Only our God

DEVOTION

PSALMS

ONLY OUR GOD

Ps 3:5-8

5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. 6 I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. 7 Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. 8 From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.

NIV

How do we live within the Lord’s sustaining us? Each morning we see new mercies. What a joy it is at the close of a day to lie down and enjoy sleep knowing God is sustaining us. Then early in the morning as the sleep leaves our members and the dawn of a new day emerges, there is our Lord sustaining us. Eagerly we cannot wait to see what he has for us each morning. To enjoy personal moments alone with him, enjoying his presence in our life. Knowing his sustaining power, why would we ever fear the hordes or forces of evil which mount up against us? God is always there to deliver us. He fights our battles against the forces of evil both in this world and in the heavenly realms. He clothes us with his armor so we can take our stand against those forces. He sustains us, he delivers us. He defeats those who would harm us. Our heart is protected by his breastplate of righteousness. Who can break through that? Certainly not any unrighteousness. He girds our loins with the belt of truth. The truth, the Spirit leads us into all truth. Could the Spirit be that belt that girds us, that encompasses our being? He covers our head with the fact of our salvation, our mind is guarded from untruths, from false religions, from false teachings, from the fake gospel. He provides coverings for our feet, shoes with spikes on the bottom so we will not slip, we can take our stand against all the schemes of the devil. He has given us a measure of faith, which is in the form of a shield with which all the flaming arrows of the evil one will be extinguished, we will not be harmed. What a joy to wake in the morning and know our armor is there and we are clothed for the day. Then we come to the sword, he hands us the sword and says, take it, use it, strike down those with the words of my mouth. What a blessing we have in the scriptures, in the very words breathed by God for our enjoyment. We delight in the law of the Lord and we meditate on it day and night, he sustains us, he delivers us, who else would do that? Only our God.

He Answers

DEVOTION

PSALMS

HE ANSWERS

 Ps 3: 1-4

 LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2 Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him."

Selah   

3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. 4 To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.

NIV

Sometimes it feels like the world is at war with us, always bombarding us with temptations designed to make us feel good, to supply us with the luxuries to make our life better. It is not that we should not have some of the nice things in life, but if they are our passion, if they become an object of value to us, the world is winning the war. Then there are those who oppose God, oppose our faith in God. They try their best to have him removed from the public square, denouncing the whole idea of his authority. Then we have many in the education system promoting evolution instead of creationism. We also cannot leave out all the false religions with their false gods who reject Jesus as the Son of God. In general their voices join together in saying our God will not deliver us. But we know how foolish they all are for we are convinced the Lord is a shield around us. He has bestowed glory on us and has lifted us up. We are convinced he answers our prayers, the cry of our heart. Time and time he has proved himself, he has provided the answer. We have testimony after testimony of his provisions. We have the witness of the Spirit within us to bear witness of the truth of God. When we cry out he hears us and when he hears us he answers. It is when we become so distracted by the ways of the world, looking to self for our needs that we do not hear from him on his holy hill. Our ears become deaf to his still small voice when we are so engaged in our own pathetic abilities to obtain the objects of this world. We need to remain steadfast in our trust in God, seeing him as our shield, our refuge and continue to cry out to him, believing he answers, listening for his voice from his holy hill.

Rejoice and be glad

DEVOTION

PSALMS

REJOICE AND BE GLAD

Ps 2:7-12

7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD:

He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father.   8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery." 10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

NIV

Now that we have seen the rebellion laughed at by God and a warning that those who rebel, that plot in vain, will be rebuked and terrified, now God gives us the promise of Jesus. He is the Son, and Jesus will have all those nations, even the ones who conspired against God, as his inheritance. That is, Jesus has all authority been given to him. Everything on this earth is his. Although Jesus offers the free gift of salvation through his redemptive work on the cross as well as eternal life through his defeat of death by his resurrection, some nations will continue to conspire against him and plot in vain. We could make it more personal by using the word people instead of nations. What we see here is that although Jesus offers all he does, for those people who refuse, they will be dashed to pieces like pottery. This is the contrast John makes about either eternal life or perish. It is one or the other. We are either in or out, in one piece or in pieces. So God being a loving merciful Father, gives them another warning. He tells people to be wise. He uses kings and rulers, but just think about that. People who refuse the Lordship of Jesus in their lives, are in fact setting themselves up as their own king, their own ruler of their lives. So be warned people who have not accepted Jesus. Be warned all who plot in vain, the course of their own lives. Be warned, turn from your ways and serve the LORD with fear and trembling. The original language says reverence the Lord, spin around under the influence of violent emotion,(rejoice) and shutter. This certainly speaks of being born again, of coming to Christ with a change of heart. Kiss the Son. That is what we have done. We have kissed Jesus. If people do not heed the warning, their ways will be destroyed, for just as we are warned in the rest of scripture, Jesus will come as a thief in the night, it will happen in the twinkling of an eye. The dead will be raised and we who are alive will be caught up in the air with our Lord. But for those who refuse, who plot in vain, that same moment they will experience his wrath. So again we are told, if we take refuge in Jesus, we will be blessed. How wonderful to have that assurance. How peaceful is our heart because we are in Christ. How blessed to not have anxiety, fear, or worry. We are at peace with God and only need to trust in him. He provides all we need in addition to eternal life. Let us rejoice and be glad.

Terror and anxiety

DEVOTION

PSALMS

TERROR AND ANXIETY

Ps 2:4-6

4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 6 "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill."

NIV

We just saw the people that conspired against the Lord, who plotted in vain. Now we see what God’s response to them is. He laughs at them, he scoffs at them. The original language actually has the meaning to deride them which has the implication of speaking to them unintelligently as if in a foreign language. This means those who conspire against the Lord can never understand what he has to say. Those who plot in vain haven’t a glue about what God says. The main reason would be they lack of the Spirit who brings all truth and understanding with him. But just not understanding what God says is only the beginning for these poor souls. He rebukes them in his anger. Who would ever choose that? In the Hebrew it reads: Then he shall speak unto them in his wrath and his displeasure vex them. This vexing is an inward anxiety, or a hastening of anxiety. This is the exact opposite of finding peace with God through Jesus Christ. God has installed Jesus as the King of kings in Zion, on the holy hill of God. Those who conspire to live in their ways, their own desires, goals or ambitions, their own intelligence, education, abilities will be vexed by God. They cannot understand him or his word. They plot against even his existence. So he laughs at them. For their end is soon to come, but in the meantime they live in turmoil within, never satisfied, always looking for the next fix, so to speak, to give them a temporary relief from their anxiety. But they will always live terrified, without knowing why. We are so blessed to have been saved from a life of anxiety and being terrified by someone unknown. We have seen his light and were able to walk out of the darkness of that life. Maybe now as we are to be the light of the world, some of them might be able to walk into the light as well and escape his rebuke, his speaking wrath unto and into them. Someone was that light for us and we should in turn be a light for someone. Let us shine, so they can find peace with God and be relieved of their terror and anxiety.

Conspire not

DEVOTION

PSALMS

CONSPIRE NOT

Ps 2:1-3

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.   3 "Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters."

NIV

The beginning of this Psalm has a question which states the condition of mankind throughout the ages, even to this day. Why do people plot in vain? Why do nations, or whole societies conspire against God? We see nations today who have set up false gods who they seem to worship. We think of the nations which are Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu as well as a host of other faiths. Research tells us there is nearly 4300 different religions in the world. There is but one who worships Jesus Christ as Lord. Some, like Judaism accept the Almighty God Jehovah, but still plot against Jesus. They still conspire to refuse Jesus as their Messiah. They do not want to yield to the authority of God in their lives. They want to break free of any responsibility to God or to Jesus, the Anointed One. We will see the answer of God to all this rebellion in the following verses of this Psalm, but for now we know of this rebellion. Although we worship the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Anointed One of God, we also know of certain amounts of rebellion that exist within the members of our body. Why do we constantly want our own way? Maybe not constantly, but on frequent occasions we rebel against his authority in our lives. We want what we want and we want it when we want it. Is that not in some sense plotting in vain? Is that not taking our stand? It might appear we even disregard some portions of God’s word, dismissing it to only have had meaning for the people of the past. But, if the word of God, all of it is a double-edge sword able to divide bone from marrow, we should be ready to hear from him throughout the whole of scripture, for we also know that all, not some, but all, every last word is breathed by God and is profitable for rebuking, correcting, teaching, and training in righteousness. We must come to terms with his absolute authority in our lives. This means we live and move in him. If we accept his gift of grace, Charisma grace, unmerited favor, salvation, then we must also accept his Charis grace, his divine influence upon our heart and how that is reflected in our lives. This is the Spirit at work within us, leading, guiding us into all truth. We cannot afford to throw off the guidance of the Spirit, seeing it as a chain or fetter. We need all the help he can give us. Let us never take our stand against his power in our lives. Let us never conspire to have it our way.

Watched over

DEVOTION

PSALMS

WATCHED OVER

Ps 1:4-6

4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

NIV

They have a choice. It is not as though they have been assigned to be wicked in order they will perish. Everyone has the choice, God has given man a free will to choose their own path in life. That was clear from the very beginning. Adam was free to choice and he choose wrongly. We were once among the wicked and we were not going to be able to stand in the judgment nor were we in the assembly of the righteous. Once we were going to be blown away like the chaff is by the wind. But now we are among the assembly of the righteous and we will be able to stand in the judgment. Why anyone would choose to perish seems bizarre. Maybe they have not chosen, maybe they just don’t know any better. But that cannot be for God has said that everyone can know him by what he has made, so that no man is without excuse.

Rom 1:18-20

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse .

NIV

So then, they have made a choice, they decided to be counted as the wicked and to pay the penalty for their way of life. So why then do we bother with evangelism? Let everyone make up their mind based on the information God gave them. But that simply isn’t what God desires either for he commissioned people to go out into the world and preach the good news. It is sad to think that people we know are going to perish rather than have the Lord watching over their way. It is comforting to know the Lord watches over our way. We think of how he watched over Noah, how he watched over Abraham, how he watched over Moses, David, Solomon, Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah and even all the Israelites. He watched over John the Baptist and certainly over Jesus. Then we saw how he watched over the disciples and we know he watches over us. It is not as though we have not had some difficult times, surely all those in the past that he watched over went through some tough times. But our way is set, he has set our feet upon a path which leads to heaven because we chose him. We made the choice to follow Jesus. So God watches us and guides us, counsels and keeps us. But those who have either never heard about Jesus or refused to listen to the truth will perish. We can rejoice because he keeps watch over us. Yet we still have to let our light shine in hopes some who are among those who perish will come to God, so he can watch over them.

Live long and prosper

DEVOTION

PSALMS

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

Ps 1:2-3

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

NIV

We just saw three attitudes or behaviors that should not be a part of our life. Now we have a couple of things that should not only be a part of our life, but are should be the central theme of our life. We are to delight in the law of the LORD. The Hebrew word translated delight carries the meaning of take pleasure, to desire, to place value on. We know that whatever we place value on would be considered our treasure, and wherever our treasure is there also is our heart. So it would make perfect sense that we should place the highest value on the law of the LORD. This is not the old Mosaic Law the Israelites were given. This is the Royal Law of the new covenant. This is the very word of God itself. The Word, the Holy Scriptures are his law for our lives. They dictate our attitudes and behavior. His word is written on our heart and therefore should be the dominate force in our life. So we delight, we take joy and comfort in his law. Being the central theme of our lives then we should always be thinking about his word. This would be what the psalmist says as meditates day and night. Surely we cannot spend our whole twenty-four hours sitting in meditation. But we can always be aware of the Lord in our lives. We can always be in union with the Spirit who guides us and teaches us all truth. How we live, how we behave, what we say, how we react or response in situations or to people should all be guided by the central theme in our lives, the law of the LORD. There is a result of this type of living. God tells us that we are like a tree planted by the streams of water. Jesus is the stream of living water. We will always bear fruit in season and our leaf will never wither. This is what is considered to prosper. Our lives will prosper, we will be full of the Spirit, we will be full of fruit, which we have to see as the fruit of the Spirit. Our lives will be full of him, his fruit, and full of leafs, always green. To wither indicates shrinking and falling off, going into either a death spiral, or hibernation as trees do in the winter. We are not to hibernate, to sit and do nothing, allowing the life giving flow of God to leave our branches, then we would no longer be bearing fruit. The whole purpose of our bearing all this fruit in the first place, is so people might come to us and pick it off. They are the ones who can enjoy the sweet taste of our love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and yes, even our self-control. Let us always be aware of the Spirit working in our lives, keeping our roots deeply planted in the stream of living water so that we can live long and prosper.