Yesterday in worship we spent time again in Psalm 23.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalm 23:6) David is certain the LORD’s love and care will accompany him, and even pursue him. How long? All the days of his life. Now and forever. He will enjoy the benefits of the LORD’s presence daily, without end. Does David have this assurance because David is special? No, but because God is special: merciful, gracious, loving, faithful to his people. David’s knowledge, however, is not just intellectual. David has experienced God’s care, and remembers it. He takes the time to remember it, even rehearse it to himself. That’s what Psalm 23 is: a remembering of God’s goodness. David's confidence in God is in proportion to his experience and memory of God’s care. He remembers and rejoices! What will you remember from today? What do you want to remember from today? How will you remind yourself that God is good? Tomorrow will be better if you remember God’s goodness today. What do you want?
Rick Warren has said: "Power follows purity.” God will empower those who allow God to purify them. David said, Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalms 37:4) Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (Matthew 5:6) What do your actions say about what you want? (Your mom always said actions speak louder than words, and she was right.) What do you desire? When we allow God to purify us, he loves to empower us, to give us the desires of our heart, to fill us with himself. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalms 37:4) One reason it is so easy to fall into complaining is the obvious fact that sometimes arrogant and self-absorbed people thrive. Self-centered people often find themselves rewarded for their actions and attitude.
How can this be? It isn’t right! King David counsels: Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. (Psalms 37:1–3) David and his pastures! Doesn’t he see that evildoers thrive and God’s people suffer? Doesn’t God see?! Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. The counsel we get from David is not a direct answer to our question. He does not directly address our pain or frustration. His answer is intentionally indirect. Indirect and psychologically astute. Trust and enjoy God. Trust is a decision to be confident in God, followed by a thousand little decisions to cooperate with God despite our circumstances. It is a refocusing from our negative circumstances to the positive that God brings about. We intentionally remember the good that God does and is. It is a way of paying attention to what we can control (our focus, our thoughts), and letting go of what we cannot control (evildoers, and the consequences of their actions). We trust God because he is good. We trust God because that is something we can do — we can change our focus. It is a kind of spiritual discipline to notice and change what we think about. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen. Why is gratitude to difficult to maintain?
A frequent refrain in the Psalms is: Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. (Psalms 107:1) The Apostle Paul commands: Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18) Many of us have worked on or are working on developing a habit of gratitude, and it’s surprisingly hard work! Whether it’s the practice of “3 Good Things” each night before bed or replacing complaint with grateful speech, gratitude takes focus and practice. But then again what good thing doesn’t take focus and practice? We expect to put out effort in learning to play an instrument, becoming good at a sport, or learning to drive, don’t we? We set aside time and concentrate during the activity because it’s something we think is important and are willing to learn about. We are willing to work past the awkward stage. Maybe we allow ourselves to be put off by the awkward stage of replacing complaint with gratitude. Feeling awkward today? The LORD is your shepherd. What do you lack? God, please turn my attention to what is good and right and true. Give me words of thanks and praise today. Amen. We have been talking about what amounts to a paradigm shift. Reading Psalm 23 closely like this shows us the kind of life God offers us now.
We tend to slip back into thinking that the Christian faith is about cleaning up our act, minding our tongue, or choosing to be loyal to the right side. While all of those are part of the process, none of them are the core of following Christ. The paradigm shift Psalm 23 invites us to make is to instead see God himself as the ongoing source of our life and refreshment. Green pastures. Quiet waters. Right paths. No fear. Comfort. A banquet. Enemies at bay. None of the above are things we do or make. All are the result of walking with God, all are things we can receive from God as we are open to him. Yesterday’s question: How can we experience the life God promises? Do you remember the thought experiment from a few days ago? “What next?” Turning our thoughts to Jesus as often as we can is one way to be open to what God offers. That openness allows the free flow of “quiet waters” to the deepest parts of us. Over the next few days we will look at what kinds of things we can do to make ourselves open to what God wants to do in us. He wants to pour life into us so he can pour his love through us. It’s a small shift that brings major benefits. Lord, make us open to you today and always. Have you ever been out to eat and run out of what’s in your glass before you finish what’s on your plate?
Here’s what you find yourself doing: You pick up your glass, look down the mouth of it to the bottom, hoping that you’ll find something there you missed. No, it’s empty. Or maybe there's just ice, nothing to drink. So you shake the glass a little hoping that will shake loose a few drops. Really nothing. You look around for the server, wondering if you can get a refill. She’s nowhere. (If you can get a refill, will you have to pay for it?) That never happens at the LORD’s table: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (Psalms 23:5) Overflows! The LORD is lavish in the sustenance he provides. Abundant food, overflowing drink. So if we’re thirsty — finding ourselves at a loss facing a problem, finding ourselves at odds with a loved one, or having trouble finding our way and don’t know why — if we’re thirsty and our cup is empty it is likely not because God is holding out on us. How can we experience the life God promises? How can we know frequent refreshment from him for our days? Let’s talk more about that tomorrow…. As we continue to luxuriate through Psalm 23, let’s pause at the “table”.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. The “you” of course is the same LORD who is David’s shepherd. The LORD prepares a banquet table and invites David to be the honored guest. The table is set, fit for king and queen, overflowing with food to delight the senses. The table is beautiful and bountiful not because David is impressive, but because the LORD is. The great host provides the grand banquet table. And we are invited to feast! What poor manners it would be if we were to fail to show up. The host is providing not just refreshment but his company! In Luke 14 Jesus tells a parable of a man who plans a great banquet, inviting many. When the time comes and the banquet is ready, those who at first agreed make excuses saying they cannot come. Business, family life, and ordinary transactions get in the way. The offer for a place at the table remains open for a time, both in that parable and in our days: God offers the pleasures and refreshment of his presence. But how hard it is to just sit! What is it you’re off to do today? The table is set. What would it take to get you to sit with our Host? Yesterday we looked at what it could mean to look to the Shepherd frequently during our day. Every time we have a pause in our day we can turn to God and ask “What’s next?” Have you tried it yet?
The Apostle Paul writes: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2) Paul is saying that world turns our mind away from God. We become familiar with what we concentrate on. We can learn what we study. We come to know those whom we spend time with. It makes sense then that turning our thoughts to God — allowing him to shape our thinking — makes God’s purposes for our lives ring true. Those seeking God find God. Those fleeing God know him less and less. “If we allow everything access to our mind, we are simply asking to be kept in a state of mental turmoil or bondage. For nothing enters the mind without having an effect for good or evil.” — Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, p.111 Turning our minds to our Lord frequently helps us to see the goodness of God and his path for our days. What’s your focus for today? If our health and peace depend on following Jesus as a sheep follows a shepherd — and they do — how often should we look up to see where he is?
Once a week? (You mean every week?!) Once a day? (Some days are pretty long!) More often than that? Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:1–2) Do you suppose Paul intended us to set our hearts and minds on Christ once in our life — as if that would be enough? My heart needs to be re-set pretty frequently. More than daily. Sheep look to the shepherd whenever the shepherd moves, and so should we. Wouldn’t it be good to raise our heads from the green pasture or quiet waters every now and then just to see if we’ve gotten too comfortable and missed his call to move us along? And to make sure we are staying close to him when the valley shadows darken? Frank Laubach was a missionary in the Philippines who had a love for God and for people. His joy was to turn his heart and mind to God as often as he could think of it. Laubach advised: All during the day, in the chinks of time between the things we find ourselves obliged to do, there are the moments when our minds ask: “What next?” In these chinks of time, ask Him: “Lord, think Thy thoughts in my mind. What is on Thy mind for me to do now?” When we ask Christ, “What next?” we tune in and give Him a chance to pour His ideas through our enkindled imagination. If we persist, it becomes a habit. https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/it-happened-today/2/26/ Try it! The Wednesday night group that is studying the Soul Keeping book by John Ortberg is trying it this week. I think you’ll find it easier to understand what God intends to do through you as you practice this. And you may experience his presence in the process, which is a gift in itself. What next, Lord? The Apostle Paul knew what it was like to go through the valley of the shadow of death. Paul experienced harassment, beatings, imprisonment, and shipwreck. His response:
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:8–12) Why was there all this trouble in his life? He refused to stop following Jesus. Paul followed willingly wherever the Holy Spirit led him in the Roman Empire because he was convinced that God would see him through whatever God led him into. New Testament scholar N. T. Wright notes: In the present passage, Paul says he is persecuted but not abandoned; cast down but not destroyed. What he says here he says with the benefit of hindsight, but he has not forgotten that it did not feel like that when it was going on. When we read chapter 1 we discovered that at the time it really felt as though he was being crushed, abandoned and destroyed. How is this an encouragement for us when we go through persecution, temptation, suffering, bereavement, tragedy or sorrow? — (2 Corinthians For Everyone: Bible Study Guides) Even though I walk through the darkest valley, the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. If today we are hard pressed, we will someday come to see we are not crushed. If today we are perplexed, we will not despair. If today we are persecuted, we know we are not abandoned. If today we are struck down, take heart — we are not destroyed. In Christ, we lack nothing. |
Pastor MarkPastor Mark loves his wife and grown children, the Word of God, and words. And coffee, chocolate chip cookies, Apple products, small video projects, and the New England Patriots. Archives
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