Psalm 53/54

Psalm 53 and 54 are a couple of very short chapters that really continue the discussion on evil.  People come up with the idea that “God is gone” and they have free run of things.  They are not bound by anything at all – they can’t see Him so He must not be around.  That is the view from earth.  But check out the view from above:  “God sticks His head out of heaven…..looking for someone not stupid…..one man……He comes up empty”.  I have been telling people for years that men are stupid.  Not usually in this context, but more in the context of relationships and particularly the way husbands are.  But here is the reality.  There are no people who really get it.  Sure we may understand it part of the time.  But we have these mental lapses.  We go brain dead.  We think something has changed and God no longer is paying attention.  Well here is what scripture says: “Don’t they know they can’t get away with this”?  It is pretty clear that we can’t live a life of sin and ignore the outcome.  God is aware and paying close attention.  So what is the problem here?

 It is how we treat each other.  “Treating people like a fast food meal over which they’re too busy to pray”.  Doesn’t that describe a lot of relationships today?  People use people and love stuff.  God’s way is to love people and use stuff.  We have it all backwards.  And we don’t to invest the time in others to really help them.  We are too busy, right?  No time for the messy stuff of life.  But we all have messes.  Life is messy.  That is part of the reality of what we live.  But the psalmist tells us that “God turns life around”.  So while we can’t fix anything in life, we can point them to the One who can.  We can lead them to the cross so they can experience His healing power.  There is no better thing to do.  Even in the midst of evil, God is there.  Enemies may be pursuing us as we share the truth of God’s power, but we need to remember that God “got me out of every scrape, and I saw my enemies get it”.  God is keeping score.  He knows what is happening.  He will make things right.  Are you investing your 168 hours this week in people?  Or are you focused on stuff and falling into evil because your focus is on the wrong things?  God wants us to be on His page.  He wants us to be tuned in to His plan.  We need to get our heads on right!

Psalm 52

Psalm 52 contains some truth about the impact of doing evil.  “Why do you brag of evil”?  What a reality that so many seem to fall for.  Believing they can do evil or sin without any consequences.  They actually think they can get away with it.  It just isn’t so.  There is no hiding what we do from God.  We may fool some of the people around us for a while, but we never fool God for an instant.  He knows all, sees all, and is not amused.  We allow our “tongue cuts razor sharp….love malicious gossip….foul mouth”.  God hears what we say too.  It matters to Him.  Here is the reality of what God does in response to our evil and sin: “God will tear you limb from limb…sweep you up and throw you out…..pull you up by the roots from the land of life”.  Still think God doesn’t know what is happening?  He knows and will respond.  It may not be immediate, and we may not always even recognize what happens, but God can’t tolerate evil.  It goes against His very character.  It will not go unnoticed.

While we may think we got away with it as for the people in our patch, scripture tells us that “good people will watch….they’ll laugh in relief”.  Very little evil ever goes by unnoticed by those around you.  They may not publicly respond, but people often know when things are not right.  God tells us the root of our evil.  He tells us we “bet on the wrong horse, trusted in big money, made his living from catastrophe”.  Evil happens when we align with the wrong things.  Only God’s truth can lead us the right way.  We can’t figure it out on our own.  We won’t accidentally default to doing the right things.  Walking with God requires that we put roots down into truth and obedience.  We need to be “an olive tree, growing green in God’s house”.  Where we get our nourishment is so critical.  If we are taking in God’s Word daily – filling ourselves with His truth – then we can more likely grow according to His will.  We also need to make sure we are “in company with your faithful friends”.  Surrounding ourselves with the right people can go a long way to helping us walk in His presence and down the center of His path for our lives.  So often when we associate with the wrong people we are pulled away from God’s plan and into the path of evil.  We have to be careful how we chose those who will be in our circle of influence.  People matter much when it comes to how we live.  Are you walking in evil and sin thinking you are getting away with it?  You aren’t and now is the time to put roots down into God’s Word and move onto the path of obedience.  If you don’t, there will be a price to pay.  Sin always takes us farther than we want to go and costs more than we want to pay.  The problem is we don’t know the time or cost until it is too late.  The right path is to avoid it completely!

Psalm 51

First he acknowledges who God is.  “Generous in love – God, give grace….wipe out my bad record”.  He notes that God is the One who has the position to be able to forgive and wipe out the past.  He doesn’t tell God he is owed forgiveness.  He just recognizes God for who He is – a loving God who can set us free from sin through grace.  We need to remember that – God is the only One who can set us free.  We can’t work our way out of the penalty of sin.  We can’t buy our way out.  We can only receive God’s grace to be redeemed.  David asks God to “scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins”.  He realizes that only by God’s grace can he be set free.

 Secondly, David acknowledges and confesses his sin: “I know how bad I’ve been….my sins are staring me down”.  This is a key part of the process – to confess and take as our own – not blame the world, the enemy or our parents for what we have done.  So many people want to pass blame when they fail.  It is never their fault.  Sin ALWAYS belongs to the sinner.  You can’t pass that to anyone except yourself.  If you sin, then you need to admit it, confess it and deal with it. 

 Third, we need to realize the impact of our sin.  “You’re the One I’ve violated”.  Sin always impacts others.  This is one of the big misconceptions and lies we believe from the enemy.  We think “it only will hurt me or it doesn’t really matter to anyone else”.  That is completely wrong.  Sin ALWAYS impacts others.  At the very least God whose heart is completely broken by our sin.  But almost always, it impacts those around us.  Scripture is clear than the fathers sins are carried to the third and fourth generations.  How we live has an impact on our legacy.  It also impacts those in our patch today because it changes us – our relationship with God and that carries over to them.  Sin has a price – every time.  We cannot listen to the voice that tells us otherwise.

 Fourth, we see the root of sin when David says “I’ve been out of step with you for a long time”.  Here is a key to conquering sin – we have to walk with God.  It is not a sometime thing.  It is a moment by moment, day by day, continual journey.  If we want to minimize sin in our lives, the only way is to get into step with God.  The only hope we have is to walk in His presence and be obedient.  There is no way for us to do this on our own.  We can never be good enough by ourselves.  But we can avoid a lot of things if we just walk with Him.

 Fifth, God desires truth.  “What you are after is truth from inside out”.  God is all about getting us to the truth.  He is about changing our lives from the inside out and making us pure and holy.  He won’t stop until He gets that done.  We need to make sure we are filling ourselves with the right things.  Reading His Word, listening to His truth, surrounding ourselves with His people.  When we take in garbage from TV and movies and things we read, guess what, it leaks out in our actions.  We need to be sure we are filling ourselves with truth.

 Sixth, we need to recognize that recovery from sin is a process.  “Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean”.  Let me be clear – forgiveness is immediate when we confess, repent and ask forgiveness.  But getting over the impact of sin takes a while.  Circumstances don’t usually turn on a dime just because we ask forgiveness.  There is often a lingering impact from sin, sometimes for years or sometimes it can never be reversed.  We need to be patient with the recovery process.  Cleansing takes time.

 Seventh, there is life after sin if we confess and repent.  “Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life”.  David knows that even with the major sin he has just committed, there is hope and a new life ahead if he makes things right with God.  “Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails”.  We have to move on from sin.  We should not remain wallowing in it, but we need to accept His forgiveness and get on with new life.  God truly does set us free when we follow His process of forgiveness.  Then it comes down to our receiving that gift and getting on with life with Him.  Some like to feel sorry for themselves.  Some like to hold on to the past.  Forgiveness means we move on from the past and live with Him. 

 The good news is that there is freedom from sin – any sin – if we come to God acknowledging our sin through confession, if we repent and turn from it, and then ask for His forgiveness.  He is in the business of stetting us free from sin.  Jesus went to the cross for that very reason.  It really comes down to us humbly seeking God’s face and turning our life over to His love and then walking a different way in His presence through obedience.  Are you in need of being set free from the chains of sin?  God is ready to set you free.  The next move is yours!

Psalm 50

Psalm 50 gives us a view of good and evil and how God will respond.  “I’m ready to pass sentence” says our Father.  We all will face that day when we stand before the God of the Universe and have to give account for our life.  And the psalmist gives us a view into the things that will make Him happy, or will cause us to be put apart from Him for eternity.  Let’s look at the two different groups – and there are only two – there are no shades of one or the other – you either will be invited into His presence in heaven, or sent to a place where God will not be in hell.  No almost good enough or close – it is one or the other.  We are reminded that God is the judge – “God blazes into view….makes His entrance” and asks that people be brought before His throne.  We are reminded that “all creation and its bounty are mine”.  God owns it all and if we have not lived according to His rules and requirements, we will have a problem.  “Round up my saints who swore on the Bible their loyalty to me”.  As God calls those who claim to be His, there is a list of things that define people who are walking with Him:

1. “Spread for me a banquet of praise
2. Serve High God a feast of kept promises
3. Call for help when you’re in trouble
4. It’s the praising life that honors me”

If we are walking with God – we praise Him, obey Him and depend on Him.  He is the center of our world.  Everything revolves around Him.

 Next “God calls up the wicked”.  Now we may want to believe that these are the folks who do terrible things – the ax murderers, serial killers etc.  But check the list of descriptions contained here:

1. “Never answer the door when I call
2. Treat my words like garbage
3. Find a thief, make him your buddy
4. Adulterers are your friends of choice
5. Mouth drools with filth
6. Lying is a serious art form
7. Stab your own brother in the back
8. Rip off your little sister”

Wow – God’s list is some rather common things like lying, cheating, ignoring Him, not following His Word, taking advantage of people and on it goes.  We need to wake up to the reality that none of us are going to make it when we stand before God who is “ready to pass sentence”.  If we approach His judgment seat on our own works, we are in for some trouble.  God expects us to live right every moment.  In fact that is His requirement. 

So is there any hope.  Scripture tells us “I’ll show you my salvation”.  God has put a plan in place to help us deal with the issues we create.  When we fall short of His mark – it is called sin.  There is a price to pay for sin.  If we deal with it on our own we will spend eternity separated from God as part of the group scripture calls wicked.  But if we admit it, seek forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ, repent and follow Him, we can leave our sin problem behind and become one of His saints that will spend eternity with the Father.  We do have a choice on how our eternity will be spent.  But we have to take action and make a decision.  Are you ready to face the judgment throne?  What have you done with Jesus?

Psalm 49

Psalm 49 really is a very direct and powerful message.  Bottom line – we are all going to die.  The writer here gives us some important things to consider about that reality and the life we have before we experience death.  First – we are implored to LISTEN.  “All together now: listen”.  So often we are going so fast in life trying to manage the chaos that we fail to hear the things that are important to us.  And the writer tells us that there is much truth coming because of “plainspoken wisdom…..heart seasoned understandings…..fine tuned my ear to the sayings of the wise….solve life’s riddles”.  There is much for us to learn and understand.  And where is the source of that truth?  God and His Word.  We need to get our arms around that.  If we want to know truth we have to get into God’s Book – the Bible.  That is where truth comes from – the very heart of the Father. 

 Second – we are told the source of all POWER.  It is God and He alone.  “There’s really no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps”.  That sort of goes against the popular thinking of the day doesn’t it. If you have been in a bookstore recently you know there are aisles and aisles of self help books.  The TV is full of programs teaching self help methods.  We are told over and over that it is all about me trying harder and following this plan.  Not really.  Not God’s way at all.  Yes we have to take initiative and do things.  We have to seek His guidance and follow His direction.  But the power to change and to move from where we are to where He wants us to be comes from Him, not me.  It isn’t about digging deeper and trying harder.  It is about recognizing His power and asking Him to work in my life.  God is the One who makes it happen.  Life is not about me.  Change is not about me either.  It is all about me lining up with God’s plan and letting Him work in me.

 Third – the reality of DEATH.  “Anyone can see that the brightest and best die, wiped out right along with fools and dunces”.  There is one place where all people will have the same experience – we are all going to die.  It is a reality we cannot avoid.  Are you ready for that day?  There is no guarantee that you will ever see tomorrow.  “We aren’t immortal.  We don’t last long”.  We have to accept the fact and live like that day may be today.  We need to get relationships right and be ready.  That begins with our relationship with God, and continues into our marriage, relationship with our kids, extended family, friends, and neighbors – everyone we touch.  “We age…..and weaken……and die”.   It is that simple.  We are going to “move into their new home, the coffin, the cemetery their permanent address”.  Of course that is where our physical body gets planted, but the reality is that our spirit will reside either in heaven with the Father or in hell away from Him.  As for all our stuff – well “they can’t take it with them”.  It all gets left behind and eventually burned up.   All the things we spend so much time accumulating and trying to achieve – it all gets left.  We can’t take it along.  We need to be very intentional about how we spend our 168 hours in light of this reality.  “They’ll never see sunshine again”.  Death will come and end life as we know it, transitioning us into eternal life where we will spend eternity.  We need to make sure we are ready for that as eternity is a very long time.  Are you ready?  Have you dealt with the future?  Nothing today is more important than making sure Jesus is your Savior.  Anything else will lead to an eternity you won’t like.  Deal with it today. Tomorrow may not come…..

Psalm 47/48

Psalm 47 and 48 talk about the awesomeness of God.  “Applause…bravo…..shout…..songs”.  God is magnificent and worthy of our praise.  “God most high is stunning”.  Have you stopped to consider it lately?  Have you pondered His creation and the wonder of His power?  God is omnipotent.  He is all powerful.  “He crushes hostile people, puts nations at our feet”.  God is not limited by the things we might consider to be limiting.  He has no limits. He is able to deal with every situation.  This is the simple fact we must remember: “He’s Lord over earth”.  No exceptions – no areas escape that truth.  God is Lord of all.  There are many who may not have figured that truth out quite yet, but it doesn’t change the reality.  God is in control.  Of you, me and everything around us.  We can try and deny it, pretend it isn’t so, but that doesn’t change truth.  God is who He says He is.  “The powers of earth are God’s”.  He is in fact, in control of it all.  We need to recognize it and understand just how great God is.

 Chapter 48 begins by reminding us “God majestic”.  He is worthy of our praise.  How does your prayer life look?  Does it begin with adoration and praise?  That should be our first response to entering His presence.  Too often we come with Him with a boat load of things we want and expect, and never even acknowledge how awesome He is.  We enter into His throne room and just dump our requests.  Not the way it should look.  When we seek God’s face, it should “evoke a train of hallelujahs” and cause our hearts to rejoice in thanksgiving.  We need to approach Him as who He is – the creator of the universe and power of everything that happens.  We are again reminded that we need to keep track of what God is doing.  “Then you can tell the next generation detail by detail the story of God”.  What has He done in your life?  Can you give me a list of 5 things He did recently that impacted your life?  How can we tell the details if we never write them down?  It is only when we are disciplined to capture His stories about what He does in our lives that we will effectively share it. I can’t encourage you enough to keep a journal of His faithfulness so you can pass that blessing on to those who follow.  What a legacy to be able to hand your kids a list of all the ways God has answered prayer in your life.  Want to make an impact for eternity – keep track of God’s faithfulness and share it.  No one can dispute what God has done in your life.  It is the most powerful gift we can ever share!

Psalm 45 & 46

The sons of Korah write two very different psalms in chapter 45 and 46.  In the first chapter, they are writing about the king and his wedding.  They “pour it out in a poem to the king” – lots of praise and adoration.  “God has blessed you, blessed you so much”.  They are giving praise and honor.  Then they talk about his demeanor and say “ride….ride…..ride…..ride”.  Why is this king so blessed?  Because he “loves the right and hates the wrong”.  Scripture tells us “that is why God….poured fragrant oil on your head”.  God blesses those who love Him.  God knows how we live and is blessing this king.  The last part of the chapter talks about the love between the king and his bride.  “She is led to the king, followed by her virgin companions…a procession of joy and laughter”.  He is enjoying life and living big.  God has blessed him much because of obedience and willingness to live God’s way. 

In the second chapter, we learn that “God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him”.  God provides stability in the “seastorm and earthquake”.  He is our only rock and place to cling to.  We need to remember that “God lives here….God at your service from crack of dawn”.  God is always there to be involved in our lives.  He is a place for us to run to.  “God fights for us…..protects us”.  He is our intercessor and protector.  I love what scripture also tells us as He is “above politics, above everything”.  We serve an amazing God.  He loves us, He fights for us, He protects us, He is our safe place to hide.  God is all we need.  Are you running to Him when you face challenges in life?

Psalm 43/44

Psalm 43 and 44 are from the sons of Korah.  They are struggling with people who are after them and trying to knock them down and take them out.  As they seek God, they have three things they ask God for:

1. “Lantern
2. Compass
3. Map”

Why?  “So I can find my way…..to the place of your presence”.  They realize that the secret to dealing with struggles and issues in this world is to move into the presence of God.  It really is a pretty simple formula.  We need a lantern to light our path, a compass to give us direction, and a map to show us the destination.  God’s Word fills all those things.  It is the light to our path, the direction for our life, and clearly gives us the destination we need to seek.  Are you in God’s Word so you have your lantern, compass and map?  Are you equipped to be able to get to the end point swiftly and quickly?  God wants us to make it all the way without getting lost along the path.  But if we don’t have the right tools to stay on target, we run into problems and bumps along the path.

 These guys also give us a very important look into their past.  “Our fathers told us the stories that their fathers told them”.  Have you been given stories of truth and light from your parents and grandparents?  Are you passing them on?  We have a responsibility to share truth with our kids and grandkids and any others we may be mentoring or helping learn God’s plan.  We are told over and over in scripture to share what God has done….to remember and tell the story.  To do that we need to write it down or record it so we have the facts and details.  These stories in this chapter were about God’s past faithfulness to their previous generations.  It compared the way God dealt with evil, versus how He helped their ancestors:

1. “Weeded out the godless…..planted us
2. Sent those people packing…..gave us a fresh start”

As the stories are recalled, it gives comfort that God is there and will take action.  They know that “it’s you, you who saved us”.  Their history and heritage was not the result of things they had done but what God had done for them.  That is the reality of life.  God is in control but our responsibility is to tell the stories to those who follow so they know that God is their source of power and truth.  Do you know that God is your only dependable source of security and victory?  He is and is waiting for us to figure that out and turn it over to Him.

Psalm 42

The writer in chapter 42 reveals the reality of life.  It is a series of ups and downs.  Not a steady course of always good news, but reality is we all have good days and bad.  We learn here one of the secrets of having more good than bad.  The psalmist tells us “I want to drink God, deep draughts of God.  I’m thirsty for God”.  Does that describe how you seek God – can’t get enough time with Him.  Can’t be in His presence enough?  That should be our desire – to spend as much time with the Father as we can because it is the source of every good thing.  Too often though I find, and I am speaking to myself here, that I squeeze God in as an afterthought or another thing on my list.  I don’t do a good job of making Him the main thing in my day.  The writer tells us to “fix my eyes on God”.  That should describe how we relate to Him.  We should be focused on His love and the goodness He brings into our lives.  Why?  “He puts a smile on my face….He’s my God”.  Wow – God is personal and He wants to be in that kind of relationship with us.  He is my God and He wants to know me but wants me to get to know Him as well. 

 Is it worth it?  Does that investment of time and energy into a relationship with God make sense?  We are all very busy people after all.  We have lots of places to go and people to see and things to do.  But yes – without a doubt it is the best investment we can make.  We should spend as much of our 168 hours each week in relationship with Him as possible.  How do I know?  I have experienced it personally but scripture also tells us here: “God promises to love me all day, sing songs all through the night”.  What a promise.  God will love us and does love us round the clock.  He loves to be smack dab in the middle of our lives.  That is His rightful place.  His ask from us is “emptying out the pockets of my life”.  He wants us to come to Him with all our concerns and needs.  He wants to be in the middle of all our decisions and providing guidance for all our needs.  God wants a relationship.  If we make Him priority, we will be blessed indeed.  We will be overwhelmed by His love and goodness.  Don’t miss that promise.  Make Him a focus each day!

Psalm 41

Psalm 41 is a short chapter that has a few promises we need to keep top of mind.  The psalmist tells us that “God looks after us all”.  He is paying attention all the time and is actively watching our lives.  When we are sick, we are told He “nurses us back to health”.  Even when “my sins have torn me to pieces”, God stands ready to help us.  Do you realize that God has put a plan in place to restore us from the wrath of sin.  When we fall short of God’s expectations and commandments, there is a price to pay.  Sin always requires punishment.  It cannot be ignored because of the very nature of God.  There is a penalty for sin – and scripture tells us that the “wages of sin is death”.  But God has put a plan in place to deal with it. Jesus wen to the cross to give us a way to overcome sin and be set free from the punishment that is due us.  We just need to receive that gift of grace and make it our own.  Sort of like sitting on a chair.  We can believe the chair will hold us, but until we actually sit on it with all our weight and put our belief into action, well we just haven’t made that truth out own.  The same is true of Jesus.  We can believe He will save us from sin, but until we have a personal relationship and make that relationship personal and our own, it is just a thought.  Have you dealt with that decision in your life?

 The writer also makes it clear that “you know me inside and out”.  God isn’t surprised by anything we do, good or bad.  After all, He created us.  He knows every detail of our life.  And since He knows us as He did, we can claim the promise of this truth: “you hold me together….you never fail to stand me tall”.  God comes to our aid and is involved in our life.  He loves to help us overcome.  He loves to help us become someone who “can look you in the eye”.  We can only look God in the eye when we have dealt with the thing that separates us from Him – sin itself.  Then we will call Him blessed and enjoy our time with Him.  God is intimately acquainted with us and wants us to know Him as well.