Sing with joy
(NIV) Psalm 32:11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
Psalm 33
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
4 For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
I sometimes think of all of the people from the Old Testament I want to meet in heaven.
- Isaiah, of course with his account of seeing the Lord in His throne room. And I will ask him what he was thinking and feeling as he penned that wonderful piece (we know it as the 40th chapter) where he speaks comfort to God’s people, and promises a renewal of their strength.
- Deborah, the only female judge, whose army of men wielding only spears defeated Sisera and his 900 iron chariots
- Ruth, whose loyalty was exceeded only by her trust
- Esther, who overcame fear of personal harm to save her people
- Rahab, whose obedience enabled her to save her family and earned her a place in the Hebrews Hall of Fame (Chapter 11)
- Nehemiah, who left the comforts of the palace of Artexerxes to lead the remnant left in Jerusalem to rebuild the wall.
And then there is David, who played his harp first for his father’s sheep and then for King Saul. David, who was called the apple of God’s eye, yet who acknowledged his sin was ever before him.
I will ask to hear the stories not yet told, and to rejoice with him over his love for God and his account of redemption. And then I will ask him to play his harp, perhaps singing those beautiful words, “as the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after thee.”
And as David sings a new song of praise to the King of Kings, I will join in with my own new song worshipping God for all He is worth. Then I will talk to the leaders of the first century churches.
But for the first one thousand years I will sit at Jesus’ feet, I will hold family and friends close, and I will sing with joy unspeakable and full of glory. That is what I will do when I get to heaven. How about you?
May we live today in a way that is pleasing to God, anticipating the joys of heaven while being the hands and feet of Jesus here on earth.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Forgiven
(NIV) Psalm 32
1 Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
whose sin the LORD does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Do you think of David as being a hero, or is he too flawed? David was indeed flawed, but the thing that draws me to him was his innate understanding of Who God was and who David was in God.
When I first gave my life to Christ, I got it so wrong. I thought being a Christian meant I was to be sinless, which meant I had to be perfect. So, if I sinned I thought I had lost my salvation, or perhaps I never really had a saving relationship with God. Why didn’t someone tell me all I had to be was willing to ask for forgiveness? Why didn’t someone say to me that there are tools to help us live a lifestyle that is pleasing to God, and trying to be perfect was not one of them.
What are some of the tools David shows us in this psalm to enable us to live a Christian lifestyle?
- Be quick to confess your sins. David says when he kept quiet, he literally became sick. Sin does that, but Grace makes us whole.
- Seek out the Lord while He may be found. God never leaves us nor forsakes us, but the more we consort with sin, the farther we stray from God.
- Make God your hiding place. There is safety in the cleft of the Rock because that Rock is Jesus.
- Sing, sing, sing. There is deliverance in singing. My vocal cords are shot, but I can still make a joyful noise, and so can you.
May we find peace, forgiveness and joy as we walk daily with our Lord.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Living in the Light
(NIV) Incarnation of the Word of Life
1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched —this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
I have long been enthralled by the relationship between light and dark. As a child I was afraid of the dark, going so far as to cover my head in bed so I would not be aware of when the lights were turned off. I think of the spiritual relationship between light and dark, and it is clear that what John says is so true—God is light and not only is there no darkness in Him, but He will not be in relationship with those in the darkness.
I think of Jesus walking in this glorious light, a light that emanates from Him, and holding hands with someone drenched in darkness—it just would not happen. Because you see the shadow cast by sin encroaches upon the light. No, for us to be in relationship with Jesus we must turn away from sin, and thus turn away from the darkness.
May we today and everyday live in the light of God’s mercy and grace as we share His love with others.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Joy, Joy, Joy
(ESV) Ps 100:1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Whenever I read this psalm, I feel total comfort and peace. Make a joyful noise, the psalmist says. Enter into His courts with praise. Bless Him.
These few verses assure me that nothing I do for my Lord is in vain. My service, my praise, are all a small part of being in a relationship with God. And today, following the second deadly hurricane to slam into the east coast in a week, I am especially thankful. Hurricane Milton was forecast to be a severe storm, even worse than Hurricane Helene that hit the prior week. This morning they are assessing the damage, but there was significantly less destruction than predicted.
When I was in Richmond, I wrote several songs. I call them songs even though I don’t know how to write music. So, basically my “songs” are just lyrics and the music is in my head.
True Praise
True praise is like a fragrance, expensive and so rare
Stored in the heart of the believer, marked “Handle with Care.”
But once the bottles opened and the aroma fills the air
There is praise, praise, praise everywhere.
Let my praise be like a fragrance carried high on angel’s wings,
Let the aroma drift toward heaven’s throne into the King of Kings.
Let my sacrifice be wholly acceptable my God to thee
Just let me praise Your name through eternity.
The ingredients are simple, start with a heart of love
Then you add a up of thankfulness to the Father up above.
Then add a measure of faith, we all have it don’t you know,
There’s just one last ingredient before your praise can grow.
You need a broken and contrite spirit, that’s the catalyst you see
For you can’t truly praise the Lord of all without humility,
And though the process may be painful, I’m sure that you will find,
Praise that comes from a broken heart, is the sweetest kind.
Let my praise be like a fragrance carried high on angel’s wings,
Let the aroma drift toward heaven’s throne into the King of Kings.
Let my sacrifice be wholly acceptable my God to thee
Just let me praise Your name through eternity.
May we focus our thoughts and our hearts on the Lord our God today and every day, giving Him the praise that He is due.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You Are the Man
(ESV) Psalm 51:15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
“You da man,” this modern expression is a congratulatory phrase to acknowledge a person’s success in a particular venture. But when I read this psalm of confession and repentance, my mind goes to the story the prophet Nathan told David in 2 Samuel 12.
Samuel told the story of two men, one rich and the other poor. The lamb in the parable was precious to the poor man, yet the rich man stole the poor man’s lamb to feed to one of his guests. David was incensed when he heard the story, proclaiming the man must die. But Nathan said, “You are the man.”
Could there be any more chilling words? You are the man.
Today’s psalm is a direct result of Nathan’s accusation and of David’s realization of his sin. David did what a man after God’s own heart does— he repents. Being a man of God did not make him perfect, but it enabled him to turn back to God.
May we pay close attention to our choices, understanding that poor choices produce poor results. But God’s love produces forgiveness.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Seeking Holiness 