Monthly Archives: December 2019

Psalm 38-39

“I put my hope in You, Lord; You will answer, Lord my God.” (Psalm 38:15, HCSB)

“Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.” (Psalm 39:7, HCSB)

Hope. A new year and new decade begin this week. Perhaps you’ve seen the post on social media reminding us that 1990 was thirty years ago. Honestly, that seems a little far-fetched. Time has a way of relentlessly moving forward.

On the last Sunday of December, I spent time browsing my social media feeds. The number of posts suggesting that my denomination was headed for disaster was surprising. Posts about the state of our United States were as divisive and dismissive as ever. I tend to be an Eeyore – looking at the world around me through lenses that magnify sadness, brokenness, and disappointment. Then, to my surprise, this article caught my eye first thing this morning: This Has Been The Best Year Ever. Nicholas Kristoff writes

In the long arc of human history, 2019 has been the best year ever. The bad things that you fret about are true. But it’s also true that since modern humans emerged about 200,000 years ago, 2019 was probably the year in which children were least likely to die, adults were least likely to be illiterate and people were least likely to suffer excruciating and disfiguring diseases.*

Hmm. So, there is hope in the midst of despair? Mr. Kristoff is not the first to discover this truth. A shepherd turned king turned poet and musician named David recognized that hope is a real commodity. Kristoff suggests that our hope lies in the remarkable ability of humans to solve difficult and challenging problems. He cites an economist who states

“We have changed the world. How awesome is it to be alive at a time like this?” “Three things are true at the same time,” he added. “The world is much better, the world is awful, the world can be much better.”*

David, this king who changed his world, recognized that real hope cannot be found in his fellow humans. David’s life is an account of disappointment and difficulty. Early in his life he had been identified and set apart by a prophet to be the King. The journey from shepherding to being a king was a long and dangerous one. David recognized that the only source of real hope was in God. David knew God as One who listens to prayers, releases people from despair, and rescues from circumstances beyond his control.

As this new year begins there is reason for optimism. God has gifted you and me to solve complex and challenging problems. Yet our hope is permanently fixed upon the eternal God, the One in whom we live, breathe, and exist.

May we be immovable in our hope for all that God wants to accomplish in and through us!

* https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/28/opinion/sunday/2019-best-year-poverty.html, accessed on 12/30/19.

* Ibid.

Psalm 37

How many times as children did we say to the adults in our lives: ‘It’s not fair!’ I can’t recall every time I spoke the words, but I remember at least once. I wanted to see a newly released movie when I was 15 or 16. My parents were determined that I should not see the movie (I still haven’t watched the movie!) I heard of a few other teens from the church I attended that were going to see the movie, apparently with their parent’s permission. I remember telling my parents how unfair they were being (again, I have yet to see the movie they didn’t want me to see. I should get some credit…right?)

Centuries have passed since the Psalmist recorded his or her own reflections on the unfairness of life. In the HCSB the word ‘evildoers’ (vs. 1) is contrasted with those who ‘wait upon the Lord’ (vs. 7). Those whose actions are considered ‘evil’ or ‘do wrong’ appear to have the upper hand in the eyes of the watching world. Greed is often rewarded in our culture. Taking advantage of another is often considered a necessary technique for succeeding. Accumulating land and other forms of wealth, even if it means treating others poorly, is celebrated and often honored.

It’s not fair.

As our writer processes this frustration he or she notes two different experiences:

“I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned or his children begging for bread. He is always generous, always lending, and his children are a blessing.” (Psalm 37:25–26, HCSB);

“I have seen a wicked, violent man well-rooted like a flourishing native tree. Then I passed by and noticed he was gone; I searched for him, but he could not be found. Watch the blameless and observe the upright, for the man of peace will have a future. But transgressors will all be eliminated; the future of the wicked will be destroyed.” (Psalm 37:35–38, HCSB – emphasis added).

Fairness may be a way to measure circumstances on a day to day basis. Those who wait on the Lord, trust and take delight in the Lord realize that what we deem fair or unfair doesn’t truly matter. From God’s perspective, He makes everything right, in His time, and according to His plan.

Psalm 36

Nearly 40 years ago I preached at a nursing home (do they call them that anymore?) on the middle section of this psalm. I probably have my notes buried underneath a pile of papers somewhere in my office. I don’t recall what I said, but I do recall how talking about the majesty and magnificence of God seemed to lift a spirit of darkness that had been in that room.

For all these years since I have read this psalm and thought about that day some in 1980 or 1981. What strikes me now is the contrast I missed then. The psalmist writes that the wicked have no dread of God. The Hebrew word could be translated ‘shaking.’ The wicked, as the psalmist writes, has a high opinion of himself or herself and thus has lost an appreciation of the majesty of God.

We are celebrating Advent and during this week I’ve been challenged to pay attention to John the Baptist. Here is one who recognized God’s majesty. While yet in his mother’s womb he acknowledged the Messiah, then carried in Mary’s womb. Perhaps John’s potency lies not so much in the manner of his dress, the strange foods, but in the simple fact of his ability to recognize the majesty of God.

The disciple John, one of Jesus’ earliest followers, tried to capture some of the magnificence of God as he recorded Jesus’ words that reflect this Psalm. In the prologue to his account of Jesus’ life, John described Jesus as the true light (John 1:9) who has come into the world.

These first days of Advent are days of diminishing sunlight. Perhaps the darkness is not just physical. Maybe the darkness needs to be lit with a fresh understanding of the light of the world, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Psalm 35

Jesus once reminded His listeners of a very real challenge. A thief, Jesus noted, comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (see John 10:10). From the context, we recognize Jesus was speaking about the adversary we know as Satan, or more commonly, the devil. Some months ago, and not for the first time, an acquaintance who was attending our fellowship told me they needed to find another church because I had stolen their joy. Wow. To be accused of what the enemy does is a little harsh. I won’t deny that the enemy has stolen from me and even sought to destroy me but to carry the weight of that accusation was (and remains) painful.

In the next phrase of John 10:10, Jesus promises that He has come to give life, and to give it freely and abundantly. The author of Psalm 35 knew what it was liked to be attacked. Perhaps an enemy had stolen property, perhaps an enemy had killed a family member. Perhaps an enemy had attacked the writer and left some permanent physical damage as a result. The circumstances are unclear.

The response of the writer is unusual. Instead of wishing hurt or inflicting pain on the enemy our psalmist acknowledges that he or she prayed for them (vs 11-15). When someone hurts us our instinct is to respond in kind. The psalmist responds not in kind but in prayer and by diving more deeply into the presence and protection of God, the one we have come to know who seeks to bring life and bring it abundantly.

Life hurts. There is no way of getting around it. The enemy is active. But so is God. He desperately wants us to know life as He created it. Trust Him, even when it hurts.

Psalm 34

The inscription of the Psalm identifies this as written by David when he pretended to be insane in one episode of his escape from Saul. That’s an interesting context. Pretend to be insane, yet seek the Lord. More than one person has wondered if I was maybe just a little unstable as I sought to follow God’s direction in my life. Maybe I have been a little unstable, at least as some might define instability.

In the instance recalled in this Psalm David’s pretend ‘insanity’ really didn’t advance his cause. He was running from Saul, his predecessor as king and went to the court of Abimelech who threw David out as well. After all Abimelech reasoned, why bring another crazy man into the service of the king. That may say something about the quality of those serving Abimelech!

Pretend insanity was not a strategy for receiving protection from Saul who sought David’s life. There is something in David’s song that is worth pursuing. In several vivid phrases, David identifies some effective strategies. First, praise the Lord. Not just in the way that some repeat the phrase ‘Praise the Lord’ over and over. The kind of praise David calls for is a thoughtful, deliberate identifying specific ways in which God has acted. Second, David has a different view of what is good than many of his own contemporaries. At least twice David was near enough Saul to kill him and end the chase once for all. Both times David insisted on allowing God to do God’s work in God’s way. Finally, David affirms what most of us learned by heartbreaking experiences. God is present, even in the heartbreak if we but look for Him.

Though the days of our lives are like vapors that disappear rapidly, God’s redemptive activity has eternal consequences.