Monday, January 31

Monday

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.  Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.  In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.  It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.  The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.  The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.  They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.  By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.  Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.  Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.   

Psalm 19

C.S. Lewis called Psalm 19 the greatest poem in all the Scriptures.  It is truly a magnificent poem, full of depth and beauty and we will be spending time studying it each day throughout the week.  However, before we begin to break it down, examine specific verses and try to apply them to our lives, it is important that we read it first as it was originally intended – as a poem, a song of praise to God.  This Psalm is not primarily a text to dissected and examined, nor a list of facts to be memorized, it is a poem to be read in praise to God.  Former professor of Literature at Wheaton College, Clyde Kilby, once wrote that we cannot get the true impact of any poem until we have read it aloud five times slowly. 

My guess is that most of us don’t read much poetry at all, let alone repeatedly and out loud.  But the Psalms were written and intended to be read and sung aloud by God’s people.  C.S. Lewis wrote in his little book Reflections on the Psalms, “The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to teach me to express that same delight that made King David dance”. 

We are often in too big a hurry to get straight to the conclusion, we want quick answers and bullet point summaries of the Scripture.  Even our educational system trains us to read (to skim) for information, to quickly digest the necessary facts so that we can regurgitate them back on the test or exam.  But this is not the way to approach the Word of God.  The Bible is not a text that we master, it is the text that must master us!  When we read the Word of God, we should be reading for transformation, not merely information.  The truth is that you cannot read the Psalms in a hurry, not if you hope to be changed by them.  Psalm 1 tells us that the blessed person is the one who meditates on the law of God day and night.    The two primary Hebrew words for meditate are ‘Hagah’ – to growl, groan, or sigh, and ‘Siach’ – to ponder, or ruminate.  Eugene Peterson has written that these Hebrew words bring to mind the images of a dog growling with pleasure as he chews on his bone, and of a cow chewing its cud over and over again until it is ready to be swallowed. 

So, here is your assignment (should you choose to accept it), find some time today to read Psalm 19 five times out loud slowly.  Don’t just rush through this.  Read it slowly, meditate on it, “chew” on it, growl and sigh over it, swallow it.  If you keep a journal, you may want to write down your thoughts and observations about this Psalm.  If you are in a small group, you may want to share your insights or questions with your group.  If you commute to work, you might want to record your own reading of this Psalm and listen to it over and over as you drive or ride into work.  Remember, you are reading this Psalm for transformation, not for information, and not to check it off of your list of things to get done!

Friday, January 28

Psalm 16:8,11

Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Last April my wife and I celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary. To mark the milestone I started making plans for us to take a special three-day trip to a resort – just the two of us. I considered trying to make the trip a surprise – waiting until the day of our departure to tell my wife to pack her suitcase – but then I made what turned out to be a very wise decision. I told her about the trip two months ahead of time. Two things happened as a result of that decision. First, we had a lot of fun planning the trip together. But second, and perhaps more importantly, the anticipation of the trip created a sense of joy in each of us and in our relationship. Think about that for just a moment. How can something that has not happened yet create joy in the here and now? How can the future impact how we experience life now? We usually think that what we do in the present, the here and now, creates or shapes the future – the there and then. And this is, of course, true in many ways. Yet it is also true that the future, or our hope in – and anticipation of the future creates and shapes our present!

Psalm 16 ends with this sense of promises and therefore anticipated joy in the future that creates joy and gladness in the present. Read the words again:

Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

David is expressing both the joy that comes when we walk with God on the path of life NOW – and the joyous anticipation that I ours as we trust the promise of eternal pleasures in heaven THEN!

Take a few moments to read the whole of Psalm 16 again slowly and prayerfully. As you do – allow God’s promise of delight, gladness and joy to permeate your mind and heart!

Psalm 16:1-11

Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods,

I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.

Lord you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Brian Coffey

Thursday, January 27

Psalm 16:5-6

Lord you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

A number of years ago a man met me in my office to talk about problems he was experiencing in his life. His marriage was crumbling; his relationships with his children were strained; his relationship with God non-existent. As he told me his story he eventually confessed that he had pursued an extra-marital relationship with someone at his office. When I suggested that a good place to start would be to terminate that relationship and focus his energy on redeeming in marriage and family – he said, “But she makes me happy, doesn’t God want me to be happy?” I remember saying something like, “Whoa, time-out! Yes, God does want you to experience his joy in your life, but true joy is never, never, never found in sin!

Here David speaks of his “portion and his cup.” He writes, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” What does he mean?

I think he means that God has established the boundaries of our lives through his word and his will. When we live within those boundaries; when we acknowledge and trust his word and his will – we will receive and experience a delightful inheritance – joy. When we disregard his boundaries; when we insist on making our own rules – we will experience pain and brokenness. But the truth is – we all like to make our own rules. We all have this tendency to resist the boundaries that God has established for own well-being and joy.

When a parent tells a child not to play with matches, or not to play in the street – he or she is establishing boundary lines for the child. Those boundaries are intended for the child’s well-being and joy – and are motivated by love. Yet, quite often the child will experience those boundaries as being too restrictive – and as being that which inhibits their joy! And so the child will test or even violate those boundaries in pursuit of what he or she believes is freedom or fun – eventually with the result being pain, trouble, discipline – or all the above!

At this point in his life David has learned that God’s boundary lines can be trusted. He trusts that God is good and that God loves him enough to establish boundaries for his life. Furthermore, he trusts that the result of living within God’s boundaries will bring a delightful inheritance.

Are there places in your life where you are testing the boundaries of God’s word and will? Are you tempted, at times, to think you will be happier if you play in the street? If so, confess your struggle before Go – and ask him to help you trust his love for you enough to trust his boundaries for your life.

Brian Coffey

Wednesday, January 26

Psalm 16:7-8

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me.

I heard someone on the radio say the other day that, in general, it take a human being 10,000 hours to become proficient at some skill or an expert in some field. I don’t know what kind of research lies behind that statement – but when I stopped to think about it – it sounded reasonable to me.

10,000 hours is roughly the equivalent of 3 hours a day, 300 days a year for a little over 10 years. I can point to two things in my life to which that I know for sure I have dedicated that much intentional effort; shooting a basketball and the knowledge of God through his Word.

Growing up, I loved sports – and by the time I was 13 I fell in love with basketball. Looking back, I think one of the things I liked best about basketball was that I could practice by myself. Just me, a ball and a hoop – I didn’t need anyone else. I could spend hours and hours shooting shot after shot – both improving my skills and imagining playing high school of college ball. It wasn’t until later – after college – that I fell in love with God and his word. I had been a Christian since age eight – and, as a Pastor’s kid, probably knew more about the Bible than most of my peers – but it was in my early 20’s that I began to learn and experience what the Psalm means by:

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me.

David is talking about pursuing God. He’s talking about a passion to know God and his word; a passion to experience the joy and delight for which we were created.

Take a few moments to do a “10,000 hours” inventory of your life. In what kinds of activities, hobbies, pursuits or interests have you invested 10,000 hours (or at least a significant chunk of your life and energy)? Education? Proficiency in playing a musical instrument – or a sport? A hobby – like fishing, dancing or gardening? When you arrive at a short list of “10,000 hour pursuits” – you will have a snapshot of your life. Now ask yourself – where is God on my list of “passionate pursuits”?

Like my passion for shooting baskets – God is something – someONE – you can pursue on your own. You don’t necessarily need a coach or a team (although it certainly can help!) to pursue God. You need only a Bible, time and desire.

Ask God to rekindle your passion to know him; make prayer and his word one of your 10,000 hour pursuits. Commit yourself to being able to say, with David,

I have set the Lord always before me.

Brian Coffey

Tuesday, January 25

Psalm 16:1-11

Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods,

I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.

So, if God is a joyful being, which he is; and if the Bible is a joy-filled book, which it is; and if we are created to live in joy – why don’t we experience it more often? What defeats and destroys the joy that God wants us to know?

A few years ago I saw a little story about a corporate outing to the Great America amusement park in Gurnee, Illinois. Perhaps you have spent a day at Great America – or a similar amusement park. They are pretty much all the same – crowds of people; giant roller coasters; cotton candy and all kinds of attractions designed to create fun and excitement while simultaneously separating you from your money! My own personal theory to explain the existence of amusement parks goes like this: Our culture is so starved for genuine joy that we have created giant “artificial joy machines” (amusement parks) to give us a kind of simulated joy that lasts just as long as we are on the ride or in the park! That may be a little cynical – but I think there is at least a kernel of truth in the thought.

Back to the corporate outing: This group of adults went to Great America to have fun – and to experience the “simulated joy” offered by the roller coasters, etc., but wound up getting just the opposite when the roller coaster they were on malfunctioned and left them dangling upside-down 100 feet off the ground for two hours. In other words – they went looking for joy – but found the opposite!

So what turns our joy upside down?

The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.

Here David is talking about the gods of the pagan people that surrounded Israel. These “gods” demanded all kinds of detestable practices including the sacrifice of human blood – and they did not bring joy – but rather fear and terror. We may think there are no such pagan gods around us today – and we would be wrong!

If worship is to offer extravagant devotion to someone or something – then there is no shortage of candidates for the place of God in our lives! As human beings we are capable of offering our extravagant devotion to everything from money to our favorite sports team to a new car – and, if we do, the Bible says, our sorrows will increase.

This is another way of saying that we defeat our own joy when we misplace our affections. For when we misplace our affections it is inevitable that we will eventually misplace our worship, misplace our priorities and misplace our behavior.

So, is there any way in which you may have limited your own joy by offering your devotion to a “lesser god?”

Ask God to both restore and deepen your joy as you offer him your extravagant devotion!

Brian Coffey

Monday, January 24

Psalm 16:1-11

Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods,

I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.

Lord you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

A number of years ago someone gave me a 100-year-old “pulpit Bible” – that is, a Bible published for the purpose of being displayed on a pulpit in a sanctuary and read in public worship services. It’s an antique – and a beautiful piece of work – but it’s huge. It’s as big as a table-top and must weigh 15 pounds. If you dropped it – it would break your toes!

It strikes me that that’s the way many people think about the Bible. It’s big, thick, heavy, intimidating, out-of-date, and filled with arks, cubits, commandments and judgment. They don’t see the Bible as a particularly joyful piece of literature. And that’s perfectly understandable because most people haven’t taken the trouble to actually read the Bible. For when we read the Bible – we find that, from cover to cover, the Bible is shot through with joy!

Look at Psalm 16 again – and pay attention to the words and phrases in bold print. Words like:

Delight

Pleasant places

Delightful inheritance

My heart is glad

My tongue rejoices

Joy

Eternal pleasures

We were created by a joyful God who wants us to experience his joy. But what is joy? Is joy the same thing as happiness? Is joy what I feel when the Bears win? Does my joy evaporate when they lose? Or does joy run deeper than temporary happiness? Is there a kind of joy that is indestructible and enduring – even in the face of disappointment and pain?

I think that Psalm 16 is telling us exactly that – but notice where this kind of joy begins!

I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing.”

The Psalm is telling us that true joy begins with God. The Hebrew word for “joy” carries a meaning of “bright and shining” – like the face of a child right as the birthday cake is brought to the table. Why does the child’s face beam with joy? Because he knows that someone (Mom and Dad, family and friends) has taken delight in him – and celebrates him – and that creates joy.

Did you know that God takes delight in you?

Zephaniah 3:17 says,

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

I think that many of us carry in our minds an image of a God who is mildly irritated with us most of the time – rather than a God who takes delight in us and who rejoices over us with singing! So let me ask again: Do you know that God takes delight in you?

David is trying to teach us that joy begins when we take delight in the God who takes delight in us!

Ask God to help you trust and sense his delight in you – that you might take your delight in him!

Brian Coffey

Friday, January 21

Friday

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Those who are far from you 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 73:25-28

If you are just reading today’s blog and you have not read any of the previous devotionals from this week, let me encourage you to go back and read them, or at least to read the entire Psalm up to this point (warning: this will likely take you more than 10 minutes). 

The passage above is the culmination of the Psalmist’s journey through his struggle with doubt.  He began with some serious questions about the goodness and justice of God.  He ends with a glorious affirmation that God is the supreme desire of his heart.  The Psalmist (Asaph) has been thinking that he needed or at least wanted what the arrogant and the wicked had.  He had been deceived into thinking that he needed something more than God to be happy. But now he comes to realize that all he needs is God himself.  If he has God; the love of God, the guidance of God, the comfort of God, and the provision of God, then nothing what else could he possibly need?

Asaph finally realizes that he does not want what the ungodly have, because they do not have anything.  If they do not have God, they do not have anything!  He now sees the utter sufficiency of God.  In every situation or condition of life God is able to meet you and to supply all that you need.  No one else can do this, the Psalmist says. So he cries out, "What I want above all is God himself!"

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.   - Philippians 4:19

Asaph’s words have penetrated my heart time and time again, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (73:25-26) I cannot read those words without feeling a deep conviction that this is what I want too.  Yet, at the same time I must confess that too often I desire things on earth other than God.  I think we are all a little conflicted in this way, we want God, but we want other things too.

I remember when I was dating my wife. I was very much in love with her and we had both talked about the possibility of getting married someday.  However, I also had dreams and plans for my life.  I was nervous about commitment and I wasn’t sure how to reconcile “my plans” and our relationship.  The moment I knew that I was ready to be married was when I realized that if I didn’t have her, then I didn’t want any of my plans anyway.  She was what I really wanted above all of my plans.  She wasn’t meant to fit into my life, we were meant to create a new life together.  I think there is a strong connection between this little example and how God wants us to think about our relationship with him.  After all, Jesus does call us His Bride!

Have you come to the place where you realize that all of your plans and dreams for your life are meaningless if you do not have God?  Have you come to the point where you can say with the Psalmist that God is all you really need or want in life?  When Asaph says that God is his “portion”, he is saying that he is totally satisfied in God, he desires nothing else because he is already filled up with God.  When he says that God is the strength of his heart, he is saying that he can take anything life throws at him because he knows that God is with him.

His conclusion is, God does keep his word. In the words that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow made famous,

Though the mills of God grind slowly,

Yet they grind exceeding small;

Though with patience he stands waiting,

With exactness grinds he all.

 God does exactly what he says he will do. He is good to those who are upright and to those who have found purity of heart in him. He keeps them. Those who are far from Him shall perish; but those who draw near to God are and kept close.  So he resolves, "But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works."

Remember how James puts that same truth, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you," (James 4:8).  When you begin to search for God, to seek Him in the Scriptures or in the fellowship of other Christians, to expose yourself to the teaching of the word of God, or to pray before God, then you are drawing near to Him.  God promises that if you take one step toward him, he will take a dozen toward you.  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  That was the solution to Asaph’s struggle, and that is the ultimate answer to whatever you are facing – draw near to God!


Jeff Frazier

Thursday, January 20

Thursday

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.  Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Those who are far from you 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 73:21-28

The passage above describes the Psalmist (Asaph) as he looks back over his struggle and doubt.  He is reflecting on how foolish and shortsighted he was and how blind he was to the goodness and faithfulness of God.  One of the things that strikes me most about this is that Asaph is willing to reflect and think deeply about what his condition was and how got into such a mess. 

It’s one thing to cry out to God for mercy and help when you are in the midst of a crisis.  It is another thing to pause and consider (after the help has come and the crisis is over) what you can learn and how you can grow from that experience.  Many of us are familiar with the quote from the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” but how many of us are actually taking the time to examine our lives in the presence of God?

Asaph was willing to examine his life and to honestly face himself.  This is a difficult thing to do.  We do not like to do this. We do not mind working our way through our problem, but the minute we get relief we want to move on and forget about whatever it was that troubled us.  We do not go on to face up to what led us to this, what made us act like this.  That is why many of us keep going through the same problems over and over again.  Do you ever feel like you keep making the same mistakes, having the same doubts and struggles, or dealing with the same issues over and over again? 

I remember hearing a story (I have no idea if it is true) about a man who had worked for manufacturing company for 25 years.  A higher-level management position opened up that he really wanted, so he applied for the job.  He was turned down and when he later discovered that a person who had only been with the company for one year was hired instead of him, he was furious.  He stormed into the boss’ office and demanded to know why he was passed over.  He said, “why would you give this job to someone with only one year of experience when I have had 25 years of experience?”  His boss looked at him and calmly replied, “you have not had 25 years of experience, you have had one year of experience 25 times.”

The point is that most of us are too busy and distracted to take the time to really reflect and examine our lives before God.  We are not yet too far into the new year, how many of you have reflected on the lessons God has taught you over the past year?  We rush from one activity to the next, from one week to the next, from one year to the next, and we wonder why we often seem stuck in our spiritual lives.  Asaph has given us a window into his heart as he reflects on his life and on his spiritual struggles.  He saw what had caused his doubts.  He understood what led him to question God.  He saw how foolish and ignorant he was.  I am sure that this was not the last time Asaph ever had a question or a spiritual struggle.  However, I can’t help but wonder if he ever had this particular struggle again, my guess is that he probably did not. 

Did you notice in the passage above the amazing way that Asaph describes his ignorant condition and the moment when he realized that God was still with him?  He says that he was senseless, ignorant, and a brute beast before God.  Then comes the incredible realization; “yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.”  The minute he came to realize his low place before God there comes an instant reassurance to his heart.  He realizes that God still loves him, God has not cast him aside.  Suddenly he grasps the fact that though he is confessing his stupidity and his ignorance before God, God has not cast him away; he is still with him, he still loves him, he still holds him and supports him!

He now realizes that it was God’s hand that had kept him from going over the brink when he was losing his footing (73:2).  It was God’s hand that held him even when he felt like he was losing his faith.  It was God who prompted him to enter the sanctuary and to worship.  Even when he despaired that God may have abandoned him, it was God that held him by his hand all along!  Notice that Asaph also says that God will guide him with His counsel.  He is looking ahead with a deep assurance and security because of what he has learned from looking back.  He knows that he can trust God despite his circumstances and despite how things might look in the moment.  God will continue to guide him all of his life. 

Do you know that God is holding you even now?  Do you realize that right now, in this very moment God has you secure in His grasp?  Regardless of what your current circumstances are, no matter what you are thinking or facing or doing, God has not and will not abandon you!

(Tune in tomorrow for the final installment this week as we look at the aazing ending to this beautiful Psalm…)


Jeff Frazier

Wednesday, January 19

Wednesday

Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.  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 the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills.  Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.  From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.  They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression.  Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.  Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance.  They say,  “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”  This is what the wicked are like — always carefree, they increase in wealth.  – Psalm 73:12-15

So far this week we have looked into the heart of Asaph (the author of Psalm 73 and a worship leader in ancient Israel).  We have seen his struggle with the injustice in the world, his frustration over the wealth and success of ungodly, and his feeling that God has been unfair to him.  One of the things that I love most about this Psalm is the raw honesty of the Psalmist.  Asaph readily admits his personal jealousy of the prosperity of the wicked, he confesses his crisis of faith over his doubts, and he even admits his total inability to make sense of it all.  He has hit a roadblock in his faith because he has come to the end of his own understanding.  He cannot think his way out of his doubts (none of us can).  Most of us need something, or someone, beyond ourselves to find our way out of our deepest doubts and questions.

When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.  – Psalm 73:16-17

These two verses are the turning point of the entire Psalm.  Up to this point Asaph has been stumbling along in the dark of his own doubts.  He could not find his way out…until he entered the sanctuary of God.  In other words, when he humbled himself and began to worship God, his perspective began to change. By going into the sanctuary he means he came before the presence of God. He actually went into the temple, which was the symbol of God’s presence with His people.  When he did that, he began to see things from God's point of view.  He began to shift from natural thinking to spiritual thinking.  Asaph’s real problem was he had been thinking only from a natural, earthly perspective, and not from a spiritual perspective.

The trouble with "natural" thinking is that it is always centered on us.  Self is always the center of the natural man and he is forever reacting according to his feelings.  Natural thinking is  governed by our feelings, our moods, and the way we emotionally react to our circumstances.  When that happens to you, your range of vision is narrowed down to only your immediate circumstances, and to how you feel in the moment, you really cannot think beyond this.

This is what worship and prayer are for, to help us see our lives and ourselves accurately, from God’s point of view. When you come to church, or pray, or read the Bible, you are not coming merely to find some inspiration or some words of comfort; you are coming to have your eyes opened, so that you can see things as they really are.

Asaph begins to truly “see” only when he comes into the sanctuary, into the presence of God, because there he begins thinking spiritually.  Spiritual thinking is centered on God.

So, how do we enter the sanctuary today?  According to the New Testament, we ourselves are the sanctuary. God lives in us. We enter the sanctuary when we study and apply the truth of God’s Word in our lives.  We enter the sanctuary when we meet & worship together with other Christians.  We enter the sanctuary when we talk and listen to God in prayer.  We enter the sanctuary when we serve and give to God and others. 

Enter into the sanctuary of God today!


Jeff Frazier

Tuesday, January 18

Tuesday

This is what the wicked are like — always carefree, they increase in wealth.  Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.  All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.  If I had said,  “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed your children.  When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me.  

 – Psalm 73:12-16

Asaph (the author of Psalm 73) has been expressing his struggle with the injustice he sees in the world.  He cannot understand how God can allow people who reject him to do so well in life.  He is admits his inability to reconcile how God can be good and faithful and just, and yet allow such unjust things to go on.  Asaph is not the first guy in history to struggle with this by the way.  Many people (Christians and non-Christians) have wrestled with this problem.  We have to admit that the existence of injustice is a difficult and troubling problem for those of us who believe in God. 

However, if you look closely at the passage above, Asaph gives us a peek at the real root of his struggle.  He is not just objecting to the injustice that he sees “out there” in the world around him, he is objecting to the injustice that he is believes he is experiencing in his own life.  Notice how many times he talks about himself in the passage.  He says “in vain I have kept my hear pure…all day long I have been plagued.”  In other words, it is not just that the wicked are winning that bothers him, it is that he is not getting what they have!  Ahh, now we see the heart of the matter.  Asaph thinks that life (and God) are not fair. How have you struggled over the apparent unfairness of life?  Asaph feels that he doesn’t deserve the troubles he is facing.  If anyone should be struggling, it should be those who reject God, not those who are faithful believers like him!

Asaph himself does not deny this, in verse 3 he says that he “envied the arrogant when he saw the prosperity of the wicked.”.  He was envious of them.  He wanted what they had (wealth, fame, power, beauty, etc.) and he felt that he deserved it more.  He knew about injustice before this.  He was aware that good people sometimes suffer and wicked people sometimes prosper in life.  However, it was not until he was one of those “good people” suffering that it really began to cause him to doubt God. 

I have a friend who has been out of work for over a year.  He lost his job when his company restructured and it came as a total shock to him and to his family.  He told me that he thought his position with the company was safe because his employers told him that he would not be affected by any changes.  My friend also told me that he knew about job losses and the rising unemployment numbers in our economy long before he lost his job.  He said that he was only mildly interested such economic statistics…until he became one of those statistics!  He has shared with me how he has dealt with feelings of personal failure, bitterness, inadequacy as a father and husband, and insecurity about the future, all because of losing his job.  He has cried out to God in anger, and confusion.  He has asked God why a thousand times.  He has pleaded with God to help him find a job.  He said that God has his attention now in a way that He didn’t have it before he lost his job.  He is asking God questions and listening to God more than ever before.

Perhaps this is what God has really been after all along in my friend’s life.  Perhaps it is what God is after in your life too.  Our doubts and questions and struggles can either become a barrier between us and God or they can become the bridge by which we connect to Him in a deeper way.

Oh God, you have never been unfair or unkind to us.  You have given us far beyond what we deserve, beyond what we could ever imagine.  You have given us forgiveness and the promise of eternal life.  If You had treated us solely on the basis of what was fair and just, we would be eternally doomed.  Forgive us God, for our selfish complaints and short-sighted understanding.  Teach us to trust You at all times and in all things
 – Amen.


Jeff Frazier

Monday, January 17

Monday

Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.  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 the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills.  Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.  From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.  They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression.  Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.  Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance.  They say,  “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”  This is what the wicked are like — always carefree, they increase in wealth.            - Psalm 73:1-12

One of the things I love most about the Psalms is their raw honesty.  They hold nothing back, from anger and pain, to joy and exaltation – it is all there.  The author of this Psalm is a man named Asaph.  Asaph was a worship leader for God’s people the ancient Israelites.  Here in Psalm 73, he opens his heart to God (and to us) by expressing his very real struggle with doubt.

Doubt is not something that most of associate with our heart or emotions, most people think of doubts as being intellectual objections or questions about God.  G. K. Chesterton wrote in his classic book Orthodoxy, “our doubts often masquerade as much more intellectual than they actually are.”  While it is true that doubts are often expressed as intellectual questions or arguments, at the core, they are often issues of the heart. 

Doubts can be caused by any number of things; grief, loss, pain, failure, even peer pressure.  For Asaph, his doubts come as the result of the injustice he sees in the world.  He was struggling with the apparent contradiction between what he believed about God - that God was good to the upright and to those who were pure in heart - and his experience in life.  He was envious, he said, of the arrogant, and disturbed by the prosperity of the wicked. That prosperity seemed to him to be a direct contradiction to what he had been taught about God.  He had been told that if you are "upright and pure in heart," then God would be good to you, take care of you, and watch over you.  But instead this man was finding his own situation to be difficult and very discouraging, but the wicked around him, the ungodly (that is always the meaning of "wicked" in the Psalms), were prospering and everything was going well with them.  He just could not reconcile this.  It troubled him so terribly that it created deep resentment, envy and doubt in his heart.  This in turn became such a threat to his faith that ultimately he found himself threatened with a complete loss of faith.  His feet had almost slipped, he had come to the place where he was almost ready to renounce his faith.

This might sound like an extreme reaction, but Asaph is really a lot like us.  He is questioning if following God with his life is really worth it.  I think there are many Christians who struggle with this very question, but are afraid to admit it.  Perhaps you have had this doubt.  Perhaps you have wondered if God is really good, and why He seems to let the those who reject Him succeed and those who follow Him struggle.

If nothing else, at least this Psalm teaches us that it is not wrong to doubt or to have serious questions about God.  Asaph was a worship leader in ancient Israel and an author of Scripture, and yet he had doubts!  The very reason we have this amazing Psalm is because Asaph was willing to express his doubt and be honest about his struggle.  As we will see, it is his honesty before God that will become the path through his doubts to a greater vision of God.

Too many Christians think that doubting is somehow wrong or sinful, that we should not question God, because He would be angry with us for our disbelief.  But the most famous doubter in all of the Bible was (you know) Thomas.  In John 20, the disciples who saw the risen Jesus tell Thomas about it.  But Thomas is a hard case, and he isn’t going to be taken in by such a fantastic story.  In fact, he refuses to believe that Jesus is risen unless he can touch the very wounds in hands and side.  When Jesus shows up a week later (John 20:26-28) He doesn’t condemn Thomas for doubting, he doesn’t tell him that he is disqualified from being a disciple for his doubts.  Instead, Jesus tells him to place his hands in His wounds.  Jesus meets Thomas at the place of his doubt, but he does not leave him there.  John tells us that after Thomas had touched Jesus’ wounds, he fell to his knees and cried, “my Lord and my God!”.  The amazing thing is that he came to this realization of Jesus through his doubts!

Take a few moments to pray and/or write your biggest questions and doubts about God.  Like the psalmist, tell God what troubles you and what you don’t understand.  He will not reject you for your doubts, and you might just find that He will lead you through them to a deeper understanding of His love.


Jeff Frazier

Friday, January 14

Job 19:25-27

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;

I myself will see him with my own eyes – How my heart yearns within me!

The Bible says that Job was “the greatest man of all the people of the East.” He was “blameless and upright, he feared God and shunned evil.” He also happened to have a large happy family and was fabulously successful. Then, as the story goes, due to Satan’s desire to destroy his love for God, Job suffers cataclysmic loss.

He loses his household servants.

He loses his herds of sheep, cattle and camels.

He loses his children – all 14 of them.

And finally he loses his health – his body covered with feverish boils and blisters.

His physical condition becomes so repulsive that his own wife tells him he should just “Curse God and die (Job 2:8).”

When Job’s three friends come to visit him they are so overwhelmed by his appearance and suffering that they sit in silence for seven days before speaking a word.

There was never a better man than Job.

There was never a man who suffered more loss than Job.

There was never a man who deserved that suffering less than Job.

But suffering, pain and loss still invaded his life.

The Book of Job is not easy to read. It begins with the story of Job’s almost unimaginable losses. But then comes chapter after chapter of arguing between Job and his friends about the causes of his suffering. Everyone tries to explain WHY all these bad things have happened; everyone tries to establish blame.

At the end of the story God finally speaks – but he doesn’t’ explain to Job WHY all this has happened to him. God doesn’t answer the dozens of questions that Job and his friends have tossed his way. He simply demonstrates who he is – and that is enough.

At the depth of his suffering and sorrow, Job makes a statement to his friends that sounds like the prayer of a man who has no where else to turn for hope – but a man who has hope nonetheless.

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;

I myself will see him with my own eyes – How my heart yearns within me!

Somewhere I heard someone say, “God never wastes our pain.” I believe that is true – and that’s why Job can maintain such faith and hope in the midst of his suffering. Our Redeemer lives. Our Redeemer does not waste our pain. Our Redeemer can and will transform our suffering into his good and his glory – therefore we can not only come to God with out pain – but we can some to him in hope as well.

Brian Coffey

Thursday, January 13

Psalm 22:1-5

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

Sometimes the smallest and seemingly insignificant words are the most important words. The first few verses of Psalm 22 contain words like “God,” “forsaken,” and “groaning.” Those words are followed by words like, “enthroned,” “Holy One,” and “saved.” All extremely important words but for me the most important word just might be that little three-letter word, “Yet.”

“Yet” means that despite this that has happened, something else is still possible. “Yet” means that even though it may seem, from my human perspective, that the pain that I am experiencing is both endless and irredeemable, from God’s perspective that is not so.

Many years ago one of our sons displayed some troubling and unusual physical symptoms following a family trip overseas. A specialist told us that it was possible that he had contracted a disease that could possible damage his heart if untreated – and the only way to know was to do a blood test. So I held my 4-year old son in my lap as the nurse approached with what had to look to him like a giant needle. As she put the needle to his arm he looked up at me and with his eyes full of tears and fear wailed, “Daddy, why are you letting her do this to me!?”

How could I explain the possibility of disease to my little boy? How could I explain that it was because I loved him that I allowed the nurse to put the needle in his arm? All I could do was hold him even more tightly and whisper in his ear, “It’s going to be O.K. buddy; I’m here, I love you, I’m not going to let you go, it’s going to be O.K.”

It strikes me that, in a way, that’s what David is telling us in Psalm 22. Unspeakable pain has come into his life, yet he trusts that God is good. He feels alone and forsaken, yet he will trust that God is with him. He doesn’t see how anything good can come of his situation, yet he will trust that God can and will redeem his pain into good.

I, for one, am thankful that God invites me to be honest with him – about my pain, my questions, my fears and my doubts. But I am also very grateful for that he also has given me that little word, “yet!”

Brian Coffey

Wednesday, January 12

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. Romans 8:26-27

On July 18, 1988 I received a phone call that changed my life and my understanding of prayer forever. My brother Joe called with the horrible news that our youngest brother John had been killed in a tragic traffic accident. While I had learned about the grief process through my graduate studies as well as through pastoral experience – I discovered that going through it yourself is a different matter. I also was surprised that part of the grief process for me was that I struggled to pray. I had been a Christian most of my life – and pastor for several years – but for months I found it almost impossible to pray. I couldn’t still my mind or heart long enough to form coherent prayers. It seemed that all that came out was pain. Sometimes, to be honest, I didn’t want to pray. But I found I could write. So I wrote; page after page – notebook after notebook – filled with memories, sadness and anger. But still I couldn’t pray, at least not the way I had prayed all my life.

Looking back on those difficult days from the perspective of time, I now understand that what I felt at the time was a prayer-less time in my life was actually a prayer-full time. I think I learned something about what Paul is talking about in Romans 8. Read the words again:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

Paul is telling us that, in some mysterious way, when we are at the end of our ability to cope, at the end of our understanding; when we have no more words to pray and when we can only groan and cry – that the Holy Spirit actually translates our pain into an eloquent prayer of faith to the Father who hears and understands! Much like a parent might scoop up a weeping child and simply hold them until the tears subside, so also our God promises to love us, be present to us, and to hear all our prayers – with or without words.

Brian Coffey

Tuesday, January 11

Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony…. I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. Psalm 6:2, 6-7

My younger brother Joe was both fearless and extremely curious as a child – which, of course, is a dangerous combination! When he was about four years old (I was about six) we were playing on the old rusty swing set in our back yard when he became fascinated with the metal mechanism that allowed the see-saw to rock back and forth. He climbed up on the A-frame of the swing set and watched the mechanism intently – noticing that each time the see-saw swung a small round hole opened up momentarily in the mechanism before closing again. He also noticed that the hole looked just big enough for a finger to fit in. So, you guessed it, he timed up the mechanism’s movement and just as the opening appeared he stuck his finger right into it. The next sound I heard was the cry of pain because the mechanism ripped his fingernail right off and nearly cut the tip of his finger off.

We know that pain is part of the human experience. In the book of Job we read, “Man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.” (Job 5:7) We also know that some of our pain is self-inflicted – like when a four-year old sticks his finger in a swing set mechanism – or when a full grown adult chooses to drive too fast, or drink too much or spend too much. But it is also true that some of our pain is undeserved and seems to come out of nowhere for no reason. I read in the newspaper the other day that over a million Haitians are still living in tent villages because of the earthquake that hit their small island over a year ago. They did nothing to deserve or cause that earthquake – yet they still suffer today.

Whether our pain is self inflicted or underserved – it still hurts. And the experience of pain can lead us to feel alone and to feel that God has abandoned us. In Psalm 22 David cries, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” David knows, of course, that God has not gone anywhere – and the God has not somehow managed to forget his name – yet the pain he is experiencing creates a very real and deep sense of loneliness.

So what does he do? What does he pray? David is honest with God. He doesn’t pray a cute, churchy-sounding prayer. He doesn’t try to impress God with his theological understanding. He simply blurts out what he is feeling – he opens his heart and bleeds all over the page.

And this is prayer! Prayer is a relationship with God, and there is no real relationship without honesty. Of course, prayer is also worship and listening and intercession for others; prayer is obedience and discipline; prayer is, at its heart, and experience of God himself – but prayer begins with honesty.

Have you been honest with God today?

Brian Coffey

Monday, January 10

Psalm 22:1-5

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

Have you ever stopped to think about how many different emotions you might feel in a given day? Love, joy, frustration, anger, sadness, surprise, fear, anxiety – can all be swirling in our hearts at any moment in time. I think I felt most of  those emotions just watching the Bears/Packers game last Sunday afternoon!

We are emotional creatures, the Bible says, created in the image of an emotional God. And at the intersection of human emotion and the experience of God is the great gift of prayer.

A couple of months ago we conducted an “FBCG prayer survey” and over 1200 people turned in responses to a number of questions about their personal experience and practice of prayer. We have begun to sift through the pile of data the survey produced and believe that there will definitely be some significant “take-aways” that result!

We have learned, for example, that just over 60% of women and just under 40% of men say that prayer is “very important” to them – which seems to indicate many of us (especially us guys!) can grow with regard to our understanding and experience of prayer. The survey results seem to show that prayer becomes both more important and more satisfying the older we get – which seems to make sense as we grow more mature in both life and faith. We have learned that while many of us express our emotions when we pray – that women and people in their 20’s are more expressive than the rest of us. And there seems to be a correlation between the expression of emotion in prayer with the experience of God in prayer.

Most of us recognize these words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” as among the last things Jesus said as he was being crucified. But it’s important to see that Jesus was quoting from Psalm 22! Jesus was experiencing not only the brutal physical pain of the cross – but also the spiritual pain of taking on himself the sins of the world – and thus the rejection of his Father in heaven. Jesus, therefore, becomes a model for us not only in expressing painful emotion in prayer but also in using the Psalms as a model for our own prayers.

I have often encouraged those going through extremely difficult life situations to read through the Book of Psalms thoughtfully and prayerfully until they find a Psalm that expresses what they are feeling – then to dwell on that Psalm and make it their own expression of prayer to God. I can say that because the full range of human emotions can be found right there in the Book of Psalms – expressed with surprising and sometimes brutal honesty.

Did you know you can be honest with God?

Did you know he is not afraid of your emotions – even if they are negative?

Did you know that prayer can be sad, or angry, or joyful, or even full of doubt?

Psalm 22 introduces us to the intersection of pain and prayer. This expression of personal suffering and loneliness comes to us from the life of David; was used by Jesus himself in prayer; and can put words to the anguish of our own hearts as well. While I hope that you do not need to pray these words today – I also hope that when that time comes – you will know that God is always willing to hear your cry of pain.

Brian Coffey