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.”

Death

My cousin died this past weekend. Death never gets easier. As long as I live, separation – while I can comprehend from a theological perspective – will always cause grief. It is inescapable. We all grieve in different ways and at different times…but we all must grieve.

My grief struck me today when I was at work. I was doing fine until I was reminded of something about my cousin. It was hard for me to hold back tears. He used to stay with my brother and I…I guess baby sit us, though we were all relatively close in age…at least he and my brother are not too far off. But he used to hang with us alot…we even used to go over my aunts house to hang with them alot. And he would play video games with my brother and I all the time…he even lived with us for a bit when we were all older. Strange what things you don’t consciously think about until separation occurs. Then all the thoughts come flooding back…because they are gone.

We were never really meant to be alone. When God created man in the garden he said that it is “not good” for man to be alone. I don’t think that he meant that solely with regards to marriage. I think that He never intended for us to face separation.

It is our sin that separates us from God and from each other. And that is why it is so painful. Paul said in I Cor 15, that the “sting of death is sin.” And that so because there is a punishment which awaits those who have never been reconciled with God prior to death.

“But,” Paul continues, “thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” My heart goes out to my family. And I pray for my family that they would also have my hope. My hope is in the Lord. It is not in long life. It is not in a good life – financially or otherwise. My hope and trust is that at the end of my life, my Lord Jesus Christ will lead me to victory, from the grave to the home of His Eternal Father in heaven.

Please pray for us. Pray that the Word would go forth on Saturday.

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 4 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 4)

God is faithful to those who are His for it says “know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself…”  God is not concerned with the inclinations of foolish and sinful men.  He is not bothered or taken off guard by the mockery of men destined to reap the wages of their wickedness.  We may sometimes wonder why we are persecuted and afflicted by godless men, thus the Psalmists cry “o sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach? How long will you love what is worthless and aim at deception?”  But God is not moved by it.

He is gracious to those who are His regardless of the foolisness of others.  God’s graciousness to those who are His has motivated the Psalmist to plead with the ungodly that they cease their foolish ponderings and turn to the Lord, for he says “meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still.  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in the Lord.”  Turn to the Lord.  Do not continue to trust in your own wisdom and your own right-ness.

Many are saying today “who will show us any good” in this dark and dismal world.  Many are looking to the wisdom of this age and the men of this age to do thus.  Many look to politicians, military leaders, self help gurus and other seemingly wise men to guide them to prosperity and peace.  They look to these men but are inevitably disappointed.  Because it is only in the countenance of the Lord that we truly find “light.”

You who have not trusted in the Lord, repent.  Turn from whatever or whomever you are trusting in to guide you  and turn to the Lord.  Let the Light of the Creator of Heaven and Earth be your guide.  It is only in Him that we will truly find “peace” that will enable us to “lie down and sleep…[and] to dwell in safety.”  You will find peace in no other way.  God is not inclined to grant it to you in any other way.  In fact, all you should expect from God is unrest.

You who already know the Lord.  Do not be deceived.  Do not be cheated of your reward.  Do not be robbed of the blessing of truly resting in the Lord.  They may mock.  They may chide.  They may even offer you other alternatives that seem right.  But remain faithful in your dependence upon the Lord.  Call unto Him who has “set apart the godly for Himself.”  Rest in the “gladness” that only He provides which is a “peace which passes all understanding” and which is greater than any rest or joy (“more than when their grain and new wine abound”) that they can conjure.

Have you found contentment?

What is it to be content?  People often talk about “finding contentment,” but I don’t think that they can find it in the way that it is commonly defined.  You don’t just happen upon it and it is generally not something that is imposed on or thrust on you.  So what then?  Paul commented that he had learned to be content in his circumstances.  Contentment is something then that we learn and actively do.

That we learn it is significant because there appears to be no other way to “gain” or to be content other than to have a situation presented to us in which we either have alack or abundance.  (Even in abundance we can be content.  Just ask so many billionaires, athletes and celebrities if they are content to understand that).  So it must be learned through difficulty.

That we must do contentment is significant because Paul didn’t say that he was automatically content just because of the difficulty.  Difficulty was the catalyst for him to learn how to be content.  In other words, he had to respond to his difficulty in a particular way in order for it to be said that he was content in that situation.

So then how could he respond with contentment in any situation that he faced?  How did he learn to be content when he had an abundance and when he was in need?

Well, here is the crux of the matter.  And the problem arises when a Christian looks for contentment outside of himself in Christ.  Contentment may only be a description of you as you are yielded to the peace which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit within you.  The Holy Spirit gives peace.  He gives that sort of peace that is incomprehensible at times.  Paul called it the “peace which surpasses all understanding.”  It is this peace which may stay the heart in uncertain times.  It is this peace that will humble the heart in times of abundance.  And this peace is certainly available to every born again believer, being itself a part of the fruit that the Spirit bears in the life of every believer according to Galatians.

What more shall I say then?  Contentment is an attitude which expresses the peace that the Spirit gives to a believer who is yielded to Him in difficulty and abundance.  Regardless of the situation.  So then you can never truly “find” contentment apart from the person of Christ.

If this is totally foreign to you, then perhaps you have never heard of the Peace Giver.  Perhaps you have never been made a partaker of the Holy Spirit to which my earlier comments alluded to.  Is it possible for you to be content in every circumstance?  Yes.  But only by knowing the Prince of Peace and by having His grace through the Holy Spirit which He freely gives to those who love Him.

And for you believer, should you find this thought of complete contentment in every circumstance a foreign or even a lost goal.  Remember in whom you have trusted.  For He Himself is “our peace” with God, and certainly if He can bring to us peace with God; then He can bring to us peace in any other circumstance.

Have you found contentment?  Well, He is waiting.