Psalm 28

Of David.

1 To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, do not refuse to hear me, for if you are silent to me, I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.

2  Hear the voice of my supplication, as I cry to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.

3  Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who are workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors, while mischief is in their hearts.

4  Repay them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds; repay them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward.

5  Because they do not regard the works of the LORD, or the work of his hands, he will break them down and build them up no more.

6  Blessed be the LORD, for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.

7  The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

8  The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

9  O save your people, and bless your heritage; be their shepherd, and carry them forever.

A Psalm ascribed to King David.

Some have suggested that this prayer was written when David found himself faced with a rebellion led by his son Absalom.[1] Since that time this has been a prayer used by people who find themselves struggling with “the wicked... and workers of evil” (Ps 28:3). The answer is to choose to believe that “The Lord is my strength and shield” – even when this is not readily evident.

There are moments when we need to stand firm against those who seek to do that which is evil. We can find strength for this in songs and prayers that affirm the presence of a good God who stands against evil by strengthening people who work for good.  

You might want to use this Psalm as your prayer for this weekend.

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[1] 2 Samuel 15.

A Commitment to Ethical Living

2Peter 1:1  Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2  May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.3  His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4  Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. 5  For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, 6  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, 7  and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. 8  For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.9  For anyone who lacks these things is short-sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. 10  Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. 11  For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

Here we discover a benchmark for Christian character: faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, mutual affection and love. These values – an ethic for a Christian life -transcend culture, history and location. These are the qualities of life that “keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”. 

These values do not mysteriously appear in our character. Instead they are the product of a deliberate commitment to daily practice.  The invitation is to “confirm” the call of God on your life by choosing to live these Christian values.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

Words: Fran­ces R. Ha­ver­gal, Feb­ru­a­ry 1874.

Ordinary 19

41 Prayers and Promises

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 255.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

Consider it Nothing but Joy

James 1:1  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2  My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, 3  because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; 4  and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. 5  If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. 6  But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; 7  for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 9  Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, 10  and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. 11  For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same way with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away. 12  Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

The writer of this letter addresses the divisions within the Christian community towards the end of the first century.  The writer uses the cultured Greek of the wealthy to address the widening gulf between rich and poor church members.  Those who think of wealth as a sign of God’s blessing are bluntly informed: Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field.  

We who are so easily seduced by wealth, and so readily idolize wealthy people, need to hear the truth that the rich will “wither away”. Only those who resist the temptation of greed will discover the blessings of God (James 1:11-12). We discover our spiritual health when we relinquish our greedy pursuit of wealth and possessions. When we trust God “who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly” we are able to become generous, compassionate people (James 1:5).    

Let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich"
Let the blind say, "I can see"
It's what the Lord has done in me

Hosanna, hosanna
To the Lamb that was slain

"What The Lord Has Done In Me"
originally by Reuben Morgan: Hillsongs

Ordinary 19

41 Prayers and Promises

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 255.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

Risky Living

Romans 4:13  For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14  If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15  For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. 16  For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17  as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations")--in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18  Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," according to what was said, "So numerous shall your descendants be." 19  He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20  No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21  being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22  Therefore his faith "was reckoned to him as righteousness." 23  Now the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone, 24  but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25  who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

Paul rejects a rigid adherence to law as the secret to a fulfilled life. Instead he advocates faith as the one essential in life “in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants”.  This is living life in a way that trusts the Spirit of God to lead us into each day, rather than an unthinking adherence to religious rules as the place of redemption.

Put differently, this is an invitation to what Jamie Buckingham helpfully termed “Risky Living”. The challenge of each day is to risk living under God’s guidance rather than trusting the religious rules we use to help us feel safe.    

Courage, brother, do not stumble,
Though thy path be dark as night;
There’s a star to guide the humble:
Trust in God and do the right.
Let the road be rough and dreary,
And its end far out of sight,
Foot it bravely; strong or weary,

Refrain

            Trust in God, trust in God,
            Trust in God and do the right.

Words: Nor­man Mac­le­od, 1857; first ap­peared as a po­em in The Ed­in­burgh Christ­ian Mag­a­zine.

Ordinary 19

41 Prayers and Promises

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 255.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

Reconciliation

2Corinthians 5:16  From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17  So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20  So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This letter suggests that Reconciliation begins when I view another person with fresh eyes. I am challenged to give up looking at that person “from a human point of view” and see that person instead through the eyes of Christ. This remembers that God is “reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them”. When I choose to set aside the sense of damage that has been inflicted on me - my injured ego – I have space to remember that God is also “entrusting the message of reconciliation to us”.

You’ve called me out of death 
You’ve called me into life 
And I was under Your wrath 
Now through the cross I’m reconciled 

Chorus: 
At the cross You beckon me 
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am 
Lost for words, so lost in love, 
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered 

Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle 

Ordinary 18

40 God’s Abundant Provision

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 249.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

God is not against us......

Romans 8:31  What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32  He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33  Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34  Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35  Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36  As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered." 37  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39  nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This passage is written against a backdrop of a Jewish Christ-following community that believed God rewarded righteous people with long life, wealth, and children. Conversely, God was thought to withdraw from the unrighteous, allowing hardship, suffering, poverty and even death to become their punishment.  Paul wrote to correct this:  he posed the question “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”  The answer is emphatic: nothing that has traditionally been called God’s punishment “will be able to separate us from the love of God”.

When tough times come along, they are not a sign of God’s displeasure. Instead God accompanies us through every moment of the hardships of life. And because of the Divine presence “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

o    Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

                                                                         Horatio G. Spafford, 1873

Ordinary 18

40 God’s Abundant Provision

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 249.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

Treasured Possessions

Deuteronomy 7:6-14:  For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession. 7  It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you--for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8  It was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9  Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10  and who repays in their own person those who reject him. He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject him. 11  Therefore, observe diligently the commandment--the statutes and the ordinances--that I am commanding you today. 12  If you heed these ordinances, by diligently observing them, the LORD your God will maintain with you the covenant loyalty that he swore to your ancestors; 13  he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you. 14  You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock.

The people are called a “treasured possession” of God. This is deeply affirming for people who were “the fewest of all the people” and redeemed “from the house of slavery”.  Sadly, what was an act of Divine magnanimous compassion in the Exodus, had become a badge of exclusive privilege by the time of Jesus. He confronts the religious leadership of his day for the way they thought to claim exclusive ownership of God’s love.

Let those of us who have had an experience of Divine love be reminded that the love of God is given to share with other people, and not to cling to as a sign of spiritual superiority.  

Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.

 Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns for Those that Seek and Those That Have Re­demp­tion in the Blood of Je­sus Christ, 1747.

Ordinary 18 

40 God’s Abundant Provision

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 249.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.