of the spiritual blessings that He has bestowed on those whom He chose from before the foundations of the world.  Praise Him!  Rejoice in Him!  Praise the glory of His grace!

Often our praise is dull and lifeless.  It is ordinary, feigned, lip-service to our God and benefactor.   Why?  How does our praise become dull and lifeless?  How is it possible that a Christian could engage in empty praise, vain worship? Paul answers in the prayer that he offers up on our behalf.  “That God would grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him so that our hearts may be enlightened to know the hope of His calling, the glorious riches of His inheritance…and the surpassing greatness of His power toward us”…which is the same power that He used in raising Christ to His exalted position above all created things.

My exhortation is very simple.  Pray that God would grant that the eyes of your heart be enlightened to know the glories of His grace and power within you.  If you are a Christian, this is true of you.  God has given you immeasurable grace, has and continues to work His immeasurable power in your life to conform you to the image of His Son and to bring you to glory.

May He fill our hearts with joy in reflecting upon His grace.  May He fill our hearts with wonder at the vast chasm that once separated us from Him and the bridge of His love and grace that now exists because of Christ.   May He fill our hearts with peace and rest as we ponder how He is continually working His great power in us, how great that power truly is – that He also working in raising Christ from the dead and exalting Him.  Think long, drink deeply, rejoice!

May He be glorified as we are not only satisfied but overflowing with joy in rejoicing over His abundant grace to us!  Happy rejoicing today dear brothers and sisters

Coram Deo – Reckon the Reward

Sin is a lack of faith.  It is short sightedness.  It is an affront against the goodness of God.  It is the choice to partake in the passing pleasures associated with this world above that which is eternal and infinitely more enjoyable in God.  Consider what is said of Moses in Hebrews as he is praised for his faith in the God who is a rewarder of those who seek Him, “Moses when he became of age refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter, choosing rather o suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”

In this description we notice 4 things, not in any particular order:

1)  Sin is pleasurable.  The alternative for Moses were the “treasures of Egypt.”  What pleasures would have been available for the son of Pharoah’s daughter?  It was not a small thing for Moses to simply choose not to partake in these things.  They were treasures.  They were glorious.  He probably would have had any number of pleasurable things at his disposal.  And so for us, in our “Egypt.”  Though we are not sons of Pharoah’s daughter, we have so many “treasures” and “pleasures” available at our very finger tips.  It does the believer no good to attempt to deny the desirability of sin.  James says that temptation is temptation precisely because it caters to a desire within the person who is tempted. Sin is desirable, just as the fruit was desirable to the eyes of our first father and mother in the garden, such that they sinned against their God.

2)  Sin must be deal with. Sin cannot be ignored.  Temptation cannot be ignored.  And it cannot be fought.  A person cannot man-up and struggle their way through a temptation as to overcome it.  We are told, in Timothy to “flee” from immorality.  Peter told us to “abstain” from fleshly lusts because they wage war against our souls.  Abstain – hold back from, keep away from anything that pertains to the lusts of the flesh.  We must flee from it, we cannot simply ignore it.  The problem is that most of the time, that which tempts us is not the wife of Potipher.  In those situations, many of us who have the spirit of God would turn in run.  But it is often not those situations in which we find ourselves.  We find ourselves in situations where we have to make a thousand little choices every single day in order to flee.  And every one of those thousand little choices can either bring us closer to sin or closer to the Lord.  Perhaps you’ll never have to decide whether to stay in Egypt or not.  But each day you must sit in front of your desk at work and decide to waste time or be productive.  Each day you must sit at your computer and decide to spend time looking at worthless things or to spend you time wisely in the Lord.  Each moment you must decide to complain and gripe about a situation that is difficult for you or to accept it as the Lord’s will for this season.  Each moment you decide how to respond to an arrogant, ignorant, hostile or demanding person in your life, whether you will continue to pursue righteousness or respond to them in the flesh. The point is that fleeing is not often a one time event, but rather a conscious decision that must be made daily, yea even each moment of your day.

3)  Often association with God brings affliction. This is clear and obvious from the text in Hebrews as well as it says plainly that Moses’ choice was to suffer affliction with the people of God.  Paul said to Timothy that “all who desire to live godly will face persecution.”   And that in the greater context of 2 Timothy where affliction and hardship is a major theme that Paul sought to convey to Timothy.  The man of God will face persecution from those who are crooked and perverse in his generation.  It must happen.  This world is anti-God and anti-Christ.  Those who are called by His name will receive just what He received.  Turning from sin to serve God is not an easy thing.  It is not a turning to “your best life now.”  It is a turning from the pleasures of this world to the cross of Christ, and it is taking up our own cross and making that same journey of death with Him…though it is a death to eternal life. If it were not for the cross, the world would be flocking in droves to the call of Christ.  But that is not the case because the call of Christ, a crucified and slain Christ, is foolishness to them.

4)  That brings us to our last point.  Pursuing holiness leads to the reward. Holiness is the opposite of sin.  Sin seeks its own apart from God.  Holiness seeks the pleasure of God in doing what is pleasing to Him.  While sin’s reward of pleasure is indeed enjoyable for a moment it is in reality only an illusion.  The one who is deluded may find great pleasure in his psychotic episode.  He may run free with reckless abandon in a secluded wood.  He may spend endless hours feasting upon his favorite meal.  But when he awakens from his slumber his belly will still be empty.  And if he were in his  delusion for long, the hunger pains may well lead him to starve himself to death.  There is no true reward with sin.  Only the image of a reward and an empty belly.  The reward of God is a reward indeed.  It is the reward of a better country.  Though a spiritual reality, a reality indeed.  Though unseen, its substance is what yields eternal pleasure and everlasting joy.  The reward of God is as real and eternal as God Himself, for He is the reward.  And the Christ of God is the reward giver who gives to all who both believe God and believe that He does reward those who diligently seek Him.

Reckon the reward.  Know that no matter how scintillating or how pleasurable the sin may be, beneath its surface lies a whirlpool which drags its captive down to the abyss of death.  But beyond the treacherous roads of Holiness mountain lies greater reward.  “In His face is the fullness of joy and in His right hand are pleasures forevermore!”

Psalm 17 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 17) Part 2

God is just. How can the righteous cry out to God for justice?  Hear the words of David “give hear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips…you have tested my heart, you have visited me in the night, you have tried me and have found nothing.  I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress…” How can the righteous cry out for justice?

God is a just God and His eyes behold good and evil.  His eyes are on the righteous and the unrighteous and it i s this that the righteous have as their confidence, that He beholds their righteous deeds.  The righteous would have no confidence whatsoever before a just God to cry to Him for help on the basis of nothing.  Certainly God is merciful to sinners.  Those who are contrite in heart and who humble themselves before Him, He accepts.  However the confidence that the righteous have is that they are in pursuit of His righteous standard.  Our hearts may condemn us in many things.  Even our works may condemn us when we make wrong choices and allow the desire of the flesh  to rule over us.  However our confidence stands, even if it be within our own hearts, before a life of purity and holiness to the Lord.  The Lord is greater than our hearts and knows all things.

However we cannot expect to have that confidence to approach the Lord of glory, the righteous Judge if our lives are also not righteous.  God has sounded forth His call from Zion, “be holy for I am holy.” The call to holiness is not in vain.  The integrity of God and His name are at stake.  Not that He needs us to uphold His holiness, but certainly our example before an unholy and perverse generation is a glory to Him and a shame to them.

What confidence would we have to approach God without holiness?  What confidence would we have to accuse the wicked or to cry out for justice if we ourselves are not maintaining His standard of righteousness?  We must pursue the righteousness of God if ever we are to stand before God, with confidence in our hearts and to cry out for His justice.  But even in our weakness, even when we fail, we know that we have an advocate.  We know and are confident ultimately that it is not our own power or might but God’s grace which is at work within us to conform us to the image of His Son’s righteousness.  And we may say with David “uphold my steps in your paths, that my footsteps may not slip,” not only in defense against the ungodly but in confidence that He who has begun His good work in us will complete it.

Psalm 17 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 17) Part 1

God is Just. Why should we cry out to the Lord in our distress?  Because God is a God of justice.  His eyes are upon the righteous and righteousness.  And His ears attend to their cry.  God desires justice from His creation because He is just.  Justness is a  part of His essential character.  There is no falsehood with God.  There is no partiality.  There is no turning of the eye to oppression.  God is just.  And because He is essentially just in His character the righteous have great reason to come to Him for justice.  This is in fact the great confidence that the righteous have, that their righteousness has not fallen on deaf ears and blind eyes.  That in the end they will be repaid for their righteousness even as the wicked are repaid for their wickedness.  Of course the righteousness of the righteous is not their own for they would have no reason to cry out to God for vindication.  But it is His righteous standard that they uphold.  It cannot be their own righteousness for why would God then fight on their behalf?  Where then would be His glory?  What then would be His praise?  He would be nothing more than a body guard.  One whose job is to protect the glory of another.  Neigh but the righteousness by which the righteous is called is God’s righteousness.  It is His name, it is His glory.  And that is also their confidence and their hope.  that His righteousness shall be in the end vindicated.  That He will pursue the vindication of His own righteous standard.

God’s justness shall prevail and His righteousness shall be vindicated.  This He has made clear in many other ways.  The glory of His name and His holiness is His great passion.  Thus to pursue His glory in our own lives is the wisest course of action.  And it is an action which again will yield great reward.  The righteous may unashamedly pursue God’s righteous standard because He will vindicate it Himself.  And in vindicating His righteous standard, they will be vindicated.

The folly of the wicked is in assuming that their own glory is necessary.  It is assuming that their own standard of righteousness is enough.  However their own standard of righteousness is as transient as their own lives.  It will in the end be cast aside.  God will bring it to nothing.  It cannot stand in comparison to His own holy and righteous Word.  They may have their “portion in this life” but in the next their portion will be to drink the cup of God’s wrath and indignation against those who have scorned His righteousness and His righteous ones.  Thus the wicked are short sighted.  They fail to see past the reality of the moment to the reality of the next.  Consequence has become an illusion to the wicked.  It has dropped out of their vocabulary along with absolute and even God.  For them there is only the moment of pleasure without the thought of consequence.  If there were no consequence, the righteous might fail in heart however the righteousness of God reminds us that it is only His great mercy which has thus with held the flood of His wrath upon this earth.  It is His mercy which has stayed His hand this long in the condemnation of the wicked.  It is not for their glory.  It is not for their cunning or wisdom which has wrought them success.  It is the merciful hand of their creator which ought to lead them to repentance, but which because of their hard hearts has led many to both mock His very existence – by whose mercy they stand – and to mock His holy and righteous ones.

What then is the final hope of the righteous?  The punishment of evildoers?  No.  It is our expectation but it is not our hope that they should meet what demise they are sure to who mock the Almighty.  Do we seek the vindication of our own name or righteousness?  No.  Before God, there are none who have reason to boast in any righteousness of their own doing because before His standard we are all guilty.  What then is our final hope?  Our final hope is that the pursuit of God’s righteousness in this life will not be for naught.  Our final hope is that because of His righteousness, “we shall see His face…[and] we shall be satisfied when we awake in His likeness.”

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).

“The duty of delight…”

So we just moved and I am going through some of my old papers in order to shed some extra weight so to speak and clear up my shelves.  I write a lot.  I didn’t realize how much I’ve written…scratched notes and thoughts down on random scraps of paper and/or half used journals that I am uncovering.  Strange.  I think sometimes I loose them or put them down and move on to the next one.  Anyway, here is an excerpt from one of my “journal” entries from December 21, 2002:

“In reading Piper’s ‘Gods Passion for His Glory,’ Edwards’ life is told and his book is included…on page 74 it talks about the difference between believing that God is holy and merciful and ‘sensing’ God’s holiness and mercy.  He says that we must have a ‘true taste’ and delight in God’s mercy and holiness.  I think that is what is lacking in my life…a true passion for God.  What does it mean to truly hunger for and delight in God’s Glory?  To sense God’s grace, mercy and holiness.  I think to sense God’s holiness means to abstain from sin.  Much more of it to abhor sin.  [The one who] utterly despises sin is the one who truly senses God’s holiness.  To sense God’s holiness I imagine is to feel the suns warm rays on a clear sunny day at the beach.  To [taste the sweetness of] and feel the liquid of your favorite drink going down your esophagus.  I think to sense God’s holiness is to have the hairs on the back of your neck stand on edge at the thought that though you are lone, someone is very much there with you.  But not just anyone.  This someone is the one whom the prophet of old spoke of as lofty and exalted.  This one is the one who’s train utterly fills the temple.  The one whom both the heavens and earth flee before.  This one is encircled by burning lights who cry out day and night that He is holy, holy, holy.  That someone who resides inside of those called by His name.  To sense God’s holiness is not only to abstain from but to shudder at the thought of sin.  To sense God’s holiness is to wish oneself accursed, yea even utterly destroyed due to one’s complete destitution before Him.  To sense God’s holiness in totality would be to cease to exist.  To be done away with.  Yet to sense God’s holiness is to be flooded with more than abundant grace and mercy at the recognition of a life saved.  Herein is our delight.  That a holy God would be entertained by wretched, worthless sinners such as we.  That a holy God would extend Himself to those wretched, worthless creatures to give them access to Himself.  That a holy God would give the best that could ever be given, Himself, to worthless wretched creatures in spite of themselves.  Oh the depths of the riches of the glorious grace and mercy of God in His unfathomable lovingkindness toward men!!!”

Oh for that sort of delight.  For that sort of passion.  I think that this is a life long pursuit.  Many would probably give up in pursuing a delight in God for the difficulty of it.  It is climbing the highest mountain.  It is walking the longest road.  And yet it holds the satisfaction of reaching its peak, or of finding your destination.  It is the refreshment of a cool breeze on a hot and humid day.  More than that, it is a warm blanket and a cup of cocoa (coffee for me) on a cold winters evening.  More than that…it is your last – first kiss…it is the groom seeing his bride for the first time at the altar…it is the enjoyment of seeing your child for the very first time, when they take their first breath in this world…it is a good nights rest.  And it is greater than that still.  What is your greatest, longest lasting pleasure and delight?  It is that, except infinitely more enjoyable, infinitely more holy, infinitely more glorious.  To delight in God, who is the greatest good…it is unspeakable.

I long for that delight.  I desire that sort of delight.  The journey toward such a delight is long, and it is difficult.  But it is good.  It is good because that which is its aim is infinitely delightful.  The pursuit of worldly gain and other such possessions is empty and shallow.  It is temporary.  It is flawed and soiled by sin’s stain.  But God is Holy and Righteous and Good, Perfect, Glorious, Gracious, Loving, Merciful…to write the love of God is a futile endeavor.  But to pursue the love of God, will never leave one ashamed.

I titled this the duty of delight, because it is a task.  It is a difficult, labor some task.  I could have just as well titled it the “pursuit of delight in God” or something like that.  As much as I would pursue prayer for the sake of communion with God, I would more pursue delight in God.  Delight in God would make all of my pursuits in God infinitely more enjoyable.

You are Gracious and Compassionate…slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.  I pray for each of my dear friends who would read this…I pray for us all, that you would create in us a heart that finds its highest joy, its greatest good in You and You alone.  May our hearts be sick, as David wrote, may our hearts pant after You as a deer for water.  May our souls thirst for You, the Living God, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in an unapproachable light and yet who has made Yourself known to us through Your Son, the Man Jesus Christ.  May we not grow tired, may we not grow weary in seeking this.   Burn His light into our hearts….burn it so that we can desire no one or no thing besides You.  Let us fall in love with the thought of His appearing.  Even so, Come Lord Jesus! Amen.

“O taste and see that the LORD is good, how blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”  Psalm 34:8

“You will make known to me the path of life, in your presence is the fullness of joy, in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11

Blessed be the Name of the LORD!

Why do we always ask “why” when difficulty strikes?  I’m not talking about after we’ve had time to think about it, pray about it, and have others comfort and encourage us through it.  I’m talking about the initial gut response.  When something difficult happens our first thought, more often than not is “why?”  Why me, why now, why this?  Strange it seems, particularly once you’ve gone through the trial that you even asked why to begin with.  Then again, I guess sometimes all you’re left with is why with no further response from the Lord.  Some things, we’ll never know and were never meant to know.  Somethings He makes clear to us knowing that we are flesh, weaklings.

But where does that gut response of “why” come from?  Most likely it comes from the expectation that we deserve only good in life.  Certainly for the unbeliever there is often that expectation.  That they are inherently good and that they deserve only good to come.  Even that god, their god, is a god of only good things and that disaster and calamity should never befall them.  But that is not the God of the Bible.  That is certainly not the Father of Jesus Christ nor the Father of His Church.

So what about believers?  When disaster and calamity strikes and we respond with “why” what are we saying?  I think that we too are saying “why me, why this, why now?”  And I think that we are often responding with that thinking that we too deserve only good things.  Is that wrong of us to assume?  We are children of the King.  Children in the Beloved.  We are the Lord’s and we expect that He will work out everything for our good and His glory in the end…right?  And what about those who are more charismatic among us who assert that there aren’t really any difficulties that should befall us and that we shouldn’t even be physically sick (I recently had someone who was of the charismatic persuasion say to me – with reference to Isaiah 53 – that Jesus’ bore our sicknesses and that through His death we are healed and so my wife’s physical distress would be healed if we believed that and claimed it).  What about that?  There is certainly much to be said for their faith, though their interpretation of scripture is somewhat lacking.  And there is much to be said about their fervency for prayer and trusting that God would move because they pray in faith.

But what else are they saying?  In a sense, and I don’t believe that everyone of them is saying this nor do I believe that every other believer thinks this way but for the most part it is probably true, in a sense they are saying that God should give us what we ask for no matter what it is and that we shouldn’t ever experience physical or any other distress because God never meant it to be that way for us.  That is so close to the truth its almost difficult to combat.  Certainly God created us “good” and for “good.”  However things did not remain that way.  And there is really no promise in scripture that now things ought to be completely good and at ease for us as believers.  Quite the opposite.  I’ve been reading through I Peter and he assumes that difficulty will arise and that this difficulty is a part of what it means to walk in Christ’s footsteps.  Certainly Paul’s life – who was a man of faith and a man of prayer – was full of difficulty.  Are we to assume that he was in some sort of sin or that he didn’t have enough faith or that he didn’t pray earnestly enough and that this is why his life was marked with difficulty both physical and otherwise?  Certainly not.  And ultimately we have Jesus who said “in this life you will have tribulation but to be of good cheer because I have overcome the world.”  And His life, what was it if not marked by “grief and sorrow.”  Are we, His disciples, to live a life greater than He, our Master?

I guess in the final analysis we have to conclude that what is “our good” that God is working all things toward, is ultimately not up to us.  In other words we can’t and won’t know what the “good” is that God is working all things toward.  We don’t really know what good thing we need and we don’t really know how best to work out situations and circumstances in our lives in order to reach that good.  But we can rest in knowing that God knows.  And we can rest in knowing that God is the One who is and always will be in control and that He is at work to work all things together for our good, whether they are “good” or “bad” according to our perspective.

In the end, we must assert with Job that it would be foolish to only be willing to accept good from God and not adversity.  Accepting the good and adversity in this respect is more of an attitude adjustment.  There is not really anything that we can do to accept or reject adversity from God.  But the acceptance, as we saw – at least from the first and last couple of chapters of  Job – has more to do with an attitude that doesn’t question God’s motives but which accepts that He is in control, that His plans and purposes are higher than we can conceive and that whether He gives or takes, He is and always shall be blessed.

God has something better…

Have you ever said that before? When something doesn’t turn out exactly as you planned, when something that you anticipated fell through, have you ever said “I guess God has something better for me.” Has someone ever said that to you in response to a disappointment? What if He doesn’t? What if the next thing that He has for you is equally as disappointing and frustrating to you? What if the next thing that God has for you will be even more disastrous?

Does that make God unjust? Does that mean that God doesn’t love you? Does that mean that He is not interested in your good? Certainly not. May God be found true though every man is a liar! The wisdom of God is unfathomable. His grace and love toward His beloved saints is supreme, even as His love for His Son is supreme. God is for us!

So what then are we to assume? I’ve been thinking about this over the past few days because of a disappointing turn of events in my own life. And of course, I have an example from my children. My daughter has been running in the house. I recently told her to stop running, since she has gotten older and we realized that it is not really in her best interest to run inside, nor that of her little sisters, and that it is not something that we’ll want her to do in other situations. One of those parenting issues where you realize that you’ve allowed something that you probably shouldn’t have. Anyway, the point at which I have told her to stop running, the issue in correction ceases to be if she is running or not and becomes her obedience to my command. And therefore when I correct her for it – which I have had to – I must be gracious (since I allowed it for some time) and I must correct her on the level of her obedience to my command and her desire to depart from my command to do what she wants (her rebellious nature). I must correct and instruct to the issue and not the symptom. The symptom is running. The issue is rebellion in the heart and the departure from my word. If I merely correct to the running, she will still have rebellion in her heart and will have no idea that it is there. If, however, I correct to the issue of rebellion, then she will be one step closer to understanding the key issue in the gospel.

God is a greater parent that any of us. He knows that there are issues and symptoms. He knows that in our heart of hearts, we are more concerned with our comfort than trust in Him. And so, when we are challenged with an issue and He removes something from our lives or else He redirects in such a way that is different than we expected, instead of saying “God has something better for me” we should understand that what is happening is the better. What He is doing, in ridding us of our self interest is the better thing. He is addressing the issue and not merely the symptom. The issue is not the thing which you have lost or the situation that has not turned out the way that you wanted. The issue is that you are seeking, most likely, what you think is better and not what God thinks is better for you. The issue is that we must learn to trust His way and His word and we won’t unless He challenges our faith so that we must trust Him alone.

May this thought be a blessing for you as it has been for me and my family.

In pursuit of prayer

I am pursuing prayer.  That may sound strange, but I feel that my prayer life is of a very shabby sort.  I have been reading E. M. Bounds on Prayer.  That fella knew how to talk about prayer if anyone did.  Much of what I have been reading lately is from the standpoint that preachers, above all others, must be passionate and purposeful about prayer.  Preaching is a spiritual matter.  Prayer is a spiritual matter.  And thus for preaching to have any lasting spiritual benefit, it must be bathed in and fueled by prayer.  As I read the words of his book, understanding that they are not scripture, I am convicted and know without a doubt that it does not currently describe me.  And that ought not be so.

I am a preacher.  I preach and teach the Word of God.  That is how the Lord has thus gifted me and I am in the process of doing that and learning how to be more given to the Lord for that service to His body.  But I also know that “preaching” is not just for the preacher.  For we should all be involved in the preaching of the gospel. And so we should all be passionate about prayer that it might fuel all of our preaching.

I believe that prayer changes things.  I believe that prayer is a necessity.  And I would bet that many of us who know the Lord believe – at least consent to it cognitively and practically (and by practical I mean that we engage in it at least as a ritual).  But I don’t know how many of us could honestly say that we pursue prayer as a necessity of the heart.

David prayed in Psa 16 “I have no other good besides thee” to the LORD.  Prayer is more than just an exercise.  It is more than just a thing to be done and checked off.  It is communion with the Lord.  After I prayed this morning, I walked away feeling refreshed and encouraged.  But as I continued my day, I realized that I felt refreshed and encouraged (at least in my mind) because I had prayed, and not for the benefit of prayer.  The benefit of prayer is that it draws us nearer to God.  And that is what I needed.  I need that ever satisfying sweet fellowship with the One besides whom there is “no other good” in heaven or on earth.  That fellowship of prayer moves us closer in thought, closer in heart, closer in purpose and closer in love with the One who is alone worthy of our full attention and adoration.  There are not many other things, save communion with the Lord through His Word and fellowship with His people, that should satisfy as much as prayer.  And yet for all of its blessing and grandeur, how much do we actually pursue prayer as the greatest need of our thirsty souls?

In his writings, E. M. Bounds mentioned the example of our Lord who often went off to a secluded place to pray.   Why?  Why should He, the God-Man, need to go off into a secluded place to pray?  Why should He, but for communion, alone with His Father in heaven.  If our perfect, sinless Great God and Savior should need constant, fervent and passionate communion with His Father in heave – who is now our Father thorugh Him – how much more should we?