Psalm 93

 Psalm 93

God rules. All of life is either submission to His rule or rejection of it. Regardless of which occurs, He is still the ruler of the whole universe. The rejection of God's rule can occur in two ways. direct open defiance or attempting to ignore his authority. Often there is a combination of both. Notwithstanding, God does in fact rule. There has never been or ever will be a time when God isn't sovereign over the universe. It may not seem that way at times. 

In scripture floods are often a depiction of people, especially people who reject God. In verses 2-3, we see the mass of humanity in unison raising their voice to shout down God. Think of the cacophony in our world today of all the voices that reject God. The Arts, Sports, Entertainment, Academia, media, and forces of government are singing together to reject God and His authority. But all to no avail, God remains on his throne.

Beyond that, holiness extends to His house (verse 5); the rule of God and the lives of His people are expressed in holiness. Most personally God reigns in us through holy living.

“Help me, Lord, to express your authority by living a holy life. AMEN.”

Psalm 92

 Psalm 92

Why would a person not want to make worship a priority in life? I can assure you it is not a problem with God. It is because we are not adequately impressed with God's greatness. Sometimes the problem is those who lead worship aren't impressed with God. They put together poor-quality, dull, and dry worship services out of their laziness and the low priority of God in their lives. Sometimes worship leaders aren't impressed with God, feeling that He isn’t hip or relevant enough, so they feel they need to add cool, fun, and exciting stuff. They feel Jesus is not enough, so they have to add stuff like light shows, smoke, movie clips, or dance routines. Some do not worship because they feel Jesus is only okay, a sort of side dish to life but not a priority. “If there's nothing better to do, then I'll worship”. The enemy will gladly provide a list of other supposedly better things to do.

Verses 5-7 describe this scenario. Verse 5: God’s works and person are the ultimate reality of greatness. Verse 6 describes the man who doesn't worship, first as an animal with no spirit and second as an animal with neither spirit nor mind. In verse 7 is their doom. If we are not inspired with God, then we are without hope. 

“Help me, Lord, out of my understanding of your greatness to worship you. AMEN.” 

Psalm 91

 Psalm 91

This is one of the most beautiful and wonderful of the Psalms, worthy of memorization and much meditation. Some scholars see in this Psalm a three-person conversation. The teacher makes an assertion in verse 1 that calls for a commitment. In verse 2 the student answers and makes a commitment. The teacher then explains in verses 3 to 13 the blessings and benefits that come from following or being faithful to God. In the last paragraph, verses 14-16, the Lord confirms these blessings and, if you will, seals the agreement. Reading the psalm as a play may help us grasp the flow.

In the psalm there are references to what we call spiritual warfare. We see that the faithful follower is protected from the malicious attack of the enemy. We also see that in addition to defensive protection, there is divine support when we go on the offensive. Notice how the Lord's response in verses 14-16 is deeply relational. The Lord emphasizes how the follower has “known my name” and “he will call upon me.” If we are weak, it is because we lack the critical elements of knowing God and speaking with Him.

“Lord, let Your blessing flow into my life out of the relationship we have. AMEN.”

Psalm 90

 Psalm 90

The premise of the movie The Matrix is that the world we perceive is not the real world; it is only an illusion. In The Matrix there were glitches, which were indicators of the facade. We sometimes feel that way about life. One moment we are in the prime of life, and it seems like the next we are on the verge of death from old age. Our days pass like an hour we slept through during the night. Add to that the stupid sins and inexplicable things we do, and sometimes this life and world seem glitchy.

In contrast is God: eternal, holy, just, and almighty. There is someone we can hold on to, in whom we can find both security and meaning. Unlike The Matrix, where reality is a post-war dystopian existence. The reality of God is a beautiful and delight-filled eternity. The glitches are glimpses or even a window into that ultimate reality. 

Death is the ultimate glitch, the ultimate reminder that we were made for something more. In the time it takes to read this devotion, about 120 people worldwide have died. Let that be a message to us that reminds us to look into eternity.

“Lord, give me hope and help me live for eternity. AMEN.”

Psalm 89

 Psalm 89

This Psalm, likely written during the exile, has two great themes.  First, the promise of support is given to God’s people (vs 1-37).  Second a complaint about the ruin of Israel and the royal family (vs 38-51).  In these verses we see allusions to the coming Messiah, the history of God's interventions, and God’s holy and wonderful character.  We also see God's wrath, justice, and punishments of His wayward people.

There is more to study that we can address here, but two themes need to be presented to the contemporary church.  First is the often forgotten theme of the ‘fear of God.’  In verses 6-7 we have a sort of comparison between God and the mighty ones, or angels.  Consider that every time we see an angel appear to a human, the human is overwhelmed with fear.  But these same mighty ones have fear of God.  Perhaps we have overemphasized the approachableness of God to the point we have lost any sense of ‘the fear of the Lord.’ 

Second, and perhaps related to the first, is how this Psalm, indeed most Psalms, is focused on God.  How much of our worship services and songs are focused on “I”?  We focus on ‘how I” feel, and “how blessed I am’, etc by my relationship with God.  Perhaps we need more objective worship of God and less subjective worship of self.

“Lord, never allow me to lose sight of Your greatness and glory. AMEN”

Psalm 88

 Psalm 88

The historic setting for this Psalm is all but impossible to determine.  However, the theme is nearly universal: unrelenting hardship that feels like our undoing.  

By nature humans want a happy ending or at the very least a glimmer of hope that a happy ending is possible.  We don’t see that in this Psalm.  Some scholars have supposed that the psalm was composed by someone who was in the late stages of leprosy and was in isolation.  Such a condition is a condition without hope.

So what do we make of this very dark Psalm?  In spite of relentless misery, and this Psalm is a poem about misery, the author is determined in prayer.  The 1st two verses tell of someone who has, through what appears to be a lifetime of misery, been relentless in prayers.  Our tendency is to think and expect that what we call ‘good’ will happen to us if we pray hard enough and long enough.  But that may not be true. This Psalm is a powerful reminder that prayer, or life for that matter, isn’t about what we expect or want.

“Lord, help me to be relentless in prayer.  More than changing my circumstances, I ask that You will change me. AMEN”

Sunday after Easter

It is the Sunday after Easter, and many in church leadership will anticipate today, asking, "How many of our Easter visitors will show up again this Sunday?" When I was in the located ministry, my approach was to see Easter attendance as the benchmark for the following year. If our average attendance was 75 and Easter was 95 for year 'A,' then my goal was to see the average attendance for year 'B' be 95. We were not always successful, but it was a helpful target. While attendance was never a perfect measure of the life of a church, it has its uses. But COVID and online church have changed the way we see being with other believers.

On a related subject, a story from a friend serving faithfully in his congregation. His wife is a public school teacher teaching early elementary children. The week before Easter she asked her students, "What is Easter about?" Of the 32 students in her care, only two knew anything about the resurrection of Jesus. For all the other students, the only message of Easter was candy, bunnies, and eggs. These are the kids born on the onset of the COVID scare. I believe there is a relationship here. The rhythm and rituals of life teach our children more than the lessons. Our disconnect from being with believers can't help but dumb down everyone. Watching service online reduces the engagement in faith to the level of sports highlights or funny cat videos.

So what do we do? The gathering of God's people will not happen because of a "Get back to church" campaign. We will grow disciples the way we make disciples. We will do that by the relationship connection that happens face-to-face. The Sunday after Easter, the lesson is in the recapitulation of the event: Jesus telling Mary. Each one of us is telling one believer, "We need this friendship."

In the Cause of Christ

Charlie

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