When Was Your Last All-nighter?

“But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.” (Ps 88:13 AV)

Although the context of the psalmist’s declaration is the desire to be right before the LORD, we can apply this in almost every situation wherein we pray for something close to our hearts.  The word ‘prevent’ doesn’t mean the same when the KJB was translated as it does today.  The word means to go beforehand.  It means to meet someone on their way by being there first.  In other words, the Psalmist is saying he will pray all night if he has to, and in the morning, he will be praying before the morning breaks and God meets with him.  In other words, the writer is so moved by what he needs from God that he is willing to spend the night in sleepless prayer to be sure that God heard him.  That is commitment, dear saints.  One has to wonder how many times we have passed the night in prayer.  How often do we go the night without sleep because there was something so heavy on our hearts that God had to hear of it non-stop?  This is what our writer did.

The times I have spent the night in anything but sleep could probably be counted on two hands.  At least the times I stayed up all night on purpose.  The occasional emergency room visit or illness doesn’t count.  I mean the times that I spent all night doing something extremely important.  There were a few times when going to bed for only a few hours didn’t seem profitable.  Like those opening days of deer or turkey season.  Staying up late the night before only to realize you had to get back up in three hours kind of lent itself to having one more cup of coffee and staying up.  There were the occasional times when I worked until four in the morning and knew I had to get back up in two hours.  Sleep seemed kind of silly.  But I cannot remember too many times I spent the night in prayer.  There were a few.  But not many.  Those times were usually spontaneous.  There was something so troubling on my mind that I couldn’t sleep.  The thoughts of the events that disturbed me robbed me of sleep and I spent the night in constant conversation with God.  It was in those times when the LORD seemed extra close.

Which brings me to the point of all this.  The writer spent the night in prayer because he was bothered by what he saw.  He allowed the circumstances of his own choices to bother him enough to assault the throne of God rather than slumber.  The writer was emotionally and spiritually moved.  Deeply moved.  He could not sleep if he tried.  His conscience wouldn’t allow it.  We do not spend the needed time in prayer because we simply do not care enough about that which concerns us.  Lost souls are so common, it doesn’t seem to bother us anymore that one day, they will be tormented for all of eternity.  Our family’s spiritual condition doesn’t seem to concern us.  We do not spend hours in prayer, mentioning each name and the deep needs they have.  The decline of our churches illicit criticism of the pastor, but does it stir us to non-stop prayer?  Do the moral condition, spiritual apathy, and profitless lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ move us to do the one thing we can do to the fullest of our ability – pray?  I think not.  We don’t pray because we don’t care.  We don’t care because we only care about what matters to us, individually.  We don’t care how our lives reflect on God.  We don’t care about the suffering of others.  The only way we will be fully committed to prayer is if we allow the Holy Spirit of God to move our hearts to feel again.  If we feel again, maybe we will pray again.

The Promise of Righteousness

“Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.” (Ps 85:13 AV)

Psalm eighty-five is a very encouraging one.  The writer reminisces of God’s relationship with Israel as one that has its ebbs and flows.  Mostly, he is recollecting Israel’s failures and God’s mercy.  The psalm ends with the above truth.  As much as God’s people fail Him, He will set their feet in the way of righteousness.  There is coming a day for the nation of Israel when they will no longer wander from the holiness of God.  There is coming a day when the Son of God will descend with a shout.  He will rescue redeemed Israel from the power of Satan and set up His kingdom as a kingdom of righteousness and holiness.  From that time forward, Israel will walk in the ways of the LORD.  This is a promise.  What is true for Israel is true for all the redeemed.  God will set our feet in the way of righteousness.  There is coming a day when we no longer will have to battle the flesh.  There is coming a day when we shall be transformed completely into the image of Jesus Christ, incapable of sin ever again.  What a day that will be!  The best news is, we don’t have to wait for eternity to begin that process.  If God goes before us, then our steps will be set in the ways of righteousness.  It all depends on who or what we follow.

The woods look very different from winter to summer.  When the leaves fall and the foliage disappears, the woods are much easier to navigate.  The woodsman can see things like terrain and larger landmarks such as large trees or boulders.  But when spring comes and the woods fill in, those waymarks are no longer visible.  It is in those times when an experienced guide is essential.  Many times I have gone into the woods while another leads the way. Whether it was my father who know the woods rather well, or my father-in-law who grew up in the woods, placing my feet where his feet had already trod meant I would get to where we were going and get there safely.  One of the rules for entering the woods during deer season was to limit the use of flashlights.  The lead always used one.  Those who were behind simply put their feet on the track left behind by the lead.  In my first few seasons, I learned to follow the one who knew where he was going.  Each step was marked by trodden snow or leaves.  It was not complicated at all.  Putting one foot in front of the other in the exact place the leader had placed his took no thinking.  It was simple, efficient, and effective.  As long as I followed the one who knew the way, everything turned out well.

When I meditate upon the verse above, one word jumps out at me.  SHALL!  Every genuine child of God has within him the desire to live right.  He or she has a conscience quickened by the Holy Spirit.  The wonderful Spirit that now inhabits our hearts and souls stirs us in a desire to be and live right.  The problem is this body of sin which has not yet been destroyed.  We want to live for the glory of God.  We want to escape the captivity of wickedness.  We want to honor our Father who has done so much for us.  We want to live in perfect holiness to the glory and praise of our Savior.  This is our new man.  The thing is, as frustrated as we can get sometimes with the failures for which we are so embarrassed, we cannot forget the eventuality of our eternal state.  We shall be set in the steps of righteousness.  We shall be perfect in every way.  We shall be like Jesus.  These steps will be ordered and these steps are certain.  Praise be to God and our LORD Jesus Christ!

The Patience of our Father God

“But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.” (Ps 78:38-39 AV)

Psalm seventy-eight is a record of Israel’s travels once they were delivered from Egypt and sporadic events since that time.  Time and again, Israel disappointed the LORD.  The Bible tells us they limited what God could do. They complained, they doubted, then even directly opposed Him.  They went after other Gods.  Yet time and again, God turned His anger away from them and forgave their actions.  They would complain about the consequences of their choices, and the LORD would turn His hand of correction away from them.  When I consider how much Israel put God through, I wonder how much have N.T. saints done the same.  Glory may reveal all the times God could have chastened us but decided not to.  Of the times He has, one has to wonder if His mercy was fully appreciated.

When I think of Israel’s behavior, I think of a child who is undisciplined and simply doesn’t know any better.  It would be hard to come up with a unique example because we were all like this at one time or another.  That adolescent who seems to be more trouble than the rest.  He or she does not listen.  Complaints roll off the tongue.  When asked to do something, they ignore the command.  When Mom or Dad offer their lap, they would rather go after a favorite toy just because.  In times like these, it is easy for Mom or Dad to get angry.  It would be easy to take out the paddle or be tremendously offended at the lack of respect in rejecting an offered lap.  It would be easy to harbor bitterness against a strong-willed child who doesn’t seem to respond to parental guidance and love.  I have seen many parents make the mistake of preferring a well-behaved child over a strong-willed child.  It would be very easy to become impatient and frustrated.  Time and again they do the same naughty thing.  Rebellion is not the cause.  It is a lack of discipline.  Mom and Dad struggle, but if they are biblically minded and love that child, patience and persistence win the day.  It is said by the ignorant that an authority figure must break the spirit of a child.  So wrong!  Rather, Mom and Dad must break the will without breaking the spirit.  Only patience and love can accomplish this.

This is exactly what God does with us.  He does not want us corrected to the point we lose all incentive to do right.  Zeal and motivation are important.  The mercy of God understands we are very frail and if judged about that which we are able, will crush our spirit and make us ineffective and withdrawn.  Praise the LORD for His wisdom and mercy.  It is the love of God that measures judgment against our frail frame.  It is the compassion of God that sees us for what we are and knows that if taken to the full measure, God’s justice would crush him whom God desires to mature.  This perfect and divine exercise of mercy is the reason any of us can do anything for God.  He knows our frame.  He knows us better than we know ourselves.  He knows that all disobedience is not necessarily rebellion.  He knows the difference between neglect, immaturity, inexperience, and flat-out rebellion.  His mercy endures forever.  He knows what He is doing and I, for one, am eternally grateful He does not mete out all that I deserve.  I wouldn’t last.

Our Reaction Matters

“For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God.” (Job 34:23 AV)

Elihu is completely correct here.  Not so much in the application for Job, but true nonetheless.  Elihu’s comments are in the context of assuming the trials of Job are sin related.  Again, like his three friends, he is completely wrong.  Like Job, however, Elihu seems to utter words of profound wisdom without even knowing the implications of what he said.  The above statement is also true of afflictions of faith.  It is also true of persecutions and other trials.  God does not allow to be laid upon us more than is right.  Putting it another way, God does not allow us to suffer more than we can handle.  The second phrase implies if God did indeed do such a thing, there would be cause to judge Him as unfair, unethical, or downright mean.  The first phrase is what the Spirit wishes us to consider.  Again, the LORD will not lay upon us more than that which is right.  The LORD will not allow us to endure more than is appropriate.  He will not allow us to suffer above that which we are able.  God is kind and merciful.  He knows what we need.  Sometimes the need is affliction.  In particular, what the Spirit wished us to consider is our reaction to such times.  If we take by faith the truth of the above principle and couple it with the truth God has a purpose and plan for everything, then the proper response to the deep waters of life should be joy and gratitude.  That is easier said than done. 

Recently, I read the autobiography of Adoniram Judson, a missionary to Burma.  His life was so prolific, he literally changed that nation and brought it into the modern world.  The LORD used him to translate the Bible into the Burmese language and standardize their language by providing a dictionary and grammaticarian.  Rev. Judson started several churches but never saw more than one hundred converts in total.  At least directly from his own efforts.  His largest contribution was opening up Burma to the gospel and brokering peace between Burma and England.  This paved the way for freedom of religion and Burma soon become one of the freest nations to permit Christianity in Southwest Asia.  To this day, Rev. Judson is honored by Christians and non-Christians alike for being that instrument God used to bring their nation out of the uncultured condition they were in, to a nation that was respected and admired among most.  This did not come easy.  The trials of Adoniram are legendary.  He spent several years in captivity in deplorable conditions.  He lost several children to fever and lost two wives as well.  He himself suffered great physical difficulties in the last third of his life or so.  When he returned to America, at first he was treated as a celebrity.  As his stories turned more to the spiritual needs of the Burmese and less to all the trials of the mission field, American churches lost interest.  All this and much more Adoniram was asked to endure.  What made these times profitable to the furtherance of the gospel was Adoniram’s reaction to these hard times.  He never felt worthy to suffer such things for the glory of God.  He reacted with humility, gratitude, and resolve.

God will never give us more than we can handle.  Whether we believe this or not does not change the circumstances.  We can be bitter and angry, but the situation remains.  We can be full of fear and doubt, but our lives remain the same.  Our reaction to our life’s situation does not change the nut and bolts of it.  It may make our situation appear worse than it is.  But it is what it is.  Job lost his family, his wealth, and his health.  Regardless of his ability to cope, his kids were not coming back, the wealth that he lost would not be returned, and his health will eventually deteriorate anyway.  What we could do, which Job forgot to do, is to react in humility and gratitude to that which God allowed.  Elihu states what God allows is right.  Job couldn’t justify this because he could not see a purpose in it.  If he could have taken by faith these things were designed by God for a reason that serves Him and ultimately helps Job, he would have had an easier time of it.  How we react will go a long way in how we endure.  The first step is giving God the benefit of the doubt.  What He did or allowed is right.  It always is.  Start there and go from there.  Amen and Amen.

Humble Enough To Accept Mercy

“Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.” (Ps 69:14 AV)

This morning, as I awoke from my slumber, as I usually do, I began to pray.  In that prayer, there was also meditation.  As the Spirit led me to muse, a thought permeated my soul.  That thought being, why wouldn’t someone as guilty of sin as I, want to suffer for my sin?  I deserve it, don’t I?  Why wouldn’t any honest and humble person think it right to escape all that he has earned?  My mind went to a scenario wherein I was convicted of some heinous crime for which I was truly guilty.  Why wouldn’t I think I should escape life in prison?  Wouldn’t the humble person accept his punishment and take it with a quiet and meek spirit?  Wouldn’t he go silently off to his cell knowing no matter how difficult life might be, he deserved far worse?  Then my mind went to the severity of eternal judgment.  At least a prison cell is constrained by time.  No matter how awful that situation might be, the prisoner is eventually freed by life or by death.  He either dies in prison, or his sentence is fulfilled.  Not in hell.  This cosmic horror goes on for all of eternity.  There is no escape.  My mind when even further as directed by the Spirit and the question of the need of such severity as opposed to annihilation entered my mind.  Why not be merciful to condemned souls and simply eradicate them?  Why such a horrible existence that never ends?  Then one simple phrase from the Spirit of God came to my heart.  God is just.  To end such torment would not be justice.  It would be mercy.

So, those who are confronted with the reality of eternity must ask themselves, do you desire to suffer for all of eternity for all that you have done, gaining some sort of satisfaction from this, even though it would be fleeting?  Or, do you want the mercy of God which you do not deserve that will render an escape from this horrible and eternal reality?  Yesterday, we were knocking on doors.  We met a nice lady who was not doing so well.  She was obviously very ill from the choices of life she had and was making.  The topic of eternal hell came up, and she, like so many, made light of it. She said she wasn’t going to hell because she know a lot of people there and they would kick her out.  She implied that she was too evil even for hell.  A few weeks back, we met a young man who also joked about eternal judgment.  He said he knew he was going to hell and was looking forward to it.  These types of people are simply avoiding an uncomfortable thought.  They don’t want to think about it lest they confess and get right with God.  However, others definitely know they are condemned and welcome it.  They know how wicked they are and believe the only peace they will ever have is to suffer for it.  They refuse the mercy of God because pride tells them that cannot accept it.  They are simply too wicked.  How sad.

What is true for eternity can also be true in life.  God does not limit mercy to an eternal application.  He desires to show mercy in this life as well.  Our writer was seeking relief from reproach for his sin.  He was suffering public humiliation for choices that he had made which affected both himself and his nation.  He was totally embarrassed over what he had done.  Again, some would welcome the humiliation and go off into life, never being able to overcome it.  This is pride.  Not David.  He knew he deserved every bit of what was happening.  He never refused it.  What he did seek was mercy.  He was not seeking an escape from all that he deserved.  Simply, he sought forgiveness and mercy that God may commune again with him and that he might be used for the glory of his gracious God.  Too many saints live in a condition of perpetual self-condemnation.  They allow pride or the devil, or both, to keep them in a state of defeat.  Humility will accept mercy and reconciliation.  Humility is manifested by usefulness.  To stay in a state of torture because we believe we deserve nothing less is a prideful reaction to failure.  Refusing mercy is nothing more than pride.  If we can accept the mercy of God for our eternal souls, then we can accept the mercy of God for our temporal lives.

Tethered For Sure

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” (Ps 62:5 AV)

This is a good spot to continue from yesterday’s thoughts.  Yesterday, we saw David tying the sovereignty of God with his prayer life.  If God controls all things, and He does, then our natural practice should be prayer.  Here, David speaks to his own heart.  He is speaking to a heart that is disturbed in some way.  His consolation to his own ill-being is to remind himself that his expectation is from God.  That word, ‘expectation’ is an interesting one.  We would understand it as a hope of sorts.  But the word has a bit more to it.  It comes from a root word meaning rope.  As in a secured line.  Think of a boat that is secured to the dock by a rope.  It is moored to the dock and even if the waves toss the boat to and fro, it is securely anchored to something far greater than itself.  This is the understanding here.

I have been on the end of a rope in such situations as this before.  There were times my brother taught us how to repel.  We repelled from a tower.  We repelled down Niagara Gorge.  We repelled down fifty-foot walls.  I have been on boats in the middle of waves that tossed us to and fro.  I have been on a boat moored to the land where the same waves toss us to and fro.  What I can tell you is the rope that secured me was immensely important and as long as my focus was on the rope that secured me, the effect of my situation was made dramatically easier.  I don’t like heights.  You will never see me going up the Sears Tower in Chicago.  Nope!  Not doing it.  I can fly in a plane.  But I will not look down from a bridge.  So, repelling would not be my first choice of entertainment.  Looking down three hundred feet is not pleasant.  Seeing the craggy rock face of the gorge and knowing what those rocks could do to me was not a fun sight.  But as long as I looked up and looked at the rope in front of me, I was ok.  The rope did not remove gravity.  The rope did not make the ground any closer.  The tether rope did not cause the sea to calm.  I was still tossed about.  But as long as my eyes were on the rope, then anxiety was greatly diminished.

The thing to remember is the expectation from Him and of Him!  Just like the repelling rope was from by brother, our hope is from God.  He is the anchor of our soul.  He is the one who keeps us in the hollow of His hand and even though life may toss us around a bit, the rope remains strong and sure.  It is interesting.  The further you are away from the rope, the less it seems to move.  At least at the top, anyway.  As we live by faith, we cannot allow lack of sight to convince us the rope is not secure.  Faith told me my brother knew what he was doing and he had done this many times before.  He was certified to instruct and conduct repelling exercises.  The equipment was brand new.  The anchor to which he attacked our ropes were trees that stood the test of time over hundreds of years.  We were completely safe.  When life tosses us, let us remember the anchor of our soul is eternal and nothing is too big for Him to handle.  Our expectation is from Him.  And to Him!

Stay Close To The One Who Controls it All

 “I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.” (Ps 57:2 AV)

That second phrase struck me as obviously profound, yet not always on our minds.  We talk about prayer.  And, we talk about the sovereignty of God.  Yet we may not tie the two together as readily as we should.  But when one stops to think about it, they should be two halves of the same thought.  If God controls every aspect of our lives, then why wouldn’t we pray more often?  If God is the one who orchestrates the circumstances and events of our lives, then why wouldn’t we spend the time speaking to the one who does this?   David’s statement here makes perfect sense.  The cry and the performance are tied together.  David is not merely stating that if he is to receive anything, he must go to the One who can do all things.  This leads to the understanding that perhaps we may not want what God wants for us, so we will not pray to that end.  David is saying that because God controls all things, then he would be a fool not to speak with God regarding his desires.

No one likes that kids that patronize the teachers.  There are names for those kinds of kids.  The teacher’s pet is one of the more mild ones.  You know the kid.  He or she is the one who is sickeningly polite to the teacher and obeys every command.  He or she is the one who goes out of their way to meet some need, whether verbalized or implied, to make the teacher’s day easier.  This child will ask questions in class even if they already know the answer because it makes the teacher feel needed and appreciated.  This young person brings the biggest fruit basket at Christmas time, gets a Valentine's Day card for the teacher, and does every extra credit assignment that was ever given.  Even if they are straight-A students and doing extra credit doesn’t affect their grade one iota, they are all about the extra credit.  They hand in their work early.  This student has a way of alienating everyone else in the class.  But maybe they have a point.  After all, the teacher is the one in complete control over that student's present and future scholastic career and may very well determine the outcome of that student's adult life.  Maybe they are humble enough to know their lives are not in their hands so it would be better to be on the good side of who does control it.

Don’t get me wrong.  Patronizing God is not what I am driving at.  Knowing it is God who butters our bread is what I am stressing.  If God controls every aspect of our lives and our free will is merely that which God uses to accomplish His ends, then it is the very definition of foolishness to ignore Him while trying to navigate through life.  If He has the key that unlocks the door, why wouldn’t we have the best possible relationship with Him that we could?  If God is in charge and there is little we can do to effect it, other than to pray, then why not pray?  It makes no sense to neglect the one who has the power to do all things concerning our lives.  It makes no sense at all.  Because God is the One who determines our present and future, it would behoove us to seek His face in every detail of them.  This is what David is referring to.  A sovereign God should be prayed to.  A God who opens and closes all doors should be implored.  One can never pray too much.  We cannot afford to ignore our God.  He is the one who determines every step that we take.  Plugging into the one who makes those choices is the wisest thing we can do.

Well, it still remains a tie, so the gift card will go to Ms. Theresa simply because Ms Lisa will not share it with me.  LOL.  Congrates, Ms Theresa for a job well done!