Noble Themes

Posted on by korgrocker

“My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skilful writer.” Psalms‬ ‭45:1‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

This is, I think, a beautiful verse, in its construction, in its descriptive poetry. The Psalmist seemed to be in a lofty place in the company of the “great and the good”; perhaps a palace or somewhere similar. He used words like “noble”, “king”, “skilful”. This was not the vocabulary or company of the peasantry of his day. But I wonder what his “noble theme” was. He was obviously engaged in the recitation of a passage of literature or poetry before a king, probably his king. Perhaps stories from Israel’s past, recorded as part of the historical legacy of the Jews. Or perhaps some writings from another of the ancient peoples living in the Middle East at that time. Or even some poetry he himself had written – quite likely because he obviously was an accomplished wordsmith. But in the reading the reciter found himself inspired as he got caught up in the content of the words. We can only wonder and guess at the content of his “noble theme”.

To Christians here on Planet Earth, our “noble themes” have to do with God. There is no other thought or word that could contain a lofty enough concept to adopt the descriptor “noble”. The only true noble king is our King, God Himself. We recite our verses to Him through our songs, through the Psalms, through our prayers. And we cannot but experience a stirring through His Spirit as we spend time before Him, reciting our verses. And through the stirring, men have found themselves on the mission field, training for the “ministry”, or inspired once again to reach out through a ministry of helps, to the fellow and less fortunate members of the societies and communities in which we live.

So let me ask the question – do you have a “noble theme”? Is there some thought or idea lying dormant in the recesses of your mind, something that perhaps you filed away long ago, but is still waiting for an opportunity to emerge into the daylight of 2021? Something that needs the dust and cobwebs brushed off and represented before the King, so that it is ready to be transformed from a thought to a deed, from something written to something verbalised? We need “noble themes” to proliferate in these dark Covid days. How about yours? How about mine?

Legacy

Posted on by korgrocker

“O God, we have heard it with our own ears— our ancestors have told us of all You did in their day, in days long ago:” Psalms‬ ‭44:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What legacy has my ancestors left me? There is the cache of memorabilia at the back of a cupboard. My father’s war medals. My mother’s diary and items of jewellery. A box of photographs. An unusual item of furniture from a great-aunt. But what about “all [God] did in their day”? My parents were very private in their faith and have left little, if anything, to describe their experience of God. Not even a reference on a tombstone. But what about me? What faith and God-experience legacy will I leave my children and grandchildren? And even beyond to future generations? Will it just be an epitaph below my name and life-dates on a marble monolith, located in a graveyard somewhere? Or will I just leave a Bible with a few notes in the margins? Will that be the only legacy I will leave?

Traditional Jewish families were very good at story telling, and particularly the wonderful stories of what God did in the lives and circumstances of their ancestors. The Red Sea and Jordan crossings. The David and Goliath story. The first Passover. But I don’t want to fall back on the stories of previous, more recent, generations. The exploits of men and women like John Wesley or Charles Finney. Smith Wigglesworth or Corrie Ten Boom. I want to leave my descendants something significant from my life. Something wonderful that God has done for me. Of course, there will be many small things that happen in the lives of faith-filled Christians, as God’s people look to Him for guidance and provision. But there will also be bigger things, and I can look back at the way my wonderful God answered my cries for help when my daughter was at death’s door in a hospital bed. When a boat journey was perilous and all I could do was call on His name as He helped to steer my boat to a safe harbour. And that wonderful time when porpoises interacted with me and my grandchildren when boating on the Sound of Jura.

But today’s verse encourages me to be more vocal with my God-life experiences. So that the next generations can hear what God has done for me because I choose to communicate as often as possible all that God did in my day. So that my ancestors can tell of memories of “days long ago”.

So let’s ask the question this morning, “What legacy will I leave my ancestors?” Hmmm….

Life the Jesus Way

Posted on by korgrocker

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you..” Psalms‬ ‭42:5-6‬a ‭NIVUK‬‬

Have you ever been “downcast”? In a place where your view of life is monochrome in a technicolour world? Where the negative and difficult issues of life are weighing heavily in your thoughts? Where even depression is affecting your mental health? The Psalmist who wrote these verses was himself not in a good place, with a downcast and disturbed soul. But he knew from his own experience of God that he needed to grab hold of three words – “remember”, “hope” and “praise”. The Psalmist had a personal relationship with God and through the experience of years of walking closely with Him he knew that by the application of these three words he would regain his mental stability and restore colour to his black and white world. Notice it is ok to be “downcast”. Life is like that. We can find ourselves in such a place frequently in life. I know a dear lady who even when recently given bad medical news, was able to remember, hope in and praise her wonderful Friend, altering her perspective for the future. She had found the key to living a life where circumstances were not going to affect her soul, no matter how bad the issues were.

There will be those who will say that I don’t know how bad their situation is. They will blame their upbringing, their mental health, their families and so on. They will say that not even God can lift them out of their circumstances. But there are Christians in North Korea, imprisoned, beaten, and tortured, but who can remain active in their faith, remembering, hoping in and praising their Saviour and their God. There is a lovely Christian man, Nick Vujicic, whose strap line has been, “I’ve no arms and legs – what’s your problem?” We all live in our own life bubbles, experiencing our own issues, facing into our own worlds, dealing with our own downcast souls. And God has provided all the resources we need through Jesus, who said, “I have come that [you] may have life, and have it to the full.” ‭‭John‬ ‭10:10‬b ‭NIVUK‬‬. I saw a bumper sticker today, “One Life, Live It”. Let’s live the life God has given us the Jesus way, full of God-memories, full of God-hope, and full of God-praise.

A Tale of Two Kingdoms

Posted on by korgrocker

“I said to myself, “I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say. I will hold my tongue when the ungodly are around me.” But as I stood there in silence— not even speaking of good things— the turmoil within me grew worse. The more I thought about it, the hotter I got, igniting a fire of words:” Psalms‬ ‭39:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Psalmist is in worldly company. This Godly man is in a quandary – the worldly talk going on around him is distressing and sinful. It probably contains language and humour he disagrees with, and alludes to practices he abhors. So he keeps silent. And becomes seriously upset internally – turmoil is the word he uses to describe his feelings. And eventually he is unable to hold within himself the feelings of frustration, and he blows up, blasting his companions with a torrent of words. Sound familiar? It’s a place where I have been during my work-a-day life. Conversations take place in the office that I find degrading and upsetting. Gossip, smutty jokes, character assassination, foul language, sexual innuendo. It’s all there and as a Christian it’s a place where I don’t want to be. But I have to be there because it’s a place where I earn the money I need for life.

But there is a different meaning in these verses. We see from later in the Psalm that the Psalmist is perhaps quiet before the “ungodly” because of his sins. And in the Psalm he goes on to reflect on the temporary nature of life, his sins, his hope in God, being disciplined by God and finally pleading with God for his prayers to be heard.

But whatever interpretation we choose, the message is clear. The dichotomy between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the world is stark. We can’t have a foot in each kingdom. Jesus was clear about this in His teaching during what we call the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” Once settled in the Promised Land, Joshua delivered a rousing message to the Israelites which was recorded in Joshua 24:15, “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” The choice he laid before his countrymen was the same choice we have before us today. Whom will we serve? As for me I can say without hesitation – I and my family will serve the Lord.

Righteousness

Posted on by korgrocker

“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry;
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles.
The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.”
Psalms‬ ‭34:15, 17, 19-20‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

Who or what is a righteous person? Does such a person exist? And why does he or she have troubles? These are questions that aren’t easy to answer, especially in a short blog post. From a Christian perspective, people are made righteous through their faith in Jesus. We believe that Jesus was, and is, the Son of God, both human and divine, and that He came to this earth with one mission – to manifest God’s love for mankind by saving them from the consequences of their repented sins, by His sacrificial death on a Roman cross at a place called Calvary. Jesus took onto Himself our sins and in return gave us His righteousness. The faith that we hold, through a continuing trusting relationship with God, in our righteous state, brings us to a place where we can cry out to God and He will answer us. The verses before us today don’t say that we won’t have troubles. But it does say that God will deliver us from them. Sometimes, this deliverance happens quickly. But at other times it will only come after we die. But the faith and trust that we have in God will sustain us through all our troubles.

In the news this morning is yet another story of a person with Motor Neurone disease who wants to end his life through assisted suicide. A person without hope for the future. A person without a belief in God. A person who thinks that only blackness awaits him after death. But a person who will find that there is a worse place to be than this life here on earth. God has compassion and love for all mankind and it must break His heart to see such a person in such a hopeless state, rejecting the very One who will deliver him from his troubles. As Christians we must pass on God’s love to everyone we meet, not just those in such dire needs, in the hope that they too will embrace our wonderful Saviour and find that His righteousness is available to everyone

The Right Path

Posted on by korgrocker

“Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by Your truth and teach me, for You are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You.” Psalms‬ ‭25:4-5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Just for the asking, God will show us what road we should take in our pilgrimage through life. And how does He do that? According to the Psalmist David, He leads us in the right way through His truth. We have many choices in life and each one will equate in some way to “the right path”. Our choice of spouse, what career to follow, where to live – the choices before us seem endless. Sadly, sometimes a wrong choice leads to a limitation being placed on future choices. But coming back to our question about God showing us the right path, we often have a problem because, as it says in Judges 17:6, “…all the people [do] whatever [seems] right in their own eyes”. Often the strident calls of sin, of hedonistic ways, seem preferable to the “right path”.

So where do we find this “truth” that David writes about? The main source has to be God’s Word, the Bible. For it is here that the thoughts and ways of God are laid out before us. But sometimes a prophetic word from a brother or sister in our communities of faith will start the personal process of mining Biblical treasures to develop or research what God is saying to us about the choices before us.

At the end of verse 5 in today’s Psalm, David declares that his hope is in God – “all day long”. And that is the bottom line, because regardless what we come up against in our pilgrimages through life, our hope in God must prevail. This hope is the final seal on our choice to follow the “God who saves”.