God has Chosen to Insert Himself Into the Affairs of Man: Face to Face, God’s Heart is Meeting with Moses. Exodus 33:7-16

Exodus 33:7-16 Complete Jewish Bible

⁷Moshe would take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp. He called it the tent of meeting. Everyone who wanted to consult Adonai would go out to the tent of meeting, outside the camp. ⁸Whenever Moshe went out to the tent, all the people would get up and stand, each man at his tent door, and look at Moshe until he had gone into the tent. ⁹Whenever Moshe entered the tent, the column of cloud would descend and station itself at the entrance to the tent; and Adonai would speak with Moshe. ¹⁰When all the people saw the column of cloud stationed at the entrance to the tent, they would get up and prostrate themselves, each man at his tent door. ¹¹Adonai would speak to Moshe face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then he would return to the camp; but the young man who was his assistant, Y’hoshua the son of Nun, never left the inside of the tent.

(iii) ¹²Moshe said to Adonai, “Look, you say to me, ‘Make these people move on!’ But you haven’t let me know whom you will be sending with me. Nevertheless you have said, ‘I know you by name,’ and also, ‘You have found favor in my sight.’ ¹³Now, please, if it is really the case that I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways; so that I will understand you and continue finding favor in your sight. Moreover, keep on seeing this nation as your people.” ¹⁴He answered, “Set your mind at rest — my presence will go with you, after all.” ¹⁵Moshe replied, “If your presence doesn’t go with us, don’t make us go on from here. ¹⁶For how else is it to be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, other than by your going with us? That is what distinguishes us, me and your people, from all the other peoples on earth.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

The biblical story of Moses is one marked by powerful encounters with the high authority of man used to being successful, used to being in charge, used to being obeyed, used to standing in the presence of leaders of nations and the presence of God. Though he did not know it, from thee very beginning of his life Moses was a man of controversy, a fugitive, and anointed by God to fulfill God’s heart for his children to be set free from captivity and safe under his lordship.

From birth, Moses was divinely set apart to lead God’s people back into right relationship with God. And this calling was fulfilled because of God’s desire to consistently meet with Moses and show up through his life in miraculous ways.

In looking at the life of Moses, two types of encounters with God stand out as especially transformative and illustrative of God’s heart to meet with his people. As we look at these two examples of God meeting Moses, may Scripture fill your heart with a desire to meet with your heavenly Father as Moses did.

First, Exodus 3:1-6 gives us insight into the first real encounter Moses had with the Great I Am. Scripture says,

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

In the miraculous story of the burning bush, we see God’s grace and divine favor on the life of an undeserving under a sentence of death man. Moses had fled the scene after murdering an Egyptian for assaulting a Hebrew man. For years he had been hiding in the desert, living outside of any real earthly impact.

But God called Moses out of the wilderness into a life of deep, eternal impact.

Second, we see God’s merciful and forgiving heart to consistently meet with Moses in the Tent of Meeting found in Exodus 33:7-11. Scripture says,

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

How incredible is the magnitude of the heart of our God that he would choose to meet alone with Moses “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

If God would deliberately meet with Moses, a man who has not been redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus, how much more would he meet with you and me?

If God, who created the universe in six days would show grace to Moses, how much more available is grace to us who have God himself dwelling within us!

You and I have access to relationship far greater than a face-to-face encounter like Moses had. We have God’s Spirit within us fellowshipping with our Spirit.

How Can We Feel God’s Presence?

John 14:7-15 Amplified Bible

Jesus’ Oneness with the Father

⁷If you had [really] known Me, you would also have known My Father. From now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

⁸Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father and then we will be satisfied.” ⁹Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you do not know Me yet, Philip, nor recognize clearly who I am? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not say on My own initiative or authority, but the Father, abiding continually in Me, does His works [His attesting miracles and acts of power]. ¹¹Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe [Me] because of the [very] works themselves [which you have witnessed]. ¹²I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father. ¹³And I will do whatever you ask in My name [^[a]as My representative], this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified and celebrated in the Son. ¹⁴If you ask Me anything in My name [as My representative], I will do it.

¹⁵“If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments.

John 14:18-24 Amplified Bible

¹⁸“I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, bereaved, and helpless]; I will come [back] to you. ¹⁹After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. ²⁰On that day [when that time comes] you will know for yourselves that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. ²¹The person who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him [I will make Myself real to him].” ²²Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, what has happened that You are going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?” ²³Jesus answered, “If anyone [really] loves Me, he will keep My word (teaching); and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling place with him. ²⁴ One who does not [really] love Me does not keep My words. And the word (teaching) which you hear is not Mine, but is the Father’s who sent Me.

Jesus’ disciples were upset. For three years they had been with Jesus.

They had walked with him and talked with him face to face. And now he was about to leave. How could they possibly go on without seeing him face to face?

How could they face the challenges of life without his daily presence?

In his farewell address the Lord Jesus put the disciples’ minds at ease.

He told them that his returning to the Father was for their good (John 16:7).

He promised to send the Holy Spirit, who would live in them and teach them about living for God.

And through the Spirit they’d be able to enjoy God’s presence always.

Through the Holy Spirit you and I can experience God’s face to face, heart to heart presence every moment of the day. All we have to do is ask in prayers.

Jesus says Luke 11:13, “If you … know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The most important prayer we can pray each day is to ask for the all-powerful presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

When we have the Holy Spirit guiding us each day, we will not only experience God’s presence in our own lives, but we’ll also be able to show God’s presence to others as we live God’s way, displaying the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

True restored relationship finds its source in continual, unending encounters with God’s presence, His Holy Spirit dwelling with us, within us and upon us.

Approaching God with Confidence

Hebrews 4:14-16 Amplified Bible

¹⁴Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior]. ¹⁵For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. ¹⁶Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].

Priests were God’s chosen servants; they served as mediators between God and his people.

They worked in the temple, praying for the people and bringing their sacrifices to God.

They offered sacrifices on behalf of the people to make atonement for their sins.

And only the high priest was allowed to enter the most holy place to stand before God.

Earlier in Hebrews, Jesus is referred to as the “faithful high priest.” Here, in chapter 4, he is called the “great high priest.”

This means he is actually the greatest of all high priests.

He is the One, the Only, true High Priest.

Jesus is the greatest because, unlike all the others, he “has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Because he is sinless and perfect, he is now able to stand before God as the one who can make atonement for our sins.

Because of his perfect life, Jesus’ atonement for our sins is real and lasting.

For this reason, we do not need to be afraid to enter God’s presence; in fact, we can have “assurance and confidence” when we approach God.

We can be assured and we can be confident that with our entrance we will surely “receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Please, please, please, don’t be afraid to approach God.

God went to Moses ….

God went to all men and women and children – John 3:16-21

¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed. ¹⁷For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but rather so that through him, the world might be saved. ¹⁸Those who trust in him are not judged; those who do not trust have been judged already, in that they have not trusted in the one who is God’s only and unique Son.

¹⁹“Now this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light. Why? Because their actions were wicked. ²⁰For everyone who does evil things hates the light and avoids it, so that his actions won’t be exposed. ²¹But everyone who does what is true comes to the light, so that all may see that his actions are accomplished through God.”

Instead, approach him with confidence, knowing that even though we cannot do this in our own strength, we can do it through Jesus, the great High Priest.

May we bravely pursue the greater portion of our face to face, heart to heart relationship with our heavenly Father today. May our Spirit come alive as we grow in our awareness of God’s Spirit. May we have powerful, transformative encounters with God’s presence likened to that which Moses experienced.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s desire to meet with Moses. Allow Scripture to fill you with a longing to meet with God as Moses did.

“When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said, ‘Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ And he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” Exodus 3:4-6

“When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.” Exodus 33:9-11

2. Where can you make your tent of meeting? Where and when, can, will you consistently encounter the presence of God and meet with your heavenly Father face-to-face?

3. Take time to meet with God as Moses did. Open your heart and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal his nearness.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17

Having a consistent time and place to meet with God allows us to develop a rhythm by which we grow in experiencing God’s presence.

To have our own Tent of Meeting is vital to Christian spirituality.

Choose a place and time that won’t get disrupted and will help you center your life around meeting with your heavenly Father.

These is absolutely nothing more critical, more important or pressing than seeing the face of God, being transformed by his love and nearness every day.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 84 Complete Jewish Bible

84 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. On the gittit. A psalm of the sons of Korach:

^2 (1)How deeply loved are your dwelling-places,
Adonai-Tzva’ot!
^3 (2)My soul yearns, yes, faints with longing
for the courtyards of Adonai;
my heart and body cry for joy
to the living God.

^4 (3)As the sparrow finds herself a home
and the swallow her nest, where she lays her young,
[so my resting-place is] by your altars,
Adonai-Tzva’ot, my king and my God.

^5 (4)How happy are those who live in your house;
they never cease to praise you! (Selah)
^6 (5)How happy the man whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are [pilgrim] highways.

^7 (6)Passing through the [dry] Baka Valley,
they make it a place of springs,
and the early rain clothes it with blessings.
^8 (7)They go from strength to strength
and appear before God in Tziyon.

^9 (8)Adonai, God of armies, hear my prayer;
listen, God of Ya‘akov. (Selah)
^10 (9)God, see our shield [the king];
look at the face of your anointed.
^11 (10)Better a day in your courtyards
than a thousand [days elsewhere].
Better just standing at the door of my God’s house
than living in the tents of the wicked.

¹^2 (11)For Adonai, God, is a sun and a shield;
Adonai bestows favor and honor;
he will not withhold anything good
from those whose lives are pure.

^13 (12)Adonai-Tzva’ot,
how happy is anyone who trusts in you!

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Elohim Shama: The God Who Hears. Exodus 2:23-25

Exodus 2:23-25 Amplified Bible

²³Now it happened after a long time [about forty years] that the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel (Jacob) groaned and sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out. And their cry for help because of their bondage ^[a]ascended to God. ²⁴ So God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel). ²⁵God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice [of them] and was concerned about them [knowing all, understanding all, remembering all].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

The beginning of the beloved Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” depicts many people praying simultaneously, and the juxtaposition of voices — to our ears — becomes a cacophony of noise.

How exactly, we wonder, does God separate each voice to hear individual prayers? Does He answer them all? Then we wonder, “Does God hear me?”

The question posed is a perplexing one when viewed through our human lens.

How does God keep everyone’s praises and prayers straight?

How does He hear them all?

And, in a far more personal nature, how exactly do I know He hears me?

The answer, of course, is to regard who God is and how we are to “see” Him according to what Scripture teaches us.

We’ll investigate what the Bible says, and because of what His Word says, we are assured He does hear Christians’ prayers (which encompasses all of our communication with God).

We will understand God gives “ear” to our needs according to His will and according to His own timing.

Where Does the Bible Say God Hears Us?

The Bible is God-breathed, meaning He inspired the writers to impart His exact words into the canon of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16).

When we read the Bible, we are reading God’s very words to us.

Therefore, any implication about God hearing the writers tells us He hears us.

In fact, one of His covenant names is Elohim Shama – The God who hears (Exodus 2:24; Psalm 139:1; Philippians 4:19; Hebrews 4:14-16).

Yes, He hears us.

What is Elohim Shama in Hebrew?

“Elohim Shama” is not an official name of God, it refers to the fact that God hears… He listens, He Hears.

Elohim Shama: The God who Listens, The God Who Hears

But He doesn’t merely hear our words; He is also moved by the unvoiced groanings of our hearts (Romans 8:26).

What does Shama means in the Bible?

to hear, to listen

Obedience in Hebrew is: shama (שָׁמַע). It means to hear, to listen, to give attention, to understand, to submit to, and to obey.

There is only one word in Hebrew for obedience, and it is this word – shama.

This Hebrew word is also generally translated as “hear”.

What does Jehovah Shammah mean?

“The Lord is There”

Jehovah-Shammah is found Ezekiel 48:35,

“The distance around the entire city will be 6 miles. And from that day the name of the city will be ‘The Lord is There.”

Jehovah-Shammah is the name of God that means I am the Lord who is there and is symbolic of Jerusalem. This name promises His presence.

The following short list cements the truth God hears us:

King David cried to the Lord in many psalms, and he knew God heard him.

Psalm 6:8-9 English Standard Version

⁸Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
⁹The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord accepts my prayer.

Psalm 18:6-19 English Standard Version

⁶In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations also of the mountains trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
⁸Smoke went up from his nostrils,^[a]
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
⁹He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
¹¹He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
    thick clouds dark with water.
¹²Out of the brightness before him
    hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

¹³The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
    and the Most High uttered his voice,
    hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
    he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
¹⁵Then the channels of the sea were seen,
    and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
    at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

¹⁶He sent from on high, he took me;
    he drew me out of many waters.
¹⁷He rescued me from my strong enemy
    and from those who hated me,
    for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my support.
¹⁹He brought me out into a broad place;
    he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

Psalm 19 English Standard Version

The Law of the Lord Is Perfect

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

19 The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above^[a] proclaims his handiwork.
²Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
³There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
⁴Their voice^[b] goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵    which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
⁶Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷The law of the Lord is perfect,^[c]
    reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
    making wise the simple;
⁸the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
    enlightening the eyes;
⁹the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules^[d] of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

¹²Who can discern his errors?
    Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
¹³Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
    let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
    and innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

The psalmist, Asaph, wrote a definitive and uncontestable verse which tells us God hears us, “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me” (Psalm 77:1).

The Lord Jesus tells us He (God) hears us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

How Does God Hear Us?

We must remember God is wholly unlike any of His creation.

He does not “listen” as do we, for we cannot fathom all He is.

When we listen to someone, our minds are, more often than not, racing around in distraction, thinking about what’s for lunch, or how many minutes are left on my parking meter, silly things such as what some other person was thinking when they decided on a particular hair style.

We’d love it if our thoughts could be completely focused on our subject and what they are saying, but we often “aren’t there,” we miss important details.

For our mighty God, however, His listening skills are perfect.

We never need worry He is otherwise distracted, because in His infinite being, He “hears” perfectly, beyond our scope of comprehension.

God is Spirit (John 4:24); He has no physical nature that would include eyes, ears, etc.

Lest we get caught in theological details about God as Spirit, however, we need to understand how God “hears.”

Due to God’s sovereign condescension, He has graciously chosen to reveal Himself to us by speaking in ways that we can understand.

The Bible, therefore, uses anthropomorphic language to give us God’s revelation of Himself to humankind.

The immutable truth is God is incomprehensible, yet in His kindness has chosen to make Himself known in a way to which we can relate. God, in His omniscience, already knows everything, including what we will soon pray.

Because God has incommunicable attributes such as omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, etc., we are only able to comprehend Him via His communicable (moral) attributes and we were, created in His Image to reflect God in them, albeit not equally (only He is perfect in His moral attributes).

God “hears” us because of who He is and how He created us in His image.

Pastor and theologian R.C. Sproul adds,

“We are a composite being made up of body and spirit. We are spiritual yet finite humans; God is infinite Spirit who is not bound by a body.”

As far as God’s holy essence is completely different from His creation,

“God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change his mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19).

Yet God deigns to intervene in the works of man, to vividly reveal His love of us by the Scripture that speaks truthfully of how He hears our cries (Psalm 61:1).

What if I Don’t Feel Like God Hears Me?

We cannot expect God to answer us with an audible voice from heaven or with a “sign.” What we have is the Holy Scriptures, and from the Holy Spirit working in us through them, we “receive understanding, insight, and wisdom.”

2 Peter 1:3 gives us great hope, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence.”

It is through the Bible we learn about the Lord Jesus and grow in His grace and knowledge. As we read and study God’s Word, we learn how He wants us to live, and our prayers and petitions will be guided by His Spirit based on His Word.

No matter our emotional state or physical circumstances, God listens, hears our cries to Him.

It’s true God always answers our prayers.

The answer is either, “yes,” “no,” or “wait.” We are, however, a people who desire and sometimes demand immediate answers, so waiting is very hard.

But as we wait for His answers, we are to occupy ourselves with kingdom work and with careful study of the Bible.

As we take the time to learn more of God’s Word, many answers to our prayers will become apparent, will be revealed to us by Holy Spirit, and we can act in a righteous manner because of how God has revealed His will through his Word.

So then, when God graciously and mercifully answers our prayers, the solutions will come through the study of His Word and/or godly counsel, wisdom, from a more mature believer who knows Scripture and daily strives to live a holy life.

“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17).

Here we need to remember deliverance may come here, or not until heaven.

We can pray with confidence because God does hear us and He will respond.

We may think He is silent, but when we remember He speaks to us every day through His Word (Psalm 19, Hebrews 4:12), we know He isn’t being silent; we’re just looking for our answers to “materialize: in all those wrong places.

We aren’t to go to the Lord with demands, for when He hears us, He’s listening to see if we are coming before Him with hearts that are being sanctified as we attempt to live holy lives.

The Bible speaks of God’s omniscience, “Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows Him his counsel? Whom did He consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:13-14).

God knows what we will ask before it is even on our hearts (Psalm 139:4), and, more importantly, He knows what we need.

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:7-8).

This passage tells us what to pray for, and it precedes the Disciples’ Prayer, which teaches us how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13).

How Should I Pray?

We saw above the Lord Jesus taught His disciples (we too as Christians are His disciples) how to pray.

The Apostle John later wrote, “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15, emphasis added).

At first glance, it appears He will give us we want, but that’s not the case.

The key phrase is, according to His will.

How do we know His will? By fearing God and keeping His commandments, which King Solomon said is the “whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

We know Him by His creation (general revelation) and by His Word (special revelation).

Nicodemus, learned from Jesus the only way to know His will is to become a Christian, grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus by immersing yourself in His Word, and surrounding yourself with godly people (the church).

John 3:1-8 English Standard Version

You Must Be Born Again

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ²This man came to Jesus^[a] by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” ³Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again^[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.^[c] ⁷Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You^[d] must be born again.’ ⁸The wind^[e] blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Once we do all of that, we will come before the Lord with right motives and petitions, with patience as He hears, answers our prayers in His perfect time.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 4 Complete Jewish Bible

4 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David:

^2 (1)O God, my vindicator!
Answer me when I call!
When I was distressed, you set me free;
now have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

^3 (2)Men of rank, how long will you shame my honor,
love what is vain, chase after lies? (Selah)
^4 (3)Understand that Adonai sets apart
the godly person for himself;
Adonai will hear when I call to him.
^5 (4)You can be angry, but do not sin!
Think about this as you lie in bed,
and calm down. (Selah)
^6 (5)Offer sacrifices rightly,
and put your trust in Adonai.

^7 (6)Many ask, “Who can show us some good?”
Adonai, lift the light of your face over us!
^8 (7)You have filled my heart with more joy
than all their grain and new wine.
^9 (8)I will lie down and sleep in peace;
for, Adonai, you alone make me live securely.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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We Are Created in the Image of God: It’s The Beginning of the Good News. Anyone Ready For it? Genesis 1:26-31

Genesis 1:26-31 Complete Jewish Bible

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth.”

²⁷So God created humankind in his own image;
in the image of God he created him:
male and female he created them.

²⁸God blessed them: God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and every living creature that crawls on the earth.” ²⁹Then God said, “Here! Throughout the whole earth I am giving you as food every seed-bearing plant and every tree with seed-bearing fruit. ³⁰And to every wild animal, bird in the air and creature crawling on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I am giving as food every kind of green plant.” And that is how it was. ³¹God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Good news begins right at the beginning. The good news found at the beginning of things in Genesis 1 is there is a God who makes and upholds all that there is, and that we humans, male, female, are made in the image of this amazing God.

We don’t look like God, of course, for God is Spirit—but this means, among other things, that we are God’s representatives. We are called to take care of all that God has made—and not just the creatures mentioned in these verses, but also the unfolding of all human history that follows, in all its deep complexity.

Amazing! Mere mortals are endowed by their Creator with the dignity and the honor of representing the infinite God, acting on God’s behalf to care for his creation with all its diverse infinite potential. We are God’s agents with a most prestigious, singularly unique job description – Stewards of Creation. And this leads us, with high joy, gratitude, to a profound sense of identity and calling.

This is good news for everyone, of course—but perhaps especially for people whose sense of identity and purpose are diminished, are uncertain, whose own ability to live creatively, joyfully and fully, completely and purposefully are held back because of poverty or anything else that hinders their participation in life.

Good news for the poor begins with a reminder that they all bear God’s image.

God has been reaching out since the beginning of time—desiring to live in a close relationship with all of humankind But because of our sin…because we have turned our backs on God and (in essence) told Him to butt out of our lives…we are separated from Him.

From the start, God has created a way for us to reconnect to Him by offering us salvation: an incredible gift of grace that comes through the life, death, and resurrection of His son, Jesus. And we receive this gift of grace the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior—turning our lives over to Him completely.

Each and everyone of us comes to this decision differently because each and every one of us has a uniquely different experience…or path, journey to Jesus.

Even though each of our journeys is singularly unique, the Bible shows us that there are some key (and consistent) components every true follower of Jesus experiences.

Let’s look at those five key components…

STEP 1 – Hear the Gospel

As you may already know, the “gospel” literally means “good news.” The good news of the gospel begins with God, the Creator of everything. And He is holy…which means He is set apart from anything that is un-holy. And God is perfect (or whole), without any defect. And He is righteous…which means God always does what is right. And He is just. His justice is always fair.

So, because God is the Creator; Holy, Righteous, Perfect and Just, we have a problem. We who are human are none of those things. We are created by God (in his image), but — here’s the bad news — we are everyone of us, without any exceptions, fallen and broken and un-very holy…imperfect, unrighteous and unjust, learned PhD’s in sinning. Just as the Apostle Paul writes in Romans…

“What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. And just in case you thought you could try to be good enough to earn good standing with God.” – Romans chapter 3, verses 9-12

Exactly how many broken links (or sins) does it take to break the chain of our connection to God)? The answer: One. All it takes is one broken link or one sin to break our connection God. And all of us have sinned—at least once.

All of us, without exception have broken our connection to God. Another thing we might tell ourselves is, “If I really clean up my act…it will automatically be enough to connect me back to God.”

Once again, as Paul writes…

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23

So there it is. The Bad News.

But here’s the Good News. Here’s the gospel…

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished — he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” – Romans 3:21-26

Sin separates us from God. And what is sin? The biblical definition of sin is actually an archery term meaning: missing the mark. We have all sinned or missed the mark of God’s perfection. And the punishment for this is death. Someone has to pay for these mistakes. We all know, deep in our hearts, what justice is. When a wrong has been committed, someone has to pay for it.

The Good News is that Jesus — the Incarnation or God in the Flesh — the one who never sinned or missed the mark, took our place and paid for our mistakes.

Jesus took on ALL our sin when he died on the cross.

The Apostle Paul put it this way…

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” – Romans 5:1-11

So, while we were still sinners…still living in our sinful way of life, God showed his love for us in Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross.

That’s GRACE.

Grace is unmerited favor or getting something wonderful that you didn’t earn or deserve. And you can’t pay for it or earn it.

All you can do is accept this wonderful, eternal gift.

One of the best ways to remember the meaning of grace is this acronym:

Grace = God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

STEP 2 – Believe

At some point, after hearing the Gospel, you believe in your heart that all this stuff is true.

That God is holy.

That you, me, we are separated from Him and that you can only be reconciled or reconnected back to God through Jesus.

And that belief is so strong that you are “cut to the heart”.

You have that utter realization that the only way back to God is through Jesus.

This is the way some of the first people to hear the Good News felt…

“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” – Acts 2:37

This “cutting to the heart” can only come from God.

Just as Jesus says here…

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” – John 6:44

Looking back over this, we Hear the Gospel, then Believe what we’ve heard and then we repent.

STEP 3 – Repent

“To “repent” literally means to “turn away”.

We must turn away from sin or turn our backs to sin…putting our backs to our old way of life. And when we turn from sin, we naturally turn towards God—doing a complete about face. As Jesus was spreading the Good News He said…

“The time has come,” (Jesus said). “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” – Mark 1:15

The next logical step to repenting from our old way of life, from our old life of sinning is to share this change in our hearts or to confess to some other people what’s happened.

STEP 4 – Confess

Confession or to confess simply means to say it out loud—to say what is true out loud and publicly recognize that: God is holy and perfect and you are not.

Confessing to other people means our speaking to our true belief that God has reconnected you back to Him through Jesus…because Jesus has taken your sin to the cross, and that you want to repent and so turn away from our sins and from our sinful past.

Paul says it best here…

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” – Romans 10:9-10

But from the beginning it needs to be clearly understood the journey isn’t over.

It continues and will continue on and on and on because this is all about becoming more like Jesus.

As we begin this new life as a follower of Jesus, we have this gift of the Holy Spirit…which is God’s Spirit literally living inside us…guiding us and prompting us to grow and become more and more like Him. More and more like Jesus. And we do this by following Jesus’ words found in the Bible—through Bible study.

And we do this by reminding ourselves we are living and acting as Jesus did.

Doing the things Jesus did, like loving others, caring for the “least of these.”

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 8 New American Standard Bible 1995

The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity.

For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

8 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have ^[a]displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
²From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established ^[b]strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

³When I ^[c]consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ^[d]ordained;
⁴What is man that You ^[e]take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
⁵Yet You have made him a little lower than ^[f]God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
⁶You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
⁷All sheep and oxen,
And also the ^[g]beasts of the field,
⁸The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

⁹O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Realizing from the very beginning of everything: it has always been about God’s loving God’s creative Presence. Genesis 1:1-5

Genesis 1:1-5 Complete Jewish Bible

Parashah 1: B’resheet (In the beginning) 1:1–6:8

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. ³Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴God saw that the light was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. So there was evening, and there was morning, one day.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Have you ever stood on top of a cliff, have you ever watched a seagull or a tern that seems to just hang in the air over the waters? The wind may be blustering waves and waters roaring, but the bird still soars calmly over the rough ocean.

That image of hovering over turbulent waters is how the Bible first describes the Spirit of God. The word for “hovering” indicates a high degree of care, even concern, in its action, and it is unmistakably linked to the behavior of protective birds that brood over their nests, guarding and keeping their clutch warm and safe as it develops. From the beginning the Holy Spirit, in his protective love, hovered over the surface of the unformed deep and even now, continues to care.

The story of creation in Genesis was given to God’s people at a time when other stories about the beginning of the world were filled with themes of violence and chaos. Into that unsettled situation, the Genesis story came as a blessed gift revealed God’s purposeful, loving intention to make all things good, beautiful.

At the time, it would have sounded far different from the other creation stories.

And because love and goodness are at the center of this story, it continues to invite people to know God as the loving, protective Creator that he is. As we’ll explore, discover, many other passages in the Bible also teach us something about “in the beginning God ….” through the imagery of the creation story.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 19 Complete Jewish Bible

19 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. A psalm of David:

^2 (1)The heavens declare the glory of God,
the dome of the sky speaks the work of his hands.
^3 (2)Every day it utters speech,
every night it reveals knowledge.
^4 (3)Without speech, without a word,
without their voices being heard,
^5 (4)their line goes out through all the earth
and their words to the end of the world.

In them he places a tent for the sun,
^6 (5)which comes out like a bridegroom from the bridal chamber,
with delight like an athlete to run his race.
^7 (6)It rises at one side of the sky,
circles around to the other side,
and nothing escapes its heat.

^8 (7)The Torah of Adonai is perfect,
restoring the inner person.
The instruction of Adonai is sure,
making wise the thoughtless.
^9 (8)The precepts of Adonai are right,
rejoicing the heart.
The mitzvah of Adonai is pure,
enlightening the eyes.
^10 (9)The fear of Adonai is clean,
enduring forever.
The rulings of Adonai are true,
they are righteous altogether,
^11 (10)more desirable than gold,
than much fine gold,
also sweeter than honey
or drippings from the honeycomb.
^12 (11)Through them your servant is warned;
in obeying them there is great reward.

^13 (12)Who can discern unintentional sins?
Cleanse me from hidden faults.
^14 (13)Also keep your servant from presumptuous sins,
so that they won’t control me.
Then I will be blameless
and free of great offense.

^15 (14)May the words of my mouth
and the thoughts of my heart
be acceptable in your presence,
Adonai, my Rock and Redeemer.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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How Well Are We Truly Imitating the Father’s Mercy? “Lord, Reveal Mercy, Lord, Have Mercy; Christ Have Mercy Lord Have Mercy on Ungrateful Me.” Psalm 31:20-25

Psalm 31:20-25 Complete Jewish Bible

^20 (19)But oh, how great is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you,
which you do for those who take refuge in you,
before people’s very eyes!
^21 (20)In the shelter of your presence
you hide them from human plots,
you conceal them in your shelter,
safe from contentious tongues.

^22 (21)Blessed be Adonai!
For he has shown me his amazing grace
when I was in a city under siege.
^23 (22)As for me, in my alarm I said,
“I have been cut off from your sight!”
Nevertheless, you heard my pleas
when I cried out to you.

^24 (23)Love Adonai, you faithful of his.
Adonai preserves the loyal,
but the proud he repays in full.
^25 (24)Be strong, and fill your hearts with courage,
all of you who hope in Adonai.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Sometimes the suffering of life feels overwhelming, as if we are under attack surrounded on all sides and can’t find any relief from any one single direction.

We may be debilitated by the grief of losing a loved one. Or maybe we are sick from a medical condition or treatment. Our marriage may be in a whole lot of distress, perhaps even on the brink of separation and divorce. Whatever the case, there are days, long seasons when we feel the weight of the world on us.

And our pleas ring out, cry out,, shriek out; from our places of silent panic;

“Lord, have mercy.”

The psalmist here in Psalm 31 is feeling besieged by relentless human forces, along with the sudden abandonment of his friends. He uses words like distress, anguish, groaning, affliction, forgotten, and terror. He fears that he will die at the hands of his enemies, and he cries out to God in agony.

“Lord, have mercy.”

Perhaps we can all recall a time or two or three when we felt that way, when the walls, ceiling the roof of the house seemed to be closing, collapsing in on you.

While my personal suffering pales in comparison to that of a whole population of people contending with one of a host of debilitating chronic illnesses, I do remember feeling particularly burdened when—I was urgently admitted for open heart surgery—my sister who came down to help my wife ended up in the same hospital as I did with a bad cellulitis in both feet and was unable to walk.

In our mutual efforts at recovering, a group of compassionate nurses made it possible for us to see each other – her in her reclining chair and me in mine. We had a chance to have a deeply meaningful brother older sister talk, prayer time.

Now, almost 15 months later, we are able to look back on those turbulent times, we can see how the Lord was with us, delivered us from our tumult. God 100% answers cries of his people, shines his loving face on us, lighting up our dark.

This one isolated testimony out of undoubtedly the million if not billions more of our God mercifully answering the cries and shrieks of His suffering Children.

Perhaps now is a good time to recount your own story of God “on your jobsite.”

Perhaps even become inspired to imitate, to act, as God acted on your behalf?

More Like Our Rabbi: Imitating the Father’s Mercy

Matthew 7:7-14 Amplified Bible

Prayer and the Golden Rule

⁷“^[a]Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened. ⁹Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will [instead] give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will [instead] give him a snake? ¹¹If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him.

¹²“So then, in everything treat others the same way you want them to treat you, for this is [the essence of] the Law and the [writings of the] Prophets.

The Narrow and Wide Gates

¹³“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.

Luke 6:35-36 Amplified Bible

³⁵But love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, ^[a]expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is kind and gracious and good to the ungrateful and the wicked. ³⁶Be merciful (responsive, compassionate, tender) just as your [heavenly] Father is merciful.

“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” is a summary statement of Jesus’ famous teaching in the Beatitudes (Luke 6:20-23) and indeed would be a good motto for every believer’s life.

These words underscore all Jesus has previously said concerning how we are to treat others—especially those who hate us for our faithfulness to Him (v 22).

Luke 6:20-23Amplified Bible

The Beatitudes

²⁰And looking toward His disciples, He began ^[a]speaking: “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are you who are poor [in spirit, those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for the kingdom of God is yours [both now and forever]. ²¹Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are you who hunger now [for righteousness, actively seeking right standing with God], for you will be [completely] satisfied. Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are you who weep now [over your sins and repent], for you will laugh [when the burden of sin is lifted]. ²²Blessed [morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness] are you when people hate you, and exclude you [from their fellowship], and insult you, and scorn your name as evil because of [your association with] the Son of Man. ²³ Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for your reward in heaven is great [absolutely inexhaustible]; for their fathers used to treat the prophets in the same way.

This should, however, also prompt us to pray:

“God, what does being merciful actually look like?” “Open my eyes, unclog my ears that I may hear their crying, their shrieks for help, that I may see visions of mercy thou hast for me, them, open mine ears, mine eyes and illumine me, Spirit Divine.”

As our wiser and tender and compassionate Shepherd, Jesus does not leave us to figure out this principle for ourselves. Rather, He gives us specific instructions on exactly what it means for you, me, we, imitate our merciful heavenly Father.

God “is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”

As His children, we must realize that we are so mightily challenged by these Gospel Words, called to demonstrate this same kindness by loving our enemies, returning goodness and kindness for evil, giving to others without expecting anything in return. Notice Jesus lists no exemptions or get-out clauses here.

Having called us to be vessels of God’s kindness, Jesus then immediately says that we are not to judge others (Luke 6:37-38).

Luke 6:37-38 Amplified Bible

³⁷“^[a]Do not judge [others self-righteously], and you will not be judged; do not condemn [others when you are guilty and unrepentant], and you will not be condemned [for your hypocrisy]; pardon [others when they truly repent and change], and you will be pardoned [when you truly repent and change]. ³⁸Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return.”

He is not asking us to suspend our critical faculties in our relationships; we have to use our minds to discern between truth and error or good and evil.

Likewise Jesus is not teaching that we are to turn a blind eye to sin or refuse to offend others, point out errors. Rather, when Jesus commands us not to judge, He is condemning a spirit of self-righteous, self-exalting, hypocritical, harsh judgmentalism—an approach which seeks to highlight, shine the brightest neon lights on the faults of others, always brings with it the flavor of bitterness.

An unkind spirit completely violates Jesus’ exhortation to overflow with mercy towards both friend and enemy. Each and everyone of us needs to identify any spirit of judgment we may be harboring, to root it out, and to replace cruelty with kindness and harshness with patience, self-control and understanding.

This is how we show to others the kind of mercy that God has shown to us.

A (possibly apocryphal) story is told of how, when Queen Elizabeth II was a girl, she and her sister, Margaret, would be told by their mother before they went to a party, “Remember: royal children, royal manners.”

Their behavior would not make them members of the royal family, but it would demonstrate their royal character and royal membership in that royal family.

Fellow Christians, you and I are members of the royal family of the universe, with the King of creation as our Father. Be sure that your manners reflect who you are and whose you are. Be merciful, even as your Father is 100% merciful.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 23 Easy-to-Read Version

A song of David.

23 The Lord is my shepherd.
    I will always have everything I need.^[a]
²He gives me green pastures to lie in.
    He leads me by calm pools of water.
³He restores my strength.
    He leads me on right paths^[b] to show that he is good.
⁴Even if I walk through a valley as dark as the grave,^[c]
    I will not be afraid of any danger, because you are with me.
    Your rod and staff^[d] comfort me.
⁵You prepared a meal for me in front of my enemies.
    You welcomed me as an honored guest.^[e]
    My cup is full and spilling over.
⁶Your goodness and mercy will be with me all my life,
    and I will live in the Lord’s house^[f] a long, long time.^[g]

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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For Those Who Will Dare to Gather; What a Day of Solemn Recalling This Will Be! “Whenever we eat this Bread, we Drink from this Cup, we Proclaim The Lord’s Death Until He Comes.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Amplified Bible

The Lord’s Supper

^23 [a]For I received from the Lord Himself that [instruction] which I passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is (represents) My body, which is [offered as a sacrifice] for you. Do this in [affectionate] remembrance of Me.” ²⁵In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant [ratified and established] in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in [affectionate] remembrance of Me.” ²⁶For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are [symbolically] proclaiming [the fact of] the Lord’s death until He comes [again].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

A Time for Silent Recall, for Proclaiming the Sacrifice

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Disciples’ Literal New Testament

The Lord’s Supper Is a Remembrance of What He Did For Us

²³For I received from the Lord what I also handed-over^[a] to you— that the Lord Jesus, in the night on which He was being handed-over, took bread. ²⁴And having given-thanks, He broke it and said “This is My body, the one being given^[b] for you. Be doing this for My remembrance”. ²⁵Similarly also the cup after the dining^[c], saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Be doing this, as-often-as you drink it, for My remembrance”. ²⁶For as-often-as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord, until which time He comes.

Today is Sunday, and if you attend a worship service today, you might celebrate the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion. Many churches around the world will gather and focus on the simple loaf of bread and cup and hear these powerful words: “This is my body, given for you. . . . This is my blood, shed for you.”

In a way, the tangible elements of bread and grape juice (or wine) bear witness to the limitless love of Jesus shown in his sacrifice on the cross. We are invited to take and eat so that we may remember and believe that in Jesus’ death and resurrection we find forgiveness and new life. We are also reminded that when we participate in communion, we “recall and proclaim the Lord’s death” until he returns. Communion itself is a witness unto Jesus and all he has done for us.

I remember an enormously powerful experience of communion many years ago.

It was on the day of my wife’s and mine wedding.

As the Clergy proceeded through the liturgy of Marriage, in the background was the Bread and the Cup of Communion waiting for the moment of consecration.

In the modest sized Methodist Church where we were Married, the wife and I were both excited for each other, profoundly humbled before the Lord our God.

For the Wife and I what mattered the most was not just the moment of joining but the above and beyond all other things, celebrating, recalling Jesus’ place in our lives, in this holy moment of marriage – God #1 Jesus #1 Holy Spirit #1.

Love and sacrifice and service unto God first and foremost, then our neighbors and then each other. (Mark 12:28-34 Complete Jewish Bible)

²⁸One of the Torah-teachers came up and heard them engaged in this discussion. Seeing that Yeshua answered them well, he asked him, “Which is the most important mitzvah of them all?” ²⁹Yeshua answered, “The most important is,

‘Sh’ma Yisra’el, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, O Isra’el, the Lord our God, the Lord is one], ³⁰and you are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your understanding and with all your strength.’^[a]

³¹The second is this:

‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]

There is no other mitzvah greater than these.” ³²The Torah-teacher said to him, “Well said, Rabbi; you speak the truth when you say that he is one, and that there is no other besides him; ³³and that loving him with all one’s heart, understanding and strength, and loving one’s neighbor as oneself, mean more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴When Yeshua saw that he responded sensibly, he said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared put to him another sh’eilah.

*sh’eilah* The word in Hebrew means simply “question,” but among Jews speaking English it means “a question about Torah or halakhah” …

Halakhah, in Judaism, the totality of laws and ordinances that have evolved since biblical times to regulate religious observances and the daily life and conduct of the Jewish people.

As my Wife and I held those symbols of Jesus’ death in our hands, we saw with fresh eyes how his sacrifice brings life. We had both brought our “baggage,” and we placed them upon His Altar, sacrificing them as Christ sacrificed for us.

As we served the Elements, as we first served God, as we served the assembled wedding guests and officiants, we prayed that we set an example for the guests of the absolute primacy of God, the Father and God the Son and God Holy Spirit in our wedded lives and by divine extension into wedded lives of the assembled.

We decided God alone brought us together. God had decided that our purpose here wasn’t finished. In life in the primacy of service to God, our neighbors and ourselves, and in death, we all belong to him—the one who gave his all for us.

As you each proceed to receive holy Communion, recall first and foremost, in and echelons above all that we our ever so flawed and finite selves hold being primary, having all or nothing primacy in our day to day lives, Jesus, you are the bread of life. As we worship you, may we experience close communion with you and our brothers and sisters in faith. Thank you for the gift of your life. Alleluia! Amen.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 23 Complete Jewish Bible

23 ⁽⁰⁾A psalm of David:

⁽¹⁾Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing.
²He has me lie down in grassy pastures,
he leads me by quiet water,
³he restores my inner person.
He guides me in right paths
for the sake of his own name.
⁴Even if I pass through death-dark ravines,
I will fear no disaster; for you are with me;
your rod and staff reassure me.

⁵You prepare a table for me,
even as my enemies watch;
you anoint my head with oil
from an overflowing cup.

⁶Goodness and grace will pursue me
every day of my life;
and I will live in the house of Adonai
for years and years to come.

Tehillim 23 Orthodox Jewish Bible

23 (Mizmor of Dovid). Hashem is my Ro’eh (Shepherd); I shall not lack.

²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the mei menuchot (tranquil waters).

³He restoreth my nefesh; He guideth me in the paths of tzedek l’ma’an Shmo (righteousness for the sake of His Name).

⁴Yea, though I walk through the Gey Tzalmavet (Valley of the Shadow of Death), I will fear no rah (evil); for Thou art with me; Thy shevet (rod) and Thy staff they comfort me.

⁵Thou preparest a shulchan before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with shemen (olive oil); my kos runneth over.

⁶Surely tov and chesed shall follow me kol y’mei chaiyyai (all the days of my life): and I will dwell in the Bais Hashem l’orech yamim (for length of days, whole life.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Encountering God through Worship: Where Do We Encounter the Gospel inside the Book of Psalms? Psalm 10

Psalm 10 Complete Jewish Bible

10 Why, Adonai, do you stand at a distance?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
²The wicked in their arrogance hunt down the poor,
who get caught in the schemes they think up.

³For the wicked boasts about his lusts;
he blesses greed and despises Adonai.
⁴Every scheme of the wicked in his arrogance [says],
“There is no God, [so] it won’t be held against me.”
⁵His ways prosper at all times.
Your judgments are way up there,
so he takes no notice.
His adversaries? He scoffs at them all.
⁶In his heart he thinks, “I will never be shaken;
I won’t meet trouble, not now or ever.”
⁷His mouth is full of curses, deceit, oppression;
under his tongue, mischief and injustice.
⁸He waits near settlements in ambush
and kills an innocent man in secret;
his eyes are on the hunt for the helpless.
⁹Lurking unseen like a lion in his lair,
he lies in wait to pounce on the poor,
then seizes the poor and drags him off in his net.
¹⁰Yes, he stoops, crouches down low;
and the helpless wretch falls into his clutches.
¹¹He says in his heart, “God forgets,
he hides his face, he will never see.”

¹²Arise, Adonai! God, raise your hand!
Don’t forget the humble!
¹³Why does the wicked despise God
and say in his heart, “It won’t be held against me”?
¹⁴You have seen; for you look at mischief and grief,
so that you can take the matter in hand.
The helpless commits himself to you;
you help the fatherless.
¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked!
As for the evil man,
search out his wickedness
until there is none left.

¹⁶Adonai is king forever and ever!
The nations have vanished from his land.
¹⁷Adonai, you have heard what the humble want;
you encourage them and listen to them,
¹⁸to give justice to the fatherless and oppressed,
so that no one on earth will strike terror again.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Having consistent and transformational encounters with God while on earth is meant to be foundational to the Christian life. Our God has not left us. Our God has not changed, cannot be changed, will not change, will never be changed. He is, was and forever be the same God – today, yesterday and every last tomorrow.

Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we’ve been filled with the very Spirit of God who longs to reveal to us daily the nearness and love of our heavenly Father. We are never left alone. There is nowhere we can flee from the presence of our God. It is likewise true God can always be found-sometimes in the most common places.

However, as much the Hebrews 13:8 remains forever true and unchangeable, it is more than well established through the Word of God that while things will always proceed according to God’s plan, humankind’s plan always, inevitably, falls apart and humanity struggles to regain the degree and measure of control they falsely believe they exercise over divine providence, and God ‘vanishes.’

Humankind inevitably will become all kind of flustered, frustrated and frayed.

10 Why do You stand far away, O Lord?
Why do You hide [Yourself, veiling Your eyes] in times of trouble? Psalm 10:1

The pitiful cries that are recorded in this Psalm 10 could be the words of many believers today.

Times of deepest troubles and severe persecution are touching every member of the Body of Christ in one way or another, many are repeatedly crying out: “Lord, why do you stand far off? Why do you (always) hide yourself in times of trouble?”

What the Psalmist recorded 3000 years ago, mirrors the happenings of today, as many continue to ask, “Why does the Lord our God seem to remain silent while the innocents suffer? Why are those arrogant, evil men permitted to go unchallenged?”

We may not or never understand the full plans and purposes of God, but He has already appointed a time, a time known only to Him, to judge evil, the wicked.

We may be grieved by the wars, the atrocities, the incredible measures and degrees and divisiveness that are taking place today, but God has appointed a day to finish transgression, put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to set His King upon His holy Hill in Jerusalem.

For two thousand years, God has been pouring out grace upon grace, upon grace not willing that any should perish. But the day is coming when wicked and evil man will be called to a final account of their sins, day of wrath is surely coming when nations will be judged, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

Jesus taught us in John 4:23, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” Your heavenly Father is seeking your worship. He longs for it. He so places highest values on your love, adoration that he would send his Son to die that the path to encountering him would be made available.

You, me, we, were first and foremost created to worship. You, me, we were all created to receive the love of your Creator and in response give him your heart.

You, me, we, will never feel as whole as when our hearts is connected to our Heavenly Father’s heart and you, me, we are giving, receiving love in worship.

Psalm 29 Complete Jewish Bible

29 ⁽⁰⁾A psalm of David:

⁽¹⁾Give Adonai his due, you who are godly;
give Adonai his due of glory and strength;
²give Adonai the glory due his name;
worship Adonai in holy splendor.

³The voice of Adonai is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
Adonai over rushing waters,
⁴the voice of Adonai in power,
the voice of Adonai in splendor.

⁵The voice of Adonai cracks the cedars;
Adonai splinters the cedars of the L’vanon
⁶and makes the L’vanon skip like a calf,
Siryon like a young wild ox.

⁷The voice of Adonai flashes fiery flames;
⁸the voice of Adonai rocks the desert,
Adonai convulses the Kadesh Desert.
⁹The voice of Adonai causes deer to give birth
and strips the forests bare —
while in his temple, all cry, “Glory!”
¹⁰Adonai sits enthroned above the flood!
Adonai sits enthroned as king forever!
¹¹May Adonai give strength to his people!
May Adonai bless his people with shalom!

The Christian life is to be marked by disciplined heartfelt, genuine worship: worship filled with God’s presence and intimate nearness and nearness to the heartbeat of God that responds to a true encounter with the heart of God.

If that type of worship is new to you, that’s okay!

If the idea of encountering God in worship is new to you, there is joy and grace at the place of new beginnings.

Don’t allow your past to dictate the possibilities of your future.

Don’t allow past experiences where worship might not have been filled with encountering Jesus make you believe our future times of our worship won’t be marked by the power and intimacy and God’s presence. (Isaiah 6:1-10)

Where else Do We See the Gospel in the Psalms?

Asking how we see the gospel in the book of Psalms feels a little like asking, “How do we see the gospel in The Methodist Hymnal.”

Isn’t it there in every single song (hopefully)?

Of course, the Old Testament is different. But this is a book of music which Old Testament believers would have used to express their faith in the living God.

In order to see the gospel in Psalms do we need to analyze every single chapter?

Are these not individual songs?

Or is there a unified theme to the Psalms which also points to the gospel?

I will argue that the Psalms not only point us to Jesus individually, the Book of Psalms as a compilation which will also point us to the finished work of Christ.

How Do You Find the Gospel in the Old Testament?

I suppose before understanding how to find the gospel in the OT, it’d be helpful for us to define the gospel.

The simplest definition is one given by JI Packer: God saves sinners.

If you’d like to put a bit more meat on your gospel presentation, I use two different frameworks with four points each.

The first is God—Man—Christ—Response.

The second is more of a story: Creation—Fall—Redemption—Glory.

The first presentation centers upon God’s character and how humanity fails to meet God’s holy standard, as such the judgment of God is upon us.

But the good news is that Jesus Christ fixes this by fulfilling what is required through his life, death and resurrection.

Our only fitting response, then, is to respond to Him in repentance and faith.

When this happens, we are united to Christ and his record becomes our record.

The second presentation centers upon the overarching story of the Bible.

God lovingly created us to love Him and enjoy Him forever.

We were made for rest, rule, and relationship.

But we made shipwreck of this, and so rather than having the blessings of obedience we are under the curse of disobedience.

Rather than having peace (rest), purpose (ruling), and healthy relationship we often experience the opposite.

Ultimately, we are alienated from God. But thankfully God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to bear our curse and to fulfill what God intended for humanity.

As such we now experience the blessings of Jesus’ obedience in our place.

He restores the rest, rule, and relationship we were created to enjoy.

Someday everything will be ultimately restored and we will live in a new heaven and a new earth.

We could write entire books focusing on these various themes of the gospel.

But every gospel story follows this basic skeleton.

No matter where you find yourself in the Old Testament (or New Testament) you can find one of these various threads.

Every place in Scripture is either telling you something about God, something about our rebellion, something about His rescue, or something about our future restoration.

If you can spot this, then you can fill out the rest of the story.

The Gospel in Psalms

For my studies, I have often compared the book of Psalms to a hymnbook.

That’s not entirely true.

It was a collection of poems throughout the history of Israel, many of which were set to music.

Most believe the 150 Psalms were compiled at some point after the Babylonian exile. How were they compiled? Did an ancient exiled editor just randomly pick a few poems, stick them together willy dilly, and then give them numbers?

Or was there an intentional structure?

The first clue that there is an intentional structure is that many have headings.

In fact, we notice that there are five Books of the Psalms. This is likely intentional and connected to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament). We also see that each of these books ends with a doxology.

This structure can help us understand the overall theme of the book of Psalms.

Taking the first two books as a bit of a thesis, I appreciate the summary given by The Bible Project.

They say, it is “the prayer book of God’s people as they strive to be faithful to the Torah as they wait for the Messianic Kingdom.”

How do these five books of Psalms support that theme?

And more importantly how does the story of the Psalms point to Christ?

Book I

Almost all of the psalms of Book I are attributed to David.

They carry a strong theme of fidelity to the Torah and the nature of the Davidic King and kingdom.

But they are often set in the middle of distressing situations.

Saul’s pursuit of David plays a prominent role throughout these.

And yet through this distress, we see a settled disposition to trust in the Lord.

The theme here is that of confrontation with the results of the fall.

The seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent.

We see this theme played out through the conflict of Book I.

Book II

In Book II we are introduced to the Sons of Korah (Ps. 42-49), one psalm of Asaph (50), and then another group of psalms attributed to David (51-71).

It closes with a psalm of Solomon (72).

In this book, the posture towards the world is a bit different. Rather than a confrontation we see more of an invitation. Here the Abrahamic blessing is extended through the reign of the Messiah’s kingdom. But it is still set within a background of lament and longing and an underlying desire for repentance.

Book III

In Book III it is as if all the wheels come off of the locomotive.

The psalms further darken until they reach their climax in Psalm 88.

That is the psalm of lament where there is no positive turn.

It is only darkness.

But the book ends with a bit of a higher note in Psalm 89 as it points toward the promise of a messianic kingdom, but now it does so in light of the exile and the collapse of the Davidic Kingdom. How can the Messiah come through this?

How can a king sit on David’s throne when the people are divided, scattered?

Book IV

Book IV, opening with Psalm 90, seems like a response to the questions and the problems which the fall of the Davidic kingdom brings.

Psalm 90 goes back to Moses and his call of repentance after the incident of the golden calf.

This is likely where the people are during the time when these psalms are compiled. There is an obvious theme here of the truth that “the Lord reigns.”

That is the answer to the exile. God is still able to bring that which He promised.

Book V

Book V has within it two sub-books: the Hallel and the Songs of Ascent.

These point to the promise of a new Exodus. Positioned within the middle of these sub-books is Psalm 119 — that really long psalm all about delight in the Torah. Once again, we see the original theme of the book of the Psalms.

The whole thing concludes with five Hallelu-Yah’s (Praise the Lord) — pointing to God’s coming rule and reign.

The Psalms are a recasting of the history of Israel (really of all of humanity).

It tells the story of the gospel. God has decisively crushed the head of the serpent, but we are not yet there. We do not yet fully live in this redemption.

Therefore, we have some of the same struggles as the psalmist did. We have seasons of lament, where we are honest with God about our grief.

And we also have times of praise, prayer and worship — when the kingdom appears to be vividly breaking into our here and now.

The gospel is in the structure of the Psalms through pointing to the coming Rescuer. Each of the Psalms point to Jesus. He is the long awaited for King.

He is the hope of the nations.

The Gospel in Psalm 88

Psalm 88 Complete Jewish Bible

88 ⁽⁰⁾A song. A psalm of the sons of Korach. For the leader. Set to “Sickness that Causes Suffering.” A maskil of Heiman the Ezrachi.

^2 (1)Adonai, God of my salvation,
when I cry out to you in the night,
^3 (2)let my prayer come before you,
turn your ear to my cry for help!
^4 (3)For I am oversupplied with troubles,
which have brought me to the brink of Sh’ol.
^5 (4)I am counted among those going down to the pit,
like a man who is beyond help,
^6 (5)left by myself among the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave —
you no longer remember them;
they are cut off from your care.

^7 (6)You plunged me into the bottom of the pit,
into dark places, into the depths.
^8 (7)Your wrath lies heavily on me;
your waves crashing over me keep me down. (Selah)
^9 (8)You separated me from my close friends,
made me repulsive to them;
I am caged in, with no escape;
^10 (9)my eyes grow dim from suffering.

I call on you, Adonai, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.
^11 (10)Will you perform wonders for the dead?
Can the ghosts of the dead rise up and praise you? (Selah)
^12 (11)Will your grace be declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
^13 (12)Will your wonders be known in the dark,
or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?

^14 (13)But I cry out to you, Adonai;
my prayer comes before you in the morning.
^15 (14)So why, Adonai, do you reject me?
Why do you hide your face from me?

^16 (15)Since my youth I have been miserable, close to death;
I am numb from bearing these terrors of yours.
^17 (16)Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me,
your terrors have shriveled me up.
^18 (17)They surge around me all day like a flood,
from all sides they close in on me.
^19 (18)You have made friends and companions shun me;
the people I know are hidden from me.

Psalm 88 is horribly depressing.

Unlike the other psalms of lament, there is not a glimmer of hope here.

I believe this is an expression of what happens when the curses of Deuteronomy 28 fall upon a people.

It is precisely the situation which the exilic community is facing.

And with all of this pain comes deep questions.

There are two questions which are crying out during an exile.

If the curse of the Law has fallen upon them, has their sin cut them off from God forever? How can an unholy people ever expect to return to a right relationship with God? Could they ever come back to the land? (That’s all one question, but trauma tends to ask the same question in multiple says).

But these questions are cast against the background of God’s promises.

How can this be?

Has God cut them off forever?

Will they ever again be recipients of these great promises?

What does this mean for God’s name throughout the world?

Does this now mean that Babylon is more powerful?

Are they the victors? Did the serpent win?

Ever feel this way yourself?

I know I’ve had very dark nights of the soul.

I have felt in my bones the pain of Psalm 88. On one particularly low occasion I found myself praying Psalm 88. I felt like the psalm was written for me.

This is my situation.

This embodies my hurt.

But then I started to think of Christ.

Wait…Psalm 88 isn’t my psalm, it’s His.

If anyone can pray Psalm 88 it is Christ who drank of the curse on our behalf.

Jesus truly did bear in His body the full weight of the Deuteronomic curse.

Even though I’ve felt Psalm 88, and even though I may go through seasons where I can pray this and identify with it, I haven’t experienced it as deeply as Christ. He has gone several echelons deeper into the pit than I will ever go.

This is good news because the story doesn’t end with Psalm 88. We’re meant to read it with Psalm 89. And Psalm 89 invites us to hope in the coming Messiah.

That coming Messiah is Jesus — the resurrected One. As He shares in the death of Psalm 88, which our sin has brought about, He ultimately conquered death.

He did not stay in the grave. And through our union with Him, we won’t either!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 89 Complete Jewish Bible

89 ⁽⁰⁾A maskil of Eitan the Ezrachi:

^2 (1)I will sing about Adonai’s acts of grace forever,
with my mouth proclaim your faithfulness to all generations;
^3 (2)because I said, “Grace is built to last forever;
in the heavens themselves you established your faithfulness.”

^4 (3)You said, “I made a covenant with the one I chose,
I swore to my servant David,
^5 (4)‘I will establish your dynasty forever,
build up your throne through all generations.’” (Selah)

^6 (5)Let the heavens praise your wonders, Adonai,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the angels.
^7 (6)For who in the skies can be compared with Adonai?
Which of these gods can rival Adonai,
^8 (7)a God dreaded in the great assembly of the holy ones
and feared by all around him?

^9 (8)Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot!
Who is as mighty as you, Yah?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.
^10 (9)You control the raging of the sea;
when its waves rear up, you calm them.
^11 (10)You crushed Rahav like a carcass;
with your strong arm you scattered your foes.
^12 (11)The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours;
you founded the world and everything in it.
^13 (12)You created north and south;
Tavor and Hermon take joy in your name.

^14 (13)Your arm is mighty, your hand is strong,
your right hand is lifted high.
^15 (14)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
grace and truth attend you.

^16 (15)How happy are the people who know the joyful shout!
They walk in the light of your presence, Adonai.
^17 (16)They rejoice in your name all day
and are lifted up by your righteousness,
^18 (17)for you yourself are the strength in which they glory.
Our power grows by pleasing you,
^19 (18)for our shield comes from Adonai —
our king is from the Holy One of Isra’el.

^20 (19)There was a time when you spoke in a vision;
you declared to your loyal [prophets],
“I have given help to a warrior,
I have raised up someone chosen from the people.
^21 (20)I have found David my servant
and anointed him with my holy oil.
^22 (21)My hand will always be with him,
and my arm will give him strength.
^23 (22)No enemy will outwit him,
no wicked man overcome him.
^24 (23)I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
^25 (24)My faithfulness and grace will be with him;
through my name his power will grow.
^26 (25)I will put his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
^27 (26)He will call to me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
^28 (27)I will give him the position of firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
^29 (28)I will keep my grace for him forever,
and in my covenant be faithful with him.
^30 (29)I will establish his dynasty forever,
and his throne as long as the heavens last.

^31 (30)“If his descendants abandon my Torah
and fail to live by my rulings,
^32 (31)if they profane my regulations
and don’t obey my mitzvot,
^33 (32)I will punish their disobedience with the rod
and their guilt with lashes.
^34 (33)But I won’t withdraw my grace from him
or be false to my faithfulness.
^35 (34)I will not profane my covenant
or change what my lips have spoken.
^36 (35)I have sworn by my holiness once and for all;
I will not lie to David —
^37 (36)his dynasty will last forever,
his throne like the sun before me.
^38 (37)It will be established forever, like the moon,
which remains a faithful witness in the sky.” (Selah)

^39 (38)But you spurned your anointed one,
rejected and vented your rage on him.
^40 (39)You renounced the covenant with your servant
and defiled his crown in the dust.
^41 (40)You broke through all his defenses
and left his strongholds in ruins.
^42 (41)All who pass by plunder him;
he is an object of scorn to his neighbors.
^43 (42)You raised up the right hand of his foes
and made all his enemies rejoice.
^44 (43)You drive back his drawn sword
and fail to support him in battle.
^45 (44)You brought an end to his splendor
and hurled his throne to the ground.
^46 (45)You cut short the days of his youth
and covered him with shame. (Selah)

^47 (46)How long, Adonai? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your fury burn like fire?
^48 (47)Remember how little time I have!
Was it for no purpose that you created all humanity?
^49 (48)Who can live and not see death?
Who can save himself from the power of the grave? (Selah)
^50 (49)Where, Adonai, are the acts of grace you once did,
those which, in your faithfulness, you swore to David?
^51 (50)Remember, Adonai, the taunts hurled at your servants,
which I carry in my heart [from] so many peoples!
^52 (51)Your enemies, Adonai, have flung their taunts,
flung them in the footsteps of your anointed one.

^53 (52)Blessed be Adonai forever.
Amen. Amen.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Are We Believing the Promise That God Will Take Care of Us? How Can We Turn Adversity into Opportunity Like the Apostle Paul? Acts28:21-31

Acts 28:21-31 The Message

^21-22They said, “Nobody wrote warning us about you. And no one has shown up saying anything bad about you. But we would like very much to hear more. The only thing we know about this Christian sect is that nobody seems to have anything good to say about it.”

²³They agreed on a time. When the day arrived, they came back to his home with a number of their friends. Paul talked to them all day, from morning to evening, explaining everything involved in the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them all about Jesus by pointing out what Moses and the prophets had written about him.

^24-27Some of them were persuaded by what he said, but others refused to believe a word of it. When the unbelievers got cantankerous and started bickering with each other, Paul interrupted: “I have just one more thing to say to you. The Holy Spirit sure knew what he was talking about when he addressed our ancestors through Isaiah the prophet:

Go to this people and tell them this:
“You’re going to listen with your ears,
    but you won’t hear a word;
You’re going to stare with your eyes,
    but you won’t see a thing.
These people are blockheads!
They stick their fingers in their ears
    so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
    so they won’t have to look,
    so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
    and let me heal them.”

²⁸“You’ve had your chance. The non-Jewish outsiders are next on the list. And believe me, they’re going to receive it with open arms!”

^30-31Paul lived for two years in his rented house. He welcomed everyone who came to visit. He urgently presented all matters of the kingdom of God. He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

GOD Will Take Care of Me? I Just Got Bit by a Poisonous Snake!

Yes! No! Maybe Maybe Not? I Doubt it! Not Worth Believing! Not Worth One Single Moment of My Time! You’ll Stop Talking and Just Keep Walking on By! Not on Any Day of the Week Which has a ‘Y’ at the End of it! Tell it to the Hand!

In moments of despair, depression, and disillusionment, we all need to take a cue from our brother Paul and shake it off. Literally, Paul shook the snake off him and didn’t suffer any effects from what should have been a lethal bite.

Friend, I’m gonna tell on myself and keep it real here: I am hardcore horrible at shaking things off and choosing to believe the best. But so I want to emphasize shaking off disillusionment is key to getting back up when life knocks us down.

And when we shake all of that slithering snake bit envenomated trash off us, we need not make ourselves, obligate ourselves, suffer any ill effects from it either.

Meaning, when you start spiraling into disillusionment, you have to first stop obsessing over the lie that you have been abandoned by God and shake it off.

But we have to be assertive, we have to be God seeking, ready to take things a step further, make sure the venom of catastrophizing isn’t lingering inside us.

Paul learned the hardcore way what we have to learn, too: when you make it through the storm and all hell breaks loose on the shore— when you’ve been through all and it still keeps coming— we’ve got to pick up our Bibles, read the Word of God, Pray and Pray some more. God will hear us and we shake! it! off!

Bad memories? Bad Experiences? Bad Judgement? Bad Choices? Bad Decisions? Bad Results! Catastrophic Results! Lingering Results! My Sin is ever before Me!

Who of humanity can actually, genuinely, truthfully claim they have not been there, done that, have one or two or 10 mega tons of hardcore hardened regret?

I Suggest Raise Up! Pray Up! Pound your chest right now and say, “Get off me!”

Nah, you didn’t do it.

By my own confession, personal experience; You didn’t say it out loud. You said it in our head, and that doesn’t count. Say it out loud so the whole of your soul is shaken, is stirred, you can hear yourself, feel yourself, making that declaration.

Say it again so you feel it in your soul.

Say it a third time so the devil and his demons start shaking!

The Bible gives no record of Paul screaming, running around, or freaking out.

Why?

I think it’s because he didn’t do any of that.

Paul knew he wasn’t going to die on Malta.

Paul didn’t make a scene because he knew Rome was waiting, Rome was where Paul would proclaim the gospel of the risen Messiah before Caesar himself.

Well, friend, I’m with Paul.

I’m not going to inflict more suffering upon myself die on my Malta, because my arrest, prison in Rome is waiting too. Paul told his crew in the middle of a storm, “This has to happen.” And I’m telling myself, “This has to happen” too.

If you are shipwrecked and gasping, grasping for life, you’ve been on “Malta” trying to figure out why you’re there, I want to point you back to the who.

Who is in control of your life?

Who cares? Who loves you? Who gave you the vision or dream for your life?

I pray that you answered “God” to all of those questions, stand firm in the faith that has brought you this far. It’s time to shake off the disillusionment.

This action isn’t just for you.

It’s for everyone who is watching you too!

See, when Paul got bit by the snake, no one came around him to help.

Everyone stood there, watched to see what he would do or what would happen.

Child of God, people are watching you.

People are always going to be watching you and for you, to start that fatal walk.

People are waiting for you to lose it, to walk away, or to curl up and die. But look at you! You are still here, still surviving and steadfastly refusing to ever give up.

I’m standing up! I am putting my running shoes on and tying them tight. and giving God some praise because God is still here, you are going to shake it off.

Speed Dial God Pick, Pray, yourself up and get ready because Rome is waiting.

Do we know what to do in our own Malta?

If we find ourselves there, how should we live?

Remember, dear friend, Paul didn’t want to go to Malta either.

Visiting Malta was not at all in his plan.

And yet . . .

When a viper attacks Paul, the local islanders think he will die. But Paul shakes the snake off, and no harm comes to him. When Paul does not die, the people think he is a god. But no, Paul is not a god. He does represent God, however.

Paul is almost all the way to Rome, but the witness of God through him continues every step of the way. Paul is on Malta because of a storm and a shipwreck. Paul gathers kindling for bringing warmth. And God continues to take care of him in different ways. God also takes care of the people of Malta.

The chief official of the island opens his home to welcome the shipwrecked visitors. During this time, God heals the official’s sick father through Paul.

A single moment of recognizing opportunity, sharing hospitality, becomes the momentous setting to see God’s healing power, many others are healed also.

At first glance, we see Paul shipwrecked on an island, delayed for three months on his journey to Rome. But soon we can see that God has brought Paul and the others there to bring presence, assurance, healing and the good news of Jesus.

In addition, we see God taking care of Paul and the others by bringing them to Malta. But then we also see that God takes care of Malta by bringing Paul and the others there and we witness the testimony of the healed being sent forth!

And as they travel on to Rome, they meet other people and are welcomed and encouraged. Doors are kept open! God, the Disciples are visible, welcoming!

May we too take heart and learn from God this day.

May we the Body of Christ, His Church in the world, be people who look again and again to see our God who is always at work taking care of us and others.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 46 The Message

46 ^1-3God is a safe place to hide,
    ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
    courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans,
    the tremors that shift mountains.

Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

^4-6River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city,
    this sacred haunt of the Most High.
God lives here, the streets are safe,
    God at your service from crack of dawn.
Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,
    but Earth does anything he says.

⁷ Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

^8-10Attention, all! See the marvels of God!
    He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,
Bans war from pole to pole,
    breaks all the weapons across his knee.
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
    loving look at me, your High God,
    above politics, above everything.”

¹¹ Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Yes! No! Maybe Maybe Not? Doubtful! Do Not Get Your Hopes Up! Forget It! Not On Any Day of the Week With a Y in It! Just How Do I Say ‘Yes’ to God? Proverbs 3:5-8

Proverbs 3:5-8 Complete Jewish Bible

⁵Trust in Adonai with all your heart;
do not rely on your own understanding.
⁶In all your ways acknowledge him;
then he will level your paths.

⁷Don’t be conceited about your own wisdom;
but fear Adonai, and turn from evil.
⁸This will bring health to your body
and give strength to your bones.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Those Hidden Conversations – God with My Sins

Trust in Adonai with all of your heart …!

Yes! No! Maybe Maybe Not? Doubtful! Do Not Get Your Hopes Up! Forget It! Not On Any Day of the Week With a Y in It!

Do not rely on your own understanding …!

Yes! No! Maybe Maybe Not? Doubtful! Do Not Get Your Hopes Up! Forget It! Not On Any Day of the Week With a Y in It!

In all your ways acknowledge Adonai …!

Yes! No! Maybe Maybe Not? Doubtful! Do Not Get Your Hopes Up! Forget It! Not On Any Day of the Week With a Y in It!

Then Adonai will level your Paths …!

Yes! No! Maybe Maybe Not? Doubtful! Do Not Get Your Hopes Up! Forget It! Not On Any Day of the Week With a Y in It!

Don’t be wide eyed and conceited about your own wisdom …!

Yes! No! Maybe Maybe Not? Doubtful! Do Not Get Your Hopes Up! Forget It! Not On Any Day of the Week With a Y in It!

But fear Adonai, and turn from evil …!

Yes! No! Maybe Maybe Not? Doubtful! Do Not Get Your Hopes Up! Forget It! Not On Any Day of the Week With a Y in It!

This will bring health to your body …!

Yes! No! Maybe Maybe Not? Doubtful! Do Not Get Your Hopes Up! Forget It! Not On Any Day of the Week With a Y in It!

And give strength to your Bones …!

Yes! No! Maybe Maybe Not? Doubtful! Do Not Get Your Hopes Up! Forget It! Not On Any Day of the Week With a Y in It!

Do we seriously want to learn how to say yes to God? Many of us do. But saying yes to what God asks may include saying no to what you want and to what others think is best…how do we simply say yes when it’s hard to do?

This is when things get hopelessly complicated right? It is so easy to go along with God’s program when we are on board, but what about when God’s “ask” requires us to risk too much, leave our comfort zones, or walk by blind faith?

Saying yes to God is a bold declaration. In our ‘wise’ finite minds, we have to be certain we know just what we are getting into before we claim we are “all in.”

What Does It Look Like to Say YES to GOD?

Since I am a person who constantly needs concrete, real-life examples, I have been praying, seeking God, and going back and forth into the Bible for some answers. I wanted to see what saying yes looks like. Does that make sense?

So I opened my link to Biblegateway.com, started by making a list of all the ordinary, flawed, messed up, scared, and insecure people in the Bible who said yes to God not knowing, suspecting, what it would mean for their lives.

People In The Bible Who Said YES To GOD

Noah said YES when God asked him to build the ark.
Abraham said YES when God asked him to sacrifice his only son.
Joseph said YES when God asked him to forgive his brothers who beat and sold him into slavery.
Moses said YES when God told him to go to Pharaoh and ask him to let the Israelites go.
Rahab said yes when asked to hide the Israelite spies and risk her own life and the lives of her family.
David said YES when God asked him to fight the giant Goliath with only a slingshot and a few stones.
Esther said YES when Mordecai told her to go to the king to save her people.
Daniel said YES when God told him not to bow down and worship other idols.
Mary said YES when the angel told her she would carry God’s son, Jesus.
The disciples said YES when Jesus asked them to leave everything behind and follow him.
Paul said YES when God asked him to deliver the good news of Jesus to the Gentiles.
Ananias said YES when Jesus told him to touch Paul’s eyes, restore his sight, begin his apostleship to the Gentiles, plant churches, write letters which eventually became the bulk of the New Testament, by far, the greatest evangelist of the 1st century church.

How Do We Say Yes to God?

Proverbs 3:5-8 Amplified Bible

⁵
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
⁶
^[a]In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
⁷
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.
⁸
It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts]
And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones.

First, determine to say no in your mind.

“A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.” – Proverbs 25:28 MSG

I like how the New King James Version put it as well:

“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.”

That word “spirit” can also mean mind.

And isn’t that the truth.

If we can’t rule our minds, then we are defenseless against the enemy’s schemes. We are like a home with its doors and windows knocked in. Anyone can come in and steal and kill whatever they want. A person without the ability to control their thoughts is the exact same person that the enemy will go after.

Telling yourself no means confronting the thoughts that are not from God.

Thoughts of rejection, insecurity, doubt, self-doubt… these things are not from God. And if those thoughts are running amok, and rampant in our minds, we are actually telling God no! We cannot believe both the world’s lies and God’s truth at the same time. If we are accepting the lies, then we are rejecting God’s Truth.

Where in your thought-life do you believe lies?

Second, have faith in God’s promises.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.“ – Hebrews 11:1

Saying yes to God means stepping out into the unknown; moving forward in something that you believe God is asking you to do (it’s confirmed in His Word).

When those young people stood up before the whole church, they had no idea where God was going to lead them. I remember in fall 2005 confessing to my pastor that I was planning to be a great evangelist because I didn’t see any women in my future. He just laughed and told me no! I married my wife 2010.

If you read Hebrews 11, you’ll see all those ‘heroes of the faith’ who have gone before us with faith to see things that were unseen at the time.

Take the Patriarch Abraham for example; God asked him to leave his country and go somewhere else to establish a new covenant with Him. BY FAITH Abraham obeyed and went out even though he did not know where he was going (Hebrew 11:8-9 and Romans Chapter 4)

Here are more verses for mediation.

Do we .01% believe God when he says these things? Do you trust that He is working all things for YOUR GOOD? That He does have a purpose in your life?

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”– Romans 8:28

“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” –Isaiah 40:31

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”-Isaiah 43:2

Even our lack of faith cannot thwart God’s purposes.

All of the saints spoken of in Hebrews 11 were flawed humans just like us, and God still used them.

Why? Because they (some very reluctantly) continued to say yes to Him!

Exodus 3:1-12 Amplified Bible

The Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro (Reuel) his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God. ²The ^[a]Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing flame of fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was on fire, yet it was not consumed. ³So Moses said, “I must turn away [from the flock] and see this great sight—why the bush is not burned up.” ⁴When the Lord saw that he turned away [from the flock] to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵Then God said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet [out of respect], because the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷The Lord said, “I have in fact seen the affliction (suffering, desolation) of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters (oppressors); for I know their pain and suffering. ⁸So I have come down to rescue them from the hand (power) of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a land [that is] good and spacious, to a land ^[b]flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty]—to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ⁹Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me; and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

The Mission of Moses

¹⁰Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and then bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹²And God said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve and worship God at this mountain.”

They ultimately rejected the lies of the enemy and continued to trust despite their very obvious and severe shortcomings.

This word is for us too.

This day, if God is asking you to move forward on something – say YES!

How will you know if God is asking you to say yes to something?

He will confirm it through His word.

Do not be shy to ask for confirmation, either!

Ask God to confirm what He is asking. He will do it.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 8 Complete Jewish Bible

8 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. On the gittit. A psalm of David:

^2 (1)Adonai! Our Lord! How glorious
is your name throughout the earth!
The fame of your majesty
spreads even above the heavens!

^3 (2)From the mouths of babies and infants at the breast
you established strength because of your foes,
in order that you might silence
the enemy and the avenger.

^4 (3)When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars that you set in place —
^5 (4)what are mere mortals, that you concern yourself with them;
humans, that you watch over them with such care?

^6 (5)You made him but little lower than the angels,
you crowned him with glory and honor,
^7 (6)you had him rule what your hands made,
you put everything under his feet —
^8 (7)sheep and oxen, all of them,
also the animals in the wilds,
^9 (8)the birds in the air, the fish in the sea,
whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

^10 (9)Adonai! Our Lord! How glorious
is your name throughout the earth!

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Worship that is Worthy; Worship of the Only One Who Is Worthy and it is not Me, Myself nor I nor any Angels! Revelation 5:12

Revelation 5:11-14 Complete Jewish Bible

¹¹Then I looked, and I heard the sound of a vast number of angels — thousands and thousands, millions and millions! They were all around the throne, the living beings and the elders; ¹²and they shouted out,

“Worthy is the slaughtered Lamb to receive
power, riches, wisdom, strength,
honor, glory and praise!”

¹³And I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth and on the sea — yes, everything in them — saying,

“To the One sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb
belong praise, honor, glory and power
forever and ever!”

¹⁴The four living beings said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshipped.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Bible scholars teach us that whenever a Roman emperor entered a city, the citizens shouted, “Worthy!” The apostle John, who had been exiled because he confessed Jesus as Lord, knew that only Jesus was worthy—not the emperor.

Today we are inspired, empowered, invited, welcomed, to see with spiritual eyes what John saw happening in heaven. We are summoned to join with the multitude of angels and other creatures in singing that the Lord is worthy.

God alone is worthy of all our praise and honor because he is the Creator and Savior. We owe every single breath to the One who has made us, and we have new life, purchased by the blood of Christ, because he was slain for our sake.

From the beginning, Our Lord Jesus, Our living Savior Jesus, the Lamb who was slain, He alone is worthy to open the scroll of history (explained in Rev. 6-9).

The One who died on the cross and who alone rose from the dead, giving us new life in order to serve and rule with him, is the One who now reigns. All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to him, and his kingdom will never come to end.

Shall we lift up our voices and sing with all the creatures of our God and King?

“To him alone. . . to God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit be maximum praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever! . . . Amen.”

Asking Ourselves; Why Our Worship Is Worth It

Psalm 78:1-8 Complete Jewish Bible

78 ⁽⁰⁾A maskil of Asaf:

⁽¹⁾Listen, my people, to my teaching;
turn your ears to the words from my mouth.
²I will speak to you in parables
and explain mysteries from days of old.

³The things which we have heard and known,
and which our fathers told us
⁴we will not hide from their descendants;
we will tell the generation to come
the praises of Adonai and his strength,
the wonders that he has performed.

⁵He raised up a testimony in Ya‘akov
and established a Torah in Isra’el.
He commanded our ancestors
to make this known to their children,
⁶so that the next generation would know it,
the children not yet born,
who would themselves arise
and tell their own children,
⁷who could then put their confidence in God,
not forgetting God’s deeds,
but obeying his mitzvot.
⁸Then they would not be like their ancestors,
a stubborn, rebellious generation,
a generation with unprepared hearts,
with spirits unfaithful to God.

The psalmist and music leader Asaph wrote Psalm 78 to give praise unto the Lord and offer a testimony of remembrance to future generations of God’s faithfulness. His testimony in word and song is as relevant today to remind our generation and those to come after us why “worship is worth it” regardless of whether we feel like it or the state of the times makes us doubt His presence.

1. We Must Keep the Chain Going

In Psalm 78:2-4, Asaph stated his purpose: “I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old—things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.”

By current generations keeping the testimony of God’s faithfulness alive, future generations are admonished, reminded and, are too, given blessed assurance that our living Lord is capable and willing to handle the circumstances of today.

We voluntarily stress ourselves by contemplating the impact of inflation, the ethical and moral state of our country, the war in Ukraine, In Israel, effects of the pandemic, tepid enthusiasm, lukewarm spiritual condition of our churches.

However, our grandparents can give a very different testimony of fighting, living through world wars, pandemics, depressions, and segregation.

They did not have the technology and means of communication of today, yet, our God was actively present, did mighty things in spite of the circumstances.

Rest assured our Savior is still seated at the right hand of the Heavenly Father.

Paul, in his second letter to his fellow servant Timothy, gave special attention to the testimony passed down to him. He wrote, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

2 Timothy 1:1-10 Complete Jewish Bible

1 From: Sha’ul, an emissary of the Messiah Yeshua by God’s will, which holds forth a promise of life through being united with Messiah Yeshua

²To: Timothy, my dear son:

Grace, mercy and shalom from God the Father and the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.

³I give thanks to God, whom, like my forbears, I worship with a clean conscience, as I regularly remember you in my prayers night and day. ⁴I am reminded of your tears, and I long to see you, so that I might be filled with joy. ⁵I recall your sincere trust, the same trust that your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice had first; and I am convinced that you too now have this trust.

⁶For this reason, I am reminding you to fan the flame of God’s gift, which you received through s’mikhah from me. ⁷For God gave us a Spirit who produces not timidity, but power, love and self-discipline. ⁸So don’t be ashamed of bearing testimony to our Lord or to me, his prisoner. On the contrary, accept your share in suffering disgrace for the sake of the Good News. God will give you the strength for it, ⁹since he delivered us and called us to a life of holiness as his people. It was not because of our deeds, but because of his own purpose and the grace which he gave to us who are united with the Messiah Yeshua. He did this before the beginning of time, ¹⁰but made it public only now through the appearing of our Deliverer, the Messiah Yeshua, who abolished death and, through the Good News, revealed life and immortality.

Similarly, David wrote in Psalm 145:4, “One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.”

Our personal testimony of redemption is our greatest praise unto our Savior and serves as a witness to the world.

2. We have Been Fed

God “opened the doors of heaven, and had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them corn of heaven” to feed His people.

We in the church age have been fed bountifully as well.

In John 6:51, Jesus described himself as the “living bread that came down from heaven.”

We have 66 books from which to feed upon.

In Matthew 4:4, Jesus indicated such when he spoke, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

This fact is complemented by Jesus’s words in John 6:63: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life..”

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “we will even now feed on Thee as our spiritual meat, and will pray Thee to chase away all wicked unbelief from us.”

3. We have Been Clothed in His Provision

Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel, clothed His chosen people with a cloud in the daytime and “all the night with a light of fire.”

He used Moses and protected them with the “clave of rocks in the wilderness.”

Our inheritance and clothing today are solely given through the power and provision of Jesus Christ.

In Isaiah 61:10, the prophet wrote that the Lord, “has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness.”

Job had this understanding as well when he wrote in 29:14, “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me.”

The proven failings of our self-righteousness are described to be as “filthy rags,” cogitating not only uselessness but also their repugnant nature in the eyes of an all-holy, all-righteous God.

Ephesians 5:25-27 explains that He gave himself for the church “that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

4. We have Been Cleansed

The long soul shaking, spirit quaking rollercoaster ride of disobedience to repentance to obedience and return to disobedience expounded in the journeys of the Israelites reveal God’s deliverance in terms of His mercy and grace.

Following a manifestation of judgment, “they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.”

The foundation of our covenant is the cleansing power of the blood of Christ.

Jesus’ words in Matthew 26:28 specified, “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many of the forgiveness of sins.”

Hebrews 9:14 asks us, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

Christ was our propitiation, or deflection, from the wrath suffered as punishment for our sins.

Unlike the sacrificial system in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ was the perfect offering once and for all.

When we are connected through His cleansing and purifying blood shed on the cross, we are protected, granted the inheritance of Jesus Christ as a joint heir.

The Heavenly Father sees the imputed righteousness of His son upon the believer. This cleansing is an eternal sealing from sin’s dominion over our lives.

Thus, we are judgment proof for all of eternity.

5. He is Always Present

God “made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.”

Indeed, He is the good shepherd as extensively identified in Psalms 23.

David’s early life gave him a critical understanding of the importance of the shepherd being close to his flock. In Psalms 46:1, the psalmist declared the Lord to be “our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

The safety and provision of His flock are of the utmost importance to the shepherd.

Similarly, our pastors are the shepherds of our churches by feeding them only the pure doctrine and theology from the Word of God for their guidance and growth.

He is given the charge in Acts 20:28 to, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

6. He Fights Our Battles

In Psalm 78 verses 43-52, Asaph recalls how our mighty Lord ravaged Egypt precipitating the deliverance of His people.

He contaminated the rivers with blood, sent devouring flies and frogs, inundated the land with caterpillars and locusts, crops were decimated by hail and frost, and their cattle were slaughtered by hail and flocks by thunderbolts.

Further, the anger of the Lord sent the angel of death upon them. Despite the wrath and indignation, Asaph emphasized in verse 52 that our Lord, “made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.”

The children of God in the Old Testament fought many of their battles against physical forces in claiming their land inheritances through the blessing of God.

Our inheritance is in Jesus Christ, an ever-present Lord and Savior.

His blood fought and won our battle over the judgment and dominion of sin.

However, like the Israelites had to drive out occupiers from their inheritance, we must use the power of the Holy Spirit to drive out the contemplations of the flesh and besetting sins by claiming the blessings of our covenant in our very own personal wildernesses in a world beset, over run, overwhelmed, with sin.

Paul in Ephesians 6:12, tells us that our battles are not against “flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

These forces cannot be overcome with bullets or bombs, mines, hand grenades.

Our most effective arsenal needs only to consist of the power, the provision, protection, and guidance of the Holy Spirit as promised in the Word of God.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 145 Complete Jewish Bible

145 ⁽⁰⁾Praise. By David:

⁽¹⁾I will praise you to the heights, my God, the king;
I will bless your name forever and ever.
²Every day I will bless you;
I will praise your name forever and ever.
³Great is Adonai and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is beyond all searching out.
⁴Each generation will praise your works to the next
and proclaim your mighty acts.
⁵I will meditate on the glorious splendor
of your majesty and on the story of your wonders.
⁶People will speak of your awesome power,
and I will tell of your great deeds.
⁷They will gush forth the fame of your abounding goodness,
and they will sing of your righteousness.
⁸Adonai is merciful and compassionate,
slow to anger and great in grace.
⁹Adonai is good to all;
his compassion rests on all his creatures.
¹⁰All your creatures will thank you, Adonai,
and your faithful servants will bless you.
¹¹They will speak of the glory of your kingship,
and they will tell about your might;
¹²to let everyone know of your mighty acts
and the glorious majesty of your kingship.
¹³Your kingship is an everlasting kingship,
your reign continues through all generations.
¹⁴Adonai supports all who fall
and lifts up all who are bent over.
¹⁵The eyes of all are looking to you;
you give them their food at the right time.
¹⁶You open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
¹⁷Adonai is righteous in all his ways,
full of grace in all he does.
¹⁸Adonai is close to all who call on him,
to all who sincerely call on him.
¹⁹He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
²⁰Adonai protects all who love him,
but all the wicked he destroys.
²¹My mouth will proclaim the praise of Adonai;
all people will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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