Deep Worship By Hard Lessons

“And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with [their] faces to the ground.” (Ne 8:6 AV)

What an incredible sight this must have been.  A remnant has returned to restore the Temple and city wall.  On the day these projects were completed, the entire congregation assembled, and the word of God was read.  This lasted an entire day.  Sacrifices were once again offered for the sins of the people.  Feast days were observed anew.  The people were so moved by God’s mercy that they worshipped in the sincerest of all manners.  They bowed their faces to the ground.  They would not so much as look unto heaven whence came their help.  They confessed their sins twice.  Just in case they missed something, they did so a second time.  The beauty of this holiness came at the expense of some hard lessons.  If we are saved and wish to be perfectly Christlike with a sincere and transparent relationship with the LORD, then there are some hard lessons to learn along the way.

This revival came at the expense of failures and consequences.  Israel learned the hard way that faith is difficult, but expected.  They learned the hard way that obedience is required.  Israel went through some deep waters.  They suffered much because of their choices of disobedience and fear.  When they were successful, this also came at a cost.  Trusting God is difficult.  Obedience often comes with persecution.  Whether they were faithful or not, the journey of the saints was a hard road.  Yet, when they were released from their captors and returned to their own land, Israel realized just how merciful and gracious God was.  And, He still is.  They returned to their homes.  They returned to their country.  They returned with relative liberty to worship God as instructed once again.  A heart of gratitude and humility is what made the head bow.

I don’t know about you, but I go to bed each night asking the LORD to help me worship Him as He deserves.  He is my Creator.  I am His lowly creator.  He deserves more than the best that I have.  He deserves more than I can give.  This doesn’t mean the soul should give up trying.  The more this soul strives to love God as He is worthy to be loved, the more it becomes apparent that there is much work to be done.  This work is hard work.  This work means uncomfortable situations.  This work comes as we learn to fear the LORD as we should, yet not to where His love becomes ineffective.  This work requires much confession.  It requires much prayer.  Most of all, this work requires the unabated work of the Holy Spirit.  If we are to love God as He deserves to be loved, then the Holy Spirit cannot be frustrated.  He must be listened to and followed.  Our God is far better to us than we deserve.  The intimacy with God we crave comes at the end of some hard times.  But it is better to go through those times and love God with all our hearts, than to rest at ease in our sin and fears never having known or loved God as was possible!

Someone Has To Stop

“A brother offended [is harder to be won] than a strong city: and [their] contentions [are] like the bars of a castle.” (Pr 18:19 AV)

Solomon’s proverb here is a simple statement of fact.  There is no indication of who or what the offense was.  The offence could have been a legitimate one.  The opposite is just as likely.  The point our wise sage is trying to make is the inevitable complete severance of a relationship due to an ongoing dispute.  If you’ll notice the plural ‘their’ and the suggestion that the contentions are present tense and ongoing, one can see the obvious truth.  The principle is that for a brother to be won, someone must first stop the contention.  Someone has to lay down arms first.  The longer it goes, the harder those bars become.  The longer the offense goes, the more difficult it will be to breach the bars of defense that have been set against any further offense.  For a dispute to end, there must be trust.  Trust requires a bit of vulnerability.  This is impossible if the contentions continue and the bars become more numerous and thicker.

Bars are placed because an injury has occurred.  Somewhere along the way, something was said or done to cause one or both to erect safeguards against any further injury.  We saw this in our ministry to the military.  We served the Navy near Great Lakes RTC.  Our ministry enjoyed a good deal of naval personnel all of whom ran the gamut of rank.  From a lowly seaman who had recently graduated from boot camp all the way up to a Senior commander, we served many different service personnel.  Most of our guests were enlisted.  It was not out of the ordinary for our church would host families who knew each other.  Their sailor was stationed to the same ship as others.  So, when the sailor rotated to sea duty and then to a new shore duty station, it was not uncommon for them to do so with the same families in the same situation.  One would think that common rotation would bode well for long-term relationships.  But that was not the case.  At about the sixth month mark before their next rotation, separation anxiety would settle in.  The families that had rotated together began to be at odds.  The deeper the relationships, the greater the volatility to their contentions.  It was their way of dealing with goodbyes.  As some point, they had to see the greater good of protecting our nation than the establishment of deep relationships.  Until the bigger picture came into view, they were constantly at odds.

There is little we can do if we caused someone else to put up bars.  We cannot force them down.  The more we try to force them down, the more will take their place.  The only thing an offending party can do is to stop offending.  It takes time to remove those bars.  It takes vulnerability to remove those bars.  They cannot be forced down.  It requires the contention to cease.  It takes overtures that build trust.  It takes kindness rather than abrasiveness.  It takes friendship rather than adversity.  Solomon places no blame on only one party.  He encourages both to make efforts to restore.  The first step is to stop.  Then one goes on from there.

Prepared Before Compliance

“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do [it], and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” (Ezr 7:10 AV)

This isn’t the first person mentioned who had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD.  Several of Judah’s kings did the exact same thing.  Ezra was a priest.  He was charged with repairing the temple and starting afresh the Jewish sacrificial system.  He was focused on the furniture of the temple and the feasts that were to follow.  Therefore, because of his calling, he would naturally prepare his heart to seek the law of the LORD because his calling depended on it.  Preparing one’s heart to seek the law of the LORD is not the same as responding to it with compliance once the law is revealed.  We tend to do more of the latter than the former.  If we are honest, we wait for instructions to be brought to us before we are motivated to obey.  Seldom to we study the word of God that we might specifically find laws or principles to which to conform.  Seeking the law is not the same as mere compliance.  The latter is important.  It must be done.  But the former is a higher standard to which we are called.

Ezra had the calling and responsibility of the priesthood.  His objective demanded that he prepare his heart to search out and discover the law of God.  He could not accomplish what God sent him to do without a prepared heart toward the law of God.  Paul the Apostle states, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,” (Eph 4:1 AV) We have a calling as well.  Our calling is to be a sanctified child of God.  We are to conform to the image of Jesus Christ.  We fail miserably.  We still have that old man to contend with.  He is constantly tempting us to sin.  We may not have the exact same calling as Ezra.  Ours is a lifelong one.  Once the temple was rebuilt and the law established anew, Ezra became a manager.  Our calling is a construction project of change that will not cease until our glorification.  There are always areas of correction.  There are always laws and principles that need discovering.  There are always standards that need our compliance.  Preparing our hearts means that instead of being reactive to the word of God, we become more proactive.

We often preach daily devotions and journaling.  I think both are important.  Daily devotions are going to the LORD for that which that which the saint will need for the day.  Or longer.  It can be encouragement.  Often it is instruction and correction.  Our search should not end with a few minutes a day.  When we go to church or sit in a bible study, we should come with a prepared heart, looking for principles or statutes from God which we can apply to our lives.  This idea of a heart that is prepared to seek the LORD is the mind of the saint that is bent toward seeking opportunities to change and comply.  Having a heart that is prepared is starting at the point of need.  The prepared heart knows that it is not in perfect compliance with the law of the LORD even if it doesn’t yet know the specifics of failure.  The prepared heart is looking with a critical mind for all flaws and the law of God that addresses them.  Looking for, rather than responding to, is a mark of maturity.

God's Bad Memory

“I, [even] I, [am] he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” (Isa 43:25 AV)

It is common for the saints to dredge up sins of the past when adversity seems to overwhelm.  Our minds and spirits are tormented by choices we wish never occurred.  We confess and forsake all over again is if the first time did not count.  We recant any and all failures regardless of past forgiveness.  We are tormented by the thought that the LORD hangs our sins over our heads as a way to manipulate or remind us of just how wicked we are.  This is a lie from Satan!  If God has forgiven, He has forgotten.  This doesn’t mean consequences are not forthcoming.  There are consequences for our choices that God built into His creation.  There are natural things that will occur unless the LORD supernaturally intervenes.  Just because God must send circumstances does not mean He is still ruminating over our sin.  It is our desire to punish ourselves or a Satanic influence that keeps us in a constant state of defeat.  God doesn’t remember it.  Why should we?

I cannot begin to tell you of all the patients I have visited who lived with regret.  There was the lady who was dying of emphysema who was estranged from her daughter.  They had a falling out, and at the time of her passing, there was no reconciliation.  There was the man who was told his heart was failing, and he had only a few months.  He cheated on his wife decades ago and was still tormented by it.  There was the man who was awaiting a quadruple amputation because he never took care of himself.  There were several service members who lived with survival’s guilt.  One in particular was a captain of bomber during WWII, and the two times he was out for medical reasons, his plane went down.  He was the sole survivor of two different crews.  There was the man whom I worked with who was an veteran.  He was forward-stationed, performing advanced scouting for his unit.  He had to take the life of a non-combatant so that he and his unit were not discovered.  We all live with regrets.  It is part of our nature.  We cannot seem to let go of those things we have done or failed to do.  Passing away in peace is a struggle.  But it all hinges on our faith of God’s permanent forgiveness.

We must separate consequences for choices from the remembrance of sin.  God did not intend our consequences to torment us by guilt over what we have done or failed to do.  When the memory of wickedness comes upon us, we need to resist the Devil so he will flee from us.  If the LORD refuses to remember the deeds that precipitated our circumstances, then we should learn to forget it, too.  We can remember what we have done.  The ‘why’ for our circumstances makes that necessary.  But what we are not required to do is ruminate on the nature of our choices, the guilt and regret that comes from it, nor the fear that somehow God will never let us off the hook.  If God does not remember our sin, then once forgiven and forsaken, neither should we.

Is Your Name Written Down?

“These sought their register [among] those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.” (Ezr 2:62 AV)

A great picture of the Lamb’s Book of Life!  Upon returning to Jerusalem, one of the first things Ezra did was to repair the genealogical record.  This was particularly important concerning the Levites.  The other eleven tribes would need to know to whom they belonged that land and inheritance might be rightfully assigned.  With the Levites, their genealogy pertained to their station in the nation of Israel.  Only those who were a decedent of Levi could claim the right of temple service.  Only those from the lineage of Aaron could claim the right of the priesthood.  When Israel and Judah unfortunately lost their liberty, diligence failed in the keeping of genealogical records.  Israel was in Assyria and Babylon for almost three-hundred years.  Judah and Benjamin were in captivity for seventy years.  For Israel, that was almost eight generations.  For Judah and Benjamin, it was two generations.  The Levites would be affected the most.  There was no temple in Babylon.  There was no ministry to speak of.  For the foreseeable future, there was no need to keep records.  But there was!  When they returned, their word did not automatically afford them the privilege of the priesthood.  When they returned, an oral tradition would not suffice.  When they returned, familiarity with the things of God did not mean they were Levitical.  They needed a written record of their lineage, or there was no place for them in the service of God.

The Lamb’s book of life is much the same way.  It is the written record of our trust in the blood of Christ for the forgiveness of all sins.  Our names were written in the book of life upon conception in our mother’s belly.  It was transferred to the Lamb's Book of Life upon our second birth.  I imagine the excuses to circumvent the written record will be much the same.  “My parents told me I got saved” might be one refrain. “I grew up in church and I know a lot of Bible truth” might still be another.  “Brother So-and-so baptized me” was one I often heard.  “I’m a good person” is very common.  “I’ve always believed in Jesus since the day of my birth” is another that we hear.  None of these defenses will gain access to heaven.  Only a written record of the day we repented of our sins and trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior will matter.  “I sure hope so” or “no one can know for sure” are also statements made by those who expect heaven, but have no real assurance.

The story is told of a young man who tried to gain access to a gala in celebration of a great event.  He did his homework.  He read the requirements to gain access.  A tuxedo was ordered, fitted, and paid for.  He rented a limousine.  He secured a date for the evening who was well known.  Somehow, this man got a copy of the invitation.  The night came.  He picked up his date and arrived at the gate.  With invitation in hand, he met security at the front door.  Handing him his engraved invitation, the official looked at the guest list.  Asking for ID to double-check his list, the security officer announced that his name was not on the list.  Insisting that he was invited, hence the engraved invitation, the officer consulted with the host, and the host verified that the list was completely accurate.  There were no late additions to the list.  This young man was denied admittance because he was not on the guest list.  This is how the Lamb’s Book of Life works.  If we are not written in the book, there is no place in heaven for us.  The best thing to do is assure one’s name is written there by repenting of sin and trusting the finished work of Jesus Christ.

A Prayer God Does Not Ignore

“«A Song of degrees» Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.” (Ps 130:1-2 AV)

A very appropriate opening to a song of degrees.  A song of degrees was a psalm sung as the penitent climbed or ascended the temple mount.  It is more than likely the child of God would sing this while ascending the mountain.  What follows these two verses is a confession of sin and desire for mercy.  This would be the normal course of action.  Upon reaching the tabernacle or temple, the Hebrew worshipper would offer a sacrifice for his sin.  He cries out for God’s mercy in reflection of his failure to live perfectly in the law.  We do not need to limit this cry to forgiveness only.  Any time we approach the throne of God, these words are appropriate.  It is the desperation in the voice that moves the heart of God.  Desperation founded in truth and sincerity is a prayer that God cannot, nor will not, ignore.

I have spent much time in the hospital.  As a chaplain, I have visited many.  To a different degree, they are all suffering.  But one can tell the moans or cries of someone who is hurting to the core compared with someone who is dealing with less pain or discomfort than they realize.  Don’t get me wrong.  Pain is not comfortable.  It is annoying at best.  It is debilitating at the highest level.  I have prayed with those who were in for a minor infection.  I have also ministered to those who were in such discomfort that they could not speak.  They looked at me with deep pain in their bodies without the strength to cry out for relief.  Those were always the hardest patients to see.  Maxed out on pain medication, there was nothing more that could be done.  Unless the body expired or healed itself, there simply was no relief.  This is the depth of which our psalmist speaks.  It is anguish so deep that divine relief is the only treatment.  Divine relief and only divine relief.

Those who have experienced this depth of anguish know exactly of what I speak.  It is an anguish so deep that all but God becomes non-existent.  Perhaps we are laying in bed and mourning the unfortunate events of life.  Maybe we are lonely.  Maybe we are suffering from untold depth of pain.  Perhaps there is no sunshine.  Every day seems like a dark day.  There is no incentive to get out of bed.  We are in the anguish of our souls to the degree that we cannot function.  Take a lesson for the writer above.  One task.  That is all that needs to be done.  Ascend the mountain of God and pour out your soul to Him.  Just one task.  Don’t worry about everything else until you have done that one thing.  The writer got relief because he was humble, desperate, and sincere.  He wanted to be right with God, and nothing else matters.  Maybe it is not sin that has you so low.  But whatever it is, rest assured, God does not ignore the cries of the desperate.  When the writer reached the top and offered his sacrifice, God answered.  He cried in the depth o his soul, obeyed the LORD, and trusted Him for the mercy he sought.

Yielding To God's Care

“With him [is] an arm of flesh; but with us [is] the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” (2Ch 32:8 AV)

The ‘him’ is the general of the Assyrian army who came against Judah and Jerusalem.  The one speaking is Hezekiah, king of Judah.  Assyria had successfully invaded and conquered Israel to the north of Judah.  The assertion is that since Israel, who was known to the Gentile world as followers of Jehovah, failed to defend their nation, that Jehovah would not rescue Judah.  I can appreciate the fear gripping Judah.  Israel, which was far larger than Judah, could not defend against the Assyrians.  Now little Judah and Benjamin face the same foe.  If their much bigger brother could not resist, what are they to do?  Hezekiah shows great faith here.  He is able to do so because he does not limit himself to what is seen.  Rather, he places far more weight on what cannot be seen.  Hezekiah wisely makes a distinction between limited temporal might that does not exist very long with the eternal power of God.  In particular, the LORD is there to fight our battles.  That is what we wish to grasp this morning.

The faith that Hezekiah shows here is incredible.  He sees a human force that dwarfs him.  He is the one responsible for encouraging the people.  He is the one responsible for ordering a battle plan.  If the nation is lost, there will be much suffering.  When you look at what he said, you have to be impressed.  However, what else can he say?  He knows that Judah does not posses the ability to deliver itself.  He knows his nation exists at the mercy of stronger forces.  He knows that if he resists, they will burn his nation to the ground.  But they were going to do that, anyway.  The only choice he had was to trust the LORD.  What he said was a wonderful statement of faith in the person of God.  On the other hand, it was the only thing that could be said.  If the battle was to be won, it would be the LORD who would do it.  There was no other option.  In this lies the foundation of faith.  Faith may be the natural conclusion to our frailty.  We cannot do what we need to do.  We cannot deliver ourselves.  Therefore, faith is the only answer.  It is yielding to the no-brainer of faith in God that is the hardest part of this process.

The battles we face are, at times, insurmountable.  They are way beyond our natural ability to manage or overcome.  It is the yielding that we have the most trouble with.  It reminds me of times when I had to let go and stop trying to solve or overcome situations in my strength or wisdom.  One winter evening, my father and I were traveling during a storm.  He had a job interview, and my mother wanted one of us boys to go with him in case something happened.  And something did.  As we were traveling on snow-covered roads, my father lost control of the truck.  We were going a bit slower than normal, but not slow enough.  We left the road and started sliding sideways.  We were headed right for an enormous oak tree and I was closest to it.  If we hit that tree, there were severe injuries or death in my future.  What could I do?  What could my dad do?  The situation was almost completely out of our control.  All we could do was hang on and trust the LORD.  At the last second, by the hand of God, the truck lurched forward, and we missed the tree by inches.  These things have happened more than once.  Three times I have had a loaded gun pointed at me.  I’ve been in a car accident that could have been fatal, but no one was hurt.

Yielding is the beginning of trusting.  Yielding to the only choice available makes complete sense.  Yet we fight it.  Hezekiah really didn’t have any other option.  He trusted the LORD because the LORD was his only choice.  But he trusted nonetheless.