Psalm 50:1-4
The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.
From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages.
He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people:
If you only take one lesson away from this blog, let it be this. God ain’t messin’ around.
If you read the Bible, like actually read straight from the Bible and not just quotes from blogs like this, you understand that God is perfectly willing to unleash judgment on the Earth. It could happen today. It could happen 2000 years from now. We don’t know. But it is coming.
All we can do is search ourselves and ask the question: When I stand before God, will he be pleased with what he sees? If you are not 100% sure, then you are risking the wrath of God. That’s the bottom line. You don’t have to believe me or what I write here, but I urge you to at least do your due diligence and research what the Gospel says and study the Word of God before dismissing it.
I’m at peace with my position before God, not because I think I’m any more good or moral than the next person. I put my faith fully in the fact that Christ paid my debt in full and has made me perfect in God’s eyes. The older I get, and the more I learn about the Lord, the more amazed I am by that precious gift.
God is sharpening the sword for the day of judgment. Thankfully he’s also given us the option to accept his grace.
Pslams 49:16-19
Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases;
for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him.
Though while he lived he counted himself blessed– and men praise you when you prosper–
he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light [of life].
It is so easy to be jealous of those with great wealth. They enjoy many temporal benefits here on Earth. Life (at least on the surface) seems a little easier for them.
However, God spends quite a bit of time warning us about wealth.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. (1 Timothy 6:10)
Note: That verse is often misquoted. It does not say that “money is the root of all evil” because money can be used for many good things. It is, however, easy to fall in love with which leads to many sins.
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:25)
I think the lesson Jesus is teaching here is that the rich are not typically very humble. You need humility to accept God’s gift of salvation because only God can save you through grace. You can’t earn your way to Heaven, no matter how successful you are at everything else you do.
I would give the following advice. If you are financially secure, that’s great: just don’t let it define you and keep your eyes on the things that are eternal rather than the temporary gifts you’ve been given. If you are like the rest of us, making ends meet and earning an honest living, don’t envy the rich too much. The man that dies with the most toys still dies.
Or to expand on a quote from Braveheart, “every man dies, but not every man really lives” …for God. You see, if you live for God, you live forever with him. And that makes you very rich indeed.
Pslam 48:14
For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
Once again, it helps to have proper perspective. Our jobs, our wealth, our possessions, even our relationships will all come to an end. I’ve even heard one pessimist point out that all dating relationships end in either a breakup or death. Now of course it is the journey that makes the difference, but the point I’m trying to make here is that the things of this world are temporal. The Earth itself has an expiration date.
God, on the other hand, is for ever and ever. The alpha and the omega. The beginning and the end. In fact, as best as I can understand it, time doesn’t even apply to him. Today, tomorrow, a thousand years from now, a thousand years before Christ, they are all present to him. One reason why he knows how the end will come about is because he’s there now.
So when he says that he’ll be our guide to the end, we can have confidence that he will be. He’s already written that script and produced the movie, we just have to wait in line to see the show. Oh yeah, and it would help if we put our Faith and trust in him to be our guide and our light.
Pslam 48:1
Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
All I can think of when reading that verse is a rock concert. Like a really big one. Think U2 on tour times a million. There will come a day when all the knees will bow and all the voices of the Earth will praise God. Can you imagine the sound? Can you imagine that scene? Can you imagine being part of that? You will be. We all will be.
And you know what? It still wouldn’t be as much praise as the Lord deserves.
How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!
Couldn’t have said it any better.
Pslam 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
I will be exaltedTell me if this sounds familiar. You set aside time to get into the Word, you read a passage out of the Bible for a few minutes, then you look at the clock and you realize that you are out of time and you have to get going (to pick up the kids, go to work, get some sleep, whatever). If I asked you what you read about, you maybe could tell me the general idea, but not details. If I asked you to tell me how God spoke to you through those verses, you’d draw a complete blank.
Believe me, this happens to me all the time. A packed schedule and several responsibilities have me pulled in many directions. It is hard enough to set aside time in the Word and when I’m there, I’m too often distracted and rushed.
The Lord knows that we are in constant motion so he puts up his hand and says “be still.” He knows that we are distracted by things of this world so he reminds us what is truly important. “Be still and know that I am God.” Sure, we “know” that he is God, but when we slow down, focus on him, and think about what that means, it rocks us to the bone.
It is amazing how everything comes into focus when you block out all the other “important” things in life and just sit in reverence of God. For when you are in his presence, you cannot help but to exalt him. And when you walk away from that experience, your vision is clearer, your head is cleared of the clouds, and you find yourself focused on the eternal instead of the temporal.
Be still.
Psalm 44:3
It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.
Time for Mad Libs. Fill in the blanks as appropriate.
“It was not by my [your talent/skill/expertise] that I [achievement/victory/accomplished goal], nor did my [hard work/dedication/diligence] bring me [achievement/victory/accomplished goal]; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved me.”
Does that mean that talent is an illusion? That hard work is worthless? That you didn’t really do anything to deserve what you’ve achieved?
Not at all!
Does it mean that God cares who wins the Super Bowl?
I don’t think so.
What it does mean is that God is the beginning and the end. He created you for his own purpose and he blesses you because he loves you. God honors the hard work you put into your goals and you deserve to feel proud of your accomplishments. However, you should also always give thanks to the one who is ultimately responsible for it all.
I will point out also that your greatest accomplishments are the ones where you are serving God’s kingdom. Yes, getting a promotion is nice, but at the end of days, reaching out to your neighbor with love is a far greater accomplishment and will be rewarded in Heaven accordingly. And fear not failure. When God’s hand is involved, you can be assured of victory (even if that victory isn’t what you originally had in mind).
Psalm 43:5
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
There are a thousand reasons why I love the Pslams, but one of the biggest ones is the way David works out his Faith so openly with the Lord. Read through this Pslam from the start (it is only 5 verses) and see how he openly questions God and half pleads/half commands God to come to his aid. You can almost hearthe panic in his voice. But by the end of the Pslam, he is working to calm himself down by holding on to the truth of the Lord.
Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.
You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
This kind of Faith is so genuine. So naked. So exposed and open to the Lord. Unashamed and without pretense.
Too often, I think, we try to put on a front pretending that we’ve got it all under control. We don’t act like we need any help because that’s a sign of weakness. We don’t accept help because we are too proud.
Not David. He knows from whom his real strength comes from. He knows who can deliver him from times of trouble. He goes directly to the source and lays his soul at the feet of God and says “I need you, don’t ignore me, help me now!”
And here’s the key point. Just by doing so, just by laying himself prostrate at the almighty God’s feet, he knows instantly that his prayers will be answered. He doesn’t skip a beat. It is almost as if he shakes himself out of his panic and talks sense into himself.
Sometimes I need that too. I know in my head that God is working through all things for his Glory and for the good of his Saints, but I don’t always act like I know that. I need to remind myself from time to time of that truth and take comfort in it and praise the Lord for it.
Taking another quick break from Pslams to talk about John Eldredge. I’ve read Wild at Heart, but I’ve just started going through a DVD series with some Christian brothers and I’m excited about it. For those unfamiliar with the book or concept, the general gist of it is this:
Men were not designed to be Mr. Rodgers. The Church and Christian culture has too often pushed men to become too deferential and submissive when at our core we desire to be bold and adventurous. Christ himself is the example to follow and while he was the ultimate in terms of loving and caring, he was not weak or deferential in any way, shape or form.
He was a leader. He started trouble (mostly with the Pharisees). He turned over tables in the temple courts because vendors were profiting in the house of God. How many times did he have to escape from getting stoned? This guy was bold. In fact, when he comes back, he’s going to be the ultimate warrior.
Eldredge uses Braveheart as an example of what men should be more like than Mr. Rodgers. He was passionate, he was brave, he was committed, and that’s why people were drawn to him and followed him into battle. If we are like that in our lives, won’t the people around us, including our spouses and children, naturally want to follow us? We are called as men to be leaders. Don’t be afraid to be bold.
Today I’m taking a brief break from the Psalms to share a devotional that I enjoyed from Greg Laurie.
“As surely as I live,” says the Sovereign Lord, “I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live.”We wonder about the fate of people who have never heard the gospel—would God send them to hell? To me this indicates an incorrect view of God, because the idea is that God would somehow want to send someone to hell, or at the very least, wouldn’t care if someone went there. But that is not the God of the Bible.
If we learn nothing else from the Bible, we should learn that God loves humanity and longs for fellowship and friendship with us. God doesn’t want any person to go to hell, and the best evidence of this is the fact that He poured out His wrath on His own Son. No father wants his child to be harmed and would gladly take that harm upon himself if it were possible. But God loved us so much that He put His judgment on His Son who had never committed a single sin so that we would not have to go to hell.
Very well said. One of the hardest truths to reconcile in our faith is “why would God allow people to go to hell if he loves us so much?” I’m not saying I have a clear answer that is going to satisfy everyone. But I do believe that God does indeed love us all. Knowing that, and knowing that God is all-knowing and all-powerful helps me to have faith that he’s doing what is best, regardless of my feeble ability to comprehend his ways.
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
I’ve always been struck by the beauty of this imagery and I’ve always been challenged by it.
This isn’t just a nice feeling when thinking about God. This isn’t just something the author does on Sunday mornings or around other believers. This is a fundamental need, like air, food, and of course water. Think about how your body reacts when there’s no water to drink. You have to find that water, it isn’t an option.
Is my walk like that with the Lord? Not often enough, no. There are days when I simply forget to focus on God for more than a few moments. Life gets in the way when it shouldn’t. Distractions distract when they should be set aside.
I want to get to that point where spending time with the Lord is just as important as any of the 3 meals of the day. Where I would feel an uncontrollable yearning for the Word when I’ve gone too long without it. I’m working on it, but I’m not quite there yet. I have a feeling that the more time I spend with the Lord, the more this will happen.
Lord make me thirsty.
