desires – The Words Of David C. Frampton

Study of Psalm 131 (Part Three)

Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like a weaned child. Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now and forever (Psalm 131:2-3 CSB)

The life of faith is never an empty avoidance of evil. Many believers make their mistake at this point. To live by faith also requires positive activity on our part. We begin to act in faith in order to live in a different way. When confronted by pride and difficult matters, we must still or quiet our souls. “It is not without an inner struggle. The writer had to take himself in hand: he ‘stilled and quieted’ his soul” (Leupold).

We must learn to keep silent before the Lord. He does not need a counselor (Romans 11:33-34), and we should stop trying to tell him how to run the world. Sometimes this silence comes from prudence (Leviticus 10:3; Psalm 4:4); here it comes from trust (Psalm 62:5).
From the soul come desires. Therefore, we must silence those desires that want to know all mysteries in the place where they originate. They come from deep inside us. Whatever the situation outside, we must calm the inner person of the heart that demands to know things beyond its capabilities.
Notice that the Psalmist does not seek the end of his soul, but the submission of his soul. Our problem is not our “self” but the attitude that our “self” has.

The writer uses an illustration to reinforce the kind of silence he promotes. The picture may be shocking to some who think talking about a child nursing at the mother’s breast is scandalous. Clearly the Lord does not share that “hyper-Victorian” opinion! “To the weaned child his mother is his comfort though she has denied him comfort. It is a blessed mark of growth out of spiritual infancy when we can forego the joys which once appeared to be essential, and can find our solace in him who denies them to us: then we behave manfully and every childish complaint is hushed” (Spurgeon).

The mother must not be blamed in weaning the child. It is an essential part of the child’s growth. Yet if we watched a mother during the process as the child wants to nurse, we might think her cold or uncaring. She presents a cup of milk to the child, and the child throws it aside, demanding the breast. The mother refuses to give in, and the child cries out in hunger and frustration. Is she wrong? No at all! She would be blamed if she did not help her child mature.

David says that the growth process of silencing himself brings him to a better state. He is now able to be like a child weaned from its mother’s breasts. The mother is still there and the child rests content on her lap. The child has learned to trust its mother without nursing. In the same way, God would have us learn contentment. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4:11 NIV). Whatever pleases our Father in heaven to have us know should bring us calm contentment. Like a weaned child who still hungers, we can still hunger for other things. But God would have us rest content on his lap, quietly trusting him to provide us with our daily bread.

“When we think ourselves safely through the weaning, we sadly discover that the old appetites are rather wounded than slain, and we begin crying again for the breasts that we have given up. It is easy to begin shouting before we are out of the wood, and no doubt hundreds have sung this psalm long before they have understood it” (Spurgeon). “Godly experience has taught men that the soul will never desist from its unseemly worldly objectives until it has found its true rest and peace in God.” [Leupold]

Having taken proper self-control of his own soul by trusting God, David now turns to his brothers and sisters in Israel. We live in a time of excessive individualism, and so we have lost sight of our duty to help others. The second greatest commandment directs us to love others as we love ourselves. David obeys God when he turns to exhort others in Israel. When we are weaned from excessive self-confidence, then we will turn to consider the needs of others. Those who get wrapped up in matters beyond them, often lose sight of the true spiritual needs of others. Though the leader may have a quiet confidence in God’s sovereign ability, he must also encourage his followers to hope in the living God. Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption (Psalm 130:7 NIV).

Hope in the Lord is the positive expression of childlike trust. It is turning from pride and self-sufficiency to rest in the Lord alone. It is confidently expecting that the Lord will provide and answer, though we see no apparent solution to our difficulties.

Instead of concerning ourselves with great matters or things too wonderful for us, we ought to concern ourselves with putting our hope in the Lord. This is an activity that we ought to do. When we fail to act properly, we expose ourselves to temptation. To say this another way, we can get caught up in things that are beyond us, and so not concern ourselves in our first duty — our relationship with the living God, which is by faith.

Grace and peace,
David

Naboth’s Vineyard (Part One)

1 Kings 21:1-16

Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.” But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors” (21:2-3 NIV).

This is a well-known Bible story, or I ought to say it was when I was young, when parents took their children to Sunday School and read them Bible stories at home. Perhaps you can remember it from their childhood. Its purpose is to present an ongoing question in God’s story: Will people make choices about living for the glory of God and pleasing God rather than to please themselves? Both the main characters had to make this choice.

Life in this present time is filled with suffering (Romans 8:18-27). We do not like to hear this. It is much easier to play to the desire for pleasure that people have and tell people that God wants them to be happy and prosperous now. Such teaching destroys and perverts God’s message as much as teaching salvation by good works. God speaks to all in the setting of a fallen world, handed over to bondage. And in that situation, evil people do run over the righteous and harm them. God wants us to understand the world in which he works out his glory. Here it is King Ahab’s greed (21:1-2, 4) that will harm a godly man. A powerful and already rich man was about to oppress a common person. In the plan of salvation, God permits evil events. He allows people to commit sins, even monstrous sins. Our view of God and his world must be correct, so that we are not misled with false ideas like “God will bless me and make we happy, healthy, and prosperous, if I have enough faith.” How did this evil event happen? Ahab wanted something that was close to him but that did not belong to him. The desire to have a field was not wrong in itself (cf. Proverbs 31:16), but Ahab desired something that God’s law had forbidden him to have. There can be a very thin line between legitimate desire and greed. When we wrongly want something forbidden that is nearby, it can be very difficult to resist the temptation to covet, since the object constantly attracts us. Think of David and Bathsheba, Herod and Herodias, Judas and money.

Ahab continued to covet, even when his offer was refused (21:4). He plainly transgressed the tenth command of the law covenant. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s (Exodus 20:17). To paraphrase Matthew Henry, Paul was content in a prison, but Ahab was discontent in a palace. Contrary to popular opinion, comfortable circumstances cannot produce happiness and satisfaction. Think of Amnon’s illicit desire for his half-sister, Tamar (2 Samuel 13:1-4). In an affluent culture, such as the one in which I live, it is too easy to fall into greed. Everything around cries out, “Purchase me, indulge yourself, and you will enjoy comfort!” But the whole world cannot satisfy the human heart.

Grace and peace, David

Holy Desires (Part Nine)

2 Corinthians 5:18-21

Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.” He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, we also appeal to you, “Don’t receive the grace of God in vain.” For he says: At an acceptable time I listened to you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation! (CSB)

Usually when we think and talk about desires, we confine the topic to human desires. We fail to take into consideration God’s desires. This contributes to an impersonal view about God, but God is very personal. He wants our hearts to get in line with what he knows and loves as good, holy, merciful, and kind. God desires that sinners hear his message of reconciliation.

God makes known his desire through his holy word, the Bible. Two ways we see his desire in this passage:

The quotation from Isaiah 49:8 – God does minister help to those in need; God is committed to help those who declare the good news, whether Christ, or the apostle Paul, or the Corinthians, or you and me.
The testimony of the apostle – “Be reconciled to God” (5:20)

God makes his desire known through the ministry. He has given the ministry (5:18) and message (5:19) of reconciliation to us. Since God is still the sovereign Lord and humans still rebel against God, the great and necessary task in every generation is to serve God and people by proclaiming the good news of reconciliation. As has been said, there are two things you can do on earth that you can’t do in heaven: sin and tell others the good news of Jesus Christ. Can you guess which one God wants you to do?

We serve as ambassadors from the Great King to sinners. We have been commissioned to communicate God’s way of peace to other people and to appeal to them to be reconciled to God. When a pro basketball team is trying to sign a key free agent, it will enlist its already signed players to appeal to the free agent to sign with the team. We are on God’s team and we ought to urge others to join us. We have a high calling to declare God’s message precisely and clearly, and to do it in a way that makes known God’s desire for reconciliation. Are you doing your part on his team? Let’s not brush this question aside! Let’s face our responsibility and fulfill it.

God desires that we share his desire. We are to communicate his encouragements to people to be reconciled to God. We beg you (5:20). “We cannot fail to detect the strong note of urgency and compassion in the Apostle’s language” (Hughes). When you beg someone to do something, you really want him or her to do it, don’t you? Today is the pleasant or welcome time (6:2) for anyone to return to God in repentance and faith.

We are to communicate the Lord’s urge for people to be reconciled to God. We appeal or urge people (5:20; 6:1). God’s message is to become our message. We must look at people and opportunities to talk with people with God’s eyes.

Now… now…. We live during the time when people may be saved. At the second coming of Christ, the year of God’s favor toward sinners ends and judgment comes. Seize the opportunity that God has given to you to tell others the good news.

Grace and peace, David

Holy Desires (Part Eight)

2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Every day our hearts are drawn between many competing desires. Some of these are easy, totally up to our preference, and it really doesn’t matter what choice we make. But others concern the eternal destiny of other people, and God wants us to have a holy desire when we are faced with matters of this magnitude. The question before us is: “Do I share God’s holy desire about other people?” Let’s focus our attention on his desire and then evaluate ourselves about whether or not we share God’s holy desire. God desires that sinful people be reconciled to him. By nature, we are separated from God because of sin. Our first parents rebelled against God and we persist in rebelling against the Lord. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear (Isaiah 59:2 ESV).

Consequently, a state of war exists between God and sinners. We were God’s enemies (Romans 5:10a NIV). God must uphold what is holy and good (loving God and loving others), and sinful people oppose God’s desire for what is holy and good (Romans 3:9-20). People by nature are separated or alienated from the living God. Suppose a husband gives his wife a necklace with a one-carat diamond hanging from it. Now suppose that another woman coveted that necklace and began to reject the woman with the necklace because of her jealousy. That coveting and jealousy would be evil and would cause evil. Now suppose that you find yourself thinking, “Why did God allow billionaires to have so much money? Why didn’t he give it to me?” Now that would also be evil. Rebellion against God and his precepts fills our world. The Holy God must act against rebels who would ruin what God has made.

God has made a way of reconciliation, the way to restore the relationship between him and people who are alienated from him. The basis of God’s plan is the saving work of Christ. God meets and matches human rebellion by his love to us in Jesus Christ. For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Romans 5:10 NIV)

Since we couldn’t do anything to remove the alienation and since we didn’t want to anyway, God provided the way for God and sinners to get back together. In order to bring two parties together, one must have a way to negotiate a settlement. Those who follow professional sports see this happen all the time. The management of the team and the athlete must bring offers and counteroffers to the table.
At the cross God counteracted the penalty that rebellious people had earned (Romans 3:24-26; 6:23). In the crucifixion of Christ, God demonstrates his justice and is able to declare us right with him because justice has been upheld.

The result is that God doesn’t have to count people’s sins against them, because Christ paid the penalty for sinners. Are you reconciled to God through the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you desire to see others reconciled to God?

Grace and peace, David

Holy Desires (Part Seven)

2 Timothy 2:22

Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart (NIV).

The Lord directs us to grow up our desires among the fellowship of his followers. Notice the words along with those. We must eliminate the “lone ranger” approach to growth in grace. When Christ saved us, the Spirit put us into the Father’s family and Christ’s spiritual body. God wants us to walk the walk of faith with other followers of Jesus. Consider the many “one another” commands and exhortations in the New Testament Scriptures. (See a previous post on that subject.) Certainly, we need to walk with God personally, but that walk must include our spiritual partnership with other believers. Fellowship with other believers will helps us mature, because of what believers are by God’s powerful grace.

Observe how believers are described here. We are focused on the Lord; we are those who call upon the Lord. We are people known for prayer. A Christian prays. Two aspects of prayer to consider:

We worship God; we recognize his worthiness. God uses our words of praise and of confession of the benefits of walking in his ways and teaching about God’s significance to stir each other to live in conformity with his reality. There is something encouraging and convicting about hearing another Christian say in a small group, “The other day I experienced this in my walk with God.” We spur each other on when we share how the living God is presently at work among us.
We seek help from God; we make bold requests to our Father in heaven (cf. Luke 18:7). God uses the heart cries of others to draw our hearts together to him. In this day when local church prayer meetings have disappeared, we ought to join together in prayer in every small group meeting.

Believers are a pure people; we call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Our hearts were purified by faith in Christ and his saving work. See how the following verses make that plain.

He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith (Acts 15:9 NIV)
Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (Titus 2:14 NIV)
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:14 NIV)

We strive to maintain purity, because moral filthiness is disgusting to us, who form the pure bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:27). This begins with a continuing reliance on Christ and his finished work. If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-9 CSB). The reality of Christ and his work in the gospel provide practical motivation to keep a pure heart. Consider Paul’s example: I have the same hope in God that these men have, that he will raise both the righteous and the unrighteous. Because of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people (Acts 24:16 NLT). Are we maintaining pure hearts together?

Grace and peace, David

Holy Desires (Part One)

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers (NIV).

As I write, we are in the second week of preseason football. In our locality, that means the Philadelphia Eagles, and I’m sure that every Eagle’s fan has a great desire to see them win. There is certainly nothing wrong in becoming a little enthusiastic about a sporting event, provided that you don’t let that control your life! Hopefully, the Eagles will have a successful season, although they face determined opponents; if they do, we will celebrate their victory.

God has given us many desires. The desire for victory is just one of them. God has made us to enjoy many things—food, water, beauty, rest, and so on. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17 NIV). Our problem is not that we want to enjoy what God has given us for our enjoyment, but it is that we have too narrow an interest in what we want to enjoy, and far too often, we want to enjoy forbidden pleasures—things and activities that distract from God’s glory and ruin us—what the Bible calls sin. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

In a few articles, I want to direct our attention to holy desires. I call them holy desires, not to give the impression that some good things and actions are sacred and others secular, but because this psalm presents a desire for what is good in contrast to what is wicked. The First Psalm provides a series of contrasts between those who follow the Lord by faith and those who reject him and live according to human wisdom. What we want to focus on is the contrast between the godly and the ungodly regarding counsel or advice.

God wants us to live happy lives. We need to give an important clarification. When I say that the Lord God wants us to live happy lives, I am far from suggesting that the worthiness of a thought, word, action, or thing is determined by whether or not it makes you and me happy. Worthiness and holiness is always determined by God’s holiness and glory, whether we happen to like something or not. We know what God’s glory and holiness is from the Bible, God’s message. I am sure that the apostles totally disliked the experience of being flogged, but they came to know a greater joy in suffering for the glory of Jesus Christ. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name (Acts 5:41 NIV).

The correct nature of this statement is revealed through the many times that God in the Scriptures marks out for us what a happy life is.

Many statements in the Psalms – 1:2; 2:12; 32:1-2; 34:8; 40:4; 41:1-2; 65:4; 84:4-5, 12; 89:15; 94:12; 106:3; 112:1; 119:1-2; 128:1
The teaching of Jesus – Mt 5:3-12; 16:17; Lk 6:20-23; 11:28

Do we have a correct understanding of God? He really wants what is for our good. God knows where human happiness can be found, since he knows everything, he designed us to rejoice in God’s glory, and he tells us how we can have happy lives. Will we believe God?

Grace and peace, David

Joseph and Temptation (Part Two)

Genesis 39:6-10

So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her (NIV).

In our last article about Joseph, we made a few general observations about temptation. Everyone encounters temptation every day. The Lord Jesus taught his followers to pray to be rescued from temptation (Matthew 6:13; 26:41). Joseph’s encounter with it ought to provide sufficient motivation for us to pray. Let’s analyze his first battles with the temptation to sexual immorality.

Potiphar’s wife aggressively tried to seduce Joseph (39:7). Joseph was in a very vulnerable position. This complicated sin’s attack.

He was an unmarried young man with normal sexual desires. We must always realize that sexual desires are very good. God created people with a longing for sexual fulfillment. He made us to enjoy sex. This was not Joseph’s temptation; instead, it was to fulfill his sexual desires outside of a marital relationship.
He was a man with frustrated ambitions. It would be too easy to seize something to prove himself to himself.
He was a servant. Normally, he would have to obey her orders. In other words, he had a ready-made “excuse”. When we make excuses to do something that we know is sinful, we fall into a dangerous trap. Joseph wasn’t looking for an excuse; one was personally delivered to him by his “employer”. Many in business receive these “excuses” to drink excessively, to go to “gentlemen’s clubs”, and to party wildly while away on business trips.

Joseph was caught in a surprise attack. If he were tempted to sexual immorality with a servant girl, that would be a common affair. As the head slave, he could have had occasion to seduce women with a lower position in the household. But his master’s wife had designs on him. This was more unusual. Note, I did not say unheard of. We do not have to go looking for sin. It will seek us (cf. 1 Peter 5:8).

Joseph made a godly refusal of her wicked seduction (39:8-9).

He reasoned from general principles. Honor demanded that he not violate the trust that his master had in him. Joseph also respected the marriage relationship that God had established which people have followed from creation (cf. Roman 2:14-15; Genesis 20:3-7). People know that they ought to be faithful to their spouses.
He reasoned from godly principles. He was able to call the seduction to illicit sexual pleasure by its correct name: “such a wicked thing.” He viewed sin as foremost of all as an offense against God (cf. King David’s confession of his adultery, Psalm 51:4).

Joseph had to endure an unrelenting assault by Potiphar’s wife (39:10). His sound and solemn reasoning did not change her mind. Temptation does not walk away when it is first spurned. Joseph had to be on constant guard against this temptation: she spoke to Joseph day after day. Let us not think that temptation will grow tired of harassing us. Temptation is always optimistic about its chances for victory. Joseph acted wisely while being tempted. He refused the sin. “No, I won’t go to bed with you.” He also refused the occasion of sin. In general, if you would keep yourself from harm, keep out of harm’s way. May God give us grace to learn from Joseph’s example.

Grace and peace, David

Prayer Two of a Struggler

Psalm 25:4-7

People want to know and to be known. These are powerful cravings. Witness the desires for information about what is happening from a multitude of websites and to tell others about ourselves in social media. Yet when we look at life from God’s perspective, we can see our own inadequacies. And this stirs up anxiety in us. David expressed his feelings about seeing himself as God saw him, but he nevertheless drew near to God.

David struggled with walking in God’s ways. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long (25:4-5 ESV). David knew his weaknesses. He had an accurate self-image. He knew he had blind spots and an enemy in his own inner person (remaining sin). Still, David had a learner’s attitude. Even godly men need to learn (2 Corinthians 5:9). Years ago, we visited a church where a friend was pastor. He was an accomplished teacher of God’s word. He sought to stir his congregation to attend Sunday School with these words. “I still need to learn; I’ll be in Sunday School.”

David knew what he needed to learn: what pleases God. He was not interested in a mere outward conformity, but in really learning a way of life that is consistent with God. For this reason, he opened himself to the teacher, his covenant Lord. He wanted practical instruction. We want you to be able to use this article on Mondays, Thursdays and all other days.

David knew the entrance requirements for God’s school of grace. He knew God’s teaching flowed out from the fact that God was his salvation. In God’s school, everything starts with knowing the Lord as Savior. From the full light of the New Testament Scriptures, we know that this is the gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16-17). A profitable next step is to focus on God choosing you, the Savior dying for you, and the Spirit helping you. David knew that the application of the teaching related to an active hope in the Lord (cf. Colossians 1:5-6; Titus 2:11-15). We cannot make progress in godliness apart from living in hope in Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:1-4).

David struggled with his friendship with God. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! (25:6-7 ESV). He wondered if God’s friendship could be depended upon in two crucial areas. But instead of fretting about these matters, he approached God as his friend and talked to him about them.

David wanted God to remember his great mercy and love. Observe his God-focus. “Lord, consider yourself!” Remember your great mercy and love. This is how to pray in faith. Bring God into your story, because you are part of his story. He strengthened this with an appeal to God’s long story of glory.

He did not want God to remember his sins. David confessed his sin clearly. He did not hide or evade. He put everything on the table. He confessed the sins of his youth. The godly man shudders about what the world winks at. He spoke about rebelling against the Lord. It was not little, but major sin. See his example: Use biblical concepts about what sin is to assist in making your confession genuine. But after his confession, he asked his covenant Lord to remember him according to love, God’s love. His plea was not a mistaken reliance on his covenant loyalty, as some wrongly talk in our time. Instead, his plea depended on God’s commitment to be faithful to his covenant promises. Since David was a sinner, how could he do this? He lived in hope that one day God would provide a better sacrifice for sin. He depended on God’s promise of the Savior. And one day on Golgotha, God showed that his promise was completely trustworthy as God himself paid the penalty in full for our sins.

You and I are all sinners; yes, all of us are! Yet I have good news today! The living God welcomes you to forgiveness and righteousness in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. If you are feeling guilty because of your rebellion against God, God has provided the way to be cleansed from guilt through Christ’s perfect, once-for-all sacrifice.

Grace and peace, David

The Believer’s Happiness a Reason for Praise (Part One)

dscn3658 Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Psalm 146:1-10

The closing psalms are the outposts of heaven. In the Psalms the ruin of sin has been discussed and the glory of God set forth over all. At the end of the collection, the Psalms conclude with praise to the Lord. “Come, rejoice with me; let us magnify his name together!” is a worthy theme for the ending of this collection of writings. This psalm of praise also has an instructional purpose: to urge people to put their trust in the Lord, for only then are we humans truly happy.

The psalm opens with determination to praise the Lord. Hallelujah! My soul, praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing to my God as long as I live (146:1-2 HCSB).

The writer provides a lesson in self-exhortation (146:1; cf. Psalm 103:1; 104:1). Spiritually, we must be self-controlled; that is, we must not allow the events and circumstances of life to dictate our spiritual tone. This requires us to talk to ourselves. “Why are you so depressed or lethargic, my soul? You are a child of the King, an heir of heaven, and one who will reign with Christ!” This involves the ministry of the Holy Spirit, as we will see in our series of articles about the Spirit of God. “O Holy Spirit, enlighten my eyes with the glory of my blessed Redeemer. Control me with the truth that is in Jesus, and then I will be self-controlled.” Practically, we must start here, because we will never be able to encourage others to praise the Lord until praise for him flows out of our own hearts.

We read of the response of the writer’s soul to his self-exhortation (146:2). A fire has been kindled in the psalmist’s soul. And not only is that true, but the fire has intensified so much that he resolves to praise God as long as he lives (cf. Psalm 104:33). This is like being “bit” by the physical fitness “bug”. Those bitten by it desire to do their selected activity repeatedly, whether it is swimming, walking, running, cycling, hiking, or skiing. (Let it snow!) When godly aspirations govern the soul, a person does not think about growing weary of them or of them ever losing their freshness. Even now, for example, I can sense the excitement of putting on the skis and taking off in eight to twelve inches of fresh powder. The problem is that too few have tasted the majesty, the glory, and the goodness of God, so that they long to praise him. Do you crave the glory of the Lord?

If your soul has been saved from eternal wrath, then come, let us praise God together! Certainly, we have something we can share together, because we know the joy of sins forgiven and the wonder of Christ’s perfect righteousness, and the Spirit living within as the Spirit of adult sonship. We cannot tell how long or short our lives may be, but as long as we live, we may glorify the Lord!

The key to such praise is knowing that God is yours—that he is in covenant with you in Christ by the blood of his cross. Can you say, “The Lord is my God; I will praise him forever?”

Grace and peace, David

Safe Place

dscn0074 Deuteronomy 33:27a

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms… (NIV).

Life is filled with uncertainty, and many are feeling uncertain now. People across the world either long for change, or have recently experienced great political change, as in Great Britain and the United States. With change comes uncertainty, and people desire a refuge or safe place for their families and themselves. They like to think that a smart plan of action will provide the refuge they crave. For example, some talk of leaving the country or buying gold or getting involved politically. Others will vent by demonstrations, or by ranting and raving, or by listening to others do the same. Some will hide, like one well-known author who decided not to send out any tweets for a while. One the other hand, others will assume that they now have a safe place, because their desired change has come. Although you still hear their uncertainty as they admit that they don’t know what the change will mean for them.

Those who follow the Lord Jesus ought not to walk into the swamp of the supposed safe places of worldly people. We need to apply our faith to whatever uncertainty we presently feel. Our verse reminds us where our true place of safety is. The words of the verse were said as Moses concluded his blessing of the tribes of Israel, God’s old covenant people. He gave this blessing as his own death approached and Israel was about to enter the land. The people were about to experience great change, along with the uncertainty that a new home with new leadership would involve. Moses said that the people of God have a safe place, but that safe place is not a place but a person, the Lord God himself! This is good to know, because we can always have a safe place in the Lord, regardless of our circumstances. God is not only our Protector, and we commonly think and speak that way. God is our Protection. He is our refuge. Let’s ponder this truth. How is the eternal God our safe place?

The Lord is our refuge because of his covenant promises to us. The Lord never lies (Titus 1:2). We can rely on his word to forgive us (Hebrews 8:12) and to not forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). In Christ, we have a new and better covenant that is established by our Great High Priest’s once and forever sacrifice of himself for us. So then, we can be confident that he will be our safe place.
The Lord is our refuge because of his perfections. God is holy or set apart from sin and far above all he created. He is sovereign, all-powerful, eternal and unchanging, all-wise and all-knowing, everywhere present, and fully self-sufficient. God is also love, good, patient, compassionate, and faithful. All that he is provides absolute safety for those who draw near to him by faith in Christ.
The Lord is our refuge because of his presence. God is with us. The great promise of the Lord Christ before he ascended to heaven is that he would always be with us to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). The Holy Spirit makes Christ’s presence real to his people. With the Lord of all with us, we can be confident during every change he walks with us.
The Lord is our refuge because of his providence. The events of life, however distressing from our vantage point, are under his control. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39 NIV).

My friends, let us trust in the Lord. We have every reason to approach the changes around us with confidence, because our hope is not in circumstances but the living God.

Grace and peace, David