What God Really Wants

“Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” (Ps 50:14-15 AV)

The context of these verses begins in verse eight.  God states He will not reprove the nation for their neglect of offering sacrifices if they would simply be grateful for the grace He provides and lives according to their vows of holy living.  He further states that as a God who is self-sufficient and owns all, He is in need of nothing they could offer; that is, except for a grateful and obedient heart.  The LORD even throws out the impossible hypothetical that if He did have necessities of life, He wouldn’t tell them because all He really desires is a grateful and obedient heart.  We can get so structured in our religious practices that we think that is all God requires.  Church attendance, church ordinances, or traditions that our Christian life demands.  What we really fail to see is that all God wants is a grateful heart which shows that gratitude by striving to walk in obedience to His word.

There was an event of my childhood that has stuck with me all these years.  Each of us siblings had their specific chores which were assigned to us.  They were age appropriate.  Dad would not require that someone as young as five mow the lawn.  Some of these chores were lawn care, making milk (those of you who are old enough to know what that means will understand), babysitting, setting up for meals, cleaning up after meals, washing dishes, shopping with Mom, taking out the garbage on Thursdays, going with Mom to the bakery outlet once a month, etc.  We would advance from one chore to the next.  At one time or another, we all had to do each.  When it was my turn to take out the garbage for about a year, I would forget from time to time.  Not a good thing.  A family of thirteen can produce a lot of garbage.  On particular time, when I saw the garbage truck go by and knew that I had forgotten, I went to my Dad’s den and was truly humble and sorry that I had failed.  “I am so sorry for missing the pick-up today, Dad.  Please forgive me.”  I expected a bit of compassion and mercy. Instead, what I got was, “You say that you love me and you say that you are sorry.  If that were so, you would not have forgotten to put the trash out.”  That hurt more than any other punishment that I could have received.  But, he was right.

We do that which is easy.  When we express our love to the LORD, we often get into a rut, thinking actions will suffice.  What God really wants is gratitude for His grace and obedience to His word.  That is all.  Sure, He will be pleased if we offer a bit more when the offering plate comes around.  Sure, He will be pleased if we do not miss one special meeting.  Sure, He will not turn away our efforts to read our Bibles through one in a year.  However, if in the midst of all those easy things, we are complaining about life and still struggle in the sin which He has guaranteed victory, all those others have far less value.  God is a great and benevolent God.  He deserves our gratitude and obedience.

God Desires to be Needed

“But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.” (Ps 40:17 AV)

There is no shame in admitting our limitations to an almighty God.  In fact, it is rather foolish to think we have none.  David is overwhelmed by the constant barrage of the enemy.  It has worn him down.  That word ‘…needy…’ is particularly troublesome.  We use that term to describe an individual who is always asking for something.  He or she cannot, or will not, fend for themselves.  We use the term especially for those who could help themselves but refuse to.  Their real perceived need is emotional attention.  Thus, they play the hopeless victim so they gain attention more so than the physical need they may have.  To say that David was a ‘needy’ person in this sense is simply not true.  He exercised all available strength to endure through that which God placed him and served God with all his strength.  For David to say that he is needy means that he came to the end of his strength.  He had enough character to admit that he could do no more and desperately needed the LORD to intervene.  But it started with admitting his limits.

Several years ago, my shoulder was in serious pain.  It altered my personality.  It was weeks away from becoming frozen shoulder when my orthopedic surgeon went in and removed a bone spur that was three inches long and one inch thick.  Almost immediately I felt the difference.  When waking from anesthesia, I felt there was a chunk of something missing from my shoulder.  I have to admit.  I am a lousy patient.  The recovery was about six weeks long.  The first two were virtually unbearable.  However, being a man, I refused to admit that I needed help.  Off of pain meds within two days, I rushed myself through rehab and refused to take any assistance from my lovely wife.  That did not sit well with mother-in-law.  I have the best!  She is one of my sweetest and closest friends.  During one phone call, she lovingly rebuked me because she was made aware (I can’t imagine how) that I was not allowing my gracious wife to be a help to me.  I would not admit that I needed any help.  She, that is my mother-in-law reminded me that it was the ministry of a wife to be a help meet.  That my dear wife was being robbed of what made her what she was made to be.  I wouldn’t admit that I was needy.

We often suffer needlessly because we will not admit our limitations.  Specially as men.  We think we can conquer anything life throws at us.  We go on, not thinking for one moment that if we simply ask for help, we will get it.  Nope.  On we trudge because it is not manly to think we cannot do it all.  David lost all pride here.  He was willing to seek help and depend on the help that only God can give.  As men, we need to learn to swallow our pride and seek the assistance that is there.  Don’t play the martyr.  There are no rewards for those who manipulate martyrdom.  God is ready and willing to help.  All we need to do is admit that we need it and that without it, we cannot make it.  Then, and only then, will God come down.

Never Absent

“For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.” (Ps 37:28 AV)

It is not absolutely certain when David wrote this, but it follows a psalm which we know he wrote after he found relief from the persecution of Saul.  David has run from Saul for years.  He went from cave to cave, from woods to woods, and from city to city.  He had no certain dwelling place.  If David has in view the years he spent running from Saul, then the above underlined phrase has special meaning. 

Having lived over half my life and experiencing years of difficulty, I can attest to the above phrase.  Most of the trouble was self-inflicted.  David also had his input into his situation.  There were a couple of decisions that were probably not the wisest and exacerbated his condition.  However, most he did not deserve.  The point is, whether our situation was self-inflicted, or completely separate from ourselves, God still preserves us.  He will always remain faithful regardless of our faithfulness.  HE WILL NOT FORSAKE HIS SAINTS!  Period.  I try to do some walking every day.  When the weather does not cooperate, I find myself as one of those dreaded mall walkers.  Yup.  That’s right.  I am one of those.  Anyway, I was on the upper tier and looked over and down at a father with three young boys.  They were triplets.  They appeared to be four or five years old.  He was trying to keep them all together as the went down the escalator.  Good luck!  One was already at the bottom and headed towards some play equipment.  The second was going down the stairs.  The third wouldn’t do either, so he picked him up, put him over the shoulder, and headed down the stairs briskly after the second.  That father would not abandon his sons.  No matter how different they were or how independent they were, or in which direction they went off, this father was always within a sprint of catching them.  His love for his sons would not allow them to get into any serious trouble.

So too is it with our heavenly Father.  We may feel as though He is not as near as at other times, but He always is.  Even when we are down and we do not think we can make it, He is there.  Even when we have messed up and don’t think we will ever get out of the mess we have created; He is there.  Even when it seems as though we have to take matters into our own hands, otherwise, we are going to suffer; He is there.  Even when we see no real purpose in what we are going through; He is there.  Even when others think that God has abandon us; He is there.  He will not forsake!  He will not leave!!  He will preserve.

The Eternally Perfect Word of God

“The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” (Ps 33:11 AV)

If you were to believe most professing Christians of educated backgrounds, you would be led to believe there is no perfect word of God today.  You would be led to believe the second law of thermodynamics made a victim of the written word of God.  They would lead you to believe that only the original autographs were perfectly provided and the moment scribes began to copy the original autographs, degradation set in.  And, so they presume, since the original autographs have been lost to time, there really is no true perfect word of God today.  How sad.  Poor God is hopeless against the very nature He has created and limited by the acts of mankind.  I didn’t realize our God was so helpless.  LOL

The truth of the matter is, God did and does protect His word by His almighty power.  His word is eternally perfect and provided to mankind for their admonition, salvation, and edification.  The above very is very plan.  It is very simple.  Even the most complicated academic should be able to grasp its simple truth.  All generations mean all generations.  From Adam and Eve to the last human generation to exist on this planet, the counsel of the LORD stands.  His thoughts began with mankind in the garden of Eden and nothing man can do will cause it to cease.

Attacking the authority and reliability of the word of God is nothing new.  This is exactly what the Devil did in the garden of Eden and has been doing ever since.  The reason is simple.  Romans chapter ten and in verse seventeen tells us why.  Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.  If the word of God is not perfect and reliable, or faith cannot be either.  What really astounds me is how we have allowed the science of language to talk us out of the simple truth of God’s omnipotence and justice.  The God who can calm the waters of a storm or raise the dead to life can surely protect His word.   The God who set each star in its place can also be sure each letter of His word remains where He intends it to be.  If God does not provide His word perfect, and without error, then He has no perfect standard by which He will just, this becoming an unjust magistrate.  The word of God is perfect.  To all generations.  Not because academics say so.  Not because the science of language verifies it.  It is perfect unto all generations because the character of God demands it!

Pure Promises Produces God's Presence

“Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” (Ps 24:3-4 AV)

The swearing which is spoken of here is swearing a vow.  Making a promise one may have intended to keep at the time, but in reality, chooses not to once the vowing us over.  My thoughts went to the altar call.  One wonders how many vows are made there that fail to have deep and lasting roots.  I am all for an altar call.  It would be better to go to an altar than not at all.  This is not a treatise against the use of the altar call.  What we are contemplating this day is the times we have vowed or sought forgiveness when in the deepest places of our heart, we really had no intention of changing to begin with.  Or, at the very least, because of conviction, we did have a desire.   However, once the guilt and pressure of conviction was assuaged, then the desire to overcome also abated.

We have to remind ourselves that God sees everything.  He even sees the true condition of the heart.  He knows of what quality our vows truly are.  He understands the motivation behind to vow.  He sees the truth of how deeply that vow is rooted.  Several times I have gone to my knees and ask the LORD’s forgiveness, promising to strive harder and yield to the influence of the Holy Spirit so that I may be more successful in living to the pleasure of God the Father.  It has happened frequently.  However, in the depth of my soul, there were times when I knew that once the service was over, or once the time of prayer concluded, the old man would again rear his ugly head to the end of another failure.  There were times when I sought the LORD’s mercy in one area knowing full well I was failing in a different area.

If we desire the presence of God, then transparency is of the utmost importance. We must be free from pretense.  It doesn’t make sense anyway.  We may be able to fool ourselves, but we cannot fool God.  God knows all.  God sees all.  God is not asking for perfecting as though we can attain it.  We cannot.  That is why the LORD Jesus Christ died for us.  God is not seeking our compliance by our own efforts.  That is why He has supplied the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  What God is asking is that we prepare our hearts to seek Him.  That means being honest.  That means when we do say we are going to strive, that we actually do.  That means when we confess our sin, we confess it all.  We leave no rock un-turned.  Even if we have not been brought to the place of full repentance, then we can at least as the Father to bring us to that point.  Deceit never works with God.  He sees right through it

A Prayer of Encouragement

“The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;” (Ps 20:1-2 AV)

Sometimes we need it overly simple.  No deep theological thoughts.  No pithy applications.  Sometimes we need a very simple way to look at our situation and realize the Word of God can meet us in any and all circumstances of life.

One of the pleasures of pastoring is the ability to see things that the sheep cannot see.  Or, putting it another way, it is a blessing to have faith for others.  Specially when they are going through very rough waters.  BTW, it is quite another when you, the pastor, are going through deep waters.  It helps to have someone who can have faith for thee!  Anyway, there seems to be an understanding that no matter how difficult the circumstances of life might be, God is equal to the task.  The pastor is faced with serious injury or illness.  He is faced with death and funerals.  He is faced with marital counseling.  He is faced with wayward children or broken homes.  He is faced with addiction counseling, visiting in the jails, or even counseling with the emotionally unstable.  The LORD gives him a sense of where it may end up.  Even in circumstances that could end in tragedy, he knows that God is greater than what any one of us will face.

This is David’s prayer of encouragement to a nation that is facing the unknown.  His simple prayer is the encouragement they will need to go on in the will of the Father.  There are times when others ask us to pray for them because they are going through a really hard time.  We try to forecast what the LORD might do and pray to that end.  Or, we pray for a tremendous miracle when the LORD does not intend to bring one.  We struggle with words to pray aloud when all we really need to do is to pray a prayer like the one above.  We may not know what the future holds.  We may not know what the will of the LORD is concerning a difficult situation.  But what we can pray – and with great confidence – is that the LORD would strengthen the individual and be present with them in the midst of the deepest trial.  That is a prayer that will not go unanswered.

Our Natural Blind Spot

“He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.” (Ps 10:11 AV)

David is speaking of those who would treat him with wickedness and injustice.  He is speaking of the nature of sinful mankind.  He is speaking of the basic nature of those who do not have a relationship with the LORD is any fashion.  They tend to go about their wicked lives without any cognition of the reality of God.  If God does exist (in their way of thinking), then He does not see and/or does not care of their actions.  They see no immediate justice or, if they do suffer, it is attributed to something other than God himself.  Fate or luck has been unkind.  A natural consequence of a choice.  So forth.  What we should consider is this tendency to forget God in all that we do or experience is not limited to just the wicked.  Those who claim the name of Christ can also get into this mode of forgetting that God sees everything.  Even if we cannot sense it.

I have just read that London, England is the most surveyed city of the world.  Literally, there is no place that is accessible by the public where a camera somewhere isn’t watching.  A particular crime was underway and the authorities located and could track every move the perpetrators made from the time the left their place of organization until they returned.  Footage was even provided of the crime in progress.  Some most of the cameras used were not easily visible.  Hidden in light fixture, behind or in articles on a shelf, or molded into a nick-knack, these cameras could see everything from every angle.  In today’s world, it is impossible to go anywhere without being seen.  How many of us are aware of those cameras?  We go into a large store and we are aware of the dark round objects installed in the ceiling.  Few, if any, knowing they are cameras, altar their behavior because of their presence.  A few years back, I had frozen shoulder syndrome.  This caused me to have my left hand in my jacket pocket all the time.  This attracted the attention of the loss prevention officers.  The tailed me whenever I was shopping.  How did they find me and single me out?  Cameras.

God’s eyes are far more perceptive than man-made cameras.  The eyes of the LORD are literally in every place.  Not only does He see what we do, but His eyes can go right to the depths of our hearts.  He knows what we intend to do, how we feel, and what we are thinking.  Just because God chooses not to exercise chastisement right away does not mean He failed to see.  Or, it could be the thing we are suffering is the correcting hand of God but we fail to attribute is as such because we think God cannot or did not see what we did.