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Category Archives: Psalms

Psalm 68:4-5

17 Jun

4 Sing praises to God and to his name!
Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds.
His name is the Lord—
rejoice in his presence!

5 Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—
this is God, whose dwelling is holy.

 Psalm 68:4-5

Dear God, I know some children who feel fatherless. I know some children for whom Father’s Day is painful (adult children and minor children alike). I know some father’s who ignore Father’s Day altogether. As humans we experience a lot of wounds over the course of our lives. Some of them we cause ourselves, some of them are caused by others, and some of them are just life happening to us.

The reality that can often be hard to see is that you are our father above all other fathers. And what we receive from you is love. Yes, to some extent there can be provision, but that comes as it fits your will. But the real thing we experience from you is that love that is indescribable if we will just stop and receive it through laying down our lives and taking up your yoke and cross.

As I was typing this the children’s song “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart” came to mind.

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart (where)
Down in my heart (where)
Down in my heart
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart (where)
Down in my heart to stay
 

And I’m so happy, so very happy
I have the love of Jesus in my heart
Down in my heart
And I’m so happy, so very happy
I have the love of Jesus in my heart 

I’ve got the peace that passes understanding
Down in my heart (where)… 

And if the Devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tack (Ouch!)…

Father, happy Father’s Day. For everyone out there that cannot stand this day for one reason or another, I pray that you will guide them. Love them. Help them to feel your presence and submit to the freedom that is available to them through letting go. Heal the brokenhearted. Tangibly love those who feel unloved. Your involvement in our lives as our father might not always look like we want it to look, but I know you are there. I worship you for that.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 17, 2018 in Psalms

 

Psalm 19:1-4 & 1 Samuel 8

12 Jun

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

Psalm 19:1-4

Dear God, if the Israelites has done it right back in 1 Samuel 8, who would David have become? I know it doesn’t matter because that’s not what happened, but I’ve recently wondered if he might have been the next Judge after Samuel. Everything about his relationship with you, his prophetic ability, and his concern for others suggests he might have been.

And if he had been Judge instead of King, what would his life have been like? He would probably have had a different married life and different children. His life would have been simpler and probably better in a lot of ways. To some extent, I think the power did corrupt David. It certainly corrupted his lineage.

The thing we all strive for—power and wealth—really is a false idol. Instead of peace it offers paranoia. It’s like giving a cola to a thirsty person at first or tastes great, but it only leaves you thirstier. What percentage of Americans are on antidepressants as opposed to those who live in South America? Shouldn’t one of the wealthiest countries in the world have the happiest people?

Father, I think of David writing the worshipful psalm and I can’t help but wonder what might have been. I’ve never wondered that before the last few days, but the more I think about it the more I’d love to know. You warned the Israelites about what a king would do to them, but you left out the part about what being king would do to the person. Help me to take my eyes off of worldly idols and simply embrace the beauty of the sky and all that you have made above and below it.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 12, 2018 in 1 Samuel, Psalms

 

Psalms 46:8-9 & Proverbs 21:1

11 Jun

Come, see the glorious works of the Lord: See how he brings destruction upon the world. He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire.

Psalm 46:8-9

Dear God, as President Trump meets with the North Korean leader soon, I pray for success. I pray that you would guide their hearts and that you would let there be peace and growth in the developing relationship. What I really care about in all of this are the people who suffer in NK. They wake up every day with no hope, no knowledge, and actively denied access to you. They are hungry. Some are abused.

And we have similar problems here. We have too many who are hungry. We have too many who are abused. Sweet Jesus, we need you. Show me what to do to spread a call that will draw others out of the pain of self indulgence and into the peace and joy of your presence.

Father, the king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases. (Proverbs 21:1) May you guide the hearts of everyone involved in the meetings in Singapore, but not for my sake. For the sake of your kingdom and for the sake of the world.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 11, 2018 in Proverbs, Psalms

 

Psalm 90:2-4

07 Jun

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

Psalm 90:2-4

Dear God, why do people avoid the middle verse about us being dust and mortal? Two of these three verses are Bible Gateways verse of the day, but the verses they chose are 2 and 4. They skipped verse 3. I wonder why.

I think that one of the important parts about human maturation is that we start to realize how big time is and how small our lives are. If we learn that lesson well then there is freedom in it. In this case, this is a concept the psalmist (Moses?) is embracing. It puts us in our place and we get to embrace the humility of our limitations and the greatness of you.

Father, help me to grow into more and more of a peaceful place with my role in the universe, embracing the idea that my role is very small. Help me to do the things that you would have me do. Help me to spend my time and energy in the right areas, starting with worshipping you and spending time in pursuing relationship with you. I consider my life worth nothing to me. I only want to finish the race and complete the task you’ve given me. The task of testifying to the Gospel of your grace (Acts 20:24).

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 7, 2018 in Psalms

 

Psalm 25:11

02 Jun

For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Psalm 25:11

Dear God, any moment when I lose sight of my sin and need for you is a moment when I am most vulnerable. I go back to the Charlie Peacock song and the part of the chorus I love so much: “What’s going on inside of me? I despise my own behavior. This only serves to confirm my suspicion—that I’m still a man in need of a savior.”

It can be very easy to judge others and miss the little things that I do on a moment-to-moment basis that draw me away from you. But I know I allow all kinds of thoughts to distract me from you. I act impulsively. I judge instead of loving.

Father, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. I am truly sorry for all of the little and large things I do that ultimately come between us and steal the joy you have for me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 2, 2018 in Psalms

 

Psalm 103:15-17a

29 May

Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone— as though we had never been here. But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him.

Psalm 103:15-17a

Dear God, I don’t think there are many people who ever get comfortable with the idea of this passage. Because it only happens once to us and it’s so final (and we have very few reports as to what the experience is like after having gone through it, the idea of our death is daunting and scary. We avoid it with everything we have. And now our technology has made it so that we have moral questions to face about quality of life and keeping someone alive artificially. Those are questions we didn’t have to ask 100 years ago.

My wife and I updated our wills and powers of attorney just last week. I’ll admit that I really struggled with the documents that addressed life support and resuscitation. It was and is really hard for me to know how to make a decision now about something that could happen in any number of ways in the future.

But the psalmist reminds me here that my life is short, but my access to your love is forever. And it’s okay for my life to be short (in relation to all of time) and finite. I can be at peace with whatever the length of my life is because, in the grand scheme of things, it is a rounding error compared with your eternity.

Father, help me to be responsible to use the days you have given me for whatever purposes you have for me. I know I’m going to miss opportunities, but please be with me and guide me into kissing as few as possible. I really don’t want to waste any of the days you have for me here on earth.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 29, 2018 in Psalms

 

Psalm 139:13-14

14 May

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

Psalm 139:13-14

Dear God, there is nothing like being completely known and loved anyway. All my sin. All my weaknesses. All of my mistakes. You know all of this and you love me anyway.

The trick is to allow myself to be completely known to others. My wife. My children. My friends. Shame is a terrible thing. I think it’s one of Satan’s most powerful weapons against us. He can use it to tear us down, make us ineffective, separate us from family and friends, isolate us, and, in the end, bring us to ruin. All because we are too ashamed to let someone else know the truth about us. We have our secrets that must be protected at all costs.

Father, help me to seek out accountability. I want to be accountable to you, but I also need accountability to others. My wife. My board. My children. My friends. I pledge that I will endeavor to humble myself and try to make myself known. And then you can not only keep me free from the bondage, but you can also be a blessing to those who know my truth.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 14, 2018 in Psalms

 

Psalm 1

10 May

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 1

Dear God, as I was reading this psalm this morning I remembered that there is a son by Kim Hill from close to 30 years ago called “Psalm 1.” I had forgotten she did that. I looked it up and it was a nice refresher for that being a nice song. I think it might have been the first track on her first album.

As I thought about this psalm’s message this morning the other thing that occurred to me is that this is the psalm that the ancient organizers thousands of years ago chose to be first. A lot like “Holy, Holy, Holy” is almost always the first song in the Baptist Hymnal, this is the first psalm in the Jewish Book of Psalms. The organizers wanted to emphasize being righteous and pursuing righteousness. They wanted to condemn those who judge, mock, and do evil things. This was the first message they wanted to emphasize.

Father, help me to remember this lesson. Help me to plant myself by your living water so that my life might grow to be of most service to you. Be glorified in me so that others will be drawn to you and experience your living water for themselves.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 10, 2018 in Hymns and Songs, Psalms

 

Blessings – Laura Story

13 Apr

Give your burdens to the Lord,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Psalm 55:22

Dear God, this was the verse from My Utmost for His Highest today, and Oswald Chambers’ take on it was really good. I even forwarded it to a friend this morning who has been going through some trials. Here are some excerpts that I liked:

 

“We must distinguish between the burden-bearing that is right and the burden-bearing that is wrong. We ought never to bear the burden of sin or of doubt, but there are burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off, He wants us to roll them back on Him.”

 

This is what caught my eye immediately. How often do we try to get rid of the burdens you want us to bear so that you can shape us into who you know we can be, but we will hold on to the burden of shame and secrecy that comes with sins we commit and maybe even the sins committed against us? There is a song called “Blessings” by Laura Story that perfectly describes how your burdens might be shaping us. I’ll paste the lyrics at the end of this prayer.

 

“Many workers have gone out with high courage and fine impulses, but with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, and before long they are crushed.”

 

I am guilty, guilty, guilty of this. I am so guilty of this. I get an idea and then I trust in myself to try to pull it off. But the times in my life when I have seen the most success from my work are the times when I have earnestly prayed to you. Now there have been situations about which I have prayed and you didn’t answer quickly and they went a different direction than I hoped. I have been disappointed in you. There have been times I have yelled at you. But I truly know that whenever I go “out with high courage and fine impulses,” but I don’t lead with an earnest seeking of you then even if things turn out okay there is not nearly as much joy and victory in them.

 

“Commit to God whatever burden He has placed on you. Don’t just cast it aside, but put it over onto Him and place yourself there with it.”

 

I need to not only embrace my burden, but put myself there with it. I love that! I love the idea of not just throwing my burden to the cross, but also putting me there with the burden. After all, I am the one with whom the burden resides. I remember when my children were young and I was struggling to parent them, I asked a friend, “How do I turn my children over to God? I don’t know what that looks like because I am still responsible for them.” But reading this, I think the answer is that I put myself there with them, in your loving arms.

Father, help me to lead with you today. Please bless the fruit of my work. Whether it is with my wife, my children, my job, or my family and friends, bless my path. Be glorified in me and through me so that others might see you when they see me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 

 

“Blessings” Laura Story

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not,
This is not our home
It’s not our home

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

 
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Posted by on April 13, 2018 in Hymns and Songs, My Utmost for His Highest Scripture of the Day, Psalms, Uncategorized

 

The Last Supper & Confusion

31 Mar

Dear God, I was at a church service Thursday night (the night before Good Friday), and I got to thinking about The Last Supper. I started to think about the real-time confusion the disciples must have experienced. There were things going on that they had no way of understanding. Jesus was saying things they didn’t understand. They were assuming things would play out in one way, but things were actually on a much different course—a course for which they had no paradigm. So I’ve decided to sit down and try to make a list of everything that happened that evening (as represented in all four Gospels combined), starting with Jesus washing their feet and ending with their walk to the Garden. Here’s what I came up with:

  • Jesus washes their feet and asks if they get what He’s teaching them (John 13:4)
  • Jesus wants to eat Passover with them before his suffering begins (Luke 22:15)
  • One of you will betray me (Matthew 26:21) Jesus says he’s telling them that so that they will know, after the fact, that He is who He says He is (John 13:19)
  • Jesus labels Judas as the traitor, but “no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him.” (John 13:28)
  • Jesus says He is leaving soon and they cannot follow (John 13:33)
  • Disciples are troubled because Jesus tries to comfort them: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” (John 14:1)
  • They ask about the way to where Jesus is going. Jesus answers vaguely that He is the way…” (John 14:6)
  • Jesus tells them He is sending the Holy Spirit (John 14:16)
  • Jesus does some last-minute teaching about being the vine and branches (John 15:1)
  • Love one another and ignore hate for them (John 15:17-18)
  • Telling them this so they will not go astray (John 16:1)
  • Tries to explain Holy Spirit (John 16:5-16)
  • The disciples are openly confused and talking among themselves about what He means (John 16:17)
  • Jesus prays for Himself (John 17:1)
  • Jesus prays for His disciples (John 17:6)
  • Jesus prays for all believers (John 17:20)
  • Breaks bread as body and wine as blood for sins and covenant (Matthew 26:26-28)
  • Jesus will not drink wine again until in Father s Kingdom (Matthew 26:29)
  • Disciples argued about who would be greatest in Kingdom (Luke 22:24)
  • Everyone will scatter and abandon Jesus (Mark 14:27)
  • After  raised from the dead  Jesus will meet them in Galilee (Mark 14:28)
  • Get money, travel bag and a sword (Luke 22:36)
  • Peter’s denial predicted (Mark 14:30)

When I went through this exercise I either realized for the first time or remembered some interesting facts about this that I had forgotten. And they are all mainly about John’s version of the story. First, John gives us so much more about the conversation between them that night. There’s a lot of detail there. Second, John’s version of the story is five chapters long (chapters 13-17). Third, John makes zero mention of breaking the bread and pouring the wine. That part of the evening was apparently unimportant to him when compared with the other parts—and yet, as Christians of different denominations, we allow something like how we do communion divide us and count it as of the utmost importance. Are we missing something there? Has Satan used something beautiful as a way to divide us? But I digress.

The real point of all of this is to show that, even when Jesus spoke plainly to them about what was happening (e.g. pointing to Judas as His betrayer), they had no clue. They couldn’t see it. They were about to go through a horrific 72 hours and it seems that they were not prepared for it. Or were they?

Father, at the end of the day, you give us what we need to get through a crisis. It might not look the way we want it to look. It might all go bad. Things might get very dark, and we will need to find our way, moment by moment, with no light. We might be scared, confused, and overwhelmed. We might even feel like giving up. But you call us to press on in the valley of the shadow of death, fearing no evil (Psalm 23:4). And you will give us little remembrances of you and your words. So as my wife and I go through a current confusing time, and as we love some different relatives through their own uncertain times, help us to take your peace with us, embrace the confusion and overwhelmedness (is that a word?), and look forward to what we will have learned from this when it is all over.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 31, 2018 in John, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Psalms, Uncategorized

 
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