Two Prayers for Blessing: one Holy, the other ungodly

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us..."  (Psalms 67:1)

The first part of this snippet from Psalm 67 is one that preaches well, is encouraging, is upbeat, and is just what our narcissistic nature craves. Face it, we ALL want to hear/say/pray and hopefully experience God's bounty and blessing in our lives. But what I see is that while we would jump all over any of the "prosperity preachers" for selling this from their pulpits the psalmist is writing with an entirely different purpose in mind. The psalmist qualifies the hoped for blessing, "...that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations."  (Psalms 67:2) The psalmist's prayer is not anthropocentric (self-centered) but Theocentric (Christ centered). 

The RCV (Revised Cripe Version) might read: "God, take note of us, and bless us with all good things, most of all, the blessing of your hallowed Presence. Furthermore, bless us us in all things, in all ways "SO THAT we may be equipped, energized and supplied with everything we need TO EXPAND THY KINGDOM COME." Isn't this the very reason for our existence?

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I AM with you always, to the end of the age.”"  (Matthew 28:19-20)

This is NOT a missionary verse!  This is a Christ follower verse. So, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."  (Colossians 3:23-24)

Consequently, Psalm 67:1 is a perfectly excellent prayer if prayed biblically. 

Participation Awards Coming to the Olympics?

Simone Biles is arguably the greatest gymnast of her era. And so in a world utterly unhinged from any objective anchor of truth but what one determines for themselves to be truth, we have just the latest iteration of the consequences of Divine rebellion. 

"In an effort to deter other gymnasts from trying skills they are not physically capable of doing, the International Gymnastics Federation watered down the value of a new element Biles plans to do at the world championships. That’s right. Penalize the reigning world and Olympic champion who is almost cautious when it comes to adding difficulty, for the potential recklessness of others." (USA Today)

As a former gymnast let me put this in simpler terms. In any "routine" which consists of individual movements  you are scored not only on the success of how you complete the movements of your routine, but also on the "difficulty" of each particular movement in the routine.  Meaning two competitors could complete their routines with an identical performance score but one competitor's routine consisted of a move or moves which were scored at a greater difficulty. So if one had a double twisting, double somersault in an otherwise identical routine as their competitor who only had a double twisting, single somersault, the greater difficulty routine would prevail. It's that simple and logical. 

Simone Biles is far and away better than the rest so the Olympic Federation wants to essentially penalize the superior athlete for being too good. What is at work here originates at the heart of Divine rebellion. God is the One who defines right and wrong, truth and falsehood, light and dark good and evil. The Scriptures tell us that all things hold together only because there is a loving Creator who, as the writer of Hebrews states, "...upholds all things by the word of His power...."  (Hebrews 1:3) Mankind can ignore God's ownership, rule and authority over all things but they do so to their peril. The apostle Paul explains that the consequence of usurping Divine authority and rule over all things comes at a deadly price. 

"Therefore [because of the world's rejection of God's ultimate Kingship] God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen."  (Romans 1:24-25)

In short--God says, "You wanna do it YOUR way be my guest but it won't be pretty." By the way, this was THE sin in the Garden of Eden. God said one thing, Adam and Eve became their own authority dismissing God's rightful place.  It has been chaos ever since. And it impacts EVERY aspect of life.  

So what's next?  Maybe participation awards will become the next step for the world of competition. Crazy as that sounds today, imagine transgendered males competing against female champions. In some warped sense of "fairness" participation awards may be the next fruit of Divine rebellion.

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap."  (Galatians 6:7)

Pause before sinning...

David--KING David--called by God Himself, "a man after my own heart." Yet here he is having been laid out by his faithful friend and prophet Nathan who boldly sets a verbal trap for the king.  Using what Trent and Smalley, "The Language of Love" call an emotional word picture, Nathan side steps the expected self-justification, denial, mind your own business, "Do you know who I am" kinds of responses that everyone tends to run to when hammered point blank with a failing. David's lust compelled him to steal another man's wife--Bathsheba--and then trying to cover it up, arranges for her husband-- Uriah--to be killed in battle.  It doesn't get much worse.

Instead of the wise prophet laying out the facts and pronouncing judgement on the king, he tells him a story about a nasty man who ruthlessly takes a poor man's pet lamb and has it slaughtered for dinner. Mind you the nasty man was himself, rich and had his choice of flocks of livestock. 

Nathan asks the king, "What should be done to this man?"  Hearing the grave injustice, David is livid exclaiming the rich man deserves death!  Nathan says, "YOU are that man..." Without defense, David humbly repents. Psalm 51 is David's written confession and adoration for the grace God extends to him.

"Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge."  (Psalms 51:1-4)

Don't be confused when reading the inspired Word of David's confession. "Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight." Of course David sinned against Uriah and Bathsheba but ultimately every offense of mankind is against the Creator first and foremost. When the prodigal son returns home (Luke 15) having reaped the consequences of his self-absorbed life, he says to his father, "I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son."  (Luke 15:21)

Every sin is first and foremost against Heaven. The cross was and is the only hope for any of us regardless how major or minor the sin may be.  But what seems unimportant to us in the casual ways in which we sin against our spouse, children, employer, friends and even our enemies, is an offense against the Creator who suffered the cross absorbing the consequences of even the least of our sins. "He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor 5:21)

Many people of faith have a fair grasp on the idea of a gracious Savior dying for our BIG sins. But it is a different matter when it comes to the day by day, minute by minute(?) sins we take for granted. This is why all of humanity is in the same boat.  "The wages of sin is death..." Paul writes the church at Rome and the Psalmist writes, ""Every one has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one."  (Psalms 53:3)

Remember Jesus' words, "Whatever you have done to least of these you have done it unto me." Perhaps remembering BEFORE you blow that gasket, or cheat the clerk who undercharged you, the Christ follower is covered by His blood for sure, and thus forgiven. But your offense is no less offensive to the very One who bled, died and rose again. For by grace you have been saved... And it is the kindness of the Lord that leads one to repentance, not for the purpose of living another day to sin more but to sin less, to the glory and praise of His name. 

Where is God When He is Silent? Job Figured it out...

I am reading the book of Job in my annual trek through the Bible. It's a book that has always intrigued me and one that I believe few have ever really read much less meditated on it.  Illustration? What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word JOB! If you said, "fill out an application" *maybe this isn't the forum for you.  Seriously though, did you think PATIENCE? How many times have we heard "The patience of Job" used as a plaudit for someone who is bearing up under prolonged duress with tenacity and aplomb?  Truth be told from my vantage point patience doesn't even enter the picture. Job is a man of faith in the midst of unspeakable hardship. As a reader I have to remind myself that I come to Job's plight with information Job never had. That information changes everything.  

 

I love the book, precisely because WE have information Job never had. There was a spiritual chess match in the heavenlies between the Almighty and Satan and Job was a literal pawn on the board. (My apologies if you don't understand Chess.)  Either way the book needs to be read and reread.  

 

The brief: -- Over a brief time Job has essentially lost everything; his wealth, his security, his children, his health, and his friends. Job begins to question the benevolence or more, the justice of his Creator. The more Job inquires for some plausible explanation to his circumstances the louder the silence of God became. Enter the "friends..." to the rescue.  

 

While each one vehemently offered Job their expert assessments for his suffering their council was the same: "God is always right, He never makes a mistake so you obviously screwed up in a big way. Just embrace whatever it is you did, say you’re sorry, and everything will be just fine."  

 

Ironically, many of the attributes of God the friends mention are pretty much spot on. But their puny understanding of the Sovereign Almighty was woefully deficient even if well intentioned. (Yes that makes me wince if not gulp when I contemplate my life of teaching and counseling over the decades.) 

 

Bottom line--Job was being forthright in his self-assessment which we know because of the opening verse of the story. 

 

Because of verse 1. "There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil."  (Job 1:1) 

 

WE know Job is right all along; he wasn't being punished for anything he had done or failed to do. BUT JOB DOESN'T KNOW THAT. And so he protests asking, then demanding that God give him audience to explain what is going on.  But again--all Job hears is silence. And that silence means God doesn't care, God is busy, God can't be bothered, God is unfair. 

                                                  You ever been there? 

Then today it dawned on me. As time went on Job's suffering was magnified by God's silence which intimates God's absence.  And yet as we see looking from the outside in with a heavenly perspective it was when the Lord seemed the furthest away to Job that He was actually the closest. At the point where God seemed distant, aloof, uncaring and uninvolved, He was perhaps NEVER closer to Job in his life; never more attentive to the circumstances he was undergoing. 

 

The Lord was observing, previewing, approving, superintending, restricting and overseeing everything that befell Job. But Job had NO idea that he was actually God's shining star, the Creator's paragon of faithfulness and virtue, entrusting to this very normal and flawed man, a Divine confidence in his faithfulness, fortitude and endurance against the prince of darkness himself.  

 

If you were the one selected for this role where could you possibly find greater commendation knowing God Himself was putting you up as "His person"?  

 

But Job never knew and yet God says to Satan himself, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."  (Job 1:8)  Have at him!  He will not disappoint me.  

 

Who wants such a calling? I mean seriously. Um, thank you Lord but if you don't mind I think I'll pass on this one. Job--WOW! Just Wow!  

One lesson from the troubled life of Job

 This morning my eyes caught the headline from yesterday's WSJ about the scurrilous, ongoing assault against the previous President called impeachment. Reliably, "my" Senator, Susan Collins (R)ino is with the Democrats in yet again another unfounded if not unconstitutional attach.  In my reading Job this morning I am lifted up.

""Do you know this from of old, From the establishment of man on earth, That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless momentary? "Though his loftiness reaches the heavens, And his head touches the clouds, He perishes forever like his refuse; Those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?' "He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him; Even like a vision of the night he is chased away. "The eye which saw him sees him no longer, And his place no longer beholds him. "His sons favor the poor, And his hands give back his wealth. "His bones are full of his youthful vigor, But it lies down with him in the dust."  (Job 20:4-11) 

A lot of people seem not to like the parts of the Bible that underscore the fact that there actually is a Day of reckoning.  It means that no one gets away with anything--ultimately. There IS a Day of Judgement before the One Who is perfectly Just.  I suppose there may be two reasons for this. The first is that such a sentiment just doesn't ring true with our personal experience of life. The bad advance, the good are punished. How often do we see people of "status" getting away with serial wickedness? The second reason is because of biblical ignorance, most people recoil at the thought (and evidence) of a "GOD" who gets angry much less who vows to right all the wrongs of the world which means severe unpleasantries to those who practice all manner of wickedness. So how does Job fit in here?

The Lord Himself tells us in the opening verse of Job's saga, he "was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil." (Job 1:1) Never-the-less, all Hell breaks forth against Job--literally--and Job is beside himself unable to figure out what he had done wrong to deserve it. Enter Job's friends who were quick to tell Job in so many words that he needed to own up to his obvious wretchedness and his tragic life would be uprighted.  

It's not an uncommon knee-jerk reaction for most of us. "Well he must have asked for it...," "I don't know but I'm sure she deserved it..." So before we're quick to hammer Job's friends, remember they didn't have the Divine revelation telling them at the outset what a stellar individual their friend was. 

But what makes me all warm and fuzzy is the irony of Job's colleagues self-righteous ire as they excoriate their afflicted friend--who we are told is blameless--while they are up to their knees in self-righteous crap.  God is so annoyed with them that he tells Job to pray for them lest God steps in to shut them up. What's equally amazing is that Job actually does.  I'm not sure I'd do that...

So it was good for me to be reminded that all the injustices, which have been piled on the previous POTUS over the past 4 years, will ultimately cave in on the smug accusers who are guilty of all they protest. But also let us be mindful that we too are susceptible to the same myopic view of things.

God is in Control...But!

“God’s in control!”      How many times through out the Trump presidency have I heard this exclaimed as the be-all, end-all answer to whatever new revelation of abject lawlessness had arisen that week. (For clarity, the lawlessness to which I am referring is not the [proven] baseless accusations against the POTUS, but rather the [proven] lawlessness of the incessant Trump-haters fabricating serial accusation after accusation.)

 

It seems to me that anyone who is informed, and has a pennies worth of objectivity would be and should be outraged. God is in control. It is true in every sphere of life. But--"Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil."  (Ecclesiastes 8:11) 

 

You have probably seen some iteration of a list of the top ten “problems” teachers had to deal with in the 50’s compared to latter decades. In the 50’s I was sent to the principal’s office for talking in class, throwing snowballs on school property, and having a fight—with my brother.  A few years later, first day student Gini D., a new student from California, was kicked out of sophomore geometry for wearing a mini-skirt and Mrs. Wienberg worked the halls separating boys and girls who had their arms around each other.

 

Parents became advocates for their child’s “rights” to wear whatever they wanted with the ACLU joining in even filing lawsuits on behalf of the child.  Not surprisingly discipline of any stripe became another form of child abuse. In a few years, instead of smoking in the bathrooms, kids were dropping acid, popping pills, and shooting up a few years later.  Instead of concern for arms around waists, condoms were readily available from the school with practical life lessons on numerous “how-to’s” to make it all “safer.”  And the times they keep a changin!

 

Richard Nixon was my commander in chief when Watergate became a household word. The clarion cry of the 70’s was, “No one is above the law!”  President Richard Nixon resigned in ignominy and rightly he should have. But looking back, the “crime” of the 70’s that brought down a president in merited disgrace is truly laughable when compared to the scurrilous conduct of presidents that followed. Evil has only escalated in both volume and depravity. Oh but God is in control…

 

Well God is indeed in control. A sweep of biblical history removes any doubt about that. But what does that mean?  In facing the troubles of our times whatever the epoch do we cue up Doris Day singing Que Sera, Sera, [look it up]  put on the coffee, remain aloof of the machinations of a culture run amuck with boundary-less autonomy, godlessness, and relativism? Explaining the messy transfer of power from King David to Solomon Donald Carson affirms, God is in control--BUT:

 

“The sovereignty of God works through the complicated efforts of his people. When David is informed of the problem, he does not throw his hands into the air and pray about the situation: he immediately orders that decisive, symbol-laden, and complex steps be taken to ensure that Solomon ascends the throne. Trust in God's sovereign goodness is never an excuse for inactivity or indolence. Long years of walking by faith have taught David that whatever else “walking by faith” means, it does not warrant passivity. If we are to avoid acting in defiance of God, or in vain efforts to be independent of God, we must also avoid the pietism that is perennially in danger of collapsing trust into fatalism.”  

D.A. Carson  For The Love of God

Where's the joy of salvation?

“We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God’s coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God’s coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us. The coming of God is truly not only glad tidings, but first of all frightening news for everyone who has a conscience.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

Years ago Barbara and I watched a video put out by New Tribes Missions about a couple who tried to get on the “mission field” but didn’t have the “right” credentials for various agencies to which they applied. They were older than the typical candidates, not as educated etc. New Tribes Missions accepted them and they went off to New Guinea to work with the Mauk people where there had never been a gospel witness. After learning the language they spent the first *3-6 weeks solely in the Old Testament. *(The exact time may be wrong; this was over two decades ago…so ya know, memory...)

 

After focusing on the OT stories of law, sacrifices, and judgment the Mauk tribe was nearly despondent as they came to understand the gravity of sin and its consequences.  THEN—The missionaries spent the next weeks giving them the glorious news of grace, mercy and faith.  As their eyes were beginning to open to the glorious realties of salvation by faith made possible by God’s own sacrifice of His Son, the tribe exploded into raucous celebration of relief that there is a way out of the horrible grip of sin—His name is Jesus.  This celebration went on for days.

 

Could it be that the prosperous church of the West and elsewhere has so diminished the message of Good News, so as not to be offensive, rarely mentioning things like SIN, judgement, damnation, and eternal punishment, that the Good News, is hardly good news?

 

I don’t know how many of you reading this have been hungry. I mean ravenously hungry to where things you would never eat having the choice not to, actually looked and sounded pretty great. We are so blessed with bounty, and manifold choices, sitting down to a meal is hardly an “event” much less, cause for celebration. But to one who is truly starving, a slightly moldy crust of stale bread, and some cloudy water is life giving. In short, it’s hard to appreciate a sumptuous feast if you are bloated from sumptuous feasts as a matter of course. Food insufficiency in America is a mockery of "real food insufficiency" as I have experienced in Haiti and Central America. So the appreciation of what is in front of us is marginal at best.

 

When slave trader John Newton realized the wretched depths of his sin he was undone by the grace of God in providing him with the remedy of his polluted soul. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me..." was the out pouring of his gratitude--the lyrics flowing from unimaginable joy.

 

You don’t need to be an ex-con, murderer, pedophile, or addict to really appreciate the offer of salvation. All one need do is observe the cross, meditate on the fact that God Himself was the recipient of all your sin's wretchedness which put Him there. And don’t rush too quickly by Passion week: The brutality, the injustice, the derision, the whip-crack splitting Divine skin open and blood oozing and ultimately the cry of derision: “My God why have you forsaken me,” was all in your place.  “He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21)

I highly recommend investing 25 minutes in viewing the video referenced above. You'll be glad you did.   https://ethnos360.org/mission-videos-and-mission-photos/ee-taow-the-mouk-story