Psalm 21 (originally posted 8/20/17)

 There is so much pressure around, and so much uncertainty it feels like even the ground beneath our feet is swaying. I mean it seems like that to me. Through the news and social media we see the destructive hate, fulled by pride, firing one side to the other and back again. It seems our country is almost at war with itself. It saddens me. Last Saturday I spoke with a spoken word artist that I respect (a lovely brother in the Lord Micah Bournes) about just what I've seen both in my lifetime in my family and across the country....and I actually began to weep. So many people being hurt by such hate just almost takes me out at the knees. Even dear brothers and sisters in Christ being hurt in their heart from being hated for the color of their skin. In my own life, the only grandfather I knew on my dad's side of the family was my grandpa Milton. He was a 6' 5" African American fisherman. Christina and I just celebrated our 19th anniversary but it reminded me that he didn't come. Not because he didn't love us, and not because we didn't love him. He didn't feel welcomed by extended family. He didn't feel safe from slander, derision or shame to come to our wedding. I don't feel like there is much difference in our country seeing the actions of groups as of late. It is no wonder the ground seems to shift around my heart. Where is there to hope? Where is there to rest?

"through the unfailing love of the Most High
we will not be shaken."
Psalm 21:7

We need His love. The only steady place is His love for us. That love is not deserved, it is not earned, and it is not a commodity to be paid for by good deeds or even righteous indignation. Our sin earns us death and wrath....but God saved us. Humility and grace for those around us and across the country comes in seeing our state before Christ and then our state IN Christ. We can stay standing in the love of the Lord and testify of the good news of His great work. Lets us do this Sunday. Let us prepare our hearts to do it together and then to do it apart at our work and in our homes.

"On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand..."

in Christ,
paul

Psalm 22

I just want to share, since my weekly psalm reading landed on 22 that we read last week, a little of a message I heard at the Canvas conference 2 weeks ago from Cole Brown. David wrote this psalm about how he felt so see this first how he wrote it...

Suffering feels like:

1) Abandonment: vs 1, 2

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from my cries of anguish?

My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,

by night, but I find no rest.

2) Condemnation: vs 7, 8

All who see me mock me;

they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,

“let the Lord rescue him.

Let him deliver him,

since he delights in him.”

3) Worthlessness: vs 6

But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

4) Loneliness: vs 11

Do not be far from me,

for trouble is near

and there is no one to help.

5) Prison: vs 12,13

Many bulls surround me;

strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

Roaring lions that tear their prey

open their mouths wide against me.

6) Death: vs 14, 15

I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart has turned to wax;

it has melted within me.

My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;

you lay me in the dust of death.

These are all the things suffering feels like. It reminds me of Isaiah where he names Jesus as "a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Think about it, if David says all of this is what suffering feels like, when we apply it like we see the story of Jesus unfolds in Matthew...suffering feels like all the things Jesus suffered for us. It feels like abandonment, but He was totally abandoned: it feels like death and He actually died, etc. He knows what suffering feels like in total. How we feel falls somewhere in the middle on a scale of 1-10, but He has gone all the way to 10 in every category....and He did that for US!!! Finally, suffering ends praise: vs 22-26

I will declare your name to my people;

in the assembly I will praise you.

You who fear the Lord, praise him!

All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!

Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

For he has not despised or scorned

the suffering of the afflicted one;

he has not hidden his face from him

but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;

before those who fear you, I will fulfill my vows.

The poor will eat and be satisfied;

those who seek the Lord will praise him—

may your hearts live forever!

in Christ,

paul