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God, Where Are You?

Read Psalm 74

Featured Verse: Psalm 74:9

“We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be.”

Have you ever talked to God like the writer of this psalm did? I have! There have been times of desperation in my life—when a loved one was on her death-bed, when a conflict arose that seemed to have no resolution, when a financial need was staring me in the eyes and I had absolutely no answer for it; when an attack came from out of nowhere that just sucked the life out of me.

You’ve had those moments, too. And if we dared to be brutally honest with God, we said something to the effect, “God, where are you? You are really letting me down on this one!” Or worse! Don’t worry, Jesus had a moment like that: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

Perhaps your desperate cry to God has been more general—like the one in this particular verse. Your holy discontent has led you to prayerfully complain to God that he never seems to show up in his power and glory, with signs, wonders and miracles, like he did in days of old—and there seems to be no indication that he will anytime soon. You are desperate for God, but he doesn’t seem desperate for you.

The writer of this psalm most likely penned this prayerful lament after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. The Jews were deported to Babylon, the Holy Land had been overrun and defiled by pagans, and God’s people were in a bad way—with no end in sight. Worst of all, God was silent—he wasn’t acting (“no miracles”), he wasn’t talking (“no prophets”) and there was no game plan except for more of the same (“we don’t know how long this will be”).

So the psalmist poured out his complaint—which is always a good thing. And even though it wasn’t in this psalm, God did give his people some profound advice (I guess his advice is always profound since, after all, he is God) through a prophet that served around the same time as the palmist. His words are recorded in Jeremiah 29:1-23. I hope you will take the time to read them.

Of course, this passage contains the verse that everyone loves: Jeremiah 29:11—I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and give you a hope and a future. But read the context. God is, in essence, saying to them, “this difficult time is going to take a while, and yes, I will see you through it. But in the meantime, bloom where I’ve planted you. Even though you don’t hear me or see me, I am still at work. I’m doing my part, so you do your part by staying faithful and useful to me.”

Here’s the deal: The best part of our walk with God is not what he does for us, as glorious as that may be, it is what he does in us! Faith, humility, trust, and Christ-likeness is best forged in the crucible of adversity. God has done that with all the greats—Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah, Job, Daniel, Paul… Why should you be any different? Out of the soil of adversity comes the fruit of righteousness.

Frustrating times may last for a long time, but fruitful people will endure forever.

“God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain.”
—C.S. Lewis

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A Moment Of Clarity

Read Psalm 73

Featured Verse: 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…Till I entered the sanctuary of God;  then I understood their final destiny.”

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 stroke their bloated ego, tend to their every need and hang on their every word.

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 and get famous for being famous. It’s not like they discovered a cure for cancer or 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 we envy. 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, 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, became sick and had to return to America. As his ship docked in New York harbor, there was 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 earth bound. Heaven is your real home, and it’s way beyond any of the ephemeral stuff the rich and famous enjoy for this brief season on earth. 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 deeply ingrained way of thinking for you.

“God destines us for an end beyond the grasp of reason.”
—Thomas Aquinas

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Long Live The President!

Read Psalm 72

Featured Verse: Psalm 72:15

“Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him and bless him all day long. ”

It has been a long time since we’ve had a 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. He speaks of being divinely endowed with justice and righteousness so that his leadership will be characterized by those same two qualities. (Psalm 72:1-2). He desires the nation to be prosperous and fruitful primarily as a result of his righteous rule. (Psalm 72:3,7) He declares his intentions to look out for the little guy—the needy, poor, oppressed and the innocents. (Psalm 72:4,13-14).

No wonder he thinks his leadership can endure and his influence expand. (Psalm 72:5,8) People will not be crying out for term limits with this leader; he is both an authentic servant of God as well as 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 to 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!

“The authority by which the Christian leader leads is not power but love, not force but example, not coercion but reasoned persuasion.  Leaders have power, but power is safe only in the hands of  those who humble themselves to serve.” ~John Stott

 

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Evaluations—How Fun!

Read Psalm 71

Featured Verse: Psalm 71:7

“I have become like a portent to many,  but you are my strong refuge.”

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 not sure 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, trials, troubles and tribulations 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 was God 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 just 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’re under the bright lights of another person’s evaluation: Put our hope in God. (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 (Psalm 71:12), and even cover our goofs with his grace (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.

“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.”
—The Apostle Paul (I Corinthians 4:2-4)

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Praying For A Divine Beat Down

Read Psalm 70

Featured Verse: Psalm 70:4

“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 most every Hollywood movie, it’s a cosmic reality. C.S. Lewis said,

“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, in reality, are 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’s 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 beat down on your behalf. And when it happens, I’ll cheer with you!

“The world is a den of murderers, subject to the devil. If we desire to live on earth, we must be content to be guests in it, and to lie in an inn where the host is a rascal, whose house has over the door this sign or shield, ‘For murder and lies.’”
—Martin Luther

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Dark Night, Bright Tomorrow

Read Psalm 69

Featured Verse: 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.

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 of that suffering, while David was quite sinful, and much deserving—as he, himself, recognized.

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, you will likely begin to 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 opens the door to difficult and disastrous events. But what you can take from David is that he didn’t let that stop him from courageously coming to God and seeking deliverance.

He 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 in spite of his folly, he appealed to the love and mercy of God (Psalm 69:16) to turn his dark night into a bright tomorrow.

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, you need saving from your sins—which he has done. And you will need saving from the effects of sin—yours, and others—every once in a while. That’s just life.

So just 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, bitter nights of the soul into brighter, better tomorrows.

“Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue,  it is by mercy that we shall be saved.”
—John Chrysostom

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Forever, And Right Now

Read Psalm 68

Featured Verse: Psalm 68:19

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.”

Honestly, it took me a while to “get” this psalm. Not only did I have to read it through a couple of times, 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. By the way, that history covers several hundred years—years of ups and downs—but through it all, God showed himself to be glorious and most gracious to his people. All along the way, God always cared for his people and at the end of the day, he had inexorably led them to 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’s 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, he is 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.

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 right now!

Fear says, “God may fail me!” Faith knows He keeps His word.  Hitherto the Lord hath helped us; Doubting now would be absurd.  Dismiss your doubts and feeling, stand still, and see it through.  The God who fed Elijah, will do the same for you!
—Anonymous