"To Him be glory forever": Psalms

Showing posts with label Psalms. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Preparation to Persevere

Yesterday was the Boston Marathon, and for the first time in 33 years an American, Desiree Linden, won the women's division. There was a time in my life when I was up-to-date with who was who on the international marathon scene. I knew that I had heard of Linden before but I had to look online to learn more about who she was and how the race had turned out. And as I did so, I was surprised.

What surprised me was not that an American had won, but how slow the winning time had been. And when I looked at the men's results, I noticed the same thing. Slow times, perhaps not as slow for the men in a relative sense, but for both men and women the winning times, and the times for the top five finishers were far below the averages there. For a world-class race they were not what might be considered world-class times.

A little more investigation showed the cause of the slow times, and that was because the weather, to put it charitably, was atrocious. Cold, wet, and windy. Far from the conditions that can bring out the best from an athlete's preparation.

But even in bad weather, the race goes on, and someone has to win. So congratulations to those who ran yesterday, not just to the winners but to everyone who made it to the finish line. A marathon is a physically demanding event, and the conditions demanded even more out of the runners. But each of the finishers had what was needed, physically and emotionally, to persevere to the end.

As a Christian father I'm learning that the Psalms are a wonderful school for learning perseverance. We are currently reading the Psalms with our daughter, so each night at bedtime I read all or part of a Psalm and then we briefly talk about it.

Last night we read Psalm 85. So often in the Psalms the author is in great need from God. Sometimes the trouble has to do with other people, and sometimes it is of his own doing. And yet he understands God's character, and so he never lets go of God's promises. He continues to trust in God as he waits on God's timing for God to act.

God's word, in general, and the Psalms, in particular, train us for those times when life will be difficult. For those times in life when things move beyond difficult and into incredibly hard. The Psalmist hangs on to God as he prays for God's help.

That is the other great benefit to the Psalms, in that they model persistent prayer in the midst of challenging circumstances. Similar to Desiree Linden and all the other runners being prepared to varying degrees for the challenges they encountered in Boston yesterday, reading and praying God's word, prepares us to persevere, and even praise God, during all parts of our lives.

In Psalm 85:6 the psalmist asks:

"Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?"

That is a question that virtually begs an answer, for God is both faithful and unfailing in the promises he has made to his children.

In even the most difficult of times, God will revive his children. May we persevere in praising him in times of hardship, and continue to praise him when his deliverance comes. Amen.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Can't Have It Both Ways

Each day life presents us with many choices. Each day we are faced with the opportunity to choose lots of things. Many of the choices are relatively minor. This cereal or that for breakfast. This route or that one as we make our way to work.

Other choices are more significant. After high school should I go to college or join the military? Either one has the ability to affect a person for the rest of their lives, and often in ways that are unable to be predicted when the choice itself is made.

Some choices are exclusive, meaning that if I choose one thing then other things have to be eliminated as options. Should I ask that person to marry me? If I do, and they accept, then it means leaving behind a life of being single. As much as a person may want to live for periods of time in each world, choosing one means leaving the other behind. We just can't have it both ways.

This idea of one thing excluding something else came to mind as I was reading Psalm 34. In verse 22, where the Psalm ends, it says:

"The LORD redeems the life of his servants;

None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned."

There is a promise within this verse, and like all the promises of God it is a very good one. The promise is that the LORD will redeem the life of his servants. Anyone who comes to God as God's servant will find redemption. Guaranteed. It is a promise in the Psalm that points forward to the saving work of Christ Jesus.

The second line of the verse emphasizes the fact of that promise. In God there is refuge. By taking refuge in God we are protected from eternal condemnation.

There is a curious thing about refuge in God. His refuge is a really good thing but so often we don’t find it to be satisfying. When times are troubled we appreciate God's protection and deliverance but when the crisis passes and the sun is out we find ourselves wanting to step outside the refuge a bit. To play in the grass between the fortress and the forest. Maybe to lay in the shade of the trees, not quite in the woods but just at their edge.

We want God's protection in the dangerous times but we want trust in our ability to watch out for ourselves once the danger passes. We want to have it both ways, and that is dangerous.

God promises that he will always hold on to those who come to Him by faith in Jesus, but His grasp doesn't prevent us from episodes of kicking and screaming like a toddler, hurting ourselves more than anything else. So a large part of life in God is learning to trust Him and to live within the refuge each and every day. To learn that the joys inside His refuge are infinitely better than the appearance of anything on the outside.

We can’t have it both ways, nor should we want to. His ways are always good, and may you grow in your delight of His refuge each day. Amen.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Refuge

One of the great blessings that comes with faith in Jesus is knowing that God doesn't change. Knowledge of God doesn't come to us automatically but it is something that we begin to learn as we spend time reading our Bibles, spend time in prayer with God, and hear God's word preached and taught.

This morning I was reading Psalm 36 and in the heart of the Psalm are these words:

How precious is your steadfast love, O God?

The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house

and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light do we see light.

In the past few weeks I have made a number of trips to hospitals in Farmington and Albuquerque. As a pastor I have spent time with people from our community who are going through some very hard times. Some of those people I know well and others I have only met for the first time when I visited them.

I sit with them and their families and hear their stories. Sometimes I read some scripture with them. Some of these people are members of our church and others are friends or relatives of members. I am a pastor, but not always their pastor, so I offer to read from my Bible and let them make the decision. And I have always prayed with them.

Like reading from the Bible, I always ask, but no one has declined. And in those moments of prayer I usually find myself beginning with words like those in the Psalm above. Being in the hospital is the kind of circumstance which brings to mind the fact that while our situation may be difficult, that there is much that seems wrong and out of place, we can turn towards God and trust that He is in full knowledge and control of what is going on.

We come to Him in prayer, knowing that His love is both steadfast and a place of refuge. God's love for His children is fixed. It is firm. It is unwavering. And it is a place where we can come to find shelter, protection and safety.

In these recent trips to the hospital I have seen the storms of life raging. And it has been my privilege to call on the precious and steadfast love of God to hold and carry His children through the storm.

May you know this precious and unfailing love, this place of refuge, in your life today.

Monday, April 6, 2015

The Savior's Glory

Yesterday it was my privilege to lead the community Easter sunrise worship service. On Easter morning, as the sun comes up, we have a worship service on the hill a bit behind our church. This picture was taken shortly before we started, as people were walking up the hill and the sun was beginning to break across a ridge east of town.

Last night I was reading Psalm 8, which opens with this verse:

"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens."

Reading that verse took me back to a moment during our sunrise worship, a bit farther along when the sun was fully visible, just at the top of the ridge. I was facing the congregation and had my back to the sun, and as I was speaking I turned briefly towards it as I said something about the rising sun on that first Easter morning.

And when I looked towards the sun I was struck by two thoughts. The first was how dazzlingly bright it was at that very moment. It was so bright that I could not look at for more than a brief moment. And the second thought was that as bright as it was, it was only a kind of weak indicator of the glory of our risen Savior, Jesus. The brightness of His glory, right now, is something so powerful that I, sinner that I am, wouldn’t be able to stand its presence for even a moment.

But…and this is a significant "but"…I am a sinner saved by His grace and mercy towards me. Easter reminds me of many things, and one of those things is that one day He is coming again, in great glory. And all those who are His will delight in His glory. One of the passages I preached from on Easter during our regular morning worship was Colossians 3:1-4, which says this in the closing verse:

"When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

The brightness found in yesterday's sunrise was a reminder of the glory of my Savior, Jesus, a glory that will be seen fully when He returns. It is a glory I will not try to hide from, only because I am His. Rather, it will be a great delight to see His glory, and to be with Him in it.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Finding Our Way

When I left Rochester for Dulce I received a gift from the leadership group at our church. It is a picture with a Bible verse on it. The picture is an outdoors scene, showing a path through a forest. The path is made of wood, with a few steps going up in the distance, and the Bible verse is this: "Teach me your ways, O Lord; Lead me in a straight path."

According to the picture the verse is Psalm 27:11. I can't fault the wisdom of the Psalm. It is good to seek guidance from God. It is good to ask God to show us His ways. We should want to stay on His paths and not run off other ways, going according to whatever whims or temptations catch our attention. And if God's path is straight, so much the better. It is so much easier to follow a straight path, one that we can see a far way down, than one that winds and only reveals itself gradually and in small pieces.

So I was looking at that picture and thinking of writing something like I just did in the previous paragraph, when I opened my Bible to read the verse. And it turns out that Psalm 27:11 says something just a bit different than the picture in my office.

"Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies."

That verse is from the English Standard Version of the Bible but I did a quick comparison and something similar is in all the major English translations. David, the author of the Psalm, does want the Lord to guide his path, but there is more to it than just that. David is in great danger as he seeks God's direction.

On Sunday mornings this summer and fall we have been working our way through the first letter of Peter. One of the consistent things has been the presence of hardship and suffering among the people Peter wrote to, and the ways that they should live as Christians in the presence of that suffering.

Peter and David are both teaching us the same thing, which is that life as a follower of God in the world is a life in which hardship naturally follows. And in reading each of them we see that we need for God to provide the direction for our lives. There is no other way. If God does not guide our path we will stumble around in the wilderness, becoming more lost with each step.

There are many things about God we won't understand during this life. Why we have to go through any particular hardship is one of those things that we rarely understand until after it is over. But we do know that God will show us the way. Let us seek to stay close to Him, in good times and bad, knowing that the path He shows us through any trial will always be the one that brings us a bit closer to Him.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

The Lord is here

In my devotional time this morning I read Ezekiel 48 and Psalm 104. In the last chapters of Ezekiel the prophet has been bringing hope to the exiles of Israel, telling them of the restoration that will come to them as God returns them from exile. Chapter 48 is the final chapter of his prophecy, and the book ends with this sentence about the Lord's city:

"And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There."

Psalm 104 is a psalm of praise to God. In my Bible it has the title "O Lord My God, You Are Very Great." In verse after verse after verse the psalmist proclaims the greatness of God. He goes to great lengths in describing the greatness of God as evident in the work of creation. And he responds to God in praise, saying this in verses 33 and 34:

"I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

May my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord."

I felt blessed in having these two pieces of scripture come together in my reading this morning. Today, like so many days, the news of the world is bad. Today it is Ebola and ISIS. More recently it was Ferguson and Gaza. Farther back it was smallpox and the Civil War. And farther back it was an itinerant rabbi in Palestine. And before that was the original bad news, when a serpent said, "Did God actually say?"

Yet in the presence of bad news that seems to have no end there is a truth that remains. God is good, and all things are in His control, no matter how they appear in our eyes. Ezekiel's prophecy was that the Lord would be present, eternally, in His city. And the Lord is present, today, and every day, in this world. The Lord is not just there, but He is here. And He will not be moved.

And knowing that the Lord is here, I will sing praise to Him, today and every day.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

From Everlasting to Everlasting

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." Psalm 90:2

This past weekend our congregation celebrated its 100th anniversary. I'll admit that the congregation's beginning might not have been on the first Sunday in October of 1914. We do know that the church building was finished and its first worship service was on Christmas, 1914, so it seemed reasonable to set an October date for the celebration. The first members had to be gathering by sometime in the fall, and Dulce, New Mexico, as beautiful as it is, is not the kind of place people seek to travel to in the winter. So the first weekend in October it was.

It was a busy weekend. We had a dinner and program on Friday evening. Saturday morning there was worship and the biannual meeting of the Rocky Mountain churches of our denomination. And Sunday we gathered for worship, followed by a potluck lunch. It was a lot of activity and a lot of fun.

Many people took part in the different activities of our celebration. There were current church members and their families. Several community leaders, along with members of other local churches were present. National leaders of our denomination made the trip to Dulce, along with a contingent of people from Denver who hold this congregation dear to their hearts.

With all of those people present many pictures were taken and have begun to circulate. My personal favorite is this one. It is one I took, with my phone, intending to capture something of our gathering as we shared the potluck on Sunday afternoon. I wound up capturing something unexpected.

This congregation goes back 100 years, and my family and I have been here for just one of them. As I look at the picture and recognize individuals I see people with deep roots in this church. I see the pastor who came here in 1994. And the wife of the pastor who came in 1989. And the pastor who came in 1973.

I see people in their 7th, 8th and 9th decade of life who have shared memories of this church from their 1st decade. Those are precious memories, and I feel privileged to have heard them. It never occurred to me when I was taking the picture that so many people would be recognizable in it. And when I look at it I see many people who have become dear to me over the past year.

The Jicarilla Apache Reformed Church has been present here in Dulce for 100 years. Our celebration was an opportunity to look back, and to look ahead.

The 100 years of ministry, the three days of celebration, the instant of a picture, are insignificant in comparison to the "everlasting to everlasting" of God. But each child of the God in this picture has a preciousness in His sight that we can barely grasp.

I am thankful to have been a part of the centennial celebration of this ministry, but, more than that, I am thankful for each person whose life has been changed, eternally, through this ministry, people who will one day be joined with their Savior, in His eternal glory.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Distance

Distance has been on my mind the past few days. A bit more than a year ago we moved from the Midwest to the West. We left Rochester, Minnesota for Dulce, New Mexico, a distance of a bit more than 1200 miles. And one thing we have done more of since we came out here is drive. Dulce is a great place for us to live but it is a small town in a sparsely-inhabited area, and without many of things that were so close to us in Rochester.

We participate in a home-school co-op, which is in Pagosa Springs, CO, a one-way trip of 48 miles. Our daughter's piano lessons are also in Pagosa, as well as a few other things she participates in, so in the average week we (truthfully, usually my wife) heads to Pagosa twice. Some weeks more than that.

To have a dealer work on our car means a trip to Durango, or 108 miles. Target, Sam's Club, etc. means a trip to Farmington, or 85 miles. That is also where I go to make hospital calls on members of our church. I have gone 2+ weeks without a trip to Farmington. And I have also made that trip three times in a week.

Traveling at night adds time into distance. Saturday we made our first trip to Albuquerque, for the state fair. It was a three-hour trip down and a bit longer on the way back. Night settled in just as we returned to the reservation, so the 60 or so miles left to home, which I drove at 60 MPH on the way down, took a bit longer, as I kept the speed at 45-50 MPH. Shortly after we arrived in Dulce we learned that when it gets dark on the reservation the deer and elk come out, and Saturday night was no exception.

Distance, in terms of time, was evident in a another way Saturday. In addition to going to the fair we were able to connect with a nephew I have living in Albuquerque. I had not seen that nephew since 1985 or 86. He is now nearly 36, with two children of his own. It was blessing that on our first trip to Albuquerque we were able to visit with them. Last May we were able to spend some time with his sister, my niece, when she made a trip north to visit us. While those distances of time were large, they closed rapidly, and easily, and we all look forward to getting together again.

Each week as our congregation gathers for worship we have a prayer of confession. In that prayer this Sunday I was thinking about the distance that sin creates between a person and God. Of course the big sins separate us from God. Anyone can see that. But what about the little ones? The sins that are so small, so insignificant, from our perspective? Thinking like that is when I misread the distance, because for all practical purposes the gap is the same. It may seem small, but for me to cross it would be similar to me jumping across the Grand Canyon. There is no way that on my own I can cross the gap caused by my sin.

It is a gap that is only crossed by my Savior, Jesus, who carries me to the other side. One Sunday last year I preached from Luke 16:19-31, a story that not only shows the chasm that exists between sinners and God, but that teaches that it is a chasm that can only be crossed in life. If a person doesn't come to have faith in Jesus before death, it is a chasm that they will never cross.

And thinking about faith brings me to the last of these thoughts I have been having about distance. And that is the distance to which God's forgiveness of sin reaches. Sure, it starts here, where I confess, but where does it end? The answer to that question is found in Psalm 103:11-12, which reads:

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."

That is incredible. The Savior who closes the gap made by my sin takes that sin and casts it away. He casts it far away. He casts it as far as the east is from the west, a distance that is infinite. His adversary may still bring memories of forgiven sin to mind, but the truth of God's word is that when I come to God in faith my sin is taken away, the chasm is bridged, and there is no going back. Amen. To God be all the glory!

Monday, August 25, 2014

Steadfast Love

" Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts the Lord."
Psalm 32:10

Recently, when I was reading Psalm 32, the tenth verse seemed to jump out at me. There was something about it that caught my attention. There was something about the words that begged me to look more deeply into what they were saying.

Verse 10 speaks of a contrast, which is something that is found frequently in the Psalms as a whole. It presents "the wicked" on the one hand and "the one who trusts the Lord" on the other. And it might be said that these two kinds of people are in possession of two very different things. "The wicked" have "many sorrows," while "the one who trusts the Lord" has "steadfast love."

Okay, I get that. Wicked…sorrow; those who trust God…steadfast love. Nothing remarkable here. Just move on along to the next verse, please.

But it's not that simple. God has something more profound going on here. There is more than what first meets our eyes.

What the psalm doesn't say is that the wicked have many sorrows, sorrows that they bear without any comfort from God. And it also doesn't say that the "one who trusts the Lord" also has many sorrows in life. No one lives a life that is pain-free. No one lives a life that is absent any heartache or heartbreak.

The difference that the Psalmist points to is that the "one who trusts the Lord" is never alone in their sorrow. Even in sorrow, perhaps particularly during times of sorrow, times of hardship, they find that they are in the steadfast love of God.

When we feel lost in pain, when it seems as if our life is falling completely apart, it is good to remember the promises of God that there is never a time or place when those who love Him are absent or apart from Him.

What does God's steadfast love look like? I think one place where it is summed up well is in Question-and-Answer 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism, which asks, "What is your only comfort in life and in death?" The answer is rich and full of hope for God's people, saying:

"That I am not my own, but belong - body and soul, in life and in death - to my faithful savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him."

Thanks be to God that His steadfast love truly surrounds the one who trusts the Lord.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Boundaries

" The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance."

Psalm 16:5-6

The other day I went running on the road that leads toward Stone Lake. I run out that way about once a week. It is a nice road to run on, as it is paved, and after I go past the clinic there is very little traffic.

I like the quiet. There may be an occasional car or truck. Usually the only thing making noise, besides the wind, are the occasional horses, cattle and deer. And those animals mostly blend in with the scenery. The landscape is forest and range land and those are the animals you expect to see in that environment.

While there is range along Stone Lake Road, it is not open range. There are fences on both sides of the road, keeping the cattle and horses away from the vehicle traffic.

But on this day things were different. I ran to Mundo Lake and then turned to come back to town. I was about a mile or so into the return trip and I saw a cow, a large cow, feeding in the ditch along the road. She was in the ditch, and on the wrong side of the fence.

She hadn't been there on my way out and as I got closer she saw me, startled, and quickly moved back through a very large hole in the fence. She joined three other cows standing just inside the fence.

The fence had formed a boundary for the cattle. It kept them in one place, their own place, and outside of the place used by others. The fence kept the cattle inside their range and away from the cars and trucks traveling on the road.

But the fence had been broken and I could see what would tempt a cow to push through it to the other side. The summer has been dry but the grass in the ditch was long and thick. The fence was in place to protect the cows but they were tempted by something on the other side that was very appealing.

God puts boundaries into our lives, and the places He puts them in are good for us. The psalmist goes so far as to say that God's boundaries are pleasant. Things on the other side of His boundaries are sometimes so appealing. They look so good and we yearn for them. We may push hard, and find ways through the fence.

Maturity as a Christian includes learning where God's boundaries are and trusting that He has placed them there for our good. Those things on the other side, which look so good, are really harmful. They harm our bodies, our hearts, and our souls.

May you and I learn where God has placed boundaries for our lives. He's put them there for our good and His glory.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Every Grain of Sand

"How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you."

Psalm 139 is a song filled with praise for God. One of the reasons the psalmist praises God is for the extent of knowledge the that God has, knowledge of both the psalmist personally but also of all of creation. Everything that God knows about the psalmist God also knows about every person and thing found in creation.

The psalmist knows that everything that could be known about him…the good, the bad…the well-known and the secret…all of these things are known by God. In the language of the psalmist, the thoughts that God has about him are more numerous than the grains of sand.

More than the grains of sand. That is a lot of thoughts. And that is for just one person. And God is able to hold not just these nearly infinite thoughts about one person, but all of the knowledge of all of creation. That would be like multiplying infinity times infinity. It is a number, a concept, too large and complex to comprehend.

And yet it is within the comprehension of God. I find that very reassuring.

We are so often desperate to control our own part of the world. And we can't. At some point in time everyone learns that parts of their world are outside of their control, and parts of life will always be that way. But God's knowledge of the world, every bit of it, is perfect. And He also has the ability to exert control at any time over any part of the world, which He does, according to His purposes, and not ours.

This morning, during worship, as we shared our prayer concerns, we were also reminded of the beauty that exists in the world. There is beauty in the largest of landscapes and the smallest of details. We were reminded that, while there are concerns on our that hearts that we want to lift to God, in the beauty around us we can see reminders of God's knowledge, knowledge of us and every detail of our world.

God, who can count every grain of sand, knows us fully. He loves us. He cares for us. And He holds us.

May you know His peace and presence in the uncertain moments of your life. Amen.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Snow

It is March in Minnesota, and one thing that means is snow. We had something on the order of 10 inches last Monday, and last night, just six days later, we had another 8 inches. Last week’s snow was very light and fluffy. Last night’s was different. It was the heavy, sticky kind. Excellent for making snowmen and laborious to remove, no matter what method one uses. With most of the month yet to come we are very likely to get another large storm before spring really arrives.

Storms that drop as much snow as the last two storms did are ones that last for several hours. It started last night while we were out and we cleaned off the car to drive home. Then, an hour later, the car we park outside had another thick layer on it, which I cleaned off as I moved the car to be out of the way of the snowplow. And this morning there was another thick layer to clear off before being able to use the car.

And while outside this morning, even before the sun came up, I could clearly see how everything was covered in white snow, undisturbed but for the deer that had walked across the yard. Snowfalls like the ones we’ve had in the past week create significant, but temporary, barriers to daily life. Even so, the fresh fallen snow is beautiful to look at.

Psalm 51 is a beautiful statement of David’s sorrow for sin and his request for God’s mercy. Verse 7 came to mind as a looked at the snow this morning:

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

God’s love, poured out in Christ Jesus, is a bit like the snow that fell last week and last night. It is relentless. And in a sense it makes things new.

The snow falls heavily but eventually stops. God’s love just keeps coming and coming and coming. Even in the midst of our troubles we can see God pouring His love out on His people.

And the snow that fell here last night made everything look clean. We had a lot of snow last week but we also had warmer weather and rain later in the week. Things looked pretty dirty outside by Saturday. But for a while this morning they looked pristine again. In a similar manner, only infinitely better, God’s love washes away every last bit of the sin in our lives that separates us from Him.

I count it a blessing to see things in nature that point me towards God, such as today’s reminder that in Christ I have been washed whiter than snow. May you see and savor His love in your life today, and every day.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Psalm 119:123

I had an “Aha!” moment in church this morning. A few days ago I received an email asking for prayer for the family of someone who had been connected with our church and had just died. The name of this woman was vaguely familiar but I couldn’t place it and I didn’t think about it very much.

As we started worship this morning our pastor led a prayer for this woman’s family. While she was not a member of our congregation she had been a regular presence at a weekly Bible study in our building. Later, during the sermon, he mentioned her one more time, this time including a very small bit of information, which was just enough to trigger my “Aha!’ moment.

I had met her about 8 years ago. As I think about it I can member the place and the circumstances of our meeting. Meeting her was connected to my meeting her brother, which took place at the same time and whom I got to know much better over the next year or so.

All of this came to mind as I was mulling over a verse from Psalms that Robin and I read last night. Psalm 119:123 says:

“My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.”

In Psalm 119 the Psalmist offers heartfelt thanks and praise to God for the law that God, in His wisdom and grace, has given to His people. While he repeatedly encounters adversity and conflict, the Psalmist always comes back to the truth and security of God’s promises. God’s law is the unshakeable bedrock of his faith and life.

I barely knew my friend’s sister but I know enough about her life to know that it had its share of adversity. She lived daily with things that for many of us are unimaginable in their difficulty. And that is just the small part of her life that I knew about. I am sure that those who knew her well know both of other areas of struggle as well as the places where she experienced deep joy.

And now, as I write, she knows the fulfillment of God’s righteous promise, the eternal salvation found only in Christ Jesus. The longing of the Psalmist, the longing of my own heart, is her present reality.

In the difficult moments of your life, in the dark places, in the circumstances where all you would really like to do is run for a quiet place of respite, may you find the presence and peace of God. God, who is already there, and who is holding you with the firm grasp of His promised salvation. May His promised salvation always be the unshakeable bedrock of your faith and life.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Now what? Going Home, part 6

This journey concerning my mom, our family and our travel with her while she is on hospice is going places I never would have anticipated when it began. She went to the hospital late one day, was critically ill overnight the second day, and had a test that revealed something very seriously wrong on the third day. There was one treatment option, a large surgery that carried very significant risks. She declined the surgery and chose to come home with hospice care.

Earlier this week I learned from my brother that the surgeon expected that her body would fail in 2 to 8 days. Today is her 25^th day at home.

The day that she came home I slept in her room and her breathing was so labored that I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had died overnight. And there were two other nights in those first two weeks where I went to bed with the same sense of anticipation, thinking it to be as likely as not that she would die overnight.

I have been back with her now for six days and things are very stable. Her breathing is normal, in the sense that it is regular and quiet, so that I don’t have a constant awareness of it. Her pain is improved to the point that her use of pain medication, which at its highest was much less than what was permitted for her, is currently at zero. Her last pain medication was 18 hours ago.

She is still quite tired, napping frequently during the day. She isn’t eating much but she is eating what she wants, when she wants to, so that in regard to rest and nutrition she is getting what her needs met her way.

I spoke with the coordinator of her care through the hospice agency and they are of the opinion that her precipitating medical condition has, unexpectedly, stabilized. Her overall physical condition continues to qualify her for hospice care. The nurse will make daily phone calls but likely be checking on her personally less often than she has over the past three weeks.

When our mother came home from the hospital my siblings and I put together a plan for one, and often more, of us to be with her all of the time. That has worked well to this point but one of the “Now what?” questions for us is how do we continue to care for our mom, whose death does no longer seems imminent but who will still require 24 hour supervision and assistance?

These last 25 days have been at times arduous and wrenching on my siblings and our families. They have tested our relationships with each other, and speaking for myself, have strengthened them.

This has also been a rich time for me to be present with my mom. I think that I will always treasure the memories of being with her during this period of her life. The sheer number of days with her has been a gift.

And this has been a rich time for my mom to visit with friends and family. It has been a privilege to be present and to hear their stories.

I am not certain what is coming next in this journey with our mother, but I do know Who to ground myself in as we seek to find our way. I join with the Psalmist in saying:

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I left up my soul.” Psalm 143:8 NIV

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Psalm 99:9

Last night Robin and I read Psalm 99. It is a short psalm, just nine verses, which praise God for who He is. While they are worded slightly differently, verses 5 and 9 concisely tell God’s people what they are to do and why they should do it. They are to exalt, or highly praise, God, because He is holy. Verse 9 says:

“Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy.”

Generally speaking, I am not crazy about excerpting parts out of Scripture, such as times when a worship prayer may be derived from a Psalm and rather than using the whole Psalm, or a whole section of it, the prayer uses selected verses and skips other verses. It makes me wonder what the verses that are being omitted say, and what God may have to say to us today through those verses.

With that disclaimer in place I’m going to do exactly that type of cutting out with Psalm 99:9, dropping the middle phrase and leaving us with:

“Exalt the LORD our God…for the LORD our God is holy.”

We don’t have to wait for a designated time of worship, or for a gathering with other Christians, in order to exalt God. We can do it at any time or place where we may be. We can do it no matter whom we are with at the time.

The Lord God is always holy. He is always perfect, pure, without defect, without beginning or end. His love is always perfect and without limit to those He pours it out on.

Has God lavished His love on you? Give Him the thanks and praise that only He deserves.

Not sure if God loves you? Ask Him, and He will most certainly touch you. And if you want a companion for the journey I would be glad to accompany you, just send me an email at bradkautz@gmail.com.

“Exalt the LORD our God…for the LORD our God is holy.”

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The joy of God’s house

Last night my wife and I read Psalm 84. The heading in the ESV Study Bible that we read from says, “My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord,” and it is a psalm proclaims the joy that is anticipated as the psalmist approaches God’s designated place of worship.

The notes in our study Bible include these comments about the psalm:

“[It is] very much like the hymns in praise of Zion as God's special place (e.g. Psalm 122), although this one focuses especially on the delight of going to worship there. The purpose of singing this psalm is to cultivate that delight, to open the eyes and hearts of God's people to the staggering privilege of being a welcome guest in God's own house, and to write deep into their souls the conviction that wickedness offers no reward that can even remotely compare to the joy and pleasure of God's house." (p.1043)

Those comments nearly take my breath away as they point out the joy and delight, the deep senses of peace and of pleasure, which we can know as God’s guests in the place where He gathers us as a people for worship. Frankly, that isn’t always the orientation of my mind and heart when I “go to church.”

These words remind me that worshipping among God’s people isn’t about me or the baggage I’m bringing along as I enter church. It is about the Lord God Almighty, who has invited me to lay my baggage down, enjoy His presence, feast on His word, and to forget that my baggage ever existed as I walk back out into His world.