Psalms

Morning devotions ~ The Right Stuff

/ The Pastor

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.” [Psalm 20:7-8]

Let’s add to these verses as if the psalmist were writing today. Some trust in:
~ Money
~ Credit cards
~ Athletic ability
~ Intelligence
~ Beauty
~ Big homes
~ Nice cars
~ Active social media accounts
~ Peaceful relationships
~ Family
~ Friends
~ Children

And we could go on, for you get the point, right? Basically, anything we fear losing or anything we run to (other than God) when times get tough. There is so much that we put our trust in and yet these things, people, etc have no power and no desire to hold us up or remain loyal. Anything and everything of this world will eventually collapse and fall. It’s like trying to find refuge on a pile of sand in a torrent rain fall.

Stupid
Foolish
Unwise

But name of the Lord is our stronghold; our firm foundation; and our hope. For only in the name of Jesus can we feel eternally secure. Only in the name of Jesus can we have a foundation that will not crumble. Only in the name of Jesus can we have something that will not let us down. I mean, look at the cross. It seemed to many that Jesus collapsed and fell when he died, but on the third day he rose and now stands firm. And now, through faith in him; trusting in the name of the Lord, we can stand firm as well.

Through him and him alone we have everything we need so put your trust in him and let those horses and chariots fade away.

Praise be to God!

The pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ God’s handiwork

/ The Pastor

[1] The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19:1 ESV)

Walk outside and take a good look around. How does one think there is no God when you consider the intricate design of creation? How does one think that everything we see is nothing more than randomness? How does one base their system of beliefs on a claim that there is no God? But worse yet, if you believe in God how does one not fall on their face in worship and awe?

All around the heavens declare the glory of God. And that right there should make us feel guilty when WE do not declare the glory of God.
Creation cries out that God is awesome but yet we busy ourselves with the cares of this world.
Creation declares the greatness of God and we try to explain it away.
Creation and the heavens bow down in worship and what do we do?

God’s handiwork is all around us; we just need to look. But the greatest handiwork of all time is what happened in the manger at Christmas.. Through faith in Jesus, God has made a New Creation:

YOU!

Christmas is about love and peace coming to the world to complete what God started in creation. Through faith in Jesus we have forgiveness of sins and thus New Life. So take a new and fresh look at the manger this Christmas season and see God’s handiwork work there. And don’t forget to join the heavens in declaring God’s glory; for God is indeed worthy.

Praise be to God!

The pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Cleaning house

/ The Pastor

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! (Psalm 119:10 ESV)

Seeking God requires more space than what we are willing to give. God wants our WHOLE heart and not just part of it. After all, there is so much to God that part just will not do.

For the psalmist here, he knows that clearing away stuff from his heart and seeking God with a clean slate is key to obedience. When we mix God’s commandments with anything else we get impurity and therefore we WILL wander away from God. And we are very good at doing this. We take a commandment of God and twist it to suit our own desires; turning God’s Word into something other than God’s holy Word.

But to clear away the junk in our heart and seek God with our WHOLE heart takes humility and that’s something that goes against the hard wiring of this world. We are sinful and therefore we want what we want and we want it now.

One of the quotes that I have found most helpful when I became a parent 1 1/2 years ago is this:

The best thing a man can do for his wife and children is to love God more than them.

For me this is key when it comes to what the psalmist is saying here. We need to love God above all things and all people…

…even our family.

Notice that I didn’t say we stop loving our family but rather love God more.

Make God THE priority in your life. Let your children see in your life who is King and Lord. Let the world see who rules in your heart. Clean house in your heart that you may completely seek God and not wander away. Clean house in your heart and seek to know God’s commandments better. Clean house in your heart and reserve your WHOLE heart for God’s holy Word.

May GOD be praised always and forever. Amen!

The pastor -|—

God’s enduring love

/ The Pastor

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1 ESV)

I read Psalm 136 this morning. It has 26 verses and 26 times this refrains repeats: for his steadfast love endures forever.

That caught my attention.

The psalmist could have easily started with verse one and then continued with the next 24 verses describing this awesome God of ours and what he has done. The psalmist could have then closed with something about God’s enduring steadfast love (just in case we forgot). But to read Psalm 136 in that way; taking out the “for his steadfast love endures forever” refrain, just doesn’t seem right. God’s steadfast is so much more awesome than that and therefore it needs to be repeated over and over and over again. Because, let’s face it, we have bad memories therefore we need this refrain; in the good times and the bad.

God created everything,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

Jesus was born for you and for me,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

Jesus forgave sins,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

Jesus suffered beatings, mockings and the cross,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

Jesus died,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

Jesus rose,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

Jesus lives,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

And Jesus will come again,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

That’s sounds about right.

Thank you God, for your amazing, enduring steadfast love. Thank you for enduring with me even though I am a sinner. Thank you for enduring with me even though I stray away. Thank you for enduring with me when I become complacent in the good times. Thank you for enduring with me when I feel lost in the bad times. May all give you praise and glory for your enduring steadfast love, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

 

Pure and holy ways

/ The Pastor

Holy God…

You are an awesome, amazing, powerful, compassionate God. You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. You put all other gods and other ways to shame.

You demand holiness for you are holy.
You demand righteousness for you are righteous.
You demand perfection for you are perfect.

And if that were not enough, the prophet Isaiah says:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV)

Holy God, this is awesome and somewhat scary, and how can I attain to this?
How can I be holy as you are holy since I am so sinful?
How can I keep my way pure since I walk in other ways?
How can I keep my mind and eyes and thoughts on the things that are above since I am so easily distracted by the worries of this world?

By guarding it according to your word. (Psalm 119:9 ESV)

Help me to run to your Word.
Open my heart to hear.
Open my eyes to see.

May I find joy in your Word and may I see your holiness in your Word.
May you guard my ways and protect me from Satan’s power.
May I find joy in your presence.

May I always seek you that I may strive to be holy as you are holy.

Holy God…I thank you and praise your holy name.

Amen!

 

The Pastor -|—

Silence

/ The Pastor

Not a creature is stirring, not even the church bats.

For many, the silence here could be deafening but for me it is welcomed.  Release time, confirmation and Wednesday Night Live are done for the year.  My secretary doesn’t work on Wednesdays.  My cell phone is on vibrate.  The lights are off (except for the light shining through my office window). And the only potential noise is the church phone or a surprise visitor (both of which may startle me if they happen).  So for the time being I am enjoying the silence (I just wish I could fix this squeaky desk chair then all would be good).

I do have things to accomplish today (and they will get done) but this pastor needs some silence for a while:

[11] And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. [12] And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.  (1 Kings 19:11-12 ESV)

[10] “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10 ESV)

Hmmm…God encourages silence, day dreaming and just being still.  I like that. You don’t need to be moving all the time to be doing the work of the Lord.  You don’t need to be talking all the time to be communing with God.  You don’t need to be with people all the time to be productive.  Sometimes it is just about you and God; alone, together and in silence.

But don’t take my word for it, read your Bible.

So…

Silence your phone.
Lock your door.
Hide from the world.
Resist the blinking notification lights on your phone or tablet.
Don’t respond to that text message you just got.

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

You have God’s permission.

The pastor -|—

Praying scripture

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

The following is a prayer based on Psalm 23 that I wrote for a funeral; a prayer I prayed before preaching the message:

O Lord, you are our shepherd, therefore we shall never be in want; for you make us lie down in green pastures, you lead us beside quiet waters and you restore our souls. Thank you, Oh God. We ask now that you may guide us in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake; for we want to give you praise and glory.

But during this time of mourning, Oh Lord, it feels as if we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death.  We ask that you may comfort us with your presence, keep us from fear and protect us from the evil one.

May we feast at your table in complete peace and comfort and security as You anoint us and fill our cups to overflowing.

Oh Lord our God, thank you, for your goodness and love follows us all the days of our lives, and through faith in Jesus Christ we are confident that we will dwell in Your house forever.

Amen.

_______________________________________________________

Don’t get me wrong here.  I am not trying to re-write scripture.  I just enjoy praying through scripture and using scripture to give my prayer a voice…and what better place to do this than in the Psalter.

When my wife and I were freshly grieving our failed adoption I immediately started reading in the book of Psalms.  I found those places where the psalmist was crying out to God; asking how long; wondering where God was at.  I was thankful that the psalmist gave me words to pray as I “borrowed” his words.  I was also thankful for the reminder that God is faithful. The psalmist may have been crying out to God but he usually ended with words of praise for God. I need those words too…so I “borrowed” them as well.

What a great diversity in the book of Psalms. No wonder Martin Luther called the Psalter a “little Bible”.

So…if you need some words for your prayer today…try the book of Psalms. If you don’t needs words right now…go to the Psalms anyway. You will need them eventually.

Praise be to God!

The pastor -|—

Praying

/ The Pastor

I have been on a roll recently, writing prayers…

Praise be to God!

Maybe this is coming out of the spiritual discipline I have taken on this Lent: Using a prayer journal.  It is amazing what happens when you just let go and not force something out, but just let your spirit pray; talking and listening to God.  I’m still trying to get used to handwriting my prayers in my journal, but I am finding that I am enjoying this more and more.  The hand cramps force me to slow down, and I need that.

The following prayer is one I wrote to be used as the prayer before I preach the sermon on Feb 24th.  In the back of my mind I was thinking about Psalm 27.  I wrote and posted a prayer based on that Psalm the other day.

So let us go to God in prayer as we prepare for worship…

Father in heaven, you are a holy and awesome God.  You are worthy of all praise and worship.  You are faithful and full of grace.  In you there is shelter and life.  In you there is salvation.  May we seek your face in the midst of fear.  May we seek your shelter in the midst of storms.  And may we dwell in your house forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ you have conquered all that would besiege us and promised us a future; you have promised us life through faith in Jesus Christ.  Strengthen our faith in the face of fears and may we always seek you.  Now may the words of my mouth and the mediation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Oh God, our Rock and Redeemer, Amen.

May God bless your day 🙂

The pastor -|—

Psalm 27 prayer

/ The Pastor

Oh Lord, my God, you are my light and my salvation;
of whom shall I fear.
Oh Lord, my God, you are the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid.
When the evil of this world advances against me,
When Satan fires his flaming arrows at me,
When Satan prowls around like a roaring lion,
When people spread falsehoods about me,
I will be confident; for you are with me.

Loving and holy God;
I want to dwell in your house,
I want to gaze upon your beauty,
I want to worship you forever.
Please keep me safe from the evil one.
Please protect my faith from Satan’s onslaughts.
Please watch over my life.

And…
Teach me to follow you better.
Teach me to know your laws better.
Teach me to be more obedient.
Teach me to be more faithful.

I want to give your name glory and honor in my life.

Thank you, loving God, for being my fortress and stronghold.

Amen!

The Pastor -|—

You got to want it

/ The Pastor

I am working on a confirmation lesson plan about confession and as part of that lesson we are going to be reading Psalm 19.

[Pause here and go read that 15 verse Psalm.  Cue Jeopardy theme…]

Did you read it?  Seriously…did you read Psalm 19 and meditate on it?  I could make life easier for you and just include the text in this post, but part of me is feeling feisty today so no easy way out for you.  I want you to actually open your Bible to read the scripture text.  Online or on your smartphone is fine, just read the text.

O.K…I’m ready to move on…

I read Psalm 19 yesterday and started jotting down some teaching points for the class.  I wrote a couple questions that I want to ask.  I mulled over how the discussion might go.  I started anticipating some questions my students might ask.  But I got stuck on what the psalmist was doing.  Not stuck on how I want to teach this Psalm and the topic of confession, but I got stuck because of what it was saying to ME.

[Scripture has a funny way of doing that sometimes.]

In verses 1 – 6 I hear the psalmist saying how awesome God is.  When you look around you can’t help but see the majesty of God.  You can’t help but see the awesome power of God; written in the sky and in all of creation.  God is so worthy of our worship and praise.  And this I know, but when someone makes you stop and pay attention; it hits you…again.

In verses 7 – 11 I hear the psalmist singing the praises of God for how awesome His Law is.  God’s Law is right and just and perfect and trustworthy and radiant and pure and righteous and sure and…(I’m sure we could go on and on).  God’s Law is precious and worthy to be followed and obeyed.  And this I know, but once again it is being held up before my eyes as I see it anew.

Last but not least, the psalmist confesses his sins in verses 12-13.  And in verse 14 I am captured by these words: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” A statement pointing to the psalmist’s humility before God.

Wow…is this where I am at when I come before God confessing my sins?

If God is not awesome and worthy in your sight what motivation is there to confess anything.  Confession can’t be a checklist item.  It can’t be something done out of coercion.  Confession of sins needs to be a humbling and heartfelt act of worship before a holy and gracious God.  If it is anything less than that we are just fooling ourselves (and definitely not fooling God). Basically…you got to want it.

The power of God’s awesome forgiveness can only be known through a heartfelt sense of our unworthiness and  sinfulness.  Look around.  God is everywhere.  God’s glory is being proclaimed through creation.  Meditate on that. Meditate on the fact that you do not deserve forgiveness, but because of Jesus forgiveness is offered.

Wow…that is amazing! That is Good News!

So…have you read Psalm 19 yet?  Do it.  Confess for your sins.  And know God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ our risen Lord and Savior.

The pastor -|—