Meditations

So…be wondering what’s going on with Meditations lately?

Well, we’re on hiatus…taking a break…getting ready for a reboot.  The blog is about to make a comeback, so hold on.  In a few days, you will see a brand new look and a refreshing new approach to our daily interactions with God’s Word.  We think it’s it going to be fun!

Thanks for your patience!

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again.
Ecclesiastes 1:9

Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every
one that heareth it shall tingle.
1 Samuel 3:11

Read II Samuel 20:1-24:25

Discounts Not Accepted

I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.
II Samuel 24:24

Go Deep: There is nothing wrong with looking for the best deal.  We are to be good stewards of the finances God has entrusted to us and go after the finest quality at the most affordable price.  But when it comes to that which we are called to sacrifice unto the Lord, it is to be just that—a sacrifice!

If what we give to God cost us nothing; if we have cut corners or gone on the cheap or have manipulated a discount; if we give second hand or second best when we could have done better, then it is not a sacrifice.  God deserves our best.  Now understand that our best is not to be compared to someone else’s best—it is simply that which for us is of the highest quality and the deepest devotion and the greatest love.

King David illustrates this kind of costly sacrifice here as we close the book on II Samuel.  This story was important enough that the Holy Spirit inspired the human author to include it in this inspired account of David, thus leading us to conclude that it represents a principle of giving God expects us to observe.

The context of this story is David’s refusal to accept a plot of land for free—land that the prophet Gad had instructed the king to secure upon which he was to build an altar.  The altar was for a sacrifice that would absolve David of his guilt in wrongly ordering a census of Israel’s fighting men and stop the plague that God has visited upon the nation that had resulted from David’s disobedient act.  The sacrifice David wanted to make was a serious one—there were 70,000 fresh Israelite graves to prove it.  The altar to be built to accommodate that sacrifice had been ordered by God—so this was a matter of utmost importance.

After Gad’s instruction, David went to Araunah, who owned the land where the angel of the Lord had ceased his destruction of the Israelites, and this was the spot where the sacrifice was to take place.  Araunah responded to David’s request to buy the land by offering it for free—along with the sacrificial elements—all in the name of the Lord.  But David refused this generous offer, insisting on paying full price for both the land and the animals to be sacrificed.

In refusing to accept the land for free or at a discount, David established an enduring and God-honoring principle for sacrifice:  “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God offerings that cost me nothing.”  God always asks for our best—and he deserves nothing less!

So how are you doing in the sacrifice department?  Does that which you offer God cost you your best—that which represents your highest quality and the deepest devotion and the greatest love?  If not, now is the time to start a new pattern of giving.  If it does, keep it up!

Just Saying… Charles Thomas Studd wrote, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

Read Psalm 57:1-59:17

I’m Still Standing

But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.
Psalm 59:16

Go Deep: David was in trouble—due to no fault of his own.  He had been a model citizen.  In fact, he had proven himself a true national hero during a military crisis when the courage of Israel’s warriors had failed them. As you know from I Samuel 17, David had unintentionally made a name for himself on the battlefield by killing Goliath of Gath—the champion-giant of Israel’s archenemy, the Philistines.

As a result of this heroic act, David, still a young man, was recruited into King Saul’s army, and fast-tracked right to the top as captain and confidante to the moody and maniacal king.  He was even given Saul’s daughter, Michal, as his wife.  But things turned bad when the unstable king began to show signs of irrational and insane jealousy toward David. It got so bad that he took out a hit on David’s life.

This psalm was written when David got wind of Saul’s plan, forcing him to leave his wife, abandon his home and flee for his life.  As you can see from the title given in the Psalter (Psalm 59:1), Saul had sent his henchmen to stake out David’s house in order to carry out their immoral and illegal plot (Psalm 59:3). And according to David’s song, they were doing more that just trying to murder him: They were attempting to assassinate his character in the eyes of a nation that had come to adore him as their warrior-hero (Psalm 59:10-11).  So David writes about them and puts a tune to it—a song that immortalizes their evil and invites divine destruction down upon their heads.

So what does a psalm like this have to do with you? Is there anything in David’s diatribe meant for your edification today?  My answer is “yes”—this psalm is edifying and it does have everything to do with you. You see, although I doubt that you will ever have a “hit” taken out on your life, chances are there will be people in your life from time to time who will try to assassinate your character and ruin your reputation.  When that happens, you can reach back to David’s experience and, if nothing else, remember this one thing:

Though people can kill your body, assassinate your character, and ruin your reputation,
They can never steal your song.

At the end of the day, evil people will be no more, but your integrity will keep you in favored standing with the only One who has the power of eternal life and death.  Powerful people may try to bring you down, but God is your “Strength”; they may try to force you out, but you have One whose name is “Fortress”. (Psalm 59:9,16) They may make your life miserable, but you belong to One who is your “Shield”. (Psalm 59:11)

Evil people and unfair times will pass, but God stands forever—and since you belong to Him, you will stand forever, too!  So go ahead friend and sing. I normally don’t recommend Elton John songs for worship, but you may want to even sing one of his:  I’m Still Standing.

Just Saying… The Puritan preacher, Thomas Watson said, “Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset; eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise.”

Read II Samuel 15:1-19:43

The Wages of Sin—The Grace of God

Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor
in the LORD’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling
place again. But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready;
let him do to me whatever seems good to him.”
II Samuel 15:25-26

Go Deep: The sin-seeds sown by David through his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband to cover up the pregnancy that had resulted from the affair were now being harvested in the rebellion of the king’s son, Absalom.  David had been completely forgiven by God (II Samuel 12:13), but his sin had set into motion a series of tragic consequences, which Nathan the prophet had predicted (II Samuel 12:14), that would devastate David both personally and publically.

The low point of David’s kingship must have been Absalom’s conspiracy, coup and then the resultant death of this favorite son. The events of this dark season were beyond tragic for David and Israel, and so unnecessary—as is always the case with sin.  Certainly the Apostle Paul’s assessment of sin was spot on: “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23a)  One sin, and as a result, the stench of death was in the air over all Israel—both literally and figuratively.

In spite of David’s self-inflicted disaster, however, the king found a way to reach into the reservoir of Divine grace and wisdom available to every believer and humbly submit himself to the merciful hand of God as he journeyed through this sin-harvest season. And as David did, he found just what he needed, especially at times like this: Even more of God’s great grace.

What is it that releases God’s great grace at times when grace is the last thing we deserve?  It was that which always moves the heart and hand of God: True humility and complete submission to the sovereignty of God.  David truly meant what he said—I am ready to receive whatever God has for me—let him do whatever his wisdom would dictate.

Now that is an incredibly mature response to a self-induced disaster.  Unlike some people who whine, blame and pout, David demonstrated confidence in the judgment of God, he focused on God’s presence in the moment and left restoration—if there was to be any—to a later time, and he submitted himself completely to the will of God, no matter what the divine plan would bring about.  Such humility of heart and submission to the Sovereign’s will are the very reasons God himself proclaimed David to be a man after God’s own heart despite the many mistakes he made throughout his lifetime.

It is that very posture, when it comes from an authentic heart before God, that allows the second half of Romans 6:23 rather than the first half to become the defining reality of our lives: “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  For sure, we have been promised life in the age to come, but when we yield our sin-prone selves to God through true repentance and humble submission, some of that eternal life is leaked to us in the here and now.

Just Saying… Thomas Merton wrote, “If we are willing to accept humiliation, tribulation can become, by God’s grace, the mild yoke of, His light burden.” Now that’s sometime to chew on!

Read Mark 15:1-16:20

When The Father Turned His Back On The Son

Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until
the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Mark 15:33

Go Deep: Frederick the Great, was the King of Prussia for almost a half century in the 1700’s. He was in Potsdam when he encountered one of his generals, who was in his severe disfavor. At their meeting the general saluted with the greatest respect, but Frederick abruptly turned his back on the officer. To that, the general humbly said, “I am happy to see that Your Majesty is no longer angry with me.”

That got Frederick’s attention, so he turned and asked, “How so?”

The general responded, “Because Your Majesty has never in his life turned his back on an enemy.”

It was said that the general’s daring statement led to his reconciliation with Frederick.

There was another time in a far more important place when God turned his back on his Son as he hung on the cross. In that moment, the Father treated his Son as an enemy; his wrath was poured out on him as he hung on that cross. Jesus became God’s enemy and paid the price of reconciliation so you could become God’s friend.

On the cross, Jesus took on your sins and mine—he became sin for us.  It was our sin, the sins of the whole world, that he bore on the tree, and it was that sin at which God’s righteous anger was directed. The Apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians 5:21,

“For God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Simply, yet marvelously, Christ’s death on the cross was the only means to our reconciliation with God. Jesus paid the ultimate price to satisfy God’s righteous wrath and bring us peace with God.

We who were enemies were brought near to God, now as friends.  How wonderful, how marvelous, is God’s saving love for us.  By Christ’s death, we were once sinners, but now God’s friends.

Just Saying… Martin Luther wrote, “Christ took our sins and the sins of the whole world as well as the Father’s wrath on his shoulders, and he has drowned them both in himself so that we are thereby reconciled to God and become completely righteous.”  If you are a Christian, it doesn’t get any better than that!

Read Mark 13:1-14:72

Are We Really Living In The End Times?

Watch therefore, for you do not know when the
master of the house is coming.
Mark 13:35

Go Deep: Will there really ever be a second coming of Christ? The early believers were convinced that Jesus would return in their lifetime, but he didn’t. Were they mistaken?

Now it’s 2,000 years later and he still hasn’t returned. Can we keep saying we are living in the end times and that Jesus could come back at any moment, or are we mistaken as well? All these signs that he predicted here in Mark 13 have been fulfilled—yet still no Jesus! Are we just fooling ourselves?

We would do well to remember what Jesus said in Mark 13:31 & 37, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away…And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

I suppose it is possible that Jesus could delay his coming another 2,000 years—I don’t think so, given the increasing instability of Planet Earth. Whatever the case, 2,000 years is no reproach whatsoever to God’s faithfulness or the truthfulness of his Word. That is precisely the point Peter made in II Peter 3:4 when he responded to the scoffers who taunted, “Where is the Lord’s coming?”

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:8-9)

The real reason Jesus has delayed his return is not negligence or carelessness, but kindness and mercy. And frankly, I am glad for that! I am glad Jesus didn’t return in 1956, because I would not have been born. I am glad that Jesus didn’t return in any one of the years since then, because in each successive year I know people who became followers of Jesus and were spared from a Christless eternity.

The fact that 2,000 years have passed is utterly irrelevant to the promise of Christ’s return. His coming is still imminent. It could occur at any moment. And his command to be watchful and ready is just as applicable today as it was to the early church. In fact, the possibility of his return should be even more urgent for us because we are now 2,000 years closer to it.

Paul said in Romans 13:11-12, “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.”

The writer of Hebrews said, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith.’” (Hebrews 10:35-38)

What Jesus, Paul, Peter, the writer of Hebrews and every other New Testament author are all saying is that one of the greatest acts of faith is simply this: To keep an eye on the sky and live each day as if Jesus might return at any moment!

That is how the early church lived, and that is exactly how God wants you and me to live! And if I were to truly grasp that, here is what that would mean for me today:

• I would be more patient in suffering. (Hebrews 10:32-39)
• I would be more loving and kind. (Jude 21)
• I would be more assertive in sharing Christ. (II Peter 3:9)
• I would be more forgiving to those who have hurt me. (James 5:8-9)
• I would be more careful in my moral life—my thoughts, attitudes, words and actions. (II Peter 3:11-12)
• I would be a better steward of the resources God has given me. (Matthew 25)
• And I would be more focused on the eternal and less concerned with the temporal. (II Peter 3:13)

The truth is, we were made for another world! Jesus said, “when all these things begin to happen, stand straight and look up, for your salvation is near!” (Luke 21:28, NLT)

So as you go about your business today, keep one eye on the sky—this could be the day!

“Even so, come Lord Jesus!”

Just Saying… C.S. Lewis wrote, “Has this world been so kind to you that you would leave it with regret?  There are better things ahead than any we leave behind…If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” And honestly, I can’t wait to see my new home!

Read Psalm 54:1-56:13

Are You On God’s Side?

Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
Psalm 54:4

Go Deep: You will often hear people talk about God being on their side.  Politicians, religious leaders, even ordinary people like you and me toss that belief around like a pro athlete guaranteeing a victory in the big game.  But just saying it doesn’t make it so!

President Abraham Lincoln was once asked during the Civil War if he believed that God was on his side.  His response was one that we would all do well to think about, since it represents the only true guarantee of Divine help and victory.  Lincoln said, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side, my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

Here’s the deal:  If we’re on God’s side, we cannot fail.  If we’re on God’s side then God will be on our side, and our victory is guaranteed.  David discovered that—the story can be found in I Samuel 23:7-29—which is the basis for this psalm.  He was on the run from King Saul, because the king was bent on having David killed.  The young shepherd had just landed in the next of what had been too many hideouts, Ziph, when the people of that village turned him in to Saul.  Saul seemed to finally have David cornered—it looked like it was game, set and match this time.

But David was on God’s side—and God was on David’s side.  Suddenly, just as Saul was ready to pounce, the king got some bad news that enemies on another front, the Philistines, were attacking, so he left pursing the cornered David to tend to that pressing business.  And David was once again delivered when there seemed no way possible to escape. (I Samuel 23:27-29)

Was it a coincidence that Saul was distracted in that moment when he had David dead to rights?  Not at all!  You see, God was at work here, bringing about his purposes in David’s life.  David was destined to be king, and God was teaching him how to be a good king.  And good kings need to know that God can be counted on for help and sustenance when the king is on God’s side.

God wants you to know that too. Even when there seems to be no way out for you, God is close by; he is working out his plan; he is teaching you how to be a king; he is showing you that he can be counted on to help and sustain you.  And there is only one way to really learn that, which like David, means that you will have to have your back against the wall so that the only way out is through a mighty and miraculous deliverance through the strong hand of God.

And when you are on God’s side, sooner or later, like David, that will be your story too!

Just Saying… Charles Spurgeon was right: “Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties.”

Read II Samuel 10:1-14:33

Sexual Failure and Spiritual Restoration

The prophet Nathan said to King David, “The LORD has taken away your sin.
You are not going to die.  But because by doing this you have made the
enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.”
II Samuel 12:13-14

Go Deep: Where do you go to get your integrity back after you’ve failed? How do you find the way forward after the personal devastation and the public humiliation of a financial, professional, relational or especially after a moral failure of the sexual kind? What can you do to get your heart restored?

I’ll bet David asked those questions after his confession to Nathan, “Where do I go to restore my integrity?  What do I do to regain my reputation? How can I get my life back on track with God when I’ve sinned so badly?” God had forgiven David; now David just needed to find a way forward.

The good news from David’s story is that failure doesn’t have to define your future nor does it have to be the fatal blow to God’s plans for you. Sin doesn’t have be the final word in your story; an insurmountable barrier to moving on to a satisfying, successful and even a deeply spiritual life. What David discovered was that as enormous as his sin was, it was wildly outdone by God’s grace. That is not to minimize his sin: he was an adulterer and a murderer—and there would be excruciatingly painful consequences throughout the rest of his life—but David’s sin—and your sin for that matter—will always be miniscule compared to God’s salvation from it. In David’s story, we have been left with a roadmap for recovery, and we can note four essential elements about the way forward to restoration:

The first thing you’ll see is that the road to a restored heart begins with honesty.  In II Samuel 12:13, David says to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” There’s no explanation, no excuse, no blaming Bathsheba for her seductive exhibitionism, no promise to never do it again. David just simply and sincerely confessed his sin, even when there’s no indication yet that God will have him back, or even allow him to live. Honest confession is what releases Divine compassion and repentance always precedes restoration.

The second thing you’ll see is the road to recovery is paved with healing grace. Verse 13 continues, “Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’” Now the Mosaic Law said David had to die.  It required death by stoning for adultery—even for a guilty king. Countless adulterers throughout Israel’s history had already died for adultery, so God has to suspend his own law just for David.  Sounds unfair and inconsistent of God, doesn’t it? But what we’re getting here is a sneak peak of what God’s grace is all about.  Now you’ll notice in the next verse that the son born to David and Bathsheba out of their adulterous affair will have to die.  Sadly, the son pays the price for their sin.  Sound familiar?  God’s Son paid the price for our sin so we wouldn’t have to. He died so we could live!  That’s grace: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. That grace is absolutely fundamental to the restored heart.

The third thing you’ll see is that the journey to recovery is fueled by humility. II Samuel 12:16 shows David humbling himself before God: “David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground.” He humbled himself and prayed for a crop failure, putting his hope in God’s mercy because he knew that was his only chance. If you’ve repented of sin, it’s okay to pray for a crop failure. Why? God in his mercy just may restrain his discipline. That’s his character, so why not tap into it?  Micah 7:18 says, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgressions of the remnant? You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy.”

The fourth thing you’ll see is that the road to recovery requires staying the course.  David determined to get on with life when I’m sure he felt like giving up, unworthy to go on. He just began to practice a long obedience in the same direction.

As you skim over the last few verses of II Samuel 12, here’s what you’ll see: Verse 20 says, “Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.”  Verse 24 says, “Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba [over the death of their baby], and he slept with her. She gave birth to [another] son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him…” Verses 29-30 say, “David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. He took the crown from the head of their king—its weight was a talent of gold [75lbs.], and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head.”

It’s no accident that these details are connected to this story of David’s restoration. It’s showing that David is getting on with life, he’s doing what husbands do, he’s doing what kings do.  David is just getting back to practical faithfulness in the daily ordinariness of life. That’s where recovery happens!

Then something very cool happens at this point of the story:  Verse 25 says that Nathan, the man who had announced God’s judgment on David for his sin, now comes and delivers a message of God’s love. That message comes in the form of a name that God has for the second child born to David and Bathsheba—Jedidiah, which means, “loved by God.” God is showing David that he is not finished with him yet. David’s failure has not been the final word on his life. God is revealing plans to prosper and not to harm David, to give him a hope and a future.

Now restoration doesn’t mean there won’t be scars. The record suggests that David was never again as great a king as he once was. Yet he kept moving forward, and though David may not have become a greater king after this, but he became a deeper man.

And that is a far more important thing.

Just Saying… For Christians, we tend to make sexual immorality the unforgivable sin, but it is not. For sure, sexual sin has dire consequences, and that’s what makes it so destructive.  But let us remember, as Francis Schaeffer pointed out, “The Bible does not minimize sexual sin, but neither does it make it different from any other sin.” What I treasure so much about our merciful God, is as John Newton wrote, that “we serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.”

II Corinthians 4:1-5:21

A Lopsided Transaction

God made Jesus who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in
him we might become the righteousness of God.
II Corinthians 5:21

Go Deep: What an amazing exchange that took place when Jesus hung on the cross as the sacrifice for sin!

Jesus became sin so that I could become saved.
Jesus was abandoned and I was embraced.
Jesus received God’s wrath and I received God’s righteousness.
Jesus got what he didn’t deserve and I got what I didn’t deserve.
Jesus didn’t get what he deserved and I didn’t get what I deserved.
Jesus got what I deserved and I got what Jesus deserved.
Jesus went through hell so that I could go to heaven.
Jesus endured hatred and I was showered with love.
Jesus died so I could live.

Redemption is such a lopsided transaction, but such is the love of God. I got the far better deal in this exchange, and for that I will never cease to be grateful.

Lord Jesus, all I can say in response is “thank you!”  And all I can do to pay you back is to offer the rest of my life as a never ceasing offering of gratitude—and that I gladly do.

Just Saying… John W. Wenham, a twentieth century Anglican scholar, wrote, “At the heart of the story stands the cross of Christ where evil did its worst and met its match.”

Read Psalm 48:1-50:23

Loving Church

Within your temple, O God,
we meditate on your unfailing love.
Psalm 48:9

Go Deep: There was something pretty special to the psalmist about the city of Jerusalem and the tabernacle that housed the earthly manifestation of the uncontainable presence of the Lord. As you read the rest of Scripture, you will find that God thought it pretty special, too.

Of course, the New Testament teaches us that under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit dwells in believers individually (I Corinthians 6:19) and collectively (I Corinthians 3:16-17), which means that now we, the body of Christ, are God’s temple, his dwelling place on the earth.  Yet there is still something special about the physical place where believers come together to collectively lift their voices in praise, pour out their hearts in prayer, share their love in fellowship, serve one another in kindness, teach God’s anointed Word, and convincingly call the lost to salvation.

Yes, we are the church—let’s not forget or get confused about that.  But neither let us forget that the place we gather is also the church, and by virtue of our collective presence, along with the active presence of the Holy Spirit, the building becomes sanctified as well.  It, too, is God’s temple.

I bring that up to remind us that the church is still a wonderful place to come and meditate on God’s unfailing love, just as the tabernacle was to the psalmist thousands of years ago.  In light of that, I would encourage you to add a new dimension to your regular routine of worship—as if worship should ever be routine!  Not only should you actively fellowship with God’s saints in the church (Hebrews 10:24-25), but make it your practice to slip into your church’s prayer room or sanctuary often for a time of simple solitude and quiet meditation.  It can be with other people present, or just go in when you are alone and give it a try.  Just sit and soak in the presence of God, and quietly reflect on who he is and what he has done.

Do it often, and see if you don’t grow in your appreciation for the house of God, and more importantly, for the unfailing love of the Lord for the church.

Just Saying… William Penn, the seventeenth century Quaker and hero of American liberty, wrote, “In the rush and noise of life, as you have intervals, step home within yourselves and be still. Wait upon God, and feel His good presence; this will carry you evenly through your day’s business.”