Faithful But Suffering - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 17:1-2,

"Hear me, Lord, my plea is just; listen to my cry. Hear my prayer— it does not rise from deceitful lips. Let my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right."

David brings a complaint to the Lord. He claims his innocence and yet is suffering from enemies. What is fascinating about his psalm is that it stands diametrically opposed to much of what is taught in the church today!

Today we hear the false teaching that those who obey the Lord in all things will experience only the best things in this life. God will bless us financially if we are faithful to bring in our "tithes". God will heal us of all sickness and disease if we have the faith God looks for in us. God will make sure our marriages will be successful, our children will turn out well, we will succeed in our occupations, getting those promotions and raises. If we go to church regularly, if we avoid "secular" music and entertainment, if we engage in those spiritual disciplines of prayer, Scripture reading, and even fasting... we can avoid those things we wish to avoid in our lives. You know the drill.

Maybe so. God just might bless us. After all, he says he will. However that is not all he says. Listen to Proverbs 3:11-12, "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." Hebrews 12:10-11 says this discipline is not pleasant, it falls into that category of those things we might wish to avoid in our lives, "...  God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Jesus wrote the same thing to the church in Laodicea, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent." Revelation 3:19.

In Psalm 17 David claimed his innocence, "Though you probe my heart, though you examine me at night and test me, you will find that I have planned no evil; my mouth has not transgressed. Though people tried to bribe me, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent through what your lips have commanded. My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not stumbled." Verses 3-5. Yet, the Lord allowed David to suffer through those who attempted to destroy him, "Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies who surround me." Verses 8-9.

Over the years I have heard those comments, and I'll bet you have as well: "She has cancer, she must have some hidden sin or she is lacking in faith."

The only sin I see in such occurrences is the presumption by holier-than-thou brothers and sisters who pretend they don't have their own hardships just like the rest of us. I'm happy to experience difficulties as David did - after all, it is proof-positive as a believer that God is treating me as a son!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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12 Reasons I'm Not Qualified for Heaven - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 15:1,

"Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?"

David here is musing with the Lord on who might be qualified to spend eternity in heaven with the Lord. This is what we are all created for in the first place, to spend an eternity in God's family. This is also the purpose of our temporal life in the here and now: to find our way into God's family.

David lists a dozen reasons in this psalm as to why I do not pass muster. The terrifying thing is that the one and only alternative for not making it into God's family is an eternity in a fiery lake of burning sulfur, see Revelation 21:8.

David's dozen includes:

A blameless walk
Does what is right
Speaks the truth from the heart
Utters no slander
Never wrongs a neighbor
Casts no slurs
Despises vile people
Honors those who fear the Lord
Keeps promises even when it hurts
Doesn't have a change of mind (faithful)
Lends money without interest
Doesn't accept a bribe against the innocent (incorruptible)

We know from the Scriptures that all it takes is just one infraction! No way I qualify! What is to become of me?

Thanks be to God that he sent his Son to pay the penalty on my behalf for all my sins! As a matter of fact, he did so for everyone, all of us! Those who embrace the salvation God offers through his Son are forgiven all sins and are qualified for God's family for all eternity!

So why is this list provided us in the Psalms? The same could be asked of all the laws God has given, through Moses, through Jesus in his sermon on the mount, etc. God is communicating to us all that he is our refuge from the wrath of his own justice for the sins we have commited. Mankind lives a pretense and does not feel the need to have anything forgiven. Lost in a spiritual darkness, we find it difficult to comprehend we all deserve that fiery lake of burning sulfur. Because of that spiritual blindness the Lord helps us see the shocking reality of our own failure to be fit for the kingdom of God, by showing us our failures (sin) so that we might reach out to him, and throw ourselves at the feet of his mercy to be forgiven our sins.

"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." Romans 3:20. If we don't know we need saving, we won't reach out for a savior!

God wants us all and he helps us find him if we are willing!


A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Nope, Those Who Say There Is No God Know Nothing - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 14:4,

"Do all these evildoers know nothing?"

Here is a short question from David. It has a short answer: No. Evildoers know nothing.

What is an "evildoer" anyway?  I suspect most folks have the impression that "evildoers" are comprised of only the worst of the worst among us, those who are the most morally objectionable. David points to those who say in their hearts, "There is no God." Verse 1. David provides further definition of them for us, that they are corrupt and vile, never doing good. They destroy God's people, they never call on the Lord, they frustrate the plans of the poor. These evildoers live in dread because God is not among them. God is among those they mistreat.

I'm quite certain anyone who says in his heart that there is no God is fully qualified as fit for the group of evildoers. And, they really don't know anything. Anything that is important, anyway. They may be a nuclear physicist, but if they claim there is no God, they really don't know anything of the important things in life. The lady working the lunch counter in the local grade school who knows the Lord knows a whole lot more of the most important things in life than the unbelieving rocket scientist, or brain surgeon, or whatever.

The apostle John considered those who did not love other believers, and hated them, were still lost in the spiritual darkness of sin. He says, "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them." 1 John 1:9-11.

It is this spiritual "darkness", a real condition of genuine blindness to spiritual realities, that causes those who say there is no God to stumble about. Hence, they are blinded, they know nothing.

I know about this because I lived in this darkness myself, blind to spiritual realities and living in a state of knowing nothing. How thankful I am that others were kind enough to me to share the light of Jesus Christ with me, ending my darkness and bringing me light!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Joy and Rejoicing! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 13:5,

"I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation."

David was a man of joy. We find this in many places in the Psalms. In Psalm 16:9 David exclaims, "Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices..." Psalm 16:9. He says in Psalm 21:1, "The king [David] rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great is his joy in the victories you give!"

In Psalm 13:5, David lays claim to his joy as coming from his faith in the Lord's unfailing love. He rejoiced in the Lord's expression of love through the salvation he brings.

Jesus came as God's expression of love for us. He has made a way for us into his family by having his Son pay the penalty for our sins. When we embrace Jesus Christ in faith we receive that salvation, and that salvation brings us a joy this world will never know.

If we find our tank low or empty on joy, follow David's path. Faith in God's salvation! This is why Jesus came two millenia ago on that Christmas morning. "the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10.

This is how to have a merry Christmas!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Don't Worship God As If He Were A Pagan Idol - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 13:1-2,

"How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?"

The five questions of David that comprise the first two verses of Psalm 13 display a heart that is transparent, authentic and without pretense. These questions reveal someone who acknowledges God as another real person. The superior person to be approached in reverence and awe to be sure, but nonetheless a truly personal God.

I have something of an angst about the worship and the approach with which many address God, as though God were something other than a real person. Kind of how pagans might worship an idol. Idols are lifeless, they don't emote, they have no personhood: please the idol and get your goodies, or cross the idol and encounter a curse, some form of financial setback, sickness, or whatever. It is as though interaction with God was impersonal, that God might be little more than some kind of quid pro quo moral principle. I think it rife with the heath and wealth gospel purveyors, as well as many other places. I firmly believe many of the traditional Protestant denominations have gone this way as well as the Roman Catholic church in many places (when they aren't engaged in other activities!). Just listen to what is said and taught. I'm not saying everywhere and always for certain groups, but it is certainly alive and well with many people.

David held God in great reverence and fear, but he did so in recognition of God as a real person, not some religious "object". I can easily picture at least the first four questions being asked by one spouse of another. Real persons interacting with one another.

I really think there is something to consider here in David's appeal to God. Our sovereign God Almighty sits on his majestic throne of supremacy over all of his creation... but he does so in his splendor as a real person, and yet a person due the full reverence and fear that is rightfully his.

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

A Missing Element: Found in God! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 12:1,

"Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race."

Here is a painful observation by David. He calls out to the Lord with this indictment of the entire human race as he looks about, seeking relief for himself, the poor, the needy, and the maligned.

Proverbs 19:22a tells us, "What a person desires is unfailing love..." David, as we all do, yearned for faithfulness and loyalty, someone "unfailing" and it is what David did not find in mankind at this point in his life.

While David did not find what he yearned for in people, he did find it in God. God is faithful and God cares. We find this stressed throughout the Scriptures in passages like 1 Corinthians 1:8-9, "He [God] will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

I have always thought the greatest need we have is to find someone that can satisfy that empty hole in our hearts that our estrangement from God has brought. At times we seek it from family members, or friends, or coworkers. I believe this becomes a destructive element in many marriages. Some look to our spouses to provide for us what only God can - setting our marriages up for difficult times. There is no one like God. Only God can fill that missing element in our lives.

David found it and we can too!

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him."

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Strutting That Which is Vile - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 12:7-8,

"You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked, who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race."

In Psalm 12 David observes the Lord's protection of "the needy" from the wicked. In many of his psalms David recalls how the Lord saved him, protected him, when enemies threatened him.

Also, David notes that wicked people "freely strut about" when people embrace that which is vile. I recall when President Obama claimed to have "evolved" on the issue of same-sex marriage. This is just the sort of thing David had in mind.

I have seen a clear shift in our culture, as I'm sure you have too, of those things that are immoral, unethical, unrighteous, unsavory and downright wicked.

Some may criticize me for taking a position on what it is that is morally despicable and abhorrent - which really is a sign of that cultural shift. However, I inform myself by what the Scriptures teach, and I hope you do as well. I fully embrace what the Scriptures teach, as our Creator is the best source to inform us of those things that are vile. He and he alone defines the righteous from the unrighteous, good from evil.

I envision a culture and society drifting from that which is moral and ethical as the stage upon which the wicked freely strut about on. At a point such as this, the wicked expose themselves for who they are, and even demand the rest of us accept their evil behavior as respectable. This is the day in which we live.

I am reminded of Paul's words to Timothy, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power." 2 Timothy 3:1-5. As I say, this is the day in which we live.

Speaking of sinful people... how thankful and grateful I am that Jesus Christ took my punishment for my own sinful life. All he asked of me was to embrace him in faith! It is just amazing to me that a sinner like me was given the opportunity to enter into God's family! The wicked do have the opportunity to quit strutting their vile lifestyle to embrace Jesus Christ and be saved from God's judgment of them!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Just Where is God's Temple, his Throne? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 11:4,

"The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne."

What makes a place the Lord's temple? What makes a place his throne? Is there a location that is assigned as the Lord's temple? Does it have coordinates? Can you Mapquest it? Is it someplace you can travel to? What direction do you start off in to get there?

Of course I am being a bit tongue in cheek here. How can there be a place like that if we believe the Lord is omnipresent (everywhere at the same time)? God exists beyond the dimensions of time and space and so his "throne", his "temple" is not to be found anywhere we can go to in this life. This is where the circuit breakers in my head begin to fail - my mind just cannot conceive existence beyond time and space - nevertheless it is just as "real" as existence in this life - more so since it is the realm in which the Creator of time and space has his being.

Eternity lies beyond this age, beyond this life. It is the realm within which we will meet God eventually. All of us: some to be joyously welcomed into his family and some to be judged as fit for the horror of eternal death - the ash heap of eternity.

David's words in verse 4 can be understood to mean that God exists. His existence is unique as he is God Almighty over all creation. God's existence is his temple, God's existence is his throne. It is a reference to his position relative to both the creation we see and know, as well as the heavenly environs where the angels have their being. God can never not be in his temple and he can never not be on his throne. Where God is (which is really an oxymoron) is where his temple is, where his throne is. And, he his God over all.

Well, there goes another circuit breaker popping in my head!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Faith Does Not Flee - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 11:1,

"In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me..."

David was a man of deep faith. He trusted in the Lord. Not a perfect man and certainly not a man without sin, he nevertheless found his refuge in the Lord. Through his psalms we find he took great confidence in the Lord and looked to the Lord as his strength, his solid rock of refuge, the One under who's "wings" he took shelter when troubles came.

In this psalm David entertains the notions of someone of lesser faith. David anticipates his antagonist's counsel is to flee in the face of danger, something David could not fathom, given that the Lord was his strength, his refuge. This is what brings his question to his antagonist, how then can you say to me to flee?

David is fully assured the Lord is in his holy temple, sitting on his throne observing everyone on earth - examining them. He knows all, he sees all. David tells us the Lord loves justice and that those who are "upright", those who embrace the Lord in a like faith as his will see the Lord's face, but that those who reject the Lord, the wicked, he "hates with a passion", verse 5. On these people the Lord will "rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot." Verse 6.

Here is a wonderful psalm that we should order our lives by, that should impact our thinking and our outlook: David points the way!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Are All the Prosperous Blessed by God? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 10:5a,

"His ways are always prosperous..."

Just who is this man, whose ways are always prosperous? Don't we all want to be prosperous? Maybe we should emulate this man to become prosperous ourselves?

As it turns out, this man rejects God. In verses 3-4 we read of him, "He boasts about the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord. In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God."

Were we to assume that all prosperous people were blessed by God, we would be wrong. Many prosperous people reject God. It isn't that God does not bless his own at times. I'm certain he does. On the other hand, many of God's people who are devoted to him experience quite the opposite: poverty.

There are many examples of God's devoted people living in poverty. Consider the Jews in Jerusalem who had embraced Jesus in Paul's day, "Now, however, I [Paul] am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord's people there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord's people in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings." Romans 15:25-27.

Just because a person is poor, it is no indication that he might not be a very devoted believer in Jesus Christ. Perhaps much more so than any of us!

Don't get sucked into that "Prosperity Gospel"! It is false teaching!

Likewise, just because a person is rich, although he/she may have the blessings riches might bring, it is no indication that he/she might be blessed by the Lord at all. Consider what Asaph observed in Psalm 73, "But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills." Psalm 73:2-5. Yet, note his further observation, "When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their [the prosperous that reject God] final destiny. Surely you [God] place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies." Psalm 73:16-20.

Asaph's conclusion in the matter should be ours, "Those who are far from you [God] will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds." Psalm 73:27-28.


A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Judgment and Deliverance Are At the Door - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 10:1,

"Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?"

The psalmist begins this psalm with a question - asked in two different ways. Why is it that God does not step in when sinful mankind treats the innocent and helpless horribly?

Two other questions are asked in the psalm, "Why does the wicked man revile God?" and "Why does he say to himself, 'He won't call me to account'?" Verse 13.

Both sets of questions reveal the same reality about God: he cloaks himself such that an environment exists where faith (or the lack thereof) can manifest itself.

Paul made an insightful observation as he was carrying the gospel throughout the Gentile world: "You suffered from your own people [the Gentiles] the same things those churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last." 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16.

Paul observed the acts of sinful man in its hostility toward the things of God and the people of God. In both Psalm 10 and 1 Thessalonians 2, we find similar circumstances. Sinful man opposes God by treating innocent people badly. God sits back and allows it for a time... but then he steps in and makes right what is awaiting his justice.

In both instances, Psalm 10 and 1 Thessalonians 2, the innocent find their deliverance from God ("But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless." Psalm 10:14) while the fruit of the wicked ripens for God's horrific judgment. The results of both are not immediate, but entirely certain!

Don't be fooled into thinking God does not care about the activities of the sinful and the plight of their victims. He is watching and his judgment is at the door for the one and his deliverance for the other.

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Mankind's Mortality - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 9:19-20,

"Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence. Strike them with terror, Lord; let the nations know they are only mortal."

In Psalm 19 David has his enemies in view and thanks the Lord for his victory over them. David rightfully credits God's hand in his victories as the One who vindicated David over the wicked.

At the end of the psalm David asks that "mortals" not triumph, but to be judged in the Lord's presence. He asks that the Lord strike them with terror that they might recognize their true condition: "they are only mortal."

It is my thought this morning that David could not have asked a better thing for the wicked. For those who do not know God, who are simply ignorant of the most important estate of things - that mankind is wicked and evil and headed for the ash heap of eternity, the most important thing for them is to be "woke" to the reality they are in a terrible danger, headed for God's eternal judgment of them.

Today, mankind bumbles along. Having invented their "god" of evolution and Darwinism (leading to environmentalism, man-made global climate change, etc.), they pretend they are the rulers of the universe, in control of all things. The sad state of affairs is that lost and fallen mankind sumbles about in darkness and hasn't a clue about spiritual realities, and in particular, their own mortality.

Mankind is in actual control of very little, and only that which God has granted them. The very best anyone can achieve in this life is to find Jesus Christ as their Savior - the One who has made a way to eternal life!

If you haven't done so - recognized your mortality and embrace Jesus Christ in faith as your Savior today!


A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Qualities of Our Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 9:7-10,

"The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you."

I love this passage in Psalm 9. It illuminates those particular qualities the Lord wants us all to know of himself.

The Lord is a timeless being. He exists above and beyond time as our Creator. He is the one who established the dimensions of time and space and as we may consider him to dwell from eternity past through eternity future, there really is no time reference to him. He always exists and because of that "The Lord reigns forever" - a phrase that expresses both his eternal existence and his eternal authority over all.

This passage speaks of the Lord's righteousness. The objective reality of what is "right" and "wrong", to which we all need to subordinate our own limited understanding of such, comes from his throne of righteousness. All that is right, just and fair is defined by his own personage, his own character, and this passage tells us he rules the world within the confines of just that.

We also read of the love and kindness of God. Those traits that we find precious and that irresistibly draw us to him, we see in his mercy, his grace toward us, his love of us and great acts of kindness. These expressions are manifested in the Lord being a refuge "for the oppressed" and "a stronghold in times of trouble". We find him absolutely trustworthy and unendingly faithful in his love and kindness toward us as he will never forsake all who seek him.

This passage reminds me of another passage I often think of, Jeremiah 9:24, "'I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,' declares the Lord."

What a wonderful expression of the nature and character of our Lord that David provides us in this psalm!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Magnificent Majesty of the Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 8:1,

"Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

Just like bookends, as they say, this phrase both begins and ends this wonderful psalm of David. The majesty of the Lord, of his name, captures David's thoughts and focus in this psalm. David points to the reach of God's majesty impacting even little ones, "children and infants". God's majesty even brings praise from them!

David rightfully observes that the grand magnificence of the Lord's majesty renders the obvious question: why does he even give us a second thought? Nevertheless he has given us our place in his creation, a creation that is overwhelmingly dominated by his majesty.

Although the majesty of the Lord may be lost on some, whatever loss there may be with them is due entirely to the shallow perception they share with the rest of lost and fallen mankind - walking around in a spiritual darkness.

There is a very important and practical function of God's majesty in this life - it draws people to him. The entire purpose of this age in which we live is to find God and embrace him in faith. He is building his kingdom. We are quite naturally drawn to the magnificent, to the majestic, to that which is great and exalted.

As an example: people do not go to visit the Grand Canyon for the first time because "it ain't no big deal." People go to see it because of what they have heard of it. Think of those things you are drawn to. Your motivation to see, observe, know and experience those things for the first time is directly related to how magnificent, how majestic you have been led to believe they are. Follow up visits, follow up experiences are motivated by how grand you found them.

As the Lord draws men to himself, John 6:44, John 12:32, his majestic magnificence plays a key role when we share our excitement about the Lord with others. This is how, even in the presence of God's enemies, his foes, God's praise, even from children and infants is a stronghold for God's agenda of the redemption of mankind.


A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Man's Station Within Creation - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 8:5-8,

"You have made them [human beings] a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas."

God loves mankind so much that he gave his one and only Son to die a miserable death by crucifixion. In this way he satisfied his own sense of justice by accepting the punishment Jesus Christ took on himself for our sins. This is an expression of love that transcends any other. God loves mankind and when he made mankind he did so within the context David observes in psalm 8.

Team Cain, with its wretched leader, Satan, of course hates mankind due simply to the reason that God loves mankind. Satan has set himself against God, with the perverse thought that he wants to be God himself - a fool's errand. Satan has a future and that future is a fiery lake of burning sulfur. He ends up on eternity's ash heap - see Revelation 20:10.

In the meantime Satan opposes the things of God and seeks to thwart God's agenda, which includes attempts to diminish mankind - to rob God of opportunities to add to his kingdom through the gospel. Thus we have an environmental movement with the mindset that mankind is a special stain on Darwin's evolved earth. Team Cain's useful idiots have arrived at the notion that we need to reduce mankind's presence on earth (down to about a half billion world wide) and to reduce mankind's footprint on the face of mother earth. Abortion plays its part, as well as many other initiatives of Team Cain.

This morning, however, I am struck by the lies of Team Cain and how it's agenda and the tenets upon which its worldview is based is at odds with the simple observations of David in Psalm 8. Team Cain maintains man is a stain on earth (themselves excepted, of course) and that mankind must subordinate his existence for the benefit of nature.

David points out they have it all backwards. Nature is here to serve mankind, not the other way around.

By the way, Team Cain loses in the end, and will be sharing in the future that awaits its leader. Talk about choosing poorly!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Lord Probes! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 7:9,

"Bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure— you, the righteous God who probes minds and hearts."

David calls out to the Lord for deliverance from his enemies. He looks to the Lord to be vindicated and his enemies to be judged. He points to something we learn about the Lord in this psalm that facilitates this: God probes our minds and hearts!

Here is a sobering thought! God probes our minds and hearts! He actively examines what we think and what we feel. He knows our inner impulses, what motivates and drives us to say and do the thing we do. He knows not just the things we do, but everything that has led us to do what we do. He knows our imaginations, he knows our daydreams, he knows exactly what we are up to when we may think no one does.

This means there is no constitutional right to privacy, not even one speck of privacy we have from the Lord. As the writer of Hebrews says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13.

David observes in another psalm, "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely." Psalm 139:1-4. A few verses later in that psalm David goes on to say, "If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." Verses 11-12.

I don't know about you, but this is frightfully sobering to me! To think the Lord knows me inside out, that there is nothing he does not know about me leaves me with a tremendous appreciation for God's grace toward me- something I could never expect, and yet, there it is!

There simply is no way I could ever thank the Lord enough for his kindness, mercy, grace and love he has expressed to me in the face of all he knows of me! It is beyond my capacity to conceive given what he knows of me.

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

Unfailing Love! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 6:4,

"Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love."

In David's time of need he calls out to God and asks for relief from his anguish on the basis of God's "unfailing love."

The two chief aspects of God's nature that he wants us to know of is his justice and his love. God's justice is precise, it is bold, it is emphatic, it is pronounced and it is striking. Consider the cross that Jesus suffered on. God decided he wanted a people for himself, that he would gather certain ones (those willing to embrace him in faith) from the teeming masses of sinful mankind. In order to accomplish that, he had to satisfy his own sense of justice for those he chooses for himself by having his Son, Jesus Christ pay the penalty for their sins. That is not an act of "tipping your hat" at justice but an expression of precise, bold, emphatic, pronounced and striking justice!

Likewise, the cross Jesus suffered on manifested the nature of the love of God. God's love is precise, it is bold, it is emphatic, it is pronounced  and it is striking. Just look at what God's love for mankind drove him to do in sending his Son to make a way for us!

The greatest self-expression of God's character and nature was the expression he gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai and that he in turn shared with all of us. In Exodus 34:6-7 we read God saying of himself, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation." Love and justice!

When David called out to God in Psalm 6, and doing so on the basis of God's "unfailing love", he points to the faithfulness of that love. God's love is faithful in that it is unfailing. We read of that nature of God's love in many places. One place that my mind always turns to is Paul's comment in 1 Corinthians 1:8-9, "He [God] will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." Paul here affirms that those who have embraced the Lord in faith need never worry about losing their communion with God as he will keep us "firm to the end" and he bases this on the faithfulness of God.

The very thing David counted on (God's faithfulness) is the very thing Paul used to assure believers they never need to worry about losing their salvation: God is faithful! His love is unfailing! What we all know to be true and what the book of Proverbs points out is, "What a person desires is unfailing love", Proverbs 19:22.

The place to find that is where David looked: to God himself!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

David's Suffering - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 6:2-3,

"Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?"

David really had his struggles: he was faint, in need of healing, his bones were in agony and he was in a spiritually deep anguish. He was worn out from groaning, he wept all night (saying he drenched his couch with tears), his eyes were weak from sorrow and he had a lot of foes.

This is the man we read of in Acts 13:22, where God is quoted as saying, "I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do." God was pleased with him, so why was David suffering? Why hadn't God stepped in, arranged things in David's life long before his suffering to prevent it?

David did plead with God to intervene and bring him relief and God responded and brought that relief. At the and of the psalm we read, "Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer." Verses 8-9. Yet, it was not until after David had suffered, at least for a time, that the Lord stepped in and brought him relief following his pleading with God.

Today you often hear that since God loves us he doesn't want us sick or suffering or poor or whatever. That runs contrary to what we read in the Scriptures. David was a man of mighty faith. He struggled with sin, as we all do, and possibly this was the cause of David's suffering. However, unlike Psalm 51, where David pours out his contrite heart for his sin, we don't see any of that here. This psalm reads as though sin was not in the picture here with David. We find that to be the case in a number of psalms.

And it is not just David. We see a great number of heroes of the faith suffering. We read of it in the book of Acts and many other places. Since they suffered, why should we feel we ought to be immune from difficulties in this life? In fact, the Scriptures tell us to plan on it and embrace it. "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:3-4.

We are told to anticipate discipline from God's hand, "God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:10-11. Jesus told us he would discipline those he loves, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent." Revelation 3:19.

As we learn from David's life, we should not be expecting a bed of roses when we embrace Jesus Christ in our lives. Suffering, difficulties, struggles will accompany joy, love, the embrace of acceptance, an incredible anticipation for our new life in the next age and so many other wonderful things that are now ours as God's children. Both come our way.

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..

We Are One or the Other - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 5:4,

"For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome....  Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield."

In psalm 5 David observes two kinds of people: the "evil" and the "righteous". He doesn't mention any other kind of people because there exists no other kind. This is why the Scriptures are bent so much to teach us about the duality that exists in this life. "Good" and "evil", "sacred" and "profane", "clean" and "unclean", "righteous" and "unrighteous". God is teaching us we live a sinful existence in this life because of the reality of sin in our lives and that we need to be made righteous, we need to be made holy if we want to exist with him in the age to come.

We all come into this lost and fallen world as members of a lost and fallen race due to the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. We are born into this life in a hopeless condition of sinfulness. We are the progeny of sinful mankind and we have all sinned ourselves, each and every one of us.

This is why our hope in Jesus Christ is so wonderful. In the darkness of this lost and fallen world, a light, piercing that darkness, entered in: Jesus Christ! He gave his life on that miserable cross to pay the penalty for our sins so that each of us who embrace him will share in his righteousness. That is an amazing hope we all have before us!

I am reminded of the words of David in Psalm 145:17-20, "The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy."

This is the astonishing and wonderful message of Christmas!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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David: A Faithful Man - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 5:3,

"In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly."

In this psalm David brings his complaint to the Lord against the wicked. "Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies. Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you." Verses 9-10.

David also asks the Lord to bless the righteous in the land, "But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield." Verses 11-12.

I note that David, in seeking the Lord's ear on the matter, pleads with him to hear his "lament." As he does so, he reminds the Lord of his faithfulness in seeking the Lord in his requests and waiting expectantly every morning - daily!

David was man of faith and also a faithful man. No "fair-weather" worshipper here!

How about us?

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Joy in This Life and the Next! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 4:2,

"How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?"

David begins this psalm by calling on God to answer, to bring him relief from his distress. However, in the second verse he abruptly turns his attention and addresses the unfaithful in the land. In his stinging rebuke of those who pursue fake religion, he demands to know how long they will persist in following their "false gods". Some things never change, do they?

David makes clear to them that in following their false religion they are placing themselves outside of God's tent and that the Lord sets apart only the faithful (to him) for himself.

We read in other passages of Scripture (such as Revelation 21:8) that those on the outside of God's camp will suffer an eternity of judgment, while those who are faithful to God will enter into "Eden Restored", see Revelation 22:1-5. Eternal life, joy in God's presence, "with eternal pleasures at your [God's] right hand." Psalm 16:11.

While David had the more temporal view in this psalm, with his focus on where a productive harvest comes from and who it is that can provide safety and security, his meditation provides all we need for an eternal perspective. As we read of the joy David experienced as one of God's faithful, we think of our own joy, both in this life and the one to come!

This is simply a beautiful psalm!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Confidence in Prayer - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 4:1,

"Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from
my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer."

David asks the Lord to hear his prayer. Obviously he knows the Lord
will listen to his prayer, else the psalm would be meaningless. David,
yet again, is struggling and so asks the Lord for his help. At the end
of the psalm, David acknowledges his confidence the Lord will answer,
"In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me
dwell in safety." Verse 8.

David, though not a perfect man, was a man of faith. As we read of
David's life we see he struggled with sin, as we all do. However, his
faith prompted him to seek mercy, forgiveness for his sins, relief
from difficulties, and blessings from the Lord in prayer. David was a
man of prayer. Not only do we share in David's shortcomings as a
sinner, those of us who have embraced the Lord in faith as David did
share his confidence the Lord listens to our prayers.

We are told in Ephesians 6:18, "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions
with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." In Philippians
4:6-7 we are told, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every
situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Paul instructed his young protege, Timothy, "I urge, then, first of
all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made
for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live
peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good,
and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to
come to a knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4.

James observes why we should all pray, "The prayer of a righteous
person is powerful and effective." James 5:16. The reason the prayer
of a righteous person is powerful and effective is that the Lord
welcomes our requests. John spoke to this, "This is the confidence we
have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his
will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we
know that we have what we asked of him." 1 John 5:14-15.

I love the way the writer of Hebrews encourages us in prayer, "Let us
then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may
receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews
4:16.

May our confidence in approaching the Lord in prayer be as determined
as David's was!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here:
http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send
me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are
receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just
respond and let me know.

Making Enemies - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 3:1,

"Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!"

David appears here to be somewhat unexpectant at the number of enemies
he had generated against himself. Perhaps I'm reading a bit much into
this verse, but I can't help but think the inflection in his voice as
he sought the Lord's deliverance from them as being on the order of
"Just look! So many enemies! It is overwhelming to me!"

David certainly could have cultivated many enemies through his
constant warring with neighboring peoples. The politics alone, as
king, would certainly generate enemies, no matter how honorably he
might discharge his duties as king.

However, I think there may be another reason he had amassed such a
number of enemies: he placed himself squarely in the midst of God's
agenda and did those things that the Lord wanted. He was actively
pursuing his part to play in the grand agenda of God - the ultimate
redemption of mankind.

David played a pivotal role in moving the nation in the direction God
wanted to bring his own Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. As God
carried forward his redemption of mankind, David played an early
pivotal role as king of Israel. David was not a perfect man (there has
only been one of those), but he was a man of deep faith. God said of
him, "I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he
will do everything I want him to do." Acts 13:22.

Anyone who chooses to work together with the Lord as he pursues his
agenda of the redemption of mankind will find plenty of opposition,
plenty of enemies.

How about us? can we measure how given we are to God's agenda by the
enemies we generate for that purpose alone?


A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here:
http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

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me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are
receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just
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Two Themes in Psalm 3 - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 3:1-4,

"Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are
saying of me, 'God will not deliver him.' But you, Lord, are a shield
around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the
Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain."
Often times the view from further above something provides interesting
patterns, cohesion, and even additional sense and meaning. I believe
the book of Psalms provides that very thing. The reading of larger
portions of the book (not just a psalm here and there) on a frequent
basis provides clearly defined themes not so easily seen otherwise.

I certainly do not advocate the subordination of word studies,
analysis of grammar, identifying figures of speech, and the other
tools typically used to study the Scriptures as these are all very
important, but a "bird's eye view" provides some interesting themes
that may not be as apparent.

Not all psalms are the same, of course. Different psalms provide
different messages or expressions of the heart. Some constitute hymns
of praise and worship, some are penitential in nature (confession of
sin, expressed sorrow for sin, etc.), some are considered to be
"wisdom psalms" that describe and prescribe the way to live life as
God designed it, and some are even "imprecatory", that is, they appeal
to God to pour out his wrath on enemies, a curse.

Beyond our understanding of the nature and message of each psalm, I
believe we see some themes that are expressed throughout the entire
collection of psalms (and throughout the entire Bible itself). The
first four verses of Psalm 3 express two of these many themes that can
be found: the first is that mankind has problems and the second is
that God is the very one man needs to flee to for relief, to find a
refuge, to bring a solution for his problems. These two themes (as
well as others) are developed throughout the entire book and have
specific purpose for us.

That purpose, particularly when expressed in so many different ways
and circumstances in the book, teach us two things God wants us to
know:

1. Mankind is lost and fallen, estranged from God living in a lost and
fallen world that is cursed. Consequently we all have problems! Even
David who wrote this psalm, whom God himself claimed to be "a man
after my own heart", Acts 13:22. You and I have problems as well as
every other person.
2. God is our refuge to find relief, protection, a refuge, the
solution and the Savior to go to for our problems.

Of course, the big problem we all face (and not explicitly stated in
this psalm) is that we have all sinned and face God's looming judgment
of us. That is a big problem. God sent his Son, Jesus Christ as our
refuge and our deliverer from his Father's judgment. It is this very
issue I believe why we see so many psalms providing us these two
themes in many ways.

These are not the only themes we see expressing themselves repeatedly
in the psalms, but they are of the most important in my estimation.


A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here:
http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

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me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are
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The Prophecy of Scripture - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 2:7-9,

"You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery."

The first part of this passage is quoted by the writer of Hebrews, where he writes of the superiority of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, over the angels. That passage in Hebrews is an amazing statement about him:

"For to which of the angels did God ever say, 'You are my Son; today I have become your Father'? Or again, 'I will be his Father, and he will be my Son'? And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, 'Let all God's angels worship him.' In speaking of the angels he says, 'He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.' But about the Son he says, 'Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.'" Hebrews 1:5-9. The writer quotes Psalm 2:7, 2 Samuel 7:14, 1 Chronicles 17:13, Deuteronomy 32:43, Psalm 104:4, and Psalm 45:6,7.

In those three verses, the writer of Hebrews quoted 3 psalms as well as three other passages from the Old Testament. It is said that the book of Psalms itself is quoted over 400 times in the New Testament (see "Encountering the Book of Psalms: A Literary and Theological Introduction, Hassell Bullock). This points the the amazing interrelationship between the Scriptures written by the various 40 plus human authors. It also points to the common author of them all: the Holy Spirit.

The apostle Peter reminds us, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things.  For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:20-21.

As such, we find many things recorded in the Psalms, as well as the many other books, to be instructive of things to follow. Psalm 2:7-9 is certainly one of these.


A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Rebelling Against the Rule of God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 2:1-3,

"Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, 'Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.'"

This, of course, is a rhetorical question for our own observation. The Lord is fully aware of why the "nations" are in an uproar over the dominance of our Creator over his creation. Mankind is lost and fallen and at enmity against his Creator. Further, those who are estranged from God are under the influence and manipulation of the spiritual dark side in its rebellion against God.

In spite of the utter futility and insanity of rebelling against God, mankind, in its myopic, limited, and distorted vision is simply too shortsighted to see the folly in opposing the rule of God over his creation. As a result, the nations and peoples of the world have given themselves to very unenlightened and confused notions that communicate mankind's rebellion against God. Much of this is expressed in politics, the arts, academia and "news" media.

It gets expressed in uneducated and ill-informed notions of "evolution", fake religions, rebuilding the Tower of Babel through globalism and socialism, insistence upon acceptance of all that represents dying and decaying mental fitness, as in killing our babies through abortion, the embrace of the mental disease of transgenderism, the debauchery of homosexuality and pediphilia, and on and on...

The utter futility and insanity of rebelling against God is seen in verses 4-6 of this psalm, where we see God laughing at the foolishness of little man shaking his little fist at God Almighty! We are told the Lord scoffs at rebellious mankind and rebukes them in his anger. These unenlightened "rulers" of mankind will find that God has his own ruler that he installs over all mankind: his Son, Jesus Christ.

These rebellious people of the world will not be able to enjoy life in the kingdom of God with Jesus Christ sitting on the throne over all mankind as they will have been cast into a "fiery lake of burning sulfur", Revelation 21:8.

As I say, this rebellion against God and his anointed is utterly futile and insane. Knowing these things helps us to understand why it is we so much that bewilders us - how people can be so crazy...

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Thriving in the Word of God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 1:3,

"That person [the person who delights and meditates in the Scriptures] is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers."

The above simile expresses to us that the righteous person, the person who does not go the way of the wicked and who meditates in God's word, is like a tree planted by streams of water.

I suspect that most of us have been in an arid location that has little rainfall. Not much vegetation, not many trees. Some locations are so hostile to plant growth and tree growth that they are barren. However, at times a river may run through an area like this and so the spectacle is a barren landscape with a river running through it with green stripes on both sides, stripes of trees and undergrowth. The Colorado River comes to mind...

Areas of Palestine are arid and feature rivers where vegetation only grows along their banks. Both the psalmist and his audience would be well acquainted with this natural setting.

I love this simile in that just as trees were created and designed to flourish in an environment that provides water, so too, man was created and designed to flourish in the environment of God's word. Just as a tree can't survive without water, so we struggle to survive without making God's word the rich, well-watered soil where our lives can thrive.

Recall the words Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman he met at a well, "whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14.

I am also reminded of Revelation 21:6, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life."

Maybe that thirst you are feeling is a thirst that only God's word can satisfy and bring about some needed change to your life, "whatever they do prospers."


A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

The Way of the Righteous - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 1:6,

"The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction."

The psalmist here recognizes two kinds of people, and only two kinds: the righteous and the wicked. Not three or four or whatever, and there is no "in between". The Scriptures consistently support this approach in looking at mankind. We exist in either the camp of the righteous or the camp of the wicked.

I note here that both the righteous and the wicked have their own, differing "ways." The "ways" do not make them one kind or other, rather, those ways reflect which they are.

Here in this psalm we read that the wicked are like chaff that the wind blows away, referring to the looming judgment they will face from God himself at the end of the age, "the wicked will not stand in the judgment", verse 5. I suspect it may also refer to the uselessness of their lives in not fulfilling the purpose for which God created mankind in the first place. We also read the wicked have no standing among the other group, the "righteous", in that the wicked do not belong among the righteous - something that we will see in the resurrection.

In this psalm we read of the "ways" of the righteous. They do not "walk in step with the wicked" or "stand in the way sinners take" or "sit in the company of mockers". The righteous delight in the "law of the  Lord", a reference to the Scriptures as they existed at the time of the writing of this psalm - they meditate (ruminate!) on the Scriptures "day and night", verse 2.

Some of the blessings of the righteous are enumerated here. "That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers." Verse 3. We also read in verse 6 that "the Lord watches over the way of the righteous."

The righteous do not become what they are by meditating in Scripture continually, verse 2. That activity is a reflection they have become one of the righteous. We become one of the righteous by embracing Jesus Christ in faith, "But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." Romans 3:21-22.

Since the righteous delight in the law of Lord, the Scriptures, and that delight is reflected in their meditating in it, ruminating in it, it indicates which camp we are in.

So, what camp are you in?  

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

So, What's a Chiasm? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 22:1-5,

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. "

A chiastic literary structure is found in a variety of places in the Scriptures. A "chiasm" is a literary device that follows a progression of thought to a mid-point and then reverses and mirrors itself. It is named after the Greek letter "chi" which looks like our letter "X". You notice the left side of X starts at top, goes down and in to the middle and then goes back out to the bottom. It could be represented in the following figure of expression:
A
     B
          C
     B
A

A chiasm can have two, three or even more levels to it. Note Mark 2:27, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." This verse follows a very simple chiasm:
A
     B
     B
A

As I say, there can be simple to more complex chiasms found in many passages of Scripture. Watch for them, because when the literary device is employed and recognized by the reader, they can be helpful to understand what is being presented. As an example, can you see the chiasm in Isaiah 1:21-26?

What fascinates me this morning is that Revelation 22 completes a chiasm of progression of the whole of God's revelation to us regarding the affairs of mankind relative to himself. It is not a chiasm of verses, but of the totality of mankind's existence itself. It begins in Genesis and ends in the close of the book of Revelation:

Mankind lives in Eden with God
     Mankind falls through sin and lives in a cursed existence
          God pursues his agenda of redemption of mankind
     Mankind is redeemed from sin and the curse is lifted
Mankind lives in restored Eden with God

The structure of mankind's history from creation to eternity follows this simple device found throughout Scripture!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trustworthy and True Words - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 22:6,

"These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."

This statement made to John by one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls "full of the seven last plagues" acknowledges that it is God who "inspires the prophets." The angel makes the statement when he tells John to publish this revelation given him, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near." Verse 10.

Because it was God himself who had sent his angel to reveal this revelation, the words of it are "trustworthy and true." The further observation is made that it is God who "inspires the prophets". John is referred to as a prophet in verse 9 where the angel talking to John claims he is a fellow servant with John and his "fellow prophets". In that John was given this revelation to pass on to us, he is functioning as a prophet in the truest sense of the office.

The book of Revelation is one of sixty-six books in our Bibles. The forty plus authors of these books are called prophets in that, as John, in his unique apocalyptic book here, along with his three letters and his gospel, were all inspired to do so by the Holy Spirit, with the intention those writings be passed along to us. This is the exact function of a prophet: to pass on to others what the Lord has said and intended to be passed to others.

The function of a prophet is a very unique and specific service. All prophets with their messages speak on God's behalf to others. As such, what they have to say is always "trustworthy and true." Peter tells us something of this in 2 Peter 1:20-21, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

This makes our Bibles a library of books like no other. The One who created us speaks to us in its pages! This being the case, I would think we all have every motivation we need to learn everything we can about what it says - and what it does say is always, without fail, "trustworthy and true."

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

"It is done" - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 21:5-7,

"He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' He said to me: 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children...'"

God himself speaks to John to declare "It is done." What exactly "is done"?

God's grand agenda of the redemption of mankind, borne of his unfathomable love to create a people for himself comes to an end and "a new heaven and a new earth" arises from the ashes of lost and fallen humanity existing in estrangement to God. Through the payment of sins by Jesus Christ, God's one and only Son, for all mankind, bringing a righteous standing before himself of all who chose to embrace him in faith, a new existence for all of God's people begins!

Resurrected from physical death, God's people enter into an eternal life within the presence of God himself! Eternal pleasures at his right hand (Psalm 16:11)! God wipes away all tears, no more death, no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain! This present world, with its order of things, passes away! God proclaims, "I am making everything new!"

The "it" that is done in this passage, is, as I say, God's grand agenda of redemption, and here he proclaims is successful completion. Today, there are those who participate with God to bring his plan of redemption to its successful completion, and there are those who oppose it.

Which team to you play on? When it comes to the successful completion of God's agenda, will you be one of the ones who participated with God, or one of those who opposed his successful completion of it?

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

The Great Deceiver - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 20:3,

"He [an angel coming down from heaven] threw him [Satan] into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended."

Satan is called the "accuser of our brothers and sisters" in Revelation 12:10. He accuses people before God. Why? Because Satan has been in rebellion against God and resisting him at every turn (an incredibly futile effort). Since God's great agenda for mankind is his program of redemption, Satan seeks to thwart that and one of his tactics is to challenge God's sense of justice by accusing before God those who God seeks for his kingdom. Satan is also the great Accuser.

This is the purpose for Satan's efforts at deceiving the nations. He influences them in a direction to hopefully inspire God's judgment. He finds those who are "willing idiots" to do his bidding.

Take America as an example. A nation founded by Christians, a nation whose motto is "In God we trust." A nation founded as such cannot be tolerated by Satan or even be seen to prosper by receiving God's blessings. This is why we see the senseless striving of all that is ungodly by those Satan influences. Why homosexuality? Why abortion? Why the distortions of our society by the "social justice warriors" that seek all things ungodly? In short, animated by the spiritual dark side, they provide grist for Satan's mill of accusation.

This is why Satan is called the "Accuser" and this is why he seeks to deceive nations.

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Considered as Sheep to be Slaughtered? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 20:4,

"I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God.They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years."

In the above verse John says he saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their faithful propagation of the gospel message.

We have all been given the responsibility to proclaim the gospel message, whether to family members, neighbors, to coworkers, to those where we relax and play. Peter tells his readers, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. " 1 Peter 3:15-16.

However, John tells us he saw in the revelation given him souls of those who lost their heads doing so. Why would God allow this?

I have often felt the interpretation of John's revelation has been skewed a bit by those who might wish to not have to live through some of the horrific things we read of within its pages. I know I have heard a number of times the thought that since God loves us, he wouldn't want us to go through those horrific things.

Leaving aside for now the debate over a "pre-trib rapture", and other discussions, the line of thinking that since God loves us, he wouldn't want us to have to go through horrific things is not supported by what we read in John's revelation. Supporting that meme will only cause confusion and consternation when what we see happens doesn't seem to square with what was preached behind the pulpit.

I am quite certain God has his own reasons why he allows things to happen, whether to enhance the quilt of those headed for perdition, to manipulate events to influence outcomes, or whatever. It is not my job to judge what God does - far from it! - and it certainly isn't my job to make assumptions about what God may or may not do, particularly when it  contravenes what we read in the pages of Scripture.

Paul's observation is what we all need to embrace. In his quote of Psalm 44, we read in Romans 8:36, "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." This might even be taken in a literal sense for some of us.

Just ask the folks John saw in his revelation!

A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.