Today's Reading: Psalm 85 & 87

He Will Speak Peace to His People

Peace. What an amazing word. And an amazing experience!

There are a few different definitions for the word “peace.” One definition is “absence of war or conflict.” This definition can apply to individuals, political parties, or nations at war. When the conflict has ended, we say there is “peace.” Another definition simply means “quietness or silence.” This use of the word can come from frazzled parents who say to their noisy child, “I need some peace and quiet.”  A third definition of “peace” has to do with our inner soul. In this context it means “tranquility of soul, serenity; absence of inner conflict.” This is the type of peace that all human beings long for. We desire for the anxiety, worry, angst, and fretfulness in our hearts to be replaced with peace, sweet peace. This is the type of peace that God promises to His saints.

The Bible speaks of this type of inner peace as “the peace of God.” In Philippians 4:7 we are told that this peace of God transcends human understanding. We can experience it, but we don’t understand it. God’s peace is a state of tranquility or quietness of spirit that transcends circumstances. You can be going through the most difficult and discouraging circumstances of your life, but the Lord can still keep your heart at peace. God’s peace is not the absence of conflict. God’s peace is serenity in the midst of conflict. It has been said that God doesn’t always calm the storm, He calms His people in the midst of the storm.

We first experience this amazing peace when we initially place our trust in Christ for salvation and our conscience is cleansed. After that initial experience, His peace in our hearts grows as we get to know Him better. When we grow in understanding of the depths and riches of God’s love toward us, our minds and spirits begin to rest in His power and wisdom. We begin to understand that He really will make all things work together for our good and, with that understanding, our hearts can rest in Him.

If you are experiencing unrest in your soul, or anxiety, or fretfulness – God can fix it! He can replace your angst with his peace and calmness. This type of peace comes only from the Lord. When we hear what the Lord speaks, and take it to heart, our inner turmoil gives way to God’s divine peace. Notice what our key verse for today says, “When the Lord speaks to His people, He will speak peace.” If the voices you are hearing are causing anxiety or conflict in your soul, it is probably because you have let the voice of the Lord get drowned out by other “voices.” If the words you hear in your heart are causing restlessness, it is time to pay attention to the Lord, His “still, small voice” will speak peace to His people. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you!

 

Today's Reading: Psalm 49 & 84

Fainting for the Courts of the Lord

Psalm 84 is set in the context of Israel’s annual pilgrimages to God’s Temple, and it goes to the very heart of what the journey was all about: longing for heaven and longing for God. If Psalm 84 teaches us anything, it’s that this world is not our home; we’re “just passing through” and there’s nothing on this earth that can satisfy our soul. The people just couldn’t wait to get to God’s house to, once again, get their hearts filled with His joy, peace, and satisfaction.

Have you discovered this truth – that spending time worshipping in the house of the Lord far surpasses any other human experience? As one paraphrase puts it, “One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship, beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.*” The sons of Korah had discovered the soul-satisfying experience of entering the presence of the Lord. In Psalm 84, they express how much they long for a repeat of their encounter.

Your soul never will be satisfied without God. Our soul’s need for God is enormous, and that neediness only is what invites more of God’s grace into our lives.  When we acknowledge our basic need for His presence, our soul begins to grow in God. The Lord has hardwired every human spirit with a hollow void than can make us feel meaningless and unfulfilled. It is only by experiencing the Lord that this emptiness can be filled. And once you taste of God’s Spirit satisfying your soul, you long for – even faint for – the presence of the Lord. Augustine wrote, “O God, you made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”

The Hebrew word for “faint” in this verse carries the meaning of “coming to the end; to be finished.” The sons of Korah use this word to describe the depth of their longing for God and for being in His courts (a reference to the Temple courts). They don’t just long for God, they come to the end of themselves and “faint” with the intensity of their longing.

Notice how the Psalm ends with a focus on God more than the Temple: “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, ever singing Your praise.” Heaven is a praiseworthy place, but only because it is inhabited by a praiseworthy Person—God. That’s why this Psalmist finds God’s dwelling place so lovable, because the Lord of hosts, the living God, lives there. Heaven is only heaven because of who’s there.  Does your soul long for - and faint for - the experience of heaven on earth? You don’t have to make a pilgrimage to a church or temple to find satisfaction for your soul. It is available right now to every Christ follower in the quietness of their own prayer closet.

*© Eugene H. Peterson ; The Message; by NavPress Publishing

 

Today's Reading: Psalm 44 & 45

 By Whose Arm?

In Psalm 44, the Sons of Korah are feeling left out by God. They remember the stories that their parents and grandparents have told them of how the LORD fought for Israel in the past, and they are feeling a bit unloved and neglected.  Have you ever felt like that? You hear of God’s miraculous works in the lives of past generations, but you just don’t see it in your own generation? Perhaps you’ve heard of great revivals where God’s Spirit swept over the land. Or maybe you’ve heard of miraculous healings that God performed in the past, and you wonder why you’re not seeing the same thing in your church or community. It is human nature to wonder if God has neglected us or forgotten us.

The Psalmists take up this matter of feeling neglected by realizing that God is big and God is powerful and His arm is more than able to save. They appreciate that neither they nor their ancestors conquered the land they now possess by their own power or strength. It was a gift from God, who gave it with great delight. It wasn’t their sword or the strength of their own arm that won the land – it was God’s strong arm and His right hand, and the “light of His face” which brought victory. As the Psalm progresses, the Psalmists acknowledge that if they are going to defeat their present-day enemies, they must rely fully on God and His great power. Their Psalm ends with a plea to the Lord to come to their aid. Get up and come to our rescue just as you have in the past.

It can be frustrating to hear of God’s amazing works in the past, but not see them in the present. There are three things we should remember in these moments: First, that God has not forgotten you nor forsaken you. He has promised to be “with you always” even to the end of the world. So, be assured that He is here. Now. He has not gone on a faraway trip and forgotten you. Second, remember that all moves of the Holy Spirit are governed by His sovereign will and He will act when the time is right. There are times of great victory and revival and healing. And, by God’s choice, there are other times of less spectacular workings of His Spirit. Don’t be impatient. He will act in due time. Finally, you must rely fully upon Him in the present moment. It is only by our trust in Him that we can experience His supernatural peace and joy in moments that seem like we’ve been left out. You have not been left out! Put your trust fully in Him. Continue to call out to Him for the “mighty rushing wind” of His Spirit in your life and community. After all, whose arm is stronger?

Pray as the Psalmists prayed, “Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!” (Psalm 44:26)

Today's Reading: 1 Chronicles 2 & Psalm 43

Send Out Your Light

In Psalm 43, the Psalmist is going through a period of discouragement and turmoil in his life. Biblical scholars are not certain as to who the author of this Psalm is, nor exactly when it was written. Perhaps that is good for us, as it may help us see that the Psalmist’s prayer applies to our own situation as we, too, go through periods of discouragement and turmoil in our own lives. In this case, the Psalmist seems to be hindered in his ability to go to the “holy hill” and worship at the “altar” of God. This greatly saddened him because it was during times of praise and worship that he had found the greatest joy in his life.

In this moment of distress, the Psalmist cries out for God to come alongside him and to turn his sadness into joy and his mourning into rejoicing. He prays that God would send out His light and His truth. When we are in darkness and distress, this is what we also need - God’s light and God’s truth. The reality is that we don’t need to go to a specific locality to praise and worship our Lord. We simply need Him to come to us wherever we are with His light and His truth. God’s light will illuminate our way back into His holy presence regardless of our situation or location.

The Hebrew word translated “light” here is “‘ôr” and it means, illumination or luminary. This word is often used to refer to the shining presence of God’s face. Oh, what a joy it is when the light of God’s face shines upon us. In the great benediction and blessing found in Numbers 6, we read “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” When God’s face shines upon us our discouragement and turmoil turns into His peace. 

The word translated “truth” here is “eh'-meth” which means firmness, faithfulness, unbendable certainty. When we are in times of distress, what a blessing it is to have something firm and steadfast to fall back on – God’s truth. In John 17:17, Jesus declared that “[The Father’s] word is truth.”  God wants our lives to be built on His truth. Because our beliefs determine our perspective, they impact how we react to criticism, respond to a crisis, and navigate daily life. The goal of the Christian life to conform our thoughts to God’s thoughts. Just ask yourself WWJT? What would Jesus think? What does His word say about you and your distress? Discouragement is a sign that we are not believing God’s truth.  This is why we need to be reading God’s Word under the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Meditating on it. Listening to the Lord’s “still small voice” and receiving a word from the Word.  We must simply pray for God to reveal His truths to us. There is no place for discouragement and turmoil in our lives when God’s word resides in our heart and mind.

O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling!

 

Today's Reading: 1 Chronicles 1

 

From Adam to Israel

Many family records, or genealogies, exist in the Bible. These records are mentioned frequently in Genesis, Numbers, Chronicles, Ezra, and the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. While readers often skim or skip these parts of Scripture, the Bible's genealogies offer many important insights for our walk with the Lord.

First, the Bible's genealogies help confirm the historical reliability of the Bible. They give us insight into how God’s people fit in among the populations of the earth. This can have a strengthening effect on our faith as we see that Bible history aligns accurately with secular history.

Second, the Bible’s genealogies emphasize the importance of family and belonging. The family unit has served as the foundation of human society since Adam and Eve and their children. The importance of family is emphasized throughout the Bible. Family is a key component of God's plan for the happiness and progress of His children. The Holy Bible teaches that God established families from the very beginning, and it shows us many examples of strong families.

Third, the Bible's genealogies were also important in determining who could serve in certain roles. These included only Levites working in the tabernacle and temple, as well as descendants of Aaron who were to serve as high priest.

Fourth, the Bible's genealogies also prove many Bible prophecies and help confirm the identity of Christ, the Savior of the world. For example, the Messiah would be a Jew from the tribe of Judah and a descendent of both Abraham and David as Scripture predicted. When Jesus was born, His identity as the promised Messiah could be verified by matching up his family tree with the ancestors predicted and recorded in the Bible.

Though family lists may not seem as exciting as other parts of the Bible, each name and list represent important information that has significance in much of Biblical history. They also demonstrate the detail-oriented nature of God and His interest in individuals. God did not see Israel vaguely, as a random group of people; He saw with specificity, with precision and detail. There is nothing detached about the genealogies. They show a God involved in the lives of people. He is not a God who is far off, but a God who wants to get personally involved in your life. Just as the genealogies show the importance of belonging to a family, you can rest assured that you belong as your name is listed among the family of God in Heaven.

Today's Reading: Psalm 19 & 21

See God, See Yourself

In Psalm 19, David is considering the glory and grandeur of God. He looks around at God’s great creation and he writes about nature and the cosmos around us as being witnesses of God’s greatness and majesty. Although nature cannot speak, he says, it still tells the story of God’s glory and power. Then he goes on to write about God’s written word, which he calls “the Law of the Lord.” He highlights the purity, perfection, and truthfulness of God’s word. He tells us how it has power in our lives to revive our soul, make us wise, enlighten our eyes, and cause our hearts to rejoice.

As David ponders the glory and perfection and purity of God and His word, his heart is convicted of his own shortcomings and sinfulness. He longs to be pure, but realizes the truth that he is not. In this moment, his thoughts turn to God’s grace and kindness. He asks the Lord to help him discern any errors and shortcomings in his life and then he goes one step further and pleads with God to keep him from sin. In verse 13, David prays, “Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins.” The truth we see here is that any time we see God for who He really is, we simultaneously see ourself for who we really are. God is glorious and majestic and perfect and pure and holy. We are not. We are sinful people with hearts filled with evil. If you haven’t yet seen this truth of your own sinfulness, you haven’t yet seen the glory and grandeur of Yahweh. When you truly see God, you will truly see yourself.

As he ponders God’s glory and his own sinfulness, David first prays that the Lord would keep him from “presumptuous sin.” This is a request asking for God’s help with his day-to-day actions. His outward behavior. He longs to act right. He longs for his life to reflect the goodness of His glorious Lord. Realizing his own inability to keep his outward actions aligned with God’s holiness, he pleads for God’s help in doing so.

David then concludes this Psalm with an amazing prayer requesting that God would govern his inner life. Not only does he want to be kept from outward sin, he desires that his words and his thought life be placed under God’s control so that they please the Lord. David longed for his words and the thoughts of his heart to be acceptable to the Lord. He not only desires a blemish-free outward life, he yearns for a blemish-free inward life – in words and thoughts.

The good news for us is that this is EXACTLY the type of prayer that our loving Heavenly Father longs to answer in our lives. As we acknowledge His glory and our own sinfulness, we can come to Him and humbly pray that He make it a reality that our words and the meditation of our hearts become acceptable in His sight. We cannot achieve this “blemish-free” life of holiness and purity on our own – we must rely fully upon the Holy Spirit to make this our reality.

 

Today's Reading: Psalm 10, 14, & 15

The Fool

The dictionary defines “fool” as a person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person; a person who lacks good sense or judgment. The word “fool” in Psalm 14:1 comes from a Hebrew root word which means a person who has no perception of ethical and spiritual truth. This person is senseless, empty-headed, and foolish. It doesn’t mean “unintelligent” in the academic sense. Atheists are often very intelligent and bright people – from a scholastic point of view.

The reality is that an overwhelming majority of people believe in God, or in some form of “higher power” or “intelligent designer.” A 2017 study by the Pew Research Center confirmed that 84 percent of the global population believes in God or “a god.” This same study confirmed that only 7 percent of the world’s population openly claims to be atheistic.*

Why do so many of us believe in God or higher powers? Because God has placed that belief into the heart of every human being. Our DNA is “hard-wired” with the instinctive sense that there is a Supreme Being. Recent University studies in the fields of developmental psychology and cognitive science propose that our “foundational belief in theism is ingrained in our DNA.”* Thus, atheism is an acquired position taken only by a very small percent of people. They take this position by choice as we are told in Romans 1:28, that “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.”

It is a sad reality that some people choose darkness over light and knowingly reject their inborn awareness of God. David calls these people “fools” because, by rejecting the knowledge of God, they are in-fact acting against their own best interest. They may have great intellect, but they lack good sense and judgment when it comes to the things of eternity. Tragically, those who make the choice to deny the truth about God will be given up to their foolish beliefs. As Romans 1 goes on to tell us, "and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting... who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death..." (Romans 1:28 & 32) 

As we consider the Christ-follower’s approach to an unbelieving world around us, we should keep a couple of things in mind. First, that a majority of people we meet recognize deep within their soul that there is “a god” of some sort. We must be always ready to guide these people to a saving faith in the one true God and salvation through His Only Son, Jesus Christ. Second, although there is a small minority who have convinced themselves to reject God’s truth, we have no way of knowing who they are. Thus we must always be prepared “to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

*Person of Interest; © 2021 by J. Warner Wallace