May the Peace

(photo credits to Dyu - Ha)

Laughter and tears, joy and fear

These are part of growing from child to man.

Yet, darkness often accosts

By the hands of angry men again and again.

Running and riding,

Kite-flying and joy,

Playing football and cowboys,

Oh, how fun to be a young boy.

Storms and sunshine,

Rainbows and rumbling,

Run for shelter at crack of lightning,

Finding on entering, the storm’s crashing.

 

Short was the darkness

Maybe imagination that passed.

Skateboards and bikes anew,

Games of tag, red robin at last.

 

Day ends and darkness comes,

Normal though it may seem.

Enters door dark and looming,

It wasn’t imagining.

 

Hands raised high bring darkness,

Crack of belt brings shock and pain.

Disillusion and lost approval,

Greater loss than the “disciplining.”

 

Less heard is laughter

Loss of joy as fear takes its hold.

Peeking round corners

Fear of what may happen still to unfold.

 

Not knowing each day’s darkness,

Wary, wondering when it will come.

Inner fear, lack of presumed love,

Seeking acceptance just for once.

 

Enter light, so bright when arrived,

Cast darkness back from this child.

Come to Me He said,

You are loved and all mine.

 

Scrabbling quickly at escape,

Swiftly following toward Light’s love.

Peeking back to ensure,

Darkness corralled, no more to hurt.

 

Child of Light and of Day,

Belong you not to the night.

Grow in faith, love, and hope,

Strengthen you with My might.

 

Wear this armor of salvation

Always standing firm to the end.

Rejoice always, pray continually,

Give thanks in every circumstance.

 

In darkness, lost your innocence,

The first, cast away by the Light.

Look not back at fear and pain,

Keep your eyes ever on my light.

 

No more a victim, innocence lost.

No more a survivor staying ahead of the dark.

Forever more than a conqueror, our Lord declares.

Free and forever united with the Light, we wear His armor.

Amen.

May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace to the end.

In all times and in every way, the Lord is forever within.

(Bible texts: 1 Thessalonians 5, 8, 16-18, 2 Thessalonians 3:16, Romans 8:37-38)

Crushed But Not Destroyed

 

(photo by John Towner)

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.

(Psalm 34:18, Berean Standard Bible)

This psalm of David shows us, the readers, his praise of and thanksgiving to God for rescuing him from his enemies. The story behind this psalm tells of why David has joy and thanks; God freed him from his enemies. David feigned insanity in front of Ahimelech, the king of the Philistines in Gath. Gath’s hero had been Goliath, the giant who David slew with his sling and stones. David realized the Philistines’ anger might have continued to boil because he defeated their champion. He decided his best way to escape the clutches of the Philistines in Gath was to act insane. If David seemed insane, Gath's king and people would not view him as a threat. They released David because they believed he was an insignificant threat, since he was insane. David praised and thanked God in Psalm 34 as he recalled his experience.

David often praised God in his psalms. He shared his inmost feelings with God and people who would listen his psalms. Christians and Jews often quote Psalm 34 in sermons, meditations, and songs. This psalm encourages people to hope and wait, for God's faithfulness. God is faithful and almighty.

This devotional does not walk readers through this psalm verse by verse. To help individuals focus on God, this study examines the last six verses, disregarding the problem. Circumstances do not dictate who God is; God dictates the circumstances. God uses circumstances to show Himself.

Verses seventeen through twenty-two highlight the why and who that David wrote about in the psalm. In verse seventeen, David wrote, “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears; He delivers them from all their troubles.” In this verse, he reiterated God’s actions in verses four and seven. He exalted God because God hears and delivers the righteous. God answers their cries for help.

I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to Him are radiant with joy; their faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor man called out, and the Lord heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and He delivers them. (Psalm 34:4-7, BSB)

Notice in verse seventeen, God hears and answers the righteous. These righteous are those who “look to” God and “fear” Him, the ones who follow and revere God (vs. five and seven). The righteous whom God answers follow and obey Him out of reverence. They relate to God as His children and choose to be His people. These people, the righteous about whom David wrote, are the ones from whom God hears their cries and delivers. God does this because He counts them as righteous—dedicated—unto Him.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.

(Psalm 34:18, BSB)

In verse eighteen, David further emphasized how God answered when He heard his cries for help. He wrote that God was near him when he felt brokenhearted and crushed with fear because of his enemies. The fear David expressed is the kind that comes from deep within a person. That fear makes a person depressed and despair. Depression and despair weigh heavily on a person so that he or she can barely move his or her feet and arms. The person can become immobilized with the weight of it. This can lead to a lack of desire for basic activities such as eating, bathing, and talking.

Brokenheartedness weighs a ton, like a boulder sitting on a person’s chest. It occurs when a person carries the weight of their circumstances within him or herself. It can break the spirit of the person and crush him or her, leaving no hope of which to hold. Yet even having felt this and because of it, David exclaimed and praised God. He praised God because He is mightier and delivers (vs. 17). David proclaimed about and praised God because He is near and saves people crushed by their circumstances (vs. 18).

David knew God hears the righteous because God is faithful to be near and save them. David praised God because God heard and delivered him from Ahimelech, the Philistines, and his earlier enemies. He knew from other times in his life that God provided and protected Him. David, having a history with God, knew Him to be deserving of proclamation and praise. He praised God because he himself followed and revered God.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all. (Psalm 34:19, BSB)

Again, in verse nineteen, David wrote God delivers (saves). In verse seventeen, he said God delivers from troubles. Verse eighteen expanded to include the effect within a person of those troubles—crushing weight, causing a heavy heart and downcast spirit. In verse nineteen, David said the troubles he faced caused him to have afflictions. The troubles in which David found himself caused him mental anguish. They came from persistent evil. Yet, David learned to revere the Lord more than fear the troubles. He knew, because of his relationship with God, that God is mightier than the evil that beset his physical body, heart, and mind. David recalled God’s faithful nearness to him and His might, then resolved to continue to follow and revere the Lord. God delivered David from his enemies in the past and would continue to deliver him because His God was almighty and faithful Yahweh. God dictates the circumstances; circumstances do not dictate who God is.

He (God) protects all his (the righteous person) bones; not one of them will be broken. (Psalm 34:20, BSB)

David continued in verse twenty by using a metaphor. He wrote, “He protects all his bones: not one of them will be broken.” Verse twenty does not mean the righteous will not have broken bones. David meant no part of God’s child shall be utterly destroyed—annihilated like Sodom and Gomorrah. In the end, God preserves and delivers His child. God assures him or her of his or her place in His kingdom for eternity. Evil does not defeat God and His child. God is near, protects, delivers, and saves His people. God dictates circumstances; circumstances do not dictate who God is.

Satan cannot destroy righteous people—those who follow and revere God. Paul taught people this basic tenet in 2 Corinthians 4:17. He wrote, “For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is beyond all comparison” (BSB). Peter contributed his thoughts about this in 1 Peter.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you to test you, as though something strange was happening to you. But rejoice, you share the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed (rejoice) at the revelation of His glory. (1 Peter 4:12-13, BSB).

Expect to suffer evil in this world; it is not abnormal. As a person is afflicted, brokenhearted, downcast, and suffering, remembering who God is, what He has done, and what He promised will help that person stand strong in his or her faith. That will help him or her to endure whatever physical, mental, and emotional pain he or she experiences. God protects the person whom Jesus saved by belief in Him as Lord and Savior. This person made righteous by Jesus follows and reveres God. God calls them His own children and protects them.

Evil will slay the wicked and the haters of the righteous will be condemned. (Psalm 34:21, BSB)

Satan cannot grasp and utterly destroy the child of God. God allows the evil to slay the wicked. The wickedness they do catches them in their own web from which they cannot extricate themselves. Only Jesus can remove them by their belief in Him. The time a person has on earth is their chance to believe in Jesus. Later, he or she will be judged for their wicked actions. That judgment will be punishment, a condemning to hell. Hell is a place of perpetual and inescapable torment. The wicked will slay themselves, wrote David. He meant they will cause their own eternal death because of the evil they did in life.

The Lord redeems His servants, and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned. (Psalm 34:22, BSB)

With verse twenty-two, David emphasized God’s protection but used a stronger word than in verses seventeen and eighteen, a word not used yet in this psalm. He wrote “God redeems” His righteous child. The connotation of this word goes beyond the words he used earlier in the psalm—delivers, saves, and protects. “Redeems” would have led the Jews to recall the Old Testament understanding of redemption by offering the sacrificial lamb for sins they committed. The lamb paid, with its lifeblood, the judgment for that person’s sins. “Redeems” also reminded the Jews of the redeemer-protector of the family who safeguarded a family’s or person’s future. That redeemer-kinsman redeemed a person by paying the ransom to buy back the family land/home or to pay the debt of the person who sold him or herself into servitude. The redeemer-kinsman is the one who paid the ransom—the cost—for his kinsman to be free from bondage or to have his land/home returned to its God-given owner. The Jews sacrificed the lamb to pay the cost for their sins. Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection expanded the Jewish understanding of redemption to include eternal freedom from death and evil. The redemption Jesus gave goes beyond a debt incurred because of financial hardship or to cover sins. Peter and John spoke of the sin-ransom Jesus provided in 1 Peter 1:18-19 and Revelation 5:9.

For you know it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot. (1 Peter 1:18-19, BSB)

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased (ransomed) for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” (Revelation 5:9, BSB)

David wrote a psalm to praise God and proclaim about His goodness and rescue of him. He wrote to lead others to know how near God is to His children. His psalm told of God’s faithfulness and might. It declared God hears his children. Through this psalm, David rejoiced in God. He recalled how God had rescued him. David gave metaphors by which to live faithfully following God. He concluded the psalm by giving a final admonition to praise God.

David wrote Psalm 34 to lead readers and hearers to revere God and grow in their faithfulness to Him. He reminded righteous people that they need not fear the wicked. In Psalm 34:21, David stated the wicked will fall by their own evil. The traps of the wicked will catch them. Unrighteous individuals face destruction due to their choices. So, God’s children need not worry about their actions towards you. Instead, faithfully continue to follow and revere God. Verse twenty-one reminds people of what Paul taught in Romans 8:31-39, too.

What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake, we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, 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 8:31-39, BSB)

Fear not the wicked and their deeds. Instead, revere God and what He can do. Who should we praise? We praise God. Why should we praise God? We praise God because He is almighty and omniscient. We should keep our focus on God and not on our circumstances. Why? Circumstances do not dictate who God is; God dictates circumstances.

Be a righteous person by believing in Jesus and He will redeem you from your sins, then follow and worship God. Praise and proclaim about Him. Remember, the “momentary afflictions” you face are nothing compared to the glorious riches God has in store for you in heaven. Be like David and praise God during your troubles. He is still in control.

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. (Psalm 34:1, BSB)

Challenges

 

(photo credit Frida Lannerström)

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.” (Galatians 5:25-26)

Since we have died to ourselves and live in Christ, we have the Spirit living in us, with resultant spiritual fruit. So why then do we seek glory and act conceited about our status, income, heritage, discipline, et cetera? Conceit is sin, not a fruit of the Spirit. Living conceitedly becomes an open challenge to a contest, which leads to battles internal and external, battles waging in our being and with other people. Conceit is our desire to set ourselves up as better or greater than someone else.

That is not all that happens. Conceit can cause other people to sin. Our attempt to grasp glory on earth causes others to believe striving for more attention, for whatever reason, is something to which to attain. This striving comes from envy. Envy is not a spiritual fruit but shows our discontent with and distrust of God and His provision.

The person who seeks glory challenges others to battles. He envies other people’s status. This person's actions create obstacles for others, as they promote their own lifestyle as the ideal. This conceited lifestyle leads to people competing for preeminence in various aspects of life. It causes envy among themselves and discontent and distrust in God.

Jesus Christ does not advocate living in a way to appear superior to others. Consider what Paul wrote about Jesus in Philippians 2:6-7. “(Jesus) who existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

Instead, we should live like Jesus through the guidance and gifts of His Holy Spirit who lives in each Christian. Instead of being conceited, quarrelsome, and envious, and instead of causing other people to stumble and follow that same way of life, live life with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Which fruit will you produce: the fruit of the Holy Spirit or the fruit of the flesh?

What do you need to confess to God and give to Him in voluntary submission today? He gives you the ability through His Spirit to take that first step. 

The Reward

The “end” is over,
Timeline erased.
Life ran o’er its course;

Heart completed the race.

One last beating.

One last exhale.
One final eye-blink.
Life ends its brief trail.

What more can be done?

What remains beyond?
Mere mem’ries recalled
At setting of sun.

A psalm said o’er life.

A psalm said o’er death.
Prophecy fulfilled,
Shepherd’s love begets.

Mem’ries of Shepherd’s love;

What was now and not yet,
Becomes now and always
As with Shepherd, they sit.

The Lord is my Shepherd,

Said with understanding in full.
He laid them down in green pastures,
Just as He led them by waters still.

He refreshed and restored them

And led them on righteous paths.
The Shepherd gave them peace and calm,
Walking with them, with His rod and staff.

Before eyes of their enemies

Made He a table for His own.
Anointed their heads with oil;
Son and daughter, He made it known.

Faithful and faultless,

Merciful and good,
The Shepherd never left them;
Through their days of life, He always stood.

Breath and heartbeat gone forever.

Timeline faded away.
Eternity stretched before them,
Because of the Ancient of Days.

Surely goodness and mercy followed them

Through the length of their days.
The “not yet” is now theirs,
To God, we now praise.

     For being their Shepherd,
     the One who gave rest and led.
     For being their Savior,
     their Restorer and Righteousness.
     For being their Conqueror,
     their Peace, Rod, and Staff.
     For being their Provider,
     their Defense and Holiness.
     For being their God
     all their days and night.

To them, all that was, their timeline ran out.

The days of their “not yet” have begun without end.

The reward of a life consecrated by God?

Forever hearing “well done” and eternity with the King,
Singing with the angels, “Praise God and Amen!”

In their lives, they sang with men.

Now with the angels, this song never ends:

The Lord is my Shepherd;

I did not want.
He laid me down in green pastures;
He led me beside still waters.
He restored my soul.
He led me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yes, though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I did not fear evil because You were with me;
Your rod and staff comforted me.
You prepared a table for me in the presence of my enemies.
You anointed my head with oil; my cup overflowed.
Surely goodness and mercy followed me all the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.

Waiting Requires Action

“Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.”

“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.”

“You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:34, 37, 40)

What do these verses mean? Based on what Jesus taught and lived out, we can understand the meaning. The next paragraphs explain them.

Verses thirty-five challenges it’s readers and hearers by stating the following. Prepare yourself to serve the Master. Know Him. Be in relationship with Him. Grow in knowledge of Him and His Word. Become more like Jesus daily. Tell other people about Jesus and salvation. Have the mind of Christ and prepare to serve God and people by preparing yourself to obey Him. And KEEP doing these things. Don’t give up or faint in your devotion to God.

Verse thirty-seven explains the promise of God by saying the following. Blessed by God from His storehouse of abundance are the servants of the Lord of lords—the Master—when He returns and finds them watching for Him, seeking Him, growing more like Him, and serving Him and others in attitude, thought, and action. Most assuredly, I tell you, the Master, Christ Himself, will be in relationship, will welcome, and will serve His servants as He promised by welcoming them—His saved and obedient followers—and having them sit and recline at His own table, as joint heirs with Him.

Verse forty explains the imperative by meaning the following. You, servants of the Master, must prepare yourselves daily, moment by moment, by being in relationship with God, growing in knowledge of Him and His word, becoming more like Jesus, proclaiming the gospel, and having the mind of Christ, so that you obey Him by serving Him and other people. Why? Because Jesus the Christ will come when you don’t expect Him.

So, expect Christ’s return, be prepared by growing to be more like Him; this is waiting in anticipation for Christ’s return. You will receive His just reward of an eternal inheritance.

Do you know Jesus? Have you believed in Him and received salvation from Him?

If Jesus returns today, will He find you prepared, waiting, and obeying?