Blog

Pregnant With Lies

Posted on by korgrocker

“The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies. They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves. The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads.”
Psalm 7:14-16 NLT

David continues his Psalm with another rant about wicked people, written in a language rich with analogy and graphic in detail. He compares the thoughtful ways of an evil person with pregnancy. The moment of conception is when a wicked idea emerges in a person’s mind. Then the gestation commences, as the idea gains weight and form, and finally a bundle of lies is born. Anyone with an imagination can immediately grasp what David was getting at, and the analogy is one that we pilgrims can relate to. We can imagine someone who is thinking of stealing a lot of money. The idea is conceived, perhaps to rob a bank. This is followed by the growth of the idea, as plans are made to circumvent the bank’s security systems, a process that might take quite a time, needing careful planning by the evil mind. Perhaps a tunnel into the vault is required, or the help of a corrupt insider engaged. And then finally the evil deed is carried out, giving birth to the robbery. But most evil as considered by David, is not as dramatic and instead concerns everyday life, lived the devil’s way. It may start as a bit of a joke. Or an innocent thought might become corrupted by a mind unrestrained by a guilty conscience. But whatever the situation, mankind’s propensity for evil needs little encouragement.

David continues to describe what happens to the evil that has appeared as a new birth. He paints a picture of the evil people digging a “deep pit” to try and capture someone who they hope will fall into it. Perhaps the pit he describes could today be a situation much like the scene in the Garden, when the devil, masquerading as a snake, cleverly but evilly, twists words to trap a person into doing something they shouldn’t. We see such attempts in news interviews where the journalist formulates trick questions that try and trap someone into saying things they don’t want to, or putting them into a position where they are trapped by their own words. In a court of law, a clever prosecutor will try and “dig a deep pit” for the accused or a witness with questions designed to discredit their defence or testimony. But whatever the “deep pit” is, David envisages the evil person falling into their own trap, with the trouble they birth causing them the grief they try and impose on others. 

In the context of Psalm 7, David was writing about evil in the presence of God. Verse 11, “God is an honest judge. He is angry with the wicked every day”. Ultimately, evil people will discover the consequences of their evil, either in a human court, or, if they escape that, when they stand before God on that terrible day we read about in Revelation 20.

But we pilgrims are not those who think about evil deeds. Paul wrote about evil people in his Ephesian letter, “Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity” (Ephesians 4:18-19). These are people whose minds dwell on evil, giving birth to “every kind of impurity”. But Paul goes on, “But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:20-24).‭‭ We pilgrims have to do something. We have to be proactive in our thinking to avoid falling into evil ways, and let the Holy “Spirit renew [our] thoughts and attitudes”. Our hearts and minds will not, by some miracle, become instantly pure and holy when we became a Christian, because the sin within us will constantly battle for the upper hand. If we drop our guards, even for a moment, then David’s picture emerges, as evil is conceived. The enemy is constantly looking for an opportunity to plant an evil seed in our minds, so we pray for protection from the evil one (“deliver us from evil”), and we read God’s Word, allowing it to refresh our minds day by day. 

Dear Father God. We pray Jesus’ prayer this morning, for deliverance from evil and temptation. In Your precious name we pray. Amen.

Refusing to Repent

Posted on by korgrocker

“If a person does not repent, God will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow. He will prepare his deadly weapons and shoot his flaming arrows.”
Psalm 7:12-13 NLT

In military language David set out the consequences for those who refuse to repent. In the context of this Psalm, repentance means turning away from wickedness. It is not just saying “sorry” and continuing in the sin. It is not even being remorseful, expressing regrets for the consequences of wickedness. True repentance means to stop doing whatever is defined as wickedness, and turning away from it, never to return. But notice, that, thankfully, God’s response to the refusal to repent is not immediate justice and punishment. David wrote that instead of using His sword of judgement, God merely starts to sharpen it. Arrows don’t appear straight away because God delays while He strung His bow. God’s “deadly weapons” are only prepared, delaying the “fiery arrows” still ready and waiting. We read in Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love”. Aren’t we glad about that?

Those who have rejected God enjoy for a season the fruits of their sin and wickedness, and unfortunately some believe that the delay in their judgement doesn’t mean God is being patient with them. Instead they question if there is a God at all. Psalm 14 starts with the verse, “Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!” But there are many atheists in the world today who deny that God, or any god for that matter,  actually exists. Men and women who exercise their right to choose, and instead carry on their lives in blissful ignorance of the judgement still to come. What will they say before their Creator, when He asks them to provide an account of their lives? How will they react when they observe their lives from God’s perspective? Regardless of their stance while alive on Planet Earth, there will come a time when they will have to acknowledge the Saviour of the world. Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. Those who reject God will one day still have to declare that “Christ is Lord”, an inescapable situation for even those who refuse to repent.

Regarding us pilgrims, there is always an opportunity for use to examine ourselves. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith”. David ended Psalm 139 with the verses, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life”. We pilgrims often cast around looking at others who refuse to repent and hear God sharpening His sword, getting ready to deal with them. But do we fail to hear God “preparing His deadly weapons” as far as we are concerned? Perhaps something we should all think about today.

Dear Father God. We are so grateful for Your patience and mercy. At the foot of the Cross today, we repent of our sins and ask for the strength to turn our backs on all the things that grieve You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Honesty

Posted on by korgrocker

“God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right. God is an honest judge. He is angry with the wicked every day.”
Psalm 7:10-11 NLT

There is an old saying, “Honesty is the best policy”, and David uses the word “Honest” to describe God. Of course, God is in an unique position as judge because He doesn’t have to depend on the testimonies of witnesses, the statements from the accused in the dock, or the speeches of the prosecuting and defence counsels. God sees right into the hearts of the people accused of a crime. Such an insight in our courts of law would radically transform the dispensation of justice. And we would have nothing to fear from miscarriages of justice because God is “honest”. 

David also describes God as his shield, “saving those whose hearts are true and right”. In David’s day, a shield would protect a soldier from spears, swords or arrows, intent, in the hands of the attacker, in causing harm, piercing the hearts of the one being attacked. And so it is with our thoughts and actions in less tangible ways. David said that if a person is honest, then God will shield that person’s heart, their reputation and integrity, from the attacks of those who would claim otherwise. 

There are a wealth of Scriptures that extol the virtues of honesty. For example, Proverbs 12:22, “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth“. Or there’s Proverbs 19:1, “Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool“. There are those who perhaps cover up a dishonest act, in the hope, even expectation, that they will never be found out. But, as David wrote, God sees all, and “He is angry with the wicked every day”. We pilgrims live lives of honesty and integrity, because we know that there is no other way. Even the smallest act of dishonesty will eat away at our souls and ultimately destroy our standing before an angry God. The sad thing is that many Christians founder on the rocks of dishonesty, starting in small ways and rationalising in their minds alternatives to an honest appraisal. There is no way other than the way of honesty. 

Dear Father God. Please help us to walk in honesty every day of our lives. Please point out to us any ways in which we fall short of Your standards. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

End the Evil

Posted on by korgrocker

“End the evil of those who are wicked, and defend the righteous. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God.”
Psalm 7:9 NLT

Wouldn’t it be nice if evil could be banished from this world. We look around at global events, and see the wars and strife that decimate nations. As I write, the war in Ukraine continues. The Middle East appears constantly in the news, as one nation, faction or religious group battles against another. Evil people doing evil things to other evil people. There seems no let up in the wickedness present in this world. We yearn for the day prophesised by Isaiah, when he wrote, “The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore”(Isaiah 2:4). 

But then we look closer to home and see the evil present in our societies. Communities blighted by drugs. People dying at the hands of drunk drivers. Children abused. Fights at football matches. The list seems endless. Wouldn’t it be nice if evil could be banished from this world.

But then we perhaps stop to think about ourselves, and the evil thoughts that emerge from time to time in our minds, redeemed even as they are. Perhaps we echo what Paul wrote in Romans 7:23-24, “But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” We find ourselves in a place where we would dearly love to see the end of evil but accept that we are as much the problem as any other person. Thankfully, through Jesus, we have the remedy for our sin as we read on in Romans. “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 8:1-2). 

Jesus told a parable of the Wheat and the Tares, which we can find in Matthew 13, and which pictures a farmer planting good seed but the enemy comes along later and plants weeds. The wheat and the weeds grow together, and when the workers observed the weeds, they wanted to leap in and pull them all up. But the farmer asked them to wait until the harvest time, when the weeds could be separated from the wheat crop, and burnt. Applying that to today, God created human beings to be like Him (in His image) but the enemy, the devil, corrupted His creation (the Fall in the Garden). Through Jesus, believing and repentant people become the crop of the good seed but all those who prefer evil will be separated at the End of the Age.

There is another thought. If God removed all evil from the earth today, would there be anyone left? As Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). There is coming a time when evil will be dealt with, at the End of the Age. We don’t know when that will be, but happen it will. God sees what is going on in people’s hearts. He sees the righteous people saved and forgiven of their sins. But he also sees the hearts and minds of evil people, and takes note. God is righteous as well as loving. He wants all people to respond to His love and be saved from the judgement to come. But equally, He allows all those who prefer evil to continue in their ways. He created mankind with the ability to choose their destinies. 

Dear Father God. Sobering thoughts this morning. We come once again to the Cross, looking once again at our Saviour and asking for forgiveness. Not for us, Your children, the ways of evil. And we pray for both for domestic and world events, that You will hold back the tides of evil and protect Your people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Judges

Posted on by korgrocker

“Arise, O Lord, in anger! Stand up against the fury of my enemies! Wake up, my God, and bring justice! Gather the nations before you. Rule over them from on high. The Lord judges the nations. Declare me righteous, O Lord, for I am innocent, O Most High!”
Psalm 7:6-8 NLT

People must think that David was either very brave or very stupid, speaking to God like that. We, of course, know intuitively that our Creator God cannot be ordered around like David was trying to do, but that didn’t seem to stop him having a good rant about divine justice being meted out on his enemies. David wanted God to become angry with his enemies and bring about a universal judgement of nations, all arraigned before Him. Oh, and in the process, David demanded that God declared him righteous and innocent.

But David wasn’t wrong in his expectations, because there is coming a day when God will judge the nations. It was just that David seemed to require an immediate Godly response, so we can perhaps instead consider a prophetic message here, embedded in David’s rant. But we mustn’t forget that God had judged the sin and wickedness prevalent in the earth before. We remember the Flood, Genesis 6:5-7, “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them””. God judged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and we can read the account in Genesis 18 and 19. “So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant”(Genesis 18:20). “Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulphur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation” (Genesis 19:24-25).

Has God judged peoples today? There is the reality of what God’s present judgement looks like in Romans 1. Here are some extracts, “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. … So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.  … Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarrelling, deception, malicious behaviour, and gossip. … They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too” (Romans 1:18, 24, 28-29, 32). Persistent and wicked people will be abandoned by God, and we can read the consequences in Romans 2:5-6, “But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done”. 

David asked God to wake up and deal with his enemies. But God is very much awake and is storing up all the information needed for that terrible day when everyone, without exception, will come before Him and be judged. Thankfully, God is extremely patient, as Paul wrote in Romans 2:4, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”‭‭ And that’s the issue. God wants no-one to perish and end up in hell, and He has allowed a life span for mankind to respond to Him in repentance. Once the last breath is taken a person will find that, for them, God’s patience has expired.

God judged people through the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah, but He also judges today by abandoning people to the consequences of their wickedness in their lives on earth.

So, we pilgrims must never give up in sharing with others the Good News about Jesus. Only He can forgive our sins – there is no other name through which we can be saved. 

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for Calvary and Your willingness to die for mankind so that whosoever believes in You will inherit eternal life. We are so grateful, and we pray for our friends and family, that they too will find the narrow gate that leads to life. In Your precious name. Amen. 

Betrayal and Justice

Posted on by korgrocker

“O Lord my God, if I have done wrong or am guilty of injustice, if I have betrayed a friend or plundered my enemy without cause, then let my enemies capture me. Let them trample me into the ground and drag my honour in the dust.”
Psalm 7:3-5 NLT

Psalm 7 continues with David apparently still in a hard place, bothered with his conscience, persecuted by those around him, and desperately seeking God for rescue and His protection. But he started to do what we all do at times – he looked for a cause for his distress. Have we ever been in a place where the Heavens seem like brass and we feel that our prayers never reach God? Have we ever been in a place riven by troubles and wondered where God has gone. Perhaps we are in a place like the Psalmist when he wrote, “Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?”” (Psalms 42:3). A place that perhaps feels like David’s “darkest valley”. 

David wondered if there was something that he had done that had made God withdraw from him, and so he asked God if he had done anything wrong. Had he treated someone unjustly? Had he betrayed a friend? Had he behaved in a way to his enemies that wasn’t right? If he had done any of these things, then David invited God to let things happen to him that would count as punishment for his misdemeanours, justice for his crimes.

But thanks to Jesus, we know that God doesn’t treat us in that way. Paul wrote, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. … But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:6, 8). In Romans 8 we read, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? … 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” (Romans 8:35, 38).

So when we find ourselves in a dark place, seemingly a long way away from God, is it God who has withdrawn from us? Of course not. He is always there for us, His loving kindness, grace and mercy beyond measure. And so once again we seek Calvary’s cross, where we look into the face of our wonderful Saviour, Jesus. There, as we cast off our burdens of sin before Him, we find once again a right relationship with God and comfort in our times of trouble. Refreshed and restored, we can prayerfully face into the issues troubling us, with God providing the care and support that we need.

Dear Lord God. Nothing can separate us from Your love. Please help us to live in the light of that every day of our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Lord My Protector

Posted on by korgrocker

“I come to you for protection, O Lord my God. Save me from my persecutors—rescue me! If you don’t, they will maul me like a lion, tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me.”
Psalm 7:1-2 NLT

The introduction to this Psalm seems to be focussed on someone called “Cush the Benjamite”. Perhaps David had been having some problems with him, whoever he was, but we don’t find mention of him anywhere else in the Bible. David again was writing about problems he was having with people around him, a recurring theme in the previous few Psalms. David prayed that God would save him from his “persecutors”, so presumably this man Cush was their ringleader. 

What was there about David that caused him to spend so much time anxious and worried, even physically sick, because of those who didn’t like him and who he perceived, rightly or wrongly, as wanting to do him harm? In Psalm 7:2, one of today’s verses, he even compared the attacks of these people as being like a mauling from a wild animal. Today, with our propensity to label people, we might assign a name to David’s reaction to others as being a “social anxiety disorder”. Perhaps he was very insecure, afraid of what others thought of him. And yet this was the rising royal star of whom songs were sung, “This was their song: “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands!”” (1 Samuel 18:7). Fearless in battle, giant killer, musician, God-worshiper – all these terms were used about David, and yet here he was, so much apparently going for him, but praying to God for relief from his persecutors.

What can we pilgrims learn from these Psalms? From David’s pen flowed verse after verse asking God for protection, for healing, for rescue from enemies, and, as we read today, safety from his “persecutors”. David of course was doing the right thing by bringing his concerns to God. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you“, but David, long before Peter wrote anything, knew that his Lord cared for him. But that didn’t stop him descending into the pits of worry and anxiety when the going got tough. We pilgrims won’t be immune from the cares of this world either. There will be times when we have to take a stand on an issue that will not win us any friends. It is not inconceivable that we may even have to stand in a court of law defending our actions over an important issue where the secular laws contradict God’s higher laws. Sometimes being a Christian will mean swimming against the tide of public opinion, but there is one factor that will sustain us through the hard times, and that is our status as children of God. We are citizens of God’s Kingdom, and it is to Him that we are accountable. 

The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 118:7, “The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”. Sounds good to our ears, but there will be times when we succumb to our humanity and worry about what other people are saying about us. Pilgrims remain close to God, “trying to live at peace with everyone”, and weathering the storms of life as and when problems emerge. We stand firm, because God is on our side. He will protect our souls until the glorious day when we pass through the gates of Heaven into His presence.

Father God. You know the pain and distress that comes from living in this evil world, but, as Jesus said, You have overcome the world. Thank You that we have security in You, this day and forever. Amen. 

The Lord Has Heard

Posted on by korgrocker

“Go away, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer. May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified. May they suddenly turn back in shame.”
Psalm 6:8-10 NLT

David has been on a journey in this Psalm. He started off with sickness, aching bones, weeping, even the fear of death, and in it all he reminded God of what he thought were His obligations. At no point did doubts emerge in David’s mind that God would not heal him and finally he wrote, “The Lord has heard my plea”. David’s last verses in this Psalm continue with the thought that behind it all was the fear of his enemies and what they might do to him. In the previous verse he wrote, “My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies”. For a man who had fearlessly and efficiently despatched Goliath, why, all of a sudden, was he afraid of “enemies”? In the previous Psalm written by David (Psalm 5), we find, “My enemies cannot speak a truthful word. Their deepest desire is to destroy others. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with flattery“. And in Psalm 41:5-6 we perhaps get some clarity about who these enemies were, “But my enemies say nothing but evil about me. “How soon will he die and be forgotten?” they ask. They visit me as if they were my friends, but all the while they gather gossip, and when they leave, they spread it everywhere“. 

David was being worn down by evil people claiming to be his friends but in reality they were seeking his downfall. David was a God-fearing and believing man with his first priority being the worship and following of God. David would therefore have been living a life aspiring to purity and holiness. Not for him the ways of the world of his time, with the idol worship and evil practices, and that set David apart from his peers. In Jesus’ day, the same thing happened to the Son of God. His life of purity and holiness was absolute, and even made one of His disciples, Peter, exclaim, “ … Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man” (Luke 5:8b). The contrast between Jesus and the people in the world around Him was stark and it ultimately led to the people, who were healed and fed during His public ministry, crying out “Crucify Him” because they felt terminally uncomfortable in His presence. David was shunned and slandered by people who he referred to as his enemies, and it affected him deeply, to the point of sickness and depression. 

Today, a practising Christian in the office is not a popular figure. Not for a faithful believer are the smutty jokes, the lunchtime drinks, the debauched office parties. The world hates those who dare to be different, who follow God’s ways. But believers in Christ are assured that their prayers are heard. David wrote, “the Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer”, and ruled for many years as Israel’s king. Jesus warned His disciples, and by inference us pilgrims as well, when He said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Further on in His Priestly Prayer Jesus said, “I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one” (John 17:14-15). 

We pilgrims do not belong to the kingdom of the world, riven and blackened as it is by evil, wickedness and sin. David wasn’t, Jesus wasn’t and neither are we. There was a day when we crossed the border to become citizens of the Kingdom of God, and we now are subservient to a different King who has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Yes, sometimes it will be difficult to avoid the attacks of the enemy. Sometimes such hassles will affect us deeply, as they did to David. But we have a King, our Lord and God, who hears our pleas and who will answer our prayers.

Dear Father God. We ask for Your help in our fight against our enemies. Keep us all safe, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Grief and Tears

Posted on by korgrocker

“I am worn out from sobbing. All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears. My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.”
Psalm 6:6-7 NLT

David is in a desperate place, sobbing, weeping and grieving. David is irreconcilable, and all because of his enemies. They could have been his physical enemies, both inside and outside of Israel. They could have been the forces of the enemy, the devil, playing havoc with his mind. But whatever they were, they were so real to David that he was spending the night crying when he should have been sleeping. 

David was not in an unique place, because his experience is not uncommon. In the dark hours there are times when a problem we are facing into becomes so pressing, so hopeless, that we plunge into depressive depths and, even if not openly, we weep inside, lying awake as the waves of despair flood over us. And isn’t it strange, that a problem being faced by one person is something minor and insignificant to another. Whatever our stations in life, there is always a problem that could be facing us, one with the potential to reduce us to weeping and sobbing. 

There was a time when the Jews, exiled to Babylon, far away from home, did a lot of weeping. But Jeremiah the prophet had some encouraging Godly words for them, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”(Jeremiah 29:11). And that is what afflicts so many people – a lack of hope. Many people think that the life they lead is hopeless and futile and they try to dull the pain by turning to some other remedy, like alcohol or drugs. For a time their pain and distress will be alleviated, but it will still be there in the morning. Others become so hopeless and depressed that they finally decide to take their own lives. 

Paul wrote to the Romans the following words, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). Sadly, so many people will never turn to the “Source of hope” for a solution to their distress. But Paul’s prayer provides such a different picture to the one generated by the weeping David. God is hope and as we trust in Him, the power of the Holy Spirit will provide the solution to our problems.

Dear Heavenly Father. Only You can open doors to people locked in a place of hopelessness, weeping and sobbing. As we face into distressful situations like David, please help us as we turn to You, the Source of hope. Amen.

The Finality of Death

Posted on by korgrocker

“Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love. For the dead do not remember you. Who can praise you from the grave?”
Psalm 6:4-5 NLT

A grim subject to write about this morning, and not one that is a popular discussion point in every day life. Death is a certainty. No-one will escape its clutches. Human beings get to a point in life when their bodies wear out and they die, and David was aware of that because he took pains to remind God of the fact. David seemed to be afraid of his enemies and prayed for rescue and salvation from death, a common prayer by anyone in fear of mortal danger. News is coming in this morning of a plane crash in South Korea with many deaths resulting. Those people would have cried out to God for rescue, whether they knew Him or not. But most people (over 90%) die peacefully in their sleep, having fulfilled their “three score years and ten” or even more if they have the strength. 

David reminded God that dead people cannot praise Him, and that is the issue. We have a short span of life available to us during which we can offer God our praise and worship. A time when we can communicate with Him, thank Him, love Him, serve Him and enjoy Him, as the Westminster Catechism records. But inevitably there will come a time when this opportunity will pass. As we read the Davidic Psalms, we can see that David had a relationship with God, birthed in the long hours while he watched his father’s sheep. Times when he praised and worshipped God with his harp, finding the sweet spot of relational bliss with his Creator. He knew that God loved him. He knew that God supplied his needs, and he knew that he could communicate directly through his prayers and conversation with his Lord. But in this moment of crisis, he appeared to be facing into death, and was appealing to God for rescue. 

We know that there comes a time when our physical bodies die and are disposed of as being of no further use to us. Most people think that there is something going to happen after we die, and there are some strange theories about what that is. We have incarnation, where we return in a different body. Some believe that everyone goes to a place they call Heaven. Others believe that when people die they enter a period of blackness, the ultimate finality. But the Bible tells us that when we die, our spirits live on and end up in a holding place we call Heaven or hell. Jesus told a story about the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16, and from the conversation Jesus had with the adjacent penitent thief at Calvary, we know that there is a place called paradise awaiting us. So the question facing into mankind is, without exception, “Where will your spirit go after you die?” We pilgrims have made the right choice, because we are children of God. But what about those around us, who perhaps have yet to make a decision, and for whom the clock is ticking? In Acts 2:40 we read, “Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”” And these words still reverberate today, as we repeat them to the lost and dying around us. The most important choice that a human being can make is about their post-death future. 

Dear Father God, please lead us to those who are open to Your Gospel, and are waiting for someone to share what You have done for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.