this time, fall in love

The Word for today:
Psalm 63

mark this: Psalm 63:8--
My soul follows hard after thee. (KJV)



I've got this blog to write today, because I promised a lot of people that I'd keep after it.

But what do you say about Psalm 63--about love such as this? It's slightly unsettling to be in the presence of the relationship, the desire, in these lines. I feel like the third wheel, even a wee bit creepy and voyeuristic.

David thirsts, faints, beholds, praises, blesses, overtly expresses, and meditates. He is satisfied, he is joyful, he is upheld by the right hand of God.

He clings, he lingers, he follows hard after God.

This is the man after God's own heart (1).

I return, in the course of a year, many times to Psalm 63, to get a preview of where my relationship with Jesus is heading. I am not there yet, but I'm after it, and I'm closer than I was yesterday.

But we must leave this love story now. There's a time to read love stories, and there's a time to live out a love story of your own.

Everything in the Bible, and everything in creation, in history, in space, in time and in timelessness--all of it leads to the cross of Jesus Christ. And the reason for that cross was to restore the loving relationship with God that we were meant for, the kind we see in Psalm 63.

So here's the shortest Bible course ever taught:
God's heart was broken in the Garden, it bled on the cross, and was whole again in Psalm 63.

The Bible is about the heart of God. You and I and David are just following hard after.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should add that there is a bit--a little bit--about you and me in Scripture:
before the cross, we'd fallen in sin. After the cross, we fell in love.

So fall in love, and keep on falling.

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(1) 1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22

Harp Hero

(written by Pastor Joe)

Th Word for today: Psalm 62

Another great Psalm written by David, but don't forget the musical arranger to this brilliant composition, one Jeduthun. Remember that the ascription (the stuff before the first verse in many Psalms)is just as inspired as the rest of the Bible. This fellow Jeduthun is easily skipped over by the casual reader, but he is in there for a reason.

Today, a very popular video game is called Guitar Hero. It has sold millions of units and allows people (mainly teenage boys) to think that they are skilled at guitar when really all they are is skilled at rapid button pressing. Jeduthun was the original Guitar Hero er, I mean, Harp Hero. Only he actually had real talent. He is the musical composer of at least 3 Psalms (39, 62 & 77) and most likely more, as he was one of the "directors of music" that are not mentioned by name 38 times in the Psalms.

From 1st Chronicles, we learn that he was also named Ethan (6:4). He was a chief musician for King David, in charge of the trumpets and cymbals (16:41-42). We also a seer/prophet who used a harp to proclaim the word of the Lord (25:1-3). That is quite the resume. Furthermore, if you look up 2nd Chronicles 5, you will find that amazing account of the dedication of Solomon's Temple when the LORD God filled the entire place with His glory. And right there in verses 12 & 13, there's our friend Jeduthun, leading the trumpets, cymbals and voices as they worship the Living God.

What a beautiful illustration for us. We too sing and make music for a King. He, like David, does all the writing- the words are His. But in His mercy He allows us to sing His song in our own unique tune and arrangement. Every Christian has the joy and duty of being a modern day Jeduthun- sing loudly for Him!

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The Word for today:
Psalms 61 & 62


Mark this: Psalm 62:8--
Trust in him at all times;
Pour out your hearts to him.


I and my family are blessed in about a zillion ways that I know of--and, I suspect, in a zillion ways I'm unaware of.

One of our great blessings is that we go to a real Bible church. It's not too big and it's not too small. It's just right.

We have musicians who sing/play real Bible songs, old and new, with Spirit-driven giftedness. We have Sunday school teachers who tell real Bible stories to the kids, loving them to pieces as they do.

Adult Sunday school classes are short on worldly philosophy and long on Jesus, the real Jesus-- not the movie Jesus but the biblical Jesus: the lamb slain from the foundation of the world; the creator of the universe; the sinless Son of God, born of a virgin, who performed miracles, taught the precepts of his kingdom, and died on the cross to save us from our sins; who rose from the dead; who lives forever to keep us saved; who will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom will never end.

We have a youth pastor who delights in life, carrying a big red Bible in a banana box wherever he goes. You read that correctly. He carries his big Bible in a banana box--along with sundry other items he'll be needing that day--like candy, shoestrings, a measuring cup. (How the rest of us manage to get through the day without a measuring cup is hard for him to fathom.) Best of all, my teenage sons note that he not only carries the Bible, but opens it often and avidly, and teaches from it with reverence, enthusiasm, and skill.

We have a senior pastor who does the heavy lifting--lifting all our spirits as he lifts up Jesus. He boils complex things down for us so we can understand. Right now he is teaching us that prayer is not just about asking for things all the time. Prayer is about connecting with God, it's about expressing your heart to God, it's about a relationship with God in the making.

Yesterday he taught the acronym ACTS--a pattern that's been proven to activate more well-rounded prayer:
Adoration (praise)
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication (the "asking" part of prayer).

Then he reminded us that the Psalms are the Bible's prayer book. Between the lines of the Psalms we can feel the passion, power, and personality of prayer. We can see the relationship between God and David grow before our very eyes as David pours out his heart in prayer.

I don't know who you are or where you are. But wherever you happen to be, find a real Bible church with real Bible teachers and pastors, who pray real Bible prayers to God the Father through the real Jesus, the biblical Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit--the Spirit which infuses the prayers of the Psalms.

Sit outside in the parking lot on a Sunday morning. Are they carrying Bibles through those doors? If not, go home. If they are, go inside. Are they referring to those Bibles in Sunday school and in the sermon?

And if, while you're surveying the scene, you see a man carrying a big red Bible in a banana box, then look no further. You've found a real Bible church!

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Look Mom! I'm Standing in the Rain!

(written by Pastor Joe)

Psalms 58, 59 & 60


I am excited at the opportunity to join with my brothers & sisters in Christ as we journey together in GOD's Word. I plan on writting in every few days or so to complement the great job Franklyn is already doing. So here goes.

Wow! What a place to start! Great idea to begin with the Psalms. As I read these three, I was struck by the very vivid language and images that David used in these three Psalms. These are not polished press releases sent out by David's public relations team, these are the very words and feelings straight from his heart, totally unfiltered and unedited. I love his honesty and the fact that God's Word is full of real people with real emotions and real problems. We can learn a lesson on putting away the masks and facades we wear from this.

In the midst of these three psalms, we encounter some of David's pain and difficulties. We see his intense frustration with wicked men carrying out their wicked plans. We hear his pleas for help as he is being hunted down by King Saul. We listen to his feelings of helplessness as he faces defeat in battle. In all of this he uses vivid word pictures to convey his raw emotions. His enemies are poisonous and untamed snakes; they are snarling dogs that "belch out with their mouth" (1). And David uses some choice words in his call for justice against the wicked. He prays that God will knock them toothless, that He will melt them away like a snail, that He will poke fun at them and consume them.

In all of this, David is learning some important lessons. In Psalm 58 he learns that despite how things appear, God is the Righteous Judge who will hold the entire world accountable.

In Psalm 59 David learns that God is our Strength and Defense. He is our place of refuge in an unfair world. And in Psalm 60, David learns just how weak the help of man is, but how with God he is able to "do valiantly."

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(1)Psalm 59:7 KJV

God raises a banner

The Word for today:
Psalm 60

mark this: Psalm 60:4-5 --
But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
to be unfurled against the bow.
Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered.


Many of the Psalms contain an "ascription" (1) at the beginning. Don't neglect to read these. They are part of the inspired text of the Bible.
The ascription tells us by whom the Psalm was written--or for whom, to whom, about whom, about what.

The ascription for Psalm 60 tells us that this Psalm is "for teaching." So what is it that we are to learn? What is Psalm 60 teaching us?

Psalm 60 presents a battle scene, with Israel in a desperate situation, fighting for their lives. Worst of all, it seems that God has deserted their cause.

But just when the people think that all is lost, God Himself raises a banner way up high (2).

Psalm 60 is teaching us that God hasn't rejected us. In fact, when God seems far away and disinterested in our struggles it's almost always because we have stopped looking for his guidance and direction.

So what does he do when we stop looking his way? He grabs a pole and attaches a banner or flag to it. God himself holds it up high to attract our attention.

He's calling out to us: "No, no; don't go that way! Go this way! I'm over here! Rally around me! I'll lead you to safety."

When God wanted to show us the way out of our ultimate struggles--out of sin and death--he lifted up a banner. But it was not a banner made of brightly colored cloth. God's banner was made of the most remarkable thing!--
His banner over me is love (3).

And what a love this was--the most amazing, mind-boggling, perfect, never-ending love.

The banner called out, "This is the way! Come this way, and I'll get you out of here alive. Don't lose sight of me, and I'll get you home!"

Just before Jesus died on the cross, he told us that he would be lifted up in order to draw our attention and show us the way:
But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself (4).

Look up. See that banner? That's what love looks like.

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(1) also called "superscription"; (2) Psalm 60:4; (3) Song of Solomon 2:4; (4) John 12:32

"to judge, to save"

The Word for today:
Psalms 58, 59

mark this: Psalm 58:11 --
So that men will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth."

Q. In the Psalms, David often prays for God to judge his enemies. Is that a bad thing for David to pray?

A. No. Without judgment, there is no salvation. Unless Jesus is Judge, he can't be our Savior.

Q. How's that work?

A. Here's an example:
The judgment of Pharaoh's army, drowned in the sea, was the salvation of the children of Israel (1). The very same thing that was salvation for one was judgment for the other (2).

Here's how Psalm 76 explains it:
From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet--
when you, O God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land (3).

But the picture of the salvation of Israel at the Red Sea was just a foretaste of the cross--when God judged Jesus in order to save us. There is no salvation without judgment.

Jesus came the first time as the Suffering Servant (4), in order to save us from our sins. He will come a second time as Judge (5), in order to save us from our enemies.

Whether Suffering Servant or Judge, he's our Savior.

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(1) see Exodus 14; (2) see 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (3) Psalm 76:8-9; (4) see Isaiah 52:13-53:12; (5) John 5:22-27

Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.

The Word for today:
Psalms 56, 57

mark this: Psalm 56:3--
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.


When you follow God's way, when you stand for his truth, when you live a life pleasing to him, you will encounter enemies and obstacles and opposition. The person who proclaims the Good News of Jesus Christ and backs up his words with a life in alignment with Jesus' teachings is a threat to the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness,the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (1).

Psalm 56 shows that David's enemies are relentless:
All day long they twist my words;
they are always plotting to harm me.
They conspire, they lurk,
they watch my steps,
eager to take my life (2).

In Psalm 57, David is in the midst of lions;
among ravenous beasts--
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords (3).

In the world's most famous poem--Psalm 23--David, in the presence of his enemies, is walking through a dark, frightening place. But he fears no evil, because God is with him.

You will encounter lions and Goliaths. But they are more afraid of Jesus than you are of them. The Lion of Judah (4) is bigger, stronger, and braver than any lion or giant you will ever face.

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(1) Ephesians 6:12; (2) Psalm 56:5-6; (3) Psalm 57:4; (4) Revelation 5:5