Were YOU There?

     “Were you there?” The song has a haunting melancholy flow to it that makes the singer or listener ponder our own sinfulness that led up to Jesus’ crucifixion. I was at a Good Friday service listening to this song and it caused me to think...

     “Were you there” when Jesus asked the disciples to pray? Have you ever been weary and lax in praying, falling asleep when you needed to be vigilant?

     “Were you there” when opposition came to arrest Jesus? We all have had times when we could have stood with Jesus and yet we fled. From a distance we warm our hands at the fire, while Jesus is beaten and mocked. Our gaze leaves the security of the fire only to lock eyes with our Lord who looks at us not so much when condemnation we deserve, but with eays saddened and grieved by our abandonment of Him.


     “Were you there” when mockers questioned whether Jesus was the Christ? No, we wouldn’t taunt Him, but we have questioned him. We’ve been angry with Him. We have put Christ on trial when we go through our trials and somehow we proclaim Him guilty of not being the Messiah we wanted Him to be. Yes, we’ve been there.

     “Were you there” in Judas’ regret? Materialism sways us from following Christ. We’ve compromised for far less than 30 pieces of silver. The hollow and empty return of our investment ends at a pauper’s grave, knowing we’ve betrayed innocent blood in our selfish greed, but it is too late.

     “Were you there” in Pilate’s indecision? Back and forth we go, should we or shouldn’t we? We know what is right, and yet we feel we can do what is wrong and merely wash our hands after the deed is done. We question, look for a loophole, then wind up listening to the crowd. Yes, we have been there.

     “Were you there” with chief priest and scribes? Religious ritualism, not atheism, is the true opposition of Christianity. Security over sacred, familiar traditions over true relationship with God robs us from fellowship with our Lord. “His blood be upon us and our children” is indeed what we need to say, yet we cry out “we have no king but Caesar.”

     “Were you there” in calling for Barabbas to be freed? One guilty goes free, while One innocent pays a price undeservedly. The great exchange does more than free one murderer. Had Christ been freed, we all would be as enchained, imprisoned and ultimately executed as Barabbas should have been. Yet we can walk free. Yes, we were there.

     “Were you there” when He could not carry the cross? Did you weep as He passed, only to hear Him say “weep for yourselves and your children”? We would not have helped carry that cross unless someone forced us to. The weight would be too heavy, the Savior’s blood on the cross would ruin our clothes. We have other things to do than carry that cross, or so we think until we are forced to walk that Via de la Rosa at the pulled sword of the Roman guard.

     “Were you there” on your own cross for your own sins? Which one were you? Taunting until the end, or pleading for a simple remembrance by the Lord when He enters the Kingdom. Pain on your hands and feet fade with His words of Hope, “Today…Paradise.”

     “Were you there” with His mother? Who is His mother? Where are His brothers and sisters? They are not still here on earth, are they? “Behold thy mother,” He whispered. “Behold thy son,” He groaned. The least of these are still among us. “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” He had asked so long ago. “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

     Was I there? Yes, we all were and sometimes it causes me to tremble.


Pray: Precious Lord Jesus. Thank you is not enough. Words are not enough. My life back to You is not enough. Only Your blood was enough to allow me to say simply this: Thank You. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Our battles are real and so is our mighty God

    Psalm 56
February 28
     I find fascinating how versatile and applicable the psalms are to our lives three thousand years later. And while application is always a must, these writings were most applicable to the situations in which they were written.

     We might think, “David was so scared, so afraid” but we must remember that David was in battle, hand-to-hand combat much of the time in which these psalms were written. He had literally killed more than 10,000 men without weapons of mass destruction. David was literally a prisoner of war and there were no Geneva Convention codes back then.

     I say that because I am honored to serve at a church on the doorstep of Fort Hood military installation, the most populous military installation in the world. I see the hardships that many military families go through and as a minister, I want the soldiers and their families to draw strength and healing from the words of the Scriptures, especially the psalms which were mostly written either in the battlefield or with the battlefield in mind.

     “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You,” (Ps. 56:3) is a great verse for children to memorize in a thunderstorm, but it was written by a mighty man of valor. The following verse (56:4), “I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?” was quoted in the New Testament (Heb. 13:6) as well as elsewhere in Psalms (118:6) and later in this same psalm (verse 11). Verse 8, “Put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book” was not written by a timid man but shows that God cares and will care for us.

    Whatever you are going through, man or woman, boy or girl, God is with you and He will fight for you!

The greater the love, the greater the capacity for grief

Psalm 55

February 27

 

     Psalm 52 speaks of betrayal from an enemy. Psalm 54 is about a betrayal of a fellow countryman and even a kinsman. This psalm is from a fellow believer. It’s as though David is singing the blues and the hits they just keep coming.

     David said “I could handle it better if it was an enemy or even an acquaintance that I really didn’t like, then I could hide from him” (Ps. 55:12).  “But it was you, my equal, my companion, the one I took sweet counsel from as we walked together to worship.”

     I think about two best friends who used to go to church together and as they grew up, they also grew apart. Something snapped and they suddenly were estranged from each other and while one was indifferent to the distance, the other was devastated by her friend suddenly dropping her. The closer you are to someone, the greater the hurt that can be caused.

     If a total stranger ignored me whenever I said “Hello,” I would think it strange even rude, but it wouldn’t ruin my entire day. But if a close friend and fellow believer suddenly just ignored me, the pain would be magnified immensely.

     Turn that around to the Lord. No one loves you more than He does. And He has given so much to us. But sometimes we forget that not only can God love, He also feels hurt, pain and grief. If His love for us is immeasurable, does it not follow that His grief is also measureless when we “betray” Him in our sins, in our unfaithfulness, in our distance from Him?

     If a believer or a church or even a staff member or pastor has hurt your feelings, I truly am sorry. But undoubtedly you and I have hurt someone else, our Lord, by our actions. The greater the love, the greater the ability to be hurt. Confess the distance you have made between yourself and the Lord as sin and pledge to draw near to Him. He will also draw near to you.

 

The worst hurt of all

Psalm 54

February 26

     It is one thing to be betrayed by an enemy, but to be betrayed by your own? Wow!

     Psalm 52 was written in response to David being betrayed by an Edomite, found in 1 Sam. 22, but today’s psalm is in response to David being betrayed by his own people, based on 1 Sam. 23:19 and verses following.

     Have you had close friends or coworkers abandon you or betray you? Join the club of David and of Jesus. Both David and Jesus were of the lineage of Judah, and yet Judas betrayed Jesus. And the people of David’s own kin and tribe told King Saul, a Benjamite, where David was hiding. Earlier in Psalm 41:9, we read this prophetic passage, “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me,” written by David, but applied to Jesus and Judas Iscariot.

    A church I know has a reputation of terminating more staff members and employees than any other church I have ever seen. I asked one terminated minister how long it took for his wife to get over the hurt of his termination and he said, “I don’t think she’ll ever get over it.” There are worse hurts. Some churches and even entire denominations have reputations of hurting and abusing children. The hurt from friends, family members, and family of God members can be one of the most devastating hurts that there are.

     Where did David turn when his own kin and kind suddenly became “strangers” “oppressors” (54:3) and “enemies” (54:5, 7)? He turned to God. When you need a friend or a brother, remember Jesus has called us friends (John 15:15) and if we have God as our Father, then Jesus is our brother (Matt. 12:50). And He will never betray you.

(This theme continues in Psalm 55)

Some messages bear repeating

Psalm 53

February 25

 

     Psalm 53 is almost identical to Psalm 14 with the exception of a few of the latter verses. Perhaps like our modern hymnals (is that an oxymoron?) where we list the same song to two different melodies, this psalm is sung “according to mahalath” or a different tune. Or maybe the psalmist decided like some of our contemporary artists to bring up an oldie but a goodie and add a few new lyrics.

     The targets addressed in psalm 53 are the atheists, the arrogant, and the antagonists of God’s people. All three had no fear of God… until God shows up at judgment day. Then “they are in great fear, where no fear was.” On the other hand, the people who believe in God, who recognize and repent of their sins, who are not antagonistic against God or His people, can rejoice and be glad (verse 6).

    At times, we believers are no better than the fools who don’t believe, as far as sins go. Paul would later use this verse and show that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23).

    Like the arrogant, we need to remember we have all sinned. Our sin and rebellion against God is not new, seen also in Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, every one, to his own way…”  But Isaiah doesn’t end there. “And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

    And sometimes we Christians are no better than that antagonists who devour the believers. Galatians 5:15 was written as a warning to Christians, “But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!”

    Some messages need to be repeated and obviously this psalm does as well.

Going from bad to worse...to outright evil

Psalm 52

February 24

     There is bad and then there is outright evil. Imagine a political leader, the head of a sovereign nation, ordering the execution of religious leaders simply because they gave his enemy some food. That’s what King Saul had done to 85 priests who had helped Saul’s enemy, David. Additionally, the entire city of priests was also destroyed, priests as well as the women and children.

     People often complain about their government or the bad things that happen to them, but there is true evil in our world, desperately wicked people. How does one get to be that evil?

     A poor shepherd by the name of Doeg saw the priests give David food and simply went and reported it to King Saul. When Saul became enraged by those who helped his enemy, he ordered the priests to be killed but no one would do it…except Doeg. He thought this was his chance to strike it rich. He was from another country so it didn’t matter to him if he killed some Israelites, even an entire city. According to Ps. 52:7, Doeg went from his bad poverty and quickly turned to outright evil.

     David felt the blow personally; after all, it was because of him that the evil had fallen on the priests. Rather than guilt or bitterness, David turned to God and to praising God. Rather than trusting in riches and power and revenge, David said, “I will trust in the mercy of God forever and ever…I will wait on your name, for it is good.”

   There is bad and there is outright evil. But there is good and outright mercy of God forever. Whatever you are going through, deepen your roots like an olive tree in the house of God. You won’t be uprooted.

The best word NOT in Psalm 51

Psalm 51

February 23

    

     There are so many great and wonderful words and phrases in this marvelous psalm of confession, repentance, forgiveness and restoration. But the greatest word is perhaps NOT even in this psalm. Here are the words included:

“Wash me/ cleanse me”
“Create in me”
“Renew a steadfast spirit within me”
“Wash me”
“Restore to me”
“Uphold me”

     The word “Then” is not even in verse 13 in the original language, but is inserted in most English translations, but I think it is possibly the greatest implied word in all of the Bible. If a word is italicized in NKJV/KJV translations, it generally means the word is implied but not directly stated. “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You.”

    

The reason why I say that the word “then” is perhaps the greatest word NOT in this psalm is because David’s sins were not merely limited to David. The consequences of his sins, and our sins, extend far beyond us. David sinned against his people by not going out to war, against Uriah and Bathsheba, against his own family with consequences which would plague him even past his death, and against the child conceived by their union and the subsequent death of that child. Therefore, David’s restoration must also extend beyond himself.

   

As marvelous as David’s forgiveness, cleansing, purging, restoration and renewal, the most ultimate importance of all of those things is that verse which starts off with “then” and continues in stating that others may fear when they saw the great consequences of sin.

    

Good men are going to fall, hopefully not as greatly as David did, but the greatest of all things about this psalm is God is NEVER finished with us. God can still “hit a straight lick with a crooked stick.” Sinners can be converted and believers can “learn not to blaspheme” (1 Tim. 1:20) when they see God’s judgment as well as his restoration of even someone after his own heart like David.

      

Jesus said, “as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent” (Rev. 3:19). The writer of Hebrews said, “For whom the Lord loves, He chastens” (Heb. 12:6).

      

God loves us the way we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us the way we are.

  

One of the best ways to praise the Lord is doing what He says

Psalm 50

February 22

     Psalm 50 is a perfectly linked to Matthew 23:23, the passage our pastor, Dr. Randy Wallace, preached Sunday. Jesus called out those who tithed on the tiniest amounts but left off the more important elements: justice and mercy and faith.

    A thousand years earlier, Asaph was vocalizing the same thing to the people of God. He said he was not going to rebuke the people for tithing (Ps. 50:8), even though He was the creator and owner of everything, including “the cattle on a thousand hills” (50:10-13).

     Bringing tithes and offerings are important, but it was almost as if the people hated the other instructions from God, which were against stealing, adultery, hurting their brothers and sisters,  lying and evil talking (50:17-20). The people thought they were so godly because they brought sacrifices, “but I will rebuke you.”

    I love the line where God, clarifying why His people should bring sacrifices to Him, says, “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine and all its fullness.” God didn’t need us to “feed” Him bulls and goats. And today, tithing doesn’t add to God’s riches, it all belongs to Him, any more than our being righteous adds to His righteousness. Being godly does not add to our salvation, since Christ paid it all.

     Our obedience does accomplish one thing, whether it is in giving or in godliness: it praises and glorifies God. A one-sentence summation of this psalm would be “One of the best ways to praise God is by doing what He says.”

The redemption of souls is costly

Psalm 49

February 21

    The movie Risen has just been released and although I haven’t seen it, I obviously like the premise. A man who claimed He would rise from the dead apparently did so, and a Roman guard is tasked with the impossible job of finding the dead man’s body. It is impossible because the body ascended to heaven.

    Today’s reading is for everyone, verse 1 says, “all peoples…all inhabitants of the earth… lowly and high, poor and rich.” The passage mostly talks about the wealthy who trust their wealth. Understand, being rich is not a sin, and being poor does not make you virtuous. But beyond that, neither poverty, nor wealth, nor wisdom, nor ignorance can save you from death.

⁷ No one can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him—
⁸ For the redemption of their souls is costly, and it shall cease forever—
⁹ That he should continue to live eternally, and not see the Pit.

    Redemption of souls is more expensive than any person could ever pay. The writer goes on to say the wise and the fools alike both die and leave everything behind. No one’s legacy, even the most honorable, lasts forever. The grave takes everything. Kind of pessimistic, huh?

     Except…there is a verse 15: “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me.”

     God is the only One who could pay the price, the ransom, to redeem our souls. Some ask, "Why is Christianity the only way?" What other faith sets forth that it is God and not man's efforts who provides for our salvation? The Owner of our souls is also the Purchaser of our souls, so He alone determines the payment and only He can pay it. He did so with Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. 

     Like the soldier in Risen, we should seek after the One who claimed He would rise from the dead. But as Christ said, we should not seek the living among the dead. And rich or poor, smart or dumb, we should use what will not last for what can never fade away.

The City of the Lord Almighty, the City of our God (Ps. 48:8)

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Psalm 48

February 20

 

    Are you as excited about the “city of God” as this psalmist is? He was speaking literally about the Jerusalem of his day, but prophetically, he was writing about the coming city of God which will descend out of heaven.

“Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2, NKJV).

“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,” (Rev. 21:10).

“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” (Rev. 21:23).

    There are several things in Psalm 48 that was not yet true yet of that day, and it is certainly not true today about the city of Jerusalem. But when we read this psalm with an eye on the heavenly city of God, it makes us excited about God’s present and future reign. Prophetically the psalmist wrote that at some point in the future “God will establish it (the city of God) forever” (verse 8).

     This political season is about the worse I have ever seen. The United States is getting less and less united and more and more divided. Our world fares no better than our country. But soon and very soon, we are going to see our King. What does it take to be a resident of the City of God, the New Jerusalem, that “city” that now exists in heaven? The final book and final two chapters of the Bible mentions the city of God 11 times in merely 48 verses.

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.” (Rev.22:14, ESV).

     Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? They only can be if you are among those who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14). The Bible says “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin…If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7b, 9).

Sing praises...with understanding

Psalm 47

February 19

 

Being a parent of four diverse kids has always been interesting. Now that they are adults, it is even more … well interesting is an understatement. New child, new job, new school, ending school, new mission, joy, sadness, fear. Imagine God’s perspective of His children.
 

I wonder if the “sons of Korah” (the music leaders in the Old Testament days) ever led congregational singing with people who didn’t want to sing. Perhaps that is why this psalm was written with so much encouragement to sing and participate in the praise of the Lord. Look at verses 5 and 6: “Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth, sing praises with understanding.” That word understanding I think means, “sing with the experience and knowledge of your victory.”
 

Maybe the writers were simply overwhelmed with the greatness of God and wanted to put out there a song of triumph and praise, and to encourage others to sing. I remember when it used to be undignified or thought irreverent to clap your hands in church, and yet it is commanded for us to do so here. If we shout and cheer for our sports team, how much more should we sing for our awesome God who has brought us into victory?
 

In my era, there was a popular song of encouragement to sing which said, “Sing your praise to the Lord / I could never tell you just how much good / That it's gonna do you just to sing / Anew / The song your heart learned to sing / When He first gave His life to you / Well, life goes on and so must the song.”
 

I hope you haven’t lost your song, your song of salvation, your song of God’s deliverance. There is a time to weep, yes, and a time to mourn, but there is also a time to dance and a time to laugh (Ecclesiastes 3:4).
 

Whatever you are going through, there will be a shout, a song. And if you are in a congregation this Sunday and God has brought you through the valley and now on a mountaintop, then, “sing, sing, sing, let me hear you now sing, sing, sing.”

And if you are only familiar with Amy Grant's version of the song, listen to composer Rich Mullins' version. Truly awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbIYPYBiejM

 

"Be still" ... No, He's not just talking to the storms

Psalm 46

February 18

    A friend of mine told me years ago that worry is a subtle form of atheism. If that is true, I have symptoms of subtle atheism. Not really, but like the psalm from a few days ago, I frequently ask myself “why are you downcast, O my soul? Put your trust in God.”

     Psalm 46 has words to defeat the worrisome and stressful subtle absence of faith. From the beginning words of “a very present help in trouble,” to the ending oft-quoted verse of “be still and know that I am God,” this psalm is a Biblical refuge for those in need of God’s protection.

    There is no pie in the sky here. Believers are not immune from a healthy dose of reality. Yet, even if the earth is moved, mountains shake and fall into the sea; even if oceans roar, nations rage and kingdoms fall, the writer declares his refusal to give in to fear. He knows God is with him and in Him, he will take refuge. He knows God is Elyon, the most High God who can make even the wars of the earth to suddenly declare peace.

    One dark night the disciples were fearful that they would be drowned in the Sea of Galilee and woke the Lord, asking “don’t you care that we are about to die?” Jesus instantly calmed the storm and then had a question of His own: “Where is your faith?” They too had a question of themselves, “Who is this that commands even the winds and water?”

    Excuse me, as I need to read Psalm 46 again and then go speak to the gathering storms. I need to tell the winds and water that I am renouncing my subtle atheism.

Come away in reckless abandon

Psalm 45

February 17

    Like Proverbs 31 and the Song of Songs (Solomon), one cannot read this psalm and wonder if a woman contributed to the composition of this extremely beautiful psalm. The King James Version introduces this as a “song of loves.” The poetry of the first verse is striking, “my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.”

  If the previous psalm cries out for a lack of response, this psalm resounds with beautiful intimacy. Whether known or not by the author, this is a psalm about the coming Christ, who was as much as a thousand years away in coming the first time (see Heb. 1:8-9). I would encourage you to read Ps. 45 in the exquisite language of the King James Version.

   Within the content of this psalm, we, the reader, identify with the role of the bride of Christ, and the Father of the Warrior is none other but God the Father. We frequently say we love God and Christ loves the church, but few passages of Scripture capture the emotionalism of such love in the sense of grandeur and poise and grace. As you read this psalm, ask yourself, “Do I truly love Christ? Do I understand God’s love for me?”

    "Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him."
As a man, I often find it hard to identify a love relationship with Christ as a bridegroom and myself as the bride, the church. And yet in a platonic, spiritual and nonphysical way, we must rid ourselves of the earthly, distorted view of love and fall without restraints into an abandoned love for our Savior.

   Oswald Chambers first etched the word “abandon” onto my spiritual heart, “stating whenever the realization of God comes, even in the faintest way imaginable, be determined to recklessly abandon yourself, surrendering everything to Him. It is only through abandonment of yourself and your circumstances that you will recognize Him.”

   The psalmist wrote of such abandonment. Like a lover whose fear has been replaced with reckless trust, fall deeply for Christ today, arouse your spiritual passions to follow this King into a relationship of devotion.