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?
August 18, 2017
The book of Esther explains the origin of the Jewish holiday called “Purim.” The name is taken from the Persian word “Pur,” which meant “lot.” After Haman was promoted by King Xerxes (“Ahasuerus”), he was enraged by Mordecai the Jew’s failure to bow down at his passing. He determined to go before the king with a scheme to murder not only Mordecai, but the entire Jewish population within Persia. The casting of lots (“Pur”) was called for by Haman in order to determine the most fortuitous date for carrying out his scheme. Yet, even though the name of God is not named even once in the book of Esther, His hand is clearly seen in the result of the lot falling twelve months later. For this gave both Mordecai and Esther time to mediate for the Jewish people and ultimately save them from Haman’s plot. As the proverb is written, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Prov. 16:33). Even when the Lord is apparently absent, He is still working behind the scenes His purposes to unfold.
August 17, 2017
David cried out to the Lord to be both his advocate and avenger. He prayed that the Lord would “plead” his case as a defense attorney would one falsely accused, and “fight” for him as a warrior defending his own.
Yet, what David brought before the Lord as a prayer, those in Christ can depend on as a promise. The Lord Jesus is our Advocate. As the apostle John wrote, “… if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). And the Lord Jesus is our Avenger. As the apostle Paul wrote, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).
David’s prayer has become our promise. Jesus is our Advocate and Avenger.
August 16, 2017
Those who willingly volunteered to live in Jerusalem were praised by the Jewish people who had returned from exile to rebuild the city. Rebuilding the wall and the temple in Jerusalem had made the city a focus of controversy among the surrounding peoples who lived there. So, anyone who chose to live in Jerusalem was taking a risk and making a personal sacrifice in order to reestablish the city’s existence. It would have been much easier and more profitable to live in the surrounding country where there was more land to cultivate and less possibility of violence. Yet, these faithful few “willingly offered themselves” to live in the inner city of Jerusalem in order to rebuild and secure it.
Today, there are believers who “willingly” move to inner cities with the express purpose of living out the gospel and establishing a gospel presence there. They move their families to places around the world, “willingly offering themselves” to dwell wherever the Great Commission carries them. Such are to be blessed by the Lord and the people of God.