The God of the Whole Earth

Lessons from Psalms: 7

“O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your Name in all the earth.” Psalm 8:1 and 9

How far does the excellence of God’s name extend? Is it confined to our supposedly Christian nation which we often assume is the only nation under God? Does it extend to the midst of Islamic nations which repudiate God by denying His Son? Does it exist in the midst of oppressive communistic regimes? Is His name excellent in India with its millions of false idols? The psalmist was sure that it was.

God told Isaiah that He was the God of the whole earth. Whether people worship Him or not, He is still God. All the earth is His eminent domain. He made it. He waters it. He sends the sun on the shores of every land. Our prayer lives need to be inclusive of the whole earth. He has sent His Son to die for the sins of all mankind. He has sent His Holy Spirit to convict men of sin and righteousness and judgment and those men live on the whole earth. He has in every nation those 7000 that have not bowed their knees to Baal and suffer persecution for it. As He is the God of the whole earth, we need to uphold it all before His throne of grace every day.

Dear Father, You are so great. You are not limited to our meager space but are indeed the God of the whole earth. We beseech You to uphold Your work everywhere. Amen. 

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God is truly angry at sin.

Lessons from Psalms: 6

“God is a just judge; and God is angry with the wicked every day.” Psalm 7:11

Does sin get under your skin and make you really upset? Do the doers of wickedness rankle you? Does governmental sanctioning of evil like abortion and all manner of immorality make you angry? Good! It makes God angry, too.

This is a simple lesson we need to glean from the Scriptures. God is angry at the wicked. He has righteous standards and He will ultimately call to account all those who transgress them and do not repent of them. We should be righteously upset with sin. We should start that with self examination and confession. But we should not idly disregard sin around us either. We can pray with David that God will impose His judgment against sin and deliver us from the evil around us. God is on His throne and He will hear our prayers and act righteously. We are not alone.

Dear Father, Guide me to see and confess sin in my life, trust Your grace to save the lost, and trust Your anger to deal with sin in our world. Amen. 

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Despondency is Human, not Unchristian

Lessons in Psalms: 5

“O Lord – how long? Return, O Lord, deliver me!” Psalm 6:3-4

Have you ever felt despondent? Have you ever felt guilty for feeling so? After all, a good Christian should have confidence in the Christ at all times, right? Well then it seems that King David wasn’t a very good Christian by modern expectations even though God declared him to be a “man after His own heart.” There is a disconnect here that we must realistically deal with. Job cried out that God had forgotten him and was his enemy. Yet Job said that he fully expected to see God in his flesh and that he knew that his Redeemer lived. David said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.”

If we live in false expectations of the “glory road” walk, we can become very discouraged and even greatly depressed at our “failures”. There were not two David’s who wrote two different psalms with different viewpoints. There was one David who was human. The important part in his psalm of pain is that he is still talking to God. Even in his pain he has not forgotten that God is his God and that whatever comfort he finds on earth must come from God. He didn’t walk away from God in his pain. He believed even in his doubts that God was there and that God would, in His own time, both answer and comfort him.

Dear Father, We are prone to be affected by the sorrows and pains of this world. Help us to remember in our greatest moments of pain that You are still our only true hope. Amen.

                                         The Friday Benediction 

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

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Jesus, the best way to start the day.

Lessons from Psalms: 4

“My voice you shall hear in the morning, O Lord.”  Psalm 5:3

How many people feel really rushed in the morning? There can be so many things to do that we can feel harried and often defeated before we even get out the door. How many mornings have we failed to tell our spouse that we loved them or assured our kids that we love them before we all head off in different directions? The last thing we think we need is another thing to do in the morning; we have enough on our plate already. But there is something very positive that we can benefit by each morning. That is prayer.

Prayer is not a chore. Prayer is a simple conversation with God that we can actually have during our morning shower. It is a simple conversation we can have while tying our tie or getting dressed. It can be as simple as, “Good morning, heavenly Father. Thank you for this new day. Please help me honor you in it. I’ll talk with you some later.” Prayer helps us focus on what is truly important every day – God. So the psalmist said, “My voice you shall hear in the morning.” It is a good way to start our day.

Dear Father, You are our source of life and strength. Thank You for giving us the connection of prayer to find both each day. Amen. 

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A Quiet Night's Rest

Lessons from Psalms: 3

“Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still.” Ps. 4:4

I am among the world’s worst sleepers. I have been since childhood. Unfortunately I cannot offer you a remedy for insomnia. What we find in both Psalm 3 and 4 is a promise for a quiet and peaceful night. Psalm 3 says, “I lay down and slept; I awoke for the Lord sustained me.” Psalm 4 uses our verse for today. Psalm 4 teaches us that David didn’t always fall right to sleep at night. Our security in Christ is not a panacea for insomnia.

What we do find is a purposeful activity while we await sleep. Meditation on the wonder of God’s care is far better than a wandering mind or bringing up all the unfinished business of the day. Psalm 1 says, “And in His law he meditates day and night.” Meditation is a spiritual discipline that is oft repeated in the Psalms. Luther practiced meditating twice each day using the Gloria Patri, the Ten Commandments, a psalm, the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. That may sound like a lot, but it actually takes less than two minutes to recite them. Add to that a hymn of praise and some verses of comfort and, while it might not put you to sleep, it is better than lying awake with all the other cares that could come to mind. David said that it helped the mind to be still and that is pretty much what we want when we can’t sleep.

Dear Father, Thank You for Your watch care over us at night. Help us to think of Your grace when we can’t sleep. Amen. 

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Loving the Eternal Son

Lessons from Psalms: 2

“Kiss the Son lest He be angry” Ps. 2:12

A great truth of Christianity is that we don’t have a jonny-come-lately Savior. God is not reactive. He had a plan from the beginning and He has progressively revealed it and fulfilled it throughout human history. Psalm 2 is a good example of this truth. This is a Messianic psalm, a psalm that clearly predicts the coming Anointed One of God and explains truth about Him. In reading this psalm we clearly see the events of Christ’s Passion Week. The kings of the earth, Pilate and Herod conspired against God. They did this with the assistance of the Jewish leaders who are referred to as the rulers of the people. The target of their hostility is God’s rule and authority and the power of that rule being found in His Son Jesus Christ.

Man cannot break the bonds of God. He is all powerful. Man cannot defeat His Son, for He is also God and all powerful. The authority of God does not just extend to the Jews or the Church. His rule and authority extend to all the nations of the world. The call of God in this psalm is to fall at the feet of Jesus and be saved or to face the wrath of Christ at His return. This psalm covers past, present and future and reveals that God also covers the same.

Dear Father, Thank You eternal plan of giving Your Son for our salvation and as a savior for the whole world. Amen.

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Blessed is the Man

Lessons from Psalms: 1

“Blessed is the man” Psalm 1:1

We are human and that is a nature that we cannot overcome. As humans we have desires that are physical. As Christians we have desires that are spiritual. Our spiritual self often chastises our physical self for desiring something good in life. So is it wrong to want blessings? There are worldly things that are truly just physical and come from our sinful nature. But our verse today tells us that giving us blessings is also God’s desire for our life.

“Blessed is the man” is an oft repeated phrase in the Psalms. It is used eight times. But are there any conditions on this blessing? Jesus used the phrase “Blessed are” multiple times in the Beatitudes and each time there was a condition. It is the same in the Psalms. In Psalm One the condition is twofold. First the person who seeks God’s blessing will seek to separate himself from wicked companionship and counsel. Secondly he will fill that void with something positive. “Blessed is the man who has his delight in the law of the Lord and in the law meditates day and night.” It is a simple formula: flee evil and love God.

Dear Father, Help us to be more discerning of evil through closeness to Your word. Amen.

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