Green Meadows

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”
Psalm 23:1-4 NLT

What comes to mind when we consider “green meadows”? Here in Scotland there is no shortage of such parts of our landscape, with tourists often suggesting that the abundance of greenery is due to the quantity of rain we receive. But to an extent that is true because it is rare to find a Scottish field blighted by drought, grass yellow and burnt. “Green meadows” are where herbivores such as cattle and sheep find their staple source of nourishment, their digestive systems wonderfully constructed to extract the maximum amounts of nutrition from otherwise tasteless vegetation. 

David wrote that the Lord, his Shepherd, “lets [him] rest in green meadows”, building a picture of those lazy summer days, when he could lay in a place of rest, enjoying the cool of the grass beneath him, the sheep around him doing the same. A place of rest for his body but also for his soul. I can remember as a small boy lying on a patch of grass looking up, warmed by the sun, at a mostly blue sky, fascinated by the shapes of a few puffy clouds of white contorted into various shapes that stimulated my imagination, a day when the cares of the world seemed far away. So David would have found his “green meadows” but with one big difference – it was here that he developed his relationship with God. We remember the invitation Jesus offered to His disciples everywhere, “ … Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Here in his “green meadows” David found such a place where the burdens of life reduced in significance before the presence of his Lord. 

We remember the first day of rest that occurred in the Bible. “On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation” (Genesis 2:2-3). David found the rest his body required after a day’s work, a day spent in leading the sheep from one pasture to another. From his supplies of food he would have had a simple meal, a drink from the “peaceful streams” and then rested his aching bones in the soft lushness of a “green meadow”. If God rested after His work, then there was every reason for David to do the same. David knew intuitively that resting was an essential part of his life.

In those Genesis days, God introduced the concept of a Sabbath rest, a day set aside when human beings will enjoy a special day in God’s presence and away from their labours. The writer to the Hebrews wrote, “So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labours, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall” (Hebrews 4:9-11). Sadly, unbelieving people have failed to understand the concept of the Sabbath rest, that precious time in God’s presence, and they instead spend their time on a golf course, or going to sports events, or doing overtime so that they can purchase more “stuff”. If only they stopped to think that one day all that they have will be left behind, freeing their souls to continue in an afterlife of their choosing.

We pilgrims set aside time to rest in God’s presence. We pray and we read His Word, providing “green meadows” for our souls and in these spiritual “meadows” of our lives we find peace and divine blessings. We find that sweet spot of communion with our wonderful Creator, who created the “meadows” in the first place. Sometimes it is hard to put aside the cares of life, the tyranny of the urgent demands, the strident phone calls, texts, and emails, but put them aside we must. And God will help us balance our lives to conform the way He designed us in the first place.

Dear Father God. we pray that You will revive Your people, and help them find a Sabbath rest in Your presence, this day and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Heavenly Shepherd

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”
Psalm 23:1-4 NLT

We now move onto Psalm 23, that well known and incredibly comforting Psalm, containing “must read” verses often spoken out at a funeral or in difficult times when someone is facing into seemingly insurmountable problems. Just the thought of the Lord being a Shepherd can bring feelings of comfort that help dispel any feelings of loneliness or despair. But to us Western pilgrims, mostly living in an urban or city environment, the profession of “Shepherd” is relatively unknown. We don’t have flocks of sheep wandering around our town centres munching the grass in our green and open spaces these days, and the only contact we have with them would tend to be on the supermarket meat counter. But there are supposed to be 31 million sheep populating the rural parts of the UK and they need many shepherds. On long journeys cross country, however, we will notice the fluffy white animals and while I am writing this many of them are producing lambs, that run and play and amuse us with their gambolling. I’m sure we could soon work out a job spec for a shepherd, but the reality is a long way from a paper description. Many sheep live on farms in inhospitable parts of our country, and the shepherds role is hard and often lonely. Sheep have a tendency to get into bother, woolly coats caught in bushes, or getting stuck in muddy places and the presence of their shepherd can be life-saving for them. 

And all that brings us to the point of this Psalm, because David was a shepherd in his early years and he honed his craft in the presence of the Lord, giving him insight into the work of the Heavenly Shepherd Himself. It was easy for David to imagine people as a flock of sheep, knowing their tendency for sin and doing wrong things, and he knew that the Lord Himself would lead and guide them out of trouble – if they let Him. At first sight, verse 1 could be interpreted as the Lord meeting physical needs. In David’s day, the shepherd would lead his flock between pastures containing the food needed for the physical well being of his sheep. But today, us townies would mostly fail to connect God with our food. We might say grace before a meal but that would be about as far as we would go. In a restaurant in Fife near where I live there is the Selkirk grace written on the wall in large letters, a grace written by Scotland’s well known poet, Rabbie Burns. “Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it, But we hae meat and we can eat, Sae let the Lord be Thankit!” A naval chaplain I used to know was famous amongst sailors who knew him for the briefest grace possible – “Heavenly Pa, Ta!” But how many of us really look at the plate before us and realise that what we see is all down to God’s grace? He created a world on which all the food we need has been grown. The trouble is that we don’t tend to dwell on the complexities of our lives on this planet and we have forgotten what Jesus said about concerns we may have about our food and drink. He said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?” (Matthew 6:25-26).‭‭ 

But the first verse of Psalm 23 contains the phrase “I have all I need”. The Lord’s prayer includes the words, “Give us this day our daily bread” and as we ponder on the meaning of these words, we soon realise that God’s provision for our bodies is a complete food, that nourishes body, soul and spirit. Our cornflakes for breakfast may fill an empty stomach but did we remember our spiritual food this morning, the Word of God? How many times have we set off on the activities of the day hungry and unsatisfied souls, our spirits shrivelled and unable to cope with the pressures of life, our spiritual resilience missing and leaving us forgetful of the Heavenly Shepherd. He holds in His hands the food that we need but have we decided to go without for another day?

Our Lord and Shepherd knows what we need, just as David knew what his flock needed each day. But wouldn’t it have been strange if his sheep arrived at a lush pasture and then refused to eat, instead just lying down and ignoring the feast before them? We can be a bit like that some days. We have the richness of God’s Word, loaded with a veritable banquet of food for our souls, and yet we instead pick up a newspaper, full of sin and evil reports, bad news that will do our spirits and souls more harm than good In fact, the world’s news will sap all the strength remaining in our souls, leaving us with no resilience to face the day before us. All the media will do is to introduce fears and anxieties that turn us away from God and His Kingdom.

So, today, we reach for our Bibles in anticipation that there are some rich and nourishing morsels there to fill the needs of our souls. As we ponder and meditate upon them, we won’t be disappointed or hungry in the day ahead. In the strength of the spiritual food we have received, we will find that our Heavenly Shepherd, Jesus Himself, will lead and guide us through the minefields of life.

Dear Lord Jesus, our Heavenly Shepherd. Thank You for Your complete provision for us and the strength to face into the day ahead. Amen.

Future Generations

Posted on by korgrocker

“Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Bow before him, all who are mortal, all whose lives will end as dust. Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.”
Psalm 22:29-31 NLT

It is a fact of human life, that the species homo sapiens maintains its existence by the production of future generations. God’s plan was set out in the early chapters of Genesis, starting with Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person“. That was the male of the species, but he was shortly joined by the female, “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:22). That original male “WOW” must still be reverberating around the Universe! The next wonder is a few verses on, “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one”. Earlier in Genesis 1:27-28a we read, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply …””. To complete the picture we turn to Genesis 4:1, “Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!”” And so “future generations” were established and the process repeated. Simple biology as we all know, but this was God’s plan for populating Planet Earth.

But each new life introduced into our world has a problem – they are born with sin built in. Psalm 51:5, “For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me“. It is troubling to think that this beautifully formed child, so innocent and so loved, has the potential within it to be sinful, but there is no escape, as Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard“. And as that child grows up into a man or woman, a process that can be painful, particularly for the parents, one of three things happen. The child may, through the witness of his or her parents or others, become a believer like them and live a life of piety in relationship with God. Or the child may become more and more sinful, living a life of evil and wickedness that continues to the end of their lives. Thirdly, the child may grow up to become a “good” person, following all the laws of the land (well, mostly!) and be considered an upright citizen in whatever country they live. But however they live their lives, these grown up children continue the cycle, producing their own children, adding to those in the category of “future generations”. 

But David wrote, “Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord”. In fact, he developed this theme, writing “His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done”. How is that going to happen, in our world corrupted by sin and bombarded with sinful advertising, and in places where sinful practices take place. How will people hear about the Lord’s wonders in our schools where sinful ideologies are taught, often as fact. And overlaying it all, like letters embedded in a stick of rock, within each human being there is a preference for doing sinful things, a preference for evil rather than for God’s ways. In these final verses of Psalm 22, David wrote down a promise of the Lord. In faith, and prophetically, he assured his, and future, generations that God’s wonderful works will never be forgotten. In fact, he wrote, even those not yet born would know about them. We pilgrims know within us the wonderful things God has done in us, through us and by us. Hardly a morning goes by without me being reminded of the wonderful presence of God, with memories of how He has come through for me in dark times as well as good times. Our enemy the devil has forgotten one major thing about human beings – they are all born with a God-shaped hole within them, and throughout their lives people will try to fill it. Genesis 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them“. If people are created in God’s image then they will inevitably look for ways in which they can connect with Him. Some turn to mystic practices such as mindfulness or Yoga. Back in the 60’s, transcendental meditation was all the rage. Others explore all the chemical substances available, drugs and alcohol just for starters, in the hope they can introduce some way of filling the yearning within them, or, more likely, to dull the pain of knowing that they are lost without Him. But intuitively people know that there is only one way into God’s presence and that is why today there is an increase in the numbers of our young people embracing Christianity here in the UK. A wonderful revival is about to take place, because God will never forget His creation, and His love and compassion with burst into the lives of human beings through His grace. 

Isaiah wrote, “Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously” (Isaiah 55:6-7). While a human being, now or in the future, is alive and breathing, he will have an opportunity to look for, and find, a personal relationship with God. But once dead, the opportunity is gone. That is why we pilgrims are on a mission, to tell everyone about the “wonders of the Lord”. Yesterday I met a depressed dog walker, weighed down by, as she put it, the state of the world. So I took the opportunity to tell her that because of Easter Sunday we have hope in this otherwise dark and evil world. A seed planted that God will water and nurture, hopefully bringing eternal life to one of the “future generations”. It is a privilege to be able to share what God has done for us. There is no shortage of stories to tell of God’s grace, and we never know that the stranger we might share the Gospel with may become another Billy Graham, reaching millions with the Good News of God’s saving grace. And so we praise and worship the One who has promised never to leave us or forsake us, ever. As we step out today, we pray for God to lead us to yet another hopeless soul, scared witless by the state of the world. The society around is full of such people, just existing in a life of sin, some even wishing that they had never been born. And we pray like we never have before, because the days are short.

Dear Lord Jesus. Only You have the words of eternal life. Only You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. Please help us reach out to those You have prepared for the seeds of the Gospel to be planted, bringing hope to the hopeless, and life to the dying. Amen.

The Whole Earth

Posted on by korgrocker

“I will praise you in the great assembly. I will fulfil my vows in the presence of those who worship you. The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy. The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him. All the families of the nations will bow down before him. For royal power belongs to the Lord. He rules all the nations.”
Psalm 22:25-28 NLT

There seems to be a disconnect between the world that David could see in his prophetic vision, and the world of today. Think of it, a world where all people are God’s children, worshiping and praising  Him, acknowledging Him in all they do, and finding themselves full of joy. A vision of utopia if there ever was one. But back to reality. We live in a world today, riven by strife and wars. A world full of people only interested in themselves and their own selfish requirements. A world where men and women have set themselves up as gods intent on changing their gender against God’s order, and have become so deluded that they think that this is possible. A world where unwanted babies are murdered in the womb. A world where evil and wickedness is endemic, with sin infecting every inhabitant. Today I met a woman walking her dog and who was terrified at the state of today’s world. Even after sharing the hope of Jesus and His message of salvation, she remained unconvinced. O Lord! Bring on David’s vision, we pray, in the hearts and minds of a lost generation heading like lemmings to a lost eternity.

But we pilgrims are soldiers in God’s army, “marching as to war”, doing God’s business as revolutionaries and guerrillas holding aloft the battle standard of Jesus, the One who has already defeated the evil and wickedness so prevalent today. The captain of the opposing army is none other than the devil, supported by his demonic forces, the evil one pulling the strings of Godless human puppets everywhere. 2 Corinthians 4:4, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God“. 

The Apostle Paul also considered himself as being a soldier in God’s army. 2 Timothy 2:3-4, “Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them“. Paul suffered greatly as a soldier on the front line, but he didn’t fight only in a physical sense. He was a spiritual warrior in a battle largely fought in the hearts and minds of human beings, and his weapon was the truth of the Word of God with Good News to all who believed. But the last thing the devil wants his followers to hear is anything that is truth. Jesus said to the Pharisees and the other religious leaders, “For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). 

Before the world of David’s vision can become a reality, something has to be done to silence the forces of evil forever, but we know that this will happen. Jesus will return one day to lead the armies of Heaven into the final battle, and we can pick up the account of what will happen in Revelation 19:11-13, “Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God”. Jesus came two thousand years ago as a baby, born into poor and humble surroundings, but when He comes again He will come as a mighty and invincible warrior, the “King of all kings and the Lord of all lords” (Revelation 19:16b). We can read about the forces of Heaven in Revelation 19:14-15, “The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress” (Revelation 19:14-15). John, the Revelator, ” … saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army“, but I won’t spoil the outcome for whoever is reading this. Turn to Revelation 19 and 20 to find out the glorious crescendo of the final battle on this earth.

About Jesus, Paul wrote in 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”. What David saw in his vision will come to pass one day. There will be no exceptions because every human being who has ever lived, and who will be born in the future, will one day have to bow before Jesus, and those who “seek the Lord” will “rejoice with everlasting joy”. Sadly, those who have rejected the Word of God will also face the consequences of their decision.

But surely that can’t be the case. What about all the good people who have lived on this planet? Those social reformers who have engineered change for the better in our societies, the medics who have pioneered life-saving procedures and medicines? The kind people who have helped their neighbours? They may never have been a believer, instead living a life of atheism or agnosticism, but surely God will show them kindness? Such people may never have thought of themselves as being the devil’s foot soldiers, and have spent their lives being good, law-abiding citizens of their countries, helping others whenever they can. The Bible tells us that it will only be believers who will spend eternity with God, but we also know that we have a God who is sovereign and who will always do what is right. And so those who worry about where their loved ones will end up can be assured that our righteous God will decide. In Psalm 145:17 we read, “The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness“. As soldiers in God’s army, we pilgrims pray “may Your Kingdom come, may Your will be done” and we share the Good News of salvation through Jesus at every opportunity. We pray for our families and friends. And we trust in the One who one day will be King over the whole world, knowing that all the nations “will bow down before Him”. And we remember what Peter wrote about us, “ …  for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). Jesus came to usher in the Kingdom of God and we are privileged to be able to tell everyone about Jesus and what He did at Calvary.

Dear Father God. We echo the final words in the Bible – Come Lord Jesus. Amen.

The Great Assembly

Posted on by korgrocker

“I will praise you in the great assembly. I will fulfil my vows in the presence of those who worship you. The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy. The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him. All the families of the nations will bow down before him. For royal power belongs to the Lord. He rules all the nations.”
Psalm 22:25-28 NLT

Psalm 22 has always been considered Messianic, a prophetic declaration of that poignant end to the life of Jesus, an ignominious end to the Son of God on a Roman cross, but, to those who believe, a door opened into Heaven with salvation accessible to all people. But in verse 25, David wrote about being in the midst of a “great assembly” where he will “fulfil [his] vows”. Is that also prophetic or was it something about to happen in his lifetime? It all depends on what was meant by the word “great” because “great” implies a large number of people. But if we consider this to be a prophetic statement, then the “great assembly” is yet to happen. We get a few hints of this in the Bible. Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 17, “For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. … Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever”. Imagine the scale of that meeting, with the numbers of souls so vast that there will be no stadium large enough on earth to even hold a fraction of those present. It will only be a three-dimensional space “in the clouds” that will be large enough to hold this “great assembly”. Imagine the excitement! But I don’t think our minds are capable of truly grasping the impact of that occasion, and the fact that we pilgrims will be there as well. There will be no disappointed people, unable to see Jesus because of all the others getting in the way. By some miracle He will be accessible to all and we will enjoy His presence forever.

What will we do in that “great assembly”? If we turn to Revelation 7:9-10 we read, “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”” That’s what we will be doing. Again, by some miracle, we will know that we will be standing in front of Jesus, enthroned in His rightful position as the One who brought salvation to mankind. We will be clothed in white and holding palm branches, reminding us of a previous time when the people waved them as He passed. John 12:12-13, “The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!”” In that “great assembly”, the air will be full of “Hosannas” and “Hallelujahs” as the praises of all reverberate around the Heavens.

But who will be there with us? I’m sure that we will know the great saints of old, like Moses or Paul. David will be there I’m sure. But I think it was Martin Luther who said that he will be surprised who we will find in Heaven, but also surprised that some who he thought should be there are missing. And he finished by saying that if he gets there it will be a miracle. However, in that “great assembly” we won’t really care who is, and isn’t, there because it will be all about Jesus.

David wrote that he will fulfil his vows “in the presence of those who worship” the Lord. We all will fulfil our vows, in a sense, because we have all vowed, promised even, to follow Jesus, believing that only He has the words of eternal life. All those years of the struggles between our fleshly natures and the spirit within us will all be gone. All the doubts and fears, the accusations and ridicule emanating from the unbelievers, all gone, because they will be gone. For many living in oppressive and restrictive anti-God regimes where they are persecuted, they will be free at last and able to worship Jesus as they have always wanted to. For our time on earth, the vows we have made will have been hard to keep, but as Jesus said, “But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13).

We pilgrims need to hone up our worship skills in the university of life in God’s Kingdom here on earth. we need to get into practice for that great and wonderful day when the worship of the One who deserves all the glory and all the power goes on for eternity. Perhaps we think the we can’t hold a tune or sing a note. Perhaps we think we will never remember all the words. But the reality will be a “great roar” from the “great assembly“. If we listen hard enough we might hear the praise band already tuning up, with the angels humming the tunes. As the lyrics of the old hymn say,

“What a day that will be
When my Jesus I shall see
When I look upon His face
The One who saved me by His grace
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me to the Promised Land
What a day, glorious day that will be
What a day, glorious day that will be.”

Dear Father God. We look into the future, glimpsing that great assembly in Heaven. We pilgrims will be part of it I’m sure, and we will see You at last. Forever and ever. Amen.

The Suffering and Needy

Posted on by korgrocker

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people. Praise the Lord, all you who fear him! Honor him, all you descendants of Jacob! Show him reverence, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy. He has not turned his back on them, but has listened to their cries for help.”
Psalm 22:22-24 NLT

There are many needy people in our societies today. Not just people who need financial help or help with the basics of life such as food, clothing and a roof over their heads. There are many suffering from mental or physical ill health, needy people stuck in a merry-go-round of medical visits or imprisoned by mobility or other issues forcing upon them some degree of social isolation. Those who are deaf or suffering from something like dementia are needy people and although medical technology and modern drugs can help, the need is still there. And if we look to foreign shores, we see different needs emerge, in nations that have no resources to help their peoples, or, worse, have no intent on doing so anyway. The suffering experienced by women in some parts of the world is scandalous by Western standards. But all is not lost, because David wrote that God has not “ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy”. He went further to state that the Lord “has not turned his back on them, but has listened to their cries for help”. 

Bible translations differ on the verse 24 of Psalm 22, in that some consider it a prayer from David, as being the suffering and needy one, whilst others, as the NLT records today, pluralise the extent of the “cries for help”, extending them to all people. But either way, there is a principle here that God is there for everyone, king or slave, taxpayer or not, in the societies in which we live. In Psalm 113:7-8 we read, “He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, even the princes of his own people!” So, God will be there for suffering and needy people but with one important caveat – it helps if they know Him. In Matthew 5:45b, Jesus said, “ … For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike“. And that is so true. As I have written before, it would be a bit strange to see pools of light illuminating God’s people as they walked around the world, with everyone else in total darkness. God’s common grace is there for all, regardless of their faith, status or income. 

But does God turn His back on those who have rejected Him, even if they are poor and needy? Of course not. He has encouraged societies to take responsibility for the poorest amongst them, and most Western countries have some form of social security system in place. And He has also provided sufficient food for everyone on this planet, although we have the offence of some areas of the world having more than enough while others are starving. One day God will balance out the disparity between the have’s and the have-not’s, the rich and the poor. In the Kingdom of God, as before the Cross, there is no person who is any better than any other. 

So, what do we pilgrims make of all of this? In Deuteronomy 15:10, we read, “Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do”. In the culture at that time there was no safety net for the suffering and needy, and it was only donations, alms, and gifts from those around them that kept many alive. In the UK today, the state has assumed responsibility for the less fortunate, and various taxes pay the bill. But we pilgrims still have an opportunity to help the suffering and needy, filling the gap that the state fails to plug. Loneliness and grief, just for starters, are two problems endemic in our society, and believers everywhere can help mitigate the effects. We volunteer in soup kitchens. We visit the elderly. We run clubs and societies. We look for ways in which we can be arms and legs for God, fulfilling His will for the suffering and the needy.

God is compassionate and kind to needy people and he expects us pilgrims to be as well. One thing we must not do is close our ears to the cries of the poor and needy. God won’t like that.

Dear God. You, who are so compassionate to the poor and needy, will one day balance the scales of justice. Please lead and guide us to help those in need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Crucifixion

Posted on by korgrocker

“My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.”
Psalm 22:16-18 NLT

David’s prophetic image of crucifixion is incredibly accurate. The piercing of hands and feet, the shame of the nakedness, and the disposal of the poor person’s clothes all featured later in the graphic details of Jesus’ crucifixion that we can read in the Gospels. David wrote this Psalm in the first person, as though it was him who was experiencing the trauma of an extremely painful death. But how did David know about crucifixion many years before it was used as a heinously cruel act of execution? In common with many Old Testament prophecies, such a revelation could only have been provided by the Holy Spirit. God sees the end from the beginning and there were many occasions in the Bible when He chose to share what was coming with particular men and women who were part of His story of interaction with His loved creation, human beings. 

After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples, probably scaring them half to death, because crucified, graveyard-dead, men don’t reappear alive and well, as a general rule. We know that His hands and feet were pierced by the Roman nails because scars remained, and it was these that Jesus showed His disciples, just so that they knew he was the same Man. Luke 24:38-40, ““Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet“. Don’t forget that these men, Jesus’ disciples, were men of the world in their day. Some were fishermen, a profession not known for personal sensitivity and atmospheric and intellectual thinking, and they would need some convincing that Jesus was indeed back from the dead. But they were still struggling to make sense of what they were seeing, because the next verse in Luke reads, “Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”” Jesus ate a piece of fish in their presence, finally convincing them that He was indeed alive. Ghosts don’t sit down to a fish supper! Jesus was the same Man but with a resurrected body that could pass through walls and travel distances instantly. God showed David the start of the journey from the Cross to the empty tomb, knowing that this was enough to help countless people understand why Jesus had to die. 

Another part of David’s prophecy involved Jesus’ clothes. Right on cue, we read in Luke 23:34, “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice”. In John’s Gospel we read a few more details of what actually happened, “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did” (John 19:23-24). Again, how did David know this would happen unless God Himself had told him? Incredible details that must convince even the most cynical sceptic about Jesus and what happened that first Easter weekend.

Jesus just borrowed Joseph’s tomb for a weekend. It was soon vacated, and the next phase of history commenced. Within a few years the birth of Christianity took place, first in Jerusalem, and then, spreading rapidly, it exploded with Good News into the lives of men and women all over the civilised parts of the world. We pilgrims have heard the message and have put our trust in Jesus. Factually the Crucifixion happened – there is enough hard evidence to convince a court of law even all these years later. But that is not why we believe in Jesus. We have put our faith in the Man who came to this world, leaving the comfort of Heavenly eternity, just to save us from the consequences of our sins. Good News indeed. The Gospel has spread largely by the Holy-Spirit-empowered testimonies of God’s people, and we are part of that process today. We too tell everyone who we know about Jesus, about His love, His grace, His sinless sacrifice, His death and resurrection, and, above all, His invitation to spend eternity with Him. Daily we look for an opportunity to share our faith, and in the process bring ever closer that day when Jesus returns. We express our praise and worship and shout out our hallelujah’s whenever we can, because what else can we do? We give God all the glory and will do forever and ever.

Dear Lord Jesus. We proclaim our love and thanks to You today. Easter Sunday we remember every day, because You are alive and well, and live in our hearts through Your Spirit. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Capital Punishment

Posted on by korgrocker

“My life is poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me. My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.”
Psalm 22:14-15 NLT

The picture of a crucified man continues in this extraordinarily prophetic Psalm. The last moments of a man suffering a cruel and painful death are graphically described, and medical research since has confirmed the evidence that David wrote about. But people like us pilgrims, in our comparatively comfortable lives, have no idea what Jesus really went through, moment by moment. We see films that mock up an actual crucifixion and the more sensitive amongst us recoil in horror, leaving us with memories that will never fade. In David’s day, the use of crucifixion as a method of capital punishment was unknown, as the Jews considered anyone hanging on a tree as cursed. The Jews preferred stoning as a way for executing criminals. In Deuteronomy and Leviticus there are various violations of the Law that required execution, for example, Leviticus 24:16, “Anyone who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel. Any native-born Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be put to death“. And in the New Testament there is the story of Stephen, stoned for what the religious authorities decided was blasphemy. In response to Stephen’s final claim to see Jesus standing at the right hand side of God as he looked to Heaven, we read, “Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died”. 

There is no consensus, official or otherwise, amongst Christians about capital punishment. In the UK the last executions took place in 1964, although it was 1998 before the use of this “punishment” was removed from the statute book. But that still doesn’t solve the issue of how society must deal with capital offences, those such as murder. The Old Testament promotes the “eye for an eye” response but the New Testament is silent about how certain crimes must be punished, instead leaving it up to the civil authorities to decide. If anything, the fact that Jesus was prepared to be executed as a punishment for the sins of the world, should perhaps have drawn a line underneath further state-sponsored executions. But societies today demand justice in response to crime, especially in matching the punishment to the severity of the misdemeanour. Loss of liberty seems to be the only option available these days but many victims complain that this is not enough of a punishment to compensate them for the loss of a loved one, for example. So, the arguments for and against capital punishment continue unabated.

We pilgrims live, we believe, in a moral universe. By that I mean that the scales of justice will be balanced one day, even if a crime is undetected in this life. Jesus came to this Planet to forgive the sins of those who believed in Him and accepted His offer of a free gift of salvation. But all those who have turned down this offer, those considered criminals by our societies or not, will still have to face the consequences of their sins. Jesus put His finger on the issue of criminality with teaching from the Sermon on the Mount. 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“. Sober reading, because who has never felt anger welling up within them, anger against someone that builds in their thoughts and minds, imagining various graphic details of particular types of punishment? Jesus even ventured into the minefield of sexual relationships, when He said, “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). In God’s eyes, even our thoughts are sinful and can lead to judgement one day.

In the life to come, at the Judgement Seat of God, a scenario might turn the desired justice on its head. The penitent thief on the cross next the Jesus was forgiven as he breathed his dying breaths, and Jesus informed him that he would join Him in Paradise that day. But all those people that he stole from who may not have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour would have found themselves with different views. Many would claim that letting the thief off the consequences of his stealing would be grossly unfair, but there is nothing fair in worldly terms in the Kingdom of God. Through God’s grace and love He will forgive all sins, confessed by mankind. But that is not to say that punishments in this life will be prevented by our repentance. A murderer incarcerated for life because of his crime will still have to serve his sentence even if God has indeed forgiven him. Whether a sin is against society or God, we remember that all have sinned. No exclusions. Not even those who claim that they are “good people”.

But we God-fearing pilgrims have much to be thankful for. Although we are not immune from sinful thoughts, we do have a wonderful Heavenly Father who forgives our sins through His Son Jesus. John wrote, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts” (1 John 1:8-10). So we keep short accounts with God. Paul wrote, “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We are on a journey to Heaven and we pray that God will clean us up from all unrighteousness. It’s hard sometimes to live life God’s way, but through His love and grace we won’t have to face into the terror of the final judgement. There, many will find a final outcome that makes today’s capital punishment look insignificant.

Father God. We pray for Your guidance when it comes to matters of civil laws and punishments, but through our faith in You we know that one day all will be put right. Thank You for Your love and grace. Amen.

The Bulls of Bashan

Posted on by korgrocker

“Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me. My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in! Like lions they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey.”
Psalm 22:11-13 NLT

I don’t know if any of my fellow pilgrims have experienced the fear that can ensue if surrounded by cattle. David knew all about it and he went so far as to compare his enemies with a “herd of bulls”surrounding him and hemming him in. Bashan was an area in Canaan that was conquered by the Israelites – we can read a bit about it in Deuteronomy 3:3-4, “So the Lord our God handed King Og and all his people over to us, and we killed them all. Not a single person survived. We conquered all sixty of his towns—the entire Argob region in his kingdom of Bashan. Not a single town escaped our conquest“. Bashan was an area famous at that time for its breeds of cattle, particularly their quality and size, so it would have indeed been a scary situation for David. But David obviously escaped his bullish enemies so what was going on? 

Throughout his reign and before, David experienced problems, both from his own countrymen but also from the nations around him. Worthy of note were the Philistines, but there were others. And in Psalm 22 David was facing into a situation from which there appeared to be no escape. So he called out to God – “Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me”. A succinct statement and to the point. David knew that it was only God who could save him. He knew that he could trust in God, because time and again God had come through for him, bringing relief in seemingly unwinnable situations and saving David from disaster and even death. After all, who would have thought a young, fresh-faced shepherd boy, armed with a sling, could defeat the Philistines’ champion warrior? That had to be God, surely.

But back to our own experiences. It is indeed a scary place trapped by a herd of cows. I can remember an occasion when I was stopped on a single track country road by several cows with their offspring; they had escaped from a field somewhere. They were just ambling along the road munching their way through the grass verges, and preventing vehicles from passing. In the end, I seized an opportunity at a road junction leading to a farm track and I jumped out and started waving my arms and shouting, hoping that they would be scared off up the farm track. Most of them obliged but there were two heifers remaining that started to eye me a bit aggressively and I wondered if I could get back to the car before they caught me. Up close cows are strong and heavy, and they can run! But fortunately they decided to follow the rest of the herd and disaster didn’t materialise. But David’s problem was in a different league, with large bulls surrounding him. There is a big difference between a cow and a bull.

Psalm 22 is a Messianic Psalm, which Jesus quoted from when He was being crucified. It is a sobering thought that while he was helpless and pinned to a cross, people were passing by, making comments and shouting insults. Would we have done that? Of course not, we think, until we remember that it was sin that put Him there on that cross, and through our sin we were there too by implication. And we remember that when we sin we once again join the mob shouting for His crucifixion. But through the love and grace of God, we know that Jesus was willing to die for our redemption from sin. Because of us He was willing to face into His enemies from hell, the devil and his demons, that surrounded Him like a herd of the bulls of Bashan. Thankfully we know the end of the story and just a short while later the devil was staring into an empty tomb, all his plans and evil ways having come to nothing. In fact, it was on that cross that the devil was defeated, never to recover the power over man again. David trusted God to bring about relief from his attack. Through the Lord, David was repeatedly victorious, and he left a legacy of encouragement for all pilgrims everywhere. From “Gotquestions.org”, “God delivers those who trust in Him, even when they are facing impossible situations. We may be surrounded by the strong bulls of Bashan, but we have the greatest Bullfighter on our side“. 

Father God. Thank You for answered prayers, for keeping us safe as we travel through the spiritually hostile societies and cultures on Planet Earth. Through Jesus we have received forgiveness for our sins and one day we will live with You forever. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

From the Womb

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”
Psalm 22:9-10 NIVUK

David made the confident assertion that his relationship with God started when he was born. In fact, he stated that he was “cast on [God]” at that nascent point in his life. A new life, full of potential, and with God’s hand upon him, how could he ever fail? And writing here David is much older and wiser, but testifying to his start in life. God was there at his birth and while being fed by his mother, and God was still with David much later as Psalm 22 rolled off his pen. 

Was David being singled out for special treatment by God? Did God know that He would have to be proactive in David’s upbringing, ensuring that he would be the right person for Israel’s king? When a child is brought into the world, the potential for a great man or woman of God is there, but not many will achieve the lofty heights of kingship. So, how is that potential realised during a child’s upbringing? In David’s culture, much of that was down to the mother, who nurtured the child, sung songs of praise and worship, prayed, told the Bible stories, and taught the child in the ways of God. The Jewish father also led the family in prayers and teaching, reminiscing over meals about the great acts of God in their heritage, the Passover, the crossing of the Red Sea and so on. A Jewish boy’s education would also have been steeped in the Hebrew Bible of that time. In David’s case he progressed from childhood into manhood but he took with him all that he had been taught, and, most importantly, he started to work in his father’s business, tending sheep for long hours and in the process he developed the skills necessary for life as well as honing his relationship with God. And he wrote Psalm 8:1-2, “O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you“. In those long nights he looked up and saw the canopy of the heavens in all its glory, and he wrote, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known”(Psalm 19:1-2). But it all started as a new born baby in his mother’s arms, with God looking on.

There are other examples of God raising up a man for a particular purpose, and Moses comes to mind. But there was a special Man born two thousand or so years ago who was the Son of God. His mission has changed the course of history, and is still doing so as the End Times loom ever nearer. On that day, Heaven touched earth in the arms of a peasant teenager called Mary, bringing a Life that climaxed thirty three years later on a cross at Calvary, birthing something else that we call the Church. But that’s for another day.

The birth of David would not have appeared in his memory of course, but his parents would have reminded him about his Godly origins. It stresses the important role that a parent has in bringing up children. Those early years of nurture and teaching will make or break a child’s future, because what is sown in the first few years will set the course of their lives ahead. It is so sad that parents will often abdicate their responsibilities and sit the child before a television, potentially filling their minds with all the wrong information. And our schools, colleges, and politicians today seem more intent on propagating ideologies that are just plain wrong. We pray for our country, that God will once again visit us bringing conviction of sin and salvation. We need You, God! Our politicians need You. Our teachers need You. We all need You. Come Lord Jesus!

God does not prefer one person over another, as Paul reminded us in Romans 2:11, “For God does not show favouritism“. We are all equal before God and, most importantly, before the Cross. But people will have different abilities, as Jesus taught in the Parable of the Talents. We can read it in Matthew 25, but here is verse 15, “He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip“. Notice the phrase “in proportion to their abilities”. God doesn’t expect more from us than we are able to give. The first two servants, even though they had different abilities, heard their Master say, “well done, my good and faithful servant”. But we need to use what God has given us to the best of our ability, being aware of the ultimate fate of the third servant. 

Many people will try one day to blame their upbringing for their status in life. Although there is some truth in that, we have a wonderful God who is able to redeem our past, and restore the years the locust has eaten. We may experience many fruitless years in this life, but God is patient and knows our hearts. One day He will bring us through to His presence. But in the meantime, we listen for God’s voice and we obey His instructions. We are on Planet Earth for the just the time as this. There is an opportunity to reach our generation for Jesus, using the gifts the Holy Spirit planted within us from our mothers’ wombs. We may never see the fruit of our labours this side of eternity, but I think we may be surprised when we find souls coming to us one day thanking us for our perseverance and willingness to share our faith. We trust God with our future, as David did. And with him we proclaim that he is our God. Forever.

Dear Father God. We trust You with our lives, and one day we pray in faith that we too will hear those words “well done” from the Master Himself. In Jesus’ name. Amen.