August 28, 2017
The grief that covered Job like a cloud affected even his ear for music. The harp, a stringed instrument, was often employed by David to lighten the mood of King Saul. It was an instrument used in worship and in times of celebration. Yet, to Job’s ear, the vibration of the strings sounded mournful, vibrating at the frequency of his sorrowing soul. And the flute, a wind instrument, with its light, breathy lows and clear sparkling highs, was often heard accompanied by percussion at times of feasting. But to Job, the flute had become like a weeping human voice breathing out a dirge, perhaps reminding him of the times when his children enjoyed such feasts. Grief is like that. It darkens the sights and sounds of human perception, so that the spectrum of life’s color is reduced to gray.
The book of Job helps give vocabulary to our grief. But we must read to the end. For we are not to grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). Our hope is in Christ, the One who has defeated sin, death and the grave.
How does the music sound to you today?
August 27, 2017
The one who is considerate of the poor and helps, will be delivered by the Lord when trouble comes upon them. The one who helps the poor has come under the Lord’s blessing. This blessing is happiness with contentment. For the giver understands that the Lord is the Supplier and that they are merely the channel of His blessing. With this in mind the apostle Paul quoted the Lord Jesus, saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
August 26, 2017
The Hebrew is literally, “The rich and poor meet…” What does this “meeting” imply? Perhaps it points to the human tendency to focus on the externals, such as wealth and material things, that often cause the rich and the poor to clash. Or perhaps it is an observation that the rich and the poor need one another. However, I like the idea that it points to the great leveling of the gospel that invites all to come to the cross on equal terms, namely, through repentance of the sin that besets rich and poor alike, and believing in Christ as the only means of salvation. It is this gospel that allows the poor to boast in their “exaltation,” and the rich in their “humiliation” (James 1:9-11). The ground is level at the cross. All who approach will recognize their common need. All who receive must recognize their common Lord, who is the Maker and Savior of us all.
August 25, 2017
David wrote this psalm to the Lord, writing of his own record of “declaring” the “righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, lovingkindness, and truth” of God before all Israel and to the surrounding peoples. His motivation for writing of his own public witness seems to be that he wanted the Lord to remember it as He considered David’s prayer requests. Surely David was not making a false claim, for the Bible often records his public declarations of God’s great character. Yet, this passage is truly fulfilled in the prophetic office of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Can you make the same claim as David? Do you “declare” the things of God before the people? Or have you “hidden” the gospel within?
August 24, 2017
After considering the brevity and emptiness of human life, David puts his hope in the Lord. David observed that the length of his life was as a “vapor,” and the accumulation of wealth as “vanity,” for another inherits the fruit of one’s labor. Yet, David cried out to the Lord, recognizing Him as the only way to know eternal life and purpose and depending on Him for tomorrow.
August 23, 2017
When God declared David a “man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22), it wasn’t because David was sinless. David had many shortcomings just as we all do. But David was quick to confess his sins. He shed real tears of repentance when he did wrong. He had an abiding desire to please God and do His will. It truly grieved David to sin against God. David’s heart was “loyal” (1 Kings 11:4) to the Lord.
Through Christ we can have our sins forgiven and our hearts made new. Yet, we still sometimes stumble into sin while living in this world. David’s habit of confession and repentance is still needed in our lives. As the apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
August 22, 2017
Job charged his friend, Eliphaz, with a lack of sympathy and kindness for him in his severe affliction. Instead of attempting to correct Job’s theology and fear of God, he should have been full of pity and solace towards him. Eliphaz, who had come as one of Job’s comforters, had joined his chorus of critics. So, on top of Job’s afflictions, he now had to endure the religious barbs of his friends. There is a time to correct and a time to comfort. A true friend, whose heart is motivated by love, will know when the time is right for each.
August 21, 2017
Like the psalmist, I can make the same observation. We’ve had some really lean years along the way as we planted WCC and labored in the Lord to see it grow. I was in my early 30s and my children in single digits when we started. There were times that we couldn’t pay the mortgage on the house, nor put gas in the car. On several occasions I drove the old Suburu to seminary with the gas gauge on “E.” But never ran out of gas along the way. Sometimes our cupboard was empty, but our stomachs never were. Because someone would show up at our door with groceries, or stick a “twenty” under the windshield wiper of the car. My wife and I often felt overwhelmed, but if you ask our grown children about it today, they always thought we were rich. For the Lord did not forsake us and our children were never hungry. The lean times taught us to trust the Lord as Provider above all others. Those times taught us to be thankful and rely on God.
August 20, 2017
The apostle Paul used hyperbole to urge the Corinthians not to place so much emphasis on spiritual gifts and signs. Even taken to the extreme, such would come to nothing without love. Instead, he would have them focus on what motivated their worship. Namely, were they moved by a heart of love?
Paul’s point is clear: Without love, our best communication is garbled, our spiritual giftedness is empty and our religious effort will come to nothing. “For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
What motivates you? Is it ambition or a desire to be seen? Or does your heart beat with the agape love of God?
August 19, 2017
The word “lovingkindness” is the English translation of the Hebrew word “chesed.” It might be translated variously as “covenant love, steadfast love, loyal love, unfailing love,” etc. It is essentially the equivalent of the New Testament Greek word, “agape.” And as the psalmist wrote, God’s love is “precious.” It is this amazing character trait of God that moved Him to send His son, Jesus to die in our place. As Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son…” (John 3:16). God “so loved.” It is this love of God that moves us to put our trust in Him. Like chicks under the wings of a mother hen, we hide in the shadow of His loving salvation. Listen to the heart cry of Jesus over the city of His people who would not respond to His love, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Luke 13:34).
Are you willing to put your trust in the lovingkindness of God?