Psalm 90:5-6

Psalm 90:5-6 5 You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up: 6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers.

In our last post we discussed the futility of man’s plans when compared to that of God. We are linear creatures, existing in the tick of the clock. All of our plans, hopes and dreams require the passage of a period of time. If too much time passes we do not see them come to fruition, we go to our graves with much yet to do.

Not so with God. In today’s post Moses reminds us that the years of man are as meaningless to Him as driftwood in a floodplain. All of man’s plotting and planning is vanity. Look at what the Psalmist says in Psalm 2:

1Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.

When will the world learn that God is in charge? His plans always come to pass at exactly His perfect time. I can understand the flood imagery that is brought to mind here partly because I grew up in an area that floods every year. The one lesson you learn is that when the water is coming – get out of its way. The only thing you can do when the water is rising is pile up sandbags and hope they hold. You cannot stand against the Mississippi when she is out of her banks and you cannot stand against God when He decides to move.

“They are like a sleep”, Moses continues. Just as a dream has no substance the years of man cannot alter or change the course of God. Man is referred to as a “vapor” three times in the Psalms (Psalm 39:5, Psalm 39:11 & Psalm 62:9) and we have no more substance than a wisp of smoke compared to that of the Almighty.

Verses 5 and 6 bring to mind the cycle of a man’s life. He describes the life of man like that of a field of grass. Young, vibrant and full of hope at the beginning of the morning and fit only for the fire or for the barn at the end. I hope the “harvest” imagery brought to mind isn’t lost to us here. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 13:

24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 “but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 “But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 “So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 “But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 ‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

I hope you caught that part about the end of the harvest. All are “cut down” – it’s what happens after the “cutting” that matters.

That’s the thought I want to leave you with today. We’ve spent a couple of posts talking about the frailty of man and the brevity of his life. What are we spending our time on? Are we focusing on the Kingdom or on the things of the world?

Let us seek the kingdom first. Let us not waste our time trading the things of this world for our souls.

Grace and peace to you all.

Psalm 90:4

Psalm 90:4 4 For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.

Before we start today a brief history lesson. Click here for a brief look at the last 1000 years – I’ll wait for you to get back…

A thousand years is a long time, isn’t it? How many people have lived over the last 1000 years do you think? No one seems to know for sure (how could they?) but the estimates that I could find place the number around 100,000,000,000 - give or take 20 billion or so… That’s a lot of people over a lot of time. We’ve seen amazing advances in technology, knowledge and medicine. You know what it all adds up to? A hill of beans…

Why would I say that? We’ve been to the moon. (snore) We’ve cured diseases. (yawn) The world is safe. (Are you kidding?) After everything we’ve learned and accomplished we have discovered that we are still weak. Hurricanes, typhoons and earthquakes still happen. Planes, trains and automobiles still crash. Dictators rise and fall. Nations are established and then consumed. People still die and are mostly forgotten as soon as a generation later.

Compare that to God. The Psalmist says ”For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past”. A millennium for us has been but a blink of the eye for the Father. There is nothing that affects Him. Time does not darken His eye one bit. He remains the same. “For I am the Lord, I do not change…” He says of Himself.

God has established His plan and it will come to pass no matter the amount of plotting or planning man does. What is it to us that He is taking His time? Two thousand years is nothing to the one who created time – it is no longer than a ”watch in the night” to quote our verse from today.

Man hasn’t really changed much either over the course of history. We still are building our tower to be higher than Him except we use steel and silicone instead of mud and slime. We still long to get to the high place and shake our fist at Him and say “WE DON’T NEED YOU!” We use all of our advances to distance ourselves from Him instead of using them to draw closer.

But it is all for naught. God’s plan is established. Rest in the comfort that He has not forgotten about us and His will is going to be accomplished. Keep at the work that has been assigned to you and listen for the voice of the Master as He says “well done good and faithful servant”.

Blessing to you all…

Psalm 90:3

Psalm 90:3 3 You turn man to destruction, And say, “Return, O children of men.”

”Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, in his wise providence, to take out of this world unto Himself the soul of our deceased brother we therefore commit his body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” The Star Book for Ministers Second Revised Edition pg 191

Everyone dies. It is the one equalizer. Death is no respecter of persons, visiting both prince and pauper without reservation. We are frail beings holding onto life by merely a spider’s web. Moses reminds us of that truth in today’s verse.

”You turn man to destruction” our verse for today says. The word for destruction comes from a word that signifies beating, grinding or pounding of a thing into powder. That’s a good description of life isn’t it? The effects of sin on this world and on ourselves grinds us away until we return to that thing from which we came, dust - nothing more. In the book of Genesis we learn that Adam was formed from the dust of the ground by God who afterward breathed life into him. We are made of the same stuff today. Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:

47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

Moses goes on to say ”Return, O children of men”. When God calls you out of this life – you go. You can’t bargain with Him. You can’t plead with Him. You can’t argue with Him. You simply go.

Jesus says in Matthew “which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature”. In essence what He is saying is that no matter what you do you cannot extend your time on this earth. You have a limited amount of time allotted to you and it is all you get. Quick as you can say “Bob’s your uncle” you’re whisked off into your eternity – sadly most of us are not ready. We leave things unfinished, we leave words left unsaid, we leave relationships broken, we leave hugs not given – all of us end our lives with a whole list of things “we’d like to have done”.

But have hope Christian! Frail as this life is death is not the end! Paul goes on in 1 Corinthians to say “O Death where is thy sting, O Hades where is thy victory”. Death for the Christian is not final. We have a whole eternity to look forward to! To “bear the image of the heavenly” means that we will someday drop this dust that we are carrying around and be in the presence of the Father in our new bodies that will never wear out!

You might be wondering why I opened today’s post with a committal prayer. Most of my “public” ceremonies as a minister have been funerals. Sadly a number of them have been for people who weren’t ready for their eternity. Those have been the saddest occasions of my life as I look at the husk of the person who was and wonder where they are… Was Christ their Lord? In those occasions where no one was sure of the persons allegiance I always preach an evangelistic message.

I want to make sure that the people there hear that death is not the end! I want them to hear that there is hope! I want them to know that they can turn from the sin and turn toward Christ! I want them to know that they are just a heartbeat away from joining their loved one in eternity! I want them to choose Christ on this side of the grave! I want them to understand that Jesus Christ is the only salvation, comfort, and hope that anyone of us have!

Beloved remember that you are but dust. Spend every precious second that the Father has given you in service to His Son!

Grace and Peace to you all…

Too Sleepy...

It’s 9:50 and I just sat down at my computer after a long day of trials. I’m tired and my brain is mushy. I simply do not have the energy required tonight to do justice to Psalm 90:3. This pile of dust will talk about how all of us are simply piles of dust in tomorrow’s post.

Until then I’ll leave you with lyrics to a Casting Crowns song that I really like called “Slow Fade” from their album “Altar and the Door”. I pulled everything below directly from their website. It brings to mind how easy it is for us to let our lives slip away from the Savior as we become more and more numb to our own sin.

If you are interested in finding out more about Casting Crowns click here.. You can listen to snippets from the album and find other information as well. Their music has been a blessing to me and I’m sure it will be to you to.

Blessings to you all… Jeff

This song was inspired by the spreading cancer of moral failure in the fathers of this generation. As believers, we must guard our hearts and understand the no one crashes and burns. They just slowly fade away one little compromise at a time.
~Psalm 1 / 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 / James 4:7-10 / Proverbs 4:23-27 / 1 John 2:15-17 / James 1:12-15 / Isaiah 59:2 / Matthew 13:16-23 / 1 John 2:3-6, 15-17 / Romans 12:1-3 / 1 Corinthians 15:57-58
Written by Mark Hall
Special guest – Reagan Hall (Thank you, Princess, for your beautiful singing debut!)
© 2007 My Refuge Music/Club Zoo Music/SWECS Music (BMI) (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing)

Be careful little eyes what you see
It’s the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it’s the little feet behind you that are sure to follow
It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It’s a slow fade, it’s a slow fade
Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray
It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you’re thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking
It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day
Oh be careful little eyes what see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Psalm 90:2

Psalm 90:2 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

Math is fun! Think of the biggest number you can imagine. Got it? Now add one. Got the new number? Now multiply that by 2. Got the new number? Now multiply that number by itself. Head hurt yet? We can keep going if you like. Numbers are infinite – they have no end, like the Energizer bunny they just keep going and going and going…

What does math have to do with verse 2? Nothing… My little illustration was only to give us a small concept of what eternity is. Moses is talking about the eternal nature of God, or in other words, God has no beginning and He has no end. He is from “everlasting to everlasting”, or as I like to say “Before there was a was He was”.

Look at the Genesis account. Genesis 1:1 says "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". Did you ever think about that statement? In the beginning God created? The verse implies that He was around before the beginning – can you comprehend that? I can’t. I cannot wrap my head completely around the truth that God exists outside of time. We live each moment in the second of the clock and it hard for us to imagine a being who isn’t constrained in the same way that we are. Oh but we should be thankful that He does!

Jesus says of Himself in Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty". That pretty much covers all of existence as we know it, doesn’t it? Moses reminds us in our verses for today that before anything in creation existed God was there. The other side of that coin is true as well, after everything is gone He will still be here.

Why is that important? Moses established for us in verse one that as His beloved children we live inside of Him. He now continues in that thought reminding us that God is unaffected by time. What a wonderful sense of security that should give us! God never changes and He is going to be around forever!

One of the few things in this life that you can count on is change; the weather changes, our bodies change, relationships change, wealth changes, etc. We never know what each second will bring us next! How wonderful to know that we are watched over and loved by someone who never changes. God says of Himself in Malachi 3:6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed…” Hallelujah!!! I deserve to be consumed by the Holy One of Israel but He has made a covenant with me and it will not be broken. He tells me that if I repent and confess my sin He will forgive it (see 1 John 1:9). I am thankful that God doesn’t change. I am thankful that He is from “everlasting to everlasting” – I need a God with that kind of power. I look forward to spending eternity with Him in His unchanging glory. I cannot comprehend what Heaven is going to be like but I am looking forward to it.

As comforting as eternity to the Christian is, it should be terrifying to the lost. Remember our math example from the beginning? Let’s apply that same logic to torment, every second for all of eternity being righteously punished for your sin against a Holy God. I cannot wrap my head completely around that thought either.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God” O’ Christian! Do not let the ticking of the clock be your master. To be sure you should be a good steward of the time that God has given you but do not let it become your master. Rest in the comfort that God is eternal, beloved! Rest in the comfort that once He forgives sin it is forgiven forever! Rest in the comfort that we live in the one who will keep us for all eternity! Focus on the eternal things because at the end those are all that really matter.

Grace and peace to you all…

Psalm 90:1

A Prayer of Moses the man of God.
Psalm 90:1 1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

I love how people used to name their children based upon what the name means instead of what is popular. I love names like “Faith”, “Hope”, “Joy”, etc. because you knew what was going through the parents mind when the name was given. The child and every one they met could always go back and refer to that moment in time.

Names always meant somthing to the Hebrews. If you have one of those bibles with the middle column in it spend some time reading the notes. You'll find definitions of the names which will bring deeper meaning to the account. Which brings us to today's verse... the name translated “Lord” here is the Hebrew word “Adonay”. Look at the definition from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance:

An emphat form of adon… In the form adonay the word means “Lord” par excellence or “Lord over all”.

I like that thought “Lord over all”. God is not simply another god to be worshipped and appeased, He is Lord over all. Everything in creation, both seen and unseen, bows to Him. Allegiance to Him is not a pre-requisite for His Lordship – even those angels that rebelled against Him still submit to Him. Look at this account from Luke concerning a man who was tormented by a whole host of demons:

Luke 8:28-32 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!”29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. 30 Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. 32 Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them.

Look at the submissive nature of the enemy. When confronted by the Christ they could only beg for His mercy. It should bring us all such great comfort that there is nothing that can stand against God. He reigns supreme in the universe! “Adonay” stands for us – there is none that can stand against Him and therefore there is none who can harm us.

Why is it important that Moses refers to God as Adonay? Look at how the verse continues, ”You have been our dwelling place in all generations”. Did you catch that? God is Israel’s dwelling place! Moses is saying “Lord of Lords, You are the place in which we live and have been all of our lives”. Israel’s home is in the One who reigns supreme over everything. The lesson that Moses learned in the desert wanderings was that it wasn't the tents that made the home. God provided them shelter, sustenance, and security during their journey. Moses knew that he was completely dependant upon God for everything no matter what the circumstance. He knew that had always been the case and always would be. If only we'd catch that truth in our wanderings through this life today!

We all hold fast to the verses that say that God is a rock or shelter or a refuge but what about the thought that God is the place where we live? I love the thought that we can run to God whenever we are in trouble (as we should) but are we comfortable with the thought of living inside God? Every second of our being is under the watchful eye of the Father. There is nowhere we can go to escape Him.

Think about your home for a second – how familiar are you with it? I can tell when the furnace is going to start by the popping and clicking I hear. I know when my daughter has gone to bed because I can feel the rumble of her window AC. I can walk through my house in the dark without breaking my neck. We are all very familiar with the places in which we live, can we say the same for our Lord?

Are we intimate with Him? Do we spend our lives exploring every aspect of Him so that we can know Him better? Do we recognize the sounds He makes as He moves through our lives? Let us bring to mind Paul’s words as he addressed those at the Areopagus, “for in Him we live and move and have our being”. We are not simply to dwell in God as our refuge when times are rough – we are to live out every second of our lives inside of Him.

Adonay, Lord of Lords, is our dwelling place! There is no safer place for us to be! There is no place where we are loved more! Let us live our lives from this moment on mindful of that truth. Let us not be bogged down in the swamp of despair with the heavy load that this life brings. We live inside Christ! There is nothing He cannot accomplish.

Mercy and peace to all of you through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 90 - Introduction

Today we start a series of posts on Psalm 90. I thought I’d share an excerpt from C. H. Spurgeon’s commentary, The Treasury of David, as a matter of introducing us to the Psalm.

May God guide our path as we travel through His Word – Jeff
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PSALM XC.
TITLE. — A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Many attempts have been made to prove that Moses did not write this Psalm, but we remain unmoved in the conviction that he did so. The condition of Israel in the wilderness is so pre-eminently illustrative of each verse, and the turns, expressions, and words are so similar to many in the Pentateuch, that the difficulties suggested are, to our mind, light as air in comparison with the internal evidence in favour of its Mosaic origin. Moses was mighty in word as well as deed, and this Psalm we believe to be one of his weighty utterances, worthy to stand side by side with his glorious oration recorded in Deuteronomy. Moses was peculiarly a man of God and God's man; chosen of God, inspired of God, honoured of God, and faithful to God in all his house, he well deserved the name which is here given him. The Psalm is called a prayer, for the closing petitions enter into its essence, and the preceding verses are a meditation preparatory to the supplication. Men of God are sure to be men of prayer. This was not the only prayer of Moses, indeed it is but a specimen of the manner in which the seer of Horeb was wont to commune with heaven, and intercede for the good of Israel. This is the oldest of the Psalms, and stands between two books of Psalms as a composition unique in its grandeur, and alone in its sublime antiquity. Many generations of mourners have listened to this Psalm when standing around the open grave, and have been consoled thereby, even when they have not perceived its special application to Israel in the wilderness and have failed to remember the far higher ground upon which believers now stand.

SUBJECT AND DIVISIONS. —Moses sings of the frailty of man, and the shortness of life, contrasting therewith the eternity of God, and founding thereon earnest appeals for compassion. The only division which will be useful separates the contemplation 1-11 from the prayer 12-17: there is indeed no need to make even this break, for the unity is well preserved throughout.

Psalm 80:49-52

Psalm 89:49-52 49 Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses, Which You swore to David in Your truth? 50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of Your servants—How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples, 51 With which Your enemies have reproached, O Lord, With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed. 52 Blessed be the Lord forevermore! Amen and Amen.

This psalm is all about the covenant that God had made with David. The Psalmist has taught us about God’s covenant and God’s attributes. He has struggled with the apparent defeat of God’s anointed and has called upon God’s mercy to not delay the fulfillment of the covenant. In the final verses of the Psalm he brings to mind his own feelings about God.

He starts off by calling upon God’s lovingkindness. Think of how much love God poured out upon David. Without David even knowing it, God was preparing him to lead His nation. David was learning patience and trust for God in the fields tending sheep. Think of all the times that God stood with David: in the fields, in battle with Goliath, in the caves, when his own son rebelled against him, etc. David’s life is a beautiful example of what it means to walk with God. Was David perfect? No! Was he loved by God? Yes! Did David love God? Yes! The Psalmist is pleading with God to restore that love and protection unto David's line.

He goes on to say “remember the reproach of Your servants”. Even though the kingdom of Israel was splitting up there were still people who stood for God. Not every one was “rotten” (remember that whole God preserving a remnant for Himself part?). Those that stood for God were suffering because of what was going on. Can you imagine the wagging of heads that occurred as the kingdom split apart? Can you imagine the insults that were hurled toward those that stood for God as everything fell apart?

Take that thought and apply it to the cross. The Pharisees were at the foot of the cross mocking the Savior as He died. It is not out of the realm of possibility to believe that those insults and taunts were also thrown the way of those who belonged to Jesus that were at the foot of the cross that day. On top of losing the one that they loved they now stood in the place where they were being mocked and ridiculed. Which brings me to my next thought.

“How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples” the psalmist continues. What he’s saying here is that “I take this stuff personally. When I see Your people suffer I suffer with them. It is tearing me up inside to see Your name tarnished and Your people made to suffer”. Oh if that were true in the Church today! If only we felt it inside when our Lord’s name was used in vain, if only our souls cried out when our Savior is mocked. Where has the righteous indignation gone when we see our brothers and sisters being persecuted? Do we hurt when they hurt? Do we cry when they cry? Do we carry them in our bosom?

It is in that place the Psalmist ends his plea. He has called upon God’s faithfulness, grace and mercy and he caps it off with his own heart’s desire to see God’s word come to fruition. He knows God. He believes in Him. He trusts that God will move. What else would motivate him to say “Blessed be the Lord forevermore” and accentuate that with a double “Amen”?

That is the place I want to leave us in this psalm as well. I do not know what storm of life you are going through. I do not know where you are at with your walk with the Lord. But this I do know – we serve a God who is faithful. We serve a God who is holy. We serve a God who will never leave nor forsake us. His desire is for you to be more like His Son. His desire for you is that you walk closer to Him. His desire for you is that you trust in Him completely - first for your salvation and then for everything else. My pastor use to tell me, “When you get to the end of your rope – tie a knot in it and hang on. God is coming”. I leave you with the same thought.

Rejoice in the Lord, Christian! Blessed be the Lord forevermore! Amen and Amen!

Psalm 89:46-48

Psalm 89:46-48 46 How long, Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? 47 Remember how short my time is; For what futility have You created all the children of men? 48 What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave? Selah

"The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present."…Anonymous

“Aw, nuts”...General Anthony Clement McAuliffe in response to the German demand for surrender at Bastogne, Belgium during WWII.

Thought I’d start us off with a couple of quotes. The first one is the “feel good” quote that so many of us have heard that inspires us to just hang on and be thankful for every breath we have. The second one comes from the reality of finding yourself in a situation that you cannot control and the only foreseeable outcome is painful.

That is where the Psalmist is in these verses. He’s caught in that unique place of knowing that he is to trust God because He is completely trustworthy and at the same time watching his world fall down around him. Ever been there?

“How long, Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever?” the psalmist moans. If this psalm was indeed penned by Jeduthan he had reason to be concerned. He had witnessed the kingdom under David and he had watched it grow in strength and wealth beyond what anyone had imagined during the reign of Solomon. He now stands watching the kingdom fall to pieces under the reign of Rehoboam. “How long before this stops, Lord?” he cries. “This is the kingdom of the covenant and it is falling apart!”

Notice the psalmist doesn’t shirk responsibility, “will your wrath burn like fire?” he says. Wrath implies a judgment. The psalmist has already established that God is holy so the wrath is deserved and fair. He is calling upon those heralds of God mentioned in vs 14, mercy and truth.. He is asking to not be consumed totally as a fire would.

He goes on to remind God of the frailty of man. “For what futility have You created all the children of men? What man can live and not see death” he asks? Death comes to us all – we cannot stop the ticking of the clock. The psalmist feels alone without direct evidence of God’s love. A life without God’s presence in it is empty.

But the psalmist has not lost hope. He will not give up on God, in the next verses he uses words like “lovingkindness” and “blessed” in reference to Him. He has not lost hope he is simply calling out to God for mercy and comfort.

What lesson can we learn from this today? If the Psalms are God’s guide to us for everyday worship than we learn that it is okay for us to pour our hearts out to Him. It is never ok for us to doubt God but it is ok for us to lay it all out there. Look closely at the verses starting at verse 38. Do you see doubt? I don’t. I see despair, sadness, confusion and guilt for what has occurred but I do not see doubt. I see someone caught in the middle of the maelstrom looking to the only one who can help. I see someone aware of how short his own time is and seeking comfort and solace from the only one who can give it.

I encourage you to do the same thing during the storms of your own life. God can handle whatever you throw at Him. Never lose hope in Him – he has proven Himself faithful (see Romans 5:1-5).

You know that "aw nuts" quote from the beginning? Do you know how that story turned out? The 101st Airborne found themselves surrounded by a German army that had them outnumbered and outgunned. The logical choice was to surrender but they instead held Bastogne until the 4th Armored got there. General McAuliffe wound up with a couple of medals from the whole ordeal. Just hold your ground Christian, the infantry might just be over the hill. Our General never loses and He's always right on time.

Grace and peace to you all…

Psalm 89:38-45

Psalm 89:38-45 38 But You have cast off and abhorred, you have been furious with Your anointed. 39 You have renounced the covenant of Your servant; You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. 40 You have broken down all his hedges; You have brought his strongholds to ruin. 41 All who pass by the way plunder him; he is a reproach to his neighbors. 42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries; You have made all his enemies rejoice. 43 You have also turned back the edge of his sword, and have not sustained him in the battle. 44 You have made his glory cease, and cast his throne down to the ground. 45 The days of his youth You have shortened; You have covered him with shame. Selah

David’s line failed. The kings in the line did not follow the path of their father, David. They did not walk with God, and with few exceptions, they forgot about Him. God finally brought judgment against Israel by raising a pagan nation and taking them into captivity. Israel, the apple of God’s eye, humiliated, defeated and removed from their homes.

C.H. Spurgeon believed that this Psalm was perhaps written during Rehoboam’s reign by Jeduthun. If you remember your O.T., it was during Rehoboam’s reign that the nation of Israel was split into two kingdoms, Israel to the north and Judah to the south. Trouble was brewing for David’s line and it appeared as if God had gone back on His word and it is from this vantage point that the Psalmist pours out his heart to God. We know that God had not forgotten his covenant however because we have the luxury of 20/20 backwards vision. We know that God preserved David’s line all the way up to Jesus. We also know that the covenant is ultimately preserved in the Son of David – Jesus the Christ. We know that even if times are bleak we are to completely trust God.

Or do we?

Let’s re-read our verses today from the viewpoint of Peter, shall we? He had put all of his faith in this carpenter from Galilee. He had witnessed miracles, cast out demons in His name and had said of Him “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”. Fast forward to Gethsemane – Peter flees from him and later that night denies him. The next day there is Jesus nailed to a Roman cross. Do you think perhaps these same verses went through his mind on that Friday? Before him was God’s anointed defeated and dying on a cross. It appeared that God had again failed His covenant. But we have that advantage of that 20/20 backwards vision again. We know that Jesus did not stay in the grave but instead rose from the grave three days later! We know that the cross was the ultimate fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan for man! We know that the cross may be a symbol of humiliation and defeat to man but it is a symbol of grace and victory to the Christian!

Or do we?

Now let’s re-read the verses from today from our vantage point. We live in a world that has forgotten God. We are His anointed ones because of our adoption into His family, and yet the world mocks and hates us. We live in a world where the King's crown is dragged through the dust and our King is mocked and ridiculed. Victories are few and fleeting, the forces of the evil one hold sway over a planet that blindly follows their vile pleasures. Do the verses from today ring through our heads as we live life? Do we wonder if God has finally given up on His covenant and on us?

May it never be! Take that same 20/20 backwards vision and turn it towards the future beloved! God has proven Himself faithful! He will never forsake His church! You have been redeemed through the cross! He will never forsake you! Do not lose hope – never give up! Stand Christian! Space doesn’t allow for a full exposition but go and read Ephesians 6:10-18. Focus on verse 13 which is what I’ll close with for today.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand

Stand in your armor. Trust God and His word.

Grace and peace to you all…

Psalm 89:35-37

Psalm 89:35-37 35 Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David: 36 His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me; 37 It shall be established forever like the moon, Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

”Once I have sworn by My holiness” God says. Think about that for a moment – God has put His holiness on the line for the preservation of David’s line. Can we comprehend what that means? God is not just a little holy, He is completely holy! I do not think that we can grasp that concept this side of eternity, we cannot comprehend someone who is completely righteous and whose motives are undeniably pure.

For God to swear by His holiness is for Him to swear by Himself alone. If God were not holy he would not be God. In essence what God is saying is that by everything that He is He will keep His own word. He will not go against himself. Think of the truths that we can claim as Christians because God has said that it is so! There is no safer place for us to be than included in His covenant. His promise to David was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus and can be passed along to Christians by our addition into God’s family. Look at Romans 8:16-17:

16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

We have been adopted into the royal family and as such we can lay claim to all the promises about our security that God has given.

The psalmist continues saying that David’s throne “shall be established forever like the moon”. I like that thought, C.H. Spurgeon says about God’s kingdom ”The kingdom may wax and wane to mortal eyes, but it shall still abide as long as the moon walks in her silver beauty.”. Think about the phases of the moon for a moment. As we watch it progress through the sky we see it progress from full to dark. No matter what phase the moon is in we can be assured it is still there. The moon also does not have its own light, it reflects the glory of the sun. As it progresses through its cycle we see less and less of that glory reflected upon us.

Think for a second on how these truths are symbolic of the Church. She has also gone through periods where she reflected God’s glory in a mighty way and was visible for all the world to see. She has also, because of her sin, been so dim that the world thought she had perhaps passed away. True to His word, God has always preserved a remnant for Himself however and His church still stands today (See Ezekiel 6:8)

Jesus says in Matthew 16:18 “…on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”. There is nothing that can stand against His church no matter how bleak the times may seem. If you are in a period in your church or in your walk where the moon is dark – don’t lose hope. God is still working to bring about His will and has not forsaken His beloved (See Ephesians 5:25-29)

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all…

Psalm 89:30-34

Psalm 89:30-34 30 “If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments, 31 If they break My statutes and do not keep My commandments, 32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. 33 Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail. 34 My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.(NKJV)

Sin is serious. It is not something that is to be winked at, joked about or tolerated. In Leviticus 11:44 God says “…I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy…” (NKJV emphasis mine). We have been called to live at a higher standard and when we do not we must be punished.

Our verses today talk of what would happen to those in David’s line if they did not live a consecrated life. Look closely at the verses and you’ll see “forsake”, “do not walk”, “break”, “do not keep” – all of these phrases bring to mind willful disobedience to the Lord. Our God is completely holy and completely righteous – he MUST respond when His children sin. To do any less would go against His very attributes.

A question to those of us with children. Why do we punish them? Is it because we are mean? Is it because we are cruel? Is it because we take joy in having power over those that are weak? No – we punish our children because we love them. We punish them because we see a behavior in them that needs to be corrected. If that is true with us, how much more our Heavenly Father?

Look at Hebrews 12:4-11 from the NKJV:

4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

God will punish us when we sin not because He is cruel but because He loves us. Romans 6 tells us “the wages of sin is death” – sin is deadly. Just as any parent would try and stop their child from doing anything harmful the Father will chastise His own.

Look at the comfort also contained in our verses for today, “My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him”. What a wonderful thought! There is no parent that enjoys punishing their child. We love them through the whole process – the Father reminds us that in the midst of the punishment He still loves us.

He goes on to say “nor allow My faithfulness to fail”. Christian you can rest in the promise that God is for you. There is no depth to which you can sink that God will say “depart from me”. God has established our salvation through the work of Jesus on the cross and there is nothing that we or anyone else can do. Rest in the comfort that there is forgiveness and mercy in the Lord if we repent from our sin(see 1 John 1:9).

Punishment is never fun, our verses for the day use the words "rod" and "stripes". I was raised by parents who believed in corporal punishment. I felt the sting of the switch many times because I was a normal boy. That being said - I always knew what I was being punished for and most of the time I knew what the punishment was going to be before I committed the crime, there was never any doubt in my mind about the "why". The same is true for us - all of us are aware of the sin in our life. We also know what the punishment is. We simply hope that we won't get caught.

I hope I haven't painted a picture of the Father as one who sits in Heaven waiting to blast those that fail, quite the opposite. God chastens us because sin is horrible and it can only bring destruction. He lives with us every moment and gives us the power to overcome sin if we will simply ask Him to. Sin is a terrible thing that has permeated every aspect of the world. Let us recognize it for what it is, it is a disease and it can only be cured if we will turn to Christ and let the Holy Spirit guide every aspect of our lives...

Blessings and peace to you all...

Memory Walk 2008

My father-in-law has Alzheimers and in an effort to help, the Fleeman Family collects funds every year to support the Alzheimer's Association. We "cap-off" the efforts for the year with the memory walk in Cape Girardeau in September. If you would like to join us as we support this cause please click here.

If you cannot support this cause financially please support it in your prayers. It is a terrible disease that slowly takes away your loved one - we are thankful that it has progressed slowly in Gerald's case. We are very thankful to all of you for all the prayers and support. We ask you to please continue to lift all of us up to the Lord.

Love ya all - Jeff

Psalm 89:27-29

Psalm 89:27-29 27 Also I will make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. 28 My mercy I will keep for him forever, and My covenant shall stand firm with him. 29 His seed also I will make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

”The highest of the kings of the earth” this title has to refer to the Christ! If you would like to see the King described please go back and read vs 5-16. As I’m typing this post, Chris Tomlin’s song “Indescribable” comes to mind:

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Look at some of the attributes of Christ’s kingdom:

Eternal - Revelation 11:15 …“The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”.
Spiritual - John 18:36 …“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
Holy – Ephesians 5:5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Redeemed - Colossians 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

What a blessing it is to belong to the King! What a blessing to know that we are His forever!

The psalmist continues “My mercy I will keep for him forever”. We belong to Jesus, we are His having been paid for with His precious blood (1 Corinthians 6:20&7:23, 2 Peter 1). Having paid that price He now stands as our advocate and intercessor with the Father. How much mercy did you require today? How much mercy do you require right at this moment? Christ continually calls upon the mercy of the Father in His position as our advocate. We will spend eternity singing God’s praises for the mercy He has shown to us.

“My covenant will stand firm” - what a comforting thought!. God has said it and that establishes it! There is nothing that can separate us from God – not even ourselves! No condemnation! No wrath! What a wonderful place for the Christian to stand! (see Romans 8)

Stand firm in the promise that you belong to Him. Live a life that is holy and pleasing unto the Lord. Remember to draw upon His strength and to thank Him for His unimaginable mercy every minute of your life!

Psalm 89:26

Psalm 89:26 He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’(NKJV)

Fathers… Some are good, some are bad, and most of us fall somewhere in the middle. We are constantly caught in the pendulum of strict/lenient, loving/cruel, gentle/hard. It is one of my greatest struggles to find the balance required to be a ‘good’ dad and not drive my children away from God (see Ephesians 6:4).

But there is hope. We have a heavenly Father who is our perfect example to look to. Jesus continually pointed us in the Father’s direction. He referred to the first person in the Godhead as “Father” approximately 200 times in the N.T. Here’s just a few:

When separated from His parents as a child “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49)
When teaching us to pray “Our Father in Heaven” (Matthew 6:9)
When cleansing the temple “Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise” (John 2:16)
And many, many more…

Jesus taught us during His ministry that we are to be completely dependant upon God the Father for everything in our lives (see Matthew 6:24-24). He also taught us to be obedient to the will of the Father even if it causes us pain (see Matthew 26:36-46). He modeled these things for us so the we too could learn to trust in God for everything in our lives.

“My God, and the rock of my salvation” the psalmist says. No greater example can be given to us of trust in the Father than Jesus example on the cross. Before He was taken He reminded the disciples He simply had to pray to His Father and angels would come to His side (Matthew 26:53). On the cross He asks His Father to forgive His torturers (Luke 23:34). He displays ultimate trust in the Father before His death on the cross (See Mark 15:34, Luke 23:46). One thing you can be sure of after even a quick read of the gospels. God the Son completely trusted God the Father!!!

Oh Fathers – if we could catch some of that as we lead our children! I am a firm believer that if we will trust completely in our Father as our rock and our salvation than we will be the fathers that we have been called to be. We have a new Spirit within us by which we refer to God as “Abba” or to put it in the vernacular “Daddy” (Romans 8:15). We have the Holy Spirit within us to guide our every decision, let us call upon Him and use His example as we lead our children.

When our children need to be disciplined let us remember that our Father always tempers His discipline with mercy. When our children need forgiveness let us use the Father’s example and forgive and forget (1 John 1:9). When our children need to be loved let us remember that our Father demonstrates His love to us at every moment in our lives. When our children need to be taught the things of God let us remember that it is only God that can write His word upon their hearts.

Most importantly let us teach our children that God is our rock - He never fails us. Let us teach our children that God is our salvation – without Him we are doomed. Let us not teach it with simply words but by living it out in our lives!

Grace and mercy from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ to all of us dads out there. My prayer is that we lead our families as God has commanded us to do…

Psalm 89:24-25

Psalm 89:24-25 24 “But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, and in My name his horn shall be exalted. 25 Also I will set his hand over the sea, and his right hand over the rivers.

”My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him” the psalmist says, there is so much contained in so few words. Think for a moment of how the kings of Israel failed God. A short list of their sins includes adultery, idolatry, and pride yet God withheld His hand. Even when God brought judgment to Israel and she was carried off into captivity His mercy was with them. He gave them words of encouragement before the captivity through the prophet Jeremiah and raised men like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego and Ezra as Godly examples for Israel to look to during the captivity.

Think of the untold stories that are lost to us now about how King David’s line was preserved during that time. I’m sure that each one of the men in his line had their own sins to contend with and yet God stayed true to His word. He protected and preserved the line all the way up to Joseph and the birth of Jesus.

It is in Jesus that we see the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise to David. “In My name his horn shall be exalted” – Jesus has been lifted to the highest place and now is at the right hand of the Father (see Acts 7:56). He will be further lifted up when He returns to claim His church and all of His enemies will fall at His feet.

“I will set his hand over the sea, and his right hand over the rivers” in essence what the psalmist is saying is that all of the lands from sea to sea will be in the arms of the promised one. Everything in creation is given to the Son of David to rule. Brings to mind the lamb from the book of Revelation Ch 5 doesn’t it? What a glorious thought! Everything brought under submission to the Prince of Peace!

My prayer is that our souls would also come under His dominion and sway today.

The End Of The World?!?!?!?

Who knew? The clock to the end starts tomorrow night...

Check out this link

My opinion?

Psalm 89:22-23

Psalm 89:22-23 22 The enemy shall not outwit him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. 23 I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague those who hate him.(NKJV)

Its hurricane season and the major news headlines mostly have to do with the latest storm to make landfall. Ike is the current storm and I’d like to ask all of you to take a moment and pray for the people caught in its path. Our post today deals with the unstoppable power of God. Think for a moment of the hurricane, there is nothing we can do to influence or stop the storm. It will take the path that it is going to take and there is nothing that we can do about it. We can choose to stand in its path and risk loss of life and property or we can move to higher ground but the storm is still coming.

God has determined to keep His covenant with David and like the hurricane, there is nothing we can do to stop it. Our verses today talk of how God Himself protected David from all of his adversaries. Think for a moment of His protection of David; He protected him from Saul, He protected him from the wilderness, He protected him from Absalom, He even protected David from himself. David deserved death for his sin with Bathsheba but God showed him grace and mercy by allowing him to live. There was nothing that was going to come between God and His promise.

Why did God make the covenant with David in the first place? Because it was part of His plan to redeem mankind. The Messiah was going to come from the line of David so that line must be preserved. These verses had their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. Think of God’s protection of His son: He protected Jesus from the diseases associated with being born in a stable, He protected Him from a king bent on destruction, He protected Him from Satan in the wilderness, He protected Him from mobs of self-righteous Pharisees and He ultimately protected Him from the power of death.

Look for a moment at Isaiah 45:21-23:

Isaiah 45:21-23 21…there is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me. 22 “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. 23 I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. (NKJV emphasis mine)

“Every knee shall bow”, do you see what is implied in that verse? All of mankind will bow to the Lord, they will either bow as His humble servants or they will bow to Him as conquered prisoners. We can be sure that all will bow in the presence of the Lord.

Judgment is coming for the world. All of the plotting of Satan and of unregenerate man cannot stop it. Our verse for today says “I will beat down his foes before his face”, God’s will is going to be accomplished. The storm is headed directly for us and we are left with the same choice as those in the path of a hurricane. Stand naked in the storm and be destroyed or seek shelter in the solid rock of Christ (see Matthew 7:24-27)

Psalm 89:20-21

Psalm 89:20-21 ²⁰ I have found My servant David; With My holy oil I have anointed him,²¹ With whom My hand shall be established; Also My arm shall strengthen him.

Today we are getting to the meat of God’s covenant with David in which God promised David that he would always have a man upon the throne of Israel. That promise is fulfilled in Jesus, He sits on the throne today. The truths contained in today’s verse about God’s anointing of David apply in a greater sense to Jesus. Let us first take a look at Matthew 22:42-46:

⁴²saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.” ⁴³He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:⁴⁴‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’?⁴⁵“If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” ⁴⁶And no one was able to answer Him a word…(NKJV)

Jesus quotes directly from Psalm 110 in the debate with the Pharisees asking them a question He knew they would not answer because they would have to admit that He was God. Messiah was promised in the O.T. He would come from the line of David, He would be God with us, He would come to save that which was lost.

”My servant” the psalm says. Jesus came to us as the perfect servant to the Father. He says of Himself in John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” Paul tells us of Jesus role as a servant in Philippians 2:7-8

“⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

God annointed and established David's throne, “With My holy oil I have anointed him, with whom My hand shall be established” the psalmist says. God the Father gave his anointing and approval to God the Son. Twice in the N.T. God the Father shouts from heaven “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”. God the Father’s approval of Jesus’ ministry is also demonstrated by the many miracles that He performed and the ultimate anointing and approval from the Father was demonstrated by the resurrection of the Son.

“My arm shall strengthen him”. Jesus led the perfect life during His ministry on earth. He gave us the perfect example of complete dependency upon the Father. He taught us to call upon the Father for “our daily bread”, He taught us to “seek first the kingdom of God” and all of our needs would be provided. I believe the ultimate display of Jesus’ dependency upon the Father is shown to us in the garden of Gethsemane. “Not my will but thine” Christ says and after a time of prayer with the Father, He is strengthened and bolstered and stands in front of an army to be taken to His death. God the Son trusted and depended upon God the Father.

Let us never forget that we serve God and that His word never fails. Let us also never forget that we are given the perfect example of how to live our lives before Him by the lover of our souls, Jesus Christ.

Today’s post is based on an outline from C.H. Spurgeon’s “The Treasury of David”. I thank God for the insight and ministry of this man... Jeff

Gambling? Is it O.K.?

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See ya Sunday,
Bro Jeff

Psalm 89:19

Psalm 89:19 ¹⁹ Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one, And said: “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.

Today we’re getting back to the covenant that God established with David. The “holy one” referred to in this verse is probably Nathan whom God used to deliver the covenant to David (See 2 Samuel 7:4-16). Let’s start our discussion there.

Look at what God tells David in 2nd Samuel 7:8-9

⁸…I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. ⁹And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth.

God chose David, not the other way around. God made David king, God protected David, God preserved David’s throne. We see God’s power and sovereignty beautifully demonstrated in his preservation of David. God did everything!

Today’s verse speaks exactly of that truth: God speaks, God chooses, God exalts.

The verse starts with “I have given help” – isn’t that where God always starts with us, help? We were dead in our trespasses and sins. It was God’s help that breathed life into dead bodies and enabled us to live. God has chosen to redeem mankind to Himself, He established the covenant with David as part of that plan.

Look at what Spurgeon says about God’s choice of David from The Treasury of David

David was God's elect, elect out of the people, as one of themselves, and elect to the highest position in the state. In his extraction, election, and exaltation, he was an eminent type of the Lord Jesus, who is the man of the people, the chosen of God, and the king of his church. Whom God exalts let us exalt. Woe unto those who despise him, they are guilty of contempt of court before the Lord of Hosts, as well as of rejecting the Son of God.

In David we see a type of Christ. There was nothing special about him, he was a sheepherder. As king he never forgot where he came from and he ruled his people from that place. Jesus was born poor and lived his life as a carpenter. He worked, was hungry, was tired and suffered in all ways as we do. He too is approachable by every man – He understands all of our hurts and needs and listens with an attentive ear.

Our verse today closes with “to be a ruler over My people”. Jesus did not come to earth so that we could be happy and healthy. He came to bring life to the dead and to restore His people to Himself. Let us never forget that our home is in heaven and we are to invite as many as we can to join us along the way. Let us live our lives "giving help to the mighty".

Psalm 89:18

Psalm 89:18 ¹⁸ For our shield belongs to the Lord, And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

In our last post we talked about God being our strength, today let’s talk about Him being our shield.

Remember that the theme of this Psalm is His covenant with David. We can count on the fact that if God has entered into a covenant with someone than that covenant will not be broken. Look at the truths about God that we’ve discussed so far:

God is completely holy and just (vs 14)

God is completely faithful (vs 9)

God is all powerful (vs 13)

God is everywhere (vs 12)

With all of those things being true what does the Christian have to fear? God is with us all the time and there is nothing that can be done to separate us from Him (Romans 8:31-39, John 10:28-29)

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 43:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Tie that in with today’s verse and we’ve got a pretty good hiding place. Our protection at every moment comes from the Lord! We are constantly under his watchful eye and we are never farther away than His arms length. He is there for us with but a word. As Christians we are the most protected beings in existence. God is on our side.

But what about all of the “bad” things that still happen to us? I’ll let you in on a little secret - THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOT ABOUT PHYSICAL COMFORT! I’d like to etch in the doors of my church under the heading of “A Sampling of the Christian Walk” Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 11:

24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—

Are you ready to sign up for that? We must remember that the shielding and protection that Scripture talks of has more to do with your eternal soul than it does with provision for the body. I won’t put Matthew 6:25-34 here due to space concerns but go and take a look at it. It talks of not worrying about the provision for the body but instead worry about the provision for the soul. Our eternity is secure with God! There is no-one or nothing that can harm us at that level. One last thought about how God provides for his people with a snippet from ”Sometimes He Calms the Storm” by Scott Krippayne:

Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea
But it doesn’t mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close and lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times he calms His child

What about the back part of our verse from today? The translations of the Bible that I have either render the verse as “our king to the Holy One of Israel” or “our king is the Holy One of Israel”. I really don’t have a problem with either rendering. They both remind us that God is completely sovereign. The leaders of this world ultimately belong to God and His will cannot be thwarted. God will be glorified either by their willing service to Him or He will be glorified in their rebellion against Him. (See Psalm 2 and Proverbs 21:1)

My prayer for us is that we rest in the comfort of knowing that God is for us.

Psalm 89:17

Psalm 89:17 ¹⁷ For You are the glory of their strength, And in Your favor our horn is exalted. (NKJV)

I was discussing miracles of healing once with a good friend of mine in the medical profession. To my surprise she said that the real miracle is that we live at all. She went on to explain to me that our bodies are such complex machines that it if one tiny little thing gets out of balance the whole system suffers. She reminded me that it is Christ Himself giving us each breath and keeping us alive (see Colossians 1:17).

It is our inherent weakness that I want us to consider today. Let’s look at what the Psalmist says in Psalm 39:

Psalm 39:4-5 4 “Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. 5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah (NKJV)

If we learn nothing in this life it is the fact that we are frail. Our bodies cannot endure this world forever, they break down. During the Olympics I was watching an interview with the American gymnasts and they were talking about how they might not compete in 2012 because their bodies were going to be worn out at the ripe old age of 20. Worn out at 20 and these people are in top physical shape. All of us wind down in this life, our bodies will eventually stop. Every man is but a vapor, we are here for awhile but then we pass away and the clock keeps ticking impervious to whatever we try.

Don't lose hope however, let's look at our verse for today “You are the glory of their strength”. The strength that we have to accomplish anything comes from God! We glory in his great strength and not ours. Can any of us part the Red Sea? Can any of us move the sun and stars? Can any one of us create something from nothing? Can any one of us raise the dead? All these things and much more have been done by our Father. There is nothing that God cannot do.

Philippians 4:13 says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” In context Paul is talking about how he has learned to be content in whatever situation he is in because he knows that God is with him. The greater truth of this verse is that if God gives us a task it follows that He will give us the power to accomplish it. Think about that for a second – who gets the glory if God gives you a task that you can accomplish in your own strength? You do. Who gets the glory when God gives you a task that you cannot accomplish in your own strength? He does.

Look at what Isaiah says:

Isaiah 40:28-31 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Verse 31 is pretty cool isn’t it? God will give us the strength that we need to accomplish His will. Once His will is accomplished we will give Him the glory. Let us start looking for opportunities to give God glory for His strength in our lives. Remember that we are the weak link in the chain but if we are connected to Christ there is nothing we cannot accomplish (see John 15:5)

Because you asked...

Q: Why "stunned"?
A: Because most of the time I look like the picture at the left. I'm usually left slack-jawed by what I hear and or say in the course of a day...

Q: Why not use the "stunned Jeff" as your profile image?
A: I use to have that picture as my profile image but I thought the "happy Jeff" conveyed a much more dignified look...

Q: What's with the ears?
A: Genetics - I can't help how I look. My mother thinks I'm handsome however...

Psalm 89:16

Psalm 89:16 ¹⁶ In Your name they rejoice all day long, And in Your righteousness they are exalted.

And in Your righteousness they are exalted. What a wonderful thought! To understand what the Psalmist is referring to let’s look first at a definition:

ex•alt•ed [ig záwltəd] adj (formal)

1. elevated: high in rank, position, or esteem
2. noble: grand or noble in character
3. high-spirited: in very high spirits
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Because of God’s righteousness we are exalted. Paul explains that it is because of our faith that we receive this “applied” righteousness – it is not ours by merit or right. Think for a moment on what it means to be exalted by God’s righteousness. Look at the first definition of exalted “high in rank, position, or esteem”. We are in a high position in the kingdom because of this imputed righteousness. Look at Romans 8:16-17:

“¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”(NKJV, emphasis mine)

We are heirs of God! We are princes and princesses in the kingdom of heaven. If all of creation esteems the Father it would seem to track that it would also esteem His children. True, we live in a world that hates us at the present time because of our association with the Son, but that will not always be the case. Jesus is coming back for His family.

Look at the second definition “grand or noble in character”. As a Christian we have the indwelling Holy Spirit with us every moment of our lives. He guides our every move and walks with us as we live this life. Ephesians 5:8 says “⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light”. As we walk with the Lord we become more like Him; His will becomes ours, His love for others becomes our love for others. How much more noble of a character does one have to aspire towards if His character is that of God?

The third definition says “in very high spirits”, that one ties in nicely with the beginning of our verse today doesn’t it? “In Your name they rejoice all day long” – it is my prayer that this truth becomes a reality in my own life as well as yours. Let us all be lifted up because we serve a God who is so much greater than us! Let us rejoice in the fact that our sins are forgiven by the Holy One of Israel! Let us not become bogged down in the muck and mire that is our own sin, let us instead repent and turn toward Jesus! Let us not lose hope because we live in a world that is decaying and dying because of its love of sin – we serve a RISEN Savior who will overcome everything with but a word!

God’s righteousness is so much better than our own. He is completely holy and He is perfect. Rejoice and be lifted up by the fact that there is never going to be anything that will remove us from His love.