The Church

Posted on by korgrocker

“The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to Him. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.”
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.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22:27,30-31‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This is a remarkable Psalm, in its prophetic vision of the crucified Messiah. The graphic details leap out of the page as they accurately, but sadly, portray the physical impact crucifixion has on a human being’s body, and Jesus quoted the first verse of the Psalm from the cross in His final moments that “Good Friday”. Who can ever deny, dismiss or disbelieve the many Old Testament prophecies, most of which point to Jesus, the Messiah? But today’s verses point to another prophetic occasion, yet to be realised. It will come, because David, writing this Psalm through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, said so. Simply, there will come a time when our children, including those not yet born, will not only hear about the Lord, God Himself, but will see Him and, with their families, bow down before Him. And it will be a universal occasion – all the peoples, regardless of which nation they belong to, will appear before the Lord – other prophecies point to this being the risen Jesus – and will declare His Lordship. It won’t just be the nation of Israel. The inclusive words used will include those pariah states who try and prevent their people from having anything to do with Christianity. Those states and countries with other religions or ideologies that are imposed top down on a frightened and suppressed population. And will include those states who nibble at the edges of Christianity, trying to replace God’s presence and principles with a secularist agenda and unnecessary anti-God laws.

Many of our churches today in Western 21st Century society are populated by a dwindling congregation of old people, with no sign of a child or young person anywhere. A Church of Scotland building near me has had to close because the elderly congregation is too small to support the maintenance of the building. Roof repairs are beyond their reach. Thankfully, other church groups and fellowships elsewhere are full of young people and families and a couple of years ago my wife and I had the privilege of worshiping with one while holidaying near Keswick in the English Lake District. In our prophetic verses today, though, David could see a time when children will continue to hear “the wonders of the Lord”. Elijah, in the account in 1 Kings 19, was depressed because he thought he was the last of God’s people. But God reassured him that there were 7000 faithful people in Israel at that time. Sometimes we too get depressed as we look on our dwindling congregations, but we can rest assured that His church will live on from one generation to the next. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” That seems pretty decisive to me!

Who will tell the “future generations” of “the wonders of the Lord“? God’s people everywhere have a responsibility to reach out to those around us regardless of how old they are, telling them about God and all He has done for us. Let us pray daily for an opportunity to share about our amazing God to those who are around us. After all, we have a message of hope badly needed in these negative, pandemic-ridden times. And who knows? The next person we meet might be waiting for us to introduce them to Jesus. 

God is Alive

Posted on by korgrocker

The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God my Saviour!
Psalm 18:46 NIVUK

There are three words in this short verse that stand out a mile – “Lives”, “Rock” and “Saviour”. Or to expand a bit, God is alive, He is our Rock and our Salvation. But let’s take the first phrase – “The Lord lives”. How does that make us feel? We looked earlier in one of my blog posts at the thought “God is dead” but here is the concept that He is alive. There is no half way state between life and death (though looking at our elderly pet Westie asleep in his basket, I wonder sometimes).

There are published theological proofs claiming that God is alive, but for me the situation is simpler. Jesus, the Son of God, and a part of our Trinitarian God, came to this world as a man, walked the highways and byways of Palestine and then was cruelly crucified, suffering the Roman-applied criminal’s death. But, on the third day after this happened, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to His disciples for a period of fifty days until His ascension back to Heaven. So He’s not dead any more – He has just moved to a new address. The Apostle Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Romans, 8:34, “Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” We can look back at the events 2000 years ago but the Psalmist David didn’t have that benefit. However he developed a relationship with God that was so vibrant that he knew God was alive. And his heart overflowed with grateful praise as he exalted the living God, his Saviour.

But I ask the inevitable question – is God alive for us today on Planet Earth, in the societies of which we are a part? Do we look at local and global world events and ask ourselves why God is not intervening? The wars and suffering, the malnutrition and disease. Does God’s life or death make any difference either way? There are no glib, off-the-cuff answers to this question, this dilemma that we face every day. For me personally, living in this sin-soaked world is difficult. It has its challenges. But the day is coming when God will cry, “Enough!” and we read in the Book of Revelation about the end times and the new heaven and earth. And, soberingly, we read about the day of judgement coming as well. Why doesn’t God sort out the world now? That’s where the concept of grace comes into play. God in His loving kindness and mercy gives everyone the opportunity during their lifetime to make that leap of faith and put their trust in Him, thus ensuring a place at the banquet and a home in a mansion, that Jesus told His disciples about.

Blaise Pascal the great 17th Century mathematician and philosopher was credited with the following quotation, “If I believe in God and life after death and you do not, and if there is no God, we both lose when we die. However, if there is a God, you still lose and I gain everything.” In other words, if God is alive, as David claimed, and we align our lives to Him through the sacrifice Jesus made for us at Calvary, then we have a glorious future awaiting us. If we don’t then, like Blaise suggested, we’re “losers”. Something else to meditate over our day ahead?

Troops and Walls

Posted on by korgrocker

“To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, 
to the blameless You show Yourself blameless, 
to the pure You show Yourself pure, 
but to the devious You show Yourself shrewd. 
You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. 
You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. 
With Your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.”
‭Psalms‬ ‭18:25-29‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

Verses 25 and 26 of Psalm 18, at first sight, seem a bit difficult to understand. What was the psalmist, David, getting at? He used words such as “faithful”, “blameless”, and “pure”. Was he perhaps implying that the qualities he lists have to be in our characters before we can see them in God, even though they are a part of His nature? Perhaps a faithless person wouldn’t see a faithful God because they wouldn’t understand what being faithful was all about. An impure person wouldn’t understand the purity of our Heavenly Father. But is God “shrewd”? Perhaps that is how He appears to someone with devious qualities, whether He is or not. The Psalmist goes on to explain that the quality of humility leads to salvation, unlike that for the proud, the haughty. A sentiment exemplified by Jesus, in the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:8, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!” 

David continued with positive statements about the impact God had, and continued to have, on his life. Reading the Psalms written by David, you can see that he had many dark moments but here he is declaring that God had turned around his depression into a condition of lightness. In addition, God had empowered David to take on seemingly impossible tasks, in battle for example. Think about the Goliath episode. David’s logic as explained to King Saul, was breathtakingly simple, as we can read in 1 Samuel 17:36-37, “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Almost as an aside, David didn’t appear before Goliath with a slingshot, never having used one before. As a shepherd, he spent hours perfecting the art of projecting a stone with a sling, and he probably set himself up a target and persevered, aiming and hitting, until he had the confidence in his ability. And when a lion or bear appeared on the scene a well-aimed stone would soon discourage them. So when Goliath stood before him, he forensically looked for a chink in the armour, found it above Goliath’s eyes and clinically proceeded to despatch him with a single small stone. But. A big but. David knew that he could do nothing on his own account. He needed God in his life to lead and guide and help him achieve what he had to do. David slung the stone. God helped it to the target. David built up his faith in God in the sheepfolds, on the open hills, in the pastures, as he protected a flock of sheep from predators. And that faith stood him in good stead as he took on the battles in war-torn Palestine. He knew that with his little ability and God’s limitless resources, he could have the confidence to take on tasks that would frighten most of his peers.

To be able to trust God for whatever life throws at us, equipping us for the battles ahead, takes two steps. Firstly, like David, we must develop the skills needed for our lives. Getting an education, learning a trade, practising playing a guitar, and so on, all the time keeping our eyes on our calling, focusing on our vocation. The Apostle Peter was a fisherman, but Jesus taught him how to use those skills to be a “fisher of men”. Sometimes we will perhaps get discouraged, thinking that our simple skill can’t be of any use to God. But God has a way of turning our little into great things for Him. Secondly, we need to spend time with our Heavenly Father. By being diligent in Bible reading and prayer, communicating and building a relationship with Him, testing our faith as we go, we learn to trust Him more and more. A toddler doesn’t leap out of the cradle one day saying that he is going to walk. There are some interim challenges he faces on the way, through crawling, sitting, and getting knocks and bumps, before the big day when he stands. And then he makes the first wobbly steps. Faith doesn’t appear overnight – it takes diligence and perseverance through the knocks and bumps as we grow. 

So back to today’s verses. He keeps our lamps burning, if we let Him. And that wall in front of us, or that Goliath in the office – they are not as big a problem as the enemy would have us think. That mountain might just turn out to be a molehill. Because God is on our side.

Love

Posted on by korgrocker

I love you, Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:1-2

When did you last tell someone you loved them? Hmmm. That’s a hard question. I must confess that expressing my emotions in that way is hard for me. Not that I don’t mean it. It’s not that I don’t do it, because the sentiments are there inside me, but somehow those early conditioning years discouraged me speaking out anything emotional. I’m sure I’m not alone. 

But what did the Psalmist, David, mean with the use of his word “love”? It implied not just a feeling, though that may be part of it, but mainly an attitude of heart, confirming and affirming that David was deeply interested in, and aware of, God, His Heavenly Father. That he was grateful for all His wonderful works and provisions, in fact all that he needed for life. And it involved the reciprocation for all the love God poured out on him, His son. Many years later, Jesus, in answer to a question from a Jewish religious lawyer, said that the first and most important commandment was, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” (Luke 10:27 NIV). It doesn’t get more complete than that! And that was the kind of love David was implying right at the start of this Psalm.

David associated the love of his Lord with His strength, using words such as “rock”, “fortress”, “deliverer”, “salvation” and “stronghold” to describe the way he felt about God. To David, God was utterly dependable. But how do we view God? In 21st Century Western society? Can we apply the same words David used in his day to our own relationships with God in our day? Or do we have God put in a box, with limits to what we think He can do. A box full of Sunday hymns and nice feelings but without any particular substance to help us, or a relationship to be lived out. It doesn’t matter where we live or what we do or think. Somewhere along the way, in our pilgrimage through life, we will come up against a problem. Will it overcome us, or will we rise up and declare, as David did, that God is our strength and our salvation? But one thing is for sure. God is always there for us. We may stumble and fall from time to time, but he will help us up and dust us off. And set our feet back on the Rock, ready and equipped for the next time something comes against us. Remember – God is the Lord of all.

Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. And Peter finally responded in a way that shaped the rest of his life. What would we say if Jesus asked us three times if we loved Him? Would we evade the question or embrace our wonderful Saviour with a resounding “Yes Lord, we love You!” A question to mull over in the day ahead.

Thirst

Posted on by korgrocker

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You; I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. I will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You.”
Psalms‬ ‭63:1-5‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

David, the Psalmist, is in the Judean desert and is physically and spiritually thirsty. As well as looking for water, he is earnestly seeking God, and probably is having a difficult time finding Him. But the memories. Aah, the memories. Where would we be sometimes without them? David remembers the times he spent with God and how he often lifted up his hands and voice in worship and praise. He knows that, regardless of how he feels at that precise moment, he will soon be spiritually satisfied and refreshed by all the water he needs.

Spiritual deserts can be found anywhere. Those places where God seems far away. When He cannot easily be found. Where our spirits within us are shrivelling for want of the spiritual water that flows from the throne of God. In such a place how do we return to the river? How do we find the spiritual sustenance we need? We start digging. The passage of the river leaves wells full of living water, an unlimited supply of God’s grace and love. And we find the wells in close proximity to Jesus. In John 4, Jesus said, referring to the well outside the village of Sychar in Samaria, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” There is a song by Elevation Worship that contains the lyrics, “Have you come to the end of yourself, Do you thirst for a drink from the well, Jesus is calling.” This poignant invitation for those who are struggling with life and its issues connects people with the Source of all we need. By some mystery, as we in faith respond to Jesus’ call, asking Him for His life giving water, we will feel the power of the Holy Spirit starting to refill us. The only thing stopping us making that connection, receiving a drink from the well of the Holy Spirit, is ourselves, our feelings, all the rubbish we have allowed to crowd out the wells within us. 

So today, let’s put to one side the issues that are blocking up those wells. All that rubbish and dirt that accumulates and turns our verdant pastures into dry and dusty deserts and instead allow room for Jesus to fill us once again. And as a consequence we will receive clarity to view the issues that have mopped up our spiritual water and left us in a “dry and parched” land. 

No-one Does Good

Posted on by korgrocker

The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 
All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Psalm 14:2-3

This is a depressing Psalm in some ways, but full of hope in another. The phrase, “there is no-one who does good” appears in two places, in verses 1 and 3. And that’s the depressing bit, because David, the Psalmist, was perhaps meditating on what it must have been like to be God and, from his own experience of society, came to the conclusion that goodness was a quality severely lacking in the human race. Worse, he sees his fellow men as being “fools” because they deny that God exists and instead are riddled with corruption and do things he calls “vile”. Some of their nasty behaviour is listed further down in the Psalm.

The hopeful part of this Psalm appears in verses 5 and 7. In verse 5 David is comforted by the thought that one day, the evildoers will be terrified when they find out that, actually, there is a God, and He will be found in the presence of those who are righteous. But David’s cry in verse 7 was a prophetic glimpse, through the murk and mists of time, that there needs to be a Rescuer, from God’s mountain, who will restore His people. He was looking forward in time through a prophetic looking glass, yearning for the day when God’s plan of salvation would be enacted. We have the privilege of being able to look back in time to see that God sent His son, Jesus, who restored all those who put their faith in Him. The Apostle John wrote down the words of Jesus in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  This was the fulfilment of the plan in God’s heart, that David only had a glimpse of all those years before. 

Verse 7 refers to Jacob and Israel rejoicing when salvation occurs. Perhaps there is a second part to David’s prophetic glimpse, and it is still to take place. That is the salvation of the nation Israel. But whatever our thoughts, we are truly a privileged people, living in an age of God’s favour. Let’s embrace it while we can.

God is on His Throne

Posted on by korgrocker

In the Lord I take refuge.
    How then can you say to me:
    ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain.

The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
    his eyes examine them.

Psalm 11:1,4 NIVUK

Psalm 11 is another Psalm written by David, and it looks as though he is once again on the run from his enemies. It might have been Saul, who chased him around Palestine for years, or it might have been in the time of his son Absalom’s rebellion. In the first verse, David seems to be odds with his advisers who were telling him to head for the hills to find safety there. But David wasn’t afraid of his enemies because he trusted in the Lord for his protection. Wisely, though, he was keeping his head down and maintained a low profile, waiting for God to deal with the situation. In verse 4, David points out that God is still on His throne, keeping an eye on everyone. 

Living in 21st Century Britain is a challenge. There has been so much societal change over the past few years that we might be forgiven for questioning sometimes if God is still on His throne. And understandably there are many anxious people around, wondering what the future holds. People will give us all sorts of advice about how to deal with change. And there are some who will seek medication to help them deal with their anxiety. But there is only one way to remain unshakeable as the world shakes around us, and that is with our feet firmly established on the solid Rock, which is Christ. In Matthew 7:24-25 Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Because the wise man followed and applied Jesus’ teaching, he was unshakeable when the storms of life blew against him. The only way we will survive the changes in society is through our relationship with God. But you might be thinking, “Why does God allow me to experience so many problems in my life?” You might be experiencing financial difficulties, ill-health, family problems, and so on. Sometimes the list of problems seems endless. And to add to our apparent woes, Jesus said that we would experience troubles in this world. He said in John 16:33, “… In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” So God is still on His throne and Jesus has overcome the world. What else do we need? As we encounter the problems in life, we face into them with Jesus, the Overcomer, at our side. Step by step, problem by problem, issue by issue, our faith and trust in God grows. Even though David was in big trouble, his narrative in Psalm 11 was almost detached because he knew his God, and the protection that He supplied. So He could almost adopt the position of looking on while God did His stuff. We too can be onlookers as we overcome our storms in life with God at our side.

Anger

Posted on by korgrocker

“Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent.”
Psalm 4:4

In the middle of this Psalm, David suddenly remembers the destructive force of anger. Earlier in the Psalm he has been musing about people who are making false allegations against him.  He mentions the destructive forces of their lies, potentially ruining his reputation. But he is confident in his God, who he knows will hear him when he calls, who will answer his prayers, who will always be there for him. And that is all that matters to him. But there must have been something welling up within him, pushing back against the mayhem, tempting him into a reaction fuelled by anger. David reflects on the controlling tendency of angry thoughts and actions, and he knows it will lead to sin if allowed to proceed unchecked. 

Anger is a common problem with society and for anyone living within it. We can get angry over all sorts of things. A thoughtless driver who cuts in front of us in a queue of traffic. A bad mannered person reaching across us in a supermarket for the last packet of Tea Cakes or Snowballs (specialities much prized in Scotland). A husband or wife upset about their spouse not agreeing with their plans. The list is endless. But anger in itself is not wrong. Jesus Himself became angry on several occasions, we are told in the Gospels. One example is in Mark 3:5, “[Jesus] looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.” Jesus had every right to be angry with the behaviour of the Pharisees. But He didn’t sin through it – He dealt with the issue and moved on. 

That is how we too must behave. When anger knocks at the door of our hearts, we must deal with any issues if we can. Otherwise we must follow the Psalmist David’s advice and “Think about it overnight”. Things will look different in the morning.

Forgetful People

Posted on by korgrocker

“Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with Your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield.”
‭Psalms‬ ‭59:11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Psalm 59 continues the epic journey of David and his thoughts as he focuses on avoiding Saul’s malign attempts to end his life. In this Psalm, David rants before God about the nasty people who are out to get him, waiting for him to return home. They are “criminals”, “murderers”, “vicious dogs”, people with “sinful lips”. David doesn’t have much good to say about them at all. But at the end of the Psalm he again lapses into the comfort of his relationship with God, waiting for Him to rescue him. 

But today’s verse is interesting. David knows what people and their memories and thought processes are like. He knew that if God killed David’s enemies it would be a warning to some at the time but then quickly forgotten. Human nature is still the same today. Take for example someone’s driving behaviour if they see a road traffic accident caused by speeding. Their driving style and speed might moderate for a few miles, but for how long will it stay that way? Sooner or later they will forget or ignore what happened and carry on as they did before. The reoffending rate of people imprisoned for burglary is another example. Many soon forget their period of incarceration and return to their old ways. It is a trait of human nature to forget sinful events committed by others or ourselves, adopting an “it will never happen to me” mentality, or ”I’ll be more careful next time and not get caught”.  

However, David appealed to God to “stagger [such people] with [His] power and bring them to their knees“. He knew that someone repenting of their sins, on their knees before God, would have a far greater impact on the society around them. I know a lovely man in Glasgow, jailed in his teens for a drug offence. He found God in prison and is now the Pastor of a church in the very same community where he committed his drug offences. What an impact he has had! He is a constant reminder to the people in that community of God’s grace being available for all sinners, even him. David knew, and recorded in his Psalm, that a life snuffed out will have no future value, but one redeemed from sin will last forever. If my Pastor friend had continued in a life of drugs and crime, there would have been no lasting legacy, no outpouring of God’s grace, no constant reminder that there is a God in Heaven who cares for all mankind, and particularly those in his community.

So we need to be gracious. We need to pray, and keep praying, for those in our communities, workplaces, families, circle of friends, anyone we know who may be causing us difficulties. These people may not be enemies in the way David describes, but they may be telling lies, or posting unfavourable comments on social media about us. They may be ignoring us in the street. They may even be unpleasant to our faces. But prayer changes things. As we pray God will work on their hearts, and give them the opportunity to kneel before Him, asking for His forgiveness. And as we pray, He will change our hearts too, helping us see these people through His eyes, even loving them as He loves us. I can only say in response to such a gracious God, “What a Saviour!” Do I hear an “Amen”?

Yo-Yo

Posted on by korgrocker

“Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens! May Your glory shine over all the earth.
My enemies have set a trap for me. I am weary from distress. They have dug a deep pit in my path, but they themselves have fallen into it.” Psalms‬ ‭57:5-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Psalm 57 is a “Yo-Yo” set of verses. David’s thoughts, captured in this Psalm, seem to bounce between praise to God and despair about his predicament. He’s on the run again, and Saul nearly catches him this time. You can just imagine him and his men holding their breath as Saul’s soldiers pass by. And we read that Saul was even within reach of David as he “relieved himself” in the same cave in which David was hiding.

In today’s Western society it is difficult to relate to the dangers David faced into, almost on a daily basis, as he tried to keep out of Saul’s way. Most of us do not experience threats to our lives. But we do experience difficulties in which God’s help is just as important as it was in David’s circumstances. As I write, the fallout from Brexit and the pandemic are manifesting themselves in all sorts of societal problems. Security of food and road fuel supplies are under threat. Energy prices have rocketed. We are constantly being told that the NHS cannot cope with the demands being made of it. People are anxious and nervous about the future. Their worlds have been shaken and there seems to be no remedy in sight. So what do we do? We do what David did. Share our worries and concerns with our loving Heavenly Father, and concentrate of praising Him. Verse 5, “Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens! May your glory shine over all the earth” is repeated again in verse 11. Why? Because that was David’s heart. No matter what he was facing into, the important bit was putting God in His rightful place.

So are we anxious today? 1 Peter 5:7 reads, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” Jesus said in John 16:33, “…Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” We have a choice – accept God’s loving care as He “overcomes the world” or worry ourselves into an early grave. Stark language I know but David went on to become Israel’s greatest king. What will we achieve as God’s overcomers?