Being a Pilgrim

The House of God

Posted on 16th Jul 202514th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

“The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music.”
Psalm 27:4-6 NLT

What would we pilgrims most desire in our lives? Not an easy question to answer, because our desires would be focused on the issue or challenge that we are currently having to deal with. If we’re hungry, we would want to be fed. If we were homeless, it would be a home. If we’re unemployed, it would be a job. Or perhaps the car has just broken down for the nth time, and we would really like to replace it. But David had a different focus – he wanted “to live in the house of the Lord all the days of [his] life“. Where was David when he wrote this? The commentaries assume that he was still in his pre-king days, being chased around the wilderness by King Saul. In his weariness though, his utmost desire was to be in the Lord’s presence. There he fantasised he would find a place of safety, a place of communion with his precious Lord, the place where he wouldn’t have to continually look over his shoulder in case a spear was coming his way. More, he would find a place where he was untouchable by his enemies. And once there David imagined he would be free to offer the sacrifices required “with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music”. His imagination also ran forward to the time when there would be a Temple fit for God, and in which the Lord would live.

But back to our question. Would we pilgrims, faced with all the issues in our lives, primarily express the same desire that David did, to spend time in God’s house? Would we push aside the immediate, answering the emails and texts, painting the kitchen, doing the shopping, washing the car and so on, just so that we could spend time meditating on the things of God? John Wesley is credited with getting up at 4am every day to pray because he wouldn’t consider starting his day without prayer. A sobering thought for us sleepy heads who struggle to cast off the duvet and end up dashing out of the door, briefcase in one hand and a slice of toast in the other, hoping we wouldn’t be late for work.

We read in the Book of Acts about the early disciples, who ” … worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—” (Acts 2:46). We may not have that opportunity today, but the sentiment behind this verse provides a picture of the early believers sharing the same excitement about the Lord and His house that David did. Isaiah too, in a time of a national crisis (a potential time of political instability), decided to go to the Temple – Isaiah 6:1, “It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple“. Here’s the thing. If Isaiah hadn’t gone to the Lord’s house that day he would never have had a vision of the Lord, and would never have been ordained into the prophetic ministry that underpinned the rest of his life. After the vision Isaiah wrote, “Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me”” (Isaiah 6:8). As we imagine being there with Isaiah in the Temple, did we too feel that lift in our spirits, a personal “send me”, as the Lord asked us the same question?

We pilgrims may be one of the Isaiah’s of our generation, but we will never know until we spend time with God. It is only in His presence that we will find our purpose and calling. The problem for many believers today is that they are looking for an instant solution. I once knew somebody who had an inkling to be a worship leader. So they found a guitar and learned a few chords and a couple of songs and then went to the pastor with the request that they be allowed to lead worship on the next Sunday. No prayer. No submission to the Lord. No Isaiah-in-the-Temple moment, that would have endorsed their ministry. And a huffy response when their request was refused. David, first and foremost, spent time in the Lord’s presence, learning how to play music and worship Him during those long hours looking after the sheep. With the necessary skills he was one day going to be engaged to play in King Saul’s presence . We read in 1 Samuel 16:18, “One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him””.

But we pilgrims are people who love the Lord, and of course we spend time in His presence every day. We too join with God’s people whenever we can, spending time with them and with the Lord. We worship and pray together, and the Lord blesses us with words of prophecy, with answers to our prayers, and with the resources we need to face the day. And we pray for others too so that they may discover what we have found. I heard recently of a young man who met an old friend with whom he had lost touch, a friend who was previously a self-declared atheist, but who subsequently in his own journey had discovered the Lord. This friend invited the young man to church, the friendship renewed and another soul was saved for the Kingdom. Things happen when we go to church.

Where is our “Temple”? Where do we meet with God, in a place where He can speak to us and commission us? And where we will receive a vision of the Lord, “high and lifted up”. There is no better place than with our brothers and sisters in Christ, so at the next opportunity let’s expect something to happen. Perhaps God will show up in a vision. Perhaps we will receive a prophetic word from someone. All we have to do is go to church with an expectant heart. We won’t be disappointed.

Dear loving Heavenly Father, please help us to have expectant and willing hearts, looking out for Your presence today, and every day. We repent of the way of life we adopt which has no room for You. Please help us, we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Confidence in God

Posted on 15th Jul 202512th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

“The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.”
Psalm 27:1-3 NLT

In these three verses that start Psalm 27, David made a confident statement that, regardless of what was coming against him, he would be ok. He had a confidence that seemed unshakeable, building a picture of God being his fortress, and any attacks from his enemies coming to nothing. But more than just being confident in God’s salvation, he also stated that he would not be afraid. Is that faith in God, over-confidence or what? In the context of this Psalm, David was thinking about physical attacks and dangers from evil people, and so he was apparently sure of his ground, but how could he have reached that state of certainty?

We can get a glimpse of David’s relationship with, and dependence on, God if we look at the Goliath episode. Goliath appears on the scene in 1 Samuel 17:23, and David heard at first hand what was happening. “As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came out from the Philistine ranks. Then David heard him shout his usual taunt to the army of Israel“. Goliath was a giant over 9 feet tall and he wore an impressive suit of armour that would have been too heavy for a normal man of that time. In fact, his armour was such that there was only one place where it could be breached and that was in the place we know about, just above his eyes. Along with his armour bearer who carried his shield, Goliath was an impressive war machine, perhaps a Biblical forerunner of the modern army tank. Goliath taunted the Israelites with the challenge that Israel supply a soldier to fight him, with the outcome of that one to one combat deciding the overall fate of the Philistine/Israelite battle. As we can imagine, the impact of this giant warrior was devastating and the Israelites all ran away, even though there were impressive rewards available for the man who took him on. But then along came David. He asked a question, “ … What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?”” (1 Samuel 17:26). A faith question and one that has echoed through the times and generations since, a faith question that is so logical in its content because, after all, Goliath’s challenge wasn’t just against the Israelite army, it was against God Himself.

So, David volunteered to fight Goliath. As we know, David had already been faced with battles of a different kind, against wild animals that had tried to take away sheep from the flock in his care. We read, “ … I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!”” (1 Samuel 17:34-37).

Of course, we know the outcome. This was no natural fight. In the natural, how could a shepherd boy, unarmed with nothing but a sling, ever overcome a man of war, armed offensively and defensively as Goliath was? This was a God moment and one that fuelled David’s unwavering faith in God. If God had come through for him once, He would do likewise again. So David wrote, “The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger”. Of course God was all of these things to David and his faith in God was strong and an example to us all. But how did David’s faith get to this impressive state? A little bit at a time. He saw God come through for him in small things and he stretched his faith into bigger and bigger exploits for God, as the Lord worked with him day by day.

The Apostle John wrote, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (1 John 4:4). This is a verse often quoted in our churches and fellowships, and it sounds good. But do we really believe it when we come up against our own Goliath moments? Jesus too encouraged His disciples. He said to them, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father” (John 14:12-13).

So where, dear pilgrims, is our faith level today? What are we believing God for in the day ahead? Faith for our lives, physical and spiritual, is essential to every pilgrim today and every day. The writer to the Hebrews wrote, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). God looks on at His children in their daily struggles, and sees our often feeble faith attempts. And He smiles. He’s pleased. I will soon be out for my morning prayer walk, and I’m believing God for the opportunity to share the faith God has given me with someone who needs to hear His message of hope. A faith step I take every day. But we’re all different and as we head into our day, we will find that God is listening to our faith-prayers and He works with us to see them answered. A need for healing? Believe God for a remedy. A need for finances? Believe God for the funds. The small things we pray for will help us build our faith muscles and we will find three outcomes, all blessings. We will be blessed. Others with be blessed. And, above all, God will be blessed as well. And if we find that our faith-prayers are not answered in the way we would like, then we persevere. God is listening and one day we will receive His reward for being a faithful man and woman of God, either in this life or the life to come.

David was confident in God, but he was a man like you and me. We may not be facing into a giant or an army, but we can declare with him that the Lord is our fortress, now and forever. Amen?

Dear Father God. Please help us to build;d up our faith in You, this day and every day. Amen.

The Salvation of the Lord

Posted on 14th Jul 202512th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

Once again David wrote about the salvation of the Lord. To him it was something he returned to time and time again, because his life in the present and his ultimate future in the Lord were important to him and always foremost in his mind. Yes he had his wobbly times but throughout his life the salvation he was sure of in God was never in doubt. In those Old Testament days, salvation to the Jews meant deliverance from sin and suffering. It was a dual blessing, both for protection and safety for their bodies, and the same for their souls. But David wasn’t the only Old Testament saint who was aware of the “salvation of the Lord”. In Isaiah 12:2 we read, “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation”. He was prophesying about a day to come when “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). If we read the previous chapter we can see who the Source of this salvation will be. In another example, Moses reassured the Israelite slaves, terrified of the pursuing Egyptian army drawing ever closer. “And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever” (Exodus 14:13). Spiritual and natural salvation; the Lord supplies all that we need, body, soul and spirit.

In the New Testament there is the story of Paul and Silas, whipped, imprisoned but not suppressed and downcast. There they were, feet locked in the stocks, in a damp, cold, and stinking Philippian jail. But they weren’t moaning about their lot in life and their sore backs. We read what they were doing in Acts 16:25. “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them“. After the miraculous unlocking of all the cell doors, the jailer asked Paul how he could be saved, and Paul’s answer was, “ … Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Salvation comes in many forms and with many introductions, but it all can be traced back to Jesus. He said in John 14:6, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me“. In Acts 4:12 we read what Peter and John said to the Sanhedrin about the risen Jesus, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved“. And that is it really. Salvation is universally available through Jesus, and always has been, from the foundation of the world.

So we pilgrims don’t need to look back, satisfying though that is sometimes. We are a people who look forward to see the fruits of our salvation, in the Kingdom of which we are now a part. We are like the man Jesus told a parable about, who discovered a cache of treasure in the middle of a field. Matthew 13:44, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field”. Or the merchant who discovered a pearl of great value, and who sold all that he had so that he could purchase it. Although in monetary terms, our salvation is a free gift from God (“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God” (Ephesians 2:8)), we are aware that it has cost us our old, sinful way of life. We are now new creations, as we used to sing many years ago. But the Treasure we have found has to be shared with others, because that is what Jesus has asked us to do.

Peter wrote, “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9). We do indeed love God with a gratitude that will last forever as we trust Him with our lives for all eternity.

Dear Lord Jesus. Our salvation is all about our faith in You, because You came to this world to save us. Please forgive us for our doubts and lapses back into the old kingdom, and please help us, we pray, and keep us safe on the remainder of our journey in this life. In Your precious Name. Amen.

The Light of the Lord

Posted on 13th Jul 202510th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

A confident statement from David starts this Psalm. An unequivocal declaration about what the Lord means to him. At this point in his life David had no doubts, that the Lord was his “light and salvation”. Psalm 27 was another Psalm written by David and the contents and the sentiments expressed repeat once again a stage in his life where he was in danger. There were two occasions at least where David’s life was under threat – when he was being chased around the highways and byways of Palestine by King Saul, and when he had to flee from his son Absolom’s rebellion. At both times there was little else that took up his thoughts and prayers. He wrote about his “enemies and foes”, “mighty armies”, “evil people”, and being attacked, but his confidence in God was unshaken.

David started with “The Lord is my light”. What did he mean by that? In those days, “light” was a spiritual word meaning knowledge, truth and goodness. This sort of meaning is still around today. We talk about “seeing the light” or having a “light bulb moment“, meaning that all of a sudden we understand something that previously eluded us. Perhaps we were having a conversation with someone who was being rather vague with his language or description. It may have been a teacher, helping us with a difficult maths problem but who was not wanting to give us the answer. So a series of hints gradually led to us to “see the light”. “I get it now” was the usual response.

There was a day just after the disciples had found the empty tomb that first Easter Sunday morning, when two disciples were walking away from Jerusalem towards a small town called Emmaus. Jesus caught up with them and asked them what their problem was, because “sadness [was] written across their faces” a graphic description of their emotional state at the time. They explained their misery to Jesus, who was kept from being recognised, and He then ” … took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). When the two disciples were nearly at their destination we read that they begged Jesus to stay with them, which He did. At the subsequent meal ” …He took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!” (Luke 24:30-31). Suddenly the two disciples realised who had been walking along the road with them. It was a “light bulb” moment that made them return to Jerusalem. “They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”” (Luke 24:32). Those two disciples suddenly “saw the light” and received the understanding about what truly went on in Jerusalem that first Easter weekend.

We pilgrims suddenly saw the “light” the day we were saved. All of a sudden we transitioned from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light. Paul wrote, “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). Our previously monochrome existence was all of a sudden transformed into glorious technicolour, exposing a world of which we previously had no idea even existed. John wrote, “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7). We also read about Paul’s conversion on the Damascus Road, “As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him” (Acts 9:3). The Light that Paul saw was so bright that he was blinded and his conversion was so complete that ” …immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”” We pilgrims may not have had such a dramatic experience of “seeing the light” in the way that Paul did, but nevertheless we now understand that the lives we are living are being illuminated by the Lord of all, Jesus Himself.

One of Jesus’ “I am” statements can be found in John 8:12, “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life”“. It was a direct and very clear statement that exposed the dichotomy in the Jewish religious society when Jesus walked on this world. The Pharisees were upset with His claim because it gave them an uncomfortable choice. If they believed in Jesus and His claim of being the Light of the world, then they had to discard their whole philosophy and spiritual way of life, and instead become a disciple of the Master Himself, following Him and His teaching. However if they didn’t then they were being accused of stumbling around in darkness, with the implication that they were heading for a spiritual death. Paul defined his previous life before he met Jesus as his being a “Pharisee of Pharisees” so his conversion was dramatic in the extreme. No wonder that he fell over when Jesus met him that day.

This is the message of hope that we propagate to those around us, those living in a spiritually dark and hopeless world. They are in the same camp as the Pharisees, stumbling around, like sheep without a shepherd, and heading for a lost eternity. We have a message of light and salvation that we administer with the same confidence that David had. Jesus is the Light of the world. There is no other invention or claim of man that comes even anywhere close to our amazing God and His Kingdom.

Dear Heavenly Father of Lights. We praise and worship You today. We honour You and exalt Your Holy Name. Only You are the Light of the world. Amen.

Solid Ground

Posted on 12th Jul 20259th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

“Don’t let me suffer the fate of sinners. Don’t condemn me along with murderers. Their hands are dirty with evil schemes, and they constantly take bribes. But I am not like that; I live with integrity. So redeem me and show me mercy. Now I stand on solid ground, and I will publicly praise the Lord.”
Psalm 26:9-12 NLT

David was sure of his footing in God when he wrote the final verse to Psalm 26. Of course, he was referring to his spiritual standing, but I’m sure he felt it extended into his natural world as well. David was going through an euphoric state of mind at that time and all was lovely. His glasses, if he had any in those days, would have been tinted with a wonderful shade of rose. He felt so good about things that he wrote that he would “publicly praise the Lord”. David wrote other Psalms, and the first two verses of one of them read, “I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along” (Psalm 40:1-2). Another time, another place, perhaps, but another occasion when God came through for him. God was always there for David, regardless of his circumstances, and his relationship with the Lord was strong and vibrant, every minute of his days.

Solid ground is something we humans take for granted. There is no obvious first hand experience of hurtling around a star we call the sun, other than the periods of light and darkness, sunrise and sunset. We build our houses on ground that we assume will be solid and immovable for the years ahead. We compare old photos with those taken today and the same landscape features are still in place. We walk in places with rocks and packed earth and our senses tell us that we are in the presence of “solid ground”. But that is all in line with our local natural world. Things get a bit wobblier, however, when we consider the state of the world and news reports of wars and famines, earthquakes and fires. In these circumstances we become a bit less sure. There is a tendency to stick our heads in the sand and hope things will blow over, and that is a human trait also present in the Old Testament times. In the days of Amos, one of the Minor Prophets, the Israelites were ignoring the political situation of the world immediately around them. Amos 6: 1, 3, 7, “What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem, and you who feel secure in Samaria! You are famous and popular in Israel, and people go to you for help. … You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer. … Therefore, you will be the first to be led away as captives. Suddenly, all your parties will end“. The people in Israel denied anything bad was going to happen and continued to behave in the sinful and evil way that was their norm. Yes, the ground wasn’t literally shaking but their society was, and soon after Amos’ prophetic messages, God allowed them to be led away into exile.

Jesus told the parable of a rich and successful businessman farmer, who had enjoyed a bumper crop that year and had to build new barns to hold it all. His conclusion was that this gave him “solid ground” for his retirement and he was going to spend it all partying. He said to himself, “ … My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!” (Luke 12:19). Unfortunately for him, though, something was about to happen that would disrupt his plans. The next verse in Jesus’ story is, “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’” The “solid ground” underpinning his retirement plans suddenly imploded and he found himself in a place in Sheol where he could not access the fruits of his labours.

In our natural world we know statistically that the ground we assume is solid is most likely going to still be solid tomorrow and the next day. Yes, there may be an impact from an asteroid, or something else may fall from the sky disrupting our assumptions, but these are unlikely events, not to be considered by even the most paranoid amongst us. We have enough to worry about in our daily lives. What we should be concerned about, though, is the ground we are standing on in the spiritual world we live in. Regardless of what will happen to this planet, our souls will survive and go on living for all eternity. So we need to ensure that we are standing on the ground God has supplied for us. The Bible talks about God being our Rock. David wrote, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety” (Psalm 18:2). He repeats this theme in Psalm 62:2, “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken“, referring of course to the Lord, His God.

Jesus also taught about having a solid foundation to our faith. Matthew 7:24-25, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock“. We pilgrims are believers with a faith founded on Jesus’ teaching, a faith that will survive everything and anything that comes against us. There is plenty of troubles in human lives but through God and His promises we will survive all of them. Regardless of what we are going through, God is there with us, step by step. Sharing our pain. Feeling our sorrows. Empathising with our needs. We are like the Israelite slaves, fearing the pursuing Egyptian army, but listening to Moses as he said, “ .. Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again” (Exodus 14:13). Paul referred to Moses and the Israelites’ miraculous journey through the wilderness when he wrote, “All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that travelled with them, and that rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:3-4).

The Lord is our Rock because we can trust in Him. He is also our strength (Ephesians 6:10), and we who believe in Him find a place of safety in Him, just as David did all those years ago. Can I ask a question, dear fellow pilgrims? What ground are you standing on today? Let us not be complacent and instead continue our journey in fear of the Lord, trusting in Him and His promises.

Dear Father God. Only You are the Rock worth standing on. All other ground is nothing more than quicksand. Thank You for Your strength and presence. Amen.

Redemption and Mercy

Posted on 11th Jul 20258th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

It is commonly said that we live today in a season of grace, where ” … God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins”(Romans 3:24). We deserve judgement and punishment, but through Jesus we have been freed from the penalty for our sin, and, instead, we have been granted His righteousness. But David wrote about God’s mercy, not His grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favour, giving us what we don’t deserve, while mercy is God’s withholding of what we do deserve – specifically, the punishment for our sins. Through His grace and mercy, David asked God to redeem him from his enemies, who were harassing him with their threats, lies and hypocrisy, and in the process show him mercy. David knew the Lord, and how good He was to him. We read another David Psalm, Psalm 145:8, “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love“, a psalm he wrote calling everyone to praise God every day, but David didn’t know the risen Jesus personally. David knew about the coming Messiah, and he wrote prophetically about Him in Psalm 22, so in a sense he did know about God’s grace, personally experiencing many times the outworking of God’s unmerited favour.

In modern times we use the word “redeem” in ways such as redeeming a loan, meaning to pay up the outstanding balance. The word crops up in relation to other business transactions and someone making use of a pawnbroker may return later to redeem the article pawned. But there is a great example of redeeming in the Book of Hosea. God asked the prophet Hosea to “marry a promiscuous woman”, a prostitute, and for a while his new wife, Gomer, had Hosea’s children and the marriage existed as a sign to Israel and Judah that God loved them even in their prostitution to idols. But Gomer left Hosea and returned to her old profession. Hosea pursued her, found her, and bought her back from slavery to prostitution, redeeming her from the consequences of her old ways. Hosea’s life was symbolic of God’s intention towards wayward Israel, showing them a path towards redemption and their status as His people in the land promised to them. But in spite of Hosea’s warnings the people just mocked him and ignored his warnings. The Jewish exile followed soon after.

We pilgrims today are a people who have believed and obeyed the warnings given to the peoples of our age. In Acts 2 we read at the end of Peter’s sermon about Jesus and His crucifixion, “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.’ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation’” (Acts 2:37-40). That call to “repent and be baptised” still hangs in the air today, as God’s grace and mercy prevails in our wicked world. There are many in our society and generation today who need to heed Peter’s warnings and pleadings.

It is so sad that so many lovely people today have rejected the King of glory, Jesus Himself. In this season of grace they have the opportunity to be redeemed from their sins but have turned their back on Him just as Israel turned its back on God in the 8th Century BC. Hosea warned them with his messages time and time again but the people ignored him. Peter warned the people in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost to “Save [themselves] from this corrupt generation”. Many accepted the call but equally many turned away. But all is not lost, because we pilgrims carry the message of God’s grace and mercy wherever we go. People everywhere have access to the Gospel and have no excuse for turning their backs on God.

We pilgrims are a thankful people because we have, in our spirits, seen the Lord. His Spirit lives within us, leading us, guiding us, encouraging us, filling us, and empowering us. What a blessed people we are! We are free to go to church, joining in the fellowship meetings, engaging in the Communion services, listening to God’s Word expounded and living a life of God’s blessings. A life Utopian in its potential, but sin is always lurking at our doors, seeking to destroy us and drag us back into the evil world around us. But we have the opportunity for embracing God’s grace and mercy, because He has redeemed us from our sins and one day we will enjoy His perfect presence forever. A time for God’s grace and mercy is with us. The news headlines may preach their messages of transient doom and gloom, but it will not always be that way. Secular messages spawned in the devil’s newsrooms and in evil people’s hearts may be promoted in the media but there is a higher power and authority with His hand on this world, a hand full of grace, mercy, love and compassion. Shout it out, Folks! This world needs to hear Good News. It needs God’s grace more than at any time in our history. We pray for revival and a new awakening, and look to God to fulfil His will and purposes for this generation.

Thank You God for Your grace and mercy, unwarranted favour to sinners like us saved by Your grace. Thank You. Amen.

The Fate of Sinners

Posted on 10th Jul 20258th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

David asked the Lord to spare him from “the fate of sinners”. In David’s society, people who committed crimes suffered some form of punishment. Leviticus 24 lays out some examples of punishments for lawbreakers, who committed crimes such as blasphemy, murder, theft, and injury, where we read the punishment was “a fracture for a fracture, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (Leviticus 24:20). Stoning was usually used for capital offences. But in the Psalm 26 context, David appeared to be considering behavioural issues – “their hands are dirty with evil schemes and they constantly take bribes”. There was in those days, and still is today, a level of moral lassitude that falls just below the radar of a definition of being a crime but is sin nevertheless. Jesus brought such behaviour to the fore in Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell“. The problem for humans in all generations is that sin in God’s eyes can only be discerned by Him. So David cried out to the Lord to not let him suffer the fate of sinners because “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).‭‭

But what is the fate of sinners? The Old Testament, pre-Jesus, belief was that when someone died they went to a place called Sheol. Faced with the fabricated evidence that Joseph had died as the result of an attack by a wild animal, we read of his father Jacob’s reaction in Genesis 37:35, “Then all his sons and daughters attempted to console him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in mourning for my son.” And his father wept for him”. Both good and bad people went there and it seemed to be some sort of holding area for departed spirits. David also believed that the wicked ended up in Sheol. Psalm 9:17, “The wicked will turn to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), Even all the nations who forget God”. So David and his generation would have no doubts about “the fate of sinners”. Jacob considered Sheol to be a place of mourning, but little was written about what it would be like until Jesus came, and provided some teaching. But one thought spans all the Biblical scriptures, and that is that after a person died, they went to a place of conscious existence, and there are hints that there were degrees of comfort there, depending on whether or not the person had led a good or bad life in God’s eyes beforehand.

In Luke 16 Jesus told the story of a Rich Man and a beggar called Lazarus. Some claim that this was a parable, but Jesus offered no explanation and the story was not about a natural environment that people could relate to, such as sheep and arable farming. It was a statement of fact presented in a way that fitted in with Jewish thought at that time. Basically, the Rich Man had a good life and ended up in Sheol (Hades in the Greek) where he found a place of torment. We can refer to it as “hell” because it was hot – we read, “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames'” (Luke 16:24). So there was communication of sorts with the other compartment in Sheol where the poor man went when he died. We can call this place heaven, because Abraham was there. In the next two verses we read, “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there'”.

The New Testament belief is based on the Rich Man and Lazarus story, in that people who have died end up in a place of conscious existence, depending on how they lived their natural lives. Believers end up in a place Jesus called Paradise (Luke 23:43). Unbelievers end up in a place of torment that appeared to be another compartment in Hades. Jesus introduced another name for this place – Gehenna, a Greek word used in Mark 9:45. But Hades or Sheol, the Biblical view is consistent with David’s fear about the “fate of sinners”. One place of conscious existence divided into two compartments – paradise (a preview of Heaven) or Gehenna (a preview of hell).

And then the story gets tragic and sombre. One day all these souls in Hades will be resurrected and judged, as we read in Revelation 20:13, “And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades (the realm of the dead) surrendered the dead who were in them; and they were judged and sentenced, every one according to their deeds”. Thankfully, believers will already have been resurrected by this time and will be living with the Lord in Heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:7-8, “For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord”. 1 Thessalonians 4 provides further details.

David called out to the Lord to save him from “the fate of sinners” and he could do that because he walked with integrity and was redeemed by the Lord. Through his faith in the Lord I’m sure that we believers will probably have the opportunity of speaking with him one day. But we mustn’t rest on our laurels because there is a society full of people who, like lemmings, are rushing headlong to the wrong place. I keep banging on, I know, about reaching out to the lost, but these are serious times. Every day on my prayer walks I ask God beforehand to lead me to opportunities where I can share His message of hope. We don’t know if the next seed we plant might be in the heart of another Billy Graham.

Dear Father God. You are the only true righteous and holy God, full of grace and love. Lead us we pray to those who are perishing in their sins, so that we can share about all You have done for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Lord’s Sanctuary

Posted on 9th Jul 20258th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

“I wash my hands to declare my innocence. I come to your altar, O Lord, singing a song of thanksgiving and telling of all your wonders. I love your sanctuary, Lord, the place where your glorious presence dwells.”
Psalm 26:6-8 NLT

David wrote, “I love your sanctuary, Lord, the place where your glorious presence dwells”. In his day this had to be the Tabernacle, because the Temple wasn’t built in his life. That momentous occasion had to wait until Solomon was sitting on David’s throne. We can read all about the Tabernacle, and its construction, in the Book of Exodus and the account commenced in Exodus 25:8-9, “Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them. You must build this Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you“. God wanted to come and live with His people, and He provided instructions as how that would be possible, with the Israelites being a nomadic people at that time. A tent of some description was all they physically would be capable of, but what a tent it was. Eventually it was finished and we read, “Then he hung the curtains forming the courtyard around the Tabernacle and the altar. And he set up the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard. So at last Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle” (Exodus 40:33-35). That was the glory that David experienced whenever he entered the sanctuary. He found God there.

There is some confusion about David’s sanctuary, if he was referring to the Tabernacle. Some Bible scholars maintain that there were two Tabernacles, with the original one located at Gibeon, and David’s located in Jerusalem, where the Ark of God was installed. About Gibeon being the location, we read, “Meanwhile, David stationed Zadok the priest and his fellow priests at the Tabernacle of the Lord at the place of worship in Gibeon, where they continued to minister before the Lord” (1 Chronicles 16:39). But we also read, “They brought the Ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the special tent David had prepared for it. And David sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord” (2 Samuel 6:17). But wherever it was, David loved it, because He found God and His glory in that place.

What sanctuary do we pilgrims have? In past days, wonderful churches were built in the UK with impressive stained glass windows, statues, beautiful architecture and so on. These were, and still are in most cases, places where God is worshiped in His sanctuary. At the last count there are over 16,000 of them in these British islands. To the Jews, there was only one place where the glory of the Lord could be found and that was where His Ark was located. After Solomon’s Temple was constructed we read, “When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark. The priests and Levites brought up the Ark of the Lord along with the special tent and all the sacred items that had been in it. … Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim” (1 Kings 8:3-4, 6). And then came the crescendo – “When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple. The priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord because the glorious presence of the Lord filled it” (2 Chronicles 7:1-2). Sadly, we can read about the subsequent events that led to the destruction of this Temple and the final one in AD70, after which the Jews lost their focus for the glory of the Lord.

But what about us pilgrims? Where do we find God’s “glorious presence”? Where is our “sanctuary”where we find, and worship, the Lord? We know the answer of course, because something of earth-shattering importance happened a few centuries later. Jesus came. “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son” (John 1:14). John and the other disciples saw His glory, the glory of His presence, and He dwelt with them. They didn’t have to go to Jerusalem or anywhere else to find the glory of the Lord, and neither do we. In the same way we don’t have to go to an ornate building where there is a table covered with a decorated cloth and furnished with a candlestick or two. When I was a small boy, this was a place where I thought God lived, somehow under that tablecloth. People who were passing by genuflected and spoke with bated breath and in low tones. But did I see God’s glory there? Some say that they did but my experience of the Lord and His glory came much later in a different place.

We pilgrims know and love Jesus, and when He left this world He left His Spirit, who now lives within every believer. Paul wrote, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself” (1 Corinthians 6:19). That’s where we find the Lord’s Sanctuary – in the hearts of ordinary men, women and children who are faithful, redeemed, and obedient, servants of God. So we handle the Lord’s Sanctuary with care and love. After all, we can’t mistreat the place where the Lord lives, can we?

Dear loving and gracious Heavenly Father. We praise and worship Your holy name and turn our hearts and minds towards You this day and every day. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Clean Hands

Posted on 8th Jul 20258th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

David made a declaration about his innocence before God by washing his hands. Why should that be of any significance? We earlier considered Psalm 24:3-4, “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god”. In Biblical days, the washing hands had several meanings. The Pharisees were obsessed with hand washing, as we read in Mark 7:3-4, “(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the market-place they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles)“. The first mention of Biblical hand washing was in Exodus 30:18-21, when the Lord gave instructions to Moses. “Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. Whenever they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting a food offering to the Lord, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come”. The Jews have maintained this tradition right up to the present day, particularly before eating bread. In strictly Jewish homes, the dining table has become a replacement for the Temple altar, which was destroyed in AD 70.

But the washing of hands was not just a Jewish ritual and like them we wash our hands to rid them of contaminants that might do us harm if we ingest them. Physical hygiene is not just a modern phenomenon. But in Biblical times hand washing was also a sign of spiritual cleansing. James 4:8, “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded“. ‭‭Hand washing was associated with inner purity, to some a ritual but to others a necessary means of focusing minds. There are other parts of a Christian’s liturgy that do the same. Human beings seem to sometimes need something that connects them to God and His demands. In a conversation with religious leaders, Jesus reset the meaning behind hand washing. “Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!’ Jesus replied, ‘And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:1-3). The disciples asked Jesus for an explanation, and we read His response, “‘Are you still so dull?’ Jesus asked them. ‘Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them'” (Matthew 15:16-20).

Another reason for hand washing was demonstrated by Pilate at Jesus’ trial. Matthew 27:24, “Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”” That very act has survived in our language today with an expression such as “I wash my hands of this”, signifying that we are giving up on something because it is something we are unable to change. Think of a rebellious teenager’s bedroom for example.

Before David could come into God’s presence, though, he was careful to clean his hands and ensure his innocence. We pilgrims have to do the same, not by literally washing our hands, but by confessing our sins and cleansing our hearts. We sing the song, “Purify my heart” and it continues, “Cleanse me from within and make me holy“. Nice sentiments, but I wonder sometimes what the congregants really understand what they are singing. But the lyrics are an accurate reflection of what we as believers must do. As we read in Psalm 24, only those who have “clean hands and a pure heart” can enter the Lord’s presence. But as we pilgrims know, it is hard, even impossible, to generate within us a pure heart in our own efforts. We need God’s help. After the Bathsheba debacle, David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). We may not have broken the three commandments that David did on this occasion, but we still need that “clean heart”. John, the Apostle, wrote, “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). And there we have it. We are light dwellers, reliant on the blood of Jesus for cleansing us from our sins. There is no other way into God’s presence.

Dear Heavenly Father. From You comes the light we need to be able to dwell in Your presence with clean hands and hearts. We thank You for the blood of Your Son, Jesus, through whom our cleanliness is assured. Amen.

Evil Gatherings

Posted on 7th Jul 20258th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

“For I am always aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth. I do not spend time with liars or go along with hypocrites. I hate the gatherings of those who do evil, and I refuse to join in with the wicked.”
Psalm 26:3-5 NLT

David wrote that he distanced himself from those who were liars and hypocrites and who engaged in what he called “the gatherings of those who do evil”. In his day there would have been occasions when the people organised orgies, and similar gatherings, pursuing hedonistic goals and pandering to their sinful human desires. How do I know? Because that has been human nature since the Fall, and would have been much the same in David’s day as it is in 21st Century society. Baal worship, practised in Canaan by the indigenous peoples there, was also a religion that involved excesses of a sexual nature amongst even more wicked manifestations of evil. David kept himself apart from such gatherings because, when compared to what he knew God expected of him, they were evil and wicked. Such behaviour also violated the Law and teachings of Moses and over time introduced a moral decline that led eventually to God having to take action against His people.

The problem for David was that, by failing to engage in the evil and wickedness around him, he became a hated figure in his society. We can just hear the accusations of him being a “do-gooder” accompanied by false rumours and gossip designed to drag him down to the level of the liars and hypocrites. But David stood firm, living “according to [the Lord’s] truth” and refusing “to join in with the wicked”. However, we know that David was not immune from the same sexual temptations as the people in the evil gatherings, as we saw from the Bathsheba episode. Paul wrote, “As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don’t know where to find peace.” “They have no fear of God at all.”” (Romans 3:10-18), a concise series of quotes from the Psalms and Isaiah, but a damning and accurate description of the evil and wicked people that David refused to spend time with.

There is little different today in human behaviour. Yes, Western 21st Century societies are more sophisticated, or so the people claim, but the behaviour is no different. And God’s people, the believers who live in these societies, are facing into the same issues that David did. The internet provides an opportunity for wicked and evil gatherings through social media and pornographic sites. Private parties behind closed doors act out depraved and sinful behaviour and desires. Night clubs dance on until dawn in some places. No difference really to the society in David’s day, except for one big factor – Western societies today have largely rejected God and His ways and have no moral compass to steer them in the right ways.

But we pilgrims are like David, in refusing to engage in evil gatherings. We avoid hypocrites and liars where we can and try to live our lives God’s way, always on the alert for the temptations that will lead to the evil and wickedness lurking below the surface of human consciousness. And when we discover that we have acted sinfully we come to the Cross and ask for forgiveness. Jesus, like David, refused to follow the practices of the society around Him and that ultimately led to His death at the hands of those who rejected His call to a life with God and without sin. We pilgrims find as well that when we meet others, in the office or at social gatherings, we can be shunned and maligned. Accused of hypocrisy. Excluded from the office parties. Pushed to the margins of a wicked society who resent our moral standing.

In this life we will have trouble, Jesus said, but He went on to state that He had overcome the world, and aren’t we pilgrims so very grateful. We may find ourselves harassed and persecuted in our day to day lives, but the time span is infinitesimally small compared with eternity. We live in a Kingdom of people chosen by God. Paul wrote, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory” (Romans 8:29-30). Paul continued, “Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself” (Romans 8:33). And the climax comes with Romans 8:38, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love”. David knew all this many years before Paul, because God never changes. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. And so we pilgrims trudge on towards glory, in a bubble of God’s love, looking beyond the temporal problems, avoiding the temptations of evil gatherings, with our eyes fixed on the One who made our salvation and future all possible.

Dear Father God. How can we thank You enough for all You have done for us. We thank You for leading and guiding us in the right paths, and keeping us safe on our journey. We worship You today. Amen.