The Course of My Life is in Your Power

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Pete

The words jump off the page because they are so very familiar, indicating that Psalm 31 is a Messianic psalm.

Into Your hand I entrust my spirit . . .

(Psalm 31:5a CSB)

Jesus spoke such words from the cross (Lk. 23:46). Whatever practical circumstance prompted David to write the song, the Spirit prompted him to also foreshadow the Christ. Thus, you can read the psalm extrapolating the inner thoughts of David as the inner thoughts of the promised Son of David — “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3), “tested in every way as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). And once you’ve applied the song to the Savior, it seems to me you can then apply the Savior to your sorrow.

Jesus knew what it was to be disgraced and put to shame (v.1, 17). He knew what it was to have a “troubled soul”, to be “consumed with grief” to the point where His strength had failed (v.8, 10). He experienced what it was to be ridiculed not only by His enemies, but also by those who should have known Him well, his neighbors. So much had the gossip spread, He was even dreaded by those who barely knew Him (v.11, 13). Not only were His “eyes worn out” from the frustration of accusation, His “whole being” was as well. Sapped of strength inside and out.

So, does Jesus know something of what we might endure in our times of disgrace? I’m thinkin’ . . .

So, does Jesus as the perfect man have something to say to us as to how we might endure our seasons of shame? I’m thinkin’ again . . .

But I trust in You, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
The course of my life is in Your power; . . .
Make Your face shine on Your servant;
save me by Your faithful love.

Love the Lord, all His faithful ones.
The Lord protects the loyal . . .
Be strong, and let your heart be courageous,
all you who put your hope in the Lord.

(Psalm 31:14-16, 23-24 CSB)

Trust in the Lord. Double-down in declaring He alone is Your God. Know that the course of your life is in His power. Seek afresh the shining countenance of His gracious face, confident in His faithful love.

Love the Lord. As much as lies within you, purpose and persist to continue to walk in faithfulness with Him as your ever-abiding “rock of refuge” and “mighty fortress” confident that He will lead you and guide You for His name’s sake (v.1-3). Be strong, be courageous, put your hope in the Lord.

Somehow an encouragement that the Son of God needed as He walked as the perfect Son of Man through all that surrounded Calvary. Though our cross not comparing with His cross, somehow an encouragement to us in whatever season of distress we might endure as those who know also that “the course of my life is in Your power.”

By His grace. For His glory.

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Questions Worth Pondering

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Pete

Rhetorical questions asked in the afterglow of victory. Answers unnecessary because, being on the other side of the sea, they’re obvious. Faith afire because the wonder of deliverance is fresh. But walking between walls of water will soon be a thing in the past. In only a few days, before the chapter is even done, they’ll be walking in an arid land with no water to drink. The songs of praise but a short time ago give way to the grumblings of complaint as the next challenge is faced. Seems to me, that’s when asking the questions again might make sense.

Lord, who is like You among the gods?
Who is like You, glorious in holiness,
revered with praises, performing wonders?

(Exodus 15:11 CSB)

Easy to ask such questions when the answers are obvious because the power has been experienced and your circumstance is favorable. But more needful perhaps to ask the questions when there are no answers, heaven seems silent, and you’re parched and panting for something to quench the thirst.

Even when it’s dry, there is no God like the God who is in our midst. Especially when the next challenge overshadows the last victory, we need to chew on the reality that our God alone is glorious in holiness. When everything in you wants to throw a pity-party and murmur about how much you’re having to put up with, that’s the time to know again that He is always worthy of being revered with praises because He is unchanging in nature, steadfast in love, true to His promises, and more than able to still perform wonders.

Questions for the mountain top? For sure. Questions for the valley? Even more so, I’m thinkin’.

Questions worth pondering? Always!

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Distinguishing Mark

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Pete

Okay, I don’t know why the CSB translators break ranks with every other translation, but they do. And for me this morning, as I read in Exodus, it pops because it connects two important dots.

Dot number one? The LORD makes a distinction.

There will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before or ever will be again.  But against all the Israelites, whether people or animals, not even a dog will snarl, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

(Exodus 11:6-7 CSB)

Nine plagues down, one to go. Through Moses, God has repeatedly commanded Pharaoh to let His people go and Pharaoh has repeatedly refused. Time for talking is done. Time for deliverance draws nigh. The final display of the LORD God’s might? The Giver of Life will take the lives of the firstborn. And when He does, all of Egypt will wail as no nation has ever wailed before. And yet, next door, in the land occupied by the Israelites, not a peep. Not a whimper. How come? Not a death. So that all would know that the Lord makes a distinction.

But on what basis? Nationality? Ethnicity? Geography? Nope. Cue dot number two.

“I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the Lord; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

(Exodus 12:12-13 CSB)

The blood. That’s dot two. The Israelites were to, by faith, trust the lives of their firstborn to a self-applied ritual. Take a lamb, a year-old male without blemish, slaughter it at twilight, apply its blood to the doorposts and the lintel of the house, roast it and eat it, and then stay put under the protection of that blood-covered home. Because, as every other translation puts it, the blood on the house would be a sign. Because, as the CSB renders it, the blood would be a distinguishing mark.

The applied blood of a spotless lamb, the distinguishing mark upon which the Lord makes a distinction between His people and the world. Not their nationality. Not their ethnicity. Not their geography. Not even their piety. But only the blood of a lamb on their house.

I sit here this morning confident in my eternal future. Not because of who I am or where I live or what I’ve done, but because I too am under a distinguishing mark. Because I am covered by the blood of the Lamb — Jesus, the perfect Son of God, without spot or fault, who came to take away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29) and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). My sins atoned for, I fear not judgment. My Savior risen, I know death’s bondage has been broken.

I sit here confident this morning because I have, by faith, personally applied the blood. The blood of the Lamb being the sole distinguishing mark assuring my deliverance. The blood of the Lamb the only basis upon which the Lord makes a distinction.

And that, only by His grace. And that, only for His glory.

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Vindication and Trusting

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Pete

It was certainly a prayer of David’s back then. Is it to be a prayer for today? Chewing on it.

Read between the lines in Psalm 26 (vv. 4-5), and it sounds like the accusations were flying against David. He hangs out with “the worthless”, they said, his buddies are those marked by emptiness, vanity, and falsehood — no substance in them or him. What’s more, he pals around with hypocrites — find those who are playing games and living secret lives, and you’ll find David. Wanna know where he abides when no ones looking? Find the wicked and you’ll find him.

The word was out. The shadow of suspicion cast. No taking it back. No corralling it to minimize the compounding, collateral damage of questioning his character. For, while the original accusers may have only “shared the truth” with one or two, those one or two, in turn, passed it on to one or two. Reputation in ruins.

So, what’s a guy to do? Commence prayer . . .

Vindicate me, LORD,
because I have lived with integrity
and have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
Test me, LORD, and try me;
examine my heart and mind.
For Your faithful love guides me,
and I live by Your truth.

(Psalm 26:1-3 CSB)

Vindicate me. Set the record straight. Clear my name. How come? Because I have lived with integrity.

David wasn’t claiming perfection, he knew better. But, as much as he knew his own heart, he tried to lived in sincerity. And what he didn’t know about his heart, he invited God to reveal to him. Walking in integrity equaled walking in truth.

So, he prays, Vindicate me.

A prayer for here and now? I’m thinking. To be realized in the here and now and just how we want it to be realized? Not necessarily. That’s why David knew that the way of vindication was the way of trusting in the LORD without wavering. That having the record set straight could be left with the One who had promised to guide David with faithful love. True of David and true too of the Greater David.

For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. . . . when He was insulted, He did not insult in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten but entrusted Himself to the one who judges justly.

(1Peter 2:21, 23 CSB)

Mine, it seems to me, is to seek to live with integrity. His is to assess it. Mine is to entrust myself to Him.

But I live with integrity;
redeem me and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on level ground;
I will bless the Lord in the assemblies.

(Psalm 26:11-12 CSB)

By His grace. For His glory.

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Four Friends

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Pete

A bit out of context. Probably more me-focused than the “Thee-focused” they deserve. But this morning some old, familiar friends from Exodus 2 are who I needed to hear from this morning.

After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, they cried out, and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God. God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and God knew.

(Exodus 2:23-25 CSB)

God heard . . . God remembered . . . God saw . . . God knew. And I sit back and whisper to myself, “Self, God hears, God remembers, God sees, God knows.” Yes and amen.

Sometimes you just gotta know again that God knows forever. And know that He knows not only in an encyclopedic, data storage type of omniscience, but with an engaged, empathetic, ready, willing, and able to get involved type of omniscience. And that what He knows, and how He engages, is in the context of what He has promised.

So, while these four friends — Hears, Remembers, Sees, and Knows — are really about exalting Him, I can’t help but inviting them to minister to me.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Gathered to His People

Posted on January 18, 2023 by Pete

Euphemisms, we use them all the time. Using a word or phrase in place of another word or phrase that makes us uncomfortable. In my corporate life, we often preferred to talk about “downsizing” rather than “job eliminations.” For those who were caught up in the “downsizing”, they weren’t “fired” they were “let go.”

So, as I’m reading in Genesis this morning, I encounter a phrase that, at first, might appear to be a euphemism. But given that I’m reading the inspired word of God, perhaps I should be chewing on it as a true-ism.

When Jacob had finished giving charges to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, took his last breath, and was gathered to his people.

(Genesis 49:33 CSB)

Jacob didn’t die, he was gathered to his people.

It’s not the first time I’ve encountered this phrase. Abraham was gathered to his people (Gen. 25:8). As was Ishmael (25:17) and Isaac (35:29). And, looking ahead, Aaron and Moses too will both be gathered to his people (Num. 20:24, Deut. 32:50).

Hmm . . . just trying to soften the harshness of an eventuality awaiting all of us? Or, intentionally trying to say something of the reality beyond that eventuality awaiting all of us? Perhaps saying something like, “It ain’t over when it’s over.”

Whether speaking about the favored son, Isaac, or the cast out son, Ishmael, when they died they were both gathered to their people. I don’t think this means they were interred where their ancestors were interred. Instead, I think it may be intended to remind me of an existence beyond this existence. A reality beyond this reality. That death, whether it’s for those owning God as their God or for those whose god is themselves, is but a doorway to being with their people. That breathing our last on this earth is but an entrance to something beyond this earth.

So, the question then might be, “What people am I going to be gathered to?” What reality beyond this reality can I anticipate?

For followers of Christ — for those who have trusted in Jesus as their Savior and have owned Him as their Lord, we have our own set of non-euphemisms. For us, we’ll talk about “going home.” We’ll say a departed brother or sister has been “promoted into glory.” Paul says it’s to be “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2Cor. 5:8).

We use such terminology not to lessen the harsh reality of death, but to remind ourselves of the wonderful reality of life everlasting beyond death. And that’s why we are able to “not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1Th. 4:13). Because, for those who have “fallen asleep” in Jesus (1Th. 4:14), we know that they too have been gathered to His people. A people of faith in the finished work of a cross. A people who trust in the power of an empty tomb. A people who rest in the One who said,

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

(John 11:25-26 CSB)

Yes Father, I believe this. I believe that Your Son is the risen Savior for all who believe. And I believe that one day I too will be gathered to His people.

Only by Your grace. To You be all the glory.

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Tethered by a Promise

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Pete

Had one of those “Don’t think I’ve ever noticed this, much less thought about this” encounters with the Word this morning. Reading in a passage I have read in many times before. Seeing things in it I had seen many times before. But then, an encounter of the divine kind with a verse I’ve always skimmed over many times before.

Passage in question? Genesis 48. Big idea? A dying patriarch, Jacob, blesses the boys of his “resurrected” son, Joseph, adopting them as his own and grafting them into what would eventually become known as the twelve tribes of Israel. What’s more, the theme of “the son of favor” continues in Genesis as, rather than following the ways of men and conferring the greater blessing upon the firstborn, Jacob switches hands and blesses the youngest above the oldest. So far, so good. This I remember.

But then, this . . .

Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. Over and above what I am giving your brothers, I am giving you the one mountain slope that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

(Genesis 48:21-22 CSB)

I am giving you the one mountain slope. That’s what grabbed me this morning.

One mountain slope — not even the whole mountain — that’s what Jacob the head over “seventy persons” (Gen. 46:27) gifts to Joseph the ruler over all of Egypt (Gen. 41:41). A piece of land where he pitched his tent that held all his earthly belongings, that’s what Jacob gives to the man who for years has been building grain silo after grain silo and then accumulating, literally, the world’s wealth. One mountain slope in a foreign land — out of sight, but evidently not out of mind — given to one who seemingly already has everything.

Not much to look at really (actually nothing to look at as long as you’re still in Egypt), but what a powerful tether to Joseph’s true identity, himself a favored son. Though Joseph literally has the world at his feet, his father gives him a double portion of a land of promise. Though Joseph is firmly entrenched and preoccupied with a place that has provided for him abundantly, his father reminds him of place God will bless him with eternally.

Hmm . . . sounds familiar.

This world is not my home. No matter how much a part of it I feel, no matter how much of it I’ve accumulated, no matter how much it preoccupies the daily affairs of my life, I too have had one mountain slope, a slice of another land, promised to me.

“In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” ~ Jesus

(John 14:2 CSB)

For Joseph, it was a bequeathed hillside in his father’s homeland. For me, it’s a room being built in my Father’s house. A tie to another place, a reminder of a yet to be realized future. An incentive to not get too entrenched in this place because I was born again for another place.

Being tethered by a promise to a land I’ll live in someday has a way of keeping my internal GPS fixed on my true north today.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Taking Pride = Trusting

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Pete

At first, this CSB rendering of a well-known ESV verse seems so different. Initially, I’m thinking that the two sets of translators seem to have ended up in very different places. But the more I chew on it this morning, the apparently different things of trusting and taking pride can actually be the same thing.

Psalm 20 is a prayer for those entering into battle, or as the songwriter puts it, entering into “a day of trouble” (20:1). It’s a cry for God to answer, for God to protect, for God to send help, and for God to sustain (20:1-3). It’s a prayer for God to grant the heart’s desire of the king and that the king would know victory (20:4-5, 9). But here’s the thing, it’s not an “I wish I may I wish might” type of prayer, it’s a prayer that is confident God will engage.

Now I know that the Lord gives victory to His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
with mighty victories from His right hand.
Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses,
but we take pride in the name of the Lord our God.

(Psalm 20:6-7 CSB)

And there it is, verse 7. I recognize the verse because I recoginze the chariots and horses. But it’s not the verse I know. Cue the ESV translation . . .

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

(Psalm 20:7 ESV)

Hmmm . . . trusting . . . taking pride. At first blush, those don’t seem to line up to me.

Dig a little into the original and you can see why the variation in translation.

Some of chariots, and some of horses, And we of the name of Jehovah our God make mention.

(Psalm 20:7 YLT)

Doesn’t use the word for trust in the original. Nor the word for take pride. Instead, it’s the word remember. As in, when talking of an outcome you remember it or make mention of it.

Okay, so I put myself in the songwriter’s sandals. I’m praying a prayer for victory in a day of trouble. I know I will enter the battle with whatever resources I have, but I am appealing to my God to be there with me, to go there before me. And I anticipate victory. So, how do I anticipate later talking of that victory? How do I anticipate remembering it? How do I imagine boasting about it? Well, if I imagine that I won’t be taking pride in my resources nor in how well I waged warfare — if I’m prepared now not to take pride in my chariots and in my horses but take pride in my God as the One who gives the victory, then am I not trusting in the Lord our God. Thinkin’ I am.

Preparing in advance to take pride in the Lord’s victory there and then has got to be one of the signs that I trust Him for the victory even as I pray for it here and now. Knowing now that my resources and my strength and my abilities are not what will ultimately win the day, even though I am certain I will win the day, is only possible as look to Him alone to win the day. Taking pride in what God is going to do only happens as I am trusting in what God is going to do.

Taking pride in what God is going to do before God does it. Hmm . . . sounds like trusting to me.

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Song Within A Song (A 2015 Rerun)

Posted on January 13, 2023 by Pete

Reading Psalm 18 this morning and find myself pausing over something that doesn’t quite sit right. Not sure what to do with it. So, I went back and looked on previous meals served up with Psalm 18 ingredients and found I had encountered the same “bad chord” back in 2015. My musings back then were not only helpful this morning, but sparked afresh wonder and worship. Thought I’d rerun that post.

While reading Psalm 18 this morning, I encountered something which, at first glance, just didn’t seem right. It was kind of like I was “listening” to a song when all of a sudden someone hit a bad chord. The notes didn’t quite line up. The melody took a weird turn. But I’m wondering if it isn’t because I am “listening” to a song within a song.

David wrote the Eighteenth Psalm for the choirmaster’s collection. It is a song of deliverance . . . a song of victory . . . a song composed on the occasion of the LORD rescuing him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. It is a song which starts big . . .

I love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

(Psalm 18:1-3 ESV)

The victor in this passage is LORD. The conqueror is the Rock. The “hero” is the Deliverer. And David can’t help but respond with praise and adoration.

The songwriter extols the might of heaven’s great Warrior. Of the LORD’s fierce intervention on the songwriter’s behalf. The earth reels as the LORD thunders in the heavens and rides on the cherub to battle on behalf of His beloved on earth. And the LORD rescues him . . . draws him “out of many waters” . . . brings him into “a broad place.” Why? Because the LORD delights in him (18:7-19).

Good so far. Love the melody. God’s greatness. God’s glory. Acting on behalf of a man he delights in because of God’s grace. I’m groovin’ with the tune!

But then there’s the bad chord . . .

The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, . . . I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

(Psalm 18:20-24 ESV)

Twang!!!! Wait a minute. Back the bus up. That doesn’t sound right. There is none righteous, no not one (Rom. 3:10). All our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6). What’s this about?

What if, at least in part, the explanation lies in the fact that this is a song within a song? While it’s a song about David, what if it’s also a song about the Greater David? One about the king of Israel, but one that also speaks of his offspring, the Anointed, the King of Kings? What if a second battle is in view in this song, one that occurs on a cross centuries into the future. What if the One being delivered is Christ, the Righteous One? What if the Holy Spirit worked through David to write a song within a song?

What if the song within the song is a prophetic song foreshadowing One who, though tempted in all ways as we are, was yet without sin (Heb. 4:15)? One who could truly say He was blameless and kept Himself from guilt? And that the song is about heaven’s war against the enemies from hell who thought they had won the battle on Calvary’s cross, but in fact were defeated as He was drawn from the depths and raised in victorious, resurrected, eternal life.

And what if the song hints at our own deliverance from the enemy because we have been credited with the righteousness of Another?

For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing to Your name. Great salvation He brings to His king, and shows steadfast love to His anointed (the Christ) to David (the Greater David) and His offspring (those born of the Spirit) forever.

(Psalm 18:49-50 ESV with a little PV, Pete’s Version, added in)

Then, what a sweet, sweet song within a song!

Amen?

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Our “No” Being Turned Into A “Yes”

Posted on January 12, 2023 by Pete

Sometimes it’s just used as more fuel for the fire for those who want to take a shot at “impetuous Peter” as an example of what not to do. As in you don’t say, “No, Lord!” But what if you need to say “No, Lord” once in awhile in order to be ready to say “Yes” to the Spirit?

. . . [Peter] fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the earth. In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky. A voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.”

“No, Lord!” Peter said. “For I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean.”

(Acts 10:10b-14 CSB)

No, Lord! Okay, gonna admit that’s kind of an oxymoron. Will concede that stopping when you’re told by the Ruler of the universe to be starting probably isn’t the appropriate response. In fact, responding to the clear direction of the One who holds sovereign power over you, and who you have purposed to follow at all cost, with, “By no means,” is sort of a bonehead thing to do. But remember, Christ Jesus came into the world to save boneheads of whom I am chief (or something like that).

It’s not like Peter was in rebellion. Not like he wasn’t abiding in the Lord. Not like he wasn’t giving himself to prayer. Not like he had come up with some new doctrine around unclean animals and the eating of such. Nope, none of the those things. Peter’s “No Lord”, it seems to me, was born of sincere, Scripture-based conviction.

But God was about to open up a new door for the gospel. And it was such a big and radical door for Peter and other devout Jews that God needed first to “open up heaven” and drop in front of Peter a banqueting table of disgusting, forbidden animals and tell him, “Eat!”

Come on. I think we can cut Peter some slack here. Yeah, “No, Lord” wasn’t the right answer. But who was expecting that kind of command?

So, the Lord has Peter right where He wants him.

While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean . . . While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you. Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.”

(Acts 10:17a, 19-20 CSB)

Peter’s paradigm, though based on revelation, is blown away by further illumination. He’s deeply perplexed. He’s deeply in thought. He’s deeply humbled and more than open to reconsidering his “No, Lord.” And so, perplexed and pondering, his heart is ready for the Spirit to speak. Thus, through a “No, Lord” Peter is readied to say, “Yes, Spirit,” and take the gospel to the Gentiles.

Now we don’t live in a day of new revelation trumping old revelation, and neither did Peter. That the promises made to Abraham would bless “all peoples on the earth” had been around since Genesis 12:3. But sometimes things are hidden. Sometimes they’re not fully understood. Sometimes you need the Lord to show you a “No, Lord” sort of thing to be ready for the Spirit to illuminate the “Yes, Lord” way to walk.

We need to be people of conviction, for sure. But we also need to be people humble enough for the Scripture to bring correction so that we might be people who grow in our commitment. We need to be open to our “No” being turned into a “Yes.”

This too, only by the grace of God. This too, only for the glory of God.

Makes sense?

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