Thrills

Posted on by korgrocker

“You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! 
I sing for joy because of what you have done. 
O Lord, what great works you do! 
And how deep are your thoughts. 
Only a simpleton would not know, 
and only a fool would not understand this: 
Though the wicked sprout like weeds 
and evildoers flourish, 
they will be destroyed forever.”
Psalms‬ ‭92:4-7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

That’s a great word describing the impact God has on us – “thrill”. So I start by asking two questions this morning – what has God done for us, and has the impact thrilled us? Personally, I can remember life events that I refer back to time and time again, with a thankful heart. With a deep gratitude to God for His provision in a dire time of need. And I can remember, particularly after one event, an emotional surge of thankfulness that fell into the “thrill” category. But we can’t go through life looking for the thrills, sudden bursts of fairground-like emotions – day by day He constantly watches over us and the Holy Spirit nudges us when we need to change direction or change a decision. We cannot fail to be thrilled by a God, the Creator of everything, who so intimately cares for each one of us, even to the extent of counting and numbering all the hairs on our heads! And the Psalmist continues with a song of joy, spontaneously bursting out from a thrilling experience. It is a good exercise to sit down with a paper and pencil and list all the “great works” God has done, not just for us, but for our families and friends as well. And we can rejoice and be thrilled by them too. The Psalmist also refers to God’s thoughts – now there’s a whole new dimension. How can we know God’s thoughts? The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, finished the second chapter with this verse, “For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” So through our relationship with Jesus we can know His thoughts – not completely of course, but we can gain a glimpse  of what God is thinking, in the knowledge too that all His thoughts will line up with what He has said in His Word.

The Psalmist ends these verses today with a reference to a “simpleton” and a “fool”. Strong words describing someone who rejects God by behaving in an unacceptable way, not realising that one day, in spite of their apparent earthly successes, they will be destroyed. Sometimes that will happen in this life, but it will surely happen in the life to come. One day the “wicked” will stand before His throne of judgement.

So where do these verses leave us. I would say in the knowledge of the stark and even extreme dichotomy between God’s way and a godless way. There is no middle ground.

A Thousand Years

Posted on by korgrocker

“For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, 
     as brief as a few night hours.”
Psalms‬ ‭90:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The human race is time bound. We have a body clock that is perfectly in sync with a 24 hour day. We get agitated if a meal is late. We get up at the same time each day. Leave the house to travel to work at the same time each weekday morning. Catch the same bus at the same time. We reverse the journey after work, following the same pattern. We watch our favourite tv programme at the same time each day or week. And we finally fall into bed at the same time each evening, probably exhausted. A mad whirlwind of time-bound activities, crowding out our days. Woe betide anyone who disturbs our routines, changing our schedules. 

But God is not bounded by time, because He is eternal. In His domain, time doesn’t exist. So He’s not in any rush. He isn’t bounded by a schedule. But what relevance does an eternal God have in our pilgrimage through life? Is He so far away in an alien environment that His involvement in our lives is minimal, if at all? We read that He neither “slumbers or sleeps” (Psalm 121:4). That He always acts “at just the right time” (e.g. Romans 5:6). He is always ready to help “in a time of trouble” (Psalm 46:1). God is intimately involved in our lives. Never pushy. Always respecting our life-choices. And because He is eternal He sees “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10), acting always in accordance with His love and righteousness.

But back to our eternal, timeless God. One day we believers too will become eternal enjoying God’s presence for ever. 

Shelter

Posted on by korgrocker

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 
This I declare about the Lord: 
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; 
He is my God, and I trust Him.”
Psalms‬ ‭91:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What a tremendous Psalm this is. Tradition has it that it was written by Moses, but whoever the writer was, he managed to capture wonderful and encouraging truths, just as relevant for life today as they were all those years ago. The psalm starts off with the idea that God provides shelter for those who want it, for those who live a life in relationship with Him. And in that shelter God’s people will find rest. The Psalmist continues by boldly stating that he will find rest because God will keep him safe from whatever life-issues he is encountering in his journey. And at the end of verse 2, the Psalmist simply states that he trusts God.

We think about these words, “rest”, “refuge”, and “safety”. Somehow our spirits are drawn to the idea of such places because our daily lives can be so frantic that we become frazzled to the point of exhaustion, to a point where we need to get off the merry-go-round of life and take time out. “Stop the world – I want to get off” was a phrase popular a few years ago. Most people plan to take a holiday, the thought of which sustains them in the weeks and months before they go, providing some sort of temporary relief from the stresses and strains of their situation. But when they return, the merry-go-round is still there, as frantic as ever. But God through the Psalmist points out a better way, available in the now, available when needed, available when our spirits crave rest. And after a spell in His shelter, where we enjoy the God-rest we need, we can emerge back into the world refreshed, and able to once again face into our busy lives.

Are we rest-needy people today? Look at the two words describing the place where we can find the rest we need – “shelter” and “shadow”. One tangible, one intangible. In the first case, we can physically take time out, sitting at God’s feet, praying and reading His Word. During a lunch break. First thing in the morning. Whenever we can. Thus recharging our spiritual and emotional batteries. In the second case, we can, in times of stress, look up, and “see” God’s shadow over us, through our memories, through the Words we have read, through our prayers. God has thought of all situations we are likely to meet in our lives. His loving provision is absolute. So join me today, spending time with our Heavenly Father. As the old song says, “And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.”

Lifespan

Posted on by korgrocker

“Seventy years are given to us! 
     Some even live to eighty. 
But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; 
     soon they disappear, and we fly away.”
Psalms‬ ‭90:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Psalm 90 is the first Psalm of Book Four within the Book of Psalms, and this time it is Moses’s pen that records another lyrical expression of God. At apparent odds with today’s verse, Moses didn’t start God’s work until he was 80 years old. But what a life of service! Moses lived until he was 120, but how long will we live? “Three score years and ten” is often quoted in relation to our expectation of lifespan, but we don’t really know. None of us know the day when we will leave life on this earth and cross the Great Divide. The young seem to believe that they will live forever. Certainly many seem to act like it. But those who are older become more measured in their approach to life, particularly when they reach the “twilight zone”. Some terminally ill people want to legislate control over when they leave this life, but the sanctity of life prevails, at least for now. But whatever we feel about those last moments of our lives, worrying won’t be helpful. Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 6:27,  “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” I have read somewhere that over 90% of deaths occur when the person is asleep, which many will find reassuring. Certainly that was the case for both my parents.

So what is the impact on our daily lives of our lack of knowledge of when we will die? How should we respond? Most people don’t want to talk about it. They become fearful and depressed. Others park the question, preferring to live each day as it comes. Still others become frustrated because they know they have to age and leave this life one day and they regret that death is one aspect of their life that they have no control over. Some get paranoid when they observe the signs of ageing staring back at them from the mirror, reaching for magic potions to delay the inevitable. Cosmetic companies advertise the extraordinary powers of their products in halting the ageing process. And one topic of scientific research is sure to get the attention of many readers – how our natural lives can be extended. There are even a few wealthy people who go to extraordinary lengths to preserve themselves after death in the hope that one day in the future there will be technology that can resurrect them from a deeply frozen state.

But there is one sure-fire way of ensuring we can live forever. For eternity. Most people, particularly those who have rejected God, think that life ends when they die. But those who believe in, and follow, God, are convinced that there is a life beyond the grave of far more importance than the life we experience now. In faith, such people, Christians, believe that Jesus is preparing a place for them, so that they can live with Him forever. We can read what He said in John 14. 

I have heard the often-quoted verse, John 3:16, used at funerals to assure the relatives and the friends of their departed loved one that he or she is now in Heaven, along with their mum and dad, and Auntie Mary thrown in for good measure. That may or not be true, but such soliloquies often ignore the following verse, verse 17, where Jesus said, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” There is only one way to join God in Heaven, and that is through Jesus. In John 11, Jesus said to Martha, the sister of Lazarus,  ”… I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die ….” It’s all about the word “Believe”. It implies not just an acknowledgement that Jesus is real. That God exists. Even the devil believes that! It implies aligning our lives during the time we have in this life to how it will be in the next. Dealing with our sins. Following God’s teachings. Building up a relationship with Him. Otherwise we will be unable to enter into God’s presence – how could we if we don’t know Him?

So today, let us stop worrying about how much time we have left for us in this life. Instead, let us ensure our future in the life to come.

Faithfulness

Posted on by korgrocker

“I will sing of the Lord’s great love for ever; 
    with my mouth I will make Your faithfulness 
     known through all generations. 
I will declare that Your love stands firm for ever, 
     that You have established Your faithfulness in heaven itself.”
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; 
     love and faithfulness go before You.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭89:1-2,14‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

Psalm 89 is another Psalm written by an Ezrahite, this time a man called Ethan. He appeared in another place in the Bible, and is thought to be one of five brothers, a wise man, though not as wise as Solomon. He was a Levite, and apparently a cymbal player in a priestly worship band. From the text in the Psalm, it was written in the period of the kings, David and Solomon.

There is one word in this Psalm that appears seven times – “faithfulness”. This is a word of tremendous depth and meaning, and not one as popular today, in human terms, as it should be. Faithfulness is a word often associated with marriage but the high number of divorces betrays it’s lack of being taken seriously in society today. 

But God is faithful. One hundred per cent. He will never, ever, not be faithful. So if He says something, or promises something, we can be assured that He will faithfully bring it to pass. God will never wriggle out of His commitments and promises. On His part there is no backing out of an agreement or a covenant. In fact, in verses 7 and 8 of this Psalm we read that in the Heavenly realms God is greatly feared. Why? Because of His faithfulness. And verse 3 tells us that faithfulness is so important to God that He has established it in Heaven.

So when God makes, ”righteousness and justice … the foundation of [His] throne”, we know that through His faithfulness this will be the case. One day. All nations will stand before Him, facing into judgement because of His righteousness. There will be no sin and wickedness in Heaven.

Jesus Himself taught about the importance of being faithful on several occasions. Perhaps the most remembered is the story about the Talents. In Matthew 25:21 He said, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”. In Luke 16:10, Jesus said, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” There is Kingdom importance in being faithful. So today, as we go about our business, whatever that might be, let’s align ourselves to God’s quality of “faithfulness”.

Depression

Posted on by korgrocker

“Lord, You are the God who saves me; 
   day and night I cry out to You.
May my prayer come before You; 
     turn Your ear to my cry. 
I am overwhelmed with troubles 
     and my life draws near to death.”
‭Psalms‬ ‭88:1-3‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

Oh dear! This is not a cheery Psalm. This is not the sort of psalm that would be chosen for reading on a dark, cold and wet morning in Scotland, as today. The heading in the NIV version attributes it to the Sons of Korah, and in particular to Heman, the Ezrahite. There’s quite a bit known in the Bible about this man and his family, and he had a reputation for being a Godly and wise songwriter in the time of the kings David and Solomon. But he was human like everyone else and was suffering. From what, we don’t get much of a clue from his writings, but suffering he was. The heading to this Psalm says it is for the “Director of Music”, with a tune, “The Suffering of Affliction”. Why would anyone want to sing this Psalm? But sing it they did, and here it is located in the Book of Psalms, a collection of 150 individual writings, forming the prayer and songbook of the Jews. But enough waffling! What relevance has this Psalm in our pilgrimage through life?

The first thing that strikes me is that Heman isn’t afraid of laying out before God his predicament and feelings. No suppressing of emotions here. We so often feel guilty if we spend time thinking about negatives. And it is true that by doing so we can enter a downward spiral, increasing our depression. Laying out our negative emotions and feelings before God, however, is different. It brings a sense of relief because in faith we know that God can change things. God will encourage us, put His loving arms around us, ending up carrying our load for us.

The second thing is that the issues Heman seemed to be facing into are no different to what we experience today. Those people who maintain that the Bible is a historical book with no relevance to today are mistaken. In his Psalm, Heman talks about his friends and neighbours, his lifetime of troubles, of his fears about death – all issues that are familiar to us.

Thirdly, Heman knows that God is there for him. Three times in the Psalm he calls and cries out to God, touching base with His loving Heavenly Father, in the midst of his distress.

We don’t know the outcome was after his emotional and desperate cries, but I have the feeling that, having laid out all his problems, Heman found the relief he needed. A difficult Psalm to read, but one in which it is comforting to know that others struggle with life’s issues just as we all do. And we all have a remedy in the presence of our loving Creator God.

Zion

Posted on by korgrocker

“He has founded His city on the holy mountain. 
The Lord loves the gates of Zion 
     more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. 
Indeed, of Zion it will be said, 
     ‘This one and that one were born in her, 
     and the Most High himself will establish her.’ 
The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: 
     ‘This one was born in Zion.’”
Psalms‬ ‭87:1-2, 5-6‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

This Psalm is very short and written by “The Sons of Korah”, who were musical and choral leaders in the time of King David. So they probably wrote this Psalm as a song, to be used in worship in the temple. But what was all this about “Zion”, a word that has come to describe the nation of Israel. A word associated with the Jewish nationalistic movement. A word hated passionately by certain adjacent countries in the Middle East.

Zion was a place, geographically situated in Jerusalem, but spiritually, God’s home. And the importance of Zion to the Jews cannot be underestimated. As we can see from these verses today, people born in Zion were contained in God’s Register of Births. Obviously a special place. But can we draw any conclusions from Psalm 87 that will help us in our pilgrimage through life today? Although Zion described a place and a movement in the Old Testament, in the New Testament Zion has become a word associated with the Kingdom of God, our spiritual kingdom. We see this particularly in Hebrews 12:22, “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,”. One day we will find ourselves living in this city, our ultimate spiritual home. But isn’t that too far in the future to bother about? Do we need to be aware of it today, when bills fall through the letterbox, when the washing machine breaks, when we sit at our office desk, earning enough to live on? Whatever we think though, we need a focus. We need to know where we are going. What we are working towards. Sometimes a vision of Jesus, of our future home, of the new life to come, will sustain us through the valleys encountered in our pilgrimage through life. Otherwise we will just flounder, perishing in the “now” and losing sight of “tomorrow”.

John Newton wrote a hymn in 1779 entitled, “Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God” based in part on verse 3 of today’s Psalm. The last verse is:

Saviour, if of Zion’s city,
I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in Thy name;
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Zion’s children know.

‭‭A great hymn – I’m looking forward to “solid joys and lasting treasure” – how about you?

Teach Me

Posted on by korgrocker

“Teach me your ways, O Lord, 
     that I may live according to your truth! 
Grant me purity of heart, 
     so that I may honour you.”
Psalms‬ ‭86:11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

How do we learn? What do we learn? Why do we learn? Questions that sit at the very heart of our lives. For unless we learn what we need for life, we will be woefully ill-equipped to make our way through the minefields that exists between the cradle and the grave. In our early years, our parents taught us the basics. School teachers added their weight and learning in our formative years. But unless we are receptive to what we are taught, we will continually bounce off the obstacles that will come our way, becoming damaged in the process. How many times have I thought, when observing the struggles of someone I know, “You never seem to learn”. Sadly, that sometimes applies to me as well.

We all walk a road through life. Sometimes there are mountain top experiences, where we find that life is wonderful and good. But at other times we walk through a valley, dark and dismal. Full of misery and depression. Through these experiences we learn, so that the next time we encounter life-trials, we know how to face into them.  

The ultimate and best Teacher is God through His Spirit. And we have a text book to help us, the Bible. The wonderful thing is that it is full of truth. Not someone’s opinion. Not a series of subjective thoughts. But Truth, because God is Truth. The teachings contained within the Holy Scriptures may not be easy reading. They may be opposite to what our human nature desires. But we reject them at our peril. Many people have made a “rod for their own backs” by ignoring Biblical teaching. We look on at our political leaders and see the mess they create when they choose to follow their own desires and not God’s desires, as set out in His Words in the Bible. There is another amazing fact about our Heavenly Teacher – “…God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” (‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13:5‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬). So to turn that around, God said that He is always with us. On the mountain tops but also in the valleys. Encouraging us. Teaching us. From the cradle to the – hang on – He will never leave us. Ever. 

Bend Down, God

Posted on by korgrocker

“Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer; 
     answer me, for I need your help.”
‭Psalms‬ ‭86:1‬ ‭NLT‬

Yet again the imagery in the Psalms impresses me. Straight away, this verse develops within me a picture of a parent bending down to hear what a small child is saying. David is back again, pushing the Psalmist’s pen. And once again he is calling out to God for help.  If the only information about his life was contained within the Psalms then we would perhaps have a very skewed picture of his existence, as he seemed to stumble from one disaster to the next. From one petitioning audience with God to the next.

But this picture of God bending down to hear our prayers. My prayers. Your prayers. The world’s prayers. So many of them incessantly rising up into Heavenly places. But we read that God doesn’t loftily wait for them to arrive, holding out a net to catch the best ones, letting most fall back to earth unanswered. No, God actually bends down to hear them – David wouldn’t have asked otherwise. Our hurried whispered prayers. Not making much sense. But God knows – He bends down to hear them. And just in case the words from our mouths are garbled and incoherent, He checks out what is in our hearts, where the source of our prayers are birthed. 

The wonderful thing about our relationships with our Heavenly Father, is that He is always there for us. “An ever present help in times of trouble”, (Psalm 46). And we can call upon Him at any time. Day or night. From wherever we are. From a prison cell or a palace. In bed, on our knees, at our office desk, anywhere at all. There in no place where God is unreachable. So why do we hold back in our petitions, in our prayers for help when we need it? 

David’s faith was such that he was convinced God would always answer him. He wrote in verse 7 of this psalm, “I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble, and you will answer me.” And he also knew that God would never tire of hearing his prayers. He wrote in verse 3, “Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly.” David knew the wonderful love and provision of His Heavenly Father. But He’s our Father as well and He has no favourites. We can all stand before Him, equally able to offer up our prayers. His unfailing love and mercy means He is always ready and waiting to hear us, bending down if necessary to hear our heart-felt petitions. Oh – just one more thing – we mustn’t forget our manners – we mustn’t forget to thank Him. And offer Him our praise and worship, in constant wonder that the Creator of everything cares enough to bend down and hear our prayers.

‭‭

A Holy Kiss

Posted on by korgrocker

“Unfailing love and truth have met together. 
Righteousness and peace have kissed! 
Truth springs up from the earth,
     and righteousness smiles down from heaven.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭85:10-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I love the poetic language in the Psalms. The descriptive words used, even in a translation, capture the Holy Spirit inspired message, lyrically flowing from the writer’s pen onto whatever medium was used in those days. In verse 10 we have four God-words – love, truth, righteousness and peace – coming together in a cosmic coincidence, intimately acquainting us with a glimpse of God in his Heavenly home. It’s the purity behind these words that has grabbed my attention today. Not just the limited human love, but unlimited, unfailing, God-love. Not the truth tarnished by human minds, but total God-truth. But what happens when just these two aspects of God’s character meet? A priceless jewel is birthed and it has a new word to describe it that hasn’t yet been conceived, awaiting us in Heaven. Something so significant has happened in Heaven that it can’t be held back, and in response, truth, a poor copy though, emerges in our sin-ridden domain here on planet earth. The imagery continues when two more God words appear on the Psalmist’s parchment – God-righteousness and God-peace. We are bounded by our very limited human understanding of what these words even mean, but we read that they come together in a kiss, in an intimate embrace, producing another jewel. Heaven is full of priceless objects that totally escape our human comprehension. An unlimited treasure chest of precious jewels that will take us eternity to discover and enjoy. Jewels safe in an environment uncorrupted by sin. I appeal to my readers this morning – make every effort to ensure your future. Make every effort to make the right investment. Make that faith-leap through the blood of Jesus into an assured future, beyond human understanding and comprehension, safe and sound in God’s presence.