Poured Out Love...

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life--the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us--that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.  And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.  This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.—1 John 1:1-5

As I read these words my eyes filled up with tears at the love John, through the inspiration of His Holy Spirit, poured out in this passage.  John was the disciple that Jesus loved and an eyewitness to the physical reality of His humanity and His earthly majesty.  Reading John’s word warms my heart and encourages my faith.  Jesus is not a “made up” person...He is an historical reality.  It is so obvious as I read these verses that John wanted them to produce salvation in his readers.  His words are poured out love pleading with us to hear the Spirit speaking to our hearts. 

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore [you] on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.—2 Corinthians 5:20 

Today is the day of salvation!  Gods does not want any of us, His beloved creatures, to perish but all to come to life in His name.  The God of the Universe wants me to be in fellowship with Him.  He wants ME to be one with Him, in whom there is no darkness at all, now and forever.  This is where our joy will be full both here on earth and in heaven. 

that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:21, ESV)

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:9-11, ESV)

Your Commandments are My Delights....

141 I am small and despised,

Yet I do not forget Your precepts.

142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,

And Your law is truth.

143 Trouble and anguish have overtaken me,

Yet Your commandments are my delights.

144 The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting;

Give me understanding, and I shall live.—Psalm 119:141-144

For David the answer to every question and to every situation he faced was ALWAYS the word. What an example for us he was of abiding and clinging to His God no matter his feelings, no matter his circumstances.  David was a man after God’s own heart....one in whom God delighted. He was also, however, small and despised in the eyes of others probably because he WAS beloved of God.  Verse 143 implies that he was miserable as well. Trouble and anguish had taken hold of him, but the Psalmist not only does not forget the commandments of God (vs 141) but ups the ante in verse 143 by saying that they are his delight! 

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.—2 Corinthians 1:5

The righteousness of God’s  testimonies are everlasting and his word our righteous judge.  His word to us is truth and the Spirit of the law of life in Christ Jesus, brings our will into submission to our Creator’s and enables us to walk as His Spirit directs.

In verse 144 David prays for more grace and understanding to be given him The more time spent in the Word of God, the stronger our desire will be for it.  Beloved, if you desire a heart like David’s that delights in His precepts, you desire a good thing.  It is the word and only the word, that can do this work in your heart. Drink it in...immerse yourself in it.  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, will shine in our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”—John 4:13-14

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.—John 17:3

On Hating My Vain Thoughts...

SAMEK

I hate the double-minded,

But I love Your law.—Psalm 119:113

I opened my bible last night to the reading for Psalm 119 and felt immediately called out and convicted. I do HATE my double-mindedness. I liked the way the KJV version said it.

“I hate vain thoughts:  but thy law do I love.”  

I felt that the NKJV’s use of the word double-minded accused me of blatantly doubting God. That accusation made me angry.  The KJV word, vain, in my humble opinion, makes it more about anxiety and fear than about doubting God.  In reality though, my feelings aren’t worth a hill of beans. Whether double-minded or vain the result is the same.  The abundance of my heart is not from faith but from sin.  SIGH!!  My heart is not united in the fear of the Lord and both my faith and my thinking are fractured.

I don’t know about you, but ninety percent (and that is being conservative) of my thinking is vain, fear-filled or control driven...the latter taking the prize for most relentless. Most of my sin, if not all, rises from my vain thoughts. Thoughts that ultimately say I know better than God.  Here is the thing...God wants us to take our thoughts captive.  Other people might not hear them, but He does.  How can I, like David then, not HATE them. They divert my mind from what is good... the precious promises in His word...or worse toward evil giving Satan a foothold. 

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,—2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Father...

Praying that today when my thoughts go awry, I can remember that it is Your word to me that I love.  Vain thoughts are contrary to Your word and draw me away from Your law (which I love).  It is Your word that sets my heart free from my useless thoughts because it is Your word that speaks truth over them. 

Grace and Peace Multiplied...

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,—2 Peter 1:2

This verse reminded me this morning of what the LORD said to Abram in the 15th chapter of Genesis. 

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”—Genesis 15:1

Our Father in Heaven is truly a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Grace and peace are multiplied in our hearts and in our lives as we abide and grown in our knowledge of Him. The word for knowledge here, according to John MacArthur, implies a strengthened, larger, more intimate form of knowledge. I love that my precious faith is based on KNOWLEDGE....on objective, historical, rational and revealed truth.  God WANTS us to know and understand what we believe.  

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.—John 17:3, ESV

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:8, ESV)

Verse 3 tells us that we have received through HIS divine power all things necessary pertaining to life and godliness THROUGH the knowledge of Him!  Christ is the source of our sufficiency and our ability to persevere.  Every spiritual resource is ours.  In Christ, we have everything we need.  In Christ, we are eternally secure.  In Christ we have been given exceedingly great and precious promises (OUR SALVATION!!) through which we are partakers of the divine nature.  John 14 spells this out beautifully. 

even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.  In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."  Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?"  Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.—John 14:17-23, ESV

Trusting God...

Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.—1 Peter 4:19

I was blessed yesterday and my heart was encouraged by someone telling me in the course of a conversation (and really meaning it) that they were going to trust God with a concern.  “I am going to give that situation to God and trust Him to work it out.” “It is too big for me.”  Now, of course, as believers we all need to trust God with people and circumstances.  But do we?  Do we say it aloud?  Do we pray through it and consciously leave it with Him?  Those words said aloud by another believer to me yesterday really impacted my heart.  If they can trust God with their situation, I can certainly trust God with my own. Beloved, you never know how the words that you say will work in another’s heart or how your godly example will affect them. 

The BLB says this about the phrase “Commit their souls to Him”:

The ancient Greek word translated “commit” is a technical one, used for leaving money on deposit with a trusted friend. Such a trust was regarded as one of the most sacred things in life, and the friend was bound by honor to return the money intact. It is the very word Jesus used when He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46).

When Christians “commit” their souls to Him, they leave their souls (and their circumstances) in a safe place. God is a faithful Creator, and we can trust Him. He is the Potter and we are the clay in His hands.  He is my Creator and has the right to do with me as He pleases.  His will for me comes from His heart of love...my faithful Creator will do what is best for me. Faith is a choice and our faith pleases God.  

Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel* and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own.—Daniel 3:28

Living in the fear of the Lord...

Happy is the man who is always reverent,

But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.—Proverbs 28:14

Oh, how blessed is the man who fears the Lord always...who stands in awe of Him and trembles.  God is always in his thoughts and he lives with his heavenly father’s glory, greatness and purposes in mind.  He desires to do good because His God is so good.  Like the Psalmist’s, the statutes of the Lord are his songs and his sufficiency is from God.  He lives soberly and is serious and watchful in his prayers.  His love for others is fervent and he delights in the commandments of God. 

The fear of the Lord leads to a life of abiding satisfaction. The world desires to convince us that a life founded on the fear of the Lord leads to unhappiness and misery.  In reality, a life that sets the Lord always before him is a satisfied and protected life.  This man lives in the center of God’s will.  Blessedness and joy are his, both in this life and in the the next. A heart hardened, is a heart set in opposition to God.  This man will find no rest or peace either in this life or in the next. In this life, his lack of rest is God’s steadfast love toward him to draw him.  In the next, it is His judgment for despising His goodness and forbearance toward him.  

Psalm 16 is very appropriate here...

1 A Michtam of David.

Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.

2 O my soul, you have said to the LORD,

“You are my Lord,

My goodness is nothing apart from You.”

3 As for the saints who are on the earth,

“They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”

4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;

Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,

Nor take up their names on my lips.

5 O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You maintain my lot.

6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Yes, I have a good inheritance.

7 I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel;

My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.

8 I have set the LORD always before me;

Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will rest in hope.

10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

11 You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Remember...

Remember the word to Your servant,

Upon which You have caused me to hope.—Psalm 119:49

Remember Your word to me by which You have caused me to hope. His promises are sure and are yes and amen in His Son. God gives us the grace to hope and His grace will not disappoint. Our God cannot lie and He cannot deny Himself and He will never fail those that place their trust in Him.   He will do what He says.  He will finish what He began. I can pray through His promises...I can ask God to remember His word to me. I am poor and needy and yet He thinks on insignificant me...I am not forgotten.   

My Comfort in My Affliction...

This is my comfort in my affliction,

For Your word has given me life.—Psalm 119:50

This verse always brings the word “content” to mind.  I have probably gone upstairs to my room thousands of times over the years with my bible because it IS my comfort.  His word is what I seek first.  It is what answers my every cry, my every emotional nuance and my every longing.  The following might seem strange, but bear with me. The picture of me with my bible cozy in my bed brings a favorite Robert Louis Stevenson poem to mind...The Land of Counterpane.  It is a poem from my childhood that always brings my heart home.  

The Land of Counterpane

by Robert Louis Stevenson

When I was sick and lay a-bed, 

I had two pillows at my head, 

And all my toys beside me lay, 

To keep me happy all the day. 

And sometimes for an hour or so 

I watched my leaden soldiers go, 

With different uniforms and drills, 

Among the bed-clothes, through the hills; 

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets 

All up and down among the sheets; 

Or brought my trees and houses out, 

And planted cities all about. 

I was the giant great and still 

That sits upon the pillow-hill, 

And sees before him, dale and plain, 

The pleasant land of counterpane.

The word of God brings my heart home. The comfort the Lord brings is designed especially for me. It is individual and one which the world cannot replicate. It is a comfort that when given is so styled that it lifts me above my circumstances, quickens my heart and is like the glow of warm fire in a cold, darkened room.  His word gifts me with the comfort of His sustaining grace, brings the peace of contentment and enables me to endure.  

This has become mine,

Because I kept Your precepts.—Psalm 119:56

You Are Chosen and Precious...

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.—1 Peter 1:13-19 

I am pretty sure that what I thought  of when I read 1 Peter 1:13 last night is not quite what Peter might have had in my mind, but it helped me. I thought of the movie The Incredibles, in particularly, when Edna tells Elastigirl to “Pull herself together” and reminds her that she IS Elastigirl.  The Holy Spirit, who clearly, if you use me as an example, works in mysterious ways, used this to bring conviction to my heart and make me smile.  All of us, when we are stressed for various reasons probably have responses and/or coping mechanisms that WE THINK serve us well. We have used them for years and hey, they are tried and true.  Sometimes, it is good to take inventory and evaluate their biblical profitability.  Sometimes it is good to see them in light of who we are in Christ.  Edna reminds Elastigirl (by slapping her upside her head) that she IS ELASTIGIRL...Here is the conversation.

“What are you talking about? You are Elastigirl!...Pull yourself together! What will you do? Is...is...is this a question? You will show him that you remember that he is Mr. Incredible! And you will REMIND him, who YOU are! Well, you know where he is... Go! Confront the problem! Fight! Win! And call me when you get back, dahling, I enjoy our visits.”

Sometimes I need the Holy Spirit to do that for me.  I FORGET who I am in Christ.  My conduct becomes aimless, in that, I fall back into my old ways that do not reflect His beautiful work of grace in my life.  I have been redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. I am a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but CHOSEN AND PRECIOUS to my God. I am part of a royal priesthood and a holy nation. I am one of His SPECIAL people called out from darkness into His marvelous light.  I AM TO PROCLAIM HIS PRAISE.  So, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and rest your hope FULLY on His grace that is NOT ONLY brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, but is available to us moment by moment to give us the strength and ability to respond biblically to what comes our way. 

To much is given, much is required.  I have not only been given much, I have also been forgiven much.  I WANT to walk worthy of the calling to which I have been called.  I want to be holy because He is holy.  

Father, 

Incline my heart to Your testimonies,

And not to covetousness.

Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,

And revive me in Your way.—Ps 119:36-37

I want to face all that You have planned for me, remembering who I am in You.  I desire to live according to Your ways, allowing Your great grace to strengthen me with power as I do.  

Set Free to Keep His Word...

GIMEL

Deal bountifully with Your servant,

That I may live and keep Your word.

18 Open my eyes, that I may see

Wondrous things from Your law.

19 I am a stranger in the earth;

Do not hide Your commandments from me.

20 My soul breaks with longing

For Your judgments at all times.

21 You rebuke the proud--the cursed,

Who stray from Your commandments.

22 Remove from me reproach and contempt,

For I have kept Your testimonies.

23 Princes also sit and speak against me,

But Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

24 Your testimonies also are my delight

And my counselors.

25 DALETH

My soul clings to the dust;

Revive me according to Your word.

26 I have declared my ways, and You answered me;

Teach me Your statutes.

27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts;

So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.

28 My soul melts from heaviness;

Strengthen me according to Your word.

29 Remove from me the way of lying,

And grant me Your law graciously.

30 I have chosen the way of truth;

Your judgments I have laid before me.

31 I cling to Your testimonies;

O LORD, do not put me to shame!

32 I will run the course of Your commandments,

For You shall enlarge my heart.—Ps 119:17-32

Are you getting the picture here that God’s word to David was the only weapon in his arsenal and the answer or remedy for whatever he faced?  David’s prayer is to God alone...it is both direct and personal.  He makes it clear from the first verse (17) that without God’s mercy and grace toward him he could not live, no less serve Him and keep His word.  It was God who opened David’s eyes to see the wondrous things contained in His word.  Because David understood this, his soul broke with longing for it   The keeping of His word was both the objective and the joy of the psalmist’s life. It was his meditation through every circumstance he faced.  David was desperate for God’s truth, and his desire for it wasn’t for show.  David truly understood  that without God he was a dead man walking and his future without hope.  The Lord’s testimonies were his delight and his counselors.  When he was bowed down, it was His word that revived him.  When his soul was melting from heaviness, it was His word to him which strengthened him.  David’s heart purposed to walk always in the truth of His God. He clung to His testimonies and trusted that God would use His word to energize his heart and enlarge it...literally...and I love this...set it free to obey His commandments. 

The Sufferings of This Present Time...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.—1 Peter 1:3-5

Aren’t you glad these verses are here?  Reading them at any time but especially in the midst of a difficult trial brings much joy to a believer’s heart, hurting or otherwise. They take our mind off of our circumstances and remind us of the greatness of our salvation and of our true position in Christ.   1 Corinthians 6:17 tells us we as believers have been joined to the LORD and have become one spirit with him. The God we serve is merciful!  We who are pitiful and desperate sinners NEED this mercy.  Without it we are without recourse...helpless and hopeless.  According to this great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  Darkness and misery might prevail here but nothing can stop this beacon of hope from shining in our hearts...for it is in Him that we HAVE eternal life.

It is IN HIM that we have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that cannot be destroyed, decayed or taken away and is unstained by evil. This inheritance is the polar opposite of our inheritance here in this fallen world which is marked by decay, defilement and fading away.  Here in this world filled with depravity and sin, we as believers also have God’s guarding and keeping power.  Our God is sovereign, all knowing and all powerful.  No one and nothing can take this living hope from us.  Our God secures it.  Our saving faith is permanent. 

We can rejoice then, despite our circumstances and look past our troubles to the fullness of joy of our eternal inheritance in the very presence of God. Believing, then, we joy inexpressible and full of glory.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us—Romans 8:18

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.—Romans 8:38-39

The Word of God is Living and Powerful...

I don’t think I am blessed more in the study of the Bible than when I meditate and memorize as I study.  My several month study in Psalm 119 was done this way. I have no words that I can use to aptly and succinctly explain how the meditation and memorization of it helped my heart, but of course I will try.  

As I meditated on Psalm 119, I could almost feel my brain growing...increasing in power and in wisdom just by repeating its verses and allowing the Spirit of God to use it to enlighten my mind and my heart.  It was as if I had been sitting in a dark room trying to see to read and someone came in and flipped on the light switch and at that moment everything became clear and I could see!  Grace illuminated truth entered my heart and ignited the synapses in my brain to fire and perform better.  The Presence of God in my life became, at that moment, very real...similarly to how I felt at the moment of my salvation. The first verse of this precious psalm says this:

Blessed are the undefiled in the way,

Who walk in the law of the LORD!

One of the tangible blessings that I walked away with after studying this Psalm was that I was truly able to walk “undefiled” in the way.  It put much truth to the lies that I had been unwittingly walking in and believing. Truth for error.  Right doctrine...right walk. 

I say with the Psalmist:

I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,

As much as in all riches.

I will meditate on Your precepts, 

And contemplate Your ways.

I will delight myself in Your statutes;

I will not forget Your word.—Ps 119:14-16

But He Gives More Grace...

As I read through the first several verses of James 4, I confess, I began to feel a little uneasy...especially when I reached verse 3. 

Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

For a minute or two I felt bombarded by my sin, my lack of prayer and mental lists of what I was or was not doing.  I started down  “Should” Road”.  The road that constantly questions what “I should” be doing and what I “should”not be doing or worse, what I am doing, but not doing correctly.  But then there was...

Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?—James 4:5

This verse was a balm to my anxious heart this morning.  I am so grateful that the Spirit of God who dwells in me, yearns jealously for me to have a single minded devotion to God.  The Spirit of Truth is on my side and He desires for me only that which is good.  My heart’s cry is the same...I want to please God with everything that is in me...I want His will and His will alone in my life. And if that is my desire, the Spirit of God will get me there, despite me. 

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

“God resists the proud,

But gives grace to the humble.”

This same Spirit who yearns jealously for me and convicts my heart when I am not faithful, is the same Spirit to whom I can cry out to for grace to help in my time of need in order that I can serve Him acceptably.   I can humbly draw near to the One who gives more grace and submit to Him with full assurance that His will for me is perfect.  He has my best interests at heart.  As I pray, He will align my will with His.  He will make His desires my desires. I am weak, but He is strong. I CAN rest and allow His Holy Spirit to do that good work in my heart as I seek Him.  

But I have trusted in Your mercy;

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

I will sing to the LORD,

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.—Psalm 13:5-6

Those Who Seek the LORD Understand All....

Evil men do not understand justice,

But those who seek the LORD understand all.—Proverbs 28:5

The difference between a evil man and one who seeks the LORD is literally night and day.   An evil man walks in the darkness and futility of his mind... his understanding, Ephesians 4 tells us, has been darkened and alienated from God because of the ignorance that is in him and the blindness of his heart.  The more he sins (and he cannot not sin) the darker his mind becomes.  Therefore, he cannot understand judgment, discern right from wrong or the truth from a lie.  God is not in his thoughts and he is ruled by his own lusts.  

For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.—John 3:20

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!—Matthew 6:22-23

A man of understanding seeks God and the more he seeks God the greater his understanding.  A man of understanding knows how much he needs God.  He understands his condition...he KNOWS he is wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.  God’s word rules his heart and his life. God’s glory is his goal and His favor is his joy.  A man of understanding has the mind of Christ. 

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;

A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

His praise endures forever.—Psalm 111:10

 "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.—John 7:17

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.  These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holyfn Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?”fn But we have the mind of Christ.—1 Corinthians 2:12-16

But the LORD Helped Me...

But the LORD helped me...

It took me quite a bit of time this morning to get to my bible reading.  I spent most of that time sitting in my chair, looking at the room around me and just feeling so very grateful for the life with which the Lord has blessed me.  I am, I confess, a morning person, but I have sat here or in comparable spots over the 20 years we have lived in this house and felt similarly.  The feeling doesn’t come from my circadian rhythms or my circumstances or even my coffee...it comes from the knowledge that the Lord is my strength and my song and He has become my salvation.  He is my strength in the midst of my trial and my song when my enemies have been defeated and the battle is past. Prior to coming to Christ, my life was a mess. If I had to use a Bible verse to describe it,  one from today’s reading in James comes to mind. 

For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved me, even when I was dead in trespasses, made me alive together with His Son.  My God “is become” my salvation.  From beginning to end I owe all to Him. He is in the big picture and also in every detail.  Both His sustaining and delivering grace are all over my life.  Since then, I have been assailed by griefs and losses, by doubts and fears, and by slander and betrayals, but I can, in retrospect of my past tribulations, say along with the Psalmist, “But the Lord helped me.”   My flesh and my heart fail, but my God is faithful...He is the strength of my heart forever. 

I called on the LORD in distress;

The LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.

The LORD is on my side;

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

The LORD is for me among those who help me;

Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.

It is better to trust in the LORD

Than to put confidence in man.

It is better to trust in the LORD

Than to put confidence in princes.—Ps 118:5-9

Let the Whole Earth Praise Him!

Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles!

Laud Him, all you peoples!

For His merciful kindness is great toward us,

And the truth of the LORD endures forever.

Praise the LORD!—Psalm 117

I am glad I took the time last night and spent a few minutes reading and rereading this Psalm.   Considering its length that wasn’t difficult.  It has the distinction of being the shortest Psalm, the shortest chapter in the Bible and it is also the middle chapter of the Bible.  What struck me first was that the Psalmist was exhorting the Gentiles to praise the Lord.  A bit out of place in the Old Testament.  I looked further and found that Paul quotes this Psalm in Romans 15 to show that God’s plan has always been to bring both Jew and Gentile into his kingdom.  Paul also quotes from the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:43, 2 Samuel and Isaiah in this chapter of Romans to prove God’s plan to the Jews from their own Scriptures.

Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,

9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:

“For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles,

And sing to Your name.”

10 And again he says:

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!”

11 And again:

“Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles!

Laud Him, all you peoples!”

12 And again, Isaiah says:

“There shall be a root of Jesse;

And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,

In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”—Romans 15:8-12

As I read this Psalm again this morning knowing more of its background, my thoughts went back to Genesis...to the very beginning before the fall...to Adam and Eve and then forward to Abraham and the covenant God made with him.  Our God is the God of Abraham and in his seed all the nations shall be blessed.  God keeps His promises!  My heart filled with praise.  

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.—2 Corinthians 1:20-22

Truly, His merciful kindness is great toward us!  He is kind to us, as his masterpieces (thinking Ephesians 2) and also merciful to us as sinners.  His truth endures forever.  He has kept his covenant promise to Abraham. 

I end with a quote from Matthew Henry which is beautiful and perfect here...

“God's mercy is the fountain of all our comforts and his truth the foundation of all our hopes, and therefore for both we must praise the Lord.”