I absolutely love to look at the stars on a dark night. It is amazing to think about God's amazing scope of influence, His power, His creativity, His beauty. All of these things just seem to shine with each star and with them as they join together so spectacularly. Part of what adds to their beauty is a completely dark area to look at them through. It's a definite advantage that we have living in a small town and out in the country. The stars shine brighter in the darkness.
It's the same with Psalm seven. It's dark. In the darkness, God shines through in amazing clarity. Spurgeon says of verse 17, " they all (the psalms)exhibit the blessedness of the righteous, and make its colours the more glowing by contrast with the miseries of the wicked. The bright jewel sparkles in a black foil."
Is this a partial answer to everyone's question, "why does a good God let bad things happen?" God's goodness and greatness looks even more amazing against the darkness of this world. David, throughout the psalms, seems to see God as more amazing when everything around seems to be so dark.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
still a problem
My name is David...maybe obvious cause you know me or because you saw that my blog has my name at the top of it. That aside, it's not the only thing I feel that I have in common with the David of psalm fame. I love him as a character because I feel that I relate to him. Nothing seems to connect me more deeply with God than song and playing and singing music to Him. I really see David as that exact kind of guy. I also feel as though my failures can really grip my life and that I can have a hard time seeing them until they seem so obvious to everyone else. Conviction comes strong and hard and I find myself in these kinds of spiritual funks that I just beg God to pull me out of.
I love that the problems of three thousand years ago are the same problems of today. I love that the same psalm that rang deep in the heart of David echoed two hundred years ago in the heart of Spurgeon and again echoes today in my heart. The amazing idea in the beginning of this psalm is this understanding that God wants us to be like Him in an intense way and that when we fail, His direction comes in the form of discipline. He is a God of wrath toward sin, but He is also a God of mercy. In his hatred for the sin that takes hold of us He is merciful in His discipline so that we can come out the other side wanting to pursue Him more. In our failure we should be drawn into a complete brokenness and a true longing for God to return to closeness with us, but with an understanding that His discipline and the consequences will still be there. But with that understanding we can plead with Him according to His will that the discipline be filled with His mercy.
I want to parent like that. I want to be that kind of a Dad to my kids. (one of who just came running in here as fast as he could, said, "I love you Dad," and gave me a hug and a kiss) I want to lead them in the right paths through patience, discipline, mercy and a life lived in His steps.
I love that the problems of three thousand years ago are the same problems of today. I love that the same psalm that rang deep in the heart of David echoed two hundred years ago in the heart of Spurgeon and again echoes today in my heart. The amazing idea in the beginning of this psalm is this understanding that God wants us to be like Him in an intense way and that when we fail, His direction comes in the form of discipline. He is a God of wrath toward sin, but He is also a God of mercy. In his hatred for the sin that takes hold of us He is merciful in His discipline so that we can come out the other side wanting to pursue Him more. In our failure we should be drawn into a complete brokenness and a true longing for God to return to closeness with us, but with an understanding that His discipline and the consequences will still be there. But with that understanding we can plead with Him according to His will that the discipline be filled with His mercy.
I want to parent like that. I want to be that kind of a Dad to my kids. (one of who just came running in here as fast as he could, said, "I love you Dad," and gave me a hug and a kiss) I want to lead them in the right paths through patience, discipline, mercy and a life lived in His steps.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Five for Fighting
Ok, so six days in I'm already behind one psalm. I'm going to attempt to make that one up in the next two days, but this psalm is full. I could write on so many different things. The first few verses are awesome. Verse three is such a great reminder of how to begin our days with God, Verse eight is an acknowledgment that God is our righteousness...on and on.
I want to look at a couple of the misinterpreted sections of this psalm, though. I'll be honest, I've heard messages at several times in my life about how when our enemies come at us it is ok to pray, like David, and imprecatory prayer. That means that we can pray a curse on those who do evil. I've always cringed at the thought and even had conversations with those who have taught this way only to be told that I only see the "loving side" of God and that I should begin to understand God's anger and hatred toward sin. I still would really feel unsettled that this isn't a prayer that God is pleased with or wants to hear from His children.
I love Spurgeon's direction on this as well as the other authors that he quotes as he moves through these sections. He says that David's prayers are not literal curses on his enemies, but more prophecy of what God does to the wicked. I mean the New Testament says that we should "love our enemies and do good to them who dispitefully use us..." so to say we should pray for their destruction really flies in the face of that attitude that we're supposed to have for people.
In such Psalms wherein he confesseth his sins, or requesteth thy pardon, or praiseth for former, or prayeth for future favours, in all these give me to raise my soul to as high a pitch as may be. But when I come to such Psalms wherein he curseth his enemies, O there let me bring my soul down to a lower note. For those words were made only to fit David's mouth. I have the like breath, but not the same spirit to pronounce them. Nor let me flatter myself, that it is lawful for me, with David, to curse thine enemies, lest my deceitful heart entitle mine enemies to be thine, and so what was religion in David, prove malice in me, whilst I act revenge under the pretense of piety. - Thomas Fuller, D.D.
I'll just leave that quote to stand for itself. This is a much more full understanding of these types of psalms.
I want to look at a couple of the misinterpreted sections of this psalm, though. I'll be honest, I've heard messages at several times in my life about how when our enemies come at us it is ok to pray, like David, and imprecatory prayer. That means that we can pray a curse on those who do evil. I've always cringed at the thought and even had conversations with those who have taught this way only to be told that I only see the "loving side" of God and that I should begin to understand God's anger and hatred toward sin. I still would really feel unsettled that this isn't a prayer that God is pleased with or wants to hear from His children.
I love Spurgeon's direction on this as well as the other authors that he quotes as he moves through these sections. He says that David's prayers are not literal curses on his enemies, but more prophecy of what God does to the wicked. I mean the New Testament says that we should "love our enemies and do good to them who dispitefully use us..." so to say we should pray for their destruction really flies in the face of that attitude that we're supposed to have for people.
In such Psalms wherein he confesseth his sins, or requesteth thy pardon, or praiseth for former, or prayeth for future favours, in all these give me to raise my soul to as high a pitch as may be. But when I come to such Psalms wherein he curseth his enemies, O there let me bring my soul down to a lower note. For those words were made only to fit David's mouth. I have the like breath, but not the same spirit to pronounce them. Nor let me flatter myself, that it is lawful for me, with David, to curse thine enemies, lest my deceitful heart entitle mine enemies to be thine, and so what was religion in David, prove malice in me, whilst I act revenge under the pretense of piety. - Thomas Fuller, D.D.
I'll just leave that quote to stand for itself. This is a much more full understanding of these types of psalms.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
more 4 us
I know, this post is short, but a long day and an early morning tomorrow mean that I have to just drop a bit and take off. Check out this line from Spurgeon regarding the end of Psalm 4, which reads, "You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound."
"It is better," said one, "to feel God's favour one hour in our repenting souls, that to sit whole ages under the warmest sunshine that this world affordeth." Christ in the heart is better than corn in the barn, or wine in the vat. Corn and wine are but fruits of the world, but the light of God's countenance is the ripe fruit of heaven.
That isn't the way we would have said it, but we would say something similar, at least I would. I'd say that Jesus and His way of living are better to me that to sit at the beach w/ a pina colada. Salvation is better than all the best homes and cars that money can buy. It's one of the cliche Christian statements. Living that is hard though, is it not.
"It is better," said one, "to feel God's favour one hour in our repenting souls, that to sit whole ages under the warmest sunshine that this world affordeth." Christ in the heart is better than corn in the barn, or wine in the vat. Corn and wine are but fruits of the world, but the light of God's countenance is the ripe fruit of heaven.
That isn't the way we would have said it, but we would say something similar, at least I would. I'd say that Jesus and His way of living are better to me that to sit at the beach w/ a pina colada. Salvation is better than all the best homes and cars that money can buy. It's one of the cliche Christian statements. Living that is hard though, is it not.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
third and long
Have you ever walked through one of those haunted houses around halloween? I remember in high school it was always the best. We would head out at least once a weekend when the Niles haunted house would be open and shuffle our way through. All the guys doing their best to feign laughter and machismo but all the while we were nervous and every one of the slimy fingers that hit our face and the masks on levers hitting the chicken wire beside us made us jump. The entire time the nerves were on there last bit and there was no relief until the popcorn balls were being consumed at the snack stand.
I've never been the kind to worry much, but maybe that's because I've never really had a lot of hardship in my life. There was a time a couple of years ago when my job wasn't going well and I wasn't sure how things would end up. I prayed about it a lot and though I understood that God is sovereign and that nothing that I could do ever was out of his reach, my blood pressure was high and I really couldn't sleep at night. I worried about a lot of things during that time.
This psalm is so relevant to us in situations that are out of our control. Absalom was chasing him, his soldiers and friends were abandoning him and they were holding his adulterous sin with Bathsheba against him. If anyone's blood pressure should be through the roof it is David's, but he gets a good night's sleep. It says in verse five that he slept and then awakened refreshed. The key being in the end of the verse where God sustained him. How did he have that kind of an attitude and that kind of faith, especially when that kind of weight is hanging on his shoulders? Spurgeon states it this way.
David knew that even though he had failed in the past and that there was chaos all around him, God had absolutely heard his prayer, God was absolutely the one who held up his head and that salvation still belongs to God. He slept restfully that night in that knowledge. How many sleepless nights have we spent with far less coming down upon our shoulders. I think people would see our Jesus for who He is if we lived more with this understanding and faith. Spurgeon quotes Phillip Bennett Power when he puts it this way, " those who walk by sight and not by faith will think it reasonable enough that the Christian should be afraid; they themselves would be very low if they were in such a predicament. Weak believers are now ready to make excuses for us and we are only too ready to make them for ourselves; instead of rising above the weakness of the flesh, we take refuge under it, and use it as an excuse. But let us think prayerfully for a little while, and we shall see that it should not be thus with us. To trust only when appearances are favourable is to sail only with the wind and tide, to believe only when we can see. Oh! let us follow the example of the psalmist, and seek that reservedness of faith which will enable us to trust God, come what will, and to say as he said, 'I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.'"
The greatest people I know who are following Jesus as closely as I've seen live this way. Spurgeon says that if "by humble faith thou art enabled to see Jesus as thine by his own free gift of himself to thee, if this greatesr of all blessings be upon thee, rise up and sing...I will pray this as well and pray that I can sing this deep worship tune.
I've never been the kind to worry much, but maybe that's because I've never really had a lot of hardship in my life. There was a time a couple of years ago when my job wasn't going well and I wasn't sure how things would end up. I prayed about it a lot and though I understood that God is sovereign and that nothing that I could do ever was out of his reach, my blood pressure was high and I really couldn't sleep at night. I worried about a lot of things during that time.
This psalm is so relevant to us in situations that are out of our control. Absalom was chasing him, his soldiers and friends were abandoning him and they were holding his adulterous sin with Bathsheba against him. If anyone's blood pressure should be through the roof it is David's, but he gets a good night's sleep. It says in verse five that he slept and then awakened refreshed. The key being in the end of the verse where God sustained him. How did he have that kind of an attitude and that kind of faith, especially when that kind of weight is hanging on his shoulders? Spurgeon states it this way.
David knew that even though he had failed in the past and that there was chaos all around him, God had absolutely heard his prayer, God was absolutely the one who held up his head and that salvation still belongs to God. He slept restfully that night in that knowledge. How many sleepless nights have we spent with far less coming down upon our shoulders. I think people would see our Jesus for who He is if we lived more with this understanding and faith. Spurgeon quotes Phillip Bennett Power when he puts it this way, " those who walk by sight and not by faith will think it reasonable enough that the Christian should be afraid; they themselves would be very low if they were in such a predicament. Weak believers are now ready to make excuses for us and we are only too ready to make them for ourselves; instead of rising above the weakness of the flesh, we take refuge under it, and use it as an excuse. But let us think prayerfully for a little while, and we shall see that it should not be thus with us. To trust only when appearances are favourable is to sail only with the wind and tide, to believe only when we can see. Oh! let us follow the example of the psalmist, and seek that reservedness of faith which will enable us to trust God, come what will, and to say as he said, 'I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.'"
The greatest people I know who are following Jesus as closely as I've seen live this way. Spurgeon says that if "by humble faith thou art enabled to see Jesus as thine by his own free gift of himself to thee, if this greatesr of all blessings be upon thee, rise up and sing...I will pray this as well and pray that I can sing this deep worship tune.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
second and twelve
I remember, I'm sure with some exaggeration in my mind, the days of high school basketball. Ahhh, a fond time of small Christian school ball where I thought fairly high of my hooping abilities. I can remember playing some smaller schools than ours (we only had 12 in our graduating class so you can see it wasn't a sports factory of any kind) and literally having like an eighth grader guarding me. I can remember laughing right in a little kid's face before I juked him out of his batman undies and scored an easy layup. Yeah, great athletic prowess and self-restraint I showed, but when I laughed at him it wasn't because I thought that something was particularly funny, I just knew that all of this kid's effort was really kind of silly in the long run. All of his huge effort to stop me just didn't make any sense as he in his five foot two eight grade frame just weren't enough.
On a whole different scale God looks at all of the effort of those who stand in opposition to Him and His will and His plan for the world and He just laughs. It says so right in verse four of this psalm. God is not willing that any should perish, but when He sees those who truly have rejected Him with everything that they have and then have the audacity to try and thwart His plan He gets that they just don't have any shot.
It immediately follows that He strikes them down, right? Nope. He just speaks the truth to them. God just shows them that He has the end. His Son, Jesus sits on the throne as the King of all things and there is nothing that they can do to displace Him. We win! Check out this line from Spurgeon. "While they are proposing, he has disposed the matter. Jehovah's will is done and man's will frets and raves in vain. God's Annointed is appointed and shall not be disappointed." (you've got to love the rhyme scheme there) He follows just a few lines later with "Greater conflict may here be foretold, but we may be confident that victory will be given in our Lord and King."
So the conflict comes, but we can handle it with grace, love, hope and calm because we understand that Jesus, our teacher, friend and King, sits forever reigning on the throne.
On a whole different scale God looks at all of the effort of those who stand in opposition to Him and His will and His plan for the world and He just laughs. It says so right in verse four of this psalm. God is not willing that any should perish, but when He sees those who truly have rejected Him with everything that they have and then have the audacity to try and thwart His plan He gets that they just don't have any shot.
It immediately follows that He strikes them down, right? Nope. He just speaks the truth to them. God just shows them that He has the end. His Son, Jesus sits on the throne as the King of all things and there is nothing that they can do to displace Him. We win! Check out this line from Spurgeon. "While they are proposing, he has disposed the matter. Jehovah's will is done and man's will frets and raves in vain. God's Annointed is appointed and shall not be disappointed." (you've got to love the rhyme scheme there) He follows just a few lines later with "Greater conflict may here be foretold, but we may be confident that victory will be given in our Lord and King."
So the conflict comes, but we can handle it with grace, love, hope and calm because we understand that Jesus, our teacher, friend and King, sits forever reigning on the throne.
Monday, August 24, 2009
psalm the first
It's not often you hear, "psalm the first." I always just say "psalm one," or "the first psalm," but apparently in Spurgeon's day you said it the other way around. There is actually a bit of a language barrier when you first read anything by an author from the 1800's, but since I have read over a hundred of his sermons I was prepared for phrases like "joyful acclamation of the gracious man's felicity." (no that's not his wife or daughter or cat for that matter)
I will tell you this, the next 149 days are going to be rich.
Something to just grab on to today and think about as I drove and may have played golf. Verse six of psalm the first says "For the Lord knows the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish." The contrast in this verse is jolting. The original language carries with it the idea that God is constantly watching over and knowing the way of the one who is following in the right way of living. This is an amazing place to be. A promise that when we are following the way of Jesus, we are being watched and cared for in an ongoing way. But the flip side is just as true. We know from scripture that those who do not follow Jesus with their lives will perish, but this passage reiterates the idea that their way of living will perish. No one who is living in the way of the ungodly will be a part of the eternal kingdom of God because their way of living will be non-existent. They would serve no purpose.
Spurgeon closes the verse with a benediction of sorts that I love..."May the Lord cleanse our hearts and our ways, that we may escape the doom of the ungodly, and enjoy the blessedness of the righteous!" What an amazing reminder since our first reaction would be that we must "try harder" to live like Jesus. We can't do it on our own and Spurgeon makes it clear that it will be the Spirit's work in our life that will move us toward Christ-likeness.
This benediction will be my daily prayer (maybe worded a bit differently)that God would strip me of my ways so that I won't come to an end as one of the ungodly but that I would be able to enjoy the blessing given to those who follow in the way of Jesus.
I will tell you this, the next 149 days are going to be rich.
Something to just grab on to today and think about as I drove and may have played golf. Verse six of psalm the first says "For the Lord knows the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish." The contrast in this verse is jolting. The original language carries with it the idea that God is constantly watching over and knowing the way of the one who is following in the right way of living. This is an amazing place to be. A promise that when we are following the way of Jesus, we are being watched and cared for in an ongoing way. But the flip side is just as true. We know from scripture that those who do not follow Jesus with their lives will perish, but this passage reiterates the idea that their way of living will perish. No one who is living in the way of the ungodly will be a part of the eternal kingdom of God because their way of living will be non-existent. They would serve no purpose.
Spurgeon closes the verse with a benediction of sorts that I love..."May the Lord cleanse our hearts and our ways, that we may escape the doom of the ungodly, and enjoy the blessedness of the righteous!" What an amazing reminder since our first reaction would be that we must "try harder" to live like Jesus. We can't do it on our own and Spurgeon makes it clear that it will be the Spirit's work in our life that will move us toward Christ-likeness.
This benediction will be my daily prayer (maybe worded a bit differently)that God would strip me of my ways so that I won't come to an end as one of the ungodly but that I would be able to enjoy the blessing given to those who follow in the way of Jesus.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
with purpose
I have been out of full-time ministry for about four years and have not had a weekly teaching assignment in over seven months. It's really strange for me to not approach the Scripture looking for the gems that I will get to share with a lot of people in a public setting. It's what I've done since college. Over the last several months I've read and meditated through several books of the New Testament and really enjoyed some of the commentary that I've read to help guide me through the Scriptures. But having just finished Galatians last week, I really wanted something fresh.
I started through the psalms again over the last week and was really enjoying them when I remembered some dusty books on my shelf. I grabbed the first volume of Spurgeon's "Treasury of David" and read through Psalm 1 again and then read the several pages of Spurgeon's sermon and then his exegesis of the passage. It was really pretty awesome to hear his take on these ancient God-breathed poems. I decided that I was going to take one of these psalms every day and then take Spurgeon's thoughts on them and make that my next Bible study project.
So I'm going to start that over tomorrow and take on the 150 psalms and the over 1300 pages by Spurgeon in the next 150 days. Every day a psalm followed by the "Prince of Preacher's" spin on what God wanted us to know. I am really looking forward to hearing his voice on the subjects as well as hearing the Holy Spirit speak into my life. I'm sure that it will be life-changing as I journey through it.
I will blog something about it every day. Sometimes my entries will be very short, and sometimes I'm sure I'll be so fired up that I won't be able to stop writing. My purpose in the blog will be to give me an outlet for some of this, but really it will be so that you can help keep me accountable.(I have a tendency to let personal goals kind of go by the wayside if I don't have someone else helping push me to meet them) Maybe I'll even be able to share something with you that will encourage your walk with Christ. I am really excited about getting up tomorrow morning and working through one of my favorite books in the Scriptures this way.
I started through the psalms again over the last week and was really enjoying them when I remembered some dusty books on my shelf. I grabbed the first volume of Spurgeon's "Treasury of David" and read through Psalm 1 again and then read the several pages of Spurgeon's sermon and then his exegesis of the passage. It was really pretty awesome to hear his take on these ancient God-breathed poems. I decided that I was going to take one of these psalms every day and then take Spurgeon's thoughts on them and make that my next Bible study project.
So I'm going to start that over tomorrow and take on the 150 psalms and the over 1300 pages by Spurgeon in the next 150 days. Every day a psalm followed by the "Prince of Preacher's" spin on what God wanted us to know. I am really looking forward to hearing his voice on the subjects as well as hearing the Holy Spirit speak into my life. I'm sure that it will be life-changing as I journey through it.
I will blog something about it every day. Sometimes my entries will be very short, and sometimes I'm sure I'll be so fired up that I won't be able to stop writing. My purpose in the blog will be to give me an outlet for some of this, but really it will be so that you can help keep me accountable.(I have a tendency to let personal goals kind of go by the wayside if I don't have someone else helping push me to meet them) Maybe I'll even be able to share something with you that will encourage your walk with Christ. I am really excited about getting up tomorrow morning and working through one of my favorite books in the Scriptures this way.
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