Gordon Christian Fellowship

Daily Devotional - 09/30/2008

Christ is in our Midst!

One of the hardest virtues for me to practice, it seems, is perseverance.  Most Christians seem instinctively to turn to God in times of trouble.  I, on the other hand, seem sort of a “fair weather Christian”:  as long as things sail along smoothly, I’m fine.  But when things get stormy---either in reality, or more often, in my own imagination---I all too often turn away.  I sort of shut down, wallowing in self-pity and curling up in a sort of spiritual thumb-sucking fetal position, waiting for the storm to pass. 

If this description fits you (as it certainly does me), I have the perfect Rx for our plight:  Psalm 30.  For David in this wonderful piece reminds himself---and us---of just Who the Lord is and what He has done for us. 

The psalm begins by David reminding that God has always “lifted [us] up, and hast not made [our] foes to rejoice over [us].”  We who constantly rail at the news media for distorting the news, always emphasizing the negative and ugly, distorting what life in this country is really like, ought to consider that we treat God the same way.  Whatever the real or imagined difficulties that have induced my current funk, I constantly forget all the times that God did sustain me:  in times of real trouble, when my plane didn’t crash, when the worst that I thought could happen actually didn’t.  In fact, as a totally contingent creature, I ought to recognize that it is only God’s love that brought me into existence and that only that constant love sustains me at every moment.  If God should look away for only a moment, I would be no more.  “O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me.  O Lord Thou hast brought my soul from the grave; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.”  (vv. 2-3)

But, my skeptical side immediately replies, what about all the times when really bad things really did happen:  my father did die; intimate friendships have been ruptured; the burdens of age begin to afflict me.  What about all that “stuff,” I want to know.  Sometimes bad things do happen to good people (like me, my prideful self opines) or bad things happen to people who think themselves good (like me, my conscience admits).  What about then?  Where’s God in the midst of tsunamis, gas-chambers, stock market crashes?  We scoff at public skeptics asking such questions.  But am I any different?  Where is God, I demand, in the midst of all the “little stuff” whose accumulation over the years suddenly can weigh so heavily upon me? 

The mystery of God’s permissive will escapes me.  How a God of Love permits, endures the evils we perpetrate every day is “beyond my pay grade” as they say.  But David reminds us that the Lord’s anger “…endureth for but a moment, and in His favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (v. 5)  David’s verses are so rich with meaning that I will confine myself here to only one point:  the great king of Israel is giving us a glimpse of how providence “works.”  God really is in charge, and during bad times it’s easy to feel that He is angry with us.  We need to be careful, however, every time we attribute to God human actions.  When we are angry we say that we “lose our temper,” but manifestly God has nothing to “lose.”  We lose our temper often in surprise:  it’s so clear that what you are doing is wrong---or I have made it very clear to you why you are wrong---that I am surprised and angry that you would defy me.  But God is not surprised.  He knows and holds the sum total of my life in his hands right now, whether that life ends two minutes or two decades from now.  I think when the Scripture says that God is “angry,” it more often describes our understanding and reaction to God, rather than what God Himself “is” at a particular moment in time. 

But what David is really reminding us, in the psalm, is that God is ultimately in charge.  However black our real or imagined plight, God sees it, knows it, experiences it, shares it with us.  “Thou has put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.”(v. 11)  Our task is to be faithful, to trust in the Lord in good times and bad. 

David leaves us with a wonderful prayer that could enlighten the day:

“O Lord my God, I will give thanks to Thee forever.”  (v. 12) 

Gary

Feast of St. Gregory,  Equal-to-the-Apostles and Enlightener of Armenia

Psalm 30

A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David. ^[a]

 I will exalt You, O LORD, 
       for You lifted me out of the depths 
       and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

 O LORD my God, I called to You for help 
       and You healed me.

 O LORD, You brought me up from the grave; 
       You spared me from going down into the pit.

 Sing to the LORD, You saints of his; 
       praise His Holy Name.

 For His anger lasts only a moment, 
       but His favor lasts a lifetime; 
       weeping may remain for a night, 
       but rejoicing comes in the morning.

 When I felt secure, I said, 
       "I will never be shaken."

 O LORD, when You favored me, 
       You made my mountain stand firm; 
       but when You hid your face, 
       I was dismayed.

 To You, O LORD, I called; 
       to the Lord I cried for mercy:

 "What gain is there in my destruction,
       in my going down into the pit? 
       Will the dust praise You? 
       Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?

 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; 
       O LORD, be my help."

 You turned my wailing into dancing; 
       You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

 that my heart may sing to You and not be silent. 
       O LORD my God, I will give You thanks forever.

Daily Devotional - 09/29/2008

The Lord is with us!

Where I grew up out West, thunderstorms were a rare treat that only happened once or twice a year.  Like most children, I was frightened by the thunder at first but with a bit of effective trickery by my mom I soon lost that fear and began to anticipate the power found in the storms that gave rise to the lightning and thunder that followed.  To me though it was more than the searing bolts that scalded the evening sky or the sharp crack or long rumble that announced to all who could hear the storm's approach, arrival and eventual departure.  For me it was that the entire atmosphere seemed charged with a power that was beyond description on those August nights when the conditions were most favorable for the formation of the huge clouds that dominated the sky.  I can still remember the nights when I seemed to feed off of the energy and could run and play for what seemed like forever.

When I moved to Florida at the beginning of August of 1989 I was simply astounded that there was a thunderstorm at exactly 4:15 pm everyday for me to enjoy.  Later in my time at graduate school when my office was on the top floor of a five story building I would be sure to take a break each day to watch the storms roll in over the tree line.  When I moved to Kansas a few year later I could watch the storms coming for miles and I was introduced to an altogether more terrifying aspect of the storms-tornadoes.  Still, throughout the years, as my wife will tell you, I have never lost my love of thunderstorms nor have I ever failed to get a feeling that there was so much more to the experience than just the awe-inspiring spectacle that nature provided.  To be honest, I sometimes wonder if, had I been born in the Plains rather than out in the Far West, I would have pursued a career in meteorology and "stormchasing" rather than one in astronomy.

As I said, I am both transfixed and energized by the raw power of the storm.  As I think of this, I wonder what David, the shepherd boy, would have thought of such storms.  Far away from home, tending to his father Jesse's flocks as a boy I'm sure he must have had to sit through such events under the outcropping of a rock or in the mouth of a cave.  Perhaps he had been caught in a sudden downpour or had lightning strike just a few yards from where he stood and had felt the concussion of the shock wave produced by the heat expanded air and the shaking ground.  As a commander in Saul's army maybe he had seen what a thunderstorm might do to a massed group of men prepared to enter battle.  He had seen the confusion and fear the hail and wind and lightning had caused with so little seeming effort.  Perhaps, like me, he sensed something bigger than the storm in the storm itself.

When I read Psalm 29 I can imagine David, whether as a military commander or as the newly enthroned king of Israel sitting somewhere waiting out a storm as it raged around him.  As he waited, he turned his poet's eye to the tumult and saw through and beyond it to the God that was both within and above it.  In the thunder he heard the voice of God.  In the lightning he saw glory and light of the Creator of all things.  And then he thought of the gathering of God's people before the Holy of Holies and he understood how right the words they chanted to the Lord of the floods and the hail were, "Glory to God!"

So, as you read the words of Psalm 29 below do more than quietly recite them to yourself.  Place yourself in the middle of the thunderstorm.  See the flashes of lightning.  Hear the howl of the wind.  Feel the thunder roll through your body and all the world around you.  Taste the water and wind as they dance through the air.  Imagine all of the storm and find in it another example of nature doing what it was created to do and worshipping God in that.  In recalling storm's power, understand a fraction of the Lord's power and glory.  As you imagine all of these things (or experience them if you read this psalm during the next thunderstorm) take these words from the two dimensional page upon which they are written and make them three dimensional.  With that part of you that is in the image of God, imagine and make the words more than a poem but an experience of God.

Grace and Peace.

In Him,

Chad

Psalm 29 (From the New Century Version)

God in the Thunderstorm

A psalm of David.

 Praise the Lord, you angels; 
       praise the Lord's glory and power.
Praise the Lord for the glory of his name; 
       worship the Lord because he is holy. 

 The Lord's voice is heard over the sea. 
       The glorious God thunders; 
       the Lord thunders over the ocean. 
 The Lord's voice is powerful; 
       the Lord's voice is majestic.
 The Lord's voice breaks the trees; 
       the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
 He makes the land of Lebanon dance like a calf 
       and Mount Hermon jump like a baby bull.
 The Lord's voice makes the lightning flash.
 The Lord's voice shakes the desert; 
       the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
 The Lord's voice shakes the oaks 
       and strips the leaves off the trees. 
  In his Temple everyone says, "Glory to God!" 

 The Lord controls the flood. 
       The Lord will be King forever. 
 The Lord gives strength to his people; 
       the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Daily Devotional - 09/26/2008

The Lord is with us!

"Lord, have mercy!"  

This could be the summation of the heart of the message of Psalm 28.  David writes:

To you I call, O LORD my Rock; 
      do not turn a deaf ear to me. 
      For if You remain silent, 
      I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.

Hear my cry for mercy 
      as I call to You for help, 
      as I lift up my hands 
      toward Your Most Holy Place.

We don't know the occasion of David's writing this psalm but it is clear that he fears being cut off from God's goodness and providence.  He fears that God no longer has a place for him within His heart and so he cries out.  He fears the pit, the grave, the death that leaves one separated from the source of life.  He fears never hearing the word (or Word) of God again; the thought of eternal silence being particularly terrifying for the musician and poet.

"Lord, have mercy!"

For two thousand years this has been the cry of Christians who truly seek God.  These words are embedded in nearly every ancient rule, litany and liturgy of worship and prayer early Christianity produced.  It can express so many different things from the worshipper asking that God not carry out the right consequences of some evil.

When we have sinned against God and His love poured out on us.

"Lord, have mercy!"

When we feel suffering and deprivation.

"Lord, have mercy!"

When we wish good for ourselves and our loved ones.

"Lord, have mercy!"

When we see others suffering.

"Lord, have mercy!"

When we sense or experience anything that is not the will of God: persecution, prejudice, pride, greed, gluttony, the devaluing of human life.

"Lord, have mercy!"

When we wish for the grace of God to flow into our lives or the lives of others.

"Lord, have mercy!"

It is the cry that brings us to the foot of the throne of God with the attitude that we know that it is God's power and will that should reign supreme and yet, for that moment and in that place, may not.  It is in that cry where we submit to God and admit that all is not right with our world and our souls.  It is in this cry that we beg God to do something good for us or for someone else who desperately needs to have something good happen.

To be honest, it's something that in most churches and in most of our lives we don't do enough.  In my experience, it's not uncommon to go through an entire church worship service without ever asking for God's mercy.  We praise Him and talk about how great He is but we never undertake the exercise of humbling ourselves and asking for His mercy in our lives.  We talk about how God wants us to be rich or thin or politically conservative or morally responsible but you rarely hear a person or a congregation cry out,

"Lord, have mercy!"

If you read the entire psalm, David's expression of praise (vs 6-9) occurs after he has asked for God's mercy and is confident (literally "with faith") that he lives within it.  If we were to follow David's example here, we would begin our worship times not with songs of praise or celebration but with prayers of confession and contrition.  While such a model of worship probably doesn't have to be followed in every service, you have to ask when the last time you went to a service based on that formula was.

Lord, have mercy.

Grace and Peace.

In Him,

Chad

Psalm 28

Of David.

To you I call, O LORD my Rock; 
      do not turn a deaf ear to me. 
      For if You remain silent, 
      I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.

Hear my cry for mercy 
      as I call to You for help, 
      as I lift up my hands 
      toward Your Most Holy Place.

Do not drag me away with the wicked, 
      with those who do evil, 
      who speak cordially with their neighbors 
      but harbor malice in their hearts.

Repay them for their deeds 
      and for their evil work; 
      repay them for what their hands have done 
      and bring back upon them what they deserve.

Since they show no regard for the works of the LORD 
      and what His hands have done, 
      He will tear them down 
      and never build them up again.

Praise be to the LORD, 
      for He has heard my cry for mercy.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; 
      my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. 
      My heart leaps for joy 
      and I will give thanks to Him in song.

The LORD is the strength of His people, 
      a fortress of salvation for His anointed one.

Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; 
      be their Shepherd and carry them forever.

Daily Devotional - 09/25/2008

Christ is in our Midst! 

So often the days of the semester overwhelm me:  a seemingly endless series of lectures, classes, quizzes and grading; mix in “professional development,” as we call the constant quest to stay current in a field---you’d think history, since it’s all over and done with, would be far easier to keep up with than it actually is---a smattering of “community” duties to my wife, children and grandchildren, my church, and my weekly dose of self-humiliation that vaguely resembles golf, and often as I age I suddenly find myself almost paralyzed.  There are so many things I should do, want to, am asked to do:  I need to finish these scribblings so I can turn to another project before I get to class, give a quiz, start a lecture, etc. 

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed; easy to drift into self-pity and self-righteousness.  “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen,” runs the old spiritual, “nobody knows my sorrow.” 

The Fathers call the resultant condition “accidie,” a sort of spiritual paralysis.  S. John Cassian says accidie is a kind of spiritual sloth, a weariness that can lead to despair.  It is certainly a dangerous condition that can threaten our entire relationship with God.   

Psalm 27 is the perfect antidote to this condition. 

“The Lord is my light and my salvation,” David writes, “whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

From the outset the psalm seeks to reorient my thinking.  Note that in my self-serving and self-important laundry list of all things I must do, nowhere do I mention God.  So often when I feel overwhelmed the reason for being flummoxed lies in my forgetting God.  There’s a reason one of the Fathers is supposed to have said that one ought to pray for an hour a day unless he is extremely busy---extreme busyness on the other hand  requires the believer to dedicate two hours each day to prayer! 

David reminds that if I will but center myself on the “one thing needful,” the abiding and recognized (by me) presence of God in my life, everything else falls into place.  Even as his enemies marshal their forces against him, even as war threatens, the King trusts in God.  Like every mortal, David hopes that God will save him from his trials and misfortunes, but note the psalm’s close:  ultimately David doesn’t say that God will spare him; instead, David believes he will see the “goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (v. 13)  “Wait on the Lord,” David exhorts, “be of good courage and He shall strengthen thine heart.” (v. 14) 

As we continually profess, the “Lord’s goodness” is not always our material triumph.  Indeed, sometimes the “Lord’s goodness” manifests itself amidst the worst human atrocities.  Was God in the Twin Towers?  Was He with his people in the gas chambers of Auschwitz?  With those tormented in the Gulag?  Is He yearning to “be present”---for He is everywhere and fillest all things, as the ancient prayer runs---in my life, with its petty hurts and self-righteous sense of grievance?

The Christian answer to all those questions is of course a resounding “Yes!”  God never promised to abolish suffering, inextricably if mysteriously bound as it is in the mystery of free will.  God says instead “’[s]eek ye My face,’” and David replies “my heart said unto Thee, ‘Thy face O Lord will I seek.’” (v. 8)  If we will try to center our lives around God, then everything else falls into place, makes sense, assumes its rightful meaning.  We will remember God; we will realize He is with us in the midst of our sufferings, however petty or perilous those sufferings actually may be.    

So I think the prescription of the unknown desert father is spot on, exemplified by David’s words in Psalm 27.  We need always to pray, but that prayer should be intensified in times of trouble, whether that trouble is really only a magnified sense of self-importance at the day’s aggravations, or one of the supreme moments in our life.  We should pray like Our Lord prayed in the Garden:  it’s ok to ask for our “cup” to pass away, provided we accept that it is not our will, but the Lord’s will, that ought to prevail; and we should pray like King David, remembering that it is the Lord who is our “life and [our] salvation,” and that in every calamity, we should “wait on the Lord.”     

Gary

Feast of the repose of S. Sergius, abbot and wonderworker of the monastery at Radonezh.

Psalm 27

Of David.

 The LORD is my light and my salvation—
       whom shall I fear? 
       The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
       of whom shall I be afraid?

 When evil men advance against me 
       to devour my flesh,
       when my enemies and my foes attack me, 
       they will stumble and fall.

 Though an army besiege me, 
       my heart will not fear; 
       though war break out against me, 
       even then will I be confident.

 One thing I ask of the LORD, 
       this is what I seek: 
       that I may dwell in the house of the LORD 
       all the days of my life, 
       to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD 
       and to seek Him in His temple.

 For in the day of trouble 
       He will keep me safe in His dwelling; 
       He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle 
       and set me high upon a rock.

 Then my head will be exalted 
       above the enemies who surround me; 
       at His tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; 
       I will sing and make music to the LORD.

 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; 
       be merciful to me and answer me.

 My heart says of You, "Seek His face!" 
       Your face, LORD, I will seek.

 Do not hide Your face from me, 
       do not turn Your servant away in anger; 
       You have been my helper. 
       Do not reject me or forsake me, 
       O God my Savior.

 Though my father and mother forsake me, 
       the LORD will receive me.

 Teach me Your way, O LORD; 
       lead me in a straight path 
       because of my oppressors.

 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, 
       for false witnesses rise up against me, 
       breathing out violence.

 I am still confident of this: 
       I will see the goodness of the LORD 
       in the land of the living.

 Wait for the LORD; 
       be strong and take heart 
       and wait for the LORD.

Daily Devotional - 09/24/2008

The Lord is with us!

Every so often, amongst the psalms I read something that just terrifies me.  Today's psalm is one of those times.  Reading David's words:

Vindicate me, O LORD, 
      for I have led a blameless life; 
      I have trusted in the LORD 
      without wavering.

Test me, O LORD, and try me, 
      examine my heart and my mind;

for your love is ever before me, 
      and I walk continually in your truth.

I don't know about you but I don't think I can pray these words in their most literal sense.  I haven't led a blameless life.  I haven't always trusted the Lord or, more to the point, I haven't always submitted my will to His.  I haven't always kept His love before me and I don't walk continuously in His truth.  I want to do these things.  I really do (well, at least most of the time).  But as I've written before; just like Paul I don't always do the things I want to do and I do the very things I don't want to do.  With this in mind, the last thing I want is for the Lord to test and try me.  I know how that will go.  I'll do pretty good at first and then my pride will get the better of me and I'll start thinking that I'm really something great and then the fall will come.  I'll hurt someone with my words or I'll make a decision based solely on what I want without considering what God might have me do or I'll treat someone merely as an object for my own personal ends or something like that.  If you ask my wife, she can probably give you a much longer list of what happens when I get a little full of myself.  In a way, I have to wonder what might have happened in David's life the day after he wrote this bit of poetry.  Was he out on the roof one afternoon while his troops were off at the front...?  Maybe not but that's how it would have gone with me.

So if I'm terrified to pray the first part of this psalm, what value does it have for me?  Reading on:

I do not sit with deceitful men, 
      nor do I consort with hypocrites;

I abhor the assembly of evildoers 
      and refuse to sit with the wicked.

I wash my hands in innocence, 
      and go about your altar, O LORD,

proclaiming aloud your praise 
      and telling of all your wonderful deeds.

I love the house where you live, O LORD, 
      the place where your glory dwells.

Here I see a list of things I can do to try to stay close to God in my relationship with Him.  The first part of this speaks to the type of company we keep.  If you surround yourself with people whose sole purpose in life is to live towards no good ends it's a pretty good bet that even if you don't cause trouble there will be enough around that you'll get caught up in it.  We've all seen or know of people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and had bad things happen.  In most of those cases, they'd been in the wrong place for an long time.  Instead, David tells us that the place to be in at the Lord's altar and in His house doing His work.  Now while it is certainly possible to take this literally, I feel that a more inclusive perspective is of value here.  To often we Christians set up sort of a "church ghetto" where we all get together and sing our special songs and speak in our special language and segregate ourselves off from the world God has sent us out into.  While I'm not saying that we shouldn't go to church and worship and study and read, I am saying that when we forget that "All the world is God's and all the things that are in it" (to paraphrase an earlier psalm) we become irrelevant.  The lives of those around us are the altar where we are called, as Paul exhorts us, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.  When we live love and grace and peace and compassion into the experience of others we are living the praise of God into their very existence.  It this way, the psalm becomes powerfully meaningful to me and offers me hope beyond the brokenness of a sin-filled, death-ridden series of tests, trials and tribulations. 

Grace and Peace.

In Him,

Chad

Psalm 26

Of David.

Vindicate me, O LORD, 
      for I have led a blameless life; 
      I have trusted in the LORD 
      without wavering.

Test me, O LORD, and try me, 
      examine my heart and my mind;

for your love is ever before me, 
      and I walk continually in your truth.

I do not sit with deceitful men, 
      nor do I consort with hypocrites;

I abhor the assembly of evildoers 
      and refuse to sit with the wicked.

I wash my hands in innocence, 
      and go about your altar, O LORD,

proclaiming aloud your praise 
      and telling of all your wonderful deeds.

I love the house where you live, O LORD, 
      the place where your glory dwells.

Do not take away my soul along with sinners, 
      my life with bloodthirsty men,

in whose hands are wicked schemes, 
      whose right hands are full of bribes.

But I lead a blameless life; 
      redeem me and be merciful to me.

My feet stand on level ground; 
      in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.

Daily Devotional - 09/23/2008

Christ is in our Midst!

It is often said that there are basically four modes of prayer:  praise, thanksgiving, contrition and petition.  Psalm 25, by this standard, might be seen as the perfect, everyday, all-purpose prayer.

In the text David over and over praises God for His goodness, for His forgiveness, His willingness to rescue man from his afflictions.  “Good and upright is the Lord,” David insists. (v. 8)

Throughout the psalm David repeatedly thanks God for all that He has done already.  He recalls “Thy tender mercies and Thy lovingkindnesses.” (v. 6)  Truly this is a God Who has throughout history shown His love for mankind, the psalm reminds.

Repeatedly David asks for forgiveness.  He confesses sins of his past:  “remember not the sins of my youth”; (v. 7)  He confesses his present sins:  “pardon mine iniquity for it is great.” (v. 11)  The Psalmist links this sin to his afflictions:  “look upon my afflictions and my pain, and forgive all my sins.” (v. 18)

Finally, David asks the Lord’s intercession.  “Turn Thee unto me and have mercy on me,” he implores, “for I am desolate and afflicted.  The troubles of my heart are enlarged; O bring Thou me out of my distresses.” (vv. 16-17)  Yet even while mired in his own problems and perils, he remembers to intercede for others:  “Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.” (v. 22)

Often there are times that prayer just won’t “come.”  I am too tired, too angry, too sad, too wrapped up in my own weariness and self-pity and despair to pray.  It is precisely in these times that a prayerbook can be of such value.  And what “prayerbook” is better than the Psalter, the Church’s first and most important collection of prayers.  I can turn to psalm 25 and say to God:  ‘Lord, I really don’t feel much like doing this---You know all the reasons why:  all the stuff that happened today that seems unfair or painful or numbing.  I sort of read this under protest; I know I should pray but I don’t much feel like even reading the words.  Help me with this!’

I suspect that if we would but do this---if we would but read the words slowly and reflectively, taking at most, what, two minutes?---two things would happen.  I believe God would honor that prayer as an authentic expression of our real selves; and I believe we would slowly but surely be transformed by the Psalmist’s words.  We would see the truth of his description of the universal human condition; how his words apply to me, right now, in my situation.  We would reflect on God’s goodness in sustaining all of us in our individual plight; we would beg God to forgive us when we have failed Him; and we would ask God to lift and transform the burdens that oppress us. 

We would, in short, be really praying.  And that, paradoxically, is perhaps the chief benefit in reading formal prayers like the psalms:  in reading the prayers of others, we ourselves can be drawn into the web of prayer. 

Gary

Feast of the Nativity of S. John the Baptist

Psalm 25

Of David.

 To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul;

 in You I trust, O my God. 
       Do not let me be put to shame, 
       nor let my enemies triumph over me.

 No one whose hope is in You 
       will ever be put to shame, 
       but they will be put to shame 
       who are treacherous without excuse.

 Show me Your ways, O LORD, 
       teach me Your paths;

 guide me in Your truth and teach me, 
       for You are God my Savior, 
       and my hope is in You all day long.

 Remember, O LORD, Your great mercy and love, 
       for they are from of old.

 Remember not the sins of my youth 
       and my rebellious ways; 
       according to Your love remember me, 
       for You are good, O LORD.

 Good and upright is the LORD; 
       therefore He instructs sinners in His ways.

 He guides the humble in what is right 
       and teaches them His way.

 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful 
       for those who keep the demands of His covenant.

 For the sake of Your name, O LORD, 
       forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? 
       He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.

 He will spend his days in prosperity, 
       and his descendants will inherit the land.

 The LORD confides in those who fear Yim; 
       He makes His covenant known to them.

 My eyes are ever on the LORD, 
       for only He will release my feet from the snare.

 Turn to me and be gracious to me, 
       for I am lonely and afflicted.

 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; 
       free me from my anguish.

 Look upon my affliction and my distress 
       and take away all my sins.

 See how my enemies have increased 
       and how fiercely they hate me!

 Guard my life and rescue me; 
       let me not be put to shame, 
       for I take refuge in You.

 May integrity and uprightness protect me, 
       because my hope is in You.

 Redeem Israel, O God, 
       from all their troubles!

Daily Devotional - 09/22/2008

The Lord is with us!

Selah.  This word occurs twice in Psalm 24 and has occurred in a couple of the psalms we have discussed in the past.  What si the meaning of this Hebrew word.  As far as I know, we don't really, exactly know what this word means (perhaps Dr. Burstein could enlighten me) but several of the commentators I've had a chance to consult suggest that this word might indicate a time in the psalm for the musicians and the singers/readers to pause for reflection.  It is an indication that the reader should take a few moments and think about what has just been said or sung.  IF that is in fact the case,t hen Psalm 24 can be thought of as being broken into two parts.

The first part is a declaration of God's sovereignty over all of creation and His fitness to decide who is able to come up to worship Him.  In many ways, this first part of the psalm reflects to monologue that God speaks to Job after Job has demanded to know why he is suffering when he has lived an upright and pure life.  God's answer there is much like what we read here: I am God and I have made all of creation.  And who are you, exactly?  It is God's standards we must meet to come up to worship on His holy hill, in His holy temple.  As Gary has written and perhaps the reflection gives us space to consider, too often we think we can set our own standards, usually by comparison with someone we think is so much less suitable to approach God.  We think or even say (as the Pharisee did once in the Temple) that we aren't as bad as that other person.  We haven't done this or said that or thought some other thing that we just know this other person did and so we conclude that we are OK to enter into the presence of God.  Of course, you remember who Jesus said was justified in such a case; it was the man who confessed his own unworthiness to enter into the presence of God who was actually the one closest to him.

One of the most powerful things Metropolitan Anthony Bloom writes in his book, "Beginning to Pray," is that too often we come before God in prayer only to find Him absent or distant from us.  Sometimes when this happens we blame God or we think our "technique" of prayer is wrong. Bloom says that we should be thankful in this instance.  His reasoning is that if God can not stand sin and must destroy it then when we approach Him with a heart full of sin and pride we're probably better off that He isn't there.  We can't get our hands clean enough and our hearts pure enough to approach God.  As Isaiah writes, our purest deeds and thoughts are like filthy rags when brought to God.  Yet, if we are willing to approach Him with a heart full of humility and beg His mercy, then He can take away our rebellion and iniquity just as he did with Isaiah.

The second part of the psalm is a shout or proclamation to all of the world that the Lord is King of all creation.  It is a recognition of the rulership of God over all things and that all things should acknowledge His power and might and majesty and glory.  Twice the refrain is repeated with the question, "Who is this King of glory?" and the response that it is the LORD.  Perhaps this part was sung as a call and response with the leader of worship asking the question and the congregation returning the answer in chant or song.  I wonder if in our lives we are asked this question over and over by all that surrounds us.  Doesn't the beauty and majesty of creation ask us, "Who is the King of glory?"  Doesn't the pain and suffering of the a world shattered by sin and death ask us the question, "Who is this King of glory?"  Don't our friends who seek Truth and Love ask us, "Who is this King of glory?"  And what is our response?  Do our lives shout back, "The LORD Almighty-He is the King of glory"?  Not our words mind you, but the way we live, the things we value and the way we treat those things and people that ask us the question.

Perhaps that is what the ending "Selah" asks us to reflect on.

Grace and Peace.

In Him,

Chad

Psalm 24

Of David. A psalm.

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, 
      the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it upon the seas 
      and established it upon the waters.

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ? 
      Who may stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart, 
      who does not lift up his soul to an idol 
      or swear by what is false.

He will receive blessing from the LORD 
      and vindication from God his Savior.

Such is the generation of those who seek him, 
      who seek your face, O God of Jacob.

Selah

Lift up your heads, O you gates; 
      be lifted up, you ancient doors, 
      that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory? 
      The LORD strong and mighty, 
      the LORD mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O you gates; 
      lift them up, you ancient doors, 
      that the King of glory may come in.

Who is he, this King of glory? 
      The LORD Almighty— 
      he is the King of glory. 

Selah

Daily Devotional - 09/19/2008

The Lord is with us!

What to write about the most well known and most extensively commentated upon of all of the psalms?  In our culture, almost everyone knows the opening lines of "The Shepherd's Psalm".  Entire books have been written about this transcendent piece of poetry, almost all fo them better than anything I might add.  Yet on this evening my task is to write something that might hold your attention for a few minutes, perhaps give you encouragement for the weekend and shine just a little light into a world sometimes too dark.  (One of my favorite quotes right now comes from musician Bono of U2.  He says, "You should never try to fight darkness with light.  You should just try to make the light brighter.")

So here we have the song of a shepherd king to a Shepherd God.  To me this speaks of the fact that we all speak of God from our experience. Had David been a carpenter or a winemaker the psalm would still have held within it themes of guidance, provision and protection but the metaphors used would have been different.  But enough stalling, let's get to the psalm itself.

I think there one thing I would like to write about this evening.

It comes from the portion speaking of walking through the valley.  Many interpret this passage incorrectly to mean that God will either keep them from harm or ill in this life or that He will rescue them from whatever difficulty they may encounter.  To be completely honest (and I know that I may be going where angels fear to tread here) I don't see that in this passage.  What I see is David expressing his confidence that regardless of whatever happens to him, God will be there through it all.  The rod and staff signify that God will guide him in the bad times and protect him from the worst things that can happen but nowhere is there any indication that God will magically pluck him from the valley and set him back beside the stream.  Too often we have this picture that once we become Christians, life will get better.  We won't be as poor or as lonely or as heartbroken or whatever.  We think we'll no longer struggle with temptation and sin and al the rest.  God doesn't promise to remove us from those things.  Instead He promises to stand with us and, if we will stand with Him, deliver us from their dominion over our lives.

Too often, we Christians come across as either completely doom and gloom no fun types who condemn anything that looks like it might bring joy or as suggesting simplistic and naive perspectives on the world.  When we quote this type of Scripture and then go on about "pie-in-the-sky" and quiet streams, a cynical world just shakes its collective head and points to corporate greed on Wall Street and homeless tent cities springing up in and around our nation's largest cities (to grab jut a couple of headlines from today's news).  They ask, "Where's your shepherd God now? Who's tending the flock?  Why are the wolves the one's who seem to be living it up?"  Their questions are good ones as a response to an inaccurate picture of God's benevolence and providence.  When we portray God in that way we are giving a picture of Him as some sort of "slot machine" or "Santa Claus" deity whose job it seems to be to distribute the goodies in some sort of equitable fashion.

The better picture we should offer to the world is a God who stands in the midst of their struggles and tragedies.  They should understand that if "God felt the hammer in the palm of His hand, then God knows the way they feel" to quote songwriter David Wilcox.  God does call out for fairness and mercy and human justice where the poor and oppressed, the orphan and the widow, the addicted and the broken are cared for by His people and His church and His body.  But until the time comes when the world can sing a new song; one marked by compassion instead of greed, love instead of hate and gentleness instead of passion, He will stand with those who travel the darkest of roads.  

This may be hard for you to believe but I think we have to understand that God stands not only with those who are holy or righteous or religious but with those who are lost and broken.  We have no trouble thinking of God in the midst of our Bible study gatherings and worship services.  We can see Him walking next to the Christian martyr through a time of persecution even to death and with the family that prays at their meals together and in the morning and in the evening.  But we have a lot more trouble thinking of God walking with the prostitute as he or she looks for the next trick.  We get uncomfortable thinking of God in the back alley of some run down part of the city with a heroin junkie (or it could be a fashion runway for that matter).  No one paints striking pictures to sell in Lifeway of God with the homeless beggar or the prison inmate or the AIDS victim even though there is story after story after story of Jesus eating with people on the darkest days of their lives.

So, as you go forward into your weekend remember two things.  No matter how bad things may be in your life, no matter how broken or hopeless or dark things may be, God has not abandoned you.  He...is...right...there.  Also, no matter how lost a person may seem to you, no matter how far they seem to be from God, no matter how abandoned by society and culture someone might be, God has not abandoned them.  Again, He...is...right...there.

Grace and Peace.

In Him,

Chad

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, 
      He leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul. 
      He guides me in paths of righteousness 
      for His name's sake.

Even though I walk 
      through the valley of the shadow of death, 
      I will fear no evil, 
      for You are with me; 
      Your rod and Your staff, 
      they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me 
      in the presence of my enemies. 
      You anoint my head with oil; 
      my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me 
      all the days of my life, 
      and I will dwell in the house of the LORD 
      forever.

Daily Devotional - 09/18/2008

“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”  The anguished cry from the lonely Man on the central Cross has rung down the millennia, prompting perhaps more Scriptural exegesis than any other single line in the Bible.  It has been used to “prove” that Jesus is not God; that Jesus is in essence two people, God and a mere man; that God did not suffer; that God abandoned the mere human Jesus in the Passion which was in essence a cruel trick played on an ignorant, surprised country rabbi---there were early heretics so anxious to deny Christ’s sufferings that they even claimed Jesus had somehow “traded places” with some poor bystander, and as the most merciless of tricksters stood laughing in the crowd at the crucifixion of the wrong man.

So what was this cry from the Cross?  A groan of anguish, of agony, certainly.  But a cry of uncomprehending anger?  Of betrayal?

Let’s begin by admitting up front that we will never know, at least in this life, exactly what Our Lord was thinking in extremis, in His humiliation and fear and unbearable pain.  What we say here must begin in frank admission that we cannot know, indeed shouldn’t presume to know, how the Divine economy “worked” at this particular awful moment in history.  We can only speculate, and that speculation from the first must be clothed in the awe and wonder and humility that must accompany any attempt to contemplate the Divine mystery.   

Certainly those who went out to see the Crucifixion---what does it say about us humans that throughout history, we flock to public executions?---were befuddled by these words from the Cross.  “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” (Matt. 27:46) the Aramaic runs.  “Some of those who stood there, when they heard this, said, ‘This man calleth for Elijah.’” (Matt. 27: 47)  When Jesus almost immediately(according to John’s account) cries, “I thirst,” (John 19: 28), the on-lookers (again back in Matthew’s account) order someone who is about to give Jesus something to drink (a bitter vinegar) to “Let be; let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” (Matt. 27: 49)

To try to understand the Savior’s words it is necessary to go back to their source:  Psalm 22.  A thousand years before Christ David had composed one of the most powerful, heartrending songs ever written.  The king of Israel laments his abandonment; he describes in great detail his sufferings:  he is despised by the people around him; he is laughed to scorn; he is reviled because he trusts in the Lord:  indeed, his enemies grandly announce that they will gather to see if God will really save him.  Besides this torrent of abuse, David has real physical sufferings.  He is “poured out like water”; all his bones are “out of joint.”  His hands and feet are “pierced,” and he can “number all his bones.”  His enemies steal even his clothing, and they gamble to see who will claim it.

Whatever else Our Lord wanted us to glean from His words in pain, it is clear that He identified Himself with the suffering victim of the psalm, and He wanted us likewise to see Him in David’s words.  We do not know what caused David to write this psalm---was the future somehow revealed to him?  Did he have a vision of the “suffering Servant?”  With God all things are possible, of course, but it is just as likely that David wrote only about himself, perhaps with no inkling that his words would describe in detail the sufferings of the God-Man a millennium later.  But Our Lord, the “observant Jew” as He has been described in modern scholarship, certainly knew David’s words.  He could apply them to Himself because He knew them and that they had been written about Him.  Indeed He had accomplished all things “that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” 

But there is a second and vital sense in which Psalm 22 applies to Our Lord.  Christians have been so struck by the prophetic nature of the first part of the psalm, its description in great detail of Christ’s sufferings, that too often we ignore the rest of the psalm, which triumphantly proclaims the Lord’s ultimate victory.  David insists that the Lord is not far from him; that he will continue to praise the God who will not abandon the afflicted; that ultimately all, even the great of the earth, will acknowledge and worship the Lord.  What begins in anguish ends in triumph. 

Such is the story of the Lord’s saving Passion.  Such too, can be the story of our own lives if we but unite them to the God Who made us, loves us, saves us.  In His moment of deepest suffering Our Lord prayed Psalm 22; we can be reasonably certain that after His great cry---one of the tortures of crucifixion is slow asphyxiation, so talking is initially labored and then increasingly difficult the longer the victim is on the cross---He prayed the rest of the psalm.  Even in the anguish of approaching death Christ proclaims His Father’s goodness and approaching victory. 

So whatever the other theological insights one can glean from this psalm, it can serve as a model for our own prayer.  We can bring our anger, pain, and incomprehension to God.  We can, we must, be honest with Him.  What we will frequently find when we do this, I think, is that if we are honest and faithful in our prayer, we will find our sorrows transformed---much like David’s initial despair in his great hymn.     

Gary

Afterfeast of the Elevation of the Precious, Holy, and Life-Creating Cross; feast of St. Eumenius, Bishop of Gortyna, (7^thcen).

Psalm 22

For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David.

 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 
       Why are you so far from saving me, 
       so far from the words of my groaning?

 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, 
       by night, and am not silent.

 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; 
       you are the praise of Israel.

 In you our fathers put their trust; 
       they trusted and you delivered them.

 They cried to you and were saved; 
       in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

 But I am a worm and not a man, 
       scorned by men and despised by the people.

 All who see me mock me; 
       they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

 "He trusts in the LORD; 
       let the LORD rescue him. 
       Let him deliver him, 
       since he delights in him."

 Yet you brought me out of the womb; 
       you made me trust in you 
       even at my mother's breast.

 From birth I was cast upon you; 
       from my mother's womb you have been my God.

 Do not be far from me, 
       for trouble is near 
       and there is no one to help.

 Many bulls surround me; 
       strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

 Roaring lions tearing their prey 
       open their mouths wide against me.

 I am poured out like water, 
       and all my bones are out of joint. 
       My heart has turned to wax; 
       it has melted away within me.

 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, 
       and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; 
       you lay me in the dust of death.

 Dogs have surrounded me; 
       a band of evil men has encircled me, 
       they have pierced my hands and my feet.

 I can count all my bones; 
       people stare and gloat over me.

 They divide my garments among them 
       and cast lots for my clothing.

 But you, O LORD, be not far off; 
       O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

 Deliver my life from the sword, 
       my precious life from the power of the dogs.

 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; 
       save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

 I will declare your name to my brothers; 
       in the congregation I will praise you.

 You who fear the LORD, praise him! 
       All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! 
       Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

 For he has not despised or disdained 
       the suffering of the afflicted one; 
       he has not hidden his face from him 
       but has listened to his cry for help.

 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; 
       before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

 The poor will eat and be satisfied; 
       they who seek the LORD will praise him— 
       may your hearts live forever!

 All the ends of the earth 
       will remember and turn to the LORD, 
       and all the families of the nations 
       will bow down before him,

 for dominion belongs to the LORD 
       and he rules over the nations.

 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; 
       all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— 
       those who cannot keep themselves alive.

 Posterity will serve him; 
       future generations will be told about the Lord.

 They will proclaim his righteousness 
       to a people yet unborn— 
       for he has done it.

Daily Devotional - 09/17/2008

The Lord is with us!

 

When the first psalms were written, the nation of Israel was coming to terms with a fairly new idea; that of having a king.  In the period prior to the prophet Samuel, the tribes of Israel had been held together as a somewhat loose confederation of peoples who were told to worship God, each from their own homes and lands.  When a national leader was needed, God would raise up a person who would lead the children of Jacob through whatever challenges faced them at the time (usually conquering peoples from other lands).  Once the threat or issue had been dealt with, the nation returned to the pattern of semi-autonomous self-rule with God as the true leader of the people.

 In the eleventh century BC, this attitude changed and the people began to clamor to have a king to lead and rule and protect them.  Even though Samuel prophesied that the Israelites would one day regret having a king who would lord his position over them and lead the nation astray, the people cried out to God and so they were given a human ruler.  The first person anointed king, Saul, turned out to be a disaster.  While the beginning of his reign was marked by an attitude of submission to the will of God, Saul soon began to take what was God’s and keep it for himself.  Because of this, God abandoned His blessing of Saul’s reign and sought out a new person to rule His people.  After a time of searching, God’s prophet Samuel found David and anointed him as Israel’s ruler.

 For a time though, Saul remained on the throne and there was a period of instability as he alternatively sought to do God’s will with the hopes of receiving back the kingdom and trying to kill David.  In time, Saul eventually is defeated by forces led by David and the first king of Israel took his own life leaving David to rule.  When David ascends to the throne he moves his capital to the old city of Jerusalem and establishes a stable government there for the first time.  In his actions as king during this time, David is careful to seek and enact the will of Israel’s true King in the lands.  He treats all people fairly, he works to claim all of the lands God had promised the people and he works hard to remove all idol worship in the kingdom.  Because of this God blesses David’s rule and the nation of Israel truly flourishes for the first time. 

 Psalm 21 is an acknowledgment of this relationship between the human king of Israel and the real King.  David is granted victories and wealth and is to be seen as a symbol of the security and prosperity of the entire nation during this time.  By trusting in the Most High God, David’s and Israel’s enemies are thwarted by God’s mighty right hand and all of the ill they plot for the kingdom comes to nothing.  The psalm, in this context, is a psalm of thanksgiving and secure orientation within the grace of God.

 So how do the words of this psalm apply to us today? 

 For some, the obvious meaning is that if you do what God tells you to do you will be protected from all harm, you will be wealthy, you will successful in everything you do and you will have shiny, white teeth. (OK, maybe not that last one but have you ever seen someone who promises those kinds of things who didn’t have shiny, white teeth?)  Get yourself lined up right with God, they say, and you’ll never have to worry for anything again.  Of course, with that comes the obvious corollary that if you aren’t healthy, wealthy and successful in all things then you must be lined up right with God.  But for just a small donation, you can get an eight step method for getting right with God and having everything you ever imagined (I think Gary wrote last year that he has a plan and it’ll only cost you $39.99 to get it).

 As I’m sure you can tell from my tongue-in-cheek characterization of this point of view that I don’t agree with it.  So why do I think it’s wrong.  First, the covenant between the nation of Israel and God specifically said that if the nation, through its leadership, followed God and God alone then He would bless them with prosperity in the form of good harvests, material wealth and protection from enemies.  This psalm is an affirmation and reminder that God has kept up His part of the “deal”.  The covenant that God has enacted in and through Christ is very different.  When we choose to enter into the covenant we are agreeing that God is the Lord and King of our lives individually.  We are saying that we will live in faith or, in other words, we are agreeing to submit ourselves to His will and to trust that He will guide us in “paths of righteousness as benefits His name.”  In return, God says that He has conquered sin and death and they we can come and share in that victory; one that is greater than any David achieved on the battlefield.

 And so I read this psalm into my life in two ways.  First, God has conquered sin and death on my behalf.  In doing so He has open a Way from me to Him that allows me to come into relationship with Him.  He agrees to dwell within me through the person of the Holy Spirit and to empower my attempts to live a life that reflects His love, mercy, grace and justice.  Second, God will help me to destroy all the idols in my life, the sins that I harbor and the schemes and plans the adversary hatches both within me and against me.  If I will let Him teach me, lead me and guide me He will bless me not with material riches but with joy and hope, peace and compassion, grace and forgiveness.

When I am able to live within the promises of God, I can too can sing this psalm of thanksgiving.

Grace and Peace.

In Him,

Chad

Psalm 21

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

 O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength. 

       How great is his joy in the victories you give!

 You have granted him the desire of his heart 
       and have not withheld the request of his lips. 
      

 Selah

 You welcomed him with rich blessings 

       and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.

 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him— 
       length of days, for ever and ever.

 Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; 
       you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.

 Surely you have granted him eternal blessings 
       and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

 For the king trusts in the LORD; 
       through the unfailing love of the Most High 
       he will not be shaken.

 Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; 
       your right hand will seize your foes.

 At the time of your appearing 
       you will make them like a fiery furnace. 
       In his wrath the LORD will swallow them up, 
       and his fire will consume them.

 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, 
       their posterity from mankind.

 Though they plot evil against you 
       and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed;

 for you will make them turn their backs 
       when you aim at them with drawn bow.

 Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength; 
       we will sing and praise your might.