It Has Always Been God

“Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, [is] mount Zion, [on] the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.” (Ps 48:2-3 AV)

What struck me is that God is known in the palaces of Zion, that God is her refuge.  This may not seem odd to some, but the first thought that came to mind was the inordinate amount of security we take in things rather than in God Himself.  The palaces of Zion rivaled the best the world had to offer.  Jerusalem was a secure city set on a hill, and her palaces were even more secure.  It would be easy to forget that God is the refuge and not the city or her buildings.  In the best that man could build, God is immeasurably stronger and more secure.  One can feel safe in a building, but unless the LORD protects, the building becomes a pile of rubble.  It was essential that the teaching priests pointed to the Creator as the only source of security despite the buildings and fortresses which were amassed.  It is easy to place one’s confidence in things or other people and forget that God is our refuge.  He may use other things and people, and He certainly does.  But in the end, it is God who is that person and source of refuge we need in times of trouble.

Because of a health situation, my wife and I are intimately familiar with the workings of our local hospital.  It is not a small complex.  The hospital boasts one of the top children’s hospitals in the nation.  It would take roughly twenty minutes of walking to go from one end of the complex to the other.  That doesn’t include covering all the floors.  Over the last few years, we have had to be in various parts of the building.  In those years, a few departments relocated.  With my wife’s health issues, there is a building dedicated specifically for people like her where she can get the specialized care she needs.  It is easy to think that because of the massive amount of specialists, care facilities, labs, and equipment, that my wife is completely secure.  She cannot get any better care than where we are right now.  This condition has a dedicated emergency room.  People in her situation are led to this department separate and apart from the general public.  It has to be that way for safety reasons.  She has one of the leading specialists for her primary care physician.  She had one of the best surgeons perform her surgery.  We couldn’t ask for a better situation than we presently have.  However, it is not the building, the doctors, the labs, the equipment, or the drugs that are our security.  Even when we are in the hospital awaiting a test or procedure, prayer is part of our journey.  We know better than to think God is not needed.

Whether it is a bunker in the middle of a battle, a shelter in the middle of a tornado, a hospital in the middle of a health crisis, or a church in the middle of spiritual tribulation, these things are provided by God, but do not replace God.  This is what Israel forgot.  God had prospered them.  He blessed them for their obedience.  HE gave them palaces.  He gave them a temple.  That which they forgot was the God who provided all these things.  Their faith resided in what they could see.  Their trust rested in the evidence of God’s past hand and not in God Himself.  When reading the above passage, I can only imagine that while David and the Levites trekked through the halls of the palaces and temple, they sang this song.  They sang this song to remember that God is their refuge and not that great things they had built.  As long as we are in the center of God’s will, an open field is a fortress!

Tenderness

“Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people.” (Jer 39:14 AV)

I couldn’t help but see the tenderness in this passage.  Jeremiah, having suffered tremendously for his faithfulness to the word of God, was treated tenderly by Ahikam when the Chaldeans arrived.  The man of God was cast into prison.  Out of spite, he was cast into the dungeon.  Yes, there is a vast difference.  A prison, although scant, does have amenities.  A dungeon is a glorified pit where sewage often flowed through.  Out of spite, the princes of Judah threw the prophet into a toilet bowl to rot out the rest of his life.  Weakened by his condition, Ahikam carried Jeremiah back to his home.  Either Ahikam’s home or Jeremiah’s home.  My mind's eye went to what that might have looked like.  Pulled up from the pit by the filthiest of rage, Jeremiah was placed on a cot or cart.  Ahikam gently carried or drove the faithful prophet to the comfort of a bed.  No doubt, Jeremiah was given a bath, a fresh set of clothes, and some proper food to eat.  I was moved by the tenderness of Ahikam.  It took significant risk for him to do so.  Not a friend of the Jewish people nor an ally of the Chaldeans, Ahikam decided the best friend he could make would be the man of God.

One of my first introductions to southern dialect involved the word ‘carry’.  Where I am from, that word has a specific meaning.  It means to lift up and bear a burden from one place to another.  When we carry something, we bear the weight of it.  We lift it off the ground.  We place it on our shoulders.  We transport it from one place to another.  However, in the south where I served, the word can have a different meaning.  We had an older fella who gave up his driver’s license.  He suffered from COPD and related blackouts.  It was not safe for him to drive anywhere.  His wife usually took him to appointments.  One day, while visiting him, he stated he needed to get to a future appointment and there was no one to carry him there.  He wondered if I was free.  Here is a bit of humor.  Using my understanding of the word carry, I was puzzled.  Why wouldn’t a car ride be much easier?  When we got there, a wheelchair would work just fine.  Why did I need to carry him anywhere?  I knew he was well enough to walk, so why couldn’t he get himself into my car?  All of these thoughts were running through my mind.  But Mamma didn’t raise no fool.  I knew if I kept silent long enough, the meaning of his request would come out.  Sure enough.  ‘Carry’ comes from carriage.  He needed a ride.  A lift.  He needed someone to transport him from home to his appointment.  The word ‘carry’ when speaking of a person is a bit more archaic and intimate.

Caring is in short supply.  Our generation has been programmed to live separate and apart.  COVID didn’t cause this.  We were well on our way to living a solitary life.  Our lives are reduced to a little rectangular object no bigger than our hand.  Our conversations are not books.  They are not chapters.  They are not even paragraphs.  Our communication is a sentence.  In the near future, it will only consist of a cartoon character’s face.  We cannot empathize.  We cannot feel.  We cannot take initiative to help a lending hand.  If we saw someone cast into a pit, what kind of help would we render?  We are too afraid of lawsuits or threats.  We have somewhere to be.  Our resources are our own, and if another has a greater need, he or she will just have to figure it out.  Ahikam took pity on the man of God.  He saw someone who needed help and realized he was in the position to render that help.  Ahikam treated the man of God with the respect due his office.  He acted because he cared.  What really touched my heart was the emotional commitment Ahikam rendered.  It wasn’t merely a rope made of old material.  It wasn’t merely a cart or cot on which to ride.  Ahikam saw the prophet and cared.  How sweet.  How convicting!

The Tense Matters Most

“The hoary head [is] a crown of glory, [if] it be found in the way of righteousness.” (Pr 16:31 AV)

As we age, we tend to go back in time and regret all the poor decisions we made.  We reflect on our youthful indiscretions and with a contrite heart and bitterness of soul.  There is much for which to be ashamed.  There have been consequences that have followed us our entire lives.  It matters not how righteous we were, there are always wicked decisions that we wish we could take back.  No matter the perception of others, we know our own track records.  Only the humble will admit their sinfulness.  If the pharisee can only see success, then I pity his or her heart.  Dishonestly is their mask of life.  For the vast majority, though, we will easily admit to God and ourselves that we are far from perfect righteousness in Christ.  Many of us will admit that decisions of the past may haunt us to the grave.  Therefore, when we read the verse above, somehow, we think that when we age, then there will be no glory.  We think that only the highly disciplines and worldly successful people will enjoy glory.  Not so.

Look closely at the tense of the verse.  Note when it is that the gray-headed are found in the way of righteousness.  Solomon does not say for the gray-headed to enjoy glory for a life lived for the LORD it must have always been the case.  Note that the gray-headed presently reside in the way of righteousness.  A louse can live a life of corruption and sin, turn himself around, and live for the glory of God for the remainder of his life and be remembered as a godly person.  How do I know this?  I have had the privilege of conducting many funerals.  It wasn’t the average Christian who lived a predictably righteous life that garnered the biggest celebration.  It wasn’t the outwardly successful believer who had the most tears.  It was usually the believer who made some serious mistakes in his or her life, but when he or she arrived in an older state, he or she turned their lives around and lived completely for the glory of God.  I remember one such funeral.  An elderly man, who had served in the military and lived the way of the world, had passed away.  He was saved while serving his country, but old habits die hard.  He fought the demon of alcohol for a good portion of his adult life.  Then God handed him trouble that even booze couldn’t erase.  This turned his life around.  He made amends.  He fixed what he could.  Then, for the last few decades of his life, he attended church faithfully and did what he could to lend a hand.  After retirement, he was at the church fixing something, doing yard work, or simply serving the LORD with no renumeration and little recognition.  When he passed, many knew of his background, but all celebrated his life.

We may not have been in the way of righteousness our entire saved life.  We may have had to learn so hard lessons along the way.  Maybe there was a stronghold that took the majority of our adult lives to conquer.  Perhaps we made some choices that hurt other people.  We confessed.  We forsook.  Regardless of success or failure, we kept plodding on.  One day at a time.  One battle at a time.  One victory at a time.  Satan attacked much.  Self-righteous people even more.  Yet there we were, standing as best we could, to live for the glory of God.  Were we perfect?  Not by a long shot.  Were we always righteous?  Not nearly as much as we had hoped.  Yet, the LORD says that if we are presently found in the way of righteousness, a glory will follow us.  That is important to remember.  A life presently lived in obedience and faith is not erased because of past sinful choices.  Don’t let the devil discourage you.  Don’t let the self-righteous saints crush your spirit.  Live for Christ today.  Always today.  And when your hair turns as white as snow, it will stand for righteousness.

The Merrier The Better

“All the days of the afflicted [are] evil: but he that is of a merry heart [hath] a continual feast.” (Pr 15:15 AV)

The merry heart appears three times in the book of Proverbs.  Twice in chapter fifteen and then again two chapters later.  The merry heart is contrasted against circumstances that would normally challenge one.  Solomon seems to be saying a merry heart is one thing God provides for the despondent or depressed.  The merry heart is that which overcomes less than favorable circumstances.  This would suggest that a merry heart is something a person chooses to, or not to, possess.  To be of a cheerful countenance is a choice.  That is not to say that bad days will never come.  I am sure that at the loss of a loved one, even the merry of heart will weep.  That is not to say that those of a merry heart will not anguish in pain after major surgery or praise the LORD at the breaking of a bone.  I don’t think Solomon is speaking of being non-stop pleasant under all circumstances.  Solomon is sharing that those who determine to have a merry heart, generally speaking, have an easier time of life.

I had a grandfather like this.  He was a riot.  I never saw him get angry or upset.  I never saw him lose his temper.  I never saw him despondent.  There were times when he was quiet, but never sad.  When our families gathered, it was always Grandpa who commanded the greatest audience.  All the adults would sit around and tell stories.  The older children would sit and listen.  There was never a cross word.  Never any gossip.  For several hours they would sit around and laugh, telling stories of events of the past.  My grandfather was in the center of it.  His presence alone kept the conversation on the up-and-up.  While he sat, the words spoken by all were only edifying.  When politics or some other opinionated topic came up, my grandfather would quickly change the topic.  I wrote him a letter once that explained the gospel.  He lovingly rejected it reminded me that these were the things we only spoke of in private and face to face.  He did not reject the gospel.  He was simply careful in how it was approached.  My grandfather always wore a smile.  Mostly on his lips, but always in his eyes.  Merriment was a choice of his.  That was the way he decided life was to be lived.

This is the wisdom Solomon is trying to share.  How we perceive the world is just that – perception.  Perception is not in and of itself accurate.  We can see a photo of an object, but without the context of a known scale, we cannot tell just how large or small it is.  Perception is limited by what can be observed by the senses.  These senses are limited.  Therefore, merriment cannot be founded on what we can observe, but rather, in the word of God.  If God says He is in control of all things and all things have a purpose, then we must trust Him and cheer up.  Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived.  He will testify a bit later that much study is weariness.  He will also share that more information does not necessarily make one happy.  Knowing that God loves, controls, and plans is all we should need.

Searching For The Divinely Obvious

“If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.” (Ps 44:20-21 AV)

God is not searching to find.  We know this because of the last phrase.  He knows what is in the heart.  He doesn’t need to search that He might discover.  So, what does that word mean?  When we use the word search, that is exactly how we mean it.  We search to discover.  We don’t know the truth or whereabouts of a thing, so we search that we might find or learn.  But if God knows all things, the motivation to understand or discover mute.  There is no need.  The searching here is not for God’s sake.  It is for our sake.  He is not searching that He might learn or discover.  He is searching that we might learn or discover.  The question remains, then, how does this work out?  What example can we compare that will help us understand the searching and probing nature of the Spirit of God?  How can we observe this and participate in the search?

Teaching is an art.  The teacher knows the answer, but he or she cannot always give it.  The skilled instructor will guide the student into working out the problem.  The teacher will give the information and skills necessary, but the answer must come from the hard work of the pupil.  Why?  When we work something out, it tends to stick.  My profession involves much teaching.  I haven’t done a lot of it.  Preaching is the lion’s share of what I do.  This involves stating truths already known.  There isn’t any give and take between the preacher and his congregation.  However, when teaching, that changes.  There is much give and take.  Recently, the LORD has given me an opportunity to teach a family life class.  We are going through a series on biblical couples.  We started with Adam and Eve.  We are working through many different people to see what we can learn.  Rather than teaching in a declarative style, the LORD has led me to use a more inquisitive style.  The lessons are written with questions rather than presenting information only.  The students have to read, extrapolate, and apply what the word of God says.  I know what the goal is.  They do not.  So, I have to lead them by well-written questions into the conclusion they have to discover for themselves.  In reality, I am searching with them and not for them.

When the Bible speaks of God searching the heart, it is not implying there are thinks God does not know unless He looks for them.  If so, He would not be all-knowing.  When God searches, He is looking for that which He knows already exists.  The process of revealing is the point.  Not the conclusion of knowing.  When God searches, He already knows we have fallen away.  It is for our benefit and not for His edification that this search is conducted.  The Spirit leads us along this journey that we might come to know what God already knows.  He takes us along this path of discovery to conclude what He has known all along.  We not as in love with the LORD as we should be.  God is good all the time.  He could easily and justifiably correct us for our lack of love for Him without ever revealing to us why he does thusly.  But He does not.  He cares enough for us that He takes us along this walk of correction and conviction.  He shows us tenderly and lovingly where our hearts truly are.  Praise the LORD for His parental love toward those who are called by His name.

You Don't Have To Go Down With The Ship

“If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.” (Jer 26:3 AV)

Manasseh was the king of Judah that stirred God to proclaim judgement upon her and the temple.  After his father died, Manasseh introduced idol worship and desecrated the temple.  His father, Hezekiah, cleansed Judah and the temple of all ungodliness.  Yet Manasseh thought it best to do a one-eighty.  Because of his rebellion, God pronounced judgement that could and would not be rescinded.  Even when Manasseh’s grandson went beyond his great grandfather’s revival to purify Judah from every single wicked influence, God would not change His mind.  Babylon is coming.  Now we read Jeremiah’s words above.  We read it after the death of Manasseh and the death of his grandson.  Following the last revival and just before Babylon comes, it appears God is changing His mind.  If the people repent and forsake their wicked ways, He will not bring judgment.  Is that a contradiction?  Did God change His mind?  Exactly what is going on here?  To find that answer means there is a significant application for the child of God.

God pronounced judgment on Jerusalem and the temple.  Each man rises and falls by the merits of his own life.  We mentioned the Rechabites in an earlier blog.  The Rechabites were a family who made a vow.  This vow was to keep themselves separated from the wickedness of the people.  As a result, God protected them from captivity.  They were allowed to remain on the land and care for it.  They lived godly and, as a result, were allowed liberty that others did not enjoy.  This is what is going on above.  The challenge, if heeded, would save the individual.  But it would never save the city or temple.  These two were doomed.  No amount of revival was going to change that.   If the individual Hebrew repented of their wickedness, perhaps the LORD would spare them hardship in a foreign land.  What that does not mean is that those who lived right before the LORD would have it easy.  On the contrary.  Their countrymen were gone.  There was no support at home.  They would have been open to wandering nomads who victimized them regularly.  Gone would be their dominate culture.  No more temple.  No more temple priests.  All that was uniquely Jewish would have disappeared with the captives.  They would not have it easy.  But they would be free from much worse.

I cannot help but compare this situation with our current world.  The saints are suffering because the world hates God.  I just read this morning how the entire world is reorganizing itself to counter American dominance.  If successful, there are darker days ahead for the U.S.A.  We cannot kill the preborn, mutilate our children, and affirm sodomy without God having something to say about it.  Our nation, despite its greatness, will fall to the wrath of God unless serious revival sweeps through.  Unless the people forsake their wicked ways, the hand of God has already begun to fall.  What that does not mean is that all will suffer equally.  Those who are called by the name of God and seek to live separate and apart for the wickedness of our nation can expect a measure of grace.  If we repent of our sin and forsake it with all passion, then perhaps the LORD will show a bit of tenderness towards those who love Him.  Just because our nation has refused to worship God, does not mean those who do must equally suffer with those who do not.

Emotional Health is a Matter of Faith

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and [why] art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him [for] the help of his countenance…[Yet] the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song [shall be] with me, [and] my prayer unto the God of my life.” (Ps 42:5, 8 AV)

I know I have written on these two verses before.  I have treated them separately.  Verse five is David’s instruction to himself.  Verses six and seven are those things David has to get off his chest before he can have hope.  Then, verse eight is the result.  Verse five is the beginning of David’s emotional healing.  He must chasten his heart for the lack of hope he feels.  Regardless of what is causing it, there is no foundation for losing hope.  Losing hope is an indictment against an almighty God — that He is not sufficient.  Hopelessness could almost be thought of as a sin.  There is no reason for it.  God is still God regardless of how we feel.  So, dealing with our feelings in the context of what they mean to the person of God is the best way to handle them.  Then we have verse eight, which is David’s claim of faith.  Notice that verse eight is future tense.  He claims by faith that God will show him lovingkindness during his waking hours and will stir his heart to joyful praise as he falls off to sleep.  Believing that he will see them means that he will see them.

Reading this again and meditating upon it, the Spirit seems to indicate that verse eight was more permanent than perhaps we think.  When we are challenged with hardships of life, we tend to emotionally experience them is dramatic fashion.  Our lives tend to be a rollercoaster ride of extreme ups and downs.  Rather, it appears to this reader that David is purposing in his heart to believe that God will always be loving and He will always provide that which is praiseworthy.  It appears to the writer that the Spirit is saying a life of lovingkindness and joyful praise can be the normal day-to-day experience of the saint regardless of circumstances.  This is a bit hard to understand.

We are brainwashed into thinking that life is a series of emotional experiences that take us as high as we can go only to fall as deep as one can go.  We live in this reality of extreme happiness or pain.  The world tells us this is normal.  We need more than God provides just to survive.  We need assistance from the world that only the world can provide because God just doesn’t cut it.  After all, the Bible is mere words on a page.  How can that help?  I am being facetious, of course.  The world wants us to abandon the LORD as our chief help.  It is ok if we are religious.  But let us not go too far into thinking that God alone is all-sufficient.  David has another idea.  He does not give his heart permission to stay in the state of hopelessness he currently feels.  He yells at himself.  He refuses to allow his heart to forget who and what God is.  He does not relent to his emotional responses.  HE chastens the heart.  He challenges his heart to live in truth.  Not in perception.  Then, by grounded theology, he claims what he knows to be true.  God will be loving to him every waking moment of his day.  As a result, upon reflection of that day, David will be able to joyfully praise God for how good He has been!  If only we could learn to be like David.