The Cave

Posted on by korgrocker

“I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy.
I look for someone to come and help me, 
but no one gives me a passing thought! 
No one will help me; 
no one cares a bit what happens to me. 
Then I pray to You, O Lord. 
I say, “You are my place of refuge. 
You are all I really want in life. 
Bring me out of prison so I can thank You. 
The godly will crowd around me, 
for You are good to me.””
Psalms‬ ‭142:1, 4-5, 7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

David was going through a time of personal examination and contemplation, as he was hiding in a cave somewhere. It might have been the Adullam cave mentioned in 1 Samuel 22, but regardless of its location, David was in a cave. He daren’t show his face anywhere because we read that his enemies had set traps for him. But as usual with David, when in a place of stress and loneliness, he turned to God. He knew that with God in his life, he was never alone. And in addition, he also knew that nothing else in his life had any importance, an attitude he retained all his life. It was quite something that with all his regal trappings, he could cast them aside as of no importance compared to the riches he had in God.

The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:12, “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.” And the verbal exchange between Jesus and the young man, as recorded in Mark 10, exposed the difficulty encountered by people who have lots of “stuff”. When Jesus suggested that he sold and gave away all he had, we read, “At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.” Like David, we must ensure that we have the right attitude to what we have. We must hold what we have with an open hand.

David also expressed disappointment that nobody cared about him. That is a natural attitude in times of depression and loneliness. The long hours waiting for a knock at the door or the phone to ping. David equated the lonely place with being in prison. But he wasn’t really alone because he reassured himself that God was his place of refuge. And he knew that once he was out of the cave, he would find Godly people. When we too decide to leave the “cave” of our depression and loneliness we must look for, and find, God’s people. Sadly, many people, by choice, prefer a life of isolation, mentally and physically, rather than embrace the love and caring of God and His people. 

David asks God to bring him out of his prison, the cave where he was languishing. In what “prison” are we incarcerated today? We have already mentioned loneliness and depression, but there are many other “caves” where people find themselves, often through no fault of their own. Places where circumstances have left people in a place where they didn’t want to be. At such times we can invite God to be with us in our “prison” and be assured that He will lead us out into freedom. Jesus said, as recorded in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,”. Everything Jesus said was true and trustworthy. He promised a life of freedom. John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Amen?

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The Rule of the Wicked

Posted on by korgrocker

“The wicked will not rule the land of the godly,
    for then the godly might be tempted to do wrong.”
Psalm 125:3 NLT

This is an interesting verse with its thought about the wicked ruling a nation of Godly people. Back in the Old Testament days, the nation of Israel was at times a Godly nation, and ruled by Godly kings. But at other times it behaved in a wicked way, and from the Biblical accounts we see a succession of wicked kings taking the people into ever deepening levels of depravity. And there were times when the nation of Israel had a wicked king, but it contained Godly people. As I write this, I remember the story about Elijah who, after the Mount Carmel experience, was afflicted by depression, and he called out to God to take his life, saying he was the only Godly person left. And God later reminded him that there were 7,000 people in Israel who hadn’t bowed the knee to Baal. Godly people shining as beacons of God’s light in an otherwise wicked nation.

Britain used to be a Godly nation, in that it was through the influence of Christianity that many of our morals and laws were established. But recent global surveys have indicated that the UK is one of the most irreligious countries in the world, with less that 30% of the population claiming to be religious. And in addition to that, people claiming to be Christians in the UK make up less than 10% of the population. So perhaps it could be claimed that the sentiments expressed in this verse do not apply in the UK – perhaps we are already in a situation where the Godless rule a largely Godless nation. The wicked rule.

There is the story in the Bible, told in Genesis 18, of Abraham pleading with God over His proposed destruction of Sodom. It is a sobering thought, that God will not allow wickedness to continue for ever, though the glimmer of light was that He wouldn’t destroy Sodom if a very small minority of the people were righteous. We don’t know the population of Sodom at that time, so the percentage of righteous to unrighteous people can’t be calculated with any confidence. Jesus had something to say about the role of Christians in society and we read His teachings in Matthew 5. He said that we are “salt and light” in our communities. In our families. In our nations. What does that mean? It means we take every opportunity to propagate the goodness and Gospel of God wherever we are. But He also reminded us that if we don’t we are like salt that has lost its saltiness. A worthless commodity.

But back to today’s verse. Obviously, the Psalmist lived in an age when there were wicked leaders. And it is the same in the world today. The righteous leaders have always been greatly outnumbered by the unrighteous. So the verse must have a prophetic meaning. One day God will bring about His rule and reign in this world. The Ultimate Righteous Leader will rule and there will be no more temptation for His Godly people. The most popular prayer, the Lord’s prayer, petitions God to bring His Kingdom and will to this earth. And every year, every day, every minute, brings it a little closer. Come Lord Jesus!

Gates

Posted on by korgrocker

“Open for me the gates where the righteous enter, 
and I will go in and thank the Lord. 
These gates lead to the presence of the Lord, 
and the godly enter there.”
Psalms‬ ‭118:19-20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Gates. What picture comes into our minds when we think about gates? There’s the wooden gate at the entrance to someone’s garden. Or the motorised gate that can be triggered remotely to allow a vehicle through. Wrought iron fancy gates are sometimes fashionable. Or perhaps a substantial oak door complete with cast iron studs. The picket gate in the gatehouse, perhaps, at the entrance to a churchyard. But whatever pictures we form in our minds, the Psalmist highlights three things about the gate that is set before him. Firstly, he has to ask someone else to open it – its not something that he can do. Secondly, he has to be righteous to go through it,  and thirdly, once through the opened gate, he can join the godly to enter God’s presence. And the reason he wanted to go through it was to thank the Lord. What a gate that must have been! 

But many years later, Jesus made an astonishing statement. He said, as recorded by the Apostle John in John 10:9, “Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.” But is Jesus the Gate described in Psalm 118? Is this a prophetic glimpse of the coming Messiah? Well, Jesus is the Gate, the Someone who opens the gate for us. I once was shown around the cash handling hall in a major British bank. To get in was difficult. It needed someone to vouch for me, and sign me into the compound in which the cash hall was located. And this analogy aptly describes what Jesus does for us. He vouches for us, and because we have been saved through His blood shed for us at Calvary, we can securely and confidently enter His gate. You see, to enter the Gate that is Jesus we meet the qualifications required to get in. And the essential qualification is righteousness. Only the righteous can enter into God’s presence. Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthian church, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God“. Because Jesus took on Himself all our sins, past present and future, we can receive the gift of God and stand righteously before Him. Lastly, when we pass through the Gate we enter into God’s presence. In Hebrews 10:19 we read, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.” 

The Psalmist asked for the gates to be opened. Tick. The Psalmist said the righteous can enter. Tick. We can go into God’s presence. Tick. So what the psalmist said in Psalm 118 was confirmed many years later by the first coming of Jesus. However, there is just one more thing we must do once we are in the presence of the Lord. That is, we must thank Him, and never stop thanking Him. Joining with many saints around the world and in past, present and future times. Thanking God for all He has done for us. Must be worth an amen?