Psalm 65: God the Provider

Today’s reading is Psalm 65.

Happy Thanksgiving! Are you convinced yet this is one of the best psalms we could be reading this week?

Why are we eating today? Because God has created a world that produces food for us. Because God gives the rain. Because God provides the bounty. The rain falls, the grain grows, the herds flourish because of God’s foreseeing care and guardianship.

In Deuteronomy 11:8-17, God provides Israel a promise and a warning. When they entered the Promised Land, He would no longer give them manna every day. However, though the manna ceased, He was no less the provider for them every day. He sent the rain watering the crops and allowing the herds to be fed. Israel would eat not because of their great work (though they did have to work the land). They would eat because of God’s provision.

The warning, of course, is if Israel forgot the source of their provision, He would stop. If they went after foreign gods, He would drive them off of His land into the land of those gods to see how Israel would fare. If they decided to dismiss God’s law, He would cease the rain and the provision. All of this explains why man doesn’t live by bread alone but by every word proceeding from God’s mouth.

God is worthy of praise and thanksgiving. He is the Creator, the Redeemer, and every day He is the Provider. Let us not forget it. Rather, let us be thankful.

For what do you thank God today?

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 65.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 65 prompt or improve your hope in God?

Psalm 65: God the Creator

Today’s reading is Psalm 65.

Our week of thanksgiving and praise continues. God is the Redeemer. More than that, in Psalm 65:5-8, God is Creator.

God is the hope of the ends of the earth. Why? Because He created the ends of the earth. He established the mountains. He stilled the seas. In the beginning, at the flood, and at any time He wants, God brings the chaotic waters under control. More than that, His creative and sustaining power goes beyond the world of nature. Just as God brings the chaotic waters under control, He brings the chaotic peoples and nations under control. The Creator can do that.

When the people throughout the ends of the earth pay attention, they will be in awe. Those who see the sun going out in the morning and coming in at evening, recognizing the hand of God behind it, shout for joy. The world and the universe with their order shout design. They praise the Designer. They declare a Creator.

Of course, it is this creative power giving us the hope for His redeeming power. Whoever could create so magnificently can provide us with righteousness and salvation. He is in charge. He is in charge of the natural. He is in charge of the spiritual.

Shout for joy. Offer praise and thanksgiving to God who created us and redeems His creation. Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 65.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 65 provide or increase your trust in God?

Psalm 65: God the Redeemer

Today’s reading is Psalm 65.

It’s a week of thanksgiving for us. What better psalm to read than the one allotted. It begins “Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion.” We could equally read that “Thanksgiving is due to you” based on the remainder of the psalm. The psalm breaks down into three parts. Each one demonstrates a reason to praise and thank God.

In the first section (vss. 1-4), we meet God the Redeemer.

Why are praise and thanksgiving due to our God? Because when iniquities prevail against us, He provides atonement. David gives a picture of sins overwhelming him, drowning him. I know the feeling. Do you? God provides the remedy.

Don’t read vs. 4, through our modern lens. “The one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts” doesn’t refer to individual saints God chose to be forgiven or saved. Read this through the ancient lens of tabernacle/temple worship with priests and Levites as those who dwelt and ministered in the courts of the Lord. This is not a picture of individual salvation but of the communal worship at the tabernacle (later the temple). It is a picture of the place of atonement. Because God had chosen priests and servants to dwell in His house, God would dwell with His people. Certainly, this service was a fantastic blessing for those who were most involved, but the blessing rolled down Mt. Zion and covered the whole nation of those atoned for by the worship and sacrifice in His house.

When God revealed the Day of Atonement sacrifices in Leviticus 16, he explains they must be offered to make “atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the people and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness” (Leviticus 16:16, ESV). Because God chose someone to come into his house and make atonement, God’s house was able to dwell in the midst of the people despite their overwhelming sins and uncleanness. Otherwise, He would be forced to destroy them in their sins.

Our God is a Redeemer. He redeemed Israel. He has redeems His church. Let us give Him praise and thanks. Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 65.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 65 admonish you?

Psalm 64: Rejoice in the Lord

Today’s reading is Psalm 64.

The psalm ends on a high note.

Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD
and take refuge in him!
Let all the upright in heart exult!

Psalm 64:10

Sure, it’s easy to rejoice when God has brought judgment as He did in Psalm 64:7-9. However, did you notice the middle statement in that high ending? “Take refuge in him!” This final exhortation isn’t telling us what to do after God has finally taken aim and dealt with our enemies. David is looking back over the whole psalm and declaring how we should behave throughout the whole experience.

Are enemies attacking? Take refuge in the Lord. Do you fear for your life? Take refuge in the Lord. Does it look like the enemies will get away with it? Take refuge in the Lord.

But right alongside taking refuge is rejoicing. In other words…

Are enemies attacking? Rejoice in the Lord. Do you fear for your life? Rejoice in the Lord. Does it look like the enemies will get away with it? Rejoice in the Lord. Don’t just resign yourself to take refuge in the Lord. Don’t take refuge in the Lord in sadness. Don’t be miserable in the Lord’s refuge.

That’s hard. Enemies hurt us. Hard to rejoice when we’re hurt. Enemies discourage us. Hard to rejoice when discouraged. Enemies are mean to us. Hard to rejoice in the face of meanness and hatefulness.

However, we are in the Lord. And in the Lord, we have faith nothing the enemies do will affect our eternity. They may take our property. They may take our freedom. They may even take our lives. But they cannot take our relationship with God away. They cannot take our salvation away. They cannot take our eternity away. Therefore, in the face of all of it, as we find refuge in God, we can rejoice as well.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 64.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 64 increase your hope in God?

Psalm 64: Vengeance is the Lord’s

Today’s reading is Psalm 64.

Of course, as king of a geo-political nation, David often warred against his military and political enemies. As God’s instrument of judgment, he often fired the very arrows of God against God’s enemies.

However, in the psalms, when David speaks of enemies, what does he do about them? He prays. “Hear my complaint, Lord,” David says. The enemy is attacking and David seeks God for protection. If the enemy is going to be attacked, God will do the shooting. God often turns the weapons of the enemy against themselves. Their own slander turns against them. Or sometimes they are hung on their own gallows or thrown in their own lions’ den.

I don’t know what enemies you face. However, remember who actually judges. Remember who takes charge of vengeance. Remember who knows enough to always do right.

Do the Lord’s will. Take your complaints to Him in prayer. He is big enough to handle them. Then patiently wait on the Lord to do right. If vengeance and judgment are needed, He’ll take care of them.

Of course, don’t be like Jonah. If forgiveness brings more glory to God, submit to His great mercy as well. After all, there is someone out there you’ve hurt who needs to submit to God’s forgiveness of you.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 64.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 64 teach you to trust God?

Psalm 56: God is For Me

Today’s reading is Psalm 56.

“This I know, that God is for me.”

What a statement. Enemies lurked, attacked, oppressed, injured, tormented, trampled, and waited for his life. But David had an ally. “God is for me.” How did David know? Perhaps he recalled Samuel anointing him, declaring him the future king. Perhaps he remembered previous victories in the face of Philistine enemies. Goliath, anyone?

What good does David’s declaration do us? How nice that he can declare “God is for me.” That was then, this is now. That was him, this is us. Praise God, David’s declaration goes beyond that psalm. Paul makes David’s confidence ours in Romans 8:31. He more than adopts the statement, providing proof we can claim it ourselves. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32, ESV)

God sent Jesus, His one and only Son, to die as the atoning sacrifice for you. If God would do that, what will He not do for you? Satan will do anything he can to convince you God doesn’t care. He will take every opportunity to persuade you God has abandoned you. Temptations abound. Doubts arise. Struggles afflict. Enemies attack. Satan uses each of these to entice you away from God. Remember David in Psalm 56. Through it all and in the middle of it all, he knew God supported him.

“This I know, that God is for me.” Anytime you doubt that, remember Jesus on the cross. His crucifixion proves how much God is for you. Don’t let go of that no matter how Satan whittles away at your faith.

Praise the Lord! God is for us!

Next week’s reading is Psalm 57

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

What will you share from Psalm 56 with others?

Psalm 56: God Sees Our Tears

Today’s reading is Psalm 56.

Have you ever had the feeling of being watched? David did. He claimed his enemies lurked, watching his steps. They lay in wait for his life. It’s no wonder he spent nights tossing and turning. Some claim “wanderings” more accurately translates the word than “tossings.” “Wanderings” fits the historical context given in the ancient heading for the psalm. When Saul pursued David, he wandered in the wilderness just like the ancient Israelites. In 1 Samuel 21:10-15, he wandered into Gath. However, that didn’t work out well for him. The Philistines took hold of him and demanded Achish do something drastic with him.

Enemies and attacks pervade David’s life. The lurking enemies may be the Philistines in this psalm, possibly Saul, maybe both. The fear, the torment, the emotional pain increased as time went on. No wonder David cried. But what good did those tears accomplish?

Tears embarrass us. We wish we were stronger than to cry in the face of our pain and anguish. David cried. Did those tears mean anything? Yes. While the enemies kept track of David’s steps, God kept track of David’s tears. He collected them in a bottle. He wrote them in His book. God records these not merely for the sake of having a record. Rather, this record indicates God has a plan. He knows exactly how much pain our enemies cause. We leave vengeance to God because He knows precisely the degree of vengeance our enemies deserve. He knows the pain, the torment, the agony they caused. He collects the tears.

God sees your tears. Do not be embarrassed. Let God collect your tears. He will wipe them away. He will take vengeance on the impenitent enemy who causes them. Blessed are those who mourn. God will comfort you.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 56.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 56 increase your hope in God?

Two Daughters

Today’s reading is Matthew 9.

It’s amazing what I notice for the first time when reading these chapters over and over again. I mean, I bet I’ve read Matthew about 50 times in my Christian life. I’ve preached a couple of sermons on Jairus’s daughter and the woman with the hemorrhage of blood. I’ve never noticed how Jesus addresses that woman in Matthew 9:22:

Take heart, *daughter*; your faith has made you well.

Matthew 9:18-26 is the story of two daughters. It didn’t matter that one of these was the daughter of a ruler. She didn’t have precedence over the unknown, unclean woman. Both women are daughters of Jesus, daughters of God. However, at the same time Jesus didn’t have to choose, as if to say the poor, unknown woman takes precedence over the ruler’s daughter. Both were daughters of Jesus; both were healed.

Don’t get caught up in comparing yourself to others, either within the church or without. Hey, I get it. Brethren will let you down on this sometimes. Sadly, I will even let you down on this sometimes. Jesus, however, never will. Jesus doesn’t give precedence to the daughters of elders and preachers or to the daughters of governors and CEOs. He looks at you and sees His daughter.

Praise the Lord!!!

P.S. the same goes for sons

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 9.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. Are you comforted knowing that you are Jesus’s “daughter”? (Or son?) How?
3. What do we learn about Jesus’s authority from these miracles?
4. Normally, when someone touches something or someone unclean, the uncleanness passes on to the clean person. However, what happens when Jesus touches an unclean person? What does that tell us about Jesus?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?

The Chief of Sinners

Today’s reading is Psalm 51.

Why is this psalm even here? The heading says it was written when Nathan the prophet rebuked David for his sin with Bathsheba. However, other than the title, there is almost nothing in the psalm that pinpoints that event. It is a prayer about a pretty generic sin. The closest to being specific it gets is when it brings up bloodguiltiness in vs. 14.

This psalm is not here to air David’s dirty laundry. This psalm is not here because David needed to publish it in order to receive forgiveness. This psalm is here as a model. This psalm is here as an example for all who believe and are in covenant with the God who forgives to know how to pray to Him when we sin.

Some suggest the language of this psalm doesn’t actually fit the time of David and the heading is a later addition by editors trying to give the psalm a context for its readers. If that were proven, it wouldn’t shake my faith in God or the Bible. However, I tend to simply take the psalms as they are presented. Either way, that heading demonstrates this psalm is basically an Old Testament version of 1 Timothy 1:12-17. Especially notice vss. 15-16:

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life (ESV).

I’ll let David and Paul duke it out for who is really the foremost and chief of sinners. However, both passages should give us fantastic hope. David’s prayer made it into the psalms. That is God’s stamp of approval on this prayer. If David was forgiven and Paul was forgiven, guess who else can be forgiven. I imagine no one was more shocked at his forgiveness than David. So, don’t be shocked that God has offered you forgiveness through Jesus Christ as well.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving full acceptance, Jesus Christ didn’t come into the world to collect up all the righteous people. Neither did He come into the world to simply forgive the minor sinners. Jesus Christ came into the world to save big sinners like you and me.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 51.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the psalm and the written devo above?
2. Why do some people think their sins are too big for God to forgive?
3. Do you think your sins are too big for God to forgive? Why or why not?
4. What sins would be too big for God to forgive?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this psalm and today’s post?

Sin is Serious Business

Today’s reading is Psalm 51.

Our God forgives! Praise the Lord!

However, do not mistakenly believe forgiveness is God’s way of saying sin is no big deal. Isn’t that how we respond so often when someone apologizes and asks us for forgiveness? “No biggie.” That is not what God’s forgiveness means.

In fact, David was not saying, “Please, forgive my sin because it is really no big deal.” David understood–his sin was a really, really, really big deal. In fact, it was taking all his bandwidth. He couldn’t think of anything else because his sin was ever before him.

David stole another man’s wife. While I don’t think David forcibly raped Bathsheba as Amnon did Tamar, he definitely abused his position of authority to lure Bathsheba into an affair. This is the height of sexual misconduct and abuse. Then, to try to cover it all up, he murdered her husband Uriah, one of David’s mighty men (2 Samuel 23:39). Think about that for a moment. In Psalm 41:9, David wrote a psalm about a friend who stretched out his heel against him, wanting deliverance from that friend and judgment on him. He wrote similarly in Psalm 55:12-13. These sins harmed people tremendously. However, as awful a sin as this was against Bathsheba and against Uriah, David understood what made the sin truly awful was the fact that it was a sin against God. He distorted and perverted the image of God. He defied the trust God had placed in Him when He made David king.

David also understood this: God was justified in His words and blameless when He judged. David’s sin was a big deal. He deserved to be punished. God had every right to do so. David did not deserve forgiveness.

We as Christians understand something David didn’t. We know exactly how big of a deal this sin and all sin is. It is so big only one thing will pay for it: the blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God. God doesn’t excuse our sins. He doesn’t dismiss our sins. He doesn’t look the other way. He doesn’t tolerate. No. He looks directly at our sins and says, “I’ll pay for that.” And He did, by the sacrifice and crucifixion of Jesus to pay the price.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 51.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the psalm and the written devo above?
2. Why do some people think their sins are no big deal?
3. How does God’s forgiveness prove they are a big deal?
4. Since every sin is a big deal, what will happen if we decide not to turn to God for forgiveness?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this psalm and today’s post?