Reminders, OY!

I know sometimes it can be boring,..dull,...weary to hear the same things over and over again.  After all, who wants to be reminded again of basic things?  We want to always be tantalized with new and exciting information, right?  The same old stuff again?  After all, aren’t you insulting my intelligence to repeat the same old things over and over again?

I think we all can remember those experiences when we were growing up.  Parents going out for a night and lecturing us about all the stuff we already know we are to do… clean the dishes, put them away, put them away right, shut the cupboards, turn of the lights...make the sure the water is ALL THE WAY off… etc.  “Do they think we are dumb?”  Reminders of curfew, reminders to brush your teeth.  Reminders to shower every day.  And always the response: “I know ma!  I know dad.”  “I know, I know, I know!” 

They must think I’m dumb!

Then you got older.  And the same thing happened on your first job.  The boss always was reminding you about something.  Reminders to smile on the job and to always follow procedure.  Reminders to punch in on time, reminders to work hard, reminders to sleep at home, and reminders to eat on break, NOT ON THE CLOCK.

Wow, they must have thought I was dumb too!

But then you got older yet.  And you had your kids.  You had your first employees.  And worse yet, your kids and your employees got to be...teenagers.

Suddenly you began to realize why you were constantly given all those reminders!  And yeah… we were dumb!

Peter talks about reminders in 2 Peter 3.  He says, “This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved.  In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder.”  What does he think that we are dumb?

Not really.  He’s reminded us already of the good news concerning Jesus Christ, and that through that good news we can have God live in us, making us partakers of the divine nature (1:4).  He’s reminded us to reflect that reality in our behavior.  He’s reminded us that the gospel is not founded on myths, but on eyewitness testimony (1:16). He’s also reminded us that there are false teachers out there that are seeking to destroy us, and use us for their own selfish ends.

Peter calls us back to these things because there is value in coming back to these basics.  Not because we are dumb, but that its easy for us to get side tracked.  Not because he wants to bore us, but he wants to remind us of the most exciting and important central truths.  Its also a challenge to us.  If we find “reminders” and revisiting the basics of the Christian life boring, dull, or insulting to revisit, that may say something about the current state of our hearts! 

The reaction Peter seeks from us is not “I know that already!” Rather, it should draw from us a renewed vigilance.  It should elicit a return to thankfulness and joy over our deliverance.  It should stimulate us to remember where our destiny was without Christ, and to want to share this truth with others.  And so, with Peter, I wish to remind you: “You were destined for hell without Christ.  But the Good news is that Jesus has delivered us from Hell, saved us from our sin, and now we have the Holy Spirit living within us.”  

What’s your reaction to that?

Are you part of the Hakam? Proverbs 26:12

“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?  There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Proverbs 26:12

I don’t like this proverb.  In once sense I do.  Its true.  Its short, to the point, and communicates a truth in truly a humorous way.  In that sense, I do like it.  But in another sense, I don’t like it.  

It's not hard to guess why.  If you were reading this, and you were my younger brothers, you would have a pretty solid opinion of why I wouldn’t like it.  I think any of you out there, as you are thinking about older siblings you had (if you weren’t blessed to be an oldest born anyway), you would know what I am referring to:  “That oldest boy (girl), he’s  (she’s) a ‘Know it all.’”  Yep.  

My brothers developed a saying they would respond  with when I came out with one of my "considered" opinions.  “Can’t win,” they would say, interrupting me.  Then they would walk away.  Of course I would be left fuming.  Now I might argue that I have a legit right to an opinion in a given circumstance (so do all of your older sibs, mind you).  But what, in hindsight, this was telling me is that, rightly or wrongly (probably rightly) I had a reputation with my brothers that I was not correctable and was stubborn in my opinions.  They might say "Wise man?  He's more of a wise guy!" Cue the Three Stooges!

Hmm.

Now looking from the outside in, I certainly might be right many times.  But I am wrong many times too.  And I have been right enough that I have been inclined to stick to an opinion or idea longer than maybe I ought to.  And this sort of thing is the kind of thing that can get one in trouble….particularly if one is traveling ("yes honey, this is the right way to go"), or spending large amounts of money ("Look! I KNOW this thing is a good deal!")…etc. 

We must beware those times when we have convinced ourselves that we have everything all figured out.  This verse cautions us against that very kind of thinking.  The word for "wise" in this verse is Hakam.  It literally means “Skillful.”  In the Hebrew mindset,  the wiseman is one who is skillful at living life.  If we convince ourselves that we have joined the hakam, that can leave us vulnerable to a lot of blindspots.  Because being Hakam, what need have we for advice or correction?  We lose our teachability.  A fool often times can at least be taught that he’s a fool.  Sometimes he even knows it already.  He has limitations, and can at least be shown them, or may even be aware of them already.  But a person who is convinced of his own wisdom?  You can’t even bring him to the point where he has to admit that he’s wrong, not got it figured out, or that he’s headed for disaster.  That’s why there is more hope for a fool than for him.

This certainly is a contrary message to what this world wants us for us today, isn’t it?  Convince yourself, rather of your need for humility and teachability.  Convince yourself that you don’t have it all figured out.  If you don't believe it, ask your younger siblings.

Proverbs and a Monstrous Green Keyword

Its my contention that, generally speaking, to limit yourself to a mere chapter in a quiet time is a mistake.  There may be times when your devotional may require using a smaller portion of scripture.  Perhaps you are doing a character study, and the devotional guide you are using focuses on a chapter, or even a smaller portion.  But generally speaking, it really is important to work with larger portions of scripture.

Working with a larger portion gives you a bigger view of what’s important to the author of scripture.  This is most plain when you are reading the narrative portions of scripture, such as in the Old Testament books of the kings, or in the gospels.  When you see an important item or topic appearing again and again, this suggests that the topic in question is a key theme for that book.  Take, for instance, the prevalence of the priesthood in the books of Chronicles.  The priesthood, and their actions, and often times their inaction becomes an important thread that unlocks the deeper principles of scripture.  Accounts of how the kings ended are key themes in both the Chronicles and Kings books, helping us to understand how God wants us to finish well, and to avoid finishing poorly.

Working with larger portions of scripture is no less important in Proverbs.

Many of us who come to read proverbs think of this book, primarily as being one and two verse ditties (chapters 1-9 and 31 excepted) that are not really connected with the others around them.  In fact, the seeming randomness and lack of immediate connection between two given verses can be bewildering to we westerners to read.  But taking a bigger portion of proverbs is important toward helping us understand the aims and goals of Solomon who has compiled these sayings for us.

When reading Proverbs, it is important to begin by a survey of the portion to be read for the devotional.  Note puzzling proverbs with your own personal, brief shorthand (such as an ‘!’ or a ‘?’), but do not ponder long on them in this first initial survey.  Your primary goal is to look for repeated ideas, subjects and topics.  

One set of chapters may seem to focus heavily on the proper use of the mouth.  Another set of chapter may seem to have numerous references to laziness interspersed with, among other things, references to obtaining wealth.  Another passage may have a heavy salting of passages focused on child rearing.  But one thing you will consistently find throughout the book are calls to be wise, and calls to fear God.

In the portion I had for my devotional time today (22-24), I had a number of passages that dealt with envy.  

“Fret not yourself because of evil doers, and be not envious of the wicked,

For the evil man has no future, and the lamp of the wicked will be put out.”

Proverbs 24:19-20

Envy is that terrible monster that rears up in our hearts.  And when it rears up it distorts our thinking and poisons our will.  We may find ourselves beginning to be angry with those who have what we want, thinking that we have been robbed of what is rightfully ours.  Or it may cause us to want to associate with those who have what we want in such a way that we may compromise our principles, or become their tools.

I can remember a number of times in my past when my wife and I did not have a lot.  We sometimes felt resentful about that fact.  It made us susceptible to get rich quick schemes, and foolish investments of our time and resources.  Sometimes we were even encouraged to drive through the neighborhoods of others and look at their homes and, in their words, “Dream.”  Actually, what these people were telling us to do was to go and covet what belonged to someone else.  Envy.  But of course, the people who were coaching us at the time in these matters were going to gain from our labor.  So they had a vested interest in getting us motivated to want more and more.

“Be not envious of Evil men, nor desire to be with them,

For their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.”

                                                Proverbs 24:1-2

The current climate of class warfare is also fueled by envy.  “The rich get rich and the poor get poorer.”  I hear people say these kinds of things all the time.  These statements have their source in people who want the so called “have nots” (who in reality, in our nation, have enough, just not as much as the next guy) to stay in tension with those who are the so called, “Have’s.”  Votes and tax dollars and government dollars, union movements and protests are fueled by this monster called envy.  

And that’s not all.  The economy also has a significant basis in envy.  Our tv programs and commercials often use the tool of envy to cause us to want more and more.  Corporations have a vested interest in comparing ourselves with others, telling us that we deserve more and more, and that we are paling in comparison with those around us if we don’t have what they have. Banks and lending institutions prey on our envy to cause us to take out more credit then is prudent.

“When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you

And put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.

Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food…

Proverbs 23:1-3 (emphasis added)

Envy is a close brother to another terrible sin: Greed.  And the Bible says that Greed is idolatry.  Envy makes an idol out of what the next guy has, whether good or bad, and tells us that we have to have that, no matter the cost to ourselves and those around us.  And our wills our warped and our minds become wrapped around that thing which is denied us, driving us to get that desired things at all cost.

That’s why Proverbs warns us against Envy.  Its one of the more subtle sins.  Yet it really is a master of much of what goes on in our culture today.  The next time you are watching TV, and a commercial comes on telling you how need to have this product, or are watching that TV program which says your house is not quite enough, remember what the Bible says about Envy.

“Let not your heart envy sinner, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.”

Proverbs 23:17

Don't Skip Proverbs!

Proverbs has always been one of the my favorite books of the Bible.  Its also a very challenging one to read.  Too many of the verses describe me...not as the wise man but as the fool!

It was through reading the book of proverbs that Ben Carson was convicted of his sin, and eventually became a Christian.  As a young man, growing up in Philadelphia, he had joined a gang of thugs to feel important.  At one point, they had decided to get into a rumble.  He was a very young teen at this point.  One of the gang leaders handed him a knife, and ordered him to go and kill another young member of the rival gang.  During the gang fight, an opportunity came for Ben to stab the other child, and he did so...only to have the knife strike his opponent’s belt buckle and snap.

Suddenly, horrified by what had happened, he ran to his grandmother’s house.  He found solace there by taking up his grandmother’s bible, and found himself reading the book of proverbs.

Proverbs was written primarily to young men.  But it certainly has many wonderful points for the ladies as well.   Everyone should find plenty of things to put salt in his wounds...yeah it hurts at first.  But salt heals too.  

My Bible reading today was in proverbs 18-20.  These are hard chapters for me. There are lots of verses here about the mouth and the tongue.  “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.”  That was one verse that told me that I need to listen more than I speak.  Sometimes we need to be more ready to hear than to say.  Too many people feel they need to have many opinions, and spend much of their time voicing them.  Understanding comes by hearing what others have to say, too.  Communication does have to be “two way…” Unfortunately the temptation for us, as fools, is to make it one way...My Way!  Better, (15b) “...the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”  Not the mouth, but the ear!

“A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare for his soul (18:7).”  I think most of us fools can relate to experiences where our mouths got us into situations that were beyond our capabilities.  A later verse adds (21) “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”  We have a saying, “What does around comes around,” and how we use our words do come back to us, either as a bane or a blessing depending on how we use them.

Here is an old favorite of mine (19:19):  “Let a hot tempered man pay the penalty.  If you rescue him you will just have to do it again.”  As a recovering fool with a hot temper, I can tell you that the burned hand teaches best.  I am convinced I once gave myself a fracture on my finger because I lashed out in anger against, of all things, a truck.  Yes, a truck.  If you punch a truck, who is going to win?  That little incident told me I had to do something about my temper before I got into real trouble.  Letting a person feel the pain of their bad choices may be the only way to stop a person prone to temper.  This verse cautions us against be enablers. 

The verse before it goes with this same principle (18): “Discipline your son, for there is hope.  Do not set your heart on putting him to death.”  Yes, kids hate that verse.  Quite frankly, when I consider the teaching of Hebrews 12:

“It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom [his] father does not discipline?  8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons”

then I have to admit that I don’t care for the idea so much myself!  After all, who likes discipline?  Discipline is intended to keep us from making bad choices.  Bad choices lead to destruction.  If we do not discipline our children, we are telling them, “make bad choices.  Go ahead, destroy yourself.”  In our sanitized society, we really believe that children, and people in general, are basically good, and that bad consequences are not normal.  Wrong on both counts.  Bad consequences are normal, and people are not basically good.  When we fail to tell kids “no” and fail to teach them that there are bad choices and bad consequences that follow, we are fundamentally denying reality.  This is yet another reason why I have so little patience for post modern culture.  It fundamentally denies reality.  There are, in fact, moral absolutes and moral laws, and to live in defiance of them is to invite destruction.

Many verses in this passage teach about gaining wealth and its right use.  Many that remind us that wealth is quickly bled dry (18:24).  Its not built by the lazy (19:16) and constant effort and vigilance are required for success (20:4).  We are to be generous with the poor.  “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord.  He will repay him for his deed (19:17).

Liberal use of your pen is encouraged when you read proverbs.  And have a few note cards handy so you can write down verses that speak to you so you can commit them to memory and be blessed by them.

Don't Forget verse 7

Proverbs 3:5-6 are great verses to live by.  Many Christians discover them early in their Christian walk, and find that these verses resonate with a great challenge to remember that He, and He alone, is the Lord of all our ways.  These verses orient our minds in a grand and wonderful way.  They point to God.

The verses start with God.  The arrow is firmly fixed toward Him.  He is the object of our trust.  The word trust, in this passage refers to security.  Its used in a number of passages to describe the emotional experience of confident peace and the intellectual understanding that one is safe.  For example, Leviticus 25:18-19 describes the experience of living in confidence and safety in the land, because God is protecting the people.  For many years we have lived in confident safety and peace in our nation, because we believed in God.  We, as a nation, watched with confident eyes as wars unfolded and passed in the world at large.  Even in two world wars, for the most part, we felt safe and confident here in our land, secured by two vast oceans. Only when the cold war came were we shown that because of ICBM’s, such a confidence was false.  The horrors of September 11 showed us that our ocean borders cannot keep out evil people who want to work us harm.

Real security is with God.  This verse reminds us that we are to find our security in God.  Everything else we trust in, whether it is personal strength, the protection of human beings, even the confidence that comes from a steady paycheck are an illusion.

We are also told that this trust must be “with all our heart.”  In the Hebrew mindset, the heart was the seat of the will.  We are told that in every aspect of all of our choices, we must find our security in the Lord.  We are people who find it easy to “compartmentalize.”  We tell ourselves that we can trust God for our church growth, but not for our financial success.  We say silly things like, “If its to be, its up to me!”  That’s not trusting God with our whole heart.  We speed on the highway when we are late for our appointment.  We trust our right foot and driving skill more than we trust God.  We fret and panic when we are told we may lose our job.  We trust our paycheck more than God.  The Bible tells us that even in these things, finding our security in God comes first.

How about the politics of our relationships.  Do we trust in our cleverness in regard to these things?  In our ability to reason out, or manipulate, more than we trust in God?  Where is our security here?  Do we pray about all these things?  The second half of verse 5 reminds us that we are not to lean on our own understanding.  The action of leaning echoes the act of trust in the first half.  When we lean on a fence or a staff, we trust and find secure what we are leaning on.  This verse reminds us that our understanding is not a safe and secure place of confident trust.  Only God is.  Why?  Because our understanding is flawed.  We do not have all the information.  What information we have is often distorted by own biases.  God is more worthy of our trust than our poor pool of limited knowledge.

Verse 6 reminds us to know God in all our ways.  It includes the idea of “tipping our hat to the Deity.”  He is the master of our ways, and this verse reminds us that is an important part of living our lives.  Yet it is more than that at the same time.  Its learning to discern Him in the ways we take.  It’s looking for the signs of His presence to make sure we are walking the right path.  It is also submitting to Him when it comes to asking Him which path is best.

Whew, great stuff!  Isn’t that enough?  But look at the next verse.  Sometimes looking at the same actions from a different direction help to understand what exactly is being called for.  Take for example a basketball coach teaching his players.  He might tell them, “When you pass the ball, pass it crisply.”  He demonstrates the action with a quick pass to one of his students.  But that is not all.  He also demonstrates what he does not want, so his charges understand what is called for.  So coach then adds, “Don’t lob the ball, like so,” and he shows the action he does not want.  He then lobs the ball, which everyone present knows can easily be intercepted.

Verse 7 is therefore vital for us, and is equally worthy of memorization.  “Do not be wise in your own eyes…”  Just as we are to find our security, safety and confidence in the Lord, and just as we are not to lean on our own flawed understanding, we need to be very careful not to think we have life all figured out.  Wisdom is an endless pursuit.  And even those who are wiser than ourselves, if they are truly far along on the path of wisdom, do well when they remember that they are not yet truly wise!  As soon as we begin to buy into the idea that maybe we really are wise, we have begun to leave the path of wisdom, and become capable of all kinds of folly.  Why?  Because we begin to believe that the secrets of life are ours, we and we can navigate as well will, without fear of consequences...After all, we can surely navigate around even those!  At least that is what we tell ourselves.

Add to this the fear of God and turning away from evil.  Here again we see the mirroring that God is using to teach us what He wants of us.   We are to fear God.  He is the one who can discipline us.  And discipline can be very painful!  2 Corinthians 7 points out that the fear of God completes Holiness in us!  If we want to be Holy, then the fear of God MUST color all of our actions and choices.   Our behavior must be impacted by the consciousness that there is a God who holds us accountable.  Turn away from evil is the mirror that reminds us to be aware of our surroundings and our choices, and to choose the good over the evil.  It tells us to engage in the psychological act of turning our backs on temptation, wrong thoughts, and evil habits.  It reminds us that repentance is a daily act.  It reminds us that the past is in the past, and that there is a new start everyday.  

Trusting God and leaning not on our understanding is very important. But verse 7 reminds us that God is to be feared as well, and that we also do well when we remember that wisdom will never really be fully ours this side of glory.  So if you have committed Proverbs 3:5-6 to memory, consider adding verse 7 to your arsenal as well.

How's that new habit coming along?

How are those New Year’s resolutions coming along?  Any Spiritual ones this year?  How about them?  They say it takes 21 days to make a habit, so you are almost 2/3 of the way there, if you have been keeping it!  What is yours?  Perhaps a scripture memory program?  Reading through the Bible in a year?  A new Devo time?

I must admit that being out of my routine has kind of unsettled my practice of my New Resolution.  But I am committed to it, and I fully intend to keep it.  Yesterday is gone, and today is passing.  Tomorrow is a new day, and its a fresh page to write upon.  What will you and I do with it?  Will we make time for the things that we know will make us better?  Or do we want to end the year wishing that we had found a way to make that new habit, that life building skill, or that fresh attitude we have always wanted to cultivate.  

I would make a poor farmer.  I always like ideas and results.  Its the work in between that always seems to trip me up.  I can put a name on it like “Visionary Leader,” but on the farm “Visionary Leaders” go hungry.   When you have lots of people around you to implement your plans “Visionary Leadership” is a great thing.  But me with my little garden...in a house full of “visionary leaders?”  Well, I produce almost as much weeds as I do tomatoes.

This last year I did note some progress I am building into my character on carrying through projects.  I made a notable effort on several long projects around the house to try to be as much a hard worker as a visionary.  

I am trying to strive for more of that in my personal Bible study.  I have long admired men who can pull out a passage of scripture and preach from the ancient languages without notes.  Time to stop admiring.  I have the vision.  Now its time to grow it.  I need less ivory tower and more of the shovel and the hoe.  I need less dreaming and more doing.  So I am going to attempt this year to be more proficient than ever in my studies of scripture, and in including more original language in my personal study.

I am striving to be a better disciplemaker.  I have been working on a vision for expanding discipleship in our church. I have also taken on two new disciples and am praying for more.  I also started this blog with a view toward builiding my ministry of discipleship into all who read it.  I hope to exemplify good bible study habits, and demonstrating how I go about applying truth to my own life.  I need to ever hone these skills, as disciplemaking is at the core of what God wants us to do.  If people come to me and tell me that they got something from what they read on the blog, or if they go out and train others in what I have trained them to do, I know I have achieved my goal.

I know that my first goal is more of a long term thing.  It takes years to master the Bible in your native language, much less in a dead language.  The second will have more immediate results.  But what about you?  Have you spelled out your goals?  Do you know what it will look like when you have realized them?  Have you already broken your new habit?  

No worries.  Start fresh tomorrow.  Keep at it, and your new resolution will be yours…either 7 days from now…or in 21!

Be Thankful! In Concert, Please! Psalm 136

I bump into folks on a regular basis who think that communal worship is an entirely optional part of our faith experience.  Its like sauce for ice cream or gravy for potatoes. Not required and even superfluous.   Some of the reasons cited include the following:

“I like to do my own thing.” 

“I don’t like the whole ‘following a script’ or that unison stuff.”

“It feels artificial.”

As you can see, these objections hardly qualify as reasons.  They simply boil down to personal preference and a refusal of the very biblical discipline of Submission.  Our culture has introduced into the Christian faith the idea that our faith experience is to be a private one.   Its all about “me and Jesus.”  This is hardly the case.  The Bible mostly reflects a collective experience of worship, and so much is missed when there is no collective worship in the lives of the faithful.

Consider Psalm 136.  This Psalm was designed for collective worship.  The crowds were gathered for the Passover festival.  They came to the temple by God’s command, as a group to celebrate and remember what God had done to redeem the people of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians.  

God commanded that the people of Israel would come together for celebration on more than one occasion each year.  One was the feast of Pentecost, when the people gathered to remember Moses coming down from the Mountain.  Another was the festival of Tabernacles, when the people of Israel were called to come together and celebrate God’s deliverance, as well as to remember their time in the wilderness.  

Are we catching a theme here?  Certainly!  God felt that collective worship and remembrance was important enough that He institutionalized it.  When we are called together to worship we remember the things that are most important.  If we refuse that opportunity, what is there to call us back to the most important things?  

Psalm 136 is referred to as the “Great Hallel.”  Hallel means “Praise God.”  It is sung at the end of Passover.  The Priest leads the worship in this Psalm which David wrote for community worship.  And David certainly did know a thing or two about real worship!  The Priest leads, by saying one line, and the crowd responds: “For his love endures forever.”  Through the course of the Psalm, the singer calls out the remembrances of what God has done for praise and thanksgiving, and the crowd responds, with “That’s our God’s everlasting covenant love for us!”

What is it that they are celebrating God’s covenant love about?  Firstly that He is a good God, who is the God of gods (1-3).  Second for His creative power revealed in the creation (4-9).  Third, for His acts of deliverance from bondage to Egypt (10-16).  Next they thank Him for what He did in giving them the land of Canaan (17-22).  They close with remembering His mercy (23-25).

All good reasons to be thankful!  And these things were not dusty truths that were tedious to remember!  Remember, David wrote these things about 400 years after they happened.  The people of Israel collected this Psalm into the Psalter sometime after the exile.  They did not feel that this was dusty, a barrier to real fellowship with God.  And in Jesus’ day, they were still singing it!  They did not feel bound by an empty practice, or that it was artificial!  David and the people of Israel all knew how important it was to remind people of what God had done in providing deliverance.  They knew it was important to continue to celebrate those acts, lest they be forgotten, and lest the people become ungrateful.

So remember that the next time you go to church, and you hear about the gospel...AGAIN. And you sing that old dusty hymn...AGAIN.  And you hear about Jesus on the cross...AGAIN.  And you have to do the Lord’s supper, or say the Lord’s prayer...AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN.  Remember, as you submit yourself to these practices, your mind should be moved toward gratitude for what God has done.  As a group your congregation calls you back to what's most important.  It calls you out of what's bringing you down, to remind you that there are eternal truths.  Collective worship reminds us that God is still God, worthy of praise,  no matter what our personal experience might be.

Psalm 124: A Psalm of Ascents for Today

Sometimes in our reading we come to a passage of scripture like Psalm 124, and we wonder what we are supposed to do with that as Christians.  

Psa. 124:1   If the LORD had not been on our side — let Israel say —  2 if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us,  3 when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive;  4 the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us,  5 the raging waters would have swept us away.  6 Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth.  7 We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.  8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.  (NIV)

Psalm 124 is a Psalm of Ascents.  These were songs that were sung on the road to Jerusalem when people were on pilgrimage to the temple.  They were making their way from whatever place they were at, and taking a road that wound ever upward toward the mountain of God.   At some point in the journey now unknown to us they would burst into song, remembering from where they had come, and how unlike it was to the place they were going.  

They were going from life amongst the heathen to the place of holy worship.  They were going from the Profane to the Sacred.  They were going from the unclean to the sanctified.  Their faces were upward, joy was in their hearts as they thought about the joy of being amongst like minded people who were also zealous for God.

That alone should speak to us today.  How do we look at worship?  Are excited about going to where sacred songs are in every heart, and where people hunger for scripture to be read and taught?  Is it our delight to sing songs of praise that bless the heart of God?  Such is the lesson presented to us by the mere existence of the psalm of ascents.  Here was a people that accounted it a joy and privilege to be able to go and spend a short season of a few days with God, before they would have to return to their homes many miles away.  It might be months or years before they would have the ability to go and appear before God to present their prayers and offerings.

How different from us.  Any little thing will do as an excuse to keep us in bed, fellowshipping with Pastor Pillow and Sister Sheets.  Brother Breakfast finds it all to easy to keep us home.  We’ve lost the sense of the privilege that it is to go and appear before God.  I wonder if we would miss it more if we had to travel on foot many days just to go and worship!  Maybe it would be good for us if we were forced into such a situation of privation!  Did you miss worship when the power was out?  Or did it feel more like an opportunity?

Back to the psalm at hand.  The Psalm speaks of times when the people of Israel were under threat to be destroyed.  Think of people like Haman, or of Nehemiah’s adversaries when he sought to rebuild the wall.  Yes there are people like that in the world today who hate Christians.  But bear in mind, Paul has told us that our real enemies are not flesh and blood.  Our real enemies are sin and Satan.  Paul tells us that our enemies are the principalities and powers.  God tells us that Sin hides nearby, ever ready to pounce on us and reign over us.  

These enemies do seek to swallow us up.  No trick is too low, no deception too base to ruin us, our testimony and our separation to God.  These enemies to seek to overwhelm us like a torrent (4) or swallow us up in raging waters of a ruined life (5).

Today, in our new dispensation, we are to love our enemies and pray for their peace.  But Jesus is talking about our earthly enemies.  We are to pray against the spiritual enemies that seek to destroy us, and it is for enemies like that we can use this Psalm.  

God has not given us over to our enemy the devil (6).  He has sent His Son to die on the cross, and that cross trips the snare that Sin and Satan would use to trap and kill us (7).  See? This Psalm is still quite relevant today!

We live amongst people who care nothing for God.  Hunger for the fellowship with the Saints of God, and for worship in the Holy Temple.  Stay close to Christ, and keep Him in the center of your life to keep from falling into the snare of the devil.  May this psalm serve as a reminder to us all to do both!