Gadfly's Muse

Psalms 144-150: Happiness & The Pleasure of God

Image: "Glowing Pleasure," 2020, Severna Park, Md

Psalm 144:15 Happy are the people who are in such a state; Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!

Psalm 146:5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God,

Psalm 147:11 The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.

Psalm 148:14 And He has exalted the horn of His people, The praise of all His saints— Of the children of Israel, A people near to Him. Praise the LORD!

Psalm 149:4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.

Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

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If it were possible for plants to express or sense pleasure, I think this little leaf would be an example.  It fairly pulsed with delight as the warming rays touched it and it gladly spread its petals to soak it all in.  But what completes the picture and warmed my heart as well was the certain knowledge that God was delighting in that little pair of leaves also.  Pleasure is a two way street as far as God is concerned.   I think we ought to think about that more often.

"Pleasure" and "Happiness" are not quite synonymous but they overlap quite a bit.  I am not speaking of "guilty pleasure" because, quite frankly, it is a contradiction in terms.  Moving on, thinking this way, it is perfectly correct to say that the goal of life is "to be happy."   Many great men have defined the "good life" in this way and have equated that "good life" with one which maximizes our pleasure.  On the whole, Christian ethics agrees with this as long as it is understood through the lens of Scripture and thus properly to understand what constitutes "happiness" and true "pleasure."

John Piper in his book "The Pleasures of God" says that for us to understand these things we don't start first and foremost with ourselves... we start with God.  We need to understand that God is "happy" (understood from our perspective) and that the pathway to happiness is to actually participate in and be conducive to, His happiness.  Piper says it this way:

"What the church and world need today, more than anything else, is to know and love—

behold and embrace—the great, glorious, sovereign, happy God of the Bible."

 

Imagine that!  Have you ever stopped and thought of God as "happy?"  What does it mean for God to have "pleasure?"

 

Our psalms today give us insights into a robust and vibrant "happiness of God."  God "takes pleasure" in stuff, His people for example (149:4).  Psalm 147:11 focuses on God's pleasure in those "who fear Him ... who hope in His mercy."  There is something of that two way street I mentioned above here.  Can there be anything more pleasurable to us than to come face to face with our own weakness and guilt and then to suddenly be awakened to hope that God is showing us mercy?  We, at that moment are like those leaves, spreading our arms to heaven and basking in the warming glow of God's restoring grace.  

 

But our joy would be diminished if we had some idea that God was doing this grudgingly.  We are so used to how other sinners "forgive" us when we err.  The forgiveness is often accompanied by clenched teeth and we know it was prompted by some imposed discipline and not from the heart.  That severely detracts from our own pleasure in forgiveness.  The great news is GOD IS NOT LIKE THAT!  God loves to forgive those whose hearts are sincerely repentant!  He takes pleasure in seeing His Warmth, shall we say His Pleasure, flooding down on that broken soul and commencing to heal and comfort it.  Like a loving parent He rejoices in wrapping His arms around His son or daughter and whispering to them:  "It's alright... I forgive you... it's going to be OK!"

 

This is His pleasure... His delight.  Is it not clear to us, in this example, that a general truth is evident?  We find true happiness, true pleasure, when we, in effect, enter into His happiness, His pleasure.  Let's build on that for a few words.

 

That plant was being obedient to its Maker.  It was opening its leaves so that it could grow, that the tree might prosper, that flowers might bloom and ultimately fruit may be borne.  This is God's delight.... to see His creation responding to His eternal will, fitting into His eternal pattern, pursuing His great purposes and doing so with pleasure.  God's delight is to see His creatures doing His will with delight.  What is true for all nature is most certainly true for those created in His image.

 

Psalm 145:10 proclaims: "All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, and Your saints shall bless You!"  See how God is pleased when all of His creation "joins in manifold witness" with His special children leading the pack.  This is His great pleasure, to delight in the perfections of His own work, yea and amen, but at the same time to see how His creatures delight in those same perfections.

 

Psalm 144:15 brings it all together.  "Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!"  God has no delight in our misery.  The scriptures plainly teach this.  He weeps when we weep, but God's sovereign power is always directed toward restoring joy... happiness... delight, because, in some mysterious way, we can say that He desires His own happiness and that comes from bringing happiness into the lives of His people.

Psalm 138-143: Precious Thoughts

Image: "Glowing Colors", 2020, Severna Park, Md

Psalm 138:6 Though the LORD is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar. 

Psalm 139:1–2 O LORD, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.

Psalm 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.

Psalm 139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

Psalm 143:8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.

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Many things separate us (mankind) from the animal kingdom I suppose, but at the top or among the top of these is the desire to know.  We are not "at home" in the presence of mystery or hidden threats.  "Security" for us is attained when we have a somewhat comfortable life: where the status quo is generally understood, where our limits are well defined and accepted and where tomorrow doesn't pose any recognizable threats.

When things disturb our complacency the first thing we ask is "What in the.... is going on???"  We don't like the unexpected unless we immediately perceive it as joy.  Now, at its root, this means that what we really want to know, deep down, is that there is meaning and order in our life experience and that these things are at least dimly comprehensible to us.

In other words, as a famous philosopher once said, "all men desire to know."

Now a corollary to this is that we really admire that attainment of knowledge of "what's real and what's not real."  We even have a word for it: "wisdom."  And if we find someone who seems to have a grasp on the larger realities of life we think of them as "wise."  Wisdom is a very practical thing... it is not fundamentally esoteric at all... it is understanding of this universe and ourselves in it in such a way as to make sense of it all.  To a greater or lesser degree, the desire to seek after wisdom belongs to mankind alone and is deeply rooted in the image of God in which he was created.

At various points in these psalms the psalmist stands in awe of the wisdom and knowledge of God.  In 139:17 he makes it explicitly clear: "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How great is the sum of them!"  He stands before the God of Wisdom Who alone is the fount of wisdom from which men may drink and is caught up in admiration of Him.  God's wisdom encompasses all things, all of our lives, from the time when we were yet "unformed" in the womb (vs. 16) to the end of the "days fashioned for me."   Everything in our lives reflects not only the sovereignty of God but His incredible wisdom.  It is He who guarantees that the seeming chaos that sometimes threatens to overwhelm us is not chaos at all.  In its own way it is the orderly outworking of God's wisdom, filling its time and place and then moving on, like everything else.

It is God's amazing wisdom to which the psalmist appeals when he asks God to "search me... and know my heart... and know my anxieties... and see if there is any wicked way in me."  He knows that God already knows all these things perfectly.  What He is saying is "use Your sovereign power to show for these things so that I see them as You do."  This is a scary prayer but the psalmist knows that this is the foundation on which God will then "lead me in the way everlasting." (139:23-24)

Continuing this theme in an equally scary manner, the psalmist submits to God's instruments for revealing his own sin to him.  In 141:5 he actually calls on God to use other people to confront him with his sin.  "Let the righteous strike me... it will be a kindness." (and other similar statements)  God's wisdom does not just encompass understanding the substance of our lives, He also understands the means by which we can be brought to participate in that wisdom... to know our universe, at least in someway, as does He.

It is the taste of this knowledge that we find so sweet.  It reveals God's "lovingkindness to us" and becomes the ground of our trust.  It breeds a submissive spirit in us so that we yield ourselves up to Him and beg Him to "cause (us) to know the way in which (we) should walk." (143:8)  Wisdom is attained by strenuous exercise at the hand of God.  It may stem from the practical reinforcement of every day decisions informed and subordinated to God's word.  It may be the fruit of long and penetrating meditation that, in turn, finds its way into other every day choices.  God's wisdom becomes our wisdom when we strain upward toward His sun and learn to shine with His reflected glory.

It is the stuff of contentment, no matter what comes, because we know it is His precious thoughts that determine all things.

 

Psalm 135-137: His Mercy Endures Forever

Image: "Clouds & Clouds," 2020, Severna Park, Md

Psalm 135:3–4  Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant. 4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure.

Psalm 135:6 Whatever the LORD pleases He does,  In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places.

Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion.

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I have mentioned Dogwoods in other posts throughout the years.  Though in danger of repeating myself yet I have to remark again how much I love them.  I cannot see them, as I do now out my window, with their clouds of happily white flowers straining toward the morning sun, without a bitter-sweet pang of remembrance.  More than any other tree the Dogwood takes me back to my youth when I would gaze across a pasture at the woods beyond.  With my uncle's borrowed 22 pump and my old dog we would step across that field where the low lying dogwoods filled in all the gaps between the larger oaks and pine saplings.  They looked like a white foundation above which the thick branches of a Mississippi forest signaled its mysterious invitation.  Those were some of my happiest moments.

Our Psalms today have a bit of nostalgia to them also.  The first two are happy remembrances, the last... well, not so much.

In Psalms 135 & 136, the Psalmists scan the various witnesses to God's mighty power and covenant faithfulness and rejoice in their special privilege.  They celebrate His "general" works of providence displayed in the nourishing rain and the testimony of His awesome power in the frightening displays of thunder and lightning.  This is how it should be.  God is a God above and beyond all human imagining.  We cannot know anything of Him unless He first undertakes to reveal Himself.  His works in common nature are revelatory of His Person even as are His special redemptive works for His people, His "special treasure." (135:4)

Jesus (Jn 10:25-26, 37-39) told people that the purpose of His undeniable mighty works done in plain sight among them, was that they should "believe."  His miracles, accomplished by His own authority and power, were more than sufficient as grounds to believe that He was one with the Father, in other words, that He was God in the flesh.  Jesus' works "revealed" who He was... a person with eyes to see could see Jesus as the Son of God in His works.  It was not only a matter of logic.  It was not a simple deduction: "these works could only be done by God, therefore Jesus is God."  That is a true statement but revelation actually is more than that.  

In His works Jesus revealed Himself... His compassionate nature... His covenantal loyalty to His people... His sovereign authority over the wind and the rain and the raging seas... Himself as the source of food and provision in the feeding of the thousands... as the One who not only heals but forgives sins... etc. etc.

Thus His works were not miracles for the sake of being miracles... they were revelational disclosures... they were communications from the eternal to the temporal and thus their ultimate significance was not in what they did but in what they revealed.  

So it is with these Psalms as the singers rejoice in God's self-disclosure.  He is the God who does "Whatever... pleases Him, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places."  The whole world consists in "clouds and clouds" of witnesses to Him and His Glory.  He does what He please and what pleases Him is to lovingly care for His people, His "special treasure", throughout their entire journey.  It is because of His special love for them that He fights their enemies for them (135:10-12) and gives them a heritage in His Kingdom (136:21).  He has set the sun and the other "great lights" in the heavens to serve His people and bring them joy and nourishment. (136:7-8)  He gives food to all flesh (136:25) and shows special providential care for those whose hope is in Him alone and who despise all forms of idolatry (135:15-18).

Even when it is for their own good that they be chastised, yet God's love is so strong that He upholds them in their grief and keeps the memory and conviction of His particular love for them alive. (Psalm 137:1)  Even when "sorrow attendeth our way", when we "hang up our harps" (137:2) because we just can't find it in our hearts to sing, yet God is doing mighty things to reveal His Presence among us.

All it takes is to shift our gaze away from our sorrow, look at the mighty works recorded for us in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus AND the corresponding mighty works ongoing all around us in creation, and the stirrings of praise again begin to rise.

Whatever 'mighty work' we consider... this we can affirm with a sincere heart... His mercy endures forever (Psalm 136).

 

 

 

 

Psalm 126-134: Sowing With Tears

Image:  "Goes Forth With Weeping", 2020, Severna Park, Md

Psalm 126:5–6 Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. 6 He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 127:4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.

Psalm 130:3–4 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

Psalm 132:9 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your saints shout for joy.

Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

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Perhaps a word about the image and its title.  It's a stretch, I know, but I couldn't resist.

Oak "squigglies" are a nuisance in the spring.  They really do a number on cars... they  spread yellow dust over everything in the yard... they plug up the lawnmower bag... AND they drive your sinuses crazy.  They really do "go forth with weeping."  Yet, to complete the metaphor, what is sown in tears is reaped in joy (126:5).  From these irritating streamers there will come a fall harvest of acorns.  The squirrels and other critters will eat and be full. Something similar can be said, I suppose, about those periods of time in our lives when it's just plain hard... and "troubles attendeth my way."

Several of today's psalm readings bear on this idea.  Psalm 129 begins with the singer saying he has been afflicted "many a time" even from his youth.  Yet in each there is the note of hope.  God will cause those who weep to "come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." (126:4)  The power of God has settled on this course.  The times of sorrow are the birth pangs wherein new life is brought into the world and ultimately into eternity.

The Israelites saw blessedness in terms of having their "name" preserved through the generations in their children.  They saw this as kind of life beyond death.  Their children and grand-children would keep their memory alive and bless them when they sat at table and spoke to their own children.  "Happy is the man who has his quiver full" of children (127:5) because he will not be ashamed... he will be recognized as a man on whom God has favor... he will be respected in the assembly.  Again, keeping the metaphor, the difficulties of bearing children, the frustrations often encountered in rearing them, the fear that comes when they are in peril... these are the times sowed in tears.  But the harvest is the reward of seeing them, in their time, stepping into your footprints and then making footprints (and children) of their own.  Truly the psalmist's blessing was one to warm the parents' hearts: "May you see your children's children." (128:6)

Sometimes "sowing with tears" describes deep anguish of soul.  "Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord..." (130:1)  These are those instances when we fallen sinners are reminded of just how "creaturely" we are.  Our only hope is that God will do something to relieve our afflictions, whatever they may be.  We may be brought low by external things like illness... our heart may be broken over personal relations that have fallen apart... we may be abandoned by someone we treasured... or, very importantly, we may have been brought face to face with our own sin.  

In those times of great darkness, when tears, both real and hidden, flood over our soul, then we know just how weak and helpless we are.  We, with the psalmist turn to God and say: "If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, ... who could stand?" (130:3)  It is the cry of absolute despair with respect to our own abilities.  We cannot find our way out of sorrow.  We know that our own iniquities undermine any thought that we are being unjustly treated. 

Yet, at that very point, hope comes through the tears.  "There is forgiveness with You that You may be feared." (130:4)  Here is the great Wisdom of God portrayed.  In our sorrow we see that God's forgiveness is unto the end that He may be feared.  Fear here means "respected as one who has absolute authority."  Our tearful condition highlights our inability.  God's forgiveness highlights His ability not only to fix the problems but also to bring us into a state of willing and thankful service.  God makes us into witnesses of His glory by bringing joy out of tears... joy that only He could bring... and joy for which He is glorified.

Thus, in the face of tears we are called to "hope in the LORD for with the LORD there is mercy and with Him is abundant redemption."  (130:7)  Can we really ask for more?  In this world there will be sorrows, tears and dark nights of the soul.  But in this world and most especially in the next, there will be the bright dawn of joy.  God's people were created to rejoice... and sorrow is merely the prelude to the great fanfare of praise.

 

 

 

 

Psalm 120-125: Songs For The Journey

Image: "Leaves & a Friend," 2020, Severna Park, Md

Psalm 120:7 I am for peace; But when I speak, they are for war.

Psalm 121:4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.

Psalm 124:6–8 Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth. 7 Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 125:2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.

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This section of the Psalms is called "Songs of Ascents."  There are various explanations given for 'why?' but none entirely satisfy.  The major ones (in my opinion) are: 1 - songs sung by pilgrims "going up" to Jerusalem for the annual feasts, 2- songs built on an internal  'ascending' literary poetic structure, & 3 - songs sung by returning exiles from the "low country" of Mesopotamia "going up" to the mountainous regions of Jerusalem.  All three are possible.  The stanzas do reflect (more or less) an ascending use of words but either 1 or 3 seem most likely to me.

These are songs of a journey.

Travel back in those days could often be quite perilous.  Even the most "civilized" nation during the period did not have the civil protections or infrastructure that we now take for granted.  The rich could travel in relative comfort and employ a retinue of armed body-guards.  The best poor folk could do was band together to help one another in bad weather or dealing with bad guys.  It's difficult enough lying on the ground or sheltering in the crevasse of a rock when it's dark and stormy.  It's terrifying indeed to suddenly be surrounded by cutthroat bandits who really don't care whether you live or die. 

When enduring a dangerous journey singing about God's faithfulness and protection probably helped a lot.   Perhaps we might consider that a lesson for us as we walk our own paths.

The theme of God being our "Help" in times of trouble, either explicitly stated or implied, is the unifying theme for these psalms.  How is God our "Help?"  He hears us when our companions on the journey or others around us begin to undermine our peace and perhaps whip up a lynch mob (120:1-4).  He preserves us "from all evil" because He "neither slumbers nor sleeps." (121:7,4)  He gives us a vision and goal that moves us to keep going, to persevere, to complete our journey. (122:1,2)  He is our source of nourishment, both physical and spiritual, such that we look to Him as servants look to the hand of their masters for their needs. (123: 1,2)  He is our sure defense when "men rise up against us" and we are in danger from their evil traps. (124:1,2,7)  He conquers wickedness and "leads them away" captive.  He "surrounds His people" forevermore.

For these songs to really penetrate to our souls we have to put ourselves "in mind" to receive them.  On their face they are simple and somewhat general.  They are easy to read and many individual phrases please us.  But it is easy to just scan them and move on.

But it is different if we ponder the setting in which they were originally sung and then ask ourselves "how is my life like that?"  What ominous darkness looms over my life or threatens my, or my family's, future?  Where can I empathize with the idea of being surrounded by evil men who are only to happy to do us physical or financial harm?  It takes only a moment to realize just how fragile our security actually is.  A home invasion... the diminished presence of police and other first responders due to infections... the scarcity of supplies driving near crazed addicts to break out of the slums and rampage in the suburbs.  All of these things are not just possibilities.  They furnish the material for our news media.  We are at risk.

One thing this kind of contemplation can do is reverse the ostrich-like "head in the sand" that many Christians complacently adopt.  It prevents deadly "it will never happen to me" thinking.

The point is that we need to sing these songs to ourselves so as to be our comfort.  They also remind us that one purpose of God's visible Church is to give us "traveling companions" for our journey.  We also can look to the hills around us and find our Help coming from there.  He does "surround us" with His love and tenderly oversees our every step.

The journey is dangerous.  Some of us may indeed fall along the way.  But our Great Help will bring us to our True Home, the Heavenly Jerusalem, and all of our enemies will be lead away in shame.  We shall be like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever." (125:1)

Peace be upon the Israel of God.

 

 

 

Psalm 119:89-176 An Easter Meditation - HE IS ALIVE!

Image: "Awakened To New Life", 2020, Severna Park, Md

Psalm 119:89 Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.

Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

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I am going to stretch this one verse from my reading this morning to include not only the revealed word of God, the truth of God's inscripturated revelation which is indeed eternal in heaven, but also the Incarnate Word of God Who is settled in heaven having risen from the dead and ascended to His eternal position at the right hand of God the Father.

What a glorious day was that Easter morning when Jesus of Nazareth awakened to His "New Resurrected Life."  In some mysterious way His humanity now took on a new relationship to His Divinity as the Christ of God.  He was now "eternal" in a new way such that He would never die again.  I can only imagine what it was for Him, as it will also be for us one day, when His existence no longer experienced the burden of sin.  Certainly His "burden" was that of the sins of His people but truly He bore them in His flesh.  Throughout His entire life He bore that burden, being born under the law and never so heavy was it as it was on that cross.  But on that morning, when He awakened to the New Day that His resurrection ushered into the world, He was no longer the "Suffering Servant,"... His entire Being, both Human and Divine, was flooded with joy inexpressible.  Here was the experience of life eternal and what a tremendous impact it must have had.

He awakened to a "new life" with a "new mission."  Now, as the resurrected Son, He was to ascend to heaven and take up His position as our eternal Prophet, Priest and King.  He now was to become the Lord of the Covenant ruling and directing His Church through the Holy Spirit.  He, in a real but mysterious fashion, was to become our Prophet, directly working in and through us to give us "understanding" of His Law unto the end that we, like Him, "shall live" (Psalm 119:144).  And, as the Hebrews passage above teaches, as our High Priest, He was now to undertake the glad occupation of saving "to the uttermost those who come to God through Him."  This task, specifically is called out as growing out of His continuing life because "He ever lives to make intercession for them."

What a tremendous thing is this.  We Christians on this day are not to just shout "He is Risen!"  We are to explicitly claim with equal gladness "He IS Alive!"

This is the broadest claim of the early Church and the continuing Church throughout the ages.  We serve a Risen Savior... He is in the world today... and we know that He is living no matter what men may say!"  The Gospel of Jesus Christ sweeps through the entirety of the Christ Event.  His miraculous birth, His sinless life, His Sin-Bearing ministry, His substitutionary death and His glorious Resurrection all culminate in the Good News that He is alive and not absent.  

The historical facts of His resurrection and ascension are, just in and of themselves, not precisely objects of faith.  They are true facts, the certainty of which were established through multitudes of reliable witnesses and recorded for us in the inerrant and infallible truth of the Holy Spirit inspired Scriptures.  Our "Faith" is directed toward the meaning of these historical facts... the Good News that all of these events were unto an end... that end is that "He ever lives."

Truly on this day, as we should ever day, this directs our attention to the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God, who lives in glorious majesty in heaven but is as near as the living witness of His Presence in our souls. 

He is alive!

Let heaven and earth rejoice!  Let all mankind hear and believe in Him.  His life is our life because we are bound up in HIM! and His continuing life is OUR LIFE.

Can any heart be so dull as to not respond to this thought?  Does it not thrill our innermost being?  Is it not the most glorious tidings anyone could ever share with us?  

Certainly it is.

May the eternal Christ bless your hearts today with an even more transforming appropriation and appreciation for what His Resurrection / Ascension means... for you!

Happy Easter - He is Arisen... He is alive!

 

Psalm 119:1-88: Finding Freedom

Image: "Low Hanging Fruit", 2020, Severna Park, Md

Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

Psalm 119:18 Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law.

Psalm 119:37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way.

Psalm 119:45 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.

Psalm 119:49–50 Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope. 50 This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life.

Psalm 119:63 I am a companion of all who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts.

Psalm 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.

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Anyone who is tempted to view people who lived thousands of years ago as ignorant slobs ought to pay attention to works like Psalm 119.  The literary structure of the Psalm is well known but its content reflect sheer genius.  Each section begins, in the original Hebrew, with the "next" letter in the alphabet.  The song celebrates the blessing of God's law as the gracious gift of God.  It is a masterpiece whose impressive literary achievement can actually distract us from the deep wells of meaning found in its verses.

Today's reading covers approximately half of its verses.

What ties the psalm together, beyond its obvious focus on God's law, is the deep yearnings of the author.  He knows God's "law" and is captured by its treasures.  But he longs to know it better.  He has, as it were, tasted of it but he wants to swallow it all, to digest it, to have it become even more a part of his being.  In verse 73, among others, he cries out to God as his Creator and says "Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn Your commandments."

Notice here that the author is not just talking about the ten commandments.  When he says that he wants "understanding" so that he may "learn Your commandments" he is talking about far more than committing a few verses to memory.  What this author saw was the deep pools of wisdom that are "in and through" God's word.  He is not talking about just being guided by the road markers of "right and wrong" such that as he goes his way he doesn't slip into sin.  What he wants is understanding.  He wants to know how God's law / word can open up all of life to us.  He wants to know how the invisible Kingdom of God is living and moving and stretching deep into the progress of history.  He wants to "understand" in the sense of being able to see the hand of God guiding him in every individual circumstance.  He cries out (vs. 68) "You are good, and do good; teach me Your statues."  He wants to see the goodness of God in all things.  In that same section he shows real progress (vs. 71)  "It is good for me that I have been afflicted (so) that I may learn Your statues."  Already he has understood his life better when in affliction he sees good in it.  He "learned" truth from God's word while enduring it.

He asks for God (v. 37) to "turn" his eyes away from "worthless things" so that he may be "revived" in God's way.  So many of the distractions in this life fall into this category.  How many hours have we spent, how much energy have we expended, being focused on "worthless things."  I am not speaking so much of entertainments though such could easily be the case sometimes.  What is really in view are the things which arouse our passion:  "proving ourselves right" about some trivial matter, focusing on negative things and getting all worked up about them, pursuing some goal with compulsive preoccupation such that we see it as all important.... sometimes more than the people who dare to seek our attention.  

It is God's word that helps us see our own lives so that we can see what is "worthless" and what is "gold."  When we submit to it with joy then we do discover what it means to be revived in God's way.

Vs. 45 was particularly striking to me today:  "I will walk at liberty for I seek Your precepts."  What God is teaching us here is that far from being a set of shackles depriving us of "liberty," God's law is the key which unlocks our chains and sets us free.  The word translated "liberty" is derived from a Hebrew word that points to a wide open spacious place.  Imagine yourself standing in the beautiful stretching plains of the American Mid West.  As far as the eye can see there is not a fence or a barrier or a wall in sight.  You can walk in any direction you choose, go for as little or as long as you want, and follow your dreams.  This is "freedom" / "liberty."  

What God's Word (the wider, more comprehensive idea of God's Law) does for us is set us free.  As Jesus said, "If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36).  This "freedom" that Jesus imparts to us is discovered through the embracing and grasp of His Word.  To walk in freedom is to walk within the framework of thinking, willing, reacting and recognizing all things through the lens of God's revealed will for us to think, will, react and recognize.  

As the psalmist here indicates, this is something beautiful... it is most highly to be desired.  God opening up to us a new way of life that is the same "old" way of life that God loving people have discovered throughout the ages.  It is the only life wherein the word "contentment" has is a possibility.  We are free because the world is opened up to us as a vast plain wherein, through the enlightened eyes given us by the Holy Spirit, we can freely walk as we desire to walk and do what we desire to do without fear of being out of accord with God's revealed word.

That is the pathway of delight.

Psalm 114-118: Death Surrounded Him - A Good Friday Meditation

Image: "Unlikely Mixture", 2020, Severna Park, Md

Psalm 114:7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the God of Jacob,

Psalm 115:1 1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth.

Psalm 116:3 The pains of death surrounded me, And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow.

Psalm 116:8–9 8 For You have delivered my soul from death, My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling. 9 I will walk before the LORD In the land of the living.

Psalm 118:22–23 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This was the LORD’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.

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It seems providential that today's reading includes Psalm 116 & 118 which, along with a couple of others, are so clearly Messianic.  Verse  118:22 ("cornerstone") is quoted often in the NT and is always applied to Jesus.  Psalm 116 is a song of rejoicing for deliverance from death that leads to worship before the LORD in the "presence of all His people (vs. 114, 118) which immediately brings to mind the triumphal singing of our Christ spoken of in Heb. 2:12-13.  How can we not think about Good Friday when the Holy Spirit moves us so powerfully through these words.

When we modern Americans think of Jesus' crucifixion I think we over emphasize the idea of "victimhood."  We tend toward an abundance of pity... as if His Presence there was unjust, .... that He was helpless and abused.  I am not even hinting that we should approach the cross with a clinical detachment.  The cross should bring us to our knees... it should rip our proud hearts asunder... there should be tears in our eyes and impulsive groans escaping our lips.  Everything about the cross should arouse deep emotions.  But we must guard against "trivial" emotions... emotions that bubble and churn on the surface but do not work gut-wrenching change in our souls.  It is this latter type of emotions that God desires.

Psalm 114, speaking of another of God's great works, called out: "Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the god of Jacob."  The context for that verse was judgment.  When God reveals His mighty hand in judgment it is right and proper for all creation to tremble and shake.  So it was on that dark afternoon at Golgotha as darkness covered the land and an earthquake shook the foundations of the temple.  This is what should shake us also.  The cross was God's judgment... powerfully displayed... violently administered... deeply felt and entirely righteous.  On that cross God showered down the full impact of Hell on His Son for the particular sins of His particular people.  If you read these words and in your mind's eye you look up at Jesus on that cross, then know for certain, if Jesus is your Lord then every agony of His soul was administered for YOUR sin.   Here is the right emotion.  When we look with horror on His suffering and cannot escape the thought:  "He is suffering for MY sin."  Now that is an emotion that will crunch your heart when it really hits home.

Another emotion surfaces when the inevitable question springs to our mind:  "Lord, why?... why did it have to be this way?" and Psalm 115:1 helps there.  "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your name give glory..."  In our mind's eye let's think of Jesus looking down on us... there is pity in His eyes but not for Himself, but for us.  He answers our question with the same thoughts that He prayed in the Garden (John 17:1-4):  "It had to be this way for Me to glorify My Father and for Him to glorify Me!"  God is glorified in the just and righteous salvation of sinners.  For them to be saved their sins must be punished.  God cannot do otherwise.  Therefore, O Sinner, know that there was no other way.  Your sins demanded eternal death and Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God, paid off that demand in His very own Person.  Here we have another gut-wrenching emotion: the combined effects of horror at what we deserve, the extent of anguish it brought on our Substitute and broken hearted gratitude that He did it.... for us!

And then it was over.  The debt was paid.  He lifted His head and cried out "It is finished" and it was.  There no longer remained any punishment to be born nor any debt to be paid in the accounts of His children.  They were completely marked through and stamped "paid."  With that He was taken from that cross and laid in a cold dark tomb.  "The pains of death surrounded me, the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me..." (116:3)  Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God was dead!  Yes... really dead.  Dead in the tomb dead.  Stone cold dead.  It was not some self-induced coma... nor some near death experience.  Jesus died and let no man dare blaspheme otherwise.

But it was not the death of hopelessness.  Psalm 116 prophesied that His soul would be delivered from death... His eyes from tears ... and that He would walk again "before the LORD in the land of the living."  This was a precious time for Jesus.  He went through the portal of human death, something no pagan had ever conceived as possible for an eternal god.  Jesus experienced death for us... even death on a cross... and He drank that cup right down to the dregs.  But His was a death of hope... and for that reason gives us hope in death also.  For (118:15) "precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints."

So, as we, in our mind's eye, stand before the cross let us certainly have the closing image be that it is empty.  He is "not there" anymore.  He is no longer the Suffering Servant... but the fullness of that joy is reserved for Easter Morning.

Have a blessed Good Friday!

Psalm 107-113: If You're Smart You'll Pay Attention.....

Image: "Hummingbird's Delight," 2020, Severna Park, Md

Psalm 107:43 Whoever is wise will observe these things, And they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

Psalm 108:11 Is it not You, O God, who cast us off? And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies?

Psalm 109:4 In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer.

Psalm 110:1–2 The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” 2 The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!

Psalm 111:2 The works of the LORD are great, Studied by all who have pleasure in them.

Psalm 113:7–8 He raises the poor out of the dust, And lifts the needy out of the ash heap, 8 That He may seat him with princes— With the princes of His people.

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What parent has not said something like this to their children?  "If you know what's good for you, you will listen to what I say!"  It was certainly true for me both as the kid and the parent.  Sometimes we fallen sinners need to be reminded that we had best pay attention... or else.

These psalms today fit nicely together in this regard.  Taken as a whole the theme of "being smart" is stitched throughout and is directly associated with paying attention to what God is doing in the world.  Psalm 107 repeats the wondering cry "Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD...for His goodness, and His wonderful works..."  This fairly long poem then points to evidences that are "right there before our eyes" justifying such praise and thanksgiving.  The entire range of human endeavor is summarized as the sphere in which God does "good stuff."  The closing verse makes it plain: "Whoever is wise will observe these things and they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD."  

If you are wise... if you are "smart"... you will look around and see that God is real, that His lovingkindness is evident in His actions in this world and therefore we should be brought to praise by that knowledge.  Where "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10 in today's reading for one), it is also a wisdom which must result in praise and thanksgiving.

Psalm 111 reinforces this point.  "The works of the LORD are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them." (v.2)  What a stimulating thought!  God's great works in space and time are a magnet attracting all of those whose hearts are such as to find "pleasure in them."  Here we see mankind divided along two lines: those who love God's works because they see God in them, and those who take no pleasure in the same works because they lack love for God and cannot see them rightly.  How sad it is that this beautiful world God has made and the testimony of His great works in history that He has preserved for us are not appreciated and embraced as they should be by all mankind.  

God stands before the collective eyes of mankind and says:  "Look at all this!  I have shown Myself to be the source of all things that are "honorable and glorious" (111:3).  I have made a way for you to be redeemed (111:9).  I have established My Son at My Right Hand (110:1) through specific historical facts which no reasonable man could deny.  I raised Him from the dead as testified by hundreds of eye witnesses.  He ascended to heaven before the eyes of honorable men who have testified to this truth.  He is alive... that's a fact Jack... are you paying attention?"

God's great works in nature and in history are the "facts" which confront mankind and wise men not only hear them and tremble, but hear them and rejoice.  

Yet, we must admit, that the evidence of history also shows us that the majority of men love the darkness rather than the light.  Mankind exists as a mixture, those upon whom "light" has arisen in the "darkness" (112:4) and who have been prepared for praise, and those who are slaves to wickedness and deceit (109:2).  These latter folk cloth themselves "with cursing as with (a) garment." (109:18)  Such a vivid description.  

Because of this wickedness in the world there is also pain and suffering.  God uses these things to His own good ends with regard to His people.  He confirms our faith in testing.. builds up endurance through perseverance... and strengthens our weak knees by exercise.  It sometimes seems as if we will be overwhelmed. Like Psalm 109:4 there are times when our entire obedience consists in giving ourselves to prayer.  Yet even here there is more than enough reason to praise.

Even as we long for judgment to fall on the wicked (as in Psalm 109) yet our prayers to this end presupposes that the righteous will be saved and vindicated.  The deep movement of the soul that is the well spring of fervent prayer is, itself, a great work of God.  We can look at how God binds us to Himself.  We can see His arms wrapping around us and holding us away from despair by bringing us to our knees.  We have not given up when we are depending on God for mercy.  This is a miracle in itself.

God's wholesome embrace of His people, producing in them the earnest desire to pray, is proof of His indwelling Spirit and is yet another of His Marvellous Works, showing grace to the sons of Men.

There is so much to think about.  Wisdom is indeed to be found in paying attention to all of God's great works.

Psalm 102-106:

Image: Heralds of the Season, 2002, Severna Park, Md

Psalm 102:16 For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory.

Psalm 103:10–12 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions—

Psalm 105:3 Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!

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It is always a cheering sight to see the Spring-heralding brash robins assert themselves in the yard.  They are a pushy bunch and can be quite bold in demanding the daily distributions.  They apparently consider it their right to be furnished with raisins and seeds.  I suppose getting the early worm has become tedious.  But, nevertheless, I smile when I see them... I like birds (and kids and pretty ladies) with spunk.

The spring time influx of various birds fits right in with Psalm 104 today.  The psalmist specifically remembers them in verse 12 as he praises God for the sweet synergy so plainly visible in nature.  Throughout the ages sensitive souls have delighted in nature's wonders.  Robert Frost, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and other poets gained their best inspirations there.  Beethoven's 6th and Strauss' Tales of Vienna Woods still wordlessly evoke smiling concurrence in the images they convey.  This is as it should be.  All humanity should be awakened to thoughts of God by the testimony of His creation around us.  To some extent this does happen but it is the special Christian privilege to see God "rightly" in His creation... and therefore, to see Nature itself "rightly."

That brash robin is far more than a bunch of pretty feathers, cocky demeanor and the source of wondrously blue eggs.  In fact, if one analyzes the robin, using the tools of science, dissecting the body, cataloging the habits, tracking the migration, there is the real danger that the robin itself will be lost in the study.  Any fact, especially as it concerns God's wondrous creation, is far more than just the sum of its parts.  The robin begins to be really understood when it is viewed within God's ordered economy as Psalm 104 does so stirringly.  The "birds of the heavens" find their home and place to sing near the "springs" of the valleys that are there for that purpose, as well as to refresh the parched throats of "wild donkeys" and other beasts of the field. (104:10-11) 

The birds, like this robin,  thus fit within an entire mosaic of interconnected and mutually interacting living elements.  Nature is a marvelously tuned system with an infinite number of parts.  This system was not just designed, built and left to run its course like some fantastic clock.  No, every individual component is Personally supervised, cherished and directed by its Creator, the God who knows every sparrow that falls to the ground. (Mat. 10:29).  Thus to "know" the robin one must first look to see how robins in general and each robin in particular is "revelatory" of God... We must see God in the robin.  No human can do this with any real understanding apart from the indwelling Holy Spirit and the prior understanding of Scripture.  All "natural revelation" is accessible to our understanding only through "special revelation."  But, that being said, yet it is redeemed man's privilege and duty to rejoice in the testimony to God that is all around us in creation.

Verse 24 beautifully expresses where this contemplation should lead.  Seeing creation as opening up God to our hearts and minds in its own unique manner leads us to proclaim:

O LORD, how manifold are Your works!

In wisdom You have made them all.

The earth is full of Your possessions.

The work of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to God was not just to the end of our eternal salvation although certainly that is supremely important.  His work in our lives is also that of "awakening us", moving our soul to a new appreciation of all things.  This is only saying that "eternal life" is not just "longer life."  It is also a different quality of life.  It is a life in which a robin is far more than just a bird... where brothers and sisters in Christ are far more than "just" other Christians... where children are a "gift of God" and a sun rise is a spiritual experience.  It is only within this framework that a person can really "know" anything because the only way that "all truth is God's truth" is when "all truth is understood as being revelatory of God Himself."  

The end product is praise... present praise as a down payment on eternal praise as we move from glory unto glory.  Thus this little robin coupled with Psalm 104 encourages my heart today... I hope it does the same for yours.