Psalms - Dene's Blog

Wake Up Call

12/23/2014 0 Comments

When I was very small, my favorite song was “Wake Up, Little Susie.” I am probably dating myself with that admission. In case you are from a different generation, the song was about a young couple who fell asleep during their movie date, and were afraid of what people might think.
   Psalm 103 is David’s version of the song—one he is singing to himself. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, vv 1-2. I found it difficult to see that “wake up” admonition, I admit. But every commentator I checked, five of them, saw it clear as a bell. One likened it to Psalm 42:5: Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. That one is much easier to see. Why are you so depressed, he asks himself, when you have the salvation offered by God? Now look again at 103: Bless the Lord…and forget not his benefits.”
   For isn’t that exactly what we do? We go along in our ordinary, normal lives, nothing important happens, nothing exciting happens, and we become complacent in our service and even a little despondent in our ordinariness, and forget what God has done for us. But just think about this morning. You woke up in your comfortable bed (check) in your comfortable house (check), possibly next to your beloved (check). You ate a breakfast from a pantry and refrigerator full of possibilities (check). You stood in front of a closet and chose from among all those clothes what you wanted to wear (check). You might have gotten in your car (check) and driven to school or work or the store without mishap (check). How many blessings is that already that you never even noticed? How many more will you receive the rest of the day, and still not notice?
   “Forget not his benefits!” David reminds himself—and later on the people of Israel, and ultimately us. Why is it that when something bad happens we will blame God, but never think to give Him credit for all the good we enjoy nearly every single minute of the day? “Wake up and praise the Lord!”
   And then there is this: while God gives us brethren to encourage us, David shows us that in the final analysis, we are responsible for our own rousing. We cannot blame the church, we cannot blame the elders, we cannot blame our families if we fall into hopelessness and despair—it’s my business to see myself clearly, to notice when I need a nudge or a prod or even a kick in the rear. And after I have awakened, then I will follow David’s example of leadership and wake others too.
   Which is what this has been, I hope—wake up little Susie, or Joey, or Charlie, or Cathy, or whatever your name may be. Do not forget the benefits of being God’s child. Always count your blessings, no matter how trite that may seem. David did. He’s not a bad leader to follow.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change, James 1:17.

Dene Ward

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The Waters Prevailed

12/1/2014 2 Comments

We live on a hillside. You don’t really notice it when you first drive onto the property. The hill is shallow as hills go, dropping about twenty feet in five hundred. In another climate one would seldom think anything of it. But in Florida, in the summer, torrential downpours are common. Not too long ago we had two and a half inches come down in less than thirty minutes. Two or three days before we had six inches, but it took all day to accumulate that. When nearly half that much pours out of the sky in such a short time, you feel like ten have fallen instead.
    It was as if a giant bucket were being upended over us. We could hardly see the blueberries only hundred feet away. The roar on the metal roof was deafening. The rushing water overwhelmed the culvert in the drive and washed over the road and out to the garden where it ran against the berm in a narrow creek. We had built that berm precisely because of rains like this one—we were tired of wading “downstream” to rescue washed away garden plants.
    Eventually we left the porch which was not much shelter in a rain like that—the merest breeze left us damp and shivering, even in the summer. So we stepped back inside and looked out the windows to the north. Now you could really tell—we are definitely on a hill. Water ran like a river across the entire width of the yard, from the front steps to the fence, ten to twelve inches deep. We watched leaves, twigs, and moss float “downstream” to the run on the east side of the property. After the rain stopped, it kept running, draining the whole hillside, for another hour.
    A week after that rain, I walked the path the water had taken. Leaves were washed into piles a foot deep along the runnel. Limbs hung up on some of the bushes but others, dragged by the running water, lay piled up against the fence which had acted as a sieve as the water ran through it. Channels several inches deep marked the dried mud, and the grass was still bent over in the direction the water had flowed. Running water is powerful.
    The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep, Gen 7:17-20.
    The waters of the great Flood “prevailed.” Those waters not only covered the earth, they drowned every living creature on it that was not in the ark or swimming in the newly created worldwide ocean. Have you ever seen a flash flood? Have you ever heard the stories of one? No one can win against those “prevailing” waters. If you try to hang on to something, you simply wear out and are washed downstream.
    The same word is used in Ex 17:11: So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. We are talking about winning a war with that word; that’s the strength implied in its use. It should be no surprise that “prevailed” is also translated “strong” and “mighty.”
    So why is that important? Because the same Hebrew word is used in Psalm 117:2. For great is His steadfast love toward us. God’s love for us is strong; it is mighty. It is like rushing water that carries along everything in its path. It is like an army winning a war. Sometimes we seem to doubt that. “But I’ve been so bad,” we say, “how can God love me?” He can love you because His love is great. It can prevail against the worst of sins.
    The next time you doubt it, think about flood waters, think about an army that can win a war. God’s love is just like those things. It prevails over all.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, Rom 8:38,39.

Dene Ward

Blessing God

11/19/2014 0 Comments

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Psalm 103:1

   In our Psalms class we came upon this call from David to bless Jehovah, a wake-up call directed first to himself as he sat complacent and satisfied with his ho-hum worship, and then later to the people who were following their king’s lead. The question quite naturally arose then, how can a man bless God? So we did a little research.
   Your first thought might be that there are two distinct words for “bless”—one for God blessing men and one for men blessing God. Not true. Both are the same Hebrew word. It doesn’t take a Hebrew scholar to look at the anglicized word barak in several different verses and see that it is indeed the same word.
   Here is something else we discovered with but a small amount of time searching the scriptures: “bless” usually does not involve physical things. We tend to think that way in our all too materialistic culture. When asked to count our blessings, what do we list? When we ask God to bless us, what do we expect? Yet in the scriptures, I found that well over half the times the word “bless” was used it involved nothing more than what we might call “well wishes,” wanting good to happen to the other person. Now think about the opposite—if someone curses a person, what is it exactly that he wants? He wants evil to befall that person. We understand that perfectly fine; the problem comes when we think a blessing always involves a tangible gift. Of course we cannot do that for God, but we can give God other “blessings.”
   We checked out over 300 verses using the word “bless,” many of which involved men blessing God. It helped enormously when we saw the various ways that word is translated in the KJV. In fact, some of these things completely lost their punch in the newer versions. Let that be a lesson to you not to completely ignore those older versions. They lasted a long time for a good reason.
   Five times the word is translated “salute.” In the newer versions that word is translated “greet.” There is a world of difference between saluting someone and simply saying hello. Salutations involve respect. Especially in 1 Sam 25:14 the difference between David’s men “saluting” Nabal and just greeting him color how we view Nabal’s reaction—it was completely out of line if he had been saluted.
   One time the word is translated “congratulate” (1 Chron 18:10). When do you usually congratulate someone? When he has received an accolade or a well-deserved award. This word involves honor.
   One time the word barak is translated “thanks.” This denotes gratitude and appreciation.
   Three times it is translated “kneel” or some variation of it. That word signifies humility and submission.
   All of these are other English words used to translate the word “bless” found in Psalm 103:1, Bless God, O my soul. So how do we as mere mortal men bless an Eternal and Almighty God? We show respect, we give Him honor, we appreciate the things He has done for us, and with humility we submit our lives to Him.
   Can a disobedient person bless God? Read that last paragraph again. No, he cannot. Can a self-righteous person bless God? No, not a chance in the world. Can a half-hearted Christian, who somehow thinks there is a minimum he can do to get by bless God? None of those things show honor, respect, gratitude, and humility.
   Be careful before you read Psalm 103. It demands a whole lot more than most people want to give.

Then David said to all the assembly, “Bless the LORD your God.” And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the LORD and to the king, 1 Chron 29:20.

Dene Ward

(For hints, help, and instructions on using this blog, click on the FAQ/Tutorial page on the left sidebar.)

Godly Sorrow--Comparing Psalms 51 and 32

10/29/2014 0 Comments

I’ve known a lot of people who seem to think that true repentance is shown by moping around in a depressed state for weeks on end, as if the longer they beat themselves up the more worthy they are of forgiveness. If we have learned anything in our Psalms study lately, it’s just the opposite.

   David shows us in the progression of repentance that occurs between Psalms 51 and 32 that we should “get over it;” that a failure to do so is harmful to our souls.

   In our class we charted the verses in those two psalms. We found similar things in each: repentance, the effects of sin, and the effects that God’s forgiveness ought to have in our lives. Guess what we discovered? In Psalm 51, obviously written within a short time after Nathan’s visit to David in 2 Sam 12, even though at that time Nathan proclaimed God’s forgiveness, David is fraught with guilt and sorrow, even physically ailing from that burden of regret. He uses every synonym you can imagine for sin and his plea for mercy. In our modern divisions, those pleas take up seven verses. Another three describe his woeful emotional and physical state after finally recognizing the enormity and complexity of what he has done, a total of ten verses.

   Yes, he finally recognizes his forgiveness and spends three verses on his desire to get back to work for the Lord and on his concern for others, a general list of things he plans to carry out as “fruit meet for repentance.”

   And Psalm 32? This psalm is much less emotional. David repents yet again, but in two verses this time instead of ten. Does that mean it is not as heartfelt? Of course not, but his focus has changed. This time he spends most of the psalm recounting what he has learned from his sin and how to avoid it in the future. Listen to instruction, hear counsel, consider and come to an understanding, learn to control yourself. He has gone past emotion and is now using the experience to gain wisdom and strength. Then he spends more time in concern for others, that they learn the same lessons he has. Finally he shouts for joy, the joy found in forgiveness and a renewed fellowship with God. This section takes up four verses of an eleven verse psalm, where in 51 we are looking at three verses of a nineteen verse psalm. Those four verses in Psalm 32 are far more practical and helpful to us in terms of overcoming than the ones in 51, where his grief over his sin is the focus.

   By the time of Psalm 32’s writing, David has learned an invaluable lesson—though indeed his sin was “ever before me,” he understood that allowing one’s grief to paralyze him and pull him down into despondency was as much an aid to Satan as sinning in the first place. He was no longer serving God; he was no longer serving others. In fact, he was bringing others down with his depression. There is a selfishness in this sort of sorrow that is completely inappropriate—a “worldly” sorrow.

   Grief is certainly fitting. I wonder if we ever experience the kind of grief David did over sin, especially as shown in Psalm 51. If we did, perhaps we would sin less. But there comes a time when we must “get over it” and get back to work. “Restore unto me the joy of your salvation,” David says (51:12).   “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice,” and “Shout for joy!” (32:11). Sitting in sackcloth and ashes for the rest of your life, David is telling us, is not the way to show gratitude for your forgiveness.

For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter, 2 Cor 7:8-11.

Dene Ward

When Soap Doesn't Work

10/3/2014 0 Comments

    I was 18, but I might as well have been 12. Looking back I can see the warning signs, but as naïve as I was then I was blind to them.

   The summer between my freshman and sophomore college years I had found a job not far from the house at a concrete plant. I had signed on as a “tile sorter” out in the warehouse on a crew full of women, but the yard boss saw on my application that I knew how to type so the first morning he made me the office secretary.

   The work was simple and a little scarce—I answered the phone; I made the coffee; I figured payroll from the time cards and passed out paychecks. I might have typed three letters all summer long. Finally I found the old directory of suppliers and other concrete plants in the area. It was scratched out and scribbled over with address and telephone changes so I gave myself the chore of researching and re-typing that whole thing on the days when there was literally nothing else to do for hours. I think the whole point of me being there was so the yard boss could say he had a secretary like the big guys up in the front office.

   Aside from the pride issue, he was a decent man, a Jehovah’s Witness who actually talked with me about religious things when he was free. He seemed impressed when I showed him a passage or two he didn’t know was there.

   But his immediate underling was not as nice a man as he pretended to be when the boss was there. Not that I knew it at first or none of this would have happened. I can look back on it now and hear his words and know what he was thinking as surely as if he told me out loud, but not then. I was too innocent and trusting.

   One day late in the summer I found myself alone in the office with him. The old clerk was sick and the yard boss had been called up to the front office on the highway, a good quarter mile walk through the hot dusty yard beneath overhead cranes. I had gone to the front counter to look for some forms and suddenly I found myself hemmed into a corner with this six foot something, 250 lb, fifty year old man coming right at me   Before I knew it, he grabbed me by the shoulders and kissed me.

   I am not sure what he expected, but somehow I got loose, slipped around him, and ran as fast as I could to the only restroom in the place, a grimy cubbyhole about four foot square. I locked the wooden door, grabbed a scratchy, brown paper towel and scrubbed my face over and over and over and over. Then I re-wet the towel, added more soap and went at it again. I couldn’t stop myself. It’s a wonder I didn’t draw blood.

   Now look at Psalm 51:2. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. This is the psalm David wrote after Nathan convicted him of the sins of adultery and murder. I have read that in the Hebrew “wash me thoroughly” is literally “multiply my washings.” After at least a year, long enough for Bathsheba to bear a child and that child to die, David finally realizes the enormity of his sins and feels the remorse like a knife in his heart. One little plea for forgiveness won’t do in his mind, not for the terrible things he has done. He feels the need for ritual cleansing over and over and over and over. It isn’t a failure to accept God’s forgiveness; it’s an overwhelming sense of absolute filth.

   When I read the literal meaning of “wash me thoroughly” those feelings I had standing in that grubby little bathroom over forty years ago came flooding back to me. And now, like never before, I realize exactly how I ought to feel when I ask God’s forgiveness. What I have done to Him is much worse than that which was done to me by a sordid lecher so many years ago.

   You need to feel it too. If there is anything that will dowse your temptations like a bucket of water on a fire, that will. I am not sure now how long I stood there shaking, sick to my stomach, but I did not leave that hideous little room until I heard other voices in the office. Nothing was going to get me out there until I was sure I was safe.

   Sin in your life will corrupt you. Soap won’t get it out, no matter how many times you wash yourself. Only the blood of the Lamb and the grace of God can cleanse you. And even then, you should feel the need for more, and more, and more, and more, until finally you can face yourself in the mirror.

   If you are having trouble with temptations today, remember this little story. It’s not something I share lightly.

Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord GOD, Jer 2:22.

Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, That the bones which you have broken may rejoice, Psalm 51:7,8.

Dene Ward

The True Perspective

9/19/2014 2 Comments

Psalms 74 and 79, along with the books of Lamentations and Habakkuk, which are also national psalms of lament over the destruction of Jerusalem, will make you cringe in their horrific detail of destruction. Women and young girls raped, leaders hung up for all to see, the Temple in ruins, dead bodies lying everywhere, far too many for the few left alive to bury.

            Psalm 74 lists sacrilege after sacrilege: God’s enemies standing in the meeting place; the intricate and artistic carvings of the Temple chopped to pieces by heathen axes, the sanctuary on fire, the dwelling place of God razed to the ground. Psalm 79 uses opposites to the same effect: the holy defiled; Jerusalem in rubble; God’s servants as carrion; and blood flowing like water in the streets. Imagine seeing all this one horrible morning and then speaking to God in these words: Help us, O God of our salvation, 79:9.

            God of our salvation? How could the psalmist possibly use that description? Where in all this nightmare does he see salvation?

            The poet understood this basic truth: even in this dreadful event, God is still seeking the salvation of His people. He could still see a Father’s love behind the most severe discipline.

            Again in Psalm 74, the psalmist says, Yet God is my King of Old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Not just in the midst of the earth, but in the middle of all this horror, he can still see the true nature of God.

            Habakkuk in his lament ends with the same thoughts: For though the fig-tree shall not flourish, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labor of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no food; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Hab 3:17-18.

            What do we see when evil befalls us? If all we feel is the pain, if all we see is the sorrow, Satan already has a foothold. We must learn to use what happens in our lives as a steppingstone to Heaven, a lift to a higher plane of spirituality.

            Surely it isn’t always punishment from God as it was for those people, but then it becomes even more important to see events in the correct way. We are in a world that is temporary, that is tainted with sin. Of course we will have problems. Are we so naïve as to think that something Satan has poisoned will ever be good? Jeremiah tells us in his lament, that if it weren’t for God there wouldn’t be anything good left in this world at all, Lam 3:22, and we have no right to expect it to be any different.

            If I cannot see the salvation of God even in the midst of trials as Jeremiah did, I am blind to who He is. He is there, helping us prepare for a world where those things will be no more. If I rail against Him when the trials come, I do not know Him. Illness and death are the tools of Satan to lure us away, but with faith and the proper perspective--seeing the God of our salvation instead of the God of our pain--we can use Satan’s own tools against him as a road to triumph.

            It is better to depart and be with the Lord, Paul said, Phil 1:23. To die is gain for a Christian, v 21. “O death where is thy victory, O death where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the Law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Cor 15:55-57) If I see death as the victor, I am giving myself away—showing that my perspective is indeed unspiritual, immature, and faithless.

            Is it easy to have this perspective, especially in the middle of a traumatic life event? No, because we are still in this flesh. But while in this flesh the Lord Himself conquered all these things and expects us to follow His example, as difficult as it may be. And He gives us the means to do it.

            He is and always will be the God of our salvation.

But as for me, I will look unto Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me, Mic 7:7.

Dene Ward

NOTE: There is a facebook page called "Flight Paths" where you will find quick links, as well as announcements about new books and speaking engagements, and tips for using this blog. All you have to do is "like" the page on facebook.

For Thy Name's Sake

9/5/2014 0 Comments

We are continuing our progress through the psalms and came across the phrase “for thy name’s sake” in number 79: Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for thy name’s sake.

            The whole psalm bases its appeal on the fact that God is the one being scorned when His people are defeated by the nations. The psalmist certainly had it right—those people who had slipped so far into idolatry and all its vile and attendant practices could not possibly think that God would save them based upon how faithful and righteous they had been. The only possibility of salvation was to throw themselves on the mercies of their God, to remind Him that it was a personal affront to Him when His people were conquered.

            The nations have come into your inheritance…your holy temple they have defiled…the dead bodies of your servants have they given to the birds of the heavens for food…render sevenfold into the laps of our neighbors the taunts wherewith they have taunted you. And in keeping with that, the psalmist then asks for forgiveness, not for the people’s sake, but for God’s name’s sake.

            I looked up that phrase and found it several more times in the collection. What was God asked to do “for His name’s sake?” Pardon sins, 25:11; lead in paths of righteousness, 23:3; preserve life, 143:11; lead and guide, 31:3; deal on my behalf and deliver, 109:21. Herein lies a lesson we need—all these things, including pardon and deliverance, God does, not because we deserve them, but because of Who He is. We have nothing to bargain with any more than those fickle people of old. We, too, have sinned against a loving Father, often in a rebellious and disrespectful way. We may not bow down to an idol, but we love the world as much as they did, follow its example as if we fear to be different from it, and let it seep into our minds to the point we no longer even recognize sin.

            I hear too many brethren in the midst of a trial ask God, “Why, when I have tried so hard to be faithful for so long?” We just don’t get it. One sin will damn a soul. It forever makes us unworthy to be in the presence of God. It breaks our covenant with Him as surely as a broken contract today.   God is Holy, He is righteous, He cannot tolerate sin. But lucky for us, God is love, too, and because of Who He is, we have hope.

            When the trials come, when the fear mounts and the sorrow overwhelms, this is what we say to Him: We know we do not deserve it. We know you are far above us and our frail existence. Please show the world your essence. Please help us and comfort us and deliver us, not for our sakes, but for your name’s sake. Otherwise we don’t have a leg to stand on, and we know it.

"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43:25

"For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Isaiah 48:9

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7.

Dene Ward

Timetable

9/4/2014 0 Comments

Hide not your face from me in the day of my distress: Incline your ear unto me; In the day when I call answer me speedily. Psalm 102:2.

            I don’t know how many times I have said that to God, or at least something similar. “Now, God. Please take care of this now!” Yet another sentence in the same prayer was probably something like, “Please be patient with me, I’m really trying.” Avenge me of my adversaries immediately, but don’t avenge my sins for Yourself until I have had time to repent—a self-serving double standard if there ever was one.

            God does not operate on my timetable. He does not operate on yours. Because He inhabits eternity (Isa 57:15) He sees and knows when the time is right. He is not limited by living only in the present.

            Can you explain the fact that God did not send Nathan to David for about a year after his sin with Bathsheba? Uriah was dead, David had married Bathsheba, and the child they made together had been born. Perhaps God knew it would take that long for David to be receptive to Nathan. Perhaps He knew that holding his small son in his hands would make David’s heart softer. Who knows why, but that is the way God chose to do it, while in a similar circumstance the Corinthian church was commanded to withdraw from an adulterous brother the next time they met together.

            As for us, sometimes we cannot know why God allows things to happen when and as they do. I can often see later on that things turned out better than if they had happened on my schedule instead of God’s, but nearly as often I cannot. I am left to wonder. The good that has been accomplished may not become evident until I am dead and gone. I simply must trust that God knows best.

            Patience in the Bible is not about waiting quietly. The patience of Job was noisy indeed. Patience in the Bible is about endurance, about keeping on till the end, about being steadfast even when you don’t understand, and about trusting God’s timetable when your own makes a lot more sense to you.

            Think of Noah who built that ark waiting for God’s promised flood for 120 years. I wonder what his neighbors were saying after just one year, or how much they sneered after ten, much less 120. Think about Abraham, who received a promise that was not fulfilled in his lifetime, or for a thousand years afterward. Think about Sarah and Elizabeth, women who wanted children more than anything else, but did not receive them until old age had made it seem impossible. For a Being who inhabits eternity, “impossible” does not apply, and time is immaterial. Remember them and wait on the Lord. He will save you, in His way, and in His time.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! Psalm 27:13,14

Dene Ward

(For hints, help, and instructions on using this blog, click on the FAQ/Tutorial page on the left sidebar)

NOTE: There is a facebook page called "Flight Paths" where you will find quick links, as well as announcements about new books and speaking engagements, and tips for using this blog. All you have to do is "like" the page.

Bad News Bearers

8/22/2014 0 Comments

Have you noticed this about the internet? Everyone is in a hurry to spread bad news, almost as if a prize were given to the one who knows it first and has the most lurid detail. Why is that, especially among Christians? Shouldn’t a group created by Good News be far more likely to share that? Yet the many who are quick to excuse their inability to talk to their neighbors about their salvation, have no such qualms about telling even their enemies about a tragedy.

            Psalm 22 should give us pause. We tend to think of it as “the crucifixion psalm” and relegate it to Messianic prophecy alone. However, most scholars believe that these psalms had an application in the day in which they were written also. Therefore, Psalm 22, which is clearly Messianic in many ways, also applied to some time in David’s life.

            It must be obvious that we do not know every detail of his life. John said about the life of Jesus, Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. John 21:25. Surely the same could be said for David, who lived far longer than the Lord on this earth. He could easily have had a serious illness we are not told about, or a life-threatening injury. As many enemies as this man of war had, this psalm could refer to some of them. Whatever it was, this psalm tells us some dire straits David found himself in.

            Note the structure of the psalm. If you have a modern version, you will see the sections separated clearly. The “I/me” sections, those about David and his lament, are alternated with the “thou/you” sections, those addressed to God. The “I/me” sections gradually increase in length, first two verses, then three, then seven. The “thou” sections gradually increase their urgency until the final one when David seems to scream, “Save me from the mouth of the lion!”

            The danger pictured in the psalm gradually increases. “Many bulls encompass me.” “They open wide their mouths.” “Dogs encompass me…they pierced my hands and feet.” “Come quickly. Save me from the mouth of the lion and the horns of the wild oxen.” By this point, David feels the end is near one way or the other.

            Suddenly, in verse 22, the mood changes. The poet uses less figurative language and calmer speech. “Praise” becomes the repetitive word instead of “Deliver me, save me, rescue me.” David begins to recount this desperate time only so he can tell others the good news—God delivered him. “Praise him, glorify him, stand in awe of him,” he tells the assembled congregation, probably those whom he had invited to his thank offering feast. The Law of Moses made provision for a man to offer a sacrifice when something wonderful had happened to him. He was to invite his friends and neighbors and share not only the feast, but the good news of the blessings God had given him. (Lev 7:15; Deut 12:15-18; Psa 40:9,10) Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have such a tradition today? Especially in a day where all we want to share with others are the disasters, the complaints, and the bad news, to actually share good news and praise God for His blessings would be a welcome change.

            What are you sharing with your facebook friends today? With your family and neighbors, your classmates, fellow workers, and even the cashiers and waitresses you see during the day? Is bad news the only thing that exhilarates you, or do you excitedly tell others the good news—that a Savior loves them just as he loves you and has done so many wonderful things for you.

            God had a people once who only reveled in the bad news, including ten men who came back from seeing a glorious Promised Land and with their evil report (bad news) “made the people complain” Num 14:36. It did not take long for God to give them up to a wilderness in which they learned what bad news really was.

            Think today, not only before you speak, but before you share. Let’s start a new tradition. Let’s make a thank offering feast for our friends instead of a gripe-fest. Share the good things in your life, so that someday you can more easily share the most important thing—your Lord.

The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones…Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country, Prov 15:30; 25:25.

Dene Ward

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Forget-Me-Nots

8/6/2014 0 Comments

Forget-me-nots are small unassuming plants with tiny blooms. I read one legend in which God is busy naming the flowers and nearly finished when a small one whispers plaintively, “Forget-me-not.” God replies, “I won’t, and that shall be your name.” Of course that is not how it happened, but the plea for God not to “forget me” has sounded out down through the ages.

            How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? Psalm 13:1.

            Of course God does not forget His people. But Zion said…the Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb. Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you, Isa 49:14,15.

            Everyone knows God does not forget us, but even a nursing child, when hunger strikes, wonders why his mother is not taking care of him RIGHT THIS MINUTE! “She must have forgotten me.”

            If we do a little research, we can understand what David meant in the psalm. The opposite of “forget” is “remember” and both words have connotations we may not realize.

            In Gen 8:1 “God remembered” Noah and the animals, and made the rain stop.

            In Gen 19:29, “God remembered” Abraham, and spared Lot from Sodom.

            In Gen 30:22, “God remembered” Rachel, and gave her a son.

            In Ex 2:24, “God remembered” his covenant with Abraham, and sent Moses to save the people

            In 1 Sam 1:19,20, “God remembered” Hannah, and gave her a son.

            Do you see it? Every time we are told “God remembered” He acted. If “remembering” means to act, then “forgetting” means the opposite, no action. David could see no deliverance. It was not that he thought God had really removed him from His mind, it was that he could not see God coming to his aid when he needed it.

            In the midst of trials we may not be able to see the hand of God. He often works behind the scenes. He usually uses the hands of others to accomplish His will and those hands may be slow in acting. His timetable may not match ours. In fact, we may even face times when it seems He “forgot” us. Rest assured He has not.

            It is not for us to demand explanations from an Almighty Creator. It is for us to follow the solution David ultimately came to in verse five: I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. David had not yet seen that salvation, but he trusted so implicitly it was as if it had already happened. I will sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me, v 6.

            David began this psalm with fear and depression which fell on him because the trial was long and hard and he saw no relief in sight. Eventually he sank into despondency. He felt completely alone. Because he felt alone, he even looked to himself for advice. How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart? The worst counselor you can have is yourself. If all you do is look inward, you will despair. According to David, you must look outside yourself to find help and consolation.

            When David states his solution, “I will trust in the Lord,” he is making a choice: “I will.” That choice to trust God cannot be taken away from you by anyone, whether physical or spiritual Enemy.

            When we face trials—especially long, difficult ordeals—we should remember Psalm 13. What began with a charge of God forgetting ended with a trust in His bounty so complete it is as if it had already been accomplished, even more (“bountifully”) than was necessary.

            God did not forget the tiny flower and He does not forget us either. It is up to us to choose His help when it is offered and how it is offered, not the way we think is best, but in the manner our Wise Creator knows is best.

Behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love, Psalm 33:18.

Dene Ward
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