The opening of Psalm 22 should sound familiar to you as Jesus uttered these words from the cross. Yet, David wrote these words 1000 years before the Word became flesh and could bear our sins on the tree. Not only are the details in this psalm so vivid that they place us there at Calvary, but Jesus quoting its opening question and God telling us directly in John 19:24 shows us that David indeed wrote about his descendant dying on the cross for us. Continue reading “Why Have You Forsaken Me?”
Inside My Mind
Inside my mind a constant prayer runs,
That drowns the violent voices and beating drums
Of self-destruction and Satan’s half-truth lies.
The prayer’s a plea — my desperate plea —
To not look right or left or down or behind,
But straight ahead in Jesus’ shining path.
The prayer’s a fervent plea for his return,
For the end of trials and time and pain and death,
For the new creation promised by the Lord.
The prayer’s a cry that God will save us all:
Both friend and foe, my house and every house,
The ignorant man in Amazonia’s hut.
The prayer’s a hope — and not the vaguest wish —
To be secure in what the Cross has wrought,
That mine is not the hand in Jesus’ dish.
Your Desire
To give and forgive is your desire,
This grace in Christ, no need more dire;
Good News must reach the farthest isle —
Your church must face the harshest trial.
O Lord! more faith and courage send,
More love to carry us to the end!
Let us enter the opened door,
To speak salvation more and more.
Before the Tyrants of the World
Before the tyrants of the world,
Before important people of power,
The nations’ poor tremble and shake,
But we, O God, your humble children,
Confess your kind and sovereign Reign.
The mighty fall and quickly vanish,
Kingdoms rise and plans are thwarted.
All your words come soon to pass.
Chaotic world! But you control
Its end and bring our final salvation.
What we want
What we want is seldom if ever your will, O God.
Your desires are specific and benevolent.
You seek the salvation of every single human being.
Salvation means restoring a person to your presence.
We think of ourselves, to satisfy our selfishness.
Turn our attention from self to others’ needs.
To your glory. To your mission in this world.
To our neighbor’s eternal destiny.
Work in us your transformation of heart and soul.
Make us like the Lord Jesus Christ.
He gave up his glory and his earthly life.
Build our muscles to pick up his cross.
Save us, O Lord, for salvation.
Lord Jesus, Save Me
Lord Jesus, save me from my sin,
From harm without, from guilt within.
Throw every wrong in the deepest sea.
A holy man of God make me.
Lord Jesus, save me from this world:
Its surface teems with creatures wild.
Its prince our simple innocence stole.
Restore to me the harmless soul.
Lord Jesus, save me from myself:
The hardened heart is blind and deaf.
Give purpose greater far than I
And life eternal for when I die.
Thank You, Lord!
While the ant scurries away, unworthy of the crumb it carries, I am aware of how I could bless (or overwhelm) its life with the entire cake I hold. Such is God’s grace to us. So, how should we respond? Probably like Paul did for the grace God showed the Christians in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:4-9).
I. 2 Corinthians 8:3-7. A busy seaport city, Corinth was filled with immorality and idolatry, and despite the problems that Paul would address in his letters to them, he begins by giving thanks to God for the grace that He has shown them. He later urges them to show grace in giving like the churches in northern Greece have shown, letting them know that God has so much more from His abundance that He can give them (2 Corinthians 9:6-8). We, as they, might sing:
Thank You, Lord, for loving me And thank You, Lord, for blessing me. Thank You, Lord, for making me whole And saving my soul.
Let us all with one accord Sing praises to Christ the Lord. Let us all unite in song To praise Him all day long.
Please reveal Your will for me So I can serve You for eternity. Use my life in every way, Take hold of it today.
Thank You, Lord, for loving me. Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul.
II. 2 Peter 1:3-4. Paul was thankful to God that He continued to give to the Corinthians and would sustain them until the end. Since God has already given us His Son, all else is small in comparison (Romans 8:32). He gives all we need for life and godliness through His great and precious promises so we might participate in the divine nature with Him and escape this corrupt world. Our response should be a song of thankfulness from our hearts:
For all that You’ve done, I will thank You. For all that You’re going to do. For all that You’ve promised, and all that You are Is all that has carried me through, Jesus, I thank You!
And I thank You, thank You, Lord. And I thank You, thank You, Lord.
Thank You for loving and setting me free, (how I) Thank You for giving Your life just for me. How I thank You, Jesus, I thank You, gratefully thank You. Thank You.
III. Romans 7:21-25. Paul was also thankful that Jesus was able to present them guiltless (Jude 24) because God is faithful. And so, we can also trust in Jesus’ work in the gospel for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Access to the Tree of Life that was denied mankind to live forever (Genesis 3:22) is now opened to those who obey the gospel (Revelation 22:14). Lamenting his struggle of the spiritual war waged within himself that we all share, Paul gave thanks to Jesus for his salvation:
How do you explain,
How do you describe,
A love that goes from east to west,
And runs and deep as it is wide?
You know all our hopes
Lord, you know all our fears
And words cannot express the love we feel
But we long for You to hear
How do you describe,
A love that goes from east to west,
And runs and deep as it is wide?
You know all our hopes
Lord, you know all our fears
And words cannot express the love we feel
But we long for You to hear
So listen to our hearts (oh, Lord, please listen)
Hear our spirits sing (and hear us sing)
A song of praise that flows (a simple song of praise)
From those You have redeemed (from those You have redeemed)
We will use the words we know
To tell You what an awesome God You are
But words are not enough
To tell You of our love
Hear our spirits sing (and hear us sing)
A song of praise that flows (a simple song of praise)
From those You have redeemed (from those You have redeemed)
We will use the words we know
To tell You what an awesome God You are
But words are not enough
To tell You of our love
So listen to our hearts
If words could fall like rain
From these lips of mine
And if I had a thousand years
I would still run out of time
From these lips of mine
And if I had a thousand years
I would still run out of time
So if You listen to my heart
Every beat would say,
“Thank You for the Life, thank You for the Truth,
Thank You for the Way.”
Every beat would say,
“Thank You for the Life, thank You for the Truth,
Thank You for the Way.”
Is thankfulness the song of your heart? Do you reflect on all the ways that Jesus helps you and what He has given you? May you overflow with thanks to God for His grace that He’s already given You and love He’ll continue to shower you with.
Not Against Us is For Us
The Titanic sank over a century ago. The 20 lifeboats, capable of saving only 1178 of the 2208 on board pushed away half-full, saving only 705. Why didn’t those on them save more? Perhaps it was fear or lack of preparation in the panic of the survival situation? Perhaps in their selfishness they judged those not on the lifeboats as either not worthy of saving or that their addition would swamp their vessel of salvation?
Like the ship, this world is sinking to its final destruction. Each local body of the Lord’s church is a lifeboat that is only partially filled. Rather than do the Lord’s job of judgment about who can climb in or is excluded, we need to be about ours of encouraging and teaching the way of God more accurately to those who don’t yet know it (Mark 9:38-41).
I. Matthew 7:13-14. A spokesman for the disciples posed the situation of a man doing good works in Jesus’ name as a problem because he was not following “us.” After all, Jesus himself had earlier spoken of the few who were on the narrow path that led to eternal life while the many were heading to destruction. That is not what Jesus understood was happening. Where the followers saw this as a situation of division (1 Corinthians 1:10), God in the flesh saw one who was perhaps not yet His follower (2 Peter 3:9).
II. Acts 19:1-7. When we see people in other lifeboats or in areas where several local bodies of the Lord’s church meet, those who have gone from our lifeboat to another, we pray that their vessel is sound enough to save them. But what about those treading the icy water or are just clinging to debris? When Paul encountered “disciples” who hadn’t heard of the Holy Spirit and knew only John’s baptism, he sought to fill his lifeboat by preaching the gospel. While maintaining the distinction between “us” and “him,” Jesus told his followers not to stop the man doing good works in His name “for the one who is not against us is for us.”
III. Acts 18:24-26. As a Jew, Apollos was not part of the new covenant in Christ, although God had given him many skills and he taught about Jesus as accurately as he knew. He would be one today that many in their partially-filled lifeboat would uncaringly watch float by while he clung well to a piece of the wreckage. Not Priscilla and Aquila. They “took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” While we dismiss many Apollos-es as not doing the will of the Father, Jesus reminds us that judgment and the giving of rewards is His job (Matthew 7:21-23) while ours is to fill the lifeboat (Matthew 20:18-20).
The way of salvation is indeed narrow and few find it, but it is not up to us to designate who those few are. Rather, understanding that those who are not against us are for us, are you filling your lifeboat?
The Battle Belongs to the Lord
If we are not engaging our whole selves while we sing, then the impact of a song’s words can often escape us. In “The Battle Belongs to the Lord,” we sing that God will fight for us in our battle, but how much we believe those words and truly trust Him to do so may not be known until we are in the midst of a difficult struggle and choose to rely on Him or on our own limited resources for help.
I. Psalm 18:1-5. After witnessing God’s power in the 10 plagues that allowed them to leave Egypt, the Israelites left freed from slavery “equipped for battle” (Exodus 13:18), idealistically ready to walk straight up to the Promised Land. As they got to the Red Sea, however, they saw Pharaoh’s army marching after them, and “they feared greatly” and “cried to the Lord” Exodus 14:10. How like them we can be as Christians until we face adversity. The first verse of the song says it like this:
In heavenly armor we’ll enter the land, The battle belongs to the Lord. No weapon that’s fashioned against us will stand, The battle belongs to the Lord.
Though we call the Lord our strength, rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn of my salvation, and stronghold, it is easier to say the words than to apply them. The psalmist does have to apply them as he was encompassed, assailed, entangled, and confronted by struggles to the point of death. Would he choose to have faith or to rely on himself?
II. Psalm 18:6-19. After God had rescued them with such a mighty hand already, how could the Israelites not trust in God’s power to save? But they complain and believe that they will die (Exodus 14:11-13), the very opposite of trust. God would fight their battle, Moses told them, but their responsibility was different than the Lord’s; they had to “fear not,” “stand firm,” and “see” God’s salvation. In other words faith is a lot of work, harder work than fighting an impossible battle for ourselves and the choice not often made. Why? Probably because God can’t be made to do anything. We must submit to His will, not He to ours. The second verse says:
When the power of darkness comes in like a flood, The battle belongs to the Lord. He’s raised up a standard, the pow’r of His blood, The battle belongs to the Lord.
We have the cross and often don’t believe in Jesus’ power to save us. So, does God act on our behalf out of obligation or love? In the Psalm, the Lord literally overturns heaven and earth because He was angry at the people or circumstances distressing His child. Then we read that it is because He delights in him. Could He have the same love for us?
III. Psalm 18:20-30. How the Israelites took Moses’ words to “fear not,” “stand firm,” “see” God’s salvation, and to “be silent” is not clear (Exodus 14:13-14), but how do we wait in faith for the Lord to act in our lives when we are in distress? Repeating that God is our refuge and that we should not fear, Psalm 46:10 tells us to “be still and know that I am God.” While our backs are against the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army bears down on us in life, choosing faith and letting God fight our battle is the harder but better decision. As the third stanza says:
When your enemy presses in hard, do not fear, The battle belongs to the Lord. Take courage, my friend, your redemption is near, The battle belongs to the Lord.
According to the psalm, it is those who choose to have faith and trust in Him, being still in obedience that the Lord rescues. The one who is “haughty” by trying to fix it himself by his own resources finds God “tortuous.” It’s about the relationship the child has with his or her heavenly Father.
If God is truly your refuge, then you can truly sing the chorus when we are rescued:
And we sing glory, honor, Power and strength to the Lord. We sing glory, honor, Power and strength to the Lord.
My Life Is in Your Hands
A prayer to the sovereign God of the Universe
My life is in your hands,
Like all the starry bands,
From distant past,
To the very last,
At sea, or on farthest lands. Continue reading “My Life Is in Your Hands”