Monthly Archives: February 2020

Awe-inspiring. When was the last time you used the word ‘awesome?’ You saw something out of the ordinary, you heard someone share a remarkable coincidence, you noticed how carefully your child/grandchild created true work of art. But was it ‘awe-some?’ The Psalmist writes, “For the sovereign Lord is awe-inspiring; he is the great king who rules the whole earth!” (Psalm 47:2, NET)

I fear we have lost our sense of the word ‘awesome.’ We use it casually. We use it carelessly. Pau David Tripp published a book titled, Awe: Why it Matters for Everything We Think, Say, or Do. He suggests that we are wired for an awe for God. writing, “No other awe satisfies the soul. No other awe can give my heart the peace, rest, and security it seeks.”[1]

How do we reclaim the word ‘awe?’ The Psalmist gives us some assistance:

– reflect on why you are where you are (Psalm 47:3-4);

– remember who God is – “He’s Lord over earth, so sing your best songs to God.” (Psalm 47:7, The Message);

– rejoice in His presence as the One who protects us (Psalm 47:8-9).

Our ability to be ‘awed’ may be skewed by our own self-importance. John Piper writes,

If I stand before the love of God and do not feel a healthy, satisfying, freeing joy without turning that love into an echo of my self-esteem, then I am like a man who stands before the Grand Canyon and feels no satisfying wonder until he translates the canyon into a case for his own significance. That is not the presence of health, but bondage to self.[2]

In our efforts to promote the causes in which we believe, and to puff up the self-image that is so easily bruised, have we lost our ability to be awed by the magnificence and grandeur of God?

[1] Paul David Tripp, Awe: Why it Matters for Everything We Think, Say, or Do (Wheaton, ILL.: Crossway Books, 2015), Kindle Edition, 12.

[2] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/why-do-we-visit-the-grand-canyon, accessed on 2/24/20.

Psalm 46

In May of 1980 having recently moved to Longview WA, my wife and I were startled by the eruption of Mt St Helens. We had studied volcanoes in school, but to live so close to an active volcano was not something we had anticipated. On May 18, 1980. We arrived at church for our responsibilities. We could see the column of smoke and ash billowing from the mountain toward the northeast.

As people gathered for our Sunday activities we were made aware of a few church families who lived upriver, closer to the mountain. Concern for their safety swept through the folks gathered. Concern for what might be next was palpable. In the worship center, up on the wall at the front of the auditorium, someone had written Psalm 46 in a large, beautiful script. Rarely have God’s words been so timely.

Whenever I come across that psalm I go back to those days of uncertainty and confusion. Yes, experts had been predicting the eruption for weeks prior to the event. Yes, emergency planners had warned people to evacuate the area and for those of us living downriver to prepare. Disinformation spread rapidly. I remember a phone call a few days after the event wondering if Longview had indeed been wiped off the map as some news reports indicated.

What I remember most, though, are the words on poster board in clear view of all who gathered for worship at our church:

“God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil. Selah” (Psalm 46:1–3, HCSB)

The Netflix series, The Crown, follows the rise of Queen Elizabeth II from her childhood when her father’s brother abdicated the throne of England, to her accession to the throne at the ripe, young age of 26! The series highlights the turmoil of the royal family and sheds light on the ever-changing role of the monarchy in England during the 20^th century. We Americans have substituted celebrities and politicians in place of a royal family. The power wielded by the celebrity culture we live in and the power the monarchy exercises are very similar.

The 45^th Psalm was written to celebrate the wedding of the King of Israel. Perhaps it was written to celebrate the marriage of David and Bathsheba. There is no way to determine the original occasion with certainty. What we can learn from the effusive language of the writer, however, is how important the king’s role was for the fulfillment of God’s promises.

God is and always has been king. As the people of God settled in the land promised to Abraham, they began to agitate for a human king – one who could lead God’s people in battle against enemies. David was not the first king of Israel, nor was he the son of the king. Rather, David was God’s choice for king of Israel. David’s flaws appear prominently in the Old Testament accounts of his reign.

The psalmist here focuses not on the flaws but on God’s promises. God promised David that a unique descendant would be born who would be nothing less than God-in-the-flesh, One who would rule eternally – not just the geographical region of Israel but the entire world (see 2 Samuel 7 for the details).

As we read these words are eyes are to be drawn not to any earthly monarch. We are to see in the celebratory words of the psalmist a picture of God’s ultimate triumph over the principalities and powers of evil that threaten to destroy us. With the psalmist we are to lift our voices in confident praise, knowing that our God has a plan and that our God will not be stopped.

Psalm 44

Nostalgia. According to medical officials for the United States in the Civil War, nostalgia was considered a serious medical issue. Some 2,000 cases of nostalgia were recorded and thirteen soldiers died with ‘nostalgia’ being listed as the cause of death.[1] The same website indicates that the origin of the word in modern Latin occurred in 1777 as a rendering of a German word for ‘homesickness.’

Apparently, nostalgia has been an issue for God’s people for millennia. The Psalmist expressed an intense longing for the past when he or she wrote, “We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days, In days of old: You drove out the nations with Your hand, But them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out. For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them.” (Psalm 44:1–3, NKJV). So far, so good. But then we read, “But You have cast us off and put us to shame, And You do not go out with our armies. You make us turn back from the enemy, And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.” (Psalm 44:9–10, NKJV)

What God did in the past and what the psalmist was experiencing in the present were two different things. I often hear a similar refrain today. ‘Remember when people made church attendance a priority? Remember when moms stayed home; dads worked 9am – 5pm Monday – Friday; schools respected churches and would not schedule events on Wednesday evenings?’ In the eyes of some – even in my age cohort – the days of the past where when God was active, truly making His presence known. And today, well, if only God were active again we could return to the rhythms of life we remember with such nostalgia!

I wonder. Centuries later a follower of Jesus named Paul quoted part of this Psalm – not in an effort to evoke the past – rather to suggest that even when circumstances seem to indicate God’s absence, there is a purpose in the barrenness (see Romans 8:36 – following). Look again at what the psalmist writes, “Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” (Psalm 44:22, NKJV). “For Your sake….” As one scholar writes,

The psalm does not develop it, but it implies the revolutionary thought that suffering may be a battle-scar rather than a punishment; the price of loyalty in a world which is at war with God. If this is so, a reverse as well as a victory may be a sign of fellowship with him, not of alienation.^[2]

Maybe nostalgia is ok for movies, music, and novels. I’d rather focus on the present and seek to know what God is doing now, even when all seems wrong with the world.

[1] https://www.etymonline.com/word/nostalgia, accessed on 2/3/20.

^[2] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 187.