Psalm 11

This is another psalm written from the perspective of people who are entering into some kind of trial. This may seem like a challenging psalm to many because it says that God hates a certain group of people. And the term hate is one that is used pretty casually in our society, everything from children looking up at parents and saying "I HATE YOU!" to the recent debates about what accounts for "hate speech" and "hate crimes." And it may be easy to read this passage and read a passage about some kind of eternal punishment and that God gladly throws people who disagree with Him into a smoldering prison. But that would be to miss the point of the psalm. After all, how many worship songs do you sing that praise God for throwing "the bad people" into hell? Certainly, a song like that would not top my list in any possible way.

In this song, we have to recognize the perspective of the Israelites and the various empires that marched against them. This passage is not about the eternal punishment of people- Old Testament spirituality did not have much room for a place of rescue and a place of punishment after death (only Sheol, which is where everyone went). This passage is about God defending Israel from imperial expansion. Since we are not on the receiving end of imperial expansion in our country, it is hard to relate to this passage. What this psalm does give us, however, is a tool in transformation- examination. Sometimes, it can be tempting to hide things from God in our prayers. But relationships cannot be built on hidden secrets and the like. It can only be built on openness and trust. So I hope this psalm helps me remain open with God and gives me the hope that because of Jesus, I too may see the face of God one day.

Psalm 10

It would be tempting to read this psalm and think it's all about how awful people are. And there would be a good point to that- a broken world produces broken people. And just as broken glass cuts the skin, broken people have a way of hurting one another.

But what if this psalm, as a worship song, is really about God? In the face of monumental evil, the psalmist is talking about God who defends the fatherless and takes trouble and grief in His hand. For every person who is suffering and hurting, God is there and acts as the defender and comforter. For every broken person, there is Jesus broken on the cross. For every person who weeps and longs for something to bind the broken pieces together, God takes care of it personally.

My prayer is that this psalm reminds you of the gracious love of God in whatever you may face today.

Blessings always,
Andy

Psalm 9

As I open to the psalms this morning, I can't help but notice that the tune of this psalm is to a song called "The Death of the Son." I spent last night with a family as they mourned the death of a son. And so today, I dedicate these words to them. Maybe they will be helpful for you too, this morning.

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed , a stronghold in times of trouble (vs 9). May the LORD be your refuge as darkness and grief seems oppressive, may the LORD be your hiding place when you feel like you can't be around any other people. May the LORD be strong walls to help you feel safe in times of uncertainty. May God's nearness fill you with peace. May your hope never perish, and may you always remember that nothing can separate you from the love of God.

The love of God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. We know this because of the death of the Son- Jesus Christ. In His death and resurrection, we are certain that God's love is a stronger love than anything we have ever known. God's love is the love that will leave the 99 sheep to search for the 1 lost and lonely sheep. God's love is the love that will stop at nothing to hold you in times of trial. I pray that the Spirit show you God's love as you grieve, tell stories, laugh, remember and hope. Amen.

Psalm 8

Sometimes, knowledge can rob us of a sense of mystery. I don't mean that in a way that is superstitious; rather I mean that in a way that acknowledges that in turning the world into a laboratory to be studied or a resource to be harvested, the world is robbed of its God-given majesty. Indeed, the creation points us to God. Creation reveals some of God's character. Certainly, creation only gets us so far. But in knowing God, creation brings out even more of God's attributes. David has discovered this while staring at the stars, and considering the animals across the world. Who are we, that we might be called the caretakers of creation? Who are human beings, that we might be elevated above the rest of creation and granted a special place? Who are we that we might be created in the image of God?

David also ends the psalm rightly, that we do not get to take credit for the goodness that God has bestowed on people. This is grace. And what David did know at the time of the writing of this psalm is that he was also pointing forward to a day when humanity would be restored to its original position in God's eye. Restoration comes in the person of Jesus Christ. The first few chapters of the book of Hebrews takes many Old Testament texts and shows how they point to Jesus. And the Incarnation - God taking on humanity - is what happens when God lowers Himself a little lower than the angels, and in that process takes on all authority in heaven and on earth. Indeed, heaven and earth are full of the glory of God. Amen.

Psalm 7

David seems a little more self-critical in this psalm than the previous. In fact, of all the psalms where David demands for God to act against his enemies, this psalm may be the most self-reflective. David wonders in this psalm whether or not he has acted in a way to deserve the punishment he was receiving. Certainly, this psalm has many words that we don't normally pray. I haven't heard a prayer given in a long time that refers to God's wrath being expressed every day, or the flaming darts of God. Yet this psalm speaks to a longing that is deep within our souls- the need for peace.

"Bring to an end the violence of the wicked" (Psalm 7:9). We tire of bad news, of hostilities breaking out, and we don't even live in a warzone. We don't live in fear that our children are going to be taken and brainwashed into becoming child soldiers. We don't worry about being at Meijer's while it is being attacked by enemy raiders. We live comfortably, yet we still face the violence of the wicked all of the time. Men, women and children live every day under the constant threat of abuse and violence (at staggering rates). And as we live in a place of unspeakable violence hidden by doors and walls, we realize that we might be driving the person who will cure cancer out of school because we tell the child that he or she is stupid or worthless.

Yes, Lord, bring to an end the violence of the wicked. Examine my heart and find the ways I do violence to You, the people around me, and even the violence I do to myself. Release us all from the bonds to violence, so that we might know Your peace.

Psalm 6

David lifts his head from a tear-soaked floor. He looks around, can see nothing because of the tears still brimming on his eyes. Waterworks born of human darkness. In the shadows of life he can see the vague silhouettes of enemies. Who they are, he cannot tell. All he knows is that they surround him, and he's too tired to fight them. Bones creaking with every movement, David can hardly lift himself. Why even try? He turns only to God, praying for deliverance that has seemingly taken too long.

The people of Israel gather around the Temple for another worship service. They are singing this psalm at the top of their lungs, competing with the noise of an army at the borders, swords at hand. They know that they don't have the army equipped to face down these invaders, and they're not even sure they can try. Blinded by tears of anguish and despair, they cry to the only one who can save them.

All around the world today, people are surrounded by foes. Some foes are in the mind, created by a mind broken by chemical imbalance or trauma. Some foes are real, scary and holding all the power. Somewhere along the line, their voice was forgotten. Nobody seems to mind their oppression and silencing. And so they pray these words, too weary to fight on their own, praying for deliverance and waiting for the day when God will free them too.

Psalm 5

This psalm takes us down a journey, and it is not an easy journey to go down. It's the journey of a man with enemies. I don't have many personal enemies. I have people with whom I disagree, but many of them are among my best friends. I am a citizen in a country with enemies, so I might be able to claim enemies by extension. However, I do not know David's situation of having personal enemies who were actively out to hurt him. So I find this journey a tough one to relate to. But I'm sure that ancient Israel did not have a tough time relating- they always had enemies and (seemingly) were constantly at war with neighbors in the Old Testament.

This journey takes us right into God's court. This prayer is fairly simple- it lays out the requests and waits for God's action. Psalm 5 actively compares the righteous (psalmist) with the unrighteous (the enemies). It creates quite the us/them dynamic. And in our hearts, that might make sense. When we have enemies, it's very easy to see them in the us/them world. And it's easy to claim God's vengeance or wrath (or whatever) upon them. I read this Psalm after the cross of Christ, in which God's reconciling mission to the world is made pretty explicit. And as I read this Psalm, I admit that it is difficult to hold the Psalm with the cross.

Until I am reminded of the passage - "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). On the cross, the "enemy" was Jesus Christ. He was declared guilty, and was banished for the sins of others (Psalm 5:10). I hear that and am reminded that God stands by the enemy as well as the friend. This Psalm does not afford me the right to demand that God hate the same people I do, it reminds me that God has brought down the barriers of hate in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. May my prayers today be that God would peel away the hate in my heart and replace it with the love of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 4

Last night was the season finale of House, MD, the best show on television (Click here for a show synopsis). In the season finale, House is confronted with a tough reality- he has turned his life around, but there is no fruit from it. He even admits "I am the most screwed-up person in the world." From anyone else, it would be just an exaggeration; but with him, it may be true. He has been clean from vicodin addiction for over a year, but is losing the love of his life and his best friend all at the same time. And so we find him in the last minutes of the episode sitting on his bathroom floor, staring at a couple pills to take the pain away. And all viewers are thinking "Is he going to do it? Is he going to go back to the way things were?" Or maybe, to change our wording a little bit, "Is anyone going to show him any good?" I'm not going to ruin the last two minutes of the episode, but that question does get answered.

This psalm illustrates from where (or whom) the good comes. The good does not come from doing good, like karma, or the psalmist would not be described as in distress yet godly. No, the source of the good is God alone. The light of God's face is the good that we seek. It is God who fills our hearts with joy greater than our circumstances. It is God in whom we can trust. We can do everything right and still encounter tragedy. Crisis is not withheld from those who trust in God. In fact, we are called to plunge into the crises of others and our lives might get more stressful. But no crisis is so big that it can block God's healing power. And that gives me hope today.

Psalm 3

Imagine being on the run. Imagine living in fear and doubt. Now imagine that on top of that, being rejected by all of the people who were supposed to be your friends. This is the life that David lived while being pursued by his son Absalom. Absalom was a broken man, who had to live in silence when his sister was assaulted by a man named Amnon. Eventually, he had Amnon killed and faced the punishment of David for doing so. Being punished for what he considered justice did not sit well with him, and he conspired to take the throne (2 Samuel 15). Eventually, he finally was able to become king, if only for a little while. And he won the hearts and minds of the people of Israel over to his side, so people assumed that God was done with David, just as God had rejected Saul.

This psalm comes from the heart of a broken man, rejected and fallen. However, this psalm also comes from the heart of a man who trusts in God. He knows that, although he is surrounded by enemies, God will stand by him. He can sleep at night, although the cries of his enemies haunt his thoughts. He knows that ultimately, deliverance comes from God, the source of all blessing. Many people today know the rejection David speaks of. Many people know what it feels like to have people say "God is not with you" or "You can't truly be a follower of God." David's psalm reminds us that God decides who is worthy of receiving love. And God has decided to love the world enough to send His Son (John 3:16-17). As we hear the heart-cries of the rejected, let us have our ears tuned to hear Psalm 3 in their words. They are, after all, God's words.

Psalm 2

When I first read these words, I found them in the book of Acts and had no idea that they were actually quoted from a Psalm - and I found it under the heading of the "Believers' Prayer." Reading Psalm 2 from the mindset of the apostle's in Acts chapter 4, then reading it in the original context of the Psalms helps me to see how this Psalm impacts the life of God's people today.

Psalm 2 shakes with the mighty power of God, the power to lift up and to tear down. It speaks of the kings of the earth denying the source of their power and attempting to become gods unto themselves, and apparently God finds this power grab to be laughable, even ridiculous.

In Acts 4, we see the apostles making this prayer their own, surrounded by people who are also actively persecuting the faithful (the same people who put Jesus to the cross). Yet hear the language of how they view God's use of power in their world: "Stretch out your hand..." this is usually followed up by some demonstration of destruction (in Biblical language), "to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus" (Acts 4:30). Stretch out your hand to heal! The way the apostles see God using His power in their context was through healing and miracles. That helps me read Psalm 2 a little easier. I read "Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance," and I think of Jesus' inheritance being the world. There is a worship song we sang at Cornerstone that quoted this passage and made the claim that the inheritance belongs to Jesus, and the nations belong to Him. I would ask that all nations would be drawn into true life in and with God. Amen.

Psalm 1

How do you view reading the Bible? Is it a chore to be completed? A mystery to be solved? Perhaps it is water to the parched soil of our lives.

A tree planted by streams of water has little to be worried about. The constant refreshment of the streams means that it is not dependent on seasons and rain to be fed (unless the stream goes dry). It will continue to produce fruit in its season (which, as we know up here in Cherryland, is not all the time). It is well-fed and taken care of - constant nourishment and vitality.

Such is the way of a person who is constantly connected to God's Word. Now, it would be impossible to live one's life if they were always with their nose in a Bible. It would be very difficult to be a "doer" of the Word, as James would tell us. But that's not what Psalm 1 is talking about. Psalm 1 invites us to live a life meditating on the Word. In other words, to wonder how God's Word might be shining through in a particular moment. Or perhaps we are invited to see how God's Word might inform our life situation (or behavior). Psalm 1 opens for us a world in which we can have God's Word on our minds in our day-to-day situations. I, for one, am sometimes lacking in my ability to keep Scripture on my mind. But Psalm 1 gives me an image too desirable to refuse the chance to keep the Bible on my mind.

Psalms: An intro

Sorry that it has been a full week without posting, I just needed to recharge my blogging batteries. But now we're back, with the most ambitious blogging yet- the Psalms. Not only is the book of Psalms the longest book in the Bible (by a long shot), it is also the most theologically complex. More complex than Revelation, Ezekiel and Jude put together, one might say. Okay, that might be taking it a little far, but the Psalms have some challenging phrases. There are psalms that will seemingly justify all sorts of violent acts, and some will have a shocking view of who God is.

And that's all part of reading the Psalms. Think of the Psalms as the radio station of God's people. For them, there wasn't as big a divide between "secular" and "religious" music. Their songs expressed not only who they saw God as (in the moment), but also what was on their hearts (in the moment). So I hope you will enjoy this journey through the Psalms (which should take no less time than six months), and I hope the journey is one that transforms us and our image of God.

- Andy

Ecclesiastes 12

Everything is meaningless! Even that phrase begins to lose its meaning, given how many times it is repeated in the book of Ecclesiastes. So, in the end, what has meaning? What is true?

When I was in college, I took a tour of a Greek Orthodox Church and in the middle of the tour, I was struck by something our host had said. He told us, "You see, we understand that truth is not a thing, Truth is a Person." A light bulb went on, and everything seemed to click. Of course, Jesus said that He is the Truth, not knows the Truth or has seen the Truth or can handle the Truth. Jesus is the Truth. Jesus is what matters, Jesus is who has ultimate meaning. Everything in this world is in some kind of relationship to Jesus - after all, it is in Jesus that we live and move and have our being! There is good news to conclude the book of Ecclesiastes. Good news, indeed.

Ecclesiastes 11

It may not be coincidence that 12 hours after I left a conference talking about handling anxiety in personal transformation that I read this passage and get to the end only to find "Banish anxieties from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body."

The human body is tremendous. It is capable of so much, yet it is so frail. Yet another seminary classmate has passed away, which makes 2 in one year. We tire of funerals, we tire of good-byes. We yearn for hellos and new beginnings. In all of the frailties of the human condition, we just want one thing that will stand, if only for a little while longer. We are tired of carrying around our burdens, the anxieties that penetrate the imaginary boundary between our spirit and our body. Anxieties sit in our hearts, dragging them down and breaking our dreams.

We have a God of broken dreams. We have a God who sits in the wilderness, a God who wears darkness as a coat, a God who is near to the broken-hearted and a God who is compassion with skin on. So God, hear our prayer. How long, O Lord? How long do we lay our family and friends in the ground? How long do we say good-bye, and when can we say hello again? Cast out the anxieties in our heart, let us grieve, give us the strength to say good-bye one more time. And when we do, let our eyes see light one more time. When the good-byes have escaped our lips, let us see the sun. Don't hide it from us, don't leave us alone in the wilderness. Give us glimpses of Promised Land, give us hope. Give us Jesus. Amen.

For you, Chuck, 1974-2010. And all who grieve today.