Looking Back and Forward; Psalm 78, Proverbs 29

May the mumbling commence!

Today, we close out the last chapter of the year 2012.  It is a time to reflect.  What things have come unto us this year – what sorrows, what joys?  Do we feel closer to our Lord?  Or do we feel further away?

Psalm seventy-eight is a recollection of the Hebrew people of their dealings with the Lord.  We can learn a lot about ourselves from remembering.  What brought us the most anxiety this year? 

Was it the shootings at Newtown, Connecticut and Aurora, Colorado?  Was it the presidential election cycle?  Was it the lost of a loved one or the loss of a job?  Was it the strife caused by natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy?  Was it human disasters made in other parts of the world?

What brought us the most joy this year?  Did you or I mark some rite of passage this year?  For me, it was becoming ordained this past summer.  Did you or I reestablish connection and relationship with people who were becoming estranged?  Did you or I get to fulfill a lifelong dream?

A better question would be: How did you and I respond to the tragedies and triumphs of the year?  How did we tell the difference between the two?  There is often a fine line between tragedy and triumph, and that fine line becomes even more blurred when we allow the wisdom of the world to mix with true wisdom that comes only from God.

Yes, we wander from God like lost, stupid sheep.  Too often, it is pain not pleasure that causes us to return – to return to be where we should always be.  We should never have left in the first place.  Wandering from the Lord is as old as humanity itself.  Read a passage from Psalm seventy-eight:

When He slew them, then they sought Him;

And they returned and sought earnestly for God. 

Then they remembered that God was their rock,

And the Most High God their Redeemer. 

Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth,

And they lied to Him with their tongue; 

For their heart was not steadfast with Him,

Nor were they faithful in His covenant. 

But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity,

And did not destroy them.

Yes, many a time He turned His anger away,

And did not stir up all His wrath; 

For He remembered that they were but flesh,

A breath that passes away

and does not come again. (Verses 34-39)  

Pain often calls us back to the Lord.  But, what attitude do we bring when we come back?  Do we think: “How little can I do and still please God?”  Do we wish to keep our own agenda as much as possible?  Do we seek to flatter God with token sacrifices and offerings of worship? 

When we hold back from God, we lie not only to God but we lie also to ourselves.  It is a faithless act to refuse to surrender to God completely.  Thank God for His great mercy and compassion – or none of us would survive.  Thank God for the lifework of Christ Jesus, which continues through us and many others even today. 

Let us jettison our own agenda and seek God’s agenda.  Let us seek together the revelation of the Lord.  This revelation will help us to discern the godly from the merely good.  This revelation will help us to know when tragedy or triumph has occurred.  Then, we can find true happiness and joy in the Law of the Lord.  Read from Proverbs chapter twenty-nine:

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint;

But happy is he who keeps the law. (Verse 18)

May it be so in the coming New Year. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out

Redefining Our Trust; Psalm 76, Proverbs 28

May the mumbling commence!

Trust not in chariots and horses.  Trust not in semi-automatic weapons.  Trust not in biological warfare.  Trust not in nuclear warheads and missiles.  These things may seem powerful and stout to us, but they are as nothing to the Lord.  Even our supposed strength is weaker than God’s weakness!  Read from Psalm seventy-six:

You are more glorious and excellent

Than the mountains of prey. 

The stouthearted were plundered;

They have sunk into their sleep;

And none of the mighty men have found the use of their hands. 

At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,

Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep. (Verses 4-6)

The stout and the stouthearted are plundered as they rest in their perceived strengths.  None of them can lift a hand to do anything.  The weapons of war and mass destruction are cast to inanimate slumber.  They are nothing at the rebuke of our Lord.

A New Year rapidly approaches.  Let us leave behind our dependency and trust in the strength of humanity.  Let us forsake the power of the weapons of war.  Let us forsake the power of knowledge and privilege.  Let us forsake the power of celebrity and influence.  Let us forsake the power of money and wealth.

Let us trust more and more in the Lord.  Let us trust in the mercy and grace and love and truth and justice and peace of the Lord.  Let us declare the glorious and excellent living Lord of all.

Let us relinquish our pride and vanity and admit our total dependence on the Lord – and our interdependence on one another.  Read from Proverbs chapter twenty-eight:

He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife,

But he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered. (Verse 25)

By relinquishing our pride and vanity we forsake strife for prosperity – self-reliance for total reliance on the Lord.

What better trade could we wish or dream or imagine?

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Pride Before OUR Fall; Psalm 73, Proverbs 27

May the mumbling commence!

We are one day closer to the precipitous fall.  And, really, the fall is doubled by the inability of Congress to pass a new Farm Bill.  Just as taxes go up on everyone, staple foods and drinks will go up exponentially in price.  Can you imagine the price of milk and its by-products doubling?  It may soon happen.

Why is there all this procrastination?  What pride and vanity there is in Washington D.C.!  Some Republicans don’t wish to be seen as RINO’s – Republican In Name Only.  They refuse to give up the plaudits of the TEA Party – Taxed Enough Already.  Really?!?  Then, why are we being forced over a fiscal cliff that will raise taxes on everyone?

What pride and vanity there is in Washington D.C.!  Some Democrats don’t wish to be seen pandering to the wealthiest of the people.  They want to impress their liberal constituencies with their leftist leanings.

Come, now.  It seems that we have a whole heck of a lot of Fat Cats in Washington.  Will they not see the light of wisdom and actually get something important done?  Or are they too removed from the real world – from the troubles of the common person in their constituencies?

Their underdeveloped sense of leadership and their hulking pride will bring us all to see the destruction of our nation.  I see little – if any – hope in their corner.  They are poster children for this passage in Psalm seventy-three:

For there are no pangs in their death,

But their strength is firm. 

They are not in trouble as other men,

Nor are they plagued like other men. 

Therefore pride serves as their necklace;

Violence covers them like a garment. 

Their eyes bulge with abundance;

They have more than heart could wish. 

They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;

They speak loftily. 

They set their mouth against the heavens,

And their tongue walks through the earth. (Verses 4-9)

An apt description!  In fact, our Congressmen and women in ways are even exceeding these lows.  How can they stand the pressures of being buried so deep at sea?  I don’t believe they can get enough of their way to make their heart satisfied.  At times, I think they can be more petulant than my four-year-old son when he is tired, hungry and sick.

O God, please open the eyes of Congress.  They live in a bubble that will burst upon your righteousness.  We all live in it.  Help us become self aware.  Help us to become selfless rather than selfish.  Help us to see the state of our brothers and sisters – of our most vulnerable neighbors.  The welfare of these people is inextricably intertwined with ours.  Read from Proverbs chapter twenty-seven:

Be diligent to know the state of your flocks,

And attend to your herds; 

For riches are not forever,

Nor does a crown endure to all generations. (Verses 23-24)

There – I have vented again.  Remind me, O Lord, that my trust can only be rightly put in You. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out

Lemmings or Humans? Psalm 72, Proverbs 26

May the mumbling commence!

Democrats and Republicans alike are chained together in D.C.  They are riding merrily along on a conveyer belt toward a precipitous drop – most call it the fiscal cliff.  I call it the fall of folly. 

Some do not wish to move to the right – off the conveyer belt; and some do not wish to move to the left – off the conveyer belt.  They might get a little closer to the edges of the belt.  But, will they ever get off the belt before the drop?  It seems some are already resigned to going over.

Are there women and men in Washington D.C.?  Or are they lemmings?  I admit: I feel they are closer to the latter.

Still, I pray daily for our leaders that they may have wisdom to avert disaster.  Unfortunately, it is not their personal disasters that they are averting.  Those who will be hurt the most are the poor and needy and… of course, the children.

Hasn’t the Sandy Hook tragedy taught us anything?  Hasn’t it given us a better perspective?  Pray for those in Washington to see the light.  Pray as the psalmist does in Psalm seventy-two:

Give the king Your judgments, O God,

And Your righteousness to the king's Son. 

He will judge Your people with righteousness,

And Your poor with justice. 

The mountains will bring peace to the people,

And the little hills, by righteousness. 

He will bring justice to the poor of the people;

He will save the children of the needy,

And will break in pieces the oppressor. (Verses 1-4)  

Wisdom for kings… and senators… and representatives… and presidents comes only from the Lord above.  They need God’s judgment and righteousness and justice and peace.  They need to realize that those in power must operate for the sake of the people – the poor, the needy, and the children. 

They should not be operating for some large and wealthy Political Action Committee.  Though it may mean political suicide for a representative, it is the wisest thing to do for the people.  God will take care of the rest…

Or we could merrily launch ourselves off the precipitous drop like lemmings… and crush the weakest and most vulnerable in our midst.  We cannot continue this way and survive as a nation.  We are digging our own pit.  We are setting the boulder to roll over our own path.  Read from Proverbs chapter twenty-six:

Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,

And he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him. (Verse 27)

Please, join me in prayer.  Please join me in action.  Just as the leaders in Washington are giving up some of their holiday week, we should take time out to contact our representatives and make it known what we want them to do.  Let them know who is important to us – the poor, the needy, the children.  Remind them what sacrifice and compromise means… life!

It is a sad commentary on our society when we bring in professional arbitrators to settle conflict in professional sports but neglect to bring in the same arbitrators for an issue that will affect the weakest and most vulnerable in our midst.  Do we really want to send a message to the rest of the world that we care more for our entertainment than our children and our poor and needy?

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Self-Awareness Pleases God; Psalm 69, Proverbs 25

May the mumbling commence!

How do we please our Lord?  We find part of the answer in Psalm sixty-nine:

But I am poor and sorrowful;

Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high. 

I will praise the name of God with a song,

And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. 

This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,

Which has horns and hooves. 

The humble shall see this and be glad;

And you who seek God, your hearts shall live. 

For the Lord hears the poor,

And does not despise His prisoners. (Verses 29-33)

To please God, we must be aware of our true condition before the Lord – poor, sorrowful and pitiful.  We need to be aware of our need for salvation.  And we need to look for that salvation only from God.

To please God, we should bring praises to His Name with songs that magnify His holy Name.  We need to show our thankfulness.  We need to know that God alone is worthy of worship.

These things will please the Lord much better than sacrifice for our slip ups and omissions.

These are humbling thoughts – thoughts that lead us to seek God.  Be glad when you find yourselves in this state of mind and heart.  It will mean life.

The Lord listens to the poor and releases the prisoner.  May we know our true condition before our Lord – that we are poor and need of rescue from the prison of our own base desires and habits.

To seek God means to act in ways diametrically opposed to worldly wisdoms.  Read from Proverbs chapter twenty-five:

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;

And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; 

For so you will heap coals of fire on his head,

And the Lord will reward you. (Verses 21-22)

Service and care of the enemy – that sounds like folly!  But it will make our enemies unsure of how to respond.  It will open the door to transforming enemies into friends.  That is one of the rewards that the Teacher speaks about.

Let us walk with the Holy Spirit of God and attempt to do these godly things, knowing that we have the safety net of Christ our Savior and Lord.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

True Strength; Psalm 68, Proverbs 24

May the mumbling commence!

From where does strength come?  What does strength look like?  True strength does not take the guise of the action men and women of our summer movies that earn a degree in pyrotechnics and violence.  True strength, as true wisdom, comes from our heavenly Father.  Read from Psalm sixty-eight:

Your God has commanded your strength;

Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us. 

Because of Your temple at Jerusalem,

Kings will bring presents to You. 

Rebuke the beasts of the reeds,

The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,

Till everyone submits himself with pieces of silver.

Scatter the peoples who delight in war.  (Verses 28-30)

The strength of God’s speech has created us.  God will strengthen us and what He has done for us.  Those who are considered strong in the eyes of humanity – even kings – will bring presents onto the Lord. 

Even the animals that we associate with strength – like elephants and hippopotami – are as nothing to the rebuke of the Lord.  Yes the mighty animals that adorn our sports teams and nations must submit to the Lord.  Those animals that we take as mascots into war are humbled by the strength available in the Lord.

God scatters the people who delight in war.  God does not delight in war.  God delights in rightful relationship and justice and peace.  None of these things can ever be found in war – in the things that many people see as strength.  Even the strongest of these things is weaker than the weakness of our Lord.

Let us study the Way of our Lord as illustrated in the life of Jesus.  Let us study war no more.  How uncreative and destructive!  We will lead ourselves only to death.

Let us learn the give and take of relationship.  Let us stretch ourselves to something new.  Let us live and use our resources in new and creative ways.  And God will lead us unto life.  Deliver us, O Lord!  Read from Proverbs chapter twenty-four:

Deliver those who are drawn toward death,

And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. 

If you say, "Surely we did not know this,"

Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it?

 He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?

And will He not render to each man according to his deeds? (Verses 11-12)

We can hide nothing of ourselves from God.  God knows us and our ways better than we do ourselves.  The Lord knows that our ways only lead to death and slaughter.  Our Creator knows that there is no strength or glory in taking as many people down with us as possible.

Search our souls.  Cleanse our attitudes and thoughts and words and actions.  Make us a clearer reflection of our Lord and Maker so that not only may we find life but we may also lead others to the life that can only be found in God.  That is strength!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Unto Us a Child is Born; Psalm 65, Proverbs 23

May the mumbling commence!

Merry Christmas!  Let us give thanks for the Christ child and the way the Christ child will transform our lives – if we welcome him into our lives.  Let us give thanks for atonement so that we may have rightful relationship with our Lord and with all creation.  Read from Psalm sixty-five:

Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion;

And to You the vow shall be performed. 

O You who hear prayer,

To You all flesh will come. 

Iniquities prevail against me;

As for our transgressions,

You will provide atonement for them. 

Blessed is the man You choose,

And cause to approach You,

That he may dwell in Your courts.

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,

Of Your holy temple. (Verses 1-4)

I have good intentions – of praising the Lord… of fulfilling our vow.  I would guess that you have good intentions, as well.  But both of us know where good intentions often lead.

Iniquities prevail against me.  They lead to transgressions.  Thank God that Christ has made a way to atone for my iniquities and transgressions.  Indeed, the way of atonement is there for all who would accept it.

Face it: God has chosen us.  Our Lord has approached us and moved into our neighborhood when Christ was born unto us.  The way into the courts of the Lord is open unto us.

The courts of the Lord are the place of goodness and satisfaction.  To be in the Lord’s presence is goodness – at its purest.  To be in the Lord’s presence is to be satisfied – to its fullness.

And the beginning of this way opened unto us first came in the form of a vulnerable infant.  Infants change our lives.  There is no argument about that for those of us who have welcomed infants into our homes.  Such power to change lives in such a small package!

Change us, O Lord!  Transform our praise into a concert of worship to You that is heard for miles around.  Transform us so that we may fulfill our vows so that we are a more accurate reflection of our Lord who never fails to fulfill promises.

We may see shortcuts that evil people take for a sense of power and security as the lies and deceptions they are.  Read from Proverbs chapter twenty-three:

Do not let your heart envy sinners,

But be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day; 

For surely there is a hereafter,

And your hope will not be cut off. (Verses 17-18)

Yes, there is more to life than what we can see.  Let us form our attitudes and thoughts and words and actions from the perspective of the hereafter. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out

A Special Night; Psalm 63, Proverbs 22

May the mumbling commence!

We get it right – sometimes.  We get it right in certain parts of the calendar year – sometimes.  Many of us in America know Thanksgiving as a time to spend with family and friends and loved ones.  Many of us know Christmas as a time to spend with loved ones and friends and family.  At least, when we do not allow the commercialism of the season drown out the call to relationship.

Today is Christmas Eve.  I’ve spent most of my day with my family – my wife and son.  We don’t often get that opportunity.  For the next couple of days, we will be able to enjoy each other’s company during most of our waking hours.  We will travel to family nearby, eat, fellowship, and exchange gifts.  We may understand, at some rudimentary level, that being together is one of the greatest gifts of all.

And, tonight will be special.  We will gather with our family of faith to sing Christmas Carols and hear the Scripture Lessons.  We will remember that special moment in time when God came to earth in the form of a baby boy so long ago.  We will remember how God sought us out for relationship.  Let us embrace this relationship with God.  Let us celebrate it.  And let us glory in the intricate web of relationships that the Lord has blessed us with.  Read from Psalm sixty-three:

O God, You are my God;

Early will I seek You;

My soul thirsts for You;

My flesh longs for You

In a dry and thirsty land

Where there is no water. 

So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory. 

Because Your loving-kindness is better than life,

My lips shall praise You. 

Thus I will bless You while I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name. 

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,

And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. 

When I remember You on my bed,

I meditate on You in the night watches. 

Because You have been my help,

Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. 

My soul follows close behind You;

Your right hand upholds me. (Verses 1-8)

I will seek you early and often, O Lord.  My soul thirsts for you even as the dry and parched land I lived in thirsts for water.  I search unendingly for you because of Your power and glory that is displayed in Your loving-kindness.  I will praise the Lord.  I will bless the Lord.  I will lift up my hands for the sake of the Name.

With You, I am totally satisfied – to the very marrow of my bones.  Tonight, I will dream not of sugarplums dancing.  Instead, I will dream of a renewed and vibrant life with You that will saturate all my relationships – for the better.  You are my help.  You uphold me. 

Because of You, I have the potential to do good things, godly things.  Help me live up to my full potential to bring praise to Your Name.  May I chase after your heart under the cover of the shadow of Your wings.  My trust is ever in You.  Read from Proverbs chapter twenty-two:

So that your trust may be in the Lord;

I have instructed you today, even you. (Verse 19)

Yes, all good instruction guides us to put our trust in the Lord

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out

Trust Well Placed; Psalm 62, Proverbs 21

May the mumbling commence!

Misplaced trust is one of the most dangerous things known to humanity.  And, it is far too easy to misplace our trust when we feel beset and under attack.  When we feel besieged, it is hard to wait.  We want deliverance immediately. 

But, if we do not wish to misplace our trust, we must wait on the timing of the Lord.  And that is some of the hardest waiting of all – the hardest and the most rewarding for those who endure.  Read from Psalm sixty-two:

My soul, wait silently for God alone,

For my expectation is from Him. 

He only is my rock and my salvation;

He is my defense; I shall not be moved. 

In God is my salvation and my glory;

The rock of my strength,

And my refuge, is in God. 

Trust in Him at all times, you people;

Pour out your heart before Him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah (Verses 5-8)

At times, we wait only for God.  At times, we feel all alone in our wait.  But, don’t be fooled: we are not alone – that is the deceit that the devil promotes.  We have hope and expectation from our Lord – hope and expectation of a refuge and strength that will provide refuge and salvation.

Trust in God… all the time.  Because God is good… all the time.  Trust in God… at all times.  That is a thought to meditate on day and night.  All other trust is woefully misplaced.  Read from later in Psalm sixty-two:

Do not trust in oppression,

Nor vainly hope in robbery;

If riches increase,

Do not set your heart on them. (Verse 10)

At times, we can look at those people who prosper from evil deeds of oppression and robbery.  They seem to grow fat and rich!  Do not be fooled: they hope in vain.  The riches may increase, but they will soon ebb away far from they were before the evil deeds began.

It is much more acceptable to God to trust in Him and His Way than to sacrifice to cover our sins…

To do righteousness and justice

Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. (Proverbs 21:3)

Getting treasures by a lying tongue

Is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death. (Proverbs 21:6)

With God is the way of life.  Without God is the way of intentional seeking of death.  And let us not trust in our military might…

The horse is prepared for the day of battle,

But deliverance is of the Lord. (Proverbs 21:31)

Let us put our trust in God only and join the gathering of children of the Lord.  We will never be alone! 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out