Psalm 25:1-5

Psalm 25:1-5 

English Standard Version 

  It's hard to be led.  Don't you get anxious if you don't know where you're going?  When I'm sitting on a plane, the pilot usually comes on after they've shut the door and says they're excited to be flying us to Reno, and there's a moment where I wonder what I would do if they said a different city than the one listed on my ticket.  The door's shut and you're on the plane until they open it, but it'd be a weird few hours, thinking you were heading somewhere very different than you actually were.  We don't like giving up control, and to do so without knowledge... that's a hard step for us.

  When it comes to faith, we can easily acknowledge with our words that we trust God and will follow wherever God leads.

  But to actually lean into that, to do that with our hearts and minds, giving up control and accepting that we don't know where the path leads...  Not an easy step to take with our lives.

  But if God is the God of our salvation, then is there another option that leads to true life?  Any other path is simply fooling ourselves that we can save ourselves (which we often try and do).  Only God can save us.  Only God can deliver us.

  So will you truly trust God and lean into the divine mystery?

  Or hold onto the reins yourself, even though you know that you cannot get where you most need to be without the love and grace of God?

Psalms 73:23-28

Psalm 73:23-28 

English Standard Version 

  I'm traveling for a bit, so I'll be taking the next two weeks off and will pick up later.  I'll leave you with these words of wisdom from the Psalms.  Whom in heaven do we have besides God?  Everything else around us may fail.  Everything else within us may fail.  But God will never fail nor forsake us.  God is faithful, and we can take comfort and peace knowing that God abides with us.  May we pray for the wisdom to make the Lord our refuge, that we may shelter in the grace of God and go forth to tell the world about the gracious God we worship.

Psalm 18:31-35

Psalm 18:31-35 

English Standard Version 

  The Psalmist gives us an image of God as protector, setting our feet secure on the heights, and teacher as well -- God prepares us and sends us out into the world to serve.  We don't go on our own, because it's God who supports us and God who protects us and God who enables us to take the next step.  

  So the question for each of us, the question for all of us -- do we make time to train with God?  Are we listening for the voice and guidance of God?  Are we intentional about thinking of building ourselves, of allowing God to guide as we grow?  I don't think this happens by accident, but rather by intent.  When we focus and dedicate ourselves to learn from God and grow in discipleship, then we draw closer to God and feel both the security and the sending of God.

Psalm 18:25-30

Psalm 18:25-30 

English Standard Version

  When I read this Psalm, which is my favorite, I always get pumped up.  I understand the Psalmist's words here -- with God, we can jump over walls and run against impossible odds.  We're so excited about who God is and what God is doing that it energizes our very souls.  God is perfect and true, and God opts to be for us.  God uses God's power and God's word to pave a path forward for us through opposition and through death.  There was a dead end, but God brought life, and it's all because God is pure love and grace.  None of it is deserved, and all of it is gift.  

  May we find our refuge in God, day after day after day, and let that powerful love be a shield around our weary and embattled souls.

Psalm 18:20-24

Psalm 18:20-24

English Standard Version 

  If I were making the rules, I'd just color over this part in magic marker and hope nobody noticed.  I certainly would not be qualified according to these rules.  I fail to keep all the ways of the Lord, and I'm certainly not blameless.  I have guilt.  

  The good news of the Gospel is that when Jesus Christ went to the cross for us, we are therefore eligible to claim his perfect righteousness as our own.  He accepted our shortcomings and sin, and therefore took the punishment.  For God to mete out additional punishment on us would be to have two punishments for the same sin, which would be unjust.  Therefore, our punishment is cleared because of what Christ has done, and we enjoy the benefit of his perfect righteousness.  

  All of this is a free gift, which enables us to boldly enjoy the goodness of God without guilt.

Psalm 18:13-19

Psalm 18:13-19 

English Standard Version 

 Why did God rescue the Psalmist?  Why did God open the foundations of the world so that there were no obstacles standing between God and God's beloved child?  Why did God deliver him from his strong enemy?  

  Not because the Psalmist had earned it.  Not because of anything the Psalmist did.

  Simply because God delighted in the Psalmist.  God's love is enough.

  God loves you the same way.

  God delights in you, and so God will deliver you from your strong enemy, from the death that hangs above you head, threatening to separate you from the God who created you.

  But God is stronger and will stop at nothing to save you.  Even at the price of God's own son, God will deliver you, simply because God delights in you.

Psalm 18:7-12

Psalm 18:7-12 

English Standard Version 

  They say you're only as happy as your least happy child.  The emotions of the parent roll along with the emotions of the child, and the pain of a child is felt intimately by the parent.

  What I love about Scripture is that it paints the love of God in such intimate terms.  God is a fiercely loving mother, a father who defends his children.  The Psalmist has previously painted himself as distressed, and so here is God, racing from the heavens on the wings of the wind, sending out fire from his mouth as God comes with ferocity to deliver his children from their place of distress.

  That's how God loves you.

Psalm 18:1-6

Psalm 18:1-6 

English Standard Version 

  The Psalmist cries out from a place of despair.  He's not idly praising the Lord -- he's anticipating the salvation that God will work in his life.  He's distressed, but there's not panic in his voice, because he has such trust, such confidence that God will deliver him.  

  Can you imagine what that looks like? There are lots of things that distress us, that cause us concern.  Sometimes, these fears in our heads run away out of control, and we feel a sense of panic and dread swirling around us.  We react this way to the coming election, to medical uncertainty.  We feel the walls closing in on us.  In these places, the Psalmist tells us to look to God and let our fears fall away.

  I'm not in that place -- I still worry about all sorts of things.  I have great concerns, and they weigh on me.  But hopefully I'm growing.  Hopefully we're all growing in our trust of God, and learning to let go of our sense of control.  May we all learn how to trust more deeply in God.  

Psalm 1

Psalm 1

English Standard Version 

  I love to hike in the woods, and inevitably I see a tree growing in some place a tree should never grow.  It is perched atop a boulder with little soil, or clinging to the edge of a cliff, somehow hanging on for decades despite the lack of support.  I am always amazed by it.  To quote the great philosopher Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park, life finds a way.

  Trees find a way to grow in these environments, but these aren't the ideal circumstances.  They manage, but if you planted them next to a stream in a calm environment, they would thrive.  Just because something can survive doesn't mean that it's ideal.  

  The same is true with us.  There are plenty of places where we can survive.  But to truly thrive, we are best placed in the environment that perfectly suits us, which we were made for, which is to cling as closely to God as possible.  

Psalm 33:1-5

Psalm 33:1-5 

English Standard Version 

  I do believe that God delights in creation -- we get that sense in Genesis, when God rests when it is complete, and we find that again in Job, when God is speaking of the wondrous things that God has made.  In Revelation, when creation has been renewed, there is an amazing claim that there will not need to be any light, for God himself will be the light of the people.  

  The reality of sin is working against God's order in creation, and we all have a choice as to where we want to direct the attention of our hearts.  We can choose to praise God and meditate on God's good works, or we can pursue false idols or a life of materialism.  The challenging thing about the choice is that it's rarely crystal clear -- I don't think people wake up and decide they're going to pursue an idol.  We drift into it, making choices unconsciously, doing what is easy or goes along with the mainstream.

  When we praise God, we make the intentional choice to focus on God's faithfulness, on God's righteousness, on God's justice.  In doing so, we let the steadfast love of God fill us, and then it flows through us into the lives of those around us, and we join with God in working towards the new creation.

Psalm 84:1-2

Psalm 84:1-2 

English Standard Version 

  We feed our bodies all sorts of things that mimic natural foods.  We've made chemicals and flavors that mirror what the real world produces, but they don't provide the same nutritional value that the authentic food does, so we keep eating and eating, always hungry, never full.  Our bodies long for the real thing.

  In the same way, our hearts and souls long to be with God.  We're made for full communion with God, and until we dwell in the fullness of heaven, we'll remain restless, searching for God.  May we make the time every day, every week, to give our souls glimpses of worship, times of communion, that we may grow closer to God and let our hearts and flesh sing for joy.

Psalm 150

Psalm 150 

English Standard Version 

  Do you ever hear the hype around a new restaurant or a new show and convince yourself that you need to try it?  Sometimes, the buzz wears off quickly, and before you make time to get there, the hype has faded.  Other times, that hype is sustained, and you go and discover something incredible, and you wonder why you took so long to try it for yourself.

  When I read the Psalms, I am often left wondering if I spend enough time praising God.  I make plenty of time to lift up my concerns to God, and I often have plenty of questions for God.

  But do I simply praise God for who God is?  Do I allow my whole self to praise God?  Do I get caught up in the creation-wide song that the rocks and trees are singing?  Or am I so inward-focused that I'm missing the opportunity to praise God with everything that I am?

Psalm 98:4-9

Psalm 98:4-9 

English Standard Version 

  Plenty of movies have been made personifying animals.  Charlotte's Web and The Secret Life of Pets show us animals with personalities of their own.  

  What the Psalms reveal is that all of creation is made to worship God.  When we worship God, we aren't starting something unique -- we're joining a chorus comprised not only of the animals but also of nature itself.  Even the trees and the seas and the hills and the valleys lift up their voices to praise God.  When we praise God, we are aligning ourselves with the world around us, all of which is using the only language it has -- that of praise.

Jonah 2:5-9

Jonah 2:5-9 

English Standard Version 

  When I golf, it's really frustrating to lose balls that are just off the fairway.  It seems like I ought to be able to find them, because I saw right about where they landed, but they disappeared right in plain sight.  Other golf balls, well... I hit them and immediately give up hope of ever finding them.  They're very, very lost.

  In the parable of the lost sheep, it never says how lost the sheep is.  It could've been just off the trail, but I somehow doubt it.  I get the impression that this was a sheep that was very lost, perhaps wandering the wrong way on the wrong trail for a long time, far from home.

  But it doesn't say how lost the sheep was because it doesn't matter.  The good shepherd goes to find it, no matter what.

  In the same way, God is teaching us through Jonah that there is no such place that is too far from God, no situation that is too far gone.  We can all be redeemed.

Psalm 23

Psalm 23 

English Standard Version 

  Do you ever go to the grocery store, buy a bunch of things, and then realize when you get home that you didn't buy anything for dinner?  I do this all the time, and it's so frustrating -- I was in the midst of so many great options, but missed the obvious reason for going to the store.

  When I read the 23rd Psalm, I often get hung up on the first verse. When the Lord is our Shepherd, we don't want for anything.  We find complete satisfaction in God.  That's the picture of what heaven will be like, and it's available to us now, but so often, we're putting so many other things in the cart that we completely miss that God will supply our needs.  

  Granted, sometimes we need to let God make us lie down in pastures.  We need to allow God to lead us to still waters.  We're often so busy trying to achieve these on our own that we miss what God wants to do for us.  

Psalm 99:1-5

Psalm 99:1-5 

English Standard Version 

  God is pure holiness, and dwells completely separate from humanity.  

  It's easy to forget this -- we make God so common and end up forgetting how majestic God is.  It reminds me a little of the display of the crown jewels in the Tower of London.  They're so valuable and more heavily guarded than any other display that I can remember, and there is a moving floor so that the crowd doesn't clog things up by lingering near certain exhibits.  It's very clear from the moment that you draw near that you're viewing something valuable.  No one wanders in by mistake and doesn't realize that there is something special about what you are about to see.  

  In the same way, God sits in God's throne, and should be praised as holy and perfect, completely other than we are.  It is only through pure grace that God chooses to reveal himself to us.  We are to exalt God, and to fail to do so is pure folly.  May we choose to worship each and every day.

Psalm 105:41-43

Psalm 105:41-43 

English Standard Version

  Most people would tell you that water doesn't flow out of a rock.  They'd look at the chemical composition and tell you that's impossible.  They'd say that if you're in the desert and needed water, you'd have to go look elsewhere.  

  If your mindset is limited to what is possible based on this world, then that would be correct. But God has a habit of doing the impossible.  There are things God can do because God created the heavens and the earth.  God can make a way where there is no way, including through death itself -- God punched a hole through it and let light and life stream through for those of us who thirst for just that.

  I wish I could say that I knew exactly when and where God would do such things.  But a God who is powerful enough to bring water from a rock isn't a God we can control.  We can choose to submit, which means accepting God's will.  Sometimes, this will mean that we hear a 'No' from God.  If this same God has proven to be loving and gracious, then we can still worship a God like that because we can trust that this same God is working in our best interests consistently.

Psalm 31:23-24

Psalm 31:23-24 

English Standard Version

  I love the way the Psalmist speaks to the soul.  So often, we think we should just feel things.  We wait until we feel right, and if we don't feel a certain way, maybe we don't pray or serve or go out of our way.  We let our feelings dictate our actions.

  The Psalms are consistently telling us to lead our hearts.  They're reminding their heart and soul of God's promises and God's faithfulness, and leading their heart into a place where they trust God, and then they base their lives on that.  We can lead our hearts.  We can teach our souls.  If we consistently point ourselves towards God's faithfulness, then we'll find that we feel like pursuing God more than if we just passively wait for a feeling to lead us closer.

Psalm 31:21-22

Psalm 31:21-22 

English Standard Version 

  In the dark night of the soul, it's easy to think that we are alone, that no one hears our cry, that no one sees us suffer.  We wonder if God has forgotten us.

  But like Jonah sailing off in the wrong direction or Naomi in her suffering, God doesn't forget about us, even when we think God might.  God sees us when we weep, when life is broken, and God hears our cries.

  When the church is at its best, the church reaches out to those who are suffering, and reminds them of this.  Who can you reach out to today and let them know that you hear their cries?

Psalm 31:19-20

Psalm 31:19-20 

English Standard Version 

  The world seems to have a limit on goodness -- we find ways to fight and squabble about everything, from the way people drive to the biggest decisions we face.  The world is constantly caught up in conflict, each of us trying to claw our way to the top.

  God's goodness, however, isn't limited, so we don't have to be in conflict with one another.  There is abundance in God's goodness.  We can stop chasing whatever false gods we're pursuing, and we can stop measuring ourselves against one another.  There is enough.  Rest.  Let your soul breathe deeply in the goodness of God, and trust in God's abundant goodness.

  Do you remember when the prophet Elijah was running for his life into the wilderness, and God made him sleep?  I think God probably wants to do that with most of us.  We need to find some ways to stop our frenetic activity and simply lean into God.