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.

Suffering and difficulty

I won’t claim to have experienced the greatest suffering and difficulty that life may bring.  I know that I am far from it.  Sure I have had difficulty and frustration in life but I know that there are many others who experience daily physical, emotional and spiritual pain and even persecution for the cause of Christ.

But the more I think about it, I am becoming convinced that God intends for pain to act as a cleansing agent for those who are His.  We are not of this world.  We are aliens and sojourners.  But sometimes we forget this.  Sometimes we are persuaded to think of this life as our sole reason for existence.  We think of this world as our home and its joys as the greatest or best that there is…

But, beloved, God has promised us so much more than that.  He has promised us an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, unfading and which is reserved for us in Heaven, an inheritance which He has promised to keep us safe in order to receive, according to 1 Peter.  That is what we have to look forward to.   That is our hope.  We do not hope like the rest of the world that things will “just turn out okay.”  We do not hope against hope or hope in hope…whatever that means.  We hope in the eternal rest and blessing that is promised to those of us who are in the Son whom the Father has given all things.  We hope in Christ and His return.  We hope in the day that He ushers in Peace, Justice, Righteousness, Prosperity; the time where there will be no more wars, no more turmoil, no more uncertainty, no more tears, no more sorrow, no more sickness and no more death.  That time will not happen until after our Lord returns for us.  Therefore that is what we hope for.  We hope for His return and we look forward to it.  We have no other hope.   We have no greater thing to look forward to.

When suffering and difficulty come…do not fret…be not anxious, nor be afraid.  Think of it as the Lord’s way of continuing to prepare you for His rest.  If you are sick or dying, do not fear.  Think of it as the Lord’s way of shedding you of your earthly tent so that you may finally put on your heavenly one.  If you are without…fill in the blank…in this life; think of it as the Lord preparing your heart to desire more the riches that are imperishable, not defiled by sin and everlasting.

Maranatha!

Psalm 10 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 10)

God is a God of Justice.  He is infinitely Holy and therefore must judge sin and the wicked.  He is infinitely mighty and therefore can judge sin and the wicked.  He is infinitely faithful to Himself and to those who maintain their faithfulness to Him and therefore shall judge sin and the wicked.

The folly of the wicked is their shortsightedness.  They say to themselves “there is no God…God has forgotten, He has hidden His face; He will never see it.” There are those who completely reject the notion of God and there are those who reject the notion of the God who has revealed Himself in Scripture.

The former say that He does not exist.  They reject the very notion of His being.  This is of itself an abomination for how can anything come into being without an initial cause.  His pride becomes his downfall, supposing that he knows enough about the best of man’s “theories” to adequately explain away God.  And to what end?  To what end does the atheist or agnostic explain away the existence of God?  To claim some false sense of pride in not being able to know? The agnostic claims that you can’t really know for sure that God exists.  Furthermore, some would say that you can’t really know anything.  Well, how do you know that?  The agnostic, of all people, should know that you cannot claim absolutely that you can’t know the truth of God’s existence.  And if it follows that you can’t know the truth of God’s existence, then you can’t not know the truth of God’s existence.  The very premise of their claim refutes itself.  And of course they claim this so that they don’t have to believe in anything that they do not want to.  Certainly they believe in some things.  (Bear with me as I speak to their folly).  If you can’t really know anything then how can they know for example, that the feelings which they have are hunger, thirst, or exhaustion?  And if they can’t really know these things, then why would you follow through to eat, drink or rest?  It would make no sense.  Surely then they must admit that there are things that we can know.  But what they will not admit is that the things which they instinctively choose to act upon (such as eating – which is an admission that they are hungry – a fact that can be known) are those things which only suit them.  In other words, the agnostic only seeks to acknowledge the things that do not lead to him being accountable to anyone but his own desires.  And his own desires will be his downfall.

What would be the end in claiming that God does not exist?  Perhaps some false sense of pride in being the end of one’s own existence?  The atheist claims that there is no God and therefore that he is the ruler of his own life, the captain of his own ship.  No one can direct him, no one can lay claim over him.  No one can thwart him.  He is his own god.  So says the wicked fool in the Psalm, “I will not be moved, throughout all generations, I will not be in adversity.”  Pridefully he goes about his life, laying claim to the lives of others, living in accord with his own wishes and desires, without the fear or threat of reprisal.  But God is not unjust that He would allow the atheist or the agnostic to continue for long.  He will not allow them to continue to “boast in [their] hearts desire” nor to make a mockery of His name and justice, for He “has seen it, for [He has] beheld mischief and vexation to take it into [His] hands”

The latter say that He does not exist as He has said that He is.  He is something else altogether.  He is not just nor is He capable subduing injustice.  The wicked assume that they are able to continue in their reign of terror without end and that the afflicted/oppressed/innocent/unfortunate are without help in this life.  They refuse to believe God’s word that His love, toward the brokenhearted and afflicted, reaches to the heavens and that His faithfulness stretches to the skies.  They refuse to believe that He is “a helper of the orphan [and One who] vindicate(s) the orphan and the oppressed.”  They refuse to believe and understand that He is truly “The Lord [and] King forever and ever.”

Though the afflicted may cry out “how long O Lord” and “why do you stand afar off, O Lord, why do you hide yourself in times of trouble,” ultimately they will not be ashamed.  They will not be moved forever.  God will avenge His justice.  He will uphold and affirm His holiness.  He will bring judgment upon the wicked, though He may tarry, “so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.”  And He will bring rest to those who are afflicted.

Jude 1:14-15

14 It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,  15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Matthew 5:3-12

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.  6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.  7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.  8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.  10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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.

Psalm 8 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 8)

God is…

I am in awe of this Psalm.  Each time I’ve read it lately, I’ve had to give pause at this one thought that the Psalmist is seeking to convey.  Though he has many different points, I think that there is one main thought.  Namely that God, as great as He is and as great as His works may be, would take interest in us.

Many take note of the sun, moon and stars and marvel at their wonders for wonders sake.  They look at the great expanse of the universe and are aghast at the multitude of brightly shining stars in the heavens.  They may even stand in awe of the manifold nature of the plant and animal kingdoms.  They are right to find these things compelling.  But they fall short of what is truly worth their wonder because they fail to mix their wonder with faith.

The ungodly do not believe that there is a Creator.  And because they do not believe that there is a Creator then there is no reason for them to consider His reason for creating.  It would be natural to wonder what purpose a person has in creating one thing or another; but if something were created solely by accident, then there would be no right reason to wonder.

Yet, we who understand that something, particularly something with such complexity, could not possibly have come about without an initial cause; believe that the cause is in fact a person with a plan and purpose at heart.  Furthermore that this person’s plans and purposes include us, who – as great as we think we are – in the big scheme of things are really only a small part of His vast created universe; is truly a thing of wonder.  It would be something like us building a vastly complex ant farm in which there were little ant cities, towns and countries; placing a few small ants in the farm, at various locations, and then tending to each one’s particular real need.  (I say real need to distinguish from the “felt needs” that some of my brothers and sisters believe that we ought to cater to in order to reach some with the gospel.  Real needs are those things which God determines are our needs…paramount is our need for Him in the gospel and not necessarily temporal ease.)  I’d give them charge over the entire farm, placing other “inhabitants” of the farm under their charge. Then I’d give them a special relationship with me above all of the other inhabitants of the farm.  Such that they can communicate with me and I with them, they can know me relate to me.

Crazy huh?  I mean, why on earth am I taking time to build an ant farm of such complexity for these ants to inhabit?  Why not just give them a mound of dirt?  Why would I take time to see that each of their needs is met?  Why would I even give them charge over the farm?  Just because its called an “ant farm?”  And why would I give them of all the inhabitants of the farm, the opportunity to know me?

“Oh Lord, our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth.”  When was the last time that you thanked God, worshipped God, praised God; because He has chosen to bestow His grace upon you?  Before you understand why its so great that God has chosen to bestow grace upon you; you must first understand how incredibly worthless you are.  Thats where most people miss it.  Pop pshychology will tell you that you are to be made much of.  Pop culture will tell you that your wants/desires are most important.  God’s grace teaches us that we have nothing to offer and everything to lose; but that He has chosen to purchase our good with the death of His own Son.  His grace teaches us that there is no one righteous; but the One who had no sin and was made sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  God’s grace teaches us that it is not our name that ought to be made much of; but that it is His.  For He alone is worthy of praise for the grace that He has bestowed on us, who are but dust.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name, in all the earth!