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A Moment of Clarity

Keep Your Eye on the Prize

PREVIEW: We sometimes look at how the rich and famous live, and we envy them. Maybe we think, “Am I missing something? How come living the righteous life doesn’t bring those kinds of rewards?” After all, shouldn’t doing the right thing, living the holy life, and doing our best to honor God have some payoffs here and now? Perhaps you should do what the psalmist did to cure his bout with envy: Go into God’s sanctuary and there understand the destiny of the wicked. And remember: this earth is not your true home. You’re not home yet. Heaven is where you are headed, and my friend, it is no consolation prize. It is the grand prize for faithful living.

A Moment of Clarity - Ray Noah

A JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 73:2-3,17

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked… Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked.

Haven’t we all had those moments when we’ve envied the prosperity of the wicked? We see the lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous—the luxury cars they drive, the jewelry they wear, the vacations they take, the enormous homes they own—complete with walk-in closets the size of the average living room—a gaggle of sycophants who tend to their every need, hang on their every word, and stroke their bloated ego.

And what did they do to come by such prosperity? Certainly nothing worthy of eternal accolades! For that matter, they did nothing to add any real, lasting value to this world either except to look cool, rap out a few trashy lyrics, catch some air on a half-pipe, shoot the ball through a hoop, or perhaps appear on one of the thousands of reality shows on TV these days to get famous for being famous. It’s not like they discovered a cure for cancer, solved world hunger, or even made life better for even just one of the billions of people on this planet who could really use a helping hand.

So that’s my rant! And my point is we sometimes look at how people like that live and envy them. Perhaps we think, “Am I missing something? How come living the righteous life doesn’t bring those kinds of rewards?” After all, shouldn’t doing the right thing, living the holy life, and doing our best to honor God have some payoffs here and now?

I’m reminded of the story of Henry C. Morrison, who, after serving as a missionary for forty years in Africa in the late 1800s, became sick and had to return to America. As his ship docked in New York harbor, a great crowd gathered to welcome home another passenger on that boat. Morrison watched as President Teddy Roosevelt received a grand welcome home party after his African Safari. Resentment seized Morrison, and he turned to God in anger, “I have come back home after all this time and service to the church, and there is no one, not even one person here, to welcome me home.”

Then, a still small voice came to Morrison and said, “You’re not home yet.”

And neither are you!

Dear friend, don’t get so earthbound. Heaven is not the consolation prize; it is the grand prize. It is your real home, and it is way beyond any of the ephemeral stuff the rich and famous enjoy for this brief season on earth. The next time you’re tempted to envy, come into the sanctuary—that place of intimacy with God—and allow the Holy Spirit to give you that moment of clarity—and pray for that moment to become a way of thinking.

MY OFFERING OF WORSHIP: Spend some time thinking about heaven today. It is what Christians are meant to do.

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Long Live the President!

Pray That God Will Endow Them With the Great Stuff of Leadership

PREVIEW: Wouldn’t it be great if our presidents-current and future—began their reign by declaring their utter dependence on God? Wouldn’t it be great if they saw their administration as a conduit of God’s blessing on us? Wouldn’t it be great if they played fair with both the bigwig and the little guy? Wouldn’t it be great if they fundamentally saw themselves as both servant of God and servant of the people? If we ever got a leader who was both an authentic servant of God as well as a public servant in the truest sense, we wouldn’t be crying out for term limits. As much as we wish for that kind of leadership in the White House…or in the governor’s mansion…or in the mayor’s office…or in the pulpit, we should be even more intent on praying for those very qualities to be endowed to them from on high. And, of course, we ought to pray that they would have the kind of heart into which God places the stuff of great leadership.

Long Live the President! - Ray Noah

MY JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 72:15

Long live the king! May the gold of Sheba be given to him. May the people always pray for him and bless him all day long.

It has been a long time since we have had a national leader like the one described in this royal psalm. This is a psalm of Solomon, who, of course, was King David’s son and successor to the throne. Under Solomon’s reign, the nation of Israel expanded economically, educationally, militarily, and spiritually — “happy days were here again” for God’s people.

Solomon began his reign by declaring his utter dependence on God. You can see it here in this song, which is really a prayer to God declaring the kind of leader he wants to be. Notice what he prays for:

He speaks of being divinely endowed with justice and righteousness so that those same two qualities will characterize his leadership.: “Give your love of justice to the king, O God, and righteousness to the king’s son. Help him judge your people in the right way; let the poor always be treated fairly.” (Psalm 72:1-2).

He desires the nation to be prosperous and fruitful primarily as a result of his righteous rule: “May the mountains yield prosperity for all, and may the hills be fruitful….May all the godly flourish during his reign. May there be abundant prosperity until the moon is no more.” (Psalm 72:3,7)

He declares his intentions to look out for the little guy—the needy, poor, oppressed, and the innocents: “He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them. He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their lives are precious to him.” (Psalm 72:4,13-14).

No wonder he thinks his leadership can endure and his influence expands: “May they fear you as long as the sun shines, as long as the moon remains in the sky. Yes, forever!… May he reign from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.” (Psalm 72:5,8)

People will not be crying out for term limits with this leader; he is both an authentic servant of God and a public servant in the truest sense. His people love him!

Wouldn’t it be great if our presidents began their reign by declaring their utter dependence on God? Wouldn’t it be great if they saw their administration as a conduit of God’s blessing on us? Wouldn’t it be great if they played fair with both the bigwig and the little guy? Wouldn’t it be great if they fundamentally saw themselves as both servant of God and servant of the people?

Who wouldn’t want to follow a leader like that?

But as much as we wish for that kind of leadership in the White House…or in the governor’s mansion…or in the mayor’s office…or in the pulpit, we should be even more intent on praying for those very qualities to be endowed to them from on high. And, of course, we ought to pray that they would have the kind of heart into which God places the stuff of great leadership.

Solomon was wise enough to know that he couldn’t be that kind of leader without the prayers of the people. That is why he includes a prayer request for himself in the song: “May people ever pray for him and bless him all day long.” (Psalm 72:15)

Wouldn’t it be great if we began praying and blessing our president like that? Who knows what good it might do him, and in the process of praying and blessing him, it might do us some good, too!

MY OFFERING OF WORSHIP: Do an honest assessment of your attitude toward our current president and the one who will be elected next. Do you criticize and complain about them more than you pray for them? Your biblical calling is to intercede for those in authority. So, try it! Who knows what God might do through them?

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Evaluations—How Fun!

Only One Critic Ultimately Matters

PREVIEW: With trials come evaluations. For that matter, evaluations come no matter what, be it trials or triumphs. If you are alive, you are going to get evaluated! And if you have an influential position of some kind, just multiply that by the “nth degree.” Wow, that sounds like a barrel of fun! Until the day you die, you will be evaluated, i.e., criticized—and even after you die, at least for a while, others will still be talking about you. So what! Put your hope in God—after all, he’s the only critic who really matters.

Evaluations—How Fun! - Ray Noah

MY JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 77:7-13

I have become like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge… Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. For my enemies speak against me; those who wait to kill me conspire together. They say, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for no one will rescue him.” Do not be far from me, my God; come quickly, God, to help me. May my accusers perish in shame; may those who want to harm me be covered with scorn and disgrace.

The New Living Translation renders this verse, “My life has become an example to many.” The New King James says, “I have become a wonder.” Portent, example, wonder—whatever the case, people were talking about the writer of this psalm. He was being evaluated—how fun!

We’re unsure if David wrote this song or if it was one of his musicians. It is generally believed that the composer was in his old age and, surprisingly, still facing trials—reminding us that much like weird relatives, they never really go away!

As is always the case, with trials come evaluations. For that matter, evaluations come no matter what, be it trials or triumphs. If you are alive, you are going to get evaluated! And if you are in a position of influence of some kind, just multiply that to the “nth degree.” Again, how fun!

The psalmist was going through a challenge, and people were talking. Some thought his trial was proof that he was under God’s curse, while others saw that God was caring for him even in his trial. Now, if I were to venture a guess, more people were amazed that God’s loving care had yet again sustained him than those who were putting a negative spin on it. Yet the psalmist was more focused on his naysayers than his encouragers. (Psalm 71:4,10-11,13,24) He was simply doing what we human beings shouldn’t do but do anyway: Giving undue weight to the critic.

But he also did something right—something you and I need to practice when we are under the bright lights of another’s evaluation: Put our hope in God:

For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth…. As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. (Psalm 71:5,14)

Whether the critics are dead on, or dead wrong, or perhaps even both (as they say, even a broken clock gets it right twice a day), leaning on God to see us through (“As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.” Psalm 71:12), and even to cover our goofs with his grace (“Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.” Psalm 71:20) is the only good way to go through challenging times and blunt the criticism of our evaluator.

Yes, you will be evaluated in life—how fun! Until the day you die, you will be evaluated—and even after you die. So what! Put your hope in God—after all, that’s the only thing that really matters.

As the Apostle Paul said, “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” (1 Corinthians 4:2-4)

My Offering of Worship: How do you respond to criticism? Do you wilt, get angry, respond in kind, withdraw, or get depressed? How about taking the criticism to the Lord to ask what he thinks? Listen to his response and ask him to take on his perspective. Then whatever he says, go with that!

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Praying For a Divine Beat Down

Satan and His Human Representatives Deserve It

PREVIEW: Do you ever wish that God would give Satan and his human friends a very public smackdown? I’m sure you do, but you probably think it is a bit spiritually unseemly to have those kinds of thoughts. Yet is it such a bad thing in light of the cosmic conflict for our eternal destiny that we should want a clear and unmistakable trouncing of the Enemy and his flesh and blood representatives? Listen, if King David, the man after God’s own heart felt that way—and the Holy Spirit saw fit to include David’s holy taunt in the Holy Writ (actually, it wasn’t the first nor would it be the the last time David prayed this way), I have a feeling that you can go ahead and do a little spiritual trash talking in your prayers, too.

Praying For a Divine Beat Down - Ray Noah

MY JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 70:1-5

Please, God, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me. May those who try to kill me be humiliated and put to shame. May those who take delight in my trouble be turned back in disgrace. Let them be horrified by their shame, for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!” But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, “Let God be exalted!”

Good vs. evil…the force vs. the dark side…the white hats vs. the black hats—it’s not just the theme of almost every Hollywood movie; it’s a cosmic reality. C.S. Lewis noted,

There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.

And you are ground zero in that cosmic conflict. You belong to God, and therefore, Satan hates you. And those who don’t belong to God, those who are, in reality, in the camp of darkness, don’t care a whole lot for you either. They would love to see you fail, and fall, and bring disrepute to the name of God. That might sound a little pessimistic, but it is true, so get used to it.

David was writing about people like that in this brief psalm. They weren’t too thrilled with David, and whatever the king’s dire circumstances at this time were, these folks thought they had him dead to rights. They were hoping for a very big and very public failure so they could say, “Aha! See, we told you he would crash and burn. Serves him right!”

Knowing their evil intent, David cried out to God for an immediate (Psalm 70:1, 5) and dramatic rescue (Psalm 70:3) from these ne’er-do-wells. But did you notice that he didn’t just want to squeak by on this one? He wanted an undeniable victory. He prayed for a deliverance that would cause his enemies to shut their traps and hang their heads in shame. (Psalm 70:2) He wanted his rescue to be so undeniably a God-thing that it would become a cause for the righteous to lift their heads with holy pride. (Psalm 70:4)

Do you ever feel that way? I’m sure you do, but you probably think it is a bit spiritually unseemly to have those kinds of thoughts. Yet is it such a bad thing in light of the cosmic conflict for our eternal destiny that we should want a clear and unmistakable trouncing of the Enemy and his friends? Listen, if the man after God’s own heart felt that way—and the Holy Spirit saw fit to include David’s holy taunt in the Holy Writ (actually, it wasn’t the first time David prayed this—see also Psalm 40:13-17), I have a feeling that you can go ahead and do a little spiritual trash talking in your prayers, too.

Next time you are talking to God, go ahead and ask him to give Satan a very public beatdown on your behalf. And when it happens, I’ll cheer with you!

My Offering of Worship: Pray through Psalm 70, and taking David’s cue, pour out your heart to God. Tell him about those who are troubling you, appeal to God’s promise for protection over your life, and if needs be, ask for God’s judgment to be fair and full. To read more on imprecatory psalms, see Sam Storms helpful article, 10 Things You Should Know about the Imprecatory Psalms.

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Dark Night, Brighter Tomorrow

Everyone Gets One, and Can Have the Other

PREVIEW: The dark night of the soul. Everyone gets at least one. And when you get your dark night, it is likely that you will focus on your own imperfections as the source of your dire straits. And likely, you will be partially correct. Your specific mistakes and your general state of sinfulness often open the door to difficult and disastrous events. But King David didn’t let his imperfections stop him from courageously coming to God and seeking deliverance during his dark night of the soul. He recognized his own folly, but he knew that his wrong didn’t make the disproportionate response of the evildoers who pounced on him right. He also recognized that getting a hearing from the Almighty didn’t require sinless perfection; it required authentic repentance and courageous contrition. So, despite his folly, he appealed to the love and mercy of God to turn his dark night into a bright tomorrow. You can and should do the same.

Humanity has yet to exhaust God’s supply of love and mercy, so, whatever you’re going through — self-imposed or imposed on you by others — there’s plenty left for you.-Ray Noah

MY JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 69:5,13

You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you…But I pray to you, O LORD, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.

We’re not sure what the source of David’s despair was, but he turned it into a lament, a plaintiff prayer to God for deliverance and vindication. Whatever was going on, this psalm represents David’s dark night of the soul:

My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me. Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs on my head. (Psalm 69:3-4)

Interestingly, several New Testament writers prophetically applied much of Psalm 69 to Jesus. Jesus, too, had a dark night of the soul as he carried the sins of the entire world in his sinless body to Calvary. The difference between Jesus and David was that Jesus was without sin and undeserving, while David was quite sinful and much deserving—as he, himself, recognized: “O God, you know how foolish I am; my sins cannot be hidden from you.” (Psalm 69:5)

You will notice in the title that David wrote this psalm to be sung to the tune of “Lilies.” What you may not realize is that another song was written to the same tune, Psalm 45. That song, however, is quite celebratory, extolling King David as handsome, strong, victorious, just, and whose reign will endure.

How true to life is that! One moment, you are riding high, and the next, you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. People who once adored you now want to string you up. It happened to David, it happened to Jesus, and it will likely happen to you. You, too, will have a dark night of the soul.

During that dark night, it is likely that you will focus on your own imperfections as the source of your dire straits. And likely, you will be partially correct. Your specific mistakes and your general state of sinfulness often open the door to difficult and disastrous events. But David didn’t let that stop him from courageously coming to God and seeking deliverance. You can and should do the same.

David recognized his own folly (Psalm 69:5), but he knew that his wrong didn’t make the disproportionate response of the evildoers who pounced on him right (Psalm 69:4, 22-28). He also recognized that getting a hearing from the Almighty didn’t require sinless perfection; it required authentic repentance and courageous contrition. So, despite his folly, he appealed to the love and mercy of God (Psalm 69:16) to turn his dark night into a bright tomorrow.

Answer my prayers, O Lord, for your unfailing love is wonderful. Take care of me, for your mercy is so plentiful.

For David and for you, God is the God of salvation. His specialty is saving the imperfect. You would never know God as the God of salvation if you didn’t need saving. The fact is that you need saving from your sins—which he has done. And you will need saving from the effects of sin—yours and others—at times, specifically, and generally in all of life.

Remember that when you are in the middle of your dark night and, it looks like the day will never come. God is still the God of salvation for imperfect people like you, so cry out to him. David didn’t exhaust the Divine supply of love and mercy; there’s plenty left for you.

And the God of your salvation still specializes in turning dark nights of the soul into better tomorrows.

My Offering of Worship: Read through the entirety of Psalm 69. Taking David’s cue, pour out your heart to God. Tell him about your troubles, appeal to him for his mercy to cover your part in the mess you may be facing, and then ask for his love to bring you into a brighter tomorrow.

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Forever, And Right Now

He is the God of Yesterday, Today, and Forever

PREVIEW: The testimony of history is that the Lord alone is a great and gracious God. Therefore, we should always cast our lot with him, for in the long run, he always wins, and so do his people. When in doubt, put faith in the God of history rather than fear in the difficulty of today and the uncertainty of tomorrow. God is the God of forever! However, most of us, while we might appreciate the importance of history, are more focused on what is facing us today. And the question that always arises for us is if God is great and gracious for us today. And the answer to that concern is a resounding yes.

The testimony of history is that God alone is great and gracious. Therefore, we should always cast our lot with him, for in the long run, he always wins—and so will we.-Ray Noah

MY JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 68:19,35

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens….You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God.

Honestly, it took me a while to “get” this psalm. Not only did I have to read it through a couple of times, but once I was within the psalm, I had to stop and restart several more times just to figure out what David was trying to say. I now have greater sympathy for those of you who are daily readers of this blog.

My conclusion: This is a great psalm! David is tracing the glorious history of God and his people from their mighty and miraculous deliverance from Egyptian slavery to the enthronement of God’s presence in the sanctuary in Jerusalem. And, in case you didn’t know, that history covers several hundred years—years of ups and downs. But through it all, God always cared for his people, and at the end of the day, led them inexorably toward a preordained victorious conclusion.

The testimony of history, then, is that the Lord alone is a great and gracious God. Therefore, we should always cast our lot with him, for in the long run, he always wins, and so do his people. When in doubt, put faith in the God of history rather than fear in the difficulty of today and the uncertainty of tomorrow. God is the God of forever!

Most of us, however, though we might appreciate the importance of history, are more focused on what is facing us today. And the question that always arises is if God is great and gracious for me today. And the answer to that concern is yes. That is why, after praising God for his mighty and miraculous work throughout Israel’s history, David then says, “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” He is not only the God of forever, but he is also the God of right now.

You see, history is simply a series of daily experiences. String enough daily events together, and you’ve got history. God’s historical track record is comprised of revelations of his mighty and miraculous character as well as demonstrations of his great and gracious work in the daily lives of people like you and me. And since God is always true to his character, since he is always faithful to his covenant, you can trust that he will bear your needs today and lead you inexorably to a foreordained victorious conclusion, too.

So, what is the takeaway from this psalm? Simply this: How God proved himself to his people, Israel, he will prove himself to you today. He has the history to back that claim up.

He is the God of forever, and of right now!

My Offering of Worship: Are you concerned about things you are facing today or worried about what may happen tomorrow? Since God is faithful, why don’t you declare, “You are the God who never changes, the victorious One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

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Audacious Expectations

Delight Yourself in God … Then Watch Out!

PREVIEW: Don’t ever feel selfish for asking God to bless your family, your church, and yourself! In fact, that is a highly spiritual thing to do. How is that? If you want Divine blessing so that people will look at you and see God’s favor in your life and be attracted to the God of your salvation, then God guarantees his blessings. But if that is going to happen, then you cannot ask for selfish blessings. You cannot misspend God’s graces in foolish ways. You cannot ask for stuff that you will spend on your own humanistic desires. Rather, your motives, plans, hopes, and dreams need to be sanctified, which means that you need to delight yourself in the Lord first for him to grant you the desires of your heart:

"Delight yourself in the Lord first and foremost if you expect the Lord to grant you the desires of your heart." - Ray Noah

MY JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 67:1-2

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

I never feel selfish for asking God to bless my family, my church, and even me! In fact, I think it is a highly spiritual thing to do. How is that? The second verse of this psalm provides the key: I want Divine blessing so that people will look at me and see God’s hand. I want them to see God’s favor in my life and be attracted to the God of my salvation.

Now if that is going to happen, then I cannot ask for selfish blessings. I cannot misspend God’s graces in foolish ways. I cannot ask for stuff that I will spend on my own humanistic desires. My motives, plans, hopes, and dreams need to be sanctified, which means that I need to delight myself in the Lord first if I am to expect that he will grant me the desires of my heart:

Take delight in the Lord, and he’ll give you your heart’s desires. (Psalm 37:4)

That really puts the onus on me to clean up my desires, doesn’t it? But if I can live with the purest of intentions—if I can live with a kingdom mindset—then I can expect God’s extraordinary grace, his undeserved blessing, and the favor of his face to shine down upon me every day of my life. I love how Ken Sande puts it:

“When you draw on God’s grace to put off your self-centered attitudes and act on His principles, you put His glory on display. Your life points to His vast wisdom, compassion, and transforming power, and as you look for God’s glory, the impact reaches far beyond yourself because you give everyone around you a reason to respect and praise God. Glorifying God is not about letting others see how great you are. It’s about letting them see how great the Lord is.”

Now, that’s the way I want to live. I want to be living proof to this lost world of a loving God. So, I am going to pray this prayer today: “God, bless me a lot! May I know your grace in new ways. Let the bright glory of your favor cause my life to shine so much that others will see me and be attracted to you!”

And I am audacious enough to expect that God will do that for me!

Incidentally, there was another Old Testament character who dared to pray that way: Jabez. Here is his short story from 1 Chronicles 4:9-10:

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.

He dared to ask God for the moon, so to speak, and guess what? He got it. I love the profound simplicity of the last line of that story: “And God granted his request.”

Ask God for the moon…and the earth, too! Perhaps God will grant your request, and you’ll be the next Jabez story—unless I beat you to it!

MY OFFERING OF WORSHIP: “Delight yourself in the Lord,” the Psalmist declared, “and he will grant you the desires of your heart.” So, here is the $64,000 question: Are your desires aligned with what pleases and honors God? If not, I think you know what to do.