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Faded Jeans and Worn Out Clothes

Psa. 102

1 Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry for help come to you.

2 Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.

Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.

25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.

Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.

At the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring Bilbo Baggins quips, “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” This is how this Psalmist, “an afflicted man,” describes his situation. Some of the language that the Psalmist is using is physical distress, whist other language describes his emotional turmoil. A nice piece of clothing, no matter how careful we are, gets worn out and the fibres fray.

This is in fact the cry of one whose sufferings are unexplained, like Job’s. As the title implies, it is a prayer which others who are near the end of their endurance can echo, finding words here that lead them ‘into a large place’.

The troubles, to begin with, are private griefs, but later they are transcended by concern for Zion, whose destiny is glorious yet painfully slow in coming to fulfilment. A final passage draws out the contrast between the human time-scale and the Lord’s eternity, bringing the psalm to a majestic conclusion which is quoted in praise of Christ in the opening chapter of Hebrews.

So the psalm, we learn, is Messianic; and in the light of that, the sufferings and the world-embracing vision of the speaker lead the mind to Psalm 22. For the ground on which Hebrews 1:10–12 discerns the Son of God here. Hebrews 1:10–12 quotes verses 25–27 word for word (as Septuagint, including the added ‘Lord’ in 25a), with one minor change of word-order; and verse 27 (you are the same) may also underlie the great saying of Hebrews 13:8, ‘Jesus Christ … the same …’. The epistle opens our eyes to what would otherwise be brought out only by the Septuagint of verses 23 and following, namely that the Father is here replying to the Son, ‘through whom all things were made’; and this implies that the sufferer throughout the psalm is also the Son incarnate.

Are you feeling worn out? Look to the Grand Weaver who faithfully renews all things. Look to the one who on the cross was stripped naked that we might be clothed with his righteousness.

The Fluffy Friends and Faithful Shepherd

Psalm 100

A psalm for thanksgiving.
1 Raise a shout to Yahweh, all the earth!
2 Serve Yahweh with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs,
3 Acknowledge that Yahweh, he is God.
He made us, and we are indeed
his people and the flock he shepherds,
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
give thanks to him, and bless his name!
5 For Yahweh is good; his loyal-love is forever,
and to generation after generation is his faithfulness.

Two of the biggest needs of the human heart are to know that we belong and that we are cared for. God lets us know that this is met in the simple word “Shepherd.” God chose to hide behind this word and in hiding reveals himself as Carer.

Why is it that God wishes to be known as a Shepherd? In the Old Testament he speaks of Himself as the Shepherd of Israel. In the New Testament he calls Himself the Good Shepherd. It is not enough that he simply care, guide and keep his sheep? He is the Good Shepherd who demonstrates his “loyal-love” and will spare no cost to rescue his sheep. In predicting his suffering on the cross Jesus declares, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”(John 10:11)

Jesus then commissions us as believers to take care of one another, even in the midst of our failures and frailties (see John 21:15-17). Charging us to care for one another and to tend to each other’s needs.

The only fitting response of heart is to “raise a shout,” “give thanks,” and give “praise.” The loyal-love, that stunning blend of law and love(v5) triggers in us a faithful response of absolute joy and praise.

In this knowledge of his great covenant love let us care for one another with joy.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Heb. 13:20-21)

Happy, Clappy

Psa. 98:1 Oh sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
Psa. 98:2 The LORD has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.

…

Psa. 98:7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
Psa. 98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
Psa. 98:9 before the LORD, for he comes
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.

I remember hearing this Psalm fairly regularly in chapel at seminary. The Book of Common prayer places it in our evening devotional prayers. It was the jam that sandwiched and held together the Old Testament and New Testament readings. “Sing to the Lord for he has done great things!” When Archbishop Cranmer put together the Book of Common prayer he wanted us to respond in awe and wonder to God’s self-disclosure and vindication throughout history.Here there are no comparisons, no instructions in right worship: all is joy and exhilaration.

As the years went on in seminary, some of my professors tried to downplay the beautiful, wonderful and sometimes mysterious God of the Old Testament. Often they would describe Him as being a God who just did not take his medication. Thankfully, by the time Jesus came around, God learned to be merciful and nice. Though it sounded like a great idea to some of the folks in lectures. This jam sandwich would not let us escape the awesome beauty of this Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. Something in me knew that this Creator had always been loving and always been lovingly indisposed towards that which harms his beautiful creation. The last two verses of this psalm (v 8, 9) speak of the chorus of nature finally able to rejoice again. Paul echoes this very motif in Romans 8:19. This praise is artless and inarticulate, unlike the praise of man. But it too can be heard already, since the whole earth even now is full of God’s glory.

Nature will not come into its own until man himself, its proper master, is ruled in righteousness and equity. It is a truth which modern man is learning by default and with alarm.

The joyful noise of verses 4 and 6 meets us elsewhere as the spontaneous shout that might greet a king or a moment of victory. It is the word translated ‘shout aloud’ in Zechariah 9:9, the prophecy that was fulfilled on Palm Sunday. Jesus came not only to bring Judgement, but also to bear it(v.8,9). Let us erupt in praise at the story of this beautiful rescue. The price to Justice has been paid and we are redeemed.

Praise to the Lord, The Almighty

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
The King of creation
O my soul, praise Him
For He is thy health and salvation
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near
Praise Him in glad adoration

Praise to the Lord
Who o’er all things so wonderfully reigneth
Shelters thee under His wings
Yea, so gladly sustaineth
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e’er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth

Praise to the Lord
Who doth prosper they work and defend thee
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do
If with His love He befriend thee

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him
All that hath life and breath
Come now with praises before Him
Let the ‘amen’ sound from His people again
Gladly for aye we adore Him

Chorus:
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

Listen here

Joachim Neander. His life was short—he died at the age of thirty—and many of his hymns seem to have been written in the last few months before his death; but the influence he exerted on the subsequent hymnody of his Church was remarkable.

Neander’s hymns are preeminently hymns of praise. Their jubilant tone and smooth rhythmical flow are at once an invitation to sing them.

Joachim Neander was born in Bremen, Germany, in 1650. He came from a distinguished line of clergymen, his father, grandfather, great grandfather and great great grandfather having been pastors, and all of them bearing the name Joachim Neander.

But simply being born to Christian parents did not make him a Christian. In the year 1670, when Neander was twenty years old, he chanced to attend services in St. Martin’s church, Bremen, where Theodore Under-Eyck had recently come as pastor. Two other students accompanied Neander, their main purpose being to criticize and scoff at the sermon. However, they had not reckoned with the Spirit of God. The burning words of Under-Eyck made a powerful impression on the mind and heart of the youthful Neander, and he who went to scoff came away to pray.

It proved the turning point in the spiritual life of the young student. Under the guidance of Under-Eyck he was led to embrace Christ as his Saviour, and from that time he and Under-Eyck were life-long friends.

At age 29 his friend and mentor Under-Eyck invited him to pastor in Bremen. he gladly accepted this post. Within six months he fell ill. During his illness he experienced severe spiritual struggles, but he found comfort in the words, “It is better to hope unto death than to die in unbelief.” On the day of his death he requested that Hebrews 7:9 be read to him. When asked how he felt, he replied: “The Lord has settled my account. Lord Jesus, make also me ready.” A little later he said in a whisper: “It is well with me. The mountains shall be moved, and the hills shall tremble, yet the grace of God shall not depart from me, and His covenant of peace shall not be moved.”

Slippery Slopes

Psalm 94

Have you ever sung that song where the line goes, “When the world’s “all as it should be, Blessed be Your name.” This is definitely not one of those songs.

For the salmist the world is not running the way it should be. In fact it is running diametrically opposed to the way many of us think the world should run. Here the psalmist is honest enough to pray his emotions. He feels angry about his situation. Even in the midst of his anguish the Psalmist appeals to dual concepts of a Just Judge and God of Vengeance (seen in Deut. 32:35; Gen. 18:25).

Psa. 94:1 O LORD, God of vengeance,
O God of vengeance, shine forth!
Psa. 94:2 Rise up, O judge of the earth;
repay to the proud what they deserve!

Often when we hear the terms vengeance and wrath we feel that this cannot reconcile with the way we think the world should run, let alone how God should operate.

God’s love and his wrath are intrinsically linked; any de-coupling of these two concepts makes him less than loving and less than just. If we simply look at the human analogy of a loving relationship between a father and an alcoholic son. The more a father loves a son, the more this said father will be opposed to the drink and the lying that is destroying his son. In fact we would think the father to be unloving if he were not diametrically opposed and even upset at that which was destroying his son.

The Psalm then ends showing us how God often allows his divine displeasure to come forth. It is actually one of the most loving things he can do. Ultimately he will not force a people to love him who choose to hate. The Psalmist describes this divine displeasure as “passive wrath.” The Lord chooses to allow the proud and the unloving to fall into the very pits they have dug for themselves(v13). Even the Psalmist saw his own heart headed in this same slippery direction (v.18). But God intervened and rescued him and prevented his foot from slipping.

CS Lewis put it brilliantly when he said, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened. ”

Home and The End of Exile

Psa. 90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Psa. 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Home evokes a lot of ideas and memories. “Home” is the place that truly fits and suits us. We were made to know and serve God, to live in his presence and enjoy his love and beauty.

However, because we wanted to be our own Saviors and Lords, we lost God, and therefore we wander in the world and experience what the philosopher Heidegger called unheimlichkeit. The word is translates as “eeriness” or “uncanniness” but literally it means “away from home.” Heidegger is referring to the anxiety and spiritual nausea that comes from never feeling at home in the world.

Psa. 90:3 You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
Psa. 90:4 For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
Psa. 90:5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
Psa. 90:6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.

This world doesn’t address the needs of our heart. We long for a love that can’t be lost, for escape from death, for the triumph of justice over wrong. But such things will never be found here.

Psa. 90:16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Psa. 90:17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!

When we find home, it is indeed the end of exile.

Marvelous Darling, Absolutely Marvelous

Psa. 86:10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds;

you alone are God.

Miracles: Awe Inspiring Moments

Have you ever tried to define a miracle? Is it the violation of a natural law? It would imply that God is inconsistent. Would you define it as supernatural intervention into the natural order? It would imply that God is not daily, moment by moment supernaturally sustaining and upholding the universe by “His powerful Word”(Heb 1:3).

There are many different definitions of a miracle, but the best one is often this simple phrase, “A miracle is a less common operation of God in which he inspires wonder, worship and awe and brings glory to Himself” (John Frame).

In this third book of the Psalter, we find this lonely Psalm of David. It is the only one in this whole book. It is a psalm of supplication. David is hard pressed, “poor and needy.” It opens and closes with a supplication punctuated in the middle with a deliberate praise—yes deliberate because there seems to be not easing to the pressure, no sign of abatement.

Why is the middle of this Psalm of supplication an act of worship? David sees the “marvelous deeds”(v.10) of God and responds in worship. His confidence is such that he even worships in view of a promised future miracle, his bodily resurrection, “For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.”(v.13)

David’s plea is for a miracle that is so awe-inspiring and worship inducing that it will, “give [him] an undivided heart, that [he] may fear Your name.”(v.11)

A Prayer for today

“God would you so surprise me with grace that I would be gripped by the promise of your immediate goodness , that all I can do is fall in awestruck wonder at your marvelous deeds. Give me an undivided heart that I may revere your name.”

‘gods’ on trial

Psalm 82:1 God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

‘gods’ on trial

Idolatry is looking to anything in creation to answer questions about you the Creator has already answered. –Judy Dabler

Often we ask some created thing, many times a good thing, to answer questions about us. We ask our jobs, our families, our hobbies, out looks, our intellect, or our skills to answer fundamental questions about us that God has already answered. We ask these created things to not only answer questions about us but to pass value judgment on us.

This Psalm of Asaph is a story about a judge and jury who are one and the same. God is passing judgment(v. 1, v. 8) on all the idols that hold sway over our life. Whenever we ask some created thing to answer questions of meaning, value, acceptance we grant them the ability to pass a verdict over us. God looks on man’s search for meaning and lovingly calls it as he sees it.(v.5) In His infinite mercy He describes us as, “weak,” “fatherless,” and “destitute.”(v.3) He does this as only a caring Father could. His desire is to adopt us, empower us, and grant us an inheritance. (v.8)

God the Father has passed judgment over us. Jesus Christ has accepted us and redeemed us. “Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”(Romans 15;7) If God has already answered questions about us why would we look to anything else?

Losing your voice

Psa. 81:1 Sing aloud to God our strength;

shout for joy to the God of Jacob!

Sing It Out!

Losing your voice.

This month the GP’s, surgeries, pharmacies are all offering flu jabs. There is nothing more frustrating when you are trying to communicate with someone than losing your voice.

The first three verses describe the events that would happen every year at the pinnacle of the festival calendar. The people of Israel would celebrate the new year (rosh hashana), ten days later the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and then on the fifteenth day Feast of Tabernacles.

Somehow, though they had made promises to trust God and follow Him, the hustle and bustle of the year would crowd out their memory of what God had done for them and prevent them from rejoicing in his salvation. During these fifteen days they would retell the story or redemption from creation to salvation from slavery to the giving of the covenant on Mount Sinai.

Remember

The people of Israel discovered their voice again by remembering (v4 -10) God’s great deeds of the past. When the Psalmist used the words blow the trumpet, Israel was reminded of the trumpet blasts at Jericho’s walls. As Asaph uttered the words, “Hear, O my People,” the singers of this psalm were transported back to those beautiful words in Deut 6:4 “Hear O, Israel, The Lord your God, The Lord is One.”

Joy

On the last and greatest day of this Feast many years later, Jesus would call His people back to Himself. His call for repentance and our need for washing and cleansing would lead to joyful response of overflow. As we remember God’s goodness towards us our only response is joyful obedience and celebration. So the psalm ends with a strong reminder of God’s grace and resource. The One whom Israel distrusts is neither stingy nor powerless: he gives the best, and brings sweetness out of what is harsh, forbidding and wholly unpromising.

Let us celebrate the new life that Jesus provided for us on the Day of Atonement.

Sighs and Songs

Psa. 79A PSALM OF ASAPH.

Psa. 79:1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;

they have defiled your holy temple;

they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

…

Psa. 79:13 But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,

will give thanks to you forever;

from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

About a year ago I got a fever that lasted about 5 days. During the day it was manageable, a little bit of a temperature some aches and pains. Almost like clockwork my tonsils would begin to hurt by 9pm. By 10pm I could barely talk and by 11pm I knew another sleepless night with high temperatures and shivers was upon me. It was in these moments that I had some of my best prayer times. They were not very flowery, well put together, or carefully constructed dialogues with God. In fact, if the sighs ever became words, the only words I uttered were O, God. This simplest prayer was probably some of the most sincere and heartfelt prayers I have ever prayed.

This Psalm falls somewhere after 586 BCE. The very beginning of the Psalm talks about the destruction of the Temple. The Psalmist feels powerless before his enemies. Even worse, he feels powerless before God. The Almighty creator of the heavens seems to be powerless to prevent his sacred temple from being defiled. The psalmist pours out his prayers, his desperation and even anger in prayer. He says things that no self-respecting, religious person will utter. “I wish you would pay my enemies back sevenfold.”(v12).

Gloriously, after a heart wrenching prayer, the psalmist no longer seeks revenge, or self pity he seeks only songs. “We will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.”(v13) The psalmist’s sigh cocoons and morphs into a beautiful song that will last from generation to generation