Psalm 34

Key Verse

² My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

³ Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

⁶ This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

God is …

God hears my cries of burden and trouble.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me;  he delivered me from all my fears.  ⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;  their faces are never covered with shame.  ⁶ This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;  he saved him out of all his troubles.

With the knowledge that God has been faithful throughout my life, I need to respond by seeking Him.   As the Psalmist says, “I sought the Lord and he answered me.”  As God heard the groans of those enslaved in Egypt, he is a God who sees and responds, out of concern for them, as Jesus sees the crowds as harassed and helpless, I can be confident that ultimately He listens and is responsive to my cries for help.   As we complete 4 years in Austin, I recall many such times of feeling fearful over what faced me that day.   Everything seemed so precarious.  It was during those moments, I found myself turning to God, finding that space to bring those fears before Him and in the process being reminded of how He has faithfully led our church so far.  There were many times when I felt I was hanging by a thread, but I can testify that He has been faithful.   It is because I am gradually coming to see that He is a Savior, that He comes to those in trouble and delivers them from their plight.   I think this past G-Live was another perfect example of how he “answered me” and “delivered me from all my fears.”   I felt we were way, way in over our head.   We were not the most talented bunch, and we lacked the resources to really pull this off, without any back up if something were to go wrong.  On my end, having been in charge of G-Live before, I knew where we needed to be and we were no where near that, even on the day of our first showing.   But somehow, as I said prayers, I was unusually calm. I was confident, that somehow, God would find a way so that in the end, He would provide.  I recall many such moments where God provided and that had this calming effect.   Looking back, I would not trade this experience of feeling that intense feeling of lack these past few months in particular because this caused me to turn to Him and experience Him saving me from my situations.    David is acknowledging that this is God who hears us in our distress and saves us from our troubles.  This is a lesson I want to keep reminding myself of as we complete an academic year, and as I face a year fraught with trouble, but also tremendous potential of experiencing His provision again.

Lessons for me …

²       My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

It is laughable the moments where I find myself taking credit in something, even in something small.  I only need to look back at my life and do this brief mental exercise of tracing how I arrived at this point.   One thing is clear, my life hung in the balance.  This is not just from a physical stand point, which I did experience back when I had to endure 2 operations to stave off a bacterial infection that had spread all over my body from a burst appendix.   I knew even back then that life was fragile and I was a frail person.   But it is those moments when I experienced my “affliction” that I found myself most clearly understanding God’s role in my life.   It seems he not only provided for me physically, sparing me, protecting me, but also spiritually.  I remember as a freshman in college, wandering the streets of Oakland.   I was so bored, and right at that precise moment, my mom called and engaged me in a conversation that led me back to church, this church.   Through timely talks, even loose connections with certain people, God brought my wayward heart to Himself.   So it is truly laughable when I find in me those traces of boasting in myself.   It is very clear that God alone deserves all the glory and credit for the way my life has turned out.  He preserved my life, like the way the story in Exodus goes, where a conspiracy of love between 3 women, Moses’ mother, Pharaoh’s daughter, and Miriam, worked together to save Moses’ life.   David, similarly, would offer up a similar testimony.   How is it that he is on the run and time after time, he staves off danger in the nick of time? God’s hand was guiding Him and it is no wonder he can say, “My soul will boast in the Lord.”  My life has been such a story and I find myself boasting in His mercy, His grace, His unending love.   Truly, when the fact that God rescued me hits me, given the sinner I was, I find in my heart those promptings to give glory to God, and it is only natural and fitting.   I want to be aware of my affliction, my sin, this disease that corrupts the best of my intentions, and as Apostle Paul boasts in his weaknesses, that this knowledge, instead of leading to self-pity, would lead to greater boasting “in the Lord” for the grace he has given me each day to live.    He is the protector, the provider, the deliverer and I need to acknowledge that each day.

Prayer
Dear Lord,

I will praise you at all times.  It is only fitting given how much I owe my life, my very existence to you.   I am a frail being, someone who at any moment can succumb to some disease or experience some kind of trouble.   I recognize that the only reason I have managed to get to this point in my life is because of your timely provision, all the times that you provided unbeknownst to me.  Only in heaven will I know.   But in the mean time, I will extol you at all times and my soul will fittingly boast in you.   As we complete our 4^th year in Austin as a church, fittingly we can say, “let us exalt his name together.”  But not just here in Austin, but in all our churches elsewhere.  You have proven again and again your faithfulness in delivering people into the knowledge of you.   Father,  thank you for hearing and answering me during the difficult moments.  These past couple of months have been tough.  There were so many things that posed threats to what you were doing here not to mention the internal turmoil I experienced from my own sins.  I want to thank you for alleviating my fears, for keeping perspective of the troubles I was facing, and for assuring me that you were going to be zealous to protect your work.  I want to always remember that you are attentive to my cries, in the face of those who do evil, that you will hear me, and deliver me from my troubles.  Thank you for your grace and your mercy! Truly you are my refuge and deliverer! Thank you for yet another year of your mercy and grace! In Jesus Name, Amen.

 –

Submitted by Sarah S. Gracepoint Austin Church 

Psalm 34

Key Verse

Psalm 34:18–19 (NIV84)

¹⁸     The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹     A righteous man may have many troubles,

but the Lord delivers him from them all;

God is …

He is a God who is near; he is a God who is not too high for us to reach.  He is a God who gives me refuge in times of distress and when things in and around me feel too overwhelming for me.  He is a God who is attentive and has his ears open to the cries of his people.   For those who are crushed in spirit, God comes and saves them.  For those who are brokenhearted, he is a God who is close to them.

Lessons for me …

As I move towards another year in living this Christian walk and just getting older, life doesn’t get easier.  Learning to mature and grow, to become the kind of leader, mother, wife, friend or disciple that I want to become and know I should be hasn’t been easy.  Sometimes, pursuing what I know is good and God-honoring can even feel harder, and I see much more with each year how I am naturally bent away from God because of my sinful nature.  Even after these years, admitting truth and the deeper reality of who I am, the depth of my rebelliousness or selfishness or sense of entitlement as it gets revealed even more is still hard to accept.  However, as I read this psalm, I’m reminded of what posture in life I was meant to have and how it is that I will be able to experience deeper closeness with God and his character.  The God that I serve is a God who is close to the brokenhearted and desires to save those who are crushed in spirit.  He is a God who desires to rescue and come down to where I am, and it’s at those moments within this Christian journey where I am feeling weak, crushed, disappointed or facing hardships when God’s presence and his character of being the Deliverer God will become that much more true and real.  I was never meant to be strong on my own or be able to handle everything perfectly, but I was created to depend on my God who wants to be the sole source of refuge and hope, who is always watching his people and attentive to the cries for help, who redeems his servants, and delivers the righteous from their many troubles. Why? Because that is part of his nature – to be the God who rescues the weak and who runs towards those who are crushed.  This God calls and beckons me to trust him into deeper trust instead of allowing my fears or worries and even regrets to push me towards trying to live Christian life through sheer will power and finding strength within myself or to just avoid life altogether and emotionally/mentally shut down and escape.

I’m amazed, thankful, and in awe of God’s faithfulness and saving work in Austin these past four years.  Some people may look at our church’s growth or the number of salvations we’ve experienced, etc. and assume we knew what we were doing…but that’s not the reality.  There were far more times when we felt unsure, scared, when it seemed like our sins and issues would hinder God’s work, having to face our passivity or lack of ownership or heart, and experiencing the sadness and grief of people’s sins.  Yet, I would have it no other way because I know that the truth of Austin church is not a story of how successful or competent and able we were.  I know that it’s the story of God’s ability to redeem his servants and deliver the weak.  It’s a story in which we have lacked nothing because God provided just enough even during times when we felt stretched beyond what we could give or do.  It’s the story of God revealing to us here in Austin, and to myself personally, who He is and a testament to how trustworthy he is, and so God is calling me personally to trust him again this coming year even though there are many fears and uncertainties.

Prayer

¹ I will extol the Lord at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips.

² My soul will boast in the Lord;

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

³ Glorify the Lord with me;

let us exalt his name together.

Lord, I will praise you for what you’ve done and continue to do in my life and in our church here in Austin.  You deserve all the glory and honor of what’s happened these past four years.  As we recount our history, I will always boast and tell of your faithfulness and your ability to save and redeem lost and sinful people to do your will.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

⁶ This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

Lord, you have never failed to answer me when I cried out to you.  You delivered me from my fears, fears that sometimes overwhelmed me regarding the future, ministry, my children and marriage, our housing and jobs, or finances just to name a few.  I am reminded that even though this world tells me that to seek hope in you is foolish and to seek hope in myself or things of this world, I will not experience shame by trusting you.  Up to this point I have not experienced shame as I’ve continued to follow you step-by-step but instead I’ve only experienced greater blessings.  Lord, you hear and have heard my many cries to save me from my sins, and you have delivered me through the cross.  You remind me that I can find confidence through the cross of Jesus and that your Spirit will surround and helps those who fear you.  You will not leave or abandon me.

⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

⁹ Fear the Lord, you his saints,

for those who fear him lack nothing.

¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Thus, I’ve experienced what King David expresses, to “taste and see that the Lord is good;” The past 4 years in Austin I’ve personally experienced that you are good, and not just in theory but personally through experience because it’s been here where I’ve felt the greatest need for you, and you have been that refuge many times.  It’s been here in Austin that I’ve grown in my fear of you, and that alone has been a miracle for someone who was so devoid of proper fear once before. Truly, I have lacked nothing in you.

Key Verse
v.5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”— and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

God is …
                God is a God who forgives the guilt of my sins.  When I acknowledge my sins before him, he is willing to pour out his grace upon me (v.1-5).  He holds back his judgment only for a period of time, but it won’t be forever (v.6).  Judgment day will come, but there is a time of grace.  God is the one who knows the best pathway for my life, who knows how I need to live my life in order to flourish.  In this life, he promises that he will advise and watch over me (v.8).

Lessons for me …
                It says here the blessed person is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered, whose sins the Lord does not count against him.  In order to be in this place of being forgiven, what needs to happen is confession of sin.  It’s when the psalmist acknowledged his sin and did not cover up his iniquity, the Lord was able to forgive him the guilt of his sin.  It is a simple truth, but without confession, without acknowledging that I have done wrong, that I have sinned, there cannot be freedom from the guilt of my sins, there can’t be forgiveness. Even though the process of repentance is painful, ego-devastating, the alternative is in verse 3 – “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away, through my groaning all day long.  Day and night, your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”

I have experienced what the psalmist is saying here when I keep silent regarding my sins and the guilt of my sins.  When I try to hide my sins, try to cover it up, it is a miserable state to be in.  It’s when I am in denial and don’t want to accept the ugly truth of what I see about myself.  When I want to believe something better about myself, thinking that I am a generous and loving person, when reality is that my heart is small, self-focused, and in order to try to prove what is not true about myself, I make myself so miserable.  When I try to put up an image in front of others, try to put up a show before people and before God, that I am actually not this sinner that I am, it makes me self-conscious before others, fearful that people will find out the truth about my sins.  And as I try to prove myself to be someone that I am not, as I try harder, try to perform, the weight of my guilt weighs down on me and it does not get lifted up.

The truth that I am a sinner is a truth that I need to keep embracing each day.  It’s odd that though this is my main identity, that I am a sinner, still I find myself wanting to avoid it, wanting to try to cover it up, and wanting to seem like a better person than I am.  I see through this passage that when I do this, I am actually forfeiting the blessed state that I could be in.  Now is the time of grace, where God is holding back his judgment, allowing me this time to come freely before him in honesty, and He promises to forgive me.  I need to seek him out, seek reconciliation, and his mercy while he may be found.  What a wonderful promise that God offers – promise of forgiveness, of freedom from the guilt of my sins.  The promise is there, and I can embrace it as long as I’m willing to confess truth.  I just need to lose my pride daily, be willing to confess my sins, the truths about who I am, what I have done, and in so doing, God promises to cover and wash away my sin with his blood.

Another lesson is the truth that God knows the best pathway for my life, and he will advise me in the way that I should go (v.8).  Even though there were many uncertainties in leaving California and moving out to Austin, and many uncertainties and fears being out here, often times not knowing exactly what we are doing, whether we were making an impact on this campus, just trying to do whatever we can in order to try and draw students closer to the gospel, looking back, God has really guided me along the best pathway for my life.  I didn’t know how my life was going to pan out, but as I took that step of faith, obeyed God’s calling in my life, God has really guided and watched over me and our whole ministry.  He allowed our paths to intersect with these students, He allowed our lives to be used in order to be that source of blessing for them, and to help to usher in eternal life.  It has personally been an exhilarating and adventurous experience journeying with God, and I’m amazed at what God has allowed me to experience as I obeyed Him.  Because of God, my life has become so full of meaning, purpose, joy, and blessing.  I can testify that to be in the center of God’s will has been the best pathway for my life.  If I had followed after my own ways and thoughts, my life would have been so miserable.  I would have brought so much misery towards my family members, husband, kids, friends because of all my expectations that I would have placed upon them, I would have focused all of my energies on how I could gain attention and praise for myself, wanting to be the most special, I would have pursued after worldly pleasures, not refusing anything that my heart desired regardless of how I would have negatively affected others and myself.  Knowing and having experienced this, as I look forward into the next year of our ministry, with the additional responsibilities and tasks that God is asking of me, I don’t want to be like the horse or the mule that needs to be controlled by bridle and bit, kicking and being stubborn against God’s clear commands, but I want to have the attitude of surrender and obedience towards God, His words, what He asks me to do, knowing that my ways and thoughts are not good, but only in following him will I be led on the best pathway for my life.

Prayer
                Lord, thank you that you are a God that does not count my sins against me, but wants to forgive and cover my sins.  In light of this promise that you have given to me, I pray that you may allow me a humble heart, that I may come before you each day in honesty, confessing and acknowledging my sins before you, knowing that your desire is to forgive the guilt of my sin.  Help me to not run away when I come face to face with the ugly truths about myself because I realize that in remaining silent, my bones waste away, and my strength gets sapped as in the heat of summer.  The guilt of my sins becomes heavier and heavier the more I try to run away, the more I try to cover up my sins and inadequacies with resolution to do better.  I come before you with all of my sins, my selfishness, lack of love, impatience, and passivity.  I ask that you will forgive and deliver me.  Lord, I thank you for guiding me along the best pathway for my life, for all the ways in which you spoke to me, guided me, and watched over me over all these years – as I am now able to experience what it means to have a full and abundant life, where I have been able to experience You using my life in order to usher in eternal salvation for others.  Following your ways has truly been the best ride and pathway for my life, as I shudder to think how my life would have turned out had I followed just my own desires and thoughts. Thank you so much for being the perfect shepherd and guide of my life, and I want to commit to listening and obeying your instruction and counsel as we look forward to the next year.

–

Submitted by Bryan S. Gracepoint Austin Church

Psalm 32

Key Verse

 ⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you

and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, “I will confess

my transgressions to the Lord”—

and you forgave

the guilt of my sin.

⁶ Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you

while you may be found;

surely when the mighty waters rise,

they will not reach him.

God is …

God is a forgiving God who forgives man the guilt of his sin. In this Psalm, King David expresses the eroding effects of his unconfessed sins.  He says in vs.3-4 that his bones wasted away, the hand of the Lord was heavy upon him, and his strength was sapped. A significant turning point, however, was when he confessed his sins before the Lord, uttering the truth of his life before God.  In response, God did not treat David as his sins deserved, but rather forgave him.

God doesn’t simply stop with forgiveness.  He goes further to protect and lead His people.  It says in v. 8 that God will guide His people along the best pathway, and watch over them. And so He calls on his people to follow him in the way that is not only safe, but a way that is thriving.  Knowing man’s stubbornness and pride, He warns his people to not be like a stubborn horse or mule.  God desires to lead His people to a flourishing life, but He cannot force them, and so He issues the invitation and waits with hope.

Lessons for me …

As a follower of Christ, one of the things that I know very clearly is that I will fail in my discipleship again and again.  Like King David, there will be sins that accumulate in my heart over time – sins of pride, insecurity, arrogance, lovelessness and more.  As I look back on this past year of ministry, I recount many shameful, humbling sins that were indeed burdensome not only for me, but also had negative ripple effects upon others, which only further weighed heavier on my heart. The great hope that I have in the midst of my sins is that God is a forgiving God who wants to free me from the burdens of my sin.  Like the father of the prodigal son, God wants to welcome me back from my rebellious ways. God’s forgiveness, however, is all contingent upon whether or not I honestly confess my sin to Him. God is a God of truth, and unless I come to Him confessing my transgressions and sins, the weight of my sin will burden me and erode away at my very being.  And so I need to constantly be a person who utters the ugly truths about my sin before the Lord.  It’s never easy as it requires reflection, and swallowing of pride and ego, but I need to remember that true liberation and joy come only as I repent before my Heavenly Father, who is eager to forgive me.

v.6 says that the godly should pray to you…In other words, the godly are not the sinless. They have faults, and they fail. But what makes one godly is having a level of trust in the Father’s love and forgiveness for them, enabling them to come back to Him in honesty and truth.  So many people, including myself, have this misconception about what makes one godly, and it drives people to think and behave in all sort of strange ways.  The Pharisees were an example of this.  They sought to be godly through their righteous, disciplined lifestyle.  Their godliness was centered on themselves, and they believed with sincerity that they could achieve godliness through perfect, unblemished character and living.  True godliness, however, has little to do with oneself.  It centers on God’s character, who is gracious, loving and the only perfect one.  This is a truth that I need to remind myself again and again, as I have the tendency to try to achieve godliness in the way that the Pharisees did. As I get older and try to love more people, I am coming to realize more deeply my heart of sin and how imperative it is that I grow in my trust in God’s forgiveness and love for me.  Only then will I experience his forgiveness and leading to that best life that He desires me to follow Him into.

v. 6 also says that all the godly should seek God while He may be found.  What this tells me is that there is a window of opportunity for people to call on God and receive forgiveness.  Time is indeed limited and short.  There are limited opportunities we will have in our lives to hear about and call upon their Father God, who wants to surround them with his unfailing love.  This past week, I heard the sobering news about the UC Berkeley student who took his own life.  It’s so tragic that such a young man would do such thing.  But there are so many people in the world today who are similarly weighed down by various things, including their sins.  They all need to know that their Heavenly Father forgives them, loves them, and wants to lead them to the best kind of life. This week marks the end of the fourth academic year here in the life of our Austin church.  As I see the first class of students graduating, many of them joining as staff interns, it’s amazing how fast time flies by.   While it’s such a joyful sight to see our students become co-laborers with us, the reality is that there are still so many students on this campus who have yet to find God.  They are trying to make it in the world, while treading around in their sins.  The window of opportunity to find God will close for all of them, some sooner than others.  This is something I don’t want to forget.  The church is growing here in Austin, but the work is far from done, and I recommit to giving my very all for the work of sharing the Gospel as I enter our fifth year here in Austin.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I praise your name for being a forgiving and loving God.  Thank you for showing mercy to me time and again through the years.  Even though my sins have been so resilient, your mercy and grace have been so much greater.   I pray that you would help me to grow in my trust in your love for me with time.  Humble me and may I not fall into the trap of trying to earn godliness.  You alone are good and perfect, while exercising such grace upon sinners like myself.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Psalm 30

Key Verse
Vs. 9, 11-12: “What will you gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise you? Can it tell of your faithfulness?.. You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!”

God is … /Lessons for me …
This is a psalm that David brings for the dedication of the temple. He sings this psalm in the place where He worships God. And what David ends up remembering in this place is what his life’s purpose is, to sing praises to God and not be silent. So he is encouraging others to join him in worshipping God.

Lately as I’ve had to deal with more of my sin and the shame of it, and the consequences that it has on me, the people that I love, and the church and ministry, I sometimes fall into that thinking of “What business do I have in God’s kingdom, in God’s church?” I’ve known what it feels like, that sentiment “then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.” The anger and wrath that my sin deserves from God is unbearable, the shame is sometimes too overwhelming to deal with. As someone who’s been Christian for 12 years now, I know to my core that there is no hope apart from God. My greatest security and love can come only from Him. So in some ways, as my love for God has grown, the darkness of those times when I feel disconnected from Him because of my sin or complacency has grown more intense. The hurt I know that I’ve inflicted on God feels more palpable, as I can grasp more of how much He grieves because of my sin. And these times can lend themselves to those feelings of despair, “What good can I contribute to the church? What redemption is there left for someone like me?”

Vs. 5 – “For his anger lasts only a moment but his favor lasts a lifetime.” But this verse then challenges the legitimacy of those feelings of despair. Though my sin angers Him, yet I have His favor during my whole life. This verse tells me that in God’s eyes, my sin does not hold the definitive assessment of my life. Rather, it is the truth that God’s favor is with me throughout my life, even if I cause anger because of my sin. What an astounding thing, that though my sin can arouse the anger of the Holy God, yet His favor lasts further than that. This means then that God’s view towards His children isn’t just causing them to think about their sin and fall into despair. So often I think a lot of people, including myself, will think like this, that God just wants me to be continually sorrowful because of my sin. But David says, “What will you gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise you? Can it tell of your faithfulness?” David understands that this kind of life isn’t what God had intended, God doesn’t want me to sink into a grave of despair, and to “die” from my excessive sorrow. He wants to turn my mourning into joyful dancing, take away my mourning clothes and clothing me with joy. Why? So that I can sing praises to Him and not be silent.

This is the culmination of a redeemed life, that I can sing praises to God. This is the good that I can contribute; this is the redemption in store for me when I am confronted with my sin. God sees my life as a vehicle of praise for Himself, my life can be a temple of worship. He doesn’t see any “gain” in keeping my life stunted by my sin and remaining in spiritual death. Instead, even though my life has been marred by my sin and shame, He makes it useful again in order that it can be evidence that He is merciful and faithful. That provides the greatest security for me, that whenever I think my sin has gone too far, even then God does not find any gain in letting me remain in despair over my sin. He still desires that I be brought up from the grave, and be given a new life of joy.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You so much for the grace you’ve given me. Honestly, I’ve fallen into those thoughts of despair, after being confronted with my sin and shame. But in today’s psalm, you’ve reminded me again that Your favor lasts a lifetime, that you find no gain, no delight in seeing me destroyed by my sin. Rather, You desire to turn my mourning into joyful dancing, to peel away my clothes of mourning to clothe me with joy. Thank You for Your incredible mercy, the high cost You’ve paid on the cross to bring me out of the depths, to save me from the grave. Lord, I commit to living a life that is in constant praise of You, telling of Your mercy and faithfulness in my life. I know that though my sin grieves and angers You, Your anger does not last forever. What a good and forgiving God You are. I am so undeserving of the grace I’ve received already and continue to receive. I pray that I will continue to hope in You alone, that there is no greater security than resting in Your love and favor upon my life. Amen.

Submitted by Tim F. Gracepoint Austin Church

Psalm 30

Key Verses:
Psalm 30:1
I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

Psalm 30:5
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

God is…
As we read through Jeremiah last week, we saw the heart of God. He gets angry because he loves us so much and yet we destroy our lives when we refuse to listen to him and we bow down to false gods. His anger is that of a parent as he sees his child self-destruct. There have been many times in my life where I felt the anger of God. I had done things, thought things, and said things that were like a slap in the face to God. And he confronted me about it. It definitely wasn’t pleasant, and it was exactly that unpleasantness that seared the pain of what I had done into my heart. Why is it that a parent has to come down hard on his child when they go running out into the street or play with things that could maim or kill them? That image of a parent showing anger is what stays in the child’s mind and keeps him from that situation the next time. There is merit to anger, if appropriately placed. So when God’s anger burned against me, boy did I feel it. Those were some horrible weeks that I went through. But what was the result? I think that my life is forever changed because of those few weeks. I learned lessons that will indeed last me a lifetime. And that just goes to show how v. 5 is indeed true. There are moments of repentance, when God’s word comes at me with fire. Though at the time it doesn’t feel like it is “only a moment,” yet later when I look back on those times and see just how much fruit those times of repentance have yielded, the favor that has lasted seemingly a lifetime out of it, I can indeed testify to this verse. There will be times of repentance in my life. But I must take heart and not lose courage, because though those painful times come, the overwhelming reality will be that those times will indeed seem like it was just a moment, and his blessing, the way he leads my life when I have repented, that favor will indeed seem like it is lasting a lifetime!

Lesson for me:
Looking at v. 1, what kind of enemy gloats over the one they are beating? You would gloat if you beat someone that you have been in fierce competition with, someone that you are neck and neck with. These are the kinds of enemies that are around me today. I don’t realize that the enemies of my soul are this serious and strong, then I am not seeing reality. I remember the days when I would think that I was so strong, the days of my youth when I felt like “I could change whenever I wanted to” and “this has no power over me.” Whenever I would hear a message of warning about the devil and his schemes, I wouldn’t take it all that seriously, I felt so strong. But what has happened over the years? I have failed. Time and time again. And after each of these failures, I looked back and remember how confident I felt in my ability to fight off sin and see how misplaced that confidence was. As I get older, and the times of failure are ever before me, my confidence in myself has given way to a clearer view of who I really am as well as an accurate view of how powerful the enemy, the devil, is. When I was young, the devil definitely had his moments of gloating over my defeat. There were times I am sure he was ecstatic over my fall, my failure. But I learned. After all those failures, I learned just how strong the enemy is, and just how weak I am. And I learned that I cannot rely on myself to triumph, I need a stronger man, much stronger then I am. And it is in my older age, as I call out to God more and more, asking him to lift me out of the depths, that is when I experience God’s deliverance, and that is when the gloating of the devil starts to be silenced. The devil is strong, there is no way I can defeat him of my own power. The only hope that I have is to call out to God for help. Lord, may I be humble and know my weakness and come before you to lift me up and depend on you for deliverance.

Prayer:
Heavenly father, I praise your name, I exalt your name to the highest place. Lord, as I look back on my life and see just how you delivered me from the depths of my own sin, how you came and, like a parent, took hold of my life and yanked it from the downward spiral it was in, how can I not but sing your praises. Lord, though there were tough times along the way, times which are still very vivid in my memory, times when your righteousness was revealed and repentance was called for, yet because of your action in my life, I am indeed seeing that your favor lasts a lifetime. It was hard to see it at first, and indeed the gloating of the enemies around me was loud, yet now that many years have gone by, I can see more clearly how living my life according to your will has blessed me in so many ways. Lord, it is the devil’s way to make me feel like a fool for following you, and oh how I felt the pressure of that mockery. But every year that goes by just reveals to me all the more how much your ways are right and indeed the only way to live. The world’s lies become shown for what they are as the days go by, and those people that mocked you, along with those people who thought they can handle life on their own without you, Lord, those people are seeing the consequences of their actions. Lord thank you that somehow I was saved from a life lived as the world tells me to. I know it is only by your grace that I was saved from those depths.

Submitted by David L. Gracepoint Austin Church

Psalm 30

Key Verses
Psalm 30:3 “O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit.”

Psalm 30:5 “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning

Psalm 30:11-12 “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!” (NLT)

God is …
v.3 He is a God of mercy, a God of second chances, a God who saves, and a God of redemption. As Paul writes in Romans 4:17, he is “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” This is the testimony of every believer, especially my own as I recall how I was once headed down a path of destruction until God initiated His salvation plan through the Cross and brought me to a point of repentance. As one who grew up in the church, I realize how deluded I was about the state of my relationship with God as I was merely a Sunday Christian who, on the other hand, lived quite a secular life. I was a slave to my desires and appetites, hoarding my possessions and focused solely on self and my needs. In retrospect, I was a poor witness to others as a so-called “follower of Christ” and absolutely had no impact on the lives of my non-Christian friends. Had God not demonstrated His mercy by rescuing me by bringing me to Gracepoint where I found people who passionately lived out the gospel daily, I shudder to think of how I would have ended up living a life of isolation, shallowness, and irrelevance.

I recall many times being confronted by the truth of how the Bible described my sinful heart, and grappling with the decision to either accept or reject its claims about me. Though that process was full of pain and often brought me to a point of despair, I remember the immense joy that I felt in finally letting go of my pride and confessing my sins, thereby making the Cross of Jesus much more of a tangible reality in my life. I’ve come to realize that this cycle of being confronted with the truth of God’s word and the choice I have to either accept or reject it’s claims about my sins, is something I will have to deal with for the rest of my life, and only when I accept it, will I be able to experience the power of Psalm 30:11-12 coming to fruition in my life.

Lessons for me …
The lesson I have learned from this verse is to never stop loving people, or lose hope in the power of what God can do. I have learned that His zeal to save and transform lives is far greater than any of my doubts, prejudices, and my lack of faith. Personally, I look back on these 4 years in Austin and it’s truly been a miracle what God has done. I occasionally joke to myself and with the other staff by saying that God actually worked despite anything we did, given our own issues and sins. This reality is both humbling and reassuring at the same time as it reveals that He is sovereign, and He is the one who is building this church. All I can do is be as faithful as I can in loving people and freely investing my time, money, and resources in them no matter how unresponsive or disinterested they appear on the outside because God is the one who does the work of changing their hearts.

I have also learned that when I regularly reflect on my own testimony of how God rescued a broken sinner like me, and allow that truth to bring me to a point of humility where I can boast in nothing other than what He has done, only then will I be able to experience the thrill and joy of serving Him, and witness the salvation work He is doing in the lives of people. I believe that the extent of my joy and gratitude I have for my salvation will ultimately be the determining factor of what sustains me year after year as I commit to giving my life for the sake of the gospel.

Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for saving a wretch like me from falling into the pit of despair and raising me up from the grave. Even though I deserved your judgment, you showed your great mercy to me through the blood of Jesus. Lord, I am amazed that you have invited me to join in your Kingdom work of saving souls. I praise you for your faithfulness these past 4 years as you have answered our prayers and did even more than what we expected since moving out to Austin. I praise you for the transformative work you’ve done in the lives of many of our students, with 120 people making salvation and Lordship decisions up to this point.

Thank you for being my good shepherd and for teaching me what it means to minister to someone with persevering/enduring love. Lord, I commit to remembering the depths from which you saved me so that I may always operate out of the joy of my salvation and the humility of knowing that all that I have received and experienced has been undeserved and solely been given to me out of your mercy and grace. Thank you, and in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Psalm 27

God is … /Lessons for me …

¹ The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?

We are so bound up in fear–fear of not being cool enough, smart enough, “with it” enough, having enough, achieving enough, being impressive enough, etc.  In what way do we fear these? In fairly real ways with genuine fear that it will diminish me somehow if they come to pass, causing me anxiety, shifting of my priorities, an overall sense of lack of well being. That I will somehow miss out in life, be unable to maximize my life’s experience, wrench as much out of it as I can. And if I have already failed to maximize my potential so far in life, then I’m already behind and can never catch up. That nagging suspicion that I am already a failure.

But if God is my salvation, then those comparisons lose their strength and force of meaning. For those who face actual opposition to their Christian faith, and real potential risk and sacrifice, then God as their light, salvation, protects against that. But even for those who live more prosaic lives, the daily battles against my own sins and ups and downs, the fears that nag and cause me to doubt myself and even my relationships with God, family, and others – God’s salvation is not too great so that it doesn’t address these fears also. How? How does the Psalmist have such confidence against evil and fear within and without, that he speaks of throughout the Psalm? It is not so much a theoretical or philosophical confidence, but a relational one. It is in the fact that he will live in God’s house and temple (v. 4). It is trusting in the person of God. I fear the world’s judging of my life and declaring it a waste – but if I seek what God seeks and he is pleased, suddenly what the world thinks (or doesn’t think) of my life doesn’t matter anymore. I fear not having enough resources, to take care of my parents, myself, my future family – but if God is not an impersonal Being, but my heavenly Father (Matthew 6) who cares about me and knows my needs far more than even the most perfect of earthly fathers, then my fears can be settled by my trust in Him. And of course, the greatest of lacks is my inability to address and take care of my sins, my failures, the way I disappoint others and God, let down those I love, and hurt those around me. That is perhaps the greatest and scariest fear – but the Cross reminds me that God’s love found a way to take care of even that need.

v. 5 “For in the day of trouble…” – Troubles are completely prevented; there may indeed be a day of trouble to come, as long as we live as broken people in this broken world. But it is in being with God that we will be safe. The troubles are there, my sins are there, this world is fallen, but the difference is made in whether I am safe in God’s relational circle or not. Like a soldier who unhesitatingly follows his wise, brave, and strong commander into battle, carried not by intellectual arguments about his commander’s goodness but assured in his relationship of trust with him, the battle is still to be faced – but the experience and outcome of it is drastically made different by the relationship. The trust. And what is the basis of that? It is wholly on whether I choose to receive it or not, whether I allow myself to be placed in that circle of trust or not. God gives freely to everyone who asks. Christians and non-Christians go through troubling times alike. But those who have only their own resources, especially emotional and relational, to rely on, suffer far more. Thus our greatest issue and concern is expressed in verse 9 – “Do not hide your face from me.” That is the greatest thing we should really fear; that God might turn his face away from us–again, the relational concern and aspect. And as we struggle we might even echo the prayer from later in verse 9 – “Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior.” We might experience our struggling in this way, thinking that God rejects or forsakes us. But we know from the overwhelming testimony throughout both the Old and New Testament that God does not forsake us, does not give up on appealing to his people despite sin after sin. It is we who turn from God. And the psalmist reminds himself of this in the following verse, “Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” Reinforcing the point again that if we only but turn to God, he will receive us. That is amazingly enough–it is we who dictate the terms of whether we experience the protection and comfort of relationship with God or not. The big lesson for me here is that first, when my fears seem to take on a voice that crowds out the concerns of God, it is probably a sign that I have drifted away from trust in my relationship with God, and I need to turn to methods to repair it – either in time spent with him in the Word, in prayer echoing the words of this Psalm, in song, or perhaps even simply meditation and “being with him”; and second, that I am the one who is in control of whether I will experience God’s presence overcoming those fears. It is in my control whether I experience God “turning his face away from me,” so to speak, or if I find myself secure in his presence and his ultimate promise to take me to his home.

Prayer

Dear Lord, in my calmer moments I think I am indeed affected by my fears. Fears of being unable to treat people close to me properly, including my family, my friends, and the people you have given to me at this church to love. But those fears, while not being completely unfounded, become less fearsome under the umbrella of your presence. Because, was I not in a far worse condition when you rescued me? And your power reversed and redeemed those darkest points of my life, not into material and worldly blessing, but into a greater and deeper understanding of and relationship with you. And it has been your person and presence that have made other times of difficulty, whether external or internal, bearable. So, though perhaps causes for fears will grow, as I go from being completely unconnected and irresponsible, to having a growing web of relationships, responsibilities, and therefore potentials for fear, I will place myself more fully into your hands, trusting that you receive me despite my sins and failures, trusting that your heart for me is to live rightly and in a godly fashion, and therefore to submit to your leadings and those you have placed in my life to guide me, will lead me in a straight path. Do not turn me over to my fears, my ungodly desires, and my prideful and selfish ways – but lead me on the straight path, since I know you are good, and your heart for me is as the good Father. I will wait on you, Lord, and will seek stability and strength in my life in that waiting on of you. Thank you for embracing me and giving me the chance to have relationship with you, knowing I do not deserve it, but so desperately need it.

–

Submitted by Debbie F. Gracepoint Austin Church

Key Verse: 27:4

⁴       One thing I ask of the Lord,

this is what I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to seek him in his temple.

Jesus was also named Immanuel, God with us. This is the desire of God’s heart, that He may have us dwell in His house all the days of our lives, as well.  What sentiment of my heart would most please God, is this very verse.  That the one thing in my life that I desire and ask for is to be with Him.  And what cry of the heart would God most want to meet and answer is this.

God is …

v.1 – my light and my salvation, the stronghold of my life.  He is the one who helps me see truth, delivers me from the evil one and from my own sin, the one who girds me with strength to continue to seek truth and to follow His righteous ways when everything else around me “advances against me,” striving to keep me from these ends and purposes.

v.10 – the one who will unconditionally receive me as His child.  Nothing in my life, not even all of my failures, will ever separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus my Lord (Rom 8).  Whenever I come back to him after my travels to distant countries (Luke 15), He will still receive me, gladly.

v.11 – the one who guides me in the paths of righteousness.  John 15 – Apart from Him I can do nothing… good.  That’s clear, when I draw away from Him, the only things that come out of me is selfishness, laziness, self-preservation.  It’s only when I am with Him, seeking to follow Him closely, that I find the path of righteousness at all, and I can live anywhere near how God meant for me to live, righteously.

Prayer

Oh Lord, because You are the Light of the world, I see sin so much more clearly, how sin drags people away from you, how sin broke apart love relationships, sin that always had its roots in pride, selfishness, refusal to bend, refusal to accept truth, refusal to repent before you.  And I see the roots of those same sins in my own life, because of the light of your word, that exposes the darkness in my heart… my own selfishness that insists on things that fill my desire for my own comfortable life, my pride that refuses to acknowledge when I’ve done wrong, before you and against others, my pride that would rather run away that to confess and apologize and seek restoration.  Your light feels like it burns… but every time, it is in Your Light that I experience a new morning with a clean slate, freedom, community.  You are indeed my light and my salvation, I’ve only found salvation in your light.

And because of that, there’s really nothing and no one that I need to fear.  You are the stronghold of my life… if you see my sin at its fullest and yet you still give me light and salvation, really what is there to fear in life?  You are the stronghold of my life…

So though Satan and his forces may advance against me, temptations attack me, my sin and failures besiege me, and hurt and disappointments break out against me, in the end, I will be confident, because I have you.

That much more, I ask of you Lord, be with me, make your dwelling within and around me, let me know you more as I seek you.  Just because I found you 19 years ago when you first saved me, I seek you ever more today, because I need you to keep me in your presence, to hide me in your holiness and forgiveness, else I will find days of trouble because of my sin and the sin around me.  That much is clear.  If I’m not with you, I find days of trouble.  Please Lord, keep me safe n your dwelling.

Make my heart seek your face, to seek to know you more and more, because still, too often, I deceive myself into thinking that I’m trustworthy to live life on my own, to even engage in ministry on my own.  No, Lord, make me seek your face, seek your word, hunger to hear from you and to seek your help, because the truth of my condition is that apart from you I can do nothing; apart from you, I will find days of trouble.  Teach me your ways, lead me in a straight path, and remind me that waiting for the Lord, to hear from you, to be received by you, is always the very best place to be.  It really is, and I’m confident of it.  Yet make me need you more, Lord, that I may find you more and know you more.

–

Submitted by Daryl W. from Gracepoint Austin Church

Psalm 27 (NLT)

Key Verse

Verse 4

One thing I ask of the Lord,

this is what I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to seek him in his temple.

The one thing I ask of the Lord—

the thing I seek most—

is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

delighting in the Lord’s perfections

and meditating in his Temple.

God is …

God is the ONE Person who is most desirable in life.  There is nothing close to knowing Him.  He is infinitely wonderful to behold, and entirely worthy of the foundation of my life goals.  I was created to relate with Him.  This is my main purpose in life, and thus is the most fulfilling and meaningful.  To ask Him to give me more than Himself, which He has already proven completely, is to show that my desires are misplaced.  He is great beyond description, and all joys and pleasures of this world are at best but a hint of what we will experience when we see Him face to face!

Lessons for me …

My real enemies are anything that might draw me away from my proper desire for God.  The real enemies are that which makes me desire for things of this world, that which makes me think that true joy and hope is found elsewhere.  Worldly trouble, persecution, and trials are not something to always be avoided, if they help me draw closer to God and experience Him in a deeper way.  I need to be wary of if I am avoiding something painful without acknowledging it as a way to long for His righteousness and goodness.  My own flaws and mistakes, the pressures and challenges of trying to love people, the giving of the time and resources I have, the people who think me strange for how I live – these can all be opportunities to reaffirm that His is worthy and He is desirable.  Yet inside my sinful heart, I know that if I am not vigilant to honor the truth in my life, then my flesh would tend to make God into the enemy of my selfish desires, as the world tells me to.  So prayers like this one, based on God’s word, are necessary to continue to maintain that dependent, trusting relationship with God, who ultimately does want what is best for me.

Prayer

Father, I acknowledge that You are the one desire of my life, You are the greatest that I could ever desire and pursue.  Though my eyes are veiled for this short time, I want to trust that You are so much more glorious than the things of this world that vie for my attention, creating fear and anxiety in me.

Though financial worries can easily consume me, I defer to the ways that You have provided for me so faithfully for all of my life to this very day as I feebly try to trust You – and that through a life of love, I have received so much more of a full and joyful life.  Though this secular and individualistic society constantly tells me to think about myself and my family above all else, I know that a right relationship with You is a far surpassing goal instead, and You are the designer of a much greater, stronger community that I am called to serve and live among.

Particularly for this coming year and for myself personally, I know that we are going to be stretched even more here at our Austin church, responsible for more people and called to be able to love more people.  Help me to grow in depth of relating with You and seeking Your will and wisdom in prayer during this time, rather than putting pressure on myself to be successful in a worldly way. I want to experience Your great love for me and for those I am ministering to more and more this coming year!

Key Verse

Jer. 46:28 “ Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you”

Jer. 48:47 “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the days to come” declares the Lord.

Jer. 49:6 “Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites.” declares the Lord.

Jer. 49:39 “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in the days to come” declares the Lord.

God is …

God is Sovereign over all the nations and He will assert His rightful place in them.  God is a God of justice.  He cannot tolerate the defiance, pride, arrogance, and idolatry of His people.  In God there is no falsehood or deception.  Ultimately the truth will prevail and God will pronounce his judgment on those who are godless.  In these last chapters of Jeremiah, we see God’s final judgment upon the nations and their final destiny.  God is clear about the destiny of those who are disobedient and idolatrous, and He is not like the false prophets who were promising peace when there was no peace.  He will swiftly deal with his rebellious people.  However, God is also a God of mercy.  He wants to restore the fortunes of the nations that He destroyed and there is that note of hope. Through this we can see that God’s heart is really that people would repent and turn to Him and he does not want to completely destroy.  He is willing to deal with them, willing to go through all these years of sending prophets to warn them, admonish them and plead with them to turn from their wickedness and their adulterous hearts.  Even to the very end, after final destruction of the nations, in “days to come”, God is willing to restore them and desires to see them have a new beginning.

Lessons for me …

Finally, in the last pages of Jeremiah, as I read the prophecies spoken to these different nations, Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar and Hazar, Elam and finally to Babylon, it was a chilling feeling to go through the variety of emotions as God pronounces their final destiny.  I was struck by God’s tireless dealing with the nations, wanting them to repent and to turn to Him.  Each of these nations sinned against God in different ways and aroused his righteous anger, but I was particularly struck by what God says to Moab and Babylon.  It seems that Moab was known for their pride and arrogance.  Jer48: 29 it says “we have heard of Moab’s pride, her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance, the haughtiness of her heart.  I know her insolence but it is futile,” Declares the Lord, “and her boasts accomplish nothing”.  I thought about how Moab is such an apt picture of our society today.  They trusted in their deeds and riches (48:7).  Instead of trusting in God, they became so used to their wealth and material possessions, that they trusted in themselves, they trusted in the stuff they attained, perhaps large buildings, cutting edge technology of their time, good food and wine, abundance of possessions, their physical stature, and their fame among the other nations.  I can see how trusting in these outwardly things can give you such a sense of security.  April was promotion season for my company and as my coworkers were talking about who will be promoted, how the company will be reorganized, who will be recognized for their achievements, it was obvious that those who were getting that promotion just felt so secure and so good.  And those who didn’t get mentioned had such a sense of insecurity, some even bad mouthing management that they were not chosen to be recognized.  Even in this little way, I thought about how we are so prone to be like Moab.  I could really sense God’s heart, reaching out to them, urging them to turn from their pride and to turn to God.  48:31 says, “I will wail for you Moab, for all Moab I cry out…I weep for you”.  This is God’s heart for Moab and for me because He knows our destiny.  He knows that in the end, their “jars will be smashed”, “their towns will be invaded”, their glorious staff will be broken, they will be ashamed, their fortified cities will be in ruin, and their finest men will go down in the slaughter.  Ultimately, all that they took pride in would be completely destroyed.  Moab will be broken down.  It made me see how God wants me to let go of the pride that I find in myself through these fleeting things, and to humbly see the truth and the reality that He is the one who provides true security and reason for pride and boasting.  That I should not boast in myself but in Him.

I was by Babylon as well.  This is the nation that was conquering and defeating other nations.  But in the end, their time came as well.  Babylon had been God’s way of bringing down these sinful nations.  51:20 “you are my war club, my weapon for battle- with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms…”  Babylon seemed like such a successful nation this whole time, but in the end, Babylon too fell into God’s hands and eventually became a desolate nation.  I thought about how indeed there will be times of success.  There will times of conquest, times of feeling superior and satisfied because of success, but in the process, I can not leave God and depend on my own successes and competence.   Babylon was punished for their sinful ways, turning from God and worshipping idols, and their wicked treatment of those in captivity. This was a warning for me.  Especially when things seem to be going well, and when I find that temptation to just depend on myself and go in cruise control in my spiritual life. I was reminded again that I need to come back to the truth.  The truth that I am at the mercy of God, that I am a wretched sinner in constant need of God’s forgiveness, and that I have this privilege of being a minister of reconciliation for God.

Finally, in the midst of so much anguish, wrath, anger toward the sins of the nations, there are pockets of hope for His people who are in captivity.  He says in Ch 46: 27-28“Do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel. I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. 28 Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, for I am with you,” declares the Lord. “Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”  And He also tells Egypt, Elam, Moab and Ammon that He will restore the fortunes of these nations.  God’s intense love for his people is so clear.  Like the heart of a parent, the most intense anger, outrage and discipline is reserved for their children who they love more than anything.  I often feel this way when disciplining my own child.  However, the hope is that we would repent and turn to Him again and place Him in the rightful place in our lives.  I can see that even through all the severe judgment that God brings to these nations, His heart is for there to be restoration.

Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, as I see the way you dealt with all these nations, Oh lord, I confess that my heart is prone to this kind of godlessness and defiance.  When things go well, when things seem to be pretty smooth, please protect me from that temptation to think that it is because of my own capabilities and my own efforts. Protect my heart from becoming proud and arrogant like Moab, which you had to break down to establish the truth of who you are.  Please help me to be warned by the fate of all these nations, that ultimately you are in control and that I am at your mercy.  Please help me to come back to the truth of who I am and how I got here.  It’s through your mercy and how you worked in my life.  And thank you for loving me with this kind of intensity.  Please help me to receive your discipline and warnings with humility so that you can establish the truth of who you are in my life.

–

Submitted by Abe Y. from Gracepoint Riverside Church

Key Verse

Jeremiah 48:29-30:

29 “We have heard of Moab’s pride — her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance     and the haughtiness of her heart.  30 I know her insolence but it is futile,” declares the Lord,  “and her boasts accomplish nothing.

God is…

Up until now, it may seem that God is only against Judah for the sins they’ve committed, but this is clearly not the case. Here, we see see God’s response to the sins of the neighboring nations. Jeremiah foretells the destruction and downfall of Egypt, Philistines, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, Elam, and even the mighty Babylon. No one — no kingdom — is exempt from God’s mighty judgment.

In Jeremiah 48, we get a glimpse into God’s view of Moab. A good part of the chapter starts with the prophecy of what God will do to that nation, how God will run them off and they will become captives to foreign nations. He tells them that their days of comfort will come abruptly to an end (vv.11-13), and that their glory days are over (vv.18-25).

What is God’s main complaint against Moab? What have they been doing that deserve such punishment? Part of it is due to their worship in Chemosh, in this fictitious, made-up god.  However, it seems that God is far angrier by their pride. He is disgusted by Moab’s “overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart” (v.29). This is God’s main complaint against Moab, and for this reason alone, God will bring judgment against her.

Lessons for me…

In my younger days, much of my time was spent on fighting and struggling against more apparent sins. I remember constantly fighting against my lustful, fleshly desires, and that was a source of many troubles. I had a hard time in loving people, giving people my time and my heart when those are the things that I want to hold onto. I had to battle with a plethora of character issues, in learning to become just a better human being.

This isn’t to say that I don’t deal with these anymore. No, those battles are still there to this day. However, one thing I’ve been learning and relearning over the years is just how proud and boastful of a person I am. I may not be so clueless as to flaunt my skills and abilities, or to show off my intelligence, but deep in my heart, there are ways in which I continue to allow my pride to fester and grow. One thing that’s become more and more apparent to me is the different facets in which pride can reveal itself. For example, there exists within me the pride of wanting to be right, no matter what. Thus, when someone disagrees with me, or just cannot understand a certain position, I feel something inside of me swelling up. My natural instinct is to puff up, and bring out the reasons and logical arguments, to show how this person is in the wrong. This happened recently in which it became so bad, that only afterwards, when the dust had settled, I realized that I had completely missed what was really going on inside of him; I got so caught up by what he said, that I missed out on what he really meant. In our conversation, I knew I was in the right, but I so badly wanted this brother to know it, too. I was so immature, so proud, that I couldn’t bear the thought of him walking away, thinking that he was in the right. And so, I got so caught up in the tit-for-tat argument that I missed his heart — what was going on underneath — completely. It was an opportunity to really lift up this brother and encourage him, to bring truth from God in a very uplifting manner. Instead, the conversation just went further and further south.

God is adamantly against pride because it causes people to be blind — blind towards others, blind about themselves, and blind towards Him. Can we really minister to people if we’re like the Moabites — filled with pride, conceit, arrogance, and haughtiness of the heart? “Her boasts accomplish nothing,” God says of Moab (v.30). For the nation of Moab, nothing could shake them out of this stupor, so God had to go in and intervene. For them, God had to put them to the sword — for me, it was through a painful conversation that shook me out of my own stupor.

However, God’s judgment of doom will not last forever — not on this side of heaven, anyways. Unlike me, who’s so petty and immature as to just wanting to win an argument, God cares more about winning over His people. He’s not punishing these nations to show them “who’s boss,” to show them how utterly weak they are. It is that — but also much more. With the nation of Judah, for example, even though they are so far away in their sin, He says that he will “not completely destroy [them].” Though they will go to exile, He tells them, “Do not fear.. for I am with you” (46:28). Even to the Moabites — a nation that is not of His chosen people, He does not just turn them over to destruction and leave it at that. We see that God “wails over” them, that “for all Moab [He] cries out” and “moan for the men of Kir Hareseth” (48:31). This is God’s heart for His people — He punishes them for their sin, but He mourns and laments over their sorry state. He longs for them — even the foreign nation of Moab — to let go of their pride, to see themselves as they really are, and to return back to Him. He disciplines them out of His deep love and concern for them.

O, how I am so unlike God — how I lack the Father’s compassionate heart for others. I, in my pride, am still far too petty. I, in my pride, care more about maintaining the respect of others than to take the risk of actually caring for someone.

Prayer

Lord, help me to become more and more like You. Help me to continue to die to my pride daily — the pride that gets stirred when someone rubs me the wrong way, the pride that refuses to back down, the pride that insists that I am in the right at all costs. Lord, it’s this pride that is so heinous in Your sight — isn’t it this pride that causes people and nations to fall away from You? Father, let me die to this pride so that I may be able to love others — not just making sure that they’re doing the right things, but to genuinely love and care for them. Father, even in the midst of disciplining Your loved ones, Your heart continues to reach out to them. Let me become more like You, to be able to cry out on their behalf, to be genuinely remorseful over their estate when they fall away, rather than taking in what they’ve done as an indictment against me. Let me not take their offenses personally — after all, it’s not me that they’re spurning, but You! Help me to do all that I can to win over people’s souls, even if it’s costly to me — to my emotions, to my energy level, to my pride. Let this vicious pride die, so that I may love others wholeheartedly!

–

Submitted by Ernestine L. from Gracepoint Riverside Church

Key Verse

“the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God. 5They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. –Jeremiah 50:4-5

God is …

At this point, Israel has been marked by much bloodshed, battle and unfaithfulness to God. However, in these concluding chapters of the book of Jeremiah, we see God’s final and ultimate heart for His people. He sees His people – He sees them terrified, retreating, hopeless and beaten. Though they have experienced much defeat, the Lord their God gives them a message of hope, of fierce confidence in Him. We see this god of retribution once again extending His arms to protect Israel, telling Jeremiah that He would bring them back and bind them to Himself as it says in Chapter 50.

God is a god who wants to build up His people and keep them from destruction. The beginning of Chapter 46 lays out a picture of God’s building up of His people and the promise of safety. God tells Israel that they should not fear and not be in dismay, for He will surely save them out of a distant place, that Jacob will again receive peace and security. Though he will destroy all the nations and scatter His people among them, God has a plan for them. He does this not because He wants his people to continue suffering or enduring shame and punishment. His loving discipline is that of a Father’s for His wandering and confused children. God’s heart for His people is one of a deep love that wants them to ultimately experience victory, but only through being humbled and broken. So they would not be left without hope, but instead with a hope entirely from and in God. The victory becomes sweet as they will experience returning and clinging onto God for dear life.

God hates pride. He detests it. As we look at the Moabites and the other nations, we see the extent of God’s heart against that deeply rooted sin called pride. As the chapters go on to include God’s message against the nations – Philistines, Moab, Ammon and so on, we take a look at just how much the Moabites banked on things that did not last – they trusted in their deeds and riches, but soon enough they too would be held captive and none of what they amounted to would matter. They indulged in their riches, in their idols and altars and ultimately retreated from reality, seeking comfort by keeping the sword from bloodshed.

And yet, a remarkable thing to note about our God is that He is one of deep compassion. Though He proclaims to Jeremiah the detailed accounts of how each of these nations will ultimately be brought down; though they bask in their pride and arrogance right now, there is still that mark of mercy. “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab, in days to come,” declares the LORD. “Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the LORD. And the same goes for Elam. God’s mercy depicts perfectly for us the heart of God. Though these nations will be destroyed, He will restore and redeem them when their pride has been broken and destroyed. There is this plan for each nation in mind.

Lessons for me …

The downfall of Moab would be her pride – conceit, arrogance, haughtiness of heart, insolence as Jeremiah 48:29-30 lists. God sees this attitude and condition as detestable and yet pitiful because He then wails over Moab, cries out, moans for their men. How true of this is God’s heart for me when I am in the midst of my detestable pride, when I rage up inside against others, against God Himself; when I want control over my life and over others like the Moabites over their nation, when I too want to retreat and keep my sword from bloodshed, wanting to just indulge in the comforts, the idols, the “riches” in my life – things I think I have control over. Again, God’s heart is that these things will be destroyed, they will be no more, futile in the grand scheme of this spiritual battle I am engaged in.

We see the bittersweet return of the people of Israel in Chapter 50:4-5 – as the attacks on Babylon will take place, these are the times, declares the Lord, that “the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.” Finally, their hearts will want to turn back to God, after long turmoil, after much defeat of their pride and the accounts of their unfaithfulness. Only when they themselves have been beaten down can they return with such longing of heart. This is how God sees me and every person – only when pride has been banished, destroyed, when our hearts have been wrecked do we see the sweetness, the beautiful retreat back to God – wanting to be bound with the Lord in this everlasting covenant. Only as I see myself more clearly, as I experience my pride being torn down, my desire for some semblance of control that is finally relinquished do I acknowledge this ever desperate need to come back to God.

When I think of these nations that gave into their idols, whose man-made systems of self-gain and self-glorification proved faulty in the eyes of God, so pitiful and futile, I see how relevant this picture is to me when I do the same exact thing – when I claw after the things of this world – image, status, respect, self-glory, which only resort in pride and arrogance. God’s wrath is against this; He wages war against my pride. I think about the people so given into the heights of their hills, the people proud and arrogant b/c they think they’ve got it going strong and well for them at this moment in time. However, they do not know how much this is wrecking the heart of God; they have no idea how futile their efforts are – those who chase after seeking glory for themselves, being driven by their pride and arrogance. Ultimately, God beckons to the lost, to my heart when it goes astray, to these nations – to come in tears to seek Him, to be bound to His everlasting covenant, to finally be given peace and security.

From examining each of these nations and God’s response to them, I see the effect of my own pride, my own chasing after idols, my own building up of high places – it was because these things were never meant to be for those purposes. Though God blesses me with fortunes, I cannot take them, twist them for my own gains. As in ministry – I cannot use what I have received from God for gain of self-glory. In relationships, I cannot turn them for self-approval or comparison to make myself feel more or less of anything. When I receive responsibilities over tasks or ownership over people, again, I cannot bulk up in any sort of arrogance thinking I can handle more or less than someone else. God sees the folly of each nation and how they have been enraptured by the heights of their hills and the clefts of their rocks as the Edomites were. And when my pride is exposed, this is when God needs to destroy and conquer over my heart, when He has in mind the steps needed to bring down my arrogance, then His promise to each nation and to me is “Yet I will restore….”  And yet He has in mind to restore me and still bless me with a life used for His advancement.

Prayer

Father, I come to You with all my pride and arrogance. I am like these nations, foolishly thinking I could bask in comforts, thinking I could build up altars and high hills for myself when You want to destroy all of these things within me. The battle has been marked, and You alone have spoken against my pride, my arrogance, my insolence. Your great desire for me is to have me finally return and bind myself to Your everlasting covenant. Though You speak against my sinfulness, my pride; though You break me by revealing to me the truth about myself, I understand Your great mercy that desires for me to ultimately return in humility and sweet victory over the enemy. Father, I acknowledge the detestable pride within me that rages up when I seek control in areas of my life, when I seek control over others, when I seek some sort of high hill to stand on. And I seek after You for Your mighty hand, Your protection, Your guarding over my heart against being deceived by my pride. Father, thank You for Your heart and mercy over me.

–

Submitted by Joel L. from Gracepoint Riverside Church

Key Verse

“Do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel.  I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile.  Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid.  Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, for I am with you,” declares the Lord. “Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.” – Jeremiah 46:27-28

God is …

From these chapters, I see God’s heart going out to the other nations besides Israel where He is pronouncing what will happen to them, and some kingdoms will be destroyed such that no one will live there again or some kingdoms will have their fortunes restored in the future after being punished. God’s heart is not only for His people in Israel, but He is concerned for the surrounding nations, and His words must have given some hope to the nations who would be restored one day though judgment was coming. Though Israel failed to obey His commands and be faithful to Him such that they would glorify His name, God still continues to work and pursue nations and people who would open up their hearts and minds to Him. In order for this to happen though, Israel and the nations need to be punished for their sins and their pride smashed. God is focused on salvations, and this  is with Him even in the midst of His anger and dealing with the nations. Even in the midst of punishing Israel, God is not totally angry with them, but He says they will return to their homeland and have rest and security.

Lessons for me …

Personally, I am so thankful that God is with me during those tough times where my sins are exposed or truths are revealed to me that expose my shame and guilt, because these are times where my pride instinctively rises up and wants to be arrogant and stubborn. Though I don’t want to experience the pain and suffering that comes from being humble and confessing, repentance is necessary and it’s the only way to see the reality about myself and the consequences of my choices. Time and time again I have experienced those times of rest and security afterwards, because I see with such greater clarity who I am and who God is, and the fear of the world and protecting my pride gets replaced with the proper fear of God. As with the nations that God is going to punish, so it is with me where my pride gets puffed up with the blessings of the world and comforts. The fear of God is diminished and sin grows and makes me senseless.

“Every man is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.  His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them.  They are worthless, the objects of mockery;    when their judgment comes, they will perish. – Jeremiah 51:17-18

God knows for His people and for me that these idols will not satisfy and it pains His heart when we go down these paths and this is why God continues to speak to us so that we may remember Him and know Him. God doesn’t delight in punishing, but He wants to give us true rest and security. How maddening it is for God when I try to find these things in the world when I seek after financial security, being liked and approved by others, desiring to be comfortable, and other idols. These idols will demand more and more of my time, resources, and strength, and what is stripped is a closer walk with God and a heart without passion to do God’s will but my will. Being  a minister, I myself have to be vigilant against idols, because those who look to me for guidance , I need to be able to speak with conviction against idols that will take them down destructive paths. When things are going in their lives, I can trust God is with them and He’s ultimately working so that they may be saved, and this needs to be my heart for them despite whatever my feelings, emotions, and thoughts are filled with. My heart needs to be regularly engaged with God so that I can listen with an open heart and mind and heed God’s instruction and warning as He wants to prepare me for what is coming. When God speaks to me about some sin, I need to confess it right away. If God is speaking to me about my habits, character issues, or lack of love, I need to be desperate to respond and lift up prayers whenever I can.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, you are a holy God, and I can see a little of how your heart must be frustrated when those you  love seek after that which is detestable. These nations became proud because they trusted in their riches and success, and it led them down a path that caused them to sin greatly and leave a trail of victims. You are just when you punish, and I praise you that you remember your people so that they are not completely devastated. You offer hope and renewal when we are humbled and turn back to you, and I pray that I will be responsive when your word speaks to me and my rest and security will come from you. Though the truth may be uncomfortable for me, I pray that I will receive it with humility whether it be from your word, messages, or times of praying. Make me an instrument to do your will and share in your heart to rescue more and more people from the path of destruction and lead me to know you and your son, Jesus Christ. I pray that my heart will grow in fearing you more than anything else, and I will leave with your presence in my mind. May your name be glorified and not my name. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Jeremiah 41-45

Key Verse

Jeremiah 45:4-5  The Lord said, “Say this to him: ‘This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. ⁵ Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord,but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.’”

God is …

The whole episode with Johanan is so tragic and maddening in a way.  There is that moment of hope when he and “all the people from the least to the greatest” came to Jeremiah asking for guidance and promising obedience to God.  And God answers them in such a reassuring and compassionate way, promising to build them up and to save them from the king of Babylon.  God talks about how he is grieved over the disaster he has inflicted on them and how he wants to restore them.  But once again, the people completely reject God’s words through Jeremiah.

This gives me insight into God’s heart as he carries out his judgment and wrath on his people.  It is not the picture of a raging, power-hungry king, who is simply angry that his subjects do not obey him.  Rather, it is the aching, long-suffering heart of a parent, who suffers rejection after rejection while eagerly hoping for his child to repent so that he can restore him and bless him.  I was struck by how even though God knows what’s in their hearts and that they are planning to reject his words through Jeremiah, still he gives them tender and compassionate promises and repeated warnings about what will happen if they disobey him.  It is a wounded and yet determined father who can’t give up, who still tries to persuade and plead even though he knows the son is so rebellious.

These chapters also give me a picture of how foolish and irrational we can be, as sinners, and what God’s response is to us.  It seems that Johanan and the people just could not trust God’s words because they were suspicious of Baruch and Jeremiah betraying them to the Babylonians, and because they were determined to seek safety in Egypt, where other Jews had fled.  And then in Egypt, when Jeremiah brings God’s warnings to all the Jewish exiles living there about their continued idolatry, they display amazingly revisionist memory and attribute the times they were well off in Jerusalem to the fact that they were engaged in idol worship.  It’s disheartening to say the least to see how the people simply did not learn their lesson and completely disbelieve God’s intentions despite all the warnings, all the prophetic words, and all the difficulties and grief.  How much more tragic and heart wrenching it must be for God.  And yet, it is amazing that God is not completely jaded and disgusted by their repeated offenses.  He continues to persist in trying to get through to them, following the Jewish exiles even into Egypt, still trying to reason with them and show them what their idolatry has led to.

Lessons for me …

I had to marvel once again at God’s persistence and commitment to his people.  It is the same kind of heart that we see in Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians – this kind of long-suffering love despite rejection and offenses.  I realize how God is so often misunderstood.  It’s so wrong to see him as a taskmaster that arbitrarily demands various things from us, or a petty ruler who wants to limit our freedom. That is simply a shallow and mistaken understanding of God and his heart towards us.  In my own Christian life, I need to mature more in understanding and sharing God’s heart that aches for sinners and is so committed to struggling with them, expending so much effort to get them to understand who He is to them and what will lead to a blessed life.  I realize once again that I need to recalibrate my perspective of what is genuine love according to what I see about God’s heart. Genuine love is not about maintaining pleasant and positive feelings; it inevitably involves commitment and striving and suffering in order to lead people to relationship with God and salvation from sin that can be so bewildering and stubbornly foolish.

Chapter 45 is an interesting little chapter that once again gives insight into how narrow my personal perspective can be.  I can totally relate to Baruch, who is groaning and feeling worn out by all that has happened.  And God’s personal message to him is a wakeup call, that life is not about seeking “great things for yourself,” and to understand the much greater reality about what God is doing and what kind of times he lives in. He reminds Baruch that the fact that he is able to live is really due to God’s graciousness towards him.   Like Baruch, my perspective is so instinctively self-centered and at times I feel like I’m “worn out” in my efforts to serve God.  But what I need are times of having my perspective broadened to see what God is doing, how He is contending with so many people that reject him and misunderstand him, how he is holding back true judgment and what our sins truly deserve in order to try to save us.  Against this backdrop of reality, I realize that I really haven’t scratched the surface of sharing in God’s heart and engaging in the kind of love he calls me to.  I need to be brought to the fresh realization that God has been so merciful to me, and that the stakes are much higher than my personal comfort.  God is grieving and struggling over lost people and he calls me to share in his heart.

–

Submitted by Ben K. from Gracepoint Riverside Church

Key Verse

42:10-12:

‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands.  I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’

God Is…

A lot is revealed about God’s heart in God’s command to Johanan and his men in 42:10-12.  What’s interesting here is the amount of reassurance God gives them.  God could have just said, “I command you to stay.”  Instead, we see that God not only commands them to stay but He gives them many words of reassurance: I will build you up, I will plant you and not uproot you, do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, do not be afraid of him, I am with you, I will save you, I will deliver you, I will show you compassion, he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.  It seems God recognizes that what he is asking them to do is scary and will require faith so his answer to their question of what they should do is full of reassurance.  God hopes and wishes for his people to trust him.  God wants them to trust in his heart for them, to trust in his power.  An important aspect of any relationship is trust, and it is no different in our relationship with God. I am reminded of Proverbs 3:5 which says:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

What also stood out to me in 42:10-12 is that God admits to grieving over the disaster he has inflicted.  Though it was something that He chose to do, He still grieves over it.  It’s like a loving parent who disciplines his child out of love, but seeing the pain of his child causes the parent to hurt too. God’s discipline isn’t cold hatred or heartless vengeance, but God shares in the pain of his people as he disciplines them.  The picture of God that emerges through Jeremiah is a loving God who wants people to repent and enter into a trusting relationship with Him.

Lessons for me…

Because Ishmael and some men killed Gedaliah (the governor appointed by the king of Babylon), Babylonian soldiers and some Jews, the remnant in Judah are afraid of Babylonian retaliation.  Johanan and company are fearful for their lives so they consult Jeremiah asking him to ask God where they should go and what they should do.  Which country should they run away to?  What’s the best strategy for their survival?  In 42:5-6 they say to Jeremiah:

“May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God…”

However, when Jeremiah tells them what God’s told him, they don’t accept it because it’s not the answer they were looking for.  God tells them to go nowhere, to stay where they are.  From their perspective, this is the least strategic advice because they were convinced that the king of Babylon would destroy them if they stayed.  They were gripped by their fear and so they did not obey God.  Instead of admitting that they were disobeying because lacked faith and were afraid, they attack Jeremiah’s character and cast suspicion on his motives in 43:2-3:

“You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’ But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.”

There are times when I feel like Johanan and company and find it hard to trust God.  I remember when I first started working and got my first meager paycheck, I started to feel anxious about money and career.  I equated money with security because I grew up wealthy but after my father passed away there was financial insecurity and there are a lot of negative feelings associated with not having enough money.  I made more than enough money to get by with my new job, but my insecurity drove me to desire more.  For the most part there wasn’t much tension between serving God and doing my job, but at times when the demands of work and ministry increased at the same time and I felt tired, the thought would cross my mind that if I didn’t have minsitry responsibilities to worry about, I would be able to invest so much more in my career.

During times of anxiety and fear God reassures me through his words much like he addressed the fears of Johanan and his men.  God addresses my issues time and time again through daily devotions and messages, and I am amazed by the constant provision of His words.  When I was struggling with financial anxiety, His words encouraged me to continue to follow Him and to trust him as my only source of security.  Were it not for God’s reassurance through his word, I would not be here at a church plant today nor would I have experienced the joy of seeing God so powerfully at work in our midst and seeing so many precious brothers and sisters come to salvation.

If we believe that God is all-powerful and that He is good, we ought to trust Him.  In 43:10 God calls the king of Babylon “my servant Nebuchadnezzar.”  God calls this incredibly powerful king that was the cause of such great fear for Johanan “my servant.”  I was reminded of Isaiah 40:15:

Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales; 

To God, all the nations are like a drop in a bucket.  I was reminded that God really is this big, and He bigger than all my problems, concerns, and anxieties.  I can be sure that no matter what the issue may be, my trust in God is not misplaced.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I am reminded again that you are a good God with good intentions for me and that you are mighty and powerful.  Please forgive me for my lack of faith and trust in you and for looking towards other things to provide my security and significance.  I thank you for your timely words that reassure me time and time again to trust in you.  And I thank you for all the blessings I have received through trusting in you.  You are indeed a faithful and trustworthy God!  In Jesus name, Amen.

God is …
Jeremiah 36:3 “Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.”

In this verse God expresses His heart behind why He goes through the trouble of trying to warn the people of Judah through Jeremiah. Ultimately He wants them to heed the warning of the coming disaster and to turn from their wicked ways. He wants them to repent, so they can receive forgiveness for their sins rather than experiencing devastating consequences of their disobedience and rebellion against God.

I’m struck by God’s persistence and zeal to get through to His rebellious and stubborn people. Even after King Jehoiakim so brazenly showed no fear as he burned the scroll containing the words of God in chapter 36, God instructs Jeremiah to make another scroll just like the one the king burned. God is determined to give his obstinate and stubbornly proud people another chance to hear His words. God has been making His appeal to His stubborn and rebellious people for many years already by this point in the book, but I see how God faithfully speaks to his wayward people through warnings, corrections, and harsh rebukes to the very end before the disaster that God predicted came true through the Babylonian invasion.

I personally experienced God faithfully reaching out to me with His words as He sent many different prophets throughout the years of my life. From those early days of Sunday school teachers to my leaders at Gracepoint, God has never ceased to be speak to me even in times when I was proud and stubborn about pursuing my sinful desires and being committed to self-affirming thoughts like, “I’m an OK guy. There’s nothing wrong with the way I am.” God persisted to get through to me by making numerous attempts to warn me, reason with me and to shake me with ego devastating truths about myself.

As it were in the times of the King Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, God’s faithfulness and zeal to bring sinners to repentance were through the sacrificial obedience of people like Jeremiah. Because Jeremiah was willing to be set apart for God and undergo being mistreated, imprisoned, beaten, falsely accused as a traitor, and dropped into a muddy cistern to starve to death, the word of God was able to reach people and turn the hearts of some like Ebed-Melech, who was saved from being killed by the Babylonians.

I, too, am called to be God’s prophet for people God brings me to. Thinking about the sort of example Jeremiah was as God’s prophet, I’m challenged to fight against the temptation to resign to people who seem initially unresponsive. Need to fight against wanting to save myself from disappointments, frustrations, and heartaches in trying to love others who may be bent on pursuing their sinful desires or too proud to admit their sins and repent. I know that God is challenging me to be a faithful prophet and shepherd to His church and the people He has entrusted to me by persisting in prayer and looking for opportunities to share God’s words with them–not just once, twice, but as many times as God provides me with each person.

Lessons for me …
King Zedekiah is an interesting person. On one hand he seems so stubborn and unwilling to hear from God through Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 37:2 it says, “Neither [King Zedekiah] nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet”. But then in the following verse it says that he sent a messenger asking Jeremiah, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.” Zedekiah allows Jeremiah to be imprisoned, but then he asks Jeremiah in private, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Zedekiah seems conflicted in his heart. On one hand he seems to know that Jeremiah is a real prophet of God, but he doesn’t want to really heed God’s warnings and obey what God wants him to do. Zedekiah seems to be full of fears about maintaining his kingship, so he gives into the demands of officials to get rid of Jeremiah who is causing their soldiers to become discouraged. He says to his officials, “The king can do nothing to oppose you.” In King Zedekiah’s final conversation with Jeremiah he shares vulnerably what fears haunt him (Jeremiah 38:17-19). He fears being mistreated by the Jews who defected to the Babylonians if he should surrender to the Babylonians like God is commanding him to do. Jeremiah assures him by saying, “They will not hand you over. Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared.” King Zedekiah ultimately ends up being a tragic figure, because in the end he decides to cave into his fears and tries to escape rather than surrendering to the Babylonians like God told him to do. His disobedience results in his downfall and the destruction of his family and the rest of the Jews.

King Zedekiah’s life is a sober warning for me to consider if there are ways I’m trying to hear from God in a self-serving way. Being curious to know what God has to say, but not being willing to obey or just foolishly hoping that things will work out as I go on doing life the way I think is best for me. Am I hoping that God will change His mind and say things that would suit my selfish, sinful heart desires? I need to check my heart in approaching God’s words through daily devotions or hearing messages. I need to make sure that I’m listening to obey rather than trying to negotiate with God by delayed obedience or trying to see if God will eventually cater to my desires and fears.

I think another lesson to be learned is how my fears can cause me to have certain projections of the future that’s just not true or really insignificant in comparison to the bigger fear I ought to have about the consequences of living a life of disobedience to God. For King Zedekiah, he was focused on the possibility of being mistreated by Jews who defected and didn’t see that God’s wrath was upon him and his nation because of their sinful rebellion against God. If I don’t have proper fear of God, then like Zedekiah, I will be governed by fears and a projection of the future that will lead to making foolish, regrettable decisions. In my petty or even imagined fears about life I can become so stubbornly committed to doing life according to my own wisdom and perspective, and consequently stubbornly refuse to listen to God and obey Him. And like King Zedekiah, my foolish and self-serving approach to life will affect others around me. My disobedience to God can cause many others around me to suffer.

In Jeremiah 38:20, Jeremiah says to King Zedekiah, “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you….” God instructs me to obey Him in specific ways not only through my own reading of scripture, but also through spiritual leaders in my life who are like Jeremiah to me–people whom God appoints over me to guide, warn and instruct me to live a God honoring life. Ultimately God’s heart behind insisting that I obey Him is so that life will go well for me and to all those I affect. This is something I need to keep in mind as I strive to obey God even when obeying God becomes costly and difficult.

Submitted by Linda K. from Gracepoint Riverside
Key Verse
Jeremiah 38:15 “…Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”

God is …
God’s heart for Jerusalem to turn from their sinful ways is described in Jeremiah 36:3, “Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.” Throughout the text, I see God pleading with the Kings to obey His word, but they refuse. They couldn’t have imagined surrendering to Babylon, but little did they know that obeying God would have saved their lives and other people’s lives. From this I see that God is more concerned about our relationship with him than with what we may think is so important to us (i.e. pride, possessions, etc.). His persevering love to deliver the truth is shown through Jeremiah, and although he is put under watch in the palace court and put into a cistern, God protects him, with the hope so that people can turn to the truth and be saved and forgiven.

Lessons for me …
Through Jeremiah 36-40, I see the consequence of not obeying God’s warnings through the fall of Jerusalem. Though Jeremiah faithfully delivers God’s words of warning to the officials and kings to surrender to Babylon, they resist. When King Jehoiakim heard God’s words in the scroll he threw them into the fire until there was no more and wanted Jeremiah killed. Whereas King Zedekiah was willing to hear what Jeremiah has to say and protects Jeremiah, but he does nothing to act upon what he hears until it is too late and all of Jerusalem is taken over. The frightening thing is from the time King Zedekiah became king (Ch. 37) to Jerusalem’s fall, it had been the ninth year of his rule (Ch. 39), yet his view and stance towards what Jeremiah had been saying remains unchanged throughout that long period of time. What characterizes this complacent attitude is described when Jeremiah says to the King in Jeremiah 38:15, “…Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.” Whatever it was that prevented Zedekiah from responding to the truth, I see that we are no different from these kings in how we respond to truth.

The response of these kings tells me how proud and stubborn our hearts are. We may hear the word of God day in and day out through our daily devotions, bible study, prayer meetings, Sunday messages, yet it is very possible for us to have the same response as the kings, that instead of humbly receiving the truth, we can reject it, or act passively until it is too late. Some of the ways we can do this is when our heart is proud and we reject the truth or think it does not apply to us or when we think we can take care of some sin or heed some warning later. All of these responses are disastrous because the consequences of our sin will catch up to us and do more harm than we originally thought.

Through this text, I see that God’s word is always timely and I ought to always take seriously God’s warnings about my sins and it can manifest in my life so that I can be on guard and be quick to confess and repent. Though the truth is not always easy to receive, I need to always have the posture and humility as a sinner to accept that God is the one who sees and knows all things and to trust always in His righteous judgment. The failure of the Kings to take Jeremiah and God’s word seriously led to the downfall of a whole nation. Then for me the failure to take my sins like my pride, arrogance, envy, jealously, etc. seriously will led to the downfall of my relationships around me and with God. I have to see that God’s warnings are not just to tell me that I am wrong, but an act of love to save me and others from the consequences of my sins.

Prayer
Lord, thank you for helping me to see through this passage the consequences of not taking your word and truths seriously through the destruction of a whole nation by a two kings. I confess that I am no different from them, that I have a heart that is resistant to the truth especially when it deflates my pride and ego, but help me to see that your words are life saving. Forgive me, Lord, for my prideful heart that thinks I know what is best for myself, when in reality I do not know how widespread effect my sin can have on myself and others. Help me, Lord, to be come humble to your words of truth and to the ugly truths about myself so that I will be eager to hear from your words of truth and from the people who bring the truth to me. And help me to be like Jeremiah, to be someone who faithfully delivers your words of truth to those who may be resistant with the hope they will understand see your heart behind it all. Thank you for your persevering love that does not end until I respond to the truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Key Verse

Jeremiah 31:34 “No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

God is…

What stands out to me through today’s DT passages is God’s heart of mercy and compassion. Though God has brought the sword upon his people and he has exiled them from their homeland, he remembers the covenant and the promises he has made in the past. Jeremiah 31:3-4 says, “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel.” Though for the time being, God punishes his people justly for their stubbornness, their rejection of him, their idolatry, God does not forget the love that he has for them, a love that is everlasting – what he has proclaimed in the past is still true today. Because this is who God is, despite Israel’s unfaithfulness, their backsliding, their evil deeds, God vows to build his people up again.

Lessons for me…

I am reminded through this of how a covenantal relationship with God ultimately does not depend on my deeds, my performance, my merit, my circumstances, but solely on who God is as a God who loves and is merciful despite my sinfulness and failures, my unfaithfulness and my desires to follow the stubborn inclinations of my heart. As I pause to think about it, I am so much like this obstinate nation Israel–my track record of following God is stained with selfish gain, complacency, deceitfulness, desire to rule over my own life. If a life of following God depended on my ability to be righteous and my faithfulness, I would be disqualified.  I would still be out in the desert as an exile because again and again in my relationship with God I forget His place in my life and settle for lesser things. As Romans 9:16 says, “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” In Jeremiah 31:33-34, “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

God himself will create a new covenant after his people have broken the old covenant. He longs to gather them back from the exiled places, to put his law in their minds and hearts, to be their God. And what is staggering is his promise to “forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.” After reading through the beginning chapters of Jeremiah and seeing how abhorrent Israel’s sins were, how anguished, offended, and hurt God was by their sins, these verses are astonishing to read. God, the rejected lover, the dishonored father, takes it upon Himself to rectify the wrong that his people have inflicted upon him. By all accounts, why should God put up with such sins? Why should He bother with people who keep on doing what they want and who hurt him so much? It is out of His everlasting love and his faithfulness to fulfill the gracious promise he made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah (cf. Jer 33:14). He says in Jeremiah 33:14 that he “will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line.  In those days, Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: the LORD Our Righteousness.” This promise was fulfilled in Jesus, the righteous Branch who saves us from our sins, God’s own initiative to restore a fallen people to Himself. More deeply I see God’s scandalous love for me.  Though my sins cause him pain, He has made the first move to reconcile me to Him through Jesus. Through Jesus, I see the anguish and pain of sin upon God’s heart.  Through Jesus, He forgives my wickedness and remembers my sins no more – this is amazing news and it is cause for me to be humbled once again, to be in awe of His love and grace for me.

God uses the imagery of a Father disciplining his son.  Though he corrects and punishes his son for being like “an unruly calf” (cf. Jeremiah 31:18), He says, “Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:20). God’s love is not deterred by the son’s lack of honor and love for Him.  Though the Father often speaks against him, his thoughts are never far away from his son. I am reminded of Hebrews 12:6, 10-11, which says, “Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son…God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”  God pronounces his punishment to his people because of their wickedness, but ultimately he does so with a heart to bring them back and restore them. He longs to be their God, to bring health and healing to them, to cleanse them from all the sin they’ve committed against Him. In the same way, He is a God who longs to bring His holiness and His healing into my life, and this will involve correction, rebuke and discipline because I am a sinner who really does not know the right way to live before Him. Intrinsically, I do not like correction, I do not want to be disciplined, to go through hardships, and to have to struggle with my sins. Yet God’s reaction to all that is rotting and festering in my heart because of my sins, wrong values, distorted thoughts, is one of love – and it is because of His great love for me, His delight in me, His greater vision for me that he will discipline me. I think when ugly sins are exposed in my life, when I go through times of struggle, my inclination is to turn these into signs that I have personally failed God, that I am outside of His love and grace, that I am so far away from Him that I don’t know how to return to Him. God says as he has brought all this calamity on this people, so he will give them all the prosperity he has promised them (cf. Jer. 32:42). I can take heart that the correction I receive, the painful truth spoken to me are signs of His love for me.  Because of His covenantal love to me, He cannot stand to see me live for lesser things, He cannot leave me as I am when there are character and sin issues in my life. He wants for me to have singleness of heart and action, to fear Him for my own good; His desire is to shape and mold me into a people who will bring him renown, joy, and honor. Knowing this about God helps me to see discipline and hardship differently – they are things I desperately need as a sinner and they are signs that He loves me too much to allow me to continue down a broken path.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I am reminded of Your heart of compassion and grace in my life. The only reason I am not exiled from You because of my sins is because You had the heart to bring me back from the faraway country, Your heart to cleanse and restore me. I see how incredible and scandalous is Your love for me and Your promise to forgive all my sins and remember my wickedness no more. Lord, I am in awe of Your compassion for me – I know that it is out of this same love that You correct and discipline me. God I confess that I am proud and I would like to think I no longer need correction or am over and done with certain sins or struggles; please humble me with Your goodness, to know that You are a Father who disciplines, but with the intention of purifying my heart and causing me to fear You for my own good. Thank You that You love me with such a fierce, everlasting and covenantal love.

–

Submitted by Jasper C. from Gracepoint Riverside

Key Verse 

Jeremiah 32:37-40

37 Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. 38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

Jeremiah 32:42

“For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them.”

God is … 

God is justified in his anger, and he honors us by taking our sins seriously.  In the earlier parts of chapter 32, Jeremiah is recalling all these grievances that God has against his people, “you have brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders…they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing you commanded them to do.” (32:21-23) Not only did they repeatedly refuse to live the way that God commanded them to live for their own good after bringing them out of slavery, they turned their hearts to idols and other gods, offering sacrifices to Baal that consisted even of giving their own children, which was so appalling to God that he says it did not even enter his mind that they would do that (32:35). After thinking and going through the history and faithfulness of God to his people through their tumultuous history, I realize more why God must be feeling so much anger and hurt over the kind of response that he gets from his people in turn – certainly it puts into perspective the kind of punishment that God is promising through Jeremiah, of destruction to Jersusalem and its people, that it’s not about this wrathful God losing his temper and lashing out in revenge against his people, but rather it shows that God’s judgment is a final resort after struggling generation after generation with a unrepentant, stubborn and offensive people. It’s less about God dishing out a harsh sentence, but more about God giving his people the dignity of being taken seriously, and in giving them clear punishment so that they will be forced to confront their sin.

Love always seeks to bring us back from repentance into renewed relationship with God.  However, even through the receiving of the punishment for their sins, there is a clear redeeming purpose that God intends for the people, it comes out in the next few verses.  Starting from 32:37, God paints this great vision for a restored people: “I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”   This is God’s heart!  The punishment and destruction of Jerusalem isn’t the end of the story of God’s people, but it’s only the necessary step that needs to happen before the people can be restored.

Lessons for me …

What does this tell me about my struggles and the painful process of repenting for my sins? It tells me that I need not fear that if I struggle and confront ugly things about me that that will be the end of me, because God’s intention all along is restoration and bringing me back to the point of having a right relationship with him, to experience joys and good things – things that come from being free from enslavement to my own self-interest and image, to be able to have joy in loving other people and doing truly meaningful work that will make eternal impact. When I think of it, isn’t that what ministry is? Compared to wins and achievements that the world can offer, the impact of changing people’s lives will far outlive them all, because people are eternal whereas an innovation or an achievement is quickly overshadowed and forgotten by the next thing to come around. In 32:42, it states, “For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them.” When it comes to walking with God, I know that I do not have to fear permanent rejection knowing that God’s heart is one of love for me. It gives me confidence to be honest.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for being the kind of patient and loving God that you are, even in the times of discipline You demonstrate your heart and intention for restoring us to a way of life, that all along your heart is for us to experience a good a thriving life, free from the slavery of our sins. I thank you for the ways that I experience this in my own life, that broken path that I was on, even on to the cycle of failing and turning from you and needing to repent again and come back, through all of that you are patient to journey with me and that you don’t give up in this relationship. I pray that to the extent I come to understand this richness of my relationship with you, I will gladly obey you in loving other people through ministry and other avenues of my life, and that through that I would come to really share in your heart. Please continue to have mercy and patience with me as I struggle and grow, and I pray that I can become more effective in sharing love as my own testimony of your work in my life grows richer. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

–

Submitted by Brian W. from Gracepoint Riverside Church

Key Verse

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.

Jeremiah 31:33

God is …

In the midst of disobedience, in the pause of the Babylonians closing in, there is a note of grace, a moment of hope and peace for Jeremiah and he looks past the bleakness of the current situation where he is experience deep anguish, persecution from his own people, and frustration after frustration.  God in the end, despite Israel being an obstinate people, promises this: “I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people,” at the end of the captivity.  And in the midst of what God says we catch a glimpse of why the exile is so important for the Israelite people at the time:

“They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back.”  Jeremiah 31:9

“After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast.  I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”  Jeremiah 31:19

“I will put the law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God,and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33

God’s heart is a heart of repentance and return from the people.  In the chapters of Jeremiah, there’s a recognition that God is not about external actions, just wanting his people to get things done – make sacrifices, shout praises, give offerings.  God’s not looking for people to simply serve diligently in doing ministry, doing their devotions or serving God in various capacities.  God clearly wants people to actually be His people.  It’s so easy to fall into the mentality of taking for granted my identity as a Christian.  I know when I get into a “groove” when I’m feeling like things are going well at work, when things are falling into place in ministry, and I am desiring to stretch out – that’s when it’s the most dangerous to become like the pre-exile Israelites, wanting to keep their slaves, refusing to stand to their commitments.

Lessons for me …

But these chapter echo a reminder the flip-side of the picture as God speaks of the future and the renewal of the covenant to a humbler nation coming out of captivity.  And I think about when am I the closest to God – isn’t it when I recognize the brokenness of my life.  It’s the times that I strayed, when I remember the years when I lived life for myself, the old life of spending endless hours on the computer not caring about the people right in front me.  It’s remembering the days when I simply just wanted to give up on ministry because it was too hard; not recognizing how I just wanted an easy, comfortable, predictable life for myself.  It was not just knowing the kind of life I was going to live, but repenting and turning from those thoughts – to become God’s people wherever I was needed, and I think now, though I still have a lot to grow in, still to fight against the sins that still hold me in exile, my pride and competitiveness, but knowing that all this in the end – is so that God will be my God, and I will be his people.  And the comfort seeking person I used to be is such a far cry from what God has done for my life today: working with so many of the other committed team members here in Riverside, seeing lives changes before my eyes, people still as undergrads committing to doing ministry, actively outreaching to their non-Christian friends – we have become God’s people – and I could’ve never imagined as such.

But what got me and will continue to lead me thus far?  It’s actual understanding of my sin and real repentance – only when I come “weeping … pray [God will bring me back].”  If I continue to be as I am, will God work?… maybe, but how much powerfully can He work if His people are humble – if I stop my life trying to compare myself to how other people are doing in ministry, or even terms of worldly or social success.  There are times when I look out and the siege ramps are starting to build to take up the city.  But unless I am self-aware and admit to my weaknesses through my stage of life and stop acting smug and self-sufficient and deluded like Zedekiah, can I be prepared for the sieges that come in life: difficulties in ministering to a broken world and rebellious hearts, the siege of the lies of the world wanting to compromise and settle so I can find a more predictable life making concessions just for the sake of marriage or better job prospects, loosening in my commitments finding space for myself – Babylon will come at some time or another, and will my compromises leave my land as a desolate waste?

At the end of the day, what is more powerful than staying faithful is being reminded of God’s faithfulness: “I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line he will do what is jus and right in the land.” At the end of the day in the midst of all the grime, messiness, and sin is the promise of a Savior, in whose promise I can actually be able to say “The Lord Our Righteousness.”  Because in the end, the only thing that can stop my vicious cycle of going back to the prideful life that I try to live, trying to out do other in position and career – if my life then becomes the church, it would simply translate into outdoing people in ministry and regard in the church: faithfulness for simply that sake would only lead to pride.  But because I know that I live only because I have a Savior, I know that I’m not living off my sheer effort but being reminded of these verses that once again – I know my cruel and default estate, that the only to be free from that is to live humbly knowing that my righteousness, true righteousness only comes through God and His promise and sacrifice – that nothing I can do I can rest my pride and laurels in.

Prayer 

God, in the midst of the warning, please do not let me fall into self-satisfaction of how I am serving or what I am doing – but continue to keep me humble: help me recognize in all the ways that I still need to grow, that I still need to learn: that the most tragic place I can be is someone who is arrogant and self-sufficient losing the need to be humble.  As you’ve put so many watchmen in my midst, my leaders, the older staff, peers and even the younger ones – that I would take strong warning from Jeremiah’s words.  Pray that I will also find the base of my hope in humble recognition of my human sinfulness, that this would be my foundation of my relationship with You, remembering Israel was closest to You in their weakness, in their need for God rather than in their own strength.  And as I continue on, now the third year here in Riverside – to never lose sight and awe of all that You have already done –

Keep me humble and repentant – in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The book preserves an account of the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah, whose personal life and struggles are known to us in greater depth and detail than those of any other OT prophet.  His ministry was primarily in Jerusalem and spanned the years from 626 B.C.  to sometime after 586 B.C.  Jeremiah was commanded by God not to marry and raise children because the impending divine judgment on Judah would sweep away the next generation (16:1-4).  Jeremiah began prophesying in Judah halfway through the reign of Josiah (640-609 B.C.) and continued throughout the reigns of Jehoahaz (609), Jehoiakim (609-598), Jehoiachin (598-597) and Zedekiah (597-586).  It was a period of time when the doom of entire nations – including Judah itself – was being sealed.  The power centers of imperial giants of Egypt, Assyria and Babylon were shifting, causing upheavals in the smaller nation states in the area.

During that tumultuous time, King Josiah of Judah was killed near Megiddo in 609 at the hands of the Egyptian Pharaoh Neco II (2 Ch 35:20-24), and Jeremiah, who had found a kindred spirit in the godly Josiah lamented his death (2 Ch 35:25).  Josiah’s son Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum), ruled for just 3 months before Neco (the Egyptian Pharaoh) put him in chains and made Eliakim, another of Josiah’s sons, king and renamed him Jehoiakim.  This change of kings marked a significant turning point in the court’s attitude toward Jeremiah, as Jehoiakim was relentlessly hostile toward Jeremiah.  From that point on, Jeremiah would be persecuted and imprisoned, enjoying only brief moments of freedom.

Around this time, in 605 B.C., the Egyptians were crushed at Carchemish on the Euphrates by Nebuchadnezzar (46:2), the newly appointed ruler of Babylon.  Then Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem in 605 B.C., humiliating Jehoiakim (Da 1:1-2) and carrying off the first set of Israelites into exile.  This is when Daniel and his three friends were taken (Da 1:3-6).  Later, in 598-597, Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem again and eliminated Jehoiakim.  Jehoiakim’s  son Jehoiachin ruled Judah for only 3 months (2 Ch 36:9).  Jeremiah foretold that Jehoiachin and his followers would be captured (22:24-30), a prediction that was later fulfilled (24:1; 29:1-2).  Then Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle and a son of Josiah, was renamed Zedekiah and placed on Judah’s throne by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C. (37:1; 2 Ch 35:11-14).  Zedekiah was a weak and vacillating ruler who sometimes befriended Jeremiah and sought his advice but at other times was unwilling to protect Jeremiah and allowed the prophet’s enemies to mistreat and imprison him.  Near the end of Zedekiah’s reign, Jeremiah entered into an agreement with him to reveal God’s will to him in exchange for his own personal safety (38:15-27).  But the “protection” provided by Zedekiah was virtually a house arrest, which lasted until Jerusalem was completely captured by Babylon in 586 B.C. (38:28).  At the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar executed Zedekiah’s sons in front of him and then blinded him (39:1-7).

Overall structure: chapter 1 is Jeremiah’s call to be a prophet.  Then chapters 2 through 39 are prophecies about Israel and Judah.  The basic theme of his message was: “Repent and return to God, or His judgment will come.”  But then, because the people rejected this warning, Jeremiah moved to predicting specifically the destruction of Jerusalem (which was fulfilled in 586 B.C., described by chapter 39).  Chapters 40-45 describe events following Jerusalem’s fall, and the book concludes with prophecies concerning a variety of nations (chapters 46-52).

Key Verse
Jeremiah 29:11-13
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

God is …
One of the main themes in these chapters is that God sends Judah to exile and Babylonian captivity for their sins. God punishes the nation for their great pride and rebellion by having them serve under Babylonian captivity for 70 years. In Jeremiah 27:6-7, it reads, “Now I will hand all your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him. All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes.” However, this exile isn’t the end of the story, but in Jeremiah 30 we read that God will be compassionate and after the 70 years are over, he will break the yoke and tear off their bonds and restore them to himself again. Jeremiah 30:8-11 reads,

8 “‘In that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty,
‘I will break the yoke off their necks
and will tear off their bonds;
no longer will foreigners enslave them.
9 Instead, they will serve the LORD their God
and David their king,
whom I will raise up for them.
10 “‘So do not fear, O Jacob my servant;
do not be dismayed, O Israel,’
declares the LORD.
‘I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid.
11 I am with you and will save you,’
declares the LORD.
‘Though I completely destroy all the nations
among which I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only with justice;
I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’

From this text, I can see the paradoxical nature of God’s character, how he is both wrathful and just and will punish us for our sins but at the same is merciful, forgiving and compassionate. God rightly punishes his people for their great rebellion and refusal to obey him because after all he is a holy God, but there is a note of grace because this punishment doesn’t last forever but is confined to a specific time period after which God promises that he will restore his people once again. This is very hopeful for me because it tells me that my sins don’t have the last word and that in the end I can always hope in God’s grace and mercy. Just like God leads his people through this difficult time of exile, God leads me through periods where I am being disciplined and where he may correct and shape me. When I am going through these times, it may be difficult to struggle, seem gloomy and hopeless at times, but I need to rest in the truth that after the time of bondage and captivity, God will restore me to himself again. God disciplines Judah so that they might learn from their sins and rebellion and so that they can properly and genuinely repent and return to him. I need to realize that this is God’s heart for me when he leads me through these exile-like times. God isn’t out to punish and harm me, but in the end he wants to restore the broken relationship and this is why mercy and grace prevail in the end.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 states, 10 This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.[a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

These verses give me a glimpse of God’s heart when he disciplines me. These verses show me that God loves me so tenderly and dearly like a father loves his child and that he has great plans for me, plans for me to prosper and to give me a hope and future. During these moments when I am struggling with my sins and am being disciplined and being refined in my faith, I may have a gloom and doom mentality, feel like I want to just give up and not struggle and may be unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, these verses remind me that God is in control, that even in the midst of this discipline, he has greater plans and visions for me. I need to keep struggling and pushing on and trust in God because he promises me that if I will seek him with all my heart then I will find him and be restored again.

Lessons for me …
From Jeremiah 29:11-13, I remember how these verses really spoke to me about 10 years ago when I was first seeking God and struggling to make a decision. Back then God seemed so mysterious, distant and unreal. I didn’t understand how I could possibly relate to someone who is invisible and how I could ever surrender my whole life to him. Yet at the same time, I was intrigued by all the things I learned about God and felt like all the stories I read in the Bible always perfectly addressed me. I remember feeling torn and not knowing what to do. On one hand, I wanted to just keep living the life I knew–pursuing the tangible things of this world and making a name for myself through success and ambition. However, on the other hand, there was this God who kept speaking to me, who I couldn’t run away from, who beckoned me to come to him and seek him out with all my heart. I vividly remember reading these verses in Jeremiah 29:11-13 and frequently meditating on them and praying through them. Finally, after a series of struggles and letting go of distractions, I took hold of this promise that God gave me and decided to follow him. Since then, I have really seen these verses come true in my life as I have found God and I have personally experienced the greater plans and hopes and visions he has for my life. I am so thankful that during that time 10 years ago, God called out to me, drew me to himself and rescued me from just settling down for the cheap things of this world. I pray that I can keep clinging on to these verses today. During those times when I feel like I am in exile and when I am being disciplined, I pray that I can cling on to God’s promise that he has greater plans for me through all this, that I just need to keep persevering and sticking it out so that I can experience that deeper and richer life in the end.

I think another lesson I can learn from this text is that there will always be false prophets who preach lies and who try to distract me from following God’s ways. Jeremiah 27:9-11 states, “9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers who tell you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 They prophesy lies to you that will only serve to remove you far from your lands; I will banish you and you will perish. 11 But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to live there, declares the LORD.”’”

There were false prophets who preached that Judah will not have to serve the king of Babylon and that they won’t have to go into exile and captivity. These prophets deceived the people and made them think that God will not punish, that he will not hold them accountable for their sins. Likewise, I think that there are many false prophets out there today who tell me what my itching ears want to hear and cause me to fall away from God. When I go through periods of exile and struggle in my own Christian life, there are voices around me that tell me that I don’t have to endure this struggle, that I don’t have to keep on pushing. The voices of this world tell me to just enjoy life, to have fun and to not bother about spiritual matters. Why make my life difficult by trying to obey God and struggling to understand his will when everyone around me is having fun and seems to be advancing in life? During times of struggle, it is easy to give in to these voices and to listen to these false prophets, but I need to be careful to be rooted in the Word of God and to be able to discern true prophets from false ones. Also, I need to grow in my confidence and trust that times of discipline are ultimately for my benefit and God uses these to purify and refine my faith and to bring me closer to him.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, I want to praise you and thank you so much that your justice and wrath do not have the last word. I confess that you are a holy God and that my sins deserve punishment and correction. However, I am so thankful that in the end there is your mercy and grace and that you promise to restore me after the captivity and exile. Lord, I thank you for your unending love and that you promise to save me. I thank you for my salvation and the fact that you called out to me so many years ago and saved me from settling for this world. Thank you for pursuing me and for really showing me the greater plans, hopes and visions you have for my life. I pray that as Christian life is hard, and I am sure that I will face times of exile and discipline in the future, that I will approach it with the right perspective. Instead of having a gloom and doom mentality, I pray that I can place my trust and hope in the fact that you are a God who restores and redeems and that your desire through the correction is to restore my relationship with you and draw me closer to you.

Submitted by David T. from Gracepoint Riverside Church
Key Verse
Jeremiah 30:11 – “I am with you and will save you,” declare the LORD. “Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”

God is …
One common theme of chapters 26-28 is the refusal of the people, prophets, and priests of Judah to take Jeremiah’s prophecies of God’s judgment seriously – and they employ different mechanisms to try and to avoid dealing with Jeremiah’s prophecies: the priests and the prophets say that Jeremiah should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against Jerusalem (26:11) and again and again there are references to the false prophets who tell Jerusalem that they will not be exiled but that God will actually deliver them (27:9-10, 29:14-17, 28:2-4, 28:10-17). The message of these false prophets to the people is very clear – “Do not listen to Jeremiah and his words of judgment and ruin. Even though we have done wicked things, God will surely still deliver us – therefore, there is no need for worry.” These false prophets recognize that they are in a dangerous situation with the Babylonians about to overcome their city, but they think that somehow God will certainly come in to save the day, and even rescue those who were already exiled to Babylon within two years.

Jeremiah’s message is very different – he is clear that the threat of the Babylonians and the imminent conquest and exile are things that God is allowing because the Israelites have sinned, done evil, and turned away from God. But that is not God’s complete message – that is not where God’s message ends. With God’s pronouncement of judgment and the exile to Babylon there is also a message of hope and a promise of redemption and restoration. He repeatedly pleads with his people to submit to the imminent judgment – to willingly bow their necks to the conquest of the king of Babylon, so that they might live. And he promises that after seventy years in Babylon, he will surely deliver them and bring them back to the Jerusalem and the land that he had given them. Jeremiah 29:10-14 says:

This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

And Jeremiah 30:3 says,

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess,” says the LORD.

God is promising his people two things – imminent judgment and eventual restoration. We see this idea again and again in God’s words to his people in Jeremiah 30.

• Jeremiah 30:7 – “How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.”
• Jeremiah 30:11 – “I am with you and will save you,” declare the LORD. “Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”
• Jeremiah 30:12-15, 16-22 – In the first set of verses, God tells his people that this has happened to them because of their great guilt and their many sins, but he follows it up by promising that they will be restored, that their relationship with God will be restored, and that they will once again be his people and he will once again be their God.

And so from this we can get a very clear picture of God’s heart – our God is a just God, and he could not pretend that he did not see the sins of the Israelites and he could not just ignore their sins and brush them under the rug and allow things to go well with his people. The reality was that they had sinned, they had done evil, they had dishonored God’s name, and they had forsaken God. So, judgment had to come because God is a just God. But that is not the whole story on God, because he is not only a just God, but also a God who is full of love and mercy. Even as he was bringing this judgment and punishment down upon his people, he was already promising them forgiveness and restoration. He would not destroy them completely, but would be preparing for their restoration. This is the God that we follow – he is a good God and he is a just God and he takes our sins seriously, even as he is full of love and mercy for us.

Lessons for me
One interesting thing about these chapters that stuck out to me is that both the false prophets and Jeremiah had prophesies of deliverance – but the difference was that the false prophets just made an arbitrary promise that God would deliver them, while Jeremiah’s promise of deliverance was that it would come after the punishment of exile, and in many ways it was through the punishment of exile that the people would come back to God and be restored. The destruction of Jerusalem and the exile would show the Israelites very clearly that their sins were serious – it would show them how serious forsaking God is, and it would also be something very humbling, as through the exile they would recognize how dependent they had always been on God to deliver them and sustain them. And so, at the end of the exile, when God would restore them to Jerusalem and the land he had given to them, their relationship with God would also be restored. And, I think we still see the same pattern in our lives today. I know that many times, part of me wishes that God would work as the false prophets described – I wish that my sins could just get swept under the rug so that we can all just move on, get on with life, and so that that I wouldn’t have to actually deal with my sin. But that is not how things work – God takes my sins seriously because my sins are serious – my sins cause serious hurt to God, to myself, and to other people. Thus, God will confront me on my sin and pronounce judgment on my sin through his Word, through my peers, and through my leaders, and he will insist that my sin get dealt with. And oftentimes dealing with my sins is painful – it is painful to closely examine my sins and all the people that have been hurt, there is the ego-devastation involved with admitting and confessing my sins to others, there are apologies that need to be made, there is the work of repentance, and there is the work of putting new boundaries and accountability to save me. But it is through this pain, grief, shame, and work that God brings his deliverance and restoration. Going through the work of repentance reminds me of my failure reminds me again of how I am an utter failure and a sinner through and through, and that reminds me of how amazing and undeserved the Gospel and salvation are. And it through this work of repentance that I am delivered and rescued from my sins that can ruin me and my future marriage and family, I get rescued from my pride and how it is going to ruin my relationships, and I get rescued from my selfishness and lack of love and how it is going to ruin those I am called to love and those I am trying to minister to. I would not get saved from these sins and their consequences if they were just swept under the rug, but because God deals with me seriously, I am saved.

Prayer
Father God, I want to thank you again that you are a just God, a God of mercy, and a God who saves. Lord, on my own and because of my sinfulness, I was destined for a life of destruction and a life of ruin – ultimately it would be an eternity apart from you, but it was also ruin and isolation and destruction in this present life. But Lord, through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and through all the ways I have been disciplined and corrected, my life is very different and I have been saved from so many things. Lord, I see that there is evidence for how you have worked in this way in my life. I pray, please help me to remember this and to submit to your judgment and your justice and your discipline whenever it comes to me – to not try and escape it or avoid it. And I thank you that on the other side of your discipline is your mercy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Submitted by Jammy Y. from Gracepoint Riverside Church
Key Verses:
Jeremiah 26:3
3 Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.

Jeremiah 29:10-14
10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

God is…
• God is hopeful that I will listen and turn from my evil ways
• God is willing to relent and bring disaster despite the evil I have done
• God is just
• God is patient
• God is faithful and holds true to his promises
• God is able to be found when I seek him
• God has plans for me
• God does not want to harm me
• God wants to gather and bring me back

Lessons for me…
As I was thinking about all this disaster that is about to happen, from Jeremiah 26:3, the word “perhaps” stands out to me and gives me insight into God’s heart. It’s an expression of possibility, an expression that there still is a chance, that the Israelites are not doomed to destruction. This disaster is upon them because of the “evil they have done,” but despite this God stills hopes and God still believes that they can listen and turn from their evil ways. I think about this verse and wonder if people know that this is God’s heart, that this is his ultimate message that even though we have done wrong, done evil in God’s eyes and in people’s eyes, that there is this message that God still hopes for them. I wonder how many people feel this guilt that there’s no turning back, that they are destined for ruin and all hope is lost. I wonder how many people hold onto this view of their life and end up continuing down this path of destruction. If only they knew God still hopes, that he looks at me and says, “Perhaps…”

While needing to realize that this hope that God has for me is of utmost importance, what preceeds this hope is that of listening. I need to listen to what God has to say, directly to me and through the prophets that he has sent to me. Listening is so important. In the chapters from today’s devotional text, God sends warning to the Israelites through Jeremiah that false prophets were to come their way and prophesy lies. It’s interesting to note that the context of what these false prophets prophesied about were that of what one would hope to hear. What was prophesied was freedom from King Nebuchadnezzar and his rule over the people. I think about in today’s context how we often hear this kind of message where freedom from rule and authority, from difficulty and hardship is promised. This, in the end, is what we all want to hear. We don’t want to experience difficulty and hardship in life. We’re afraid and we run away from any form of trouble and we don’t like it when things don’t go our way. This was the case for the Israelites as false prophets came their way to preach this kind of news. But what does Jeremiah, God’s prophet, say? In a nutshell God says that they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar, and they will be under his rule, but at the same time God says from 29:10-14:

10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

How important it is for me to listen to God! While the immediate situation for the Israelites were for them to be subjugated to the King of Babylon, God also promises that He will come to restore them. I realize that when following God, life is going to present its reality. Life is going to be hard, and it’s not always going to go my way, but ultimately I must listen to God and follow Him. The world is going to prophesy to me promise of security and safety, but I think we all inherently know that’s not how life works. God knows this and because life is a reality I can’t run away from, the better reality is to follow God. God says that when I follow Him, when I take his lead, when I listen to him and when I turn from my own wicked ways that I will be found by Him, that He willing to bring me back from captivity. This truth dispels the myth that God is somehow out to get me, and it reveals often that when I rebel from listening to God, when I follow my own ways, I go against what God wants for my life, which is ultimately for me to thrive and be set free from captivity of sin.

Prayer…
Dear Heavenly Father,
Forgive me for not listening to you and for all my wicked ways. Despite how I am and how I treat you, you still have hope for me. While you still uphold and maintain judgment, you don’t give up on me. Your thoughts are always that of “perhaps” he’ll change his way. You maintain hope in your people listening to you and turning from their wicked ways. O Father, forgive me for trusting in what the world deems as what will bring me peace and what will secure me safety. Money, power, fame, wealth, and comfort are the false prophets today that promise me hope. But these are all lies. They cannot deliver. God only you can deliver me. Help me to turn away from these things, to listen to you, to trust and follow what you tell me to do, to obey you even when sometimes the outcome doesn’t make sense and even when the going gets tough. Father, I know your heart is for me to thrive, that you want me to “prosper,” and that you are not here to “harm” me. Thank you, O Lord, that when I seek you out, that when I call out to you, even when I’ve rebelled and turned away, that you will gather me and bring me back from captivity, that you will break me free from the chains of my sins.

Throughout Jeremiah 21-25, it is repeated again and again that God’s response to sin is that He cannot tolerate sins or let sins go unpunished. First, it was the sins of the Israelites that God uses Babylon to pronounce judgment. God gave them ample of warnings, for 23 years He had been warning them but they did not listen (Jeremiah 25:3). After this, Babylon will also face its own due judgment as God repays them according to their deeds. God does not show favoritism and He doesn’t excuse Israelites from facing the judgment just because they are His people. If anything, God holds them at a higher standard as the people set apart for Him.

In Jeremiah 21, God rejected Zedekiah’s request – what was his request? Zedekiah wanted God to come through and perform wonders for them and deliver them from Babylon. God has sent Jeremiah to warn Israel of the pending destruction because of their rebellion. God has plans to discipline them and then to restore them, but Zedekiah refused that discipline and requested for something opposite – to be delivered from troubles, consequences of their sins and the discipline. This reveals that all along, Zedekiah, and the nation of Israel, were not interested in restoring their relationship with God, but they just wanted to get out of trouble. In response to this request, God affirmed His plans again to bring destruction.

God’s hopes and wishes were that the Israelites will accept the discipline, repent and seek Him during those times in exile, and He promised that He will bring them back and restore the nation back to Him. God’s heart is captured in Jeremiah 24:5-7 that even during His time of discipline, if they’d submit to Him, His eyes will watch over them for their good – His plan is not to destroy them but to build them up. His vision for them still stands, despite all their years of rebellion and rejection of Him, that they will be His people, He will be their God and He will give them a heart to know Him.

What is God’s heart for me through times of discipline? When God brings about discipline in my life, many times it is painful and unpleasant. Instinctively, like Zedekiah, I would want to be delivered from the current discipline God puts me through and desire for a quick relief rather than accepting it. Like Zedekiah, I remember many times when I kicked and screamed and oftentimes I got so side-tracked because I wanted to avoid the pain of discipline, and in so doing, I fail to deal with the very issues and sins that God was addressing me. I also see this same pattern in many people – when God corners them and brings about discipline in their lives, they become so focused on wanting to avoid the pain of being disciplined or get caught up with insecurity, discouragement and cynicism that they end up not dealing with the sins, idols or rebellion that God prompted them to confess and repent of. When we do this, we miss God’s heart completely. It is important to remember and claim Jeremiah 24:5-7 whenever God takes me through time of discipline and struggles, and what is most important is for me to accept and submit to God’s discipline so that He can lead me through the process of repentance and restoration each time.

Throughout this passage, God is also addressing all the false prophets who prophesy lies that no destructions will come to them. They were telling the people what their itching ears wanted to hear – they prophesy false peace that there is no judgment, God is on their side, everything will be OK.

This is so true of the world and our society – it promotes so much of a consequence-free life and there is so much false prophesy that tells us that we can live however we want and everything will be OK. Even just in these well-known slogans such as “Obey Your Thirst” or “Just Do It”, embedded is the implication of a life gratifying immediate desires without any regards to consequences. This is the mantra of the world that everything will be fine to just do whatever you feel like. And this is the exact mentality that the people of Israel think they are invincible when in fact God’s judgment was upon them (Jeremiah 21:13-14).

In Jeremiah 23, God’s heart really anguishes over the false, lying prophets. He has much to say about them. Because of their lying tongues, they led people astray from God. They speak visions from their own minds, not from God. God warns them about judgment, but these prophets prophesy about false peace. It is like a preacher who would only speak of prosperity and health and wealth gospel without talking about sins, consequences, hell or any difficult topics.

This passage taught me the importance of listening to the right messenger. Many times, these false prophets are my own voices or worldly voices that I pick and choose to believe – that it is OK to live a compromised, comfortable Christian life or it is OK to continue in sins rather than confession and repentance, God will understand, I will be OK and nothing will happen. And I need to guard myself against these false prophesy, especially when what I am hearing sooth my sinful desires, rather than based on the truth of what God says.

vv. 21-22 is also a warning for me as a minister and leader. I am God’s prophet for His people, but will I be the false prophet or the true prophet? False prophets “run with their message” – they have not stood in God’s council to know His message. This is a sober reminder for me that I have no business of “prophesying” or engaging in ministry to tell people anything about God if I’m not regularly spending time in God’s council to know His message, His hearts and the words He has for His people.

–

Submitted by Phil C. from Gracepoint Davis Church

From Jeremiah 22, God says about Judah,

“Though you are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, I will surely make you like a desert, like towns not inhabited. I will send destroyers against you, each man with his weapons, and they will cut up your fine cedar beams and throw them into the fire.”

And a couple of verses later, He gives them the reason: “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.” In other words, even though God loves Judah, God is willing to bring disaster upon it because of its disobedience to Him. God considers them precious and a treasured possession, and yet He will not let that deter Him from bringing just punishment.

This is God’s heart for His children. He loves us, considers us precious to Him, says we’re like “the summit of Lebanon” in His eyes, but at the same time He will punish and bring judgment if we disobey His commands. For God, obedience to His ways is the only thing that matters. This is the mistake the Pharisees made towards God. They thought they were “special” in God’s eyes, so much so that they didn’t need to obey God as much; they simply received God’s favor because of their ancestry or their position as religious elite. But to that kind of “religious assurance” Jesus said, “Woe is you.” This is something that I need to remember, because the message of the Pharisees applies to people like me: religious, have position in church, church-going ancestry. I can never think that I am above confession, repentance, being honest before God and others about my sins, just because I have a staff position in church. I should never think that God overlooks my sins because of the acts of service I do. No. What is clear from this passage is that God deals with disobedience, with idol worship, with hearts that have turned from God, swiftly and justly. He is a jealous God and wants my heart.

To deal with sin is what it means to love someone. Hebrews 12 says God disciplines those He loves, and he punishes everyone He accepts as a son. As a father now, I understand the heart behind this verse a little better. I want what’s best for my son, but I know a big part of that means correcting him when he does something wrong. If I am going to help him mature as a person, to learn to be selfless rather than selfish, to think of others and not just himself, then I need to punish him when he does wrong. It’s because I have a higher vision for the kind of person he can become than he has for himself. And in the same way, God disciplines me because He loves me and wants to see me grow out of my immaturity and selfishness into a person of character and love. When I view correction in this way, it helps me accept it better. It doesn’t feel good, and often it comes with my ego and pride being humbled, and I have many times in the past not received correction well because of my ego. But one thing I come to learn each time God disciplines me is that it produces “a harvest of righteousness and peace” as I am trained by it. I become a little more humble, a little more aware of myself, a little more sensitive to other people’s needs, and more appreciative to God’s grace and love in my life. So in that sense it is my prayer and commitment to be a person of truth, to receive correction and discipline well, because God disciplines me for my good. He wants me to share in His holiness, and to grow in maturity so that I can better represent Him to the watching world.

Write a prayer in response.  

Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to be a person who receives correction and discipline well. You love me and consider me your child, and as a loving Heavenly Father, you discipline those you love. Please help me to not let my pride get in the way. It is difficult at times to deal with my sins, but just as I would correct my son for straying off the narrow path, so too will you. It really is for my good, because that’s the way you can produce a harvest of righteousness and peace in me. So please help me to be a person of truth. Help me to confess regularly and to repent of my sins; help me to be sensitive to Your Word as it shines light into my heart; help me to be humble when my leaders bring things up with me. In these ways let me learn to accept discipline and correction well so that I can put off my old self and take on more of Christ’s likeness in me.

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Submitted by Richard L. from Gracepoint Davis Church

In today’s passage, one aspect of God that emerges is that He is one who looks out for and protects the weakest ones, and calls everyone to be just and do right.  He gives that simple command in 22:3,  “Do what is just and right.” But what does it mean to do what is just and right?  It’s a huge contrast with what’s described later in chapter 22 about building a palace.  Doing what is just and right means noticing others, seeing my duty to them, and loving and caring for them.  It is also not to exploit others.  In other words, it’s the opposite of being so preoccupied with building a palace.

God clearly condemns the one who exploits others, verse 13, pronouncing woe to that man who builds his palace by unrighteousness.  It’s woe to the man so preoccupied with his “spacious upper rooms.”   Building a lavish palace was at the expense of his countrymen because practically he was making them work for nothing, and building his palace by unrighteousness.  But more than that, in that context, the prophet Jeremiah was condemning the king for doing this because it was the king’s duty to care for his people.  He was to govern justly and fairly, protecting his people and doing what was best for them, but this king wasn’t doing this.  He was more occupied with his palace than being a just king.  In this other way, he was exploiting his role as a king – at the expense of his people – all so he could build a lavish palace for himself.  That’s why there was such a harsh “woe” pronounced against him.

Again, that picture of building a palace is an apt symbol of the opposite of who I am called to be and what I am called to do.  The fact is, God’s heart is so big and he loves everyone, especially the unrepresented and vulnerable (orphans, widows, oppressed ones, those robbed by others), that He places a duty on his people to care for these ones.  Rescue the one robbed, do no wrong or violence to the alien, fatherless, widow, and do not shed innocent blood.  It is clear: God makes it everyone’s duty to care for others.  Being preoccupied with building a palace leaves no time to notice and pay attention to anyone else’s needs.  It steals away attention from obeying this command to love others.

God’s command to me is the same, to do what is just and right, in other words to care for others, notice their needs, love them by meeting those needs.  Most importantly, God’s heart is that all men would be able to hear the gospel and respond, and have that relationship with him be restored.  His command also is not to exploit others, not to use my position or place in life for my own gain.  Following along with the imagery from today’s passage, I need to tear down the “palaces” that preoccupy me and result in exploiting others and disobeying God.

There are a number of palaces in my life, but one of those palaces I’ve thought about recently is a sense of entitlement with regard to leisure and “free time.”  I used to think that I should be entitled to have time to myself, to spend however I please, and to do whatever I want with those chunks of time.  I had a lot of those times in high school and college, free summers, time between class, etc.  But, as I grow older, those chunks of time seem to be less and less.  As I grow and mature, more and more of my time is determined by other people in my life, such as my family, those I minister to, the needs of the church.  But, I realize there’s still a part of me that idolizes leisure and free time, and still thinks I deserve it, so much that I grow unhappy and even bitter when I’m not able to have leisure time to do whatever I want.  This is a “palace” because I’m not looking to spend that time to love others, but really it’s just time to myself, spent selfishly on whatever I fancy or desire.  And, I exploit others because there are so many needs around me that I choose not to do anything about because I want that time to myself.  Time is something God has given me to steward, and this notion of “my time” is not right and something I need to change in my thinking and I need to repent over.  God has given me this time, but also his heart goes out to everyone, so it is so wrong to ignore his concerns and hold onto my time as my own to spend on myself.

PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please forgive me for all the palaces in my life that preoccupy me and prevent me from being concerned about what concerns you.  You make it so clear how you want me to live.  You care so much for people and want to see them saved, and your heart is made so clear in this passage.  I ask that you would change my thinking with regard to time. All the time I have is not my own, but it is yours, and it is supposed to be spent on what concerns you.  Help me not to keep going back to this false notion that I’m entitled to free time and leisure.  Please transform my thinking in this area, and help me to use my time wisely to love the people you have placed in my life by sharing the gospel with them.  I lift this area up to you and also ask that you would help me tear down the other “palaces” I have in my life.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Submitted by Gary C. from Gracepoint Davis Church

22:1-17, Against the backdrop of Israel at the time when the people were disobedient to God’s Word because of complacency and where rampant social injustice was taking place as the weak and the powerless are being exploited and oppressed, Jeremiah was told to go to the palace of the kings to deliver a scathing rebuke about Shallum, who during such a time as this decided to focus on building an elaborate palace and making it fancier.  As Jeremiah said in v.15, “Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?”  What should the people and the king have done?  As the Lord says in v.3, they should have done what is just and right during such a time as this: rescue people from their oppressors; do no wrong to the alien, the fatherless and the widow; etc.  Instead, Shallum ignored the demand of the time and inappropriately focused on his vanity and contributed further to the oppression of the people through this palace building project.

Similarly for me, what kind of time is this?  What is the demand of the time for me?  And what should/should not I be doing?  As P. Will reminded us from this past Sunday’s message, only 1 in 32 students in UCD belongs to a campus fellowship.  I think the reality of the spiritual state at UCD campus is actually worse than that in terms of the number of people who are saved.  So what kind of time is this?  It is time to respond to the urgency of the Gospel to do all things and try all avenues to “win as many as possible” for the Gospel.  Because time is short.  What should I not be doing during this time?  I should not be investing my attention, time and energy on my own things or investing in my life selfishly, such as to focus on career, nuclear family, indulging in comfort, slowing down to “live easier,” hoarding things and money, etc.  It is time for me to be using my available time to reach out to more students so that they can hear the Gospel.   It is no time for me to be complacent or lazy or self-indulging.  In light of the need of the Gospel, I feel convicted that I need to reach out more.

In v.25:3, God says to the people of Judah that for 23 years the Word of God has warned the people through Jeremiah again and again.  23 years!  First, this shows me God’s heart of deep-seated love and compassion for His people who were sinning.  As God said repeatedly in these chapters, He wanted the Israelites to thrive and be fruitful (v.23:3-4) and His desire is to build up the people and not to tear them down, to plant them and not uproot them (v.24:6-7).  God desires the best for the Israelites and loved them deeply, which was why He spent 23 years warning them of the same thing again and again, hoping that they would repent and change their ways.  Tragically, they did not, and God eventually had to carry out judgment against them.  Through this I am reminded of the need to listen to the timeless Word of God that He has spoken as instructions and warnings throughout the pages of the Bible. It behooves me to listen to His commands to have no other gods besides Him, to confess my sins and bring them into light instead of remaining in hiddenness.

Second, I am reminded of God’s incredible patience to the people that for 23 years He warned them.  As a spiritual leader, I am reminded that I need to exercise this kind of patience lovingly to the people in my life.  How often my patience quickly runs out when people do not change or when my efforts do not result in immediate payoff!  I think about many of the students in whom I have invested a lot of time and energy and prayers for these past quarters, and how it’s been kind of disappointing to me as I see little change in their lives.  From this picture of God here I am reminded that no, I have too little patience!  I need to continue to pray, to love and to patiently minister to them with love and tenacity, for if God can spend 23 years surely I can spend longer time in tilling the spiritual soils of people’s hearts.

Dear Lord,

As You have called me to be a minister of the Gospel and placed people in my life to lead and shape, it is my prayer that you would help me to always live with a clear sense of the kind of time that I am in.  Help me to live daily with the clear focus that it is no time for me to be indulging selfishly or to be slowing down, but to urgently reach out to the students on the UCD campus for there are so many who have not received the Gospel.  As I am to be a prophet of this generation and a shepherd of people, please help me to take heed of the warnings from Chapter 23 about the negligent and wayward leaders.  Please help me to be faithful in “bestowing care” upon the people you have entrusted to me.  Please help me to live daily with the sharp clarity that I am a beloved and forgiven sinner to whom you have showed mercy, that I would not use the power unjustly by turning ministry into something to feed my pride and ego.  Lastly, I praise you and thank you that you are a God of incredible love and mercy to Your people. Indeed, in my life You have given me warnings so that I may thrive and flourish and be fruitful.  O Lord, please help me to walk in obedience to Your instructions and warnings, so that I may indeed be like the tree planted by streams of living water, whose leaves do not wither.  And please help me to never ever give up on people.  Rather, as You are a God of patience to the Israelites and to me, help me to be patient and tenacious and persevering in loving and praying and ministering to people.  Thank you for your love and mercy in my life.  Thank you that you patiently lead me and speak to me through Your Word in spite of my many sins and failings.

Jeremiah 16-20

I’m struck by God’s heart for the Israelites despite their insistent disobedience and lack of regard for God.  We see that the Israelites forsook God, followed other gods and served and worshipped them.  They were caught up with their own lives.  God is hurt by the Israelites who forsook him and followed other gods and served and worshiped them.  He is grieved that the Israelites are worse than their fathers as they behaved more wickedly than them.  Even though they learned about God’s law, they followed the stubbornness of their evil heart instead of obeying God.  God knows that the days are coming when people won’t be grateful for being brought out of Egypt.  God knows that the heart is deceitful above all things and BEYOND CURE.  However, God’s heart and plan is to RESTORE them to the land that He gave their forefathers.  God knows that we are like that clay that’s marred.  So God is willing to take the marred clay, the heart that is deceitful above all things and reshape the heart as seemed best to him.

It amazes me that God contends with the Israelites trying to communicate that He is the potter and we are the clay, as he has every right to do with the clay as he wishes.  God desires so much for the Israelites to take his warning serious and to repent so that He can form them into another pot without the marring. God has every right to just forget the Israelites because of their disobedience, their stubborn heart.  However, God contends with them and wants them to reform their ways and to repent.

Like the Israelites, I get caught up with my own life, even though I was taught God’s ways. Each time that God points out my idolatrous or wicked heart, I need to agree with God that I’m beyond cure.  I need to be humble and admit that I’m marred.  I have a heart that is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  I can’t fix myself.  I can’t merely engage in behavioral modifications.  I need to surrender my marred life to God, the potter, to reshape me as seems best to him.  I need to allow God to destroy the old me, the marred me in order to create a new thing out of my life.  Oh how much God longs to reshape and remold my life, if I’d just humbly come to him admitting that God is right that my heart is deceitful and I can’t fix myself nor can any other person or thing.  I need to see the best place for my life is to remain still in the potter’s hands.  Oh how much God desires blessings for my life when I heed to God’s warnings and turn from my evil ways – whether it’s to save myself, or to not acknowledge God in my daily life.  I know that there is hope that I can be formed only because of God’s intervention in my life.  Whenever I hear the voice that says “It’s no use” and seek to continue with my own plans and the stubbornness of my evil heart, I need to refute these thoughts with God’s words.  It is possible because God is the one who created me and he can recreate me to something pleasing to him.  God is the potter and is able to form me.

God isn’t interested in merely punishing the Israelites for the sake of punishing them.  God wants to bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness in their lives with the hope and desire to restore the Israelites to the land.  But reality is that God can’t be mocked.  God’s eyes are on all our ways and nothing is hidden before God.  God sees all of our sins and they are not concealed from his eyes.  That’s why God sends Jeremiah to teach them that God’s power and might so that they can KNOW who God is, and be delivered from their backsliding ways.  God wants the nation to take the warning seriously and to repent so that he can relent (17:8).  What God wants the Israelites to repent and to acknowledge God in their lives instead of forgetting him as they worship worthless idols.  Just as God continues to contend with Israelites, I need to see that God is always at work in my life and other’s lives out of love for them.  Therefore, I need to be honest with God about what’s in my heart–my sins, my doubts, my fears. I need to welcome God’s correction, his discipline knowing that God is for me and wants to restore our relationship and place me back in the land of plenty.  I need to welcome the Jeremiah’s in my life to come and speak truth into my life because I easily fool myself that I am okay.   The joys of this world (good job, child, marriage, new gadgets, friends, good food, etc.) are good, but they can also blind me from seeing the true state of my heart and my relationship with God.

Write a prayer in response. 

Dear heavenly father, thank you so much that you contend with me and do not give me what I desire.  Thank you Lord that you aren’t angry and fed up with me and leave me where I am. Thank you Lord that you persist through the Jeremiah’s of my life, through your word to break through the insanity of my pride and rebelliousness.  Thank you Lord that you’ve blessed my life with the Jeremiah’s of my life so that through their trust in you that I’ve learned to place my trust in you too.  Lord, please continue to search my heart and examine my mind to convict me of any idol or sin in my life so that I won’t go the way of a fool chasing after things that will only destroy me.  Lord, I know that my hearts is still deceitful above all things and I can deceive myself to think that I am righteous.  But Lord, I confess I’m a sinner beyond cure.  I need you to heal me and to save me again and again.  Please give me the humility to accept whatever correction so that I would listen and pay attention to your leading.  Lord, give me the humility to accept that even the people that I’m ministering to that their heart is deceitful beyond cure. Lord, give me the courage to continue to speak your truth to them and find strength knowing that you are with me like a mighty warrior and that you are the one who will reshape them to be the kind of person that they need to be.  For to you I recommit my cause. IJN Amen.

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Submitted by Kit N. from Gracepoint Davis Church

Jeremiah 16-20

One theme that impacted me from reading Jeremiah 16 and 17 is God’s emphasis on the heart.  In particular, Jeremiah 17:9 is the famous verse that says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?”  But what does it mean in the context of this passage?  One way I personally experience how true this verse is what God says in 17:5, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.”  Namely, it is the self-delusion going on in my daily life.  When I wake up and step out of my home, it is so easy for me to be deceived into thinking that I have what it takes to fight against temptations—that I have enough resolve, I have set enough boundaries, I have enough strength to follow through with my commitments.  When it comes to work, it is easy to think that I can find that cushy job, put in extra hours, and to think that I can still have enough zeal to serve God while focusing on my career.  Or when it comes to ministry, likewise I can be deceived into thinking that the students like me for who I am, and I can with my words change their life trajectory without much struggle.  I can think of a lot more scenarios, but I see the theme of self-delusion running through my life.  The end result is that I trust myself more and less on God through prayer or help from His people.  Intellectually, I know that these are false, and I can likely point to Bible verses that refute my thoughts mentioned above.

Therefore when I read 17:9, I am reminded once again of how accurate it is of the description of my heart. If I indeed accept that my heart is deceitful beyond cure and that my feelings can change quickly.  Then the logical conclusion is that I cannot trust myself.  When it comes to fighting sins and temptations, or to forge security and identity within anything in this world, I dare not trust myself.  Yet this is at odds with what this world keeps telling me–do you really need to seek accountability over that?  Do you really need to limit internet access to such an extent?  Do you really need to cut down on media consumption?  Can’t you just settle down and focus on your career?  Surely you can still serve God on the side?  The world doesn’t understand these precautions.  It doesn’t understand why I cannot trust that my heart can maintain that zeal and passion while making my life comfortable and secure.  It doesn’t understand how deceitful human hearts can be and how luring the good things in life can be.  Therefore when I recognize how fickle my heart is, I should likewise then take steps to not trust myself so much, but rather trust in the Lord as Jeremiah says in 17:7.  God promises through Jeremiah that those who trust in the Lord and find their confidence in Him will be like a tree that is planted by the water, does not fear when heat comes, has no worries in year of drought, and never fails to bear fruit.  In short, by accepting that my heart is deceitful, and therefore by trusting in God and not in myself, it is going to make my life much more fruitful and secure even when the storms of life hit. This trust in the Lord is the key to protecting myself against the fickleness of my own heart.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, as I read today’s reading, I am reminded of my fickleness and stubbornness.  I long to have a wholesome heart, a heart that is not fickle because of circumstances or oppositions from this world. I long to feel what I think and know to be true.  I long to be quick to respond and to do what I know to be right.  But as I see how I have fallen short from all these ideals, I am once again recognizing how broken my heart is.  Though on the outside I seem to have everything together, yet inwardly I know that I need Your continual guidance and healing.  Thank you that though I recognize the brokenness of my heart, and admit within me that is only hopelessness, I am not left alone.  Thank you that through today’s devotion passage You have promised abundantly how You will teach me (16:21), and that You will heal me when I cry out (17:14).  I pray that as I face my daily temptations, that I may be quick to cry out instead of trusting in my own strength and resolve.

Through today’s passages on Jeremiah, God showed me that I need to take sin seriously in my life, or else, it will easily cause me to harden my heart and forget my relationship with Him. This is exactly what happened with the Israelites. Chapter 11 starts out with God calling for Jeremiah to go to the Israelites and remind them of the covenant that He had made with their forefathers. In verse 4 God says, “Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey […].” Though the Israelites disobeyed God, and forgotten the covenant that God had made with their forefathers, God’s response to them was to send Jeremiah to remind them of the covenant. I see how God’s heart is for the people to repent of their waywardness and come back into relationship with Him. But the Israelites refused to listen and instead they followed other gods and served them (v.10). In fact, the Israelites had turned their backs on God and worshipped many gods. They have as many gods as they have towns, and as many altars of the shameful god of Baal as they had streets. God had warned them again and again of the consequences of their sins, but they refused to listen. And so, finally in the end God responds by letting them experience the consequences of their sins. After many tries of trying to appeal and warn the Israelites, God finally gives them over to their desires. It gets to the point where the men of Anathoth seek the life of Jeremiah, the one who God sent to speak truth to them. They would rather kill Jeremiah and quiet the Lord, instead of opening up their heart to listen.

Looking at God’s interaction with the Israelites, I see how God cares so much about His relationship with them. He warns them many times, and sends His prophet, Jeremiah in hopes that they may turn from their ways and repent. God even goes to the extent of using a symbolic illustration of a linen belt to show the Israelite how important they are to Him. God says in verse 11, “For as a belt is bound around a man’s waist, so I bound the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to me,[…] to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.” Here God is expressing to the Israelites that He has bound them to Him, and they matter so much to Him. But again, the Israelites are stubborn and they continue to chase after other gods. God eventually warns them that they will become useless like that dirty linen belt hidden behind the rocks. I’m struck that in the same way God loves me like the Israelites. He tries so many different ways to get through to them, even when they don’t respond, God continues to try. I am reminded that God really values His relationship with me, and my sins, can deeply hurt God and cause distance between me and Him. God relates the Israelites’ “chasing after other gods” as adultery and lustful neighing of a prostitute. That means sin is a deep betrayal of my relationship with God. It’s easy for me to not see my sin in that light. I see them as displeasing to God but not as a deep betrayal of trust. I know that my selfishness and fears and anxieties do not please God, but I don’t step back and see that it can deeply hurts God like so. Especially since I’m married, I know that adultery is the worst thing that I could possibly do against my husband. It would result in such betrayal of trust, deep hurt, and a broken relationship. And to know that this is how God views my sin, helps to take my sins a lot more seriously.

I have been lately fighting a lot of my crazy fears especially those surrounding my daughter, Abby. I get worried about her health, and wanting to try my best to protect her. After having Abby, even getting out of the house takes an extra 30 minutes, and the temptation of just wanting to stay home and reserve my time and energy for Abby is very real. But I know if I start to indulge in these temptations, how easily will I spiral down the path of focusing most of my time and energy on Abby. The temptation that I should slow down because I have a child now definitely is there, but in light of this passage, if I do that, I may be forsaking God’s calling for me to be His minister and end up being like that useless dirty linen belt. I think about the people God has placed in my life. Each one has brokenness in their lives because of either their sins or the sins of their family. Because of God’s mercy, He has given me that role to bring these people to Jesus, because He is the only one who could save them. Now if I turn away, it could possibly also be turning my back on these students and their eternities. If I think about my sins in that light, I see how fearful it can really be to allow myself to settle and become complacent with chasing after focusing all my energy on my child.

For the Israelites, they did not respond to God’s warnings because they didn’t listen. I’m not sure if they weren’t interested in listening or if they were too preoccupied in those other gods. I see the danger in this. Even though I could be going to Bible studies, doing DTs, going to prayer meetings, if my heart is bent on listening to the mantra of what I think is right for my life, whether it be allowing my fears and anxieties to overwhelm me or listening to the voices of this world, that I need to save myself. I really see this as a warning for me that each day I need to be openly honest before God’s Word, and allow it to sift my heart. I need to listen and be attentive to how God might be addressing different areas in my life.
Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you Lord that You are a God who is relentless in loving me. Lord, like the Israelites, You have made a covenant with me through Jesus and I have a way back to You. Father, I confess that I so easily gloss over my sins without seeing how my sins deeply hurt You. I don’t think about my sins as adultery against You, but that is the truth. Each time I choose to sin, and turn away from Your ways, I am breaking my relationship with You. Oh Lord I am so sorry for the ways I hurt You, please help me to remember this truth. The Israelites stubbornly chased after other gods and refused to listen. I know Lord, if I am not daily honest with my fears, anxieties, and all the ways I want to protect Abby, I will just end up like the Israelites who so stubbornly insist on their own ways. Thank You God that You do not leave me in my sin, but You give me Your Word and people in my life that speak Your truth to me. Thank you that You give me a way to turn back to You. Help me Lord to understand how You see me as that linen belt which is bound to You. You have given me such meaning and purpose. You have given me the ministry of reconciliation of which I get to bring broken people to Jesus. Please help me to heed your warnings each day and be completely honest with whatever fears or temptations that linger in my heart.

In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.

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Submitted by Linda U from Gracepoint Davis Church
From God’s interaction with the stubbornly rebellious Israelites, one thing that I am reminded of is that God made a covenant with His people and relates to them based on His word and promises.  God had blessed their forefathers by leading them out of Egypt and bringing them into a land flowing with milk and honey, and His command is simple: Obedience leads to blessings and disobedience leads to curses.  Because God is a God of His word, He cannot take back His commands or bend them in order to spare His people from suffering.  He wants to be their God and they are to be His people.  And if God’s people refuse to listen to Him and insist on following after other gods in order to serve them, God cannot be their God in order to bless them.  Their hearts have turned away as they refuse to listen to God and chase after worthless idols.  God cannot and does not force anyone into a relationship with Him.

At first it seems harsh that God would refuse to listen to the prayers of these people who have turned to idols like Baal, and that He would tell Jeremiah NOT to pray for the well-being of these people when they find themselves in distress.  Although they fast, God says he wouldn’t listen to their cry.  Although they make various sacrifices, like burnt offerings and grain offerings, God says he would not accept them.  God says that He would instead destroy them with the sword, famine, and plague.  One lesson that I learn here is that God is not interested in merely any outward religious appearance, and He sees when we are not relating with Him in authenticity but just going through the motions of spiritual or religious activities.  In particular, when we sin and we face the consequences of sin, we are going to be crying out to Him.  I know that in my life, my sins lead to pain both for myself and other people.  Sin has consequences of regret and deep hurt.  And there is genuine desire for a reversal of time, in which I utter myself, “I wish I hadn’t done this or that.”  What God is NOT interested in are prayers for deliverance from the pain, or from the consequences of my sin; nor is He interested in my efforts to become a better person or to try harder in living my spiritual life by doing more outward religious things.  This points to the fact that God does accept a genuine repentance where I turn back to Him with a true recommitment to make Him my God and for all of me to belong to Him completely.

Secondly, God called Jeremiah into a life of obedience (Jeremiah 1) and because of his obedience by being a voice of God to others, he has been feeling like being a lamb led to the slaughter (Jeremiah 11:19).  Moreover, Jeremiah complains in Chapter 12 that the people are not listening to Him, the way of the wicked seems to be prospering, and the faithless seem to live at ease.  The people who are refusing to listen seem to be doing OK even though they are living in sin, so what’s the use for Jeremiah to be speaking of God’s justice when it seems like the people are getting away with sin?

There are times when I feel complaints within my own heart when the life of obedience is not getting the immediate results I am looking for.  While I’m trying to serve God, I run into my sinfulness and character flaws all the time, such that when I look at some of the people around me who do not seem to be having to struggle with their sins all the time, they seem to doing just fine.  I’m trying to love and care for people and I’m wanting to see the people I am ministering to change for the better and experience less bondage to sin, but this isn’t always the case because their strongholds seem too strong.  In response to Jeremiah’s complaints, God tells Him in a sense that He is preparing Him for more difficult situations to come in the future (Jeremiah 12:5), and what I learn from this is that God is also working in my life to mature me as a minister.  Loving people is hard, and people are hard to love, but God has put me on a pathway of growth such that God can cause me to grow as a minister and as a person of love.  In Chapter 15, Jeremiah complains about the curses and persecution he faces as a prophet, along with the pain unending and his sound grievous and incurable.  He starts to doubt God’s faithfulness, to which God says that if Jeremiah repents, He’ll restore him so that he may serve Him and be His spokesman once more.  I, too, have felt similar sentiments when I am struggling to serve God, trying to deny myself, trying to love the people God placed in my life.  Very similarly, this is when God is wanting for me to repent by changing my attitude towards my difficulties in ministry and recommitting myself to my role as a minister, to which God promises to restore me so that I may indeed serve Him more faithfully.  God will make me His spokesperson, someone to represent His heart and values to others.  He will make me a wall to people, a fortified wall of bronze.  Although there will be opposition from the inside (e.g., my voices of insecurity and pride) and outside, they will not overcome me, says God.  God says He is with me to rescue me and to save me.  God will save me from the hands of the wicked and redeem me from the grasp of the cruel.  What is the “wicked” and “cruel” except the sins from within and the sins of others. Yet given these promises, I see that God will help me if I just remain faithful in serving Him.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father,

I see from the illustration of the linen belt that you wish to have a personal, intimate relationship with me, that I be a people for Your renown and praise and honor.  You truly want to bless my life if only I obey Your words and not turn away from You.  I know that You want me to obey You by committing myself to live unselfishly and without any self-preservation, but to offer my life to others by loving others and caring for the needs of others.  You want me to obey by praying for the needs of others even though the answers to those prayers are not always immediate and they don’t always seem to be to my favor.  Please forgive me whenever I complain about living the life of love because loving people has been difficult because I am by nature very self-centered and very impatient.  As you promised Jeremiah that if he repents, You would restore him and to make him your spokesman and fortified wall of bronze, and how You would be his rescuer and savior, I pray that as I again make a commitment to live the life of love You have called me into, I will have strength to obey You fully.  May I repent and turn to you not just by mere outward change or by the strength of my self-will, but may there be a real internal shift inside of me to really follow Your lead as God in my life as You are the one directing my life of ministry.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

• Write about how God spoke to you through today’s passage about his heart, his response to sin, and his hopes and wishes for his people, and for you.

The heart of God expressed through Jeremiah in 9:1 says, “Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people,” captures for me something of God’s anguish and sorrow over sin. The moments when I have glimpsed what my sin has done to others, what it has done to my relationship with God, how it has grieved Him, the tragic consequences that would play out if my sin were to continue unchecked – can only be expressed with these words of the weeping prophet. God just wants to save me from destruction, He just wants to save me from sin.

As my Creator, and the Lord of the heavens and earth, He alone knows how to lead my life. He says in 6:16, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” He says in 7:23 “I gave the this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. He does whatever He can to win me to Him, as in 7:25 – “day after day, again and again, I sent you my servants the prophets.” He is the anguished Father, heartbroken at the sin of His children, who only are running away from Him to their own destruction and death. God knows that the consequences of my sin are darkness and destruction, death apart from Him. So He does all He can to woo His people back to Him. “I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen, I called you, but you did not answer (7:13). But instead of heeding God’s warnings, like a rebellious teenager, our response is often to not take God seriously. So offensive – to instead respond with “we will not walk in it,” (6:16), “[I am] safe to do all these detestable things” (7:10), to not listen, not answer, to not pay any attention, but to instead follow the stubborn inclinations of my own heart (7:13, 24).

So what else is God to do? What would I do if I were God? Just let it go? If I knew that my people were headed into eternal separation from everything good and lovely, into a place where there is no presence of God, but only the consequences of sin and wickedness and evil all played out, without any goodness of God to protect them? Would I respond like these priests and prophets that Jeremiah is talking about here, and “dress the wounds of my people as though it were not serious, and say “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace? (6:14). Or would I warn them, and take them seriously, and take their sin seriously, out of hopes that it would ultimately cause them to repent and turn back to God? And so, God pours out His words of warning, that they need to face up to their sin, and who they are, and what they have done, so that they can be stopped in their tracks, and have the chance to turn back to following God, “who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth” (9:24). He cries out to them, to show them what is coming if they do not acknowledge God but continue to reject Him. He tells them to mourn over their sin with bitter wailing as for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come” (6:26). He pleads with them, telling them that they are “harming themselves, to their own shame” (7:19). He just pulls out all the stops, and stops at nothing to show them His heart of anguish for them and the path they are headed down if they don’t wake up and listen to the warnings.

Like a rejected Father, a spurned lover, God is so offended at how His own people are ignoring Him. They are greedy for their own gain, to the point that they just try to make themselves and their hearers think that sin is no big deal (6:13-14). They think that by their deceptive words about their commitments to God, without actually changing any of their self-centered ways, that God will just wink at them and pretend not to see, and they think to themselves, “We are safe – safe to do all these detestable things” (7:4-10). So He is in anguish, and says, “what else can I do because of the sin of my people?” (9:7) What is God to do? If He is a God of truth, He needs to take their sins seriously. Out of that deep heart’s longing for them to repent and come back to Him, and not continue down their path of destruction.

So often, I hear people say, why do we talk about sin so much? They don’t want to face their sin, but think that they are just okay. They don’t like it when things happen to show that they are still weak, still haven’t changed much from their sinful ways, still need to repent for their sin. So often, this is me, when I make a mistake, when I see my failings and weaknesses, when I see how heartless I was and chose convenience over someone’s need, there is that part of me, that says, “Why can’t God just call me “safe” and not deal with these ugly things in me? And just say that I’m okay? Because He is a God of truth, and He wants to show me “where the good way is” so that I can “walk in it” and “find rest for my soul” (6:16). He loves me too much, to just let me continue on in my proud and sinful ways, and live with that false peace that will only lead to me not dealing with God in honesty and truth, that will just lead me to the destructive consequences for my sins. It’s when I call sin what it is in my life, that I can just go to my Heavenly Father, and say I’m so sorry, and weep with the longing of the prophet, “Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears!” over the ways I have grieved the most loving, sacrificial, merciful, compassionate God, who loved me enough to send His Son to die for me – that I can then hear the words of forgiveness, in truth, that yes, my sins deserve death, but because of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for me, I can then receive that “rest for my soul”, the true peace from knowing that I’m a forgiven sinner, and the confidence of knowing that this God “understands and knows me,” that “He is the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness” only because of His mercy to me in Christ Jesus.

• Write a prayer in response.

Dear Lord, thank you that you take me seriously, that you love me so much, to not leave me alone to just suffer the consequences of my sin on my own. I confess that I cannot bear the consequences for my own sin, and that I need you to save me. Thank you that you would take matters into your own hands, to save me from my sin, and would pour out your heart to me, your anguish over me, so that I could see my sins and repent and turn back to You and not continue down my own destructive paths. Thank you that You are a God of truth, because I know that a life of false peace and pride will only leave me empty, and result in death. I pray that I would always be able to embrace the truth you show me about myself, so that I can quickly repent, and be restored to that place where I am at peace with You.

–

Submitted by Kevin H. from Gracepoint Davis Church

In reading these chapters, the following themes become repeatedly clear:

• God’s people’s persistence in sinning;
• Their absolute refusal to heed God’s word;
• God’s outrage and call for repentance;
• God’s prophet’s grief.

If I were to succinctly summarize what was going on, it would be found in these verses:

 ¹³ The LORD said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. ¹⁴ Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their fathers taught them.” ¹⁵ Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. ¹⁶ I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them.   (Jeremiah 9:13-16)

I often think that I understand the dark mystery of human sinfulness, but repeatedly I become humbled by the depth and the irrationality of our insistence on sinning against God.  When I reflect on the Israelites’ rebellion and wrong doings against God, I get a glimpse of the breadth of human sinfulness as portrayed in these chapters.  The level of brazenness and self-delusion that I see in what the Israelites did is a stern warning against not dealing with sins in my life lest I become just as blind.  In chapter 7, Jeremiah was told to address the very people that were entering through the gates of the temple to ‘worship the Lord.’  One may think that if these people bothered enough to go to the temple to spend the time and energy worshipping the Lord, that they would have enough conscience to consider their sins and have the desire to be made right before God.  But surprisingly, that was not the case.  These very men, were guilty of doing all kinds of evil like stealing, murdering, committing adultery, and yet they had the brazenness to go to the temple.  The capacity of human heart to be compartmentalized is really shocking – that we could be indulging in really shameful sins, and yet act holy by going to worship God and want to look reverent.  I would like to think that these were the extreme cases found in the Old Testament, but I think the truth is that my heart is just as capable.  And as I deal with other people’s sins at times in ministry, trying to help them see their sins and press upon them the need to repent, I have to admit that this kind of persistence in sinning and yet not wanting to deal with the truth before God happens more often than not.  What is repeatedly described in these chapters is the fact that the Israelites were very persistent in sinning, and how committed they were to continue doing all the evils that God was warning them about.  There is no hesitance, there is no self-doubt, but in increasing boldness and insistence they pursued their desires and did what they wanted in hurting others and violating God’s holy standards.  There is no longer any fear of God, no conscience left to guide their hearts toward what is good.  This is a warning for me in two ways.

One is the fact that such blindness and such level of persistence in sin is very possible.  I cannot assume or think that just because I claim to know God and even go through the motions of worshipping God outwardly on Fridays or Sundays, that I am somehow okay in God’s eyes.  It is scary, but it is very possible that over time, with repeated practice of being selfish and pursuing my own desires and idols, that my heart can be this stuck on doing wrong and not have much problems with it.  And I see this in some of those that I minister as well.  Over time, when they refuse to repent, refuse to feel bad about their sins and want to amend their ways, they become brazen and start asking ‘what’s wrong with it?’  And I see how that’s a very scary place to be, because at that point, even if God were to make it very clear of their sins the truth will not shake them. This is well captured in Chapter 6:15, “No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.”

Going hand in hand with this kind of persistence for sin is the stubborn refusal to hear God’s word, to be deterred by God’s warnings.  Some of the phrases that characterized the Israelites were, “We will not walk in it,’ ‘We will not pay attention,’ ‘as for my law, they have rejected it,’ ‘truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.”  The role of God’s word, the truth, in dealing with our sinful heart is absolutely crucial.  I think when God’s word comes to us as the truth that speaks about what we do, what desires are dictating the action, what moral boundaries are being crossed, etc., we all have to deal with the same set of choices – accept it or reject it. There’s never the middle ground or the grey area even though we are fully capable of fabricating reasons and excuses to ignore or turn the blind eye to what’s really going on in my heart and my life.  But even that is a way of rejecting God’s truth.  What’s really scary, is that over time, after rejecting God’s word from addressing our sins over and over again, it is very possible that we can render God’s word powerless in causing the conviction of sin to happen. This should really serve as a warning for me, that daily I need to go through this exercise of reading God’s word, and humbly let it convict me of my sins, or something that I desire to be wrong.  I need to be willing to let it go, willing to say sorry to God and to those whom I have hurt, be willing to feel bad for what I have done, so that I can properly receive God’s forgiveness.  The efficacy of God’s word in my life is really determined by my willingness to accept it everyday and let it cause me to repent daily.

What’s really amazing though, as difficult to understand, is God’s willingness to be outraged and grieved.  At any point, God could have said no more and be done with it all.  Often, when I’m trying to help a person deal with his sin, I think the biggest temptation is to say, ‘fine – forget it, have it your way,’ and be done with it.  There’s this certain kind of frustration and anguish and anxiety and grief when I see someone that I care for heading the wrong way, down toward destructive path of sin.  Trying to convince a person who refuses to be convinced, is such a difficult thing – the mixture of frustration and worry and even outrage is difficult to bear.  When I think about God’s heart, who deals with my daily rebellion and all the sins of the world, it must feel like the pain on the cross.  There’s the level of relational hurt that even I experience when someone that I care for suddenly turns cold toward God, pushing others that represent God away in relational distance.  All of that paint the picture of Jesus on the cross, full wrath of sin heavily laid upon him.

In thinking about the role of Jeremiah as God’s prophet, I see that grieving over others’ sins, their persistence toward destructive ways and the brazenness in rejecting God’s warning upon warning, is part of what it means to be God’s prophet.  There is nothing easy about the task, because there is nothing light or casual about sin or rejecting of God’ word, although we as sinful beings, casually fall into sin all the time.  I need to really grasp and understand the gravity of sin, that is to say, the hurt and the anguish of God’s heart, and be willing and humble to welcome God’s truth to address my life, my thoughts, my actions each and every day.

–

 Submitted by Megan C. from Gracepoint Davis Church

Verses God spoke to me about his heart:

6: ¹⁰ To whom can I speak and give warning?
Who will listen to me?
Their ears are closed
so they cannot hear.
The word of the LORD is offensive to them;
they find no pleasure in it. 

I see a picture of God’s heart that anguishes to speak and give warning but no one would listen to him.  We close off their ears and refuse to hear the truth spoken by God to us because we find his word offensive, his words of truth go against what we want and desire for ourselves so we find no pleasure in God’s word but instead we want to remain deluded in hanging onto the lies of this world and of Satan, the prince of this world.

¹³ “From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
¹⁴ They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
From this passage I see a picture of God’s heart for us as he sees how we are fatally wounded and dying from what sin does to us, but we are all greedy for gain.  From those who claim to be his followers, we practice deceit because we don’t address how serious sin is with others who don’t know Christ since it’s unpleasant and people don’t want to hear it.  We don’t want to risk emotional discomfort if they reject us or think we are too much.  This happens in how I gloss or ignore the reality that I learn today that about only 1 in 23 students at UCD is a Christian, the startling statistic is that many don’t know the saving grace of Jesus and are literally dying and as one of the minority on this college campus who profess to know Christ, I need to see the grave state each person who doesn’t know Jesus is in. How I can’t just dress their wound by ignoring their fundamental need to come to know their personal Savior and Lord who wants to save them from their sin and give them eternal life with him.

Verses God spoke to me about his response to sin:

^{7: 28} Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. ²⁹ Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.

Because God is holy, he cannot tolerate any amount of sin.  He declares that this is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction, which is done out of love as God disciplines those he loves as his children.  But when we chose to not obey God or respond to his correction, then we don’t want to have anything to do with truth.  Truth, then, has perished from our sight and thoughts and has vanished from our lips, not just our lips but it is no longer a part of our lives.  God’s just response to sin is to reject and abandon this generation that is under his wrath.  This is what we rightfully deserve for not wanting to obey our God and respond to his correction made out of his love for us, but on the cross, we see that God doesn’t treat us as we deserve.

Verses God spoke to me about his hopes and wishes for his people:

^8:21 Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
²² Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?

These verses show me God’s heart, his hopes and wishes for his people.  As he sees his people crushed, he is crushed and he mourns. Horror grips him because he sees how sin is destroying us.  He longs for us to be healed from the wounds we inflict on ourselves.  This healing doesn’t come from a balm or a physician but it comes from God our Creator who knows us through and through, and our Heavenly Father, who wants only the best for us, to be healed of our sins that plague us.

¹⁶ This is what the LORD says:

   “Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
¹⁷ I appointed watchmen over you and said,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But you said, ‘We will not listen.’
¹⁸ Therefore hear, O nations;
observe, O witnesses,
what will happen to them.
¹⁹ Hear, O earth:
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to my words
and have rejected my law.
²⁰ What do I care about incense from Sheba
or sweet calamus from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please me.”

^{7: 13} While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer.

As a parent, I realize even more that’s what every parent wants–for their child to listen to them.  And they anguish when the child does not answer when the parent calls out to her.  I have experienced my leaders anguishing over me when I did not listen and I have also personally experience this anguish when I talk to younger sisters in Christ and she would not listen to God calling out to her again and again.

7:22 I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, ²³ but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. ²⁴ But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.

God’s hopes and wishes for his people are that they come to know who he is and understand his heart for them, that he wants to be our God and he wants us to be his people.  He doesn’t just give us commands of do’s and don’ts but he wants us to obey and walk in all his ways because He is our God and we should want to follow him.  We know that on our own, we can’t find our own way and get led astray by following the stubborn inclinations of our evil hearts.  God wants us to walk in all the ways he commands us, not because he wants to make us begrudgingly follow him, but because he is our God, he knows what is best for us even when we don’t know and that it may go well with us.  And when I chose to obey and follow God, and deny myself, my rights, my agenda, my schedule to do the loving thing, to think of others and put the needs of others ahead of myself, often I find that I don’t have less  but I find that it is truly more blessed to give than to receive.  And I am the blessed person when I choose to not give into my laziness or selfishness or insistence that I am right.  But often the problem is that I am so stuck and stubborn and slow to learn that I cling to the inclinations of my evil heart that is only out for myself so I don’t listen or obey and I find that often that doesn’t go well for me and I make a bigger mess of my life.

Verses God spoke to me about his hopes and wishes for me:

^{9: 23} This is what the LORD says:

   “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,
²⁴ but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.

God’s hopes and wishes for me is that I may not trust in my own delusional idea that I am wise in my own eyes and boast of my wisdom by insisting that I am right and others are wrong, that my ways are better than God’s ways when I don’t listen and obey him.  God doesn’t want me to boast in my material riches that he has graciously blessed me with in the first place, not that I earned or deserved any of it on my own.  But he wants me to boast only in him, that I understand and know him, that he is the Lord, the Lord over me, over history, over the people in my life, over all the earth, and who shows me and everyone his kindness, his justice and his righteousness on earth, this was all displayed on the cross.  Let me boast in nothing in myself because when I am brutally honest, there is nothing worthy to boast about but let me boast in the cross because in the cross, God took what we view as personal shame, humiliation, failure and defeat and he does the great reversal, he turns our despair over our sins into rejoicing over our salvation and new resurrected life in him.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for being a God who calls out to me again and again, who speaks to me through your word and your prophets to warn me to take my sins seriously and to take you seriously in my life.  Lord, forgive me for all the times I don’t listen or pay attention to your word but instead follow the stubborn inclination of my evil heart.  Lord, for every decision whether small or big, help me to seek you to know what the best way is and to walk in your right path where I can truly find rest for my soul weary from my sins and the burden of the sins of others.  May I come to understand and know you more each day, your heart for me to know you and your heart for other people.  Lord, forbid that I may find myself boasting in my own wisdom, strength or riches that only came from you in the first place.  But may I only boast in knowing you and what you did on the cross for me and for all who would believe in you.

Jeremiah Chapters 1-5
§ Write about how God spoke to you through today’s passage about his heart, his response to sin, and his hopes and wishes for his people, and for you.

In Jeremiah chapter 1, God gives his call to the prophet. In Jeremiah 1:5 it reads, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” What a call! Before Jeremiah was even born God had set him apart to be an incredible prophet. Jeremiah’s response in 1:6 is “…I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” Jeremiah’s response is so honest and tender. He is insecure to the call God has given him and so God reassures Jeremiah that God will be with him and to not be afraid (1:8, 1:19). I always viewed the prophets as people made of superior material. God forged them to be bold and courageous and galvanized their faith to endure any opposition. However Jeremiah’s response reminded me that the prophets are ordinary men God called to an extraordinary task. What makes Jeremiah special is that he trusted in God’s promises to be with him. It’s not explicitly stated but we know that Jeremiah obeyed God’s call to be a prophet of warning to the people–calling people to repentance and to return to the Lord their God. In 1:11-15, there is this intimate moment when God asks Jeremiah what do you see? I am reminded of God’s relationship with Abraham when God promises that he will be the father of many nations. What do you see, Jeremiah? Jeremiah says he sees an almond tree, which is one of the first trees to bloom. It is the first tree to “awaken” or it is a watchful tree. God’s responds in v.12, “…you have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” God is ever watchful that his word is fulfilled. He has a plan to transform this broken world and the campuses we serve with the gospel. God asks me this same question today. What do I see? I see a broken world filled with people who are in misery because they have corrupted hearts enslaved to idols. I see the effects of sin in broken homes, memories of abuse and lives without purpose. I see people who hope in material wealth and comfort and still have experience a gaping hole in their hearts for love. God asks a person what they see before he reveals His prophetic vision. It’s clear that God is calling me to be a prophet to this generation and this is the call for everyone who sees what he sees. My response is filled with fear and anxiety but God says do not be afraid for I will go with you. This is a pattern I see repeated many times through the Bible. God asks me to trust in Him and to trust in His promises. He reminds me of a time when I didn’t give into the fear and I believed in Him fully. In Jeremiah 2:2b it reads, “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.” This is my testimony. God called me to follow Him out of my personal Egypt of sin fourteen years ago. He led me through an incredible journey of becoming a Christian, serving as a minister and now He calls me to be prophet and voice of truth to this world. The only proper response in light of my testimony is to obey His call and to trust He will be with me.

God’s heart for his people is painfully expressed through the picture of a jilted lover. God provided for His people and protected them from danger. But the people have forsaken God. In Jeremiah 2:11b God says, “But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols.” In Jeremiah 3:13 it reads, “Only acknowledge your guilt – you have rebelled against the Lord your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree and have not obeyed me declares the Lord.” It is painful to read God’s response in Jeremiah chapters 2-5. God bears his heart as a scorned lover who gave everything and proved His love to his people time and time again. His people have rebelled, scorned, despised and forsaken their God. God warns His people that such rebellion cannot go unpunished. However, God appeals for the faithless people to return to a proper relationship with Him (3:14, 3:22). Even after the betrayal God wants to take me back. God is willing to take the first step in forgiving me. There is never a point when I have gone too far and have sinned too greatly that I cannot be restored by God. Repent and Return! This is the message of every prophet. Before I can preach this to the world, I must first experience a restored relationship with God each day. This past Easter I had to repent before God because I sensed a distance growing in my heart from God. My response to God is a personal thing and no one will really know if I cooled in my heart for God’s ministry. I cannot allow any distance to grow in my heart because this is the slippery slope toward self-dependence and idolatry. The message of repent and return is something I need to preach to myself each day. It is only through this daily repentance can a prophet for his generation ever hope to withstand the pressures of ministry of preaching and loving God’s people.

§ Write a prayer in response.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for this reminder in Jeremiah that prophets are not made of superior stuff. They are people who have a love for you and trust that you will be with them in every circumstance. In my prayers Lord you often ask me, “What do I see?” I repent for seeing this world through my own selfish lens of comfort and personal agenda. I now see a broken world with so many hopeless people and it’s obvious you are calling me and every believer to be a prophet for this generation. God help me to daily come to your word with a desire to repent and return. I don’t ever want to tolerate any distance from you Lord. Help me to be faithful to the call of sharing your love and gospel to broken world. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Submitted by Peter K. from Gracepoint Davis
About Calling of Jeremiah:
I want to pause and reflect on Jeremiah’s calling in light of the background of Jeremiah’s life. God told Jeremiah in verse Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” And there he goes out as a prophet of God, proclaiming the message of warning, destruction and God’s heart for 40 years, which was not received well at all. Nobody listened to Jeremiah and the thing that he tried to prevent, which was the destruction of Jerusalem and captivity of Judah by the foreign power, ended up happening before his very eyes. So it seems if his life purpose was a failed mission. To add insult to injury, he was beaten, imprisoned, dumped into a cistern, and disregarded along the way.

God knew Jeremiah and called him to become the prophet to the nations. God did not promise rosy road of success and sense of fulfillment in doing the job. But God did promise His faithfulness, appearing in verse 8 and 19 of chapter 1. V8 “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you. “ V19 “They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you.” And once again I am reminded that I have received a similar calling from Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

It is sobering to think about Jeremiah’s calling and what kind of life he led. Jeremiah finished the race, remained faithful through all the downs of his life. I think probably only bright spot he experienced was the sufficiency of God’s faithfulness and His words and that was a fuel to his incredible 40 years of obedience. Jeremiah would be one who can really testify that God was all he had and was enough, the expression from Psalm 73:25-26, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” For me, first of all, I haven’t even lived for 40 years yet. But even during that short time of ministry, I had been prone to complain, thinking that things are not working out as well as it should, and I felt a sense of disillusionment. Jeremiah’s life really challenges me to repent of my thoughts and to be faithful to God, praying for the heavenly desires to be planted in me, to have God as my primary source of significance and fulfillment.

About God’s heart:
Jeremiah 2:13 “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

God describes the Israelites’ forsaking through different imageries, but one that is very frequent and graphic in chapters 2-5 is the imagery of a prostitute. And the situation is even more appalling as God describes Himself as the husband and the Israel as the unfaithful and divorced wife who lives like a prostitute.

Jeremiah 3:1 says, “If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—would you now return to me?”

The situation is really difficult to imagine. If I were the husband, I really don’t know how I would react to the situation. It would definitely be sickened and probably I would try my best to escape from that reality and I might just react in revenge. What’s more, God says in Jeremiah 3:3b, “Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.” What would you do when you face something like this? Severe punishment is deserved.

God uses the imagery of a prostitute to describe the Israelites going after idols. That’s how God feels when I go after idols of this world–things that replace God, the spring of living water. I strive after sense of fulfillment, that I am doing something good and am productive with my life, and that I can make difference and I am counted for something good. If I have those things, I think I will probably be reasonably happy.

Then in chapter 5, Jeremiah talks about people refusing to repent before God’s message. Verse 3, “O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.” It is easy for me to judge the Israelites for their refusal to repent and get right with God after hearing from prophets like Jeremiah. But I am sure they went through similar responses as mine. “Hey, it’s not too bad and it is reasonable. What’s up with God having problem with me for this?” In many ways, I am just like those Israelites, still clinging onto my own notion of what’s right and wrong, that I am good, not bad. But through this text, once again I see that I am essentially very selfish and my life is all about me and God is not in the picture of my life. I am proud. That’s the bottom line of sin and I forsake God by saying that I know better.

It is also linked to digging a cistern that cannot hold water. God repeatedly tells the Israelites that they will be punished by their own sin. Jeremiah 2:19 says, “Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me.” Will those idols hold water for me? God says in Jeremiah 2:36, “You will be disappointed by Egypt as your were by Assyria.” If I hold onto idols in my life, what will end up happening is that these idols will turn their back on me and reduce me to nothing, leaving me hollowed out. That’s the warning here. Yet the Israelites did not listen to God and received the due penalty by their sins. I’d better take a different path. God is real and truthful.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for today’s passage. It is a difficult passage to swallow, to personalize due to my pride. Lord, please forgive me for thinking that I know better. Please help me to humbly seek your ways and surrender everything each day into your care. Lord, indeed, only in you we can find true fulfillment and joy. I affirm to the truth once again and help me to live by it. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Submitted by Sarah Y. from Gracepoint Davis Church
Jeremiah Chapters 1-5
§ Write about how God spoke to you through today’s passage about his heart, his response to sin, and his hopes and wishes for his people, and for you.

Jeremiah 1:14-16
14 The LORD said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. 15 I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the LORD.
“Their kings will come and set up their thrones
in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls
and against all the towns of Judah.
16 I will pronounce my judgments on my people
because of their wickedness in forsaking me,
in burning incense to other gods
and in worshiping what their hands have made.

God takes our sins very seriously and pronounces judgment on our sin. I need to take God’s judgment seriously because media and society make me think that I can get away with a lot of things as long as my actions don’t seem to directly hurt anyone. God created me to be in relationship with him, so it is wickedness when he loves me and is so faithful to me but I choose to forsake him and worship other things. He is God and he has the right to judge. Many times, in my fear of judgment, I want to demand that God be merciful to me but who am I to demand mercy? As a sinner, I need to submit to justice and acknowledge that I deserve the rightful consequences for my sin.

Just because we go to church on Sundays and are actively serving in the church, it’s easy to think that we’re worshiping God while we’re actually worshipping other things–like worshiping our image in front of other people, worshiping our own competence, worshiping ourselves and how we compare with others. I have been guilty again and again of worshiping myself instead of worshiping God and this grieves his heart. It’s tragic how I choose to worship lesser, temporary, created things instead of the greater, eternal, Creator of all things. It’s only our worship of him that really matters in the end.

Jeremiah 2:19
19 Your wickedness will punish you;
your backsliding will rebuke you.
Consider then and realize
how evil and bitter it is for you
when you forsake the LORD your God
and have no awe of me,”
declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

Our wickedness will be punished and our backsliding deserves rebuke. If God is just, he can’t just let our wickedness continue unchecked. A good God will judge sin. I shouldn’t be defensive and shocked when I am rebuked for ways that my heart is backsliding from God. But I think this is how we often respond because we have this incorrect view that God should always be full of grace towards us. However, part of his grace is rebuking us so that we might turn from our backsliding and return to him. From another angle, I need to see how God wants to use me as a voice of truth to others. When I see others who are backsliding in their commitment to God, I can’t just passively stand there and let it happen out of unrealistic optimism that they will just figure things out themselves. I also have a selfish desire to not put my relationship at risk with them. God deserves to be honored and I need to be faithful to him in trying to keep others from backsliding too–sometimes that truth might need to come out strong, but it is always tempered by love. It is my genuine love for God that will gives me the heart to correct and rebuke others who are backsliding.

Jeremiah 2:2
Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:
I remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the desert,
through a land not sown.

Jeremiah 3:14
“Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.”

God’s heart is to relate to us as his bride and he is our husband. He has that kind of loving commitment to us. Today, the picture of marriage is very broken with all the divorce and separation, but God’s love for us is a picture of what marriage was supposed to be like–that deep commitment to one another, for better or for worse. It’s amazing that despite all our sinfulness which God calls adultery because we are breaking our end of the commitment to him and running to other loves, he still wants to be faithful to us and he wants us to return to him. This is the amazing grace that we often sing about in Christian songs.

Jeremiah 2:5-8
5 This is what the LORD says:
“What fault did your fathers find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD,
who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
through a land of deserts and rifts,
a land of drought and darkness,[a]
a land where no one travels and no one lives?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.
8 The priests did not ask,
‘Where is the LORD?’
Those who deal with the law did not know me;
the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
following worthless idols.

God’s heart is broken that he has done so much for his people–bringing them up out of Egypt, leading them through the barren wilderness with everything they needed against the odds–and yet they still decide to follow after worthless idols and make themselves worthless by doing so. Instead of seeking after the Lord, they went after worthless idols. We still do this today. He is faithful to us in so many ways–giving us life, providing for our needs, giving us the church and these relationships, giving us so many opportunities to hear and respond to the Gospel, giving us meaningful work in loving others and sharing the hope of eternal life with them–but we make ourselves worthless by turning after idols of pleasure, drowning ourselves in media, pampering our bodies and avoiding any kind of hard work, making it our life goal to make a lot of money and buy the latest gadgets, and more. He made us for so much more than this. God has only been good to us but we don’t seek after him. We choose to rebel and follow worthless idols. This is the tragedy of human sinfulness where we are all bent on rebellion.

Write a prayer in response
God, I am so undeserving of your love for me. Thank you for your hopes for me that also translate into your disappointments for the way I treat you which leads to your justice and anger. Despite all your faithfulness to me, I still choose to sin, and this is tragic. This is the sinner that I am. Please forgive me for all the times I don’t take my sins seriously and try to make inadequate excuses for them. Thank you for all the voices of truth you bring into my life to help me get back into a proper relationship with you–sending prophets like Jeremiah to speak the Word of God to me–so that I can repent of my ways and return to you. Please help me to be that voice of truth to others too. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Key Verse
1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.

This verse is a reminder to me of who is the rightful owner of my life. It certainly isn’t me – who is so sinful, weak, broken, prideful, and the worst judge of what will be good for me and my future. And it certainly isn’t the world around me with its twisted values that seek to cheapen me, trick me into striving for empty goals, or numb me into emotional stupor and escapism. No – the owner of my life is the Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth – who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and weighed the mountains on the scales. He is the one who created my inmost being and knit me together in my mother’s womb. And so it is to this Great God that I belong.

How foolish it is to try and carve out areas of my own life to claim as my own. Of course it doesn’t come out in blatant and obvious ways – but much more subtly. It’s when I work hard for some aspect of ministry and then at the back of my mind think that I have “earned” some tiny area of my life that I can claim as my own. It can come out in my view of who owns my time, my thought life, or my daily habits. But anything that can be hidden from men can ultimately be seen by God as everything is laid bare before Him. And over every aspect of my life – hidden and unhidden – He rightly lays claim.

It’s humbling to know that the overarching reality of my day-to-day choices, my mundane habits, the wandering or straying thought – that God is the rightful Lord over all of that. As it says in Psalm 8 – “what is man that thou art mindful of him?” As I think of how undeserving I am of this kind of claim, this seal of ownership, it makes me want to open my life in greater surrender to Him – to search through the crevices of my heart to find the ways that I’m holding back or the things I need to repent over.

3 Who may climb the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?

I’m often emotionally undone by my insecurity over many aspects of my life – relationally, in my day-to-day decisions, and even when I think about the person I am – character and charisma — and feel overwhelmed by disappointment, frustration and shame. Daily it is a battle for me to not give into these voices that I’ll never be a good minister, that my heart will never be able to love people in my life enough, that I’ll never become a thoughtful person and that I’m always going to be this selfish, miserly, and shallow. And in these moments, I just want to hide behind other people’s decisions and leadership or hide myself from situations that will potentially expose me.

But the foundational reality is – no one may climb the Lord’s mountain or stand in his holy place based on his own merit. No one has hands and hearts that are pure. All of us have done nothing but fall short of the glory of God and earn for ourselves the wages of death. All of us deserve only condemnation and death. It is only because we are covered – I am covered — by the righteousness provided to me by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross – that I can receive the Lord’s blessing and have that right relationship with God, my Savior. And that knowledge gives me confidence to approach the throne of grace regardless of what I know my heart to be like, what I have tainted my past with, and what kind of trials I fear failing in my future as a wife and as a mother.

For ultimately, this battle isn’t about me and my contributions. Really, the problem is that I have made this battle too much about what I’m capable of doing or how I can prove myself to be someone of some sort of worth or value. Rather, the reality is, I need to be defeated. My pride and my self-absorption that has led to all of this insecurity needs to be crushed and Christ be the victorious one who leads me in triumphal procession. For it is in my weakness — when I accept the reality that I am just a jar of clay – that it can be clear to me, and to others, that it is God alone who is mighty to save. So it strengthens me and buttresses my faith and desire to persevere to know that My God is strong and mighty – invincible in battle (v.8). I need not cling to my tattered armor and broken weapons to give me security — whether that takes the shape of some ability to plan for food well, to be eloquent or winsome in my words, or to even just prove to people that I am different from what my past has said of me. For I have a great God who is fighting on my behalf. Even when my sins left me beaten on the side of the road, He has proven himself to be that faithful defender who rescued me and affirmed for me that – by the blood of the lamb – He has overcome and is victorious. And in that knowledge, I am called just to be faithfully obedient – day by day, moment by moment and in every aspect of my life.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, how awesome and great you are as the Creator of the entire universe. Indeed, the entire earth trembles at your fingertips. How much more should I – in my sinful, wayward ways – be spurned from your sight. And yet you allow me to stand and worship in your presence because you have clothed me with the righteousness that came at the cost of your very own son. This undeserved reality fills my heart with gratitude, compels me to praise and strengthens me to persevere as I cling onto the truth that you have accomplished it all. You are the one who has been invincible in this spiritual battle that threatens to undermine my confidence and render me useless through my emotions. Thank you for being the King of glory, in whose army I consider it a privilege to continue to be a part of.

Submitted by Nelson W. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Psalm 24
God is … Lessons for me …
1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
God, You are the Lord and owner of all creation …

By your will and power, everything came into being and exists. This means that I am yours, I belong to You. Everything I have and the good things that surround me all belong to You. I must never think that what I have and all that I am belong to me, were provided by my own hand, earned through my own labor, or acquired through my own cunning and ingenuity. All the good things, people, and countless blessings in my life were all graciously given to me by You. I confess that I can easily believe that there are things and areas in my life that belong to me, that are reserved for me to be selfish with. Satan and the world try to convince me to “save” part of my life for myself, to reserve some part, some corner, for myself. And so, I listen and try to maintain a grasp on certain areas of my life, on strongholds that I don’t want to let go of. I try to usurp your place as the Lord of my life and I say, “At least this part of my life belongs to me and cannot be touched or accessed by God. It’s mine.” But this psalm reminds me that absolutely everything that I am and have all fully belong to You. They are not mine at all. I have no rightful claim on anything but You are the rightful owner and master of my entire life. This desire to be autonomous, to be the owner of my life, is so deeply ingrained in my heart that it manifests itself even when I am serving and giving to You because I forget that everything I have was all from You in the first place. I am only giving back a portion of the strength, ability, and love that I have received from You. When I tithe, I am only giving back a fraction of what I have received from You. I am not doing You any favors. I am not giving You any charity. Rather, it is right and proper for me to offer up to You every single part of my life because it all belongs to You. Not only do You have a rightful claim over me but only under your direction can I experience true joy and blessing. I don’t know what is best for my life and if it were under my control, I would steer my life to misery and destruction as I did before. But You know what’s best for me and I trust that You will lead me to the most blessed and joyful life.

5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.
God, You are the source and provider of all blessing…
Truly, God, You have been good to me and I do not exaggerate when I say that You have tremendously poured countless blessings into my life. You have given me so much and filled my life with such richness. Not even once have I had to worry about food, shelter, or any other basic necessities. I don’t live in a place plagued by war, disease, and famine. I can pretty much eat whenever and whatever I want. It’s so easy to take such things for granted. My wicked and greedy heart often desires greater comfort, luxuries, and leisure but compared to all the humans who have ever lived, I am living like a king. I really am spoiled and have been more fortunate than 99% of all humans who have ever lived. How can I ever be discontent and grumble about the lack of comfort and leisure in my life? Lord, please forgive me for being greedy, ungrateful, and for not acknowledging the blessings you have given me. In addition, You have placed me in a community of believers where my faith is well fed and nurtured. There are plenty of faithful believers with whom I can run this race. There are many opportunities to serve and be used by You. I have been given the privilege to be a part of a flourishing and exciting ministry. My life is full of abundance and richness and I can say that the Lord has been very good to me.

God, You are my Savior…
You have blessed me with so much but the most wonderful blessing of all is the gift of salvation. Though I am a wretched and filthy sinner who has offended You and strayed from You countless times, You still love me. You still welcome me and offer me forgiveness. Sin left me lost, battered, and broken along the side of the road and You rescued me. You sent your one and only son, Jesus Christ, to bear the burden of my sin and die on the cross for me. He bore the punishment that I deserve so that fellowship between You and I could be restored. You saved me from a life of misery and emptiness. You brought me out of darkness into your marvelous light.

8 The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
God, You are strong and mighty, mighty in battle…

I confess that I have a deeply ingrained desire to seem strong and competent, to prove myself. I try to do life on my own without any help, depending on my own strength and cunning to accomplish difficult tasks or overcome daunting obstacles. But all too often, the result is failure and my weaknesses are exposed. I’ve been forced to come to painful realizations of how incompetent I am and how utterly weak and helpless I am against temptation, against the voice of the world, and against the storms and difficulties of this life. I foolishly thought that I had the strength to do spiritual battle and defeat temptation on my own but I don’t stand a chance. Against such things, Apostle Paul calls us to flee.

1 Corinthians 6:18 “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.”

1 Corinthians 10:14 “Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.”

1 Timothy 6:11 “But you, man of God, flee from all this [love of money], and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”

When and from what do you flee? You flee when you are hopelessly outnumbered. You flee from ravenous wild animals. You flee from things you don’t stand a chance against. Where I grew up, there were many dogs that would bark and charge at me. Whenever I saw a fierce wolf-like dog angrily sprinting toward me, I ran like the wind. Never did I ever think I stood a chance against it. Never did I hesitate and wonder if I should fight it. Fleeing was the only option that came to my mind. This is how I need to treat sin and temptation. I must not think I can face it and come out on top. I need to see it as something I don’t stand a chance against. I just need to flee. But it doesn’t end there. I am weak, but God–You are mighty. I cannot stand against sin and temptation but nothing can stand against You. I need to flee and run to the safety and refuge You provide. You provide the strength, resources, and whatever I need to engage in spiritual battle. You have surrounded me with fellow believers and co-laborers so that we can run this race and engage in battle together. I don’t need to rely only on myself. I was never meant to. But in times of weakness and difficulty, I need to turn to You in prayer. I need to be strengthened by your word. I need to be encouraged and lifted up by the people You have placed in my life. Though I am weak, I can be equipped for spiritual battle by putting on the armor of God.

2 Corinthians 12:10 “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

9 Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory. Selah

God, You are the King of glory…
The words of this psalm describe many aspects of who You are. It speaks of your power, might, love, and mercy. All of it points to your glory. There is nothing that can compare to your indescribable glory. I marvel at who You are. Your power is awesome and beyond measure and yet your heart is tender and humble. You love a little spec, a wretched sinner like me. How can it be? I am in awe of who You are and cannot help but give You the glory, honor, praise, and thanks You so deserve. May the gates of my heart be flung open so that nothing can stand in the way of your glory. You deserve my life, my worship, and my trust. Only You can provide me strength, safety, and refuge. In my weakness, I can turn to You and be glad. Thank you for being a God who is mighty and merciful.

God is …
God is my shepherd, which means He is one who is vigilant, caring, and always goes looking for me when I am lost. As I think about my own testimony, He is indeed the one who sought me out, even when I was mired in sin, in ignorance of Him and His ownership over me. He shepherded me by placing people in my life who demonstrated and taught the Gospel to me. God convicted me with His word as He showed through Scripture how He knew me through and through, how I needed salvation in light of my needy condition. He led me to make that key Lordship decision in my senior year as I strayed far from him after my initial salvation decision. Time and time again, God has proved to be the one watching over my state, and able to provide those Words of Truth that bind me to Him again.

As a shepherd, He is the one who is my provider as well. Just as a sheep is utterly dependent on his master to guide him to quiet waters, to green pastures, to safe paths away from predators, so God is and has been my provider. He has above all met my greatest need, which I was poignantly reminded of this past Good Friday and Easter. As I saw myself in Judas, as one who has such a sense of entitlement that I deserve personal space, a manageable life, attention and esteem in exchange for trying to follow Him, so I saw again with painful clarity that I need His daily provision of grace and forgiveness. As each day I see the sins I commit–the greed for more time for myself, the uncaring words that end up hurting others, the complaining attitudes when things do not go my way–so I thank God that He gives me that opportunity each time to repent and receive His forgiveness. I am actually forgiven, and I do not have to carry my own burden of guilt anymore. God is my shepherd in that He has provided for my practical needs as well. I recall those uncertain, anxious times in my past of unemployment, of running out of student loans, and how He provided me with timely anonymous envelopes of money from others, with jobs that more than covered my expenses, and how through that I learned not to be anxious or worried about money. He has given me these lessons so I can trust Him today and live a life free from the crippling anxiety and worry that can cause a heart to shrivel, and start grasping for its own.

God is that Rod and my Staff. As a sheep is always vulnerable, whether to those that long to prey on them, sudden changes in weather, or lack of food to graze on, so it is dependent on the rod which can prevent it from wandering off. It is dependent on the staff that keeps it in the master’s care and fends away potential predators. God has been that rod and staff for me primarily through His word, and those that have ministered to me using His word. When I undergo those wearying pulls of temptations, His verses on pursuing holiness right my mind and heart again. He surrounds me with others whose presence also keeps me away from temptations, and encourages me to instead fill my mind and heart with loving and serving others. As I think about how I arrived here at my current point–living a life spent ministering to people–it was mainly through key points of repentance due to His word and those that has the courage and love to bring me His word. Without that, I would have wandered off into the distant lands of either my own godless existence, or that diluted, powerless Christian life that makes no demands on me.

God is the Anointer. Just as He anoints the Psalmist here, elevating his identity and through this process consecrating him, so God has given me that new identity as His son. I do not have to live then as an orphan, trying to strive for myself, prove myself to my own eyes and in the eyes of others. No longer do I have to fend for my own ego, welfare, while selfishly seeing others as threats or competition. Because God has given me this anointing, I am consecrated to Him. Instead of living for the Self as I once did, He instead has shepherded me over these past 10 years into a life that is utterly divergent from the path I wanted to take. I am caught up instead in the noble mission to compel others to the Gospel, and having the best called out of me in order to bear others’ burdens and shape younger ones into mature Christians. I can affirm then today that God has done this in my life, and again be filled with gratitude.

Lessons for me …
Because God is my shepherd, my provider, this speaks today to my own consciousness of my shortcomings. I can grow hesitant and uncertain when trying to lead others, thinking I lack the wisdom or even just the right words to say. I get trapped in the mindset that I somehow have to conjure up the resources, the room in my heart and mind to properly lead others, and this results in insecurity, the paralysis of cynicism and self-doubt. I need to affirm today that just as God has led me and shaped me through His Word, so He will provide me with the wisdom and spiritual resources necessary to minster to others. As His word has been that timely guide for me over and over again in my own life, and as I have experienced too His word spurring me on to think of and pray for others, so I know today that His word is that great provision for me. I can take assurance that just as He has shepherded me to this current point, so He will always be with me, providing for me through the collective wisdom of His words and the leaders He has placed in my life. In this, He will provide the resources needed to meet His calling on me.

From the latter half of the first verse, “I shall not be in want,” I can see today why because the Lord is my Shepherd I do not have to be in that state of grasping, wanting more for myself. Being in want seems to be the primary posture of people my age today. We want more status, more autonomy in which we can define and chase our own pictures of happiness, contentment, and even spirituality. We become defined by what we want in terms of material objects and possessions, and indulging in the self seems to be the norm. As my income stabilizes, and I am not in such a tenuous place financially, I can learn to not raise my lifestyle above what it was before. The temptation of having more money is that you’ll want to find greater avenues to spend it, and these avenues inevitably lead back to the self. Therefore, I can trust that God is my provider, and strive for simplicity in how I spend. Another way to trust God as my shepherd and not be in want in this area is to be generous and extravagant towards others in need.

As I think too about my season of life, being in my late 20’s, much of what men want in this time is more respect and esteem. We are on that constant track of trying to establish ourselves, and prove that we have something to show for our lives. We want that attention and status due to what we can offer, what we have accomplished with our own hands. Translate this into the context of ministry, and there is that strong temptation to gain significance through having results, doing things so that others can notice and attribute more credit to you. As I think about my own struggles in this area, and often this want of greater status, I need to learn to trust that God is my provider in this area of significance. I need to look to the Cross and how it shows that I have the greatest significance in God, and not my own achievements, my supposed strengths, and the respect I gain or do not gain. Being anointed with oil means that through Christ, God has identified me already as His son, His precious child. That is my new identity, and the identity I can embrace today. Instead of being in want of carving out my own significance, I can finally rest secure then in what God has already done for me. I do not have to be in want of these self-centered goals, but rather desire the higher, Heaven-bound goals that God has placed in my life.

Prayer
Heavenly Father,
My shepherd, my provider, the one who has faithfully watched over me, bestowed upon me that identity of beloved child, I pour out a prayer of gratitude for the ways in which these words have been true in my own life. You have saved me from that life of walking down the perilous roads of sin, and instead have led me to those green pastures, quiet waters of a life of following you. As I think about the dangers you have saved me from, I commit to trusting you more as my Shepherd. I do not have to be in want of more material possessions, attaining that portrait of the settled life. I do not have to be in want of more personal significance through achievement, proving myself so that I have some sort of flimsy justification for my existence. Instead, I can live in the freedom that you have been with me, guiding me away from peril and into this narrow road of following you. Your goodness and love have indeed followed me all the days of my life. Therefore, may I live that life unfettered by the anxieties which can befall so many of us. May I live not in constant worry about whether I will have enough energy, time and space to pursue my own interests. May I not be tied down by those practical worries of money, of career and what I will achieve in my lifetime. May I not engage in those petty battles for my own ego, for seeming more than I am to others. I know that your rod and staff have provided that comfort for me over the years, turning me away from that shriveled life lived for the self and into the comfort of knowing that following You was the most worthy purpose. Continue to guide me then in paths of righteousness. Take this once broken life and lead it to flourishing as you have always envisioned it–a life given up to the needs, burdens of others, a life that can compel others to the Gospel. This salvation life of dying to myself for the sake of living for others is indeed the way to restoring my soul. I commit to this life again, and leaving that path of anxiety and selfishness. Thank you Lord for restoring me, for redeeming me, and showering my life with so much blessing, purpose, and daily giving me that provision of Jesus so I can testify today, with joy and zeal, that indeed goodness and love have followed me, and will continue to follow me all the days of my life.

Submitted by Jeremiah L. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church
Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
O Lord, You are the Good Shepherd. You lay down Your life for Your sheep. Thank you for being that Good Shepherd for me. You gave up Your rights and Your very life to save me, to take the place for my sin, so that I could be made righteous before God the Father and restored to right relationship with You. Forgive me for the ways in which I view you as aloof or distant. This passage shows me that You are caring and watchful over me, and that You know my many weaknesses and frailties.

This picture of You as shepherd, and I as a sheep, is so apt. I am so foolish and dumb and blind. I am like a sheep, harassed and helpless. My own sins lead me astray. The very good that I want to do, I don’t seem to be able to do, and I keep making the same mistakes again and again. I keep being drawn again and again to the worldly and immature lies of thinking that ultimately harm me and draw me far away from home. I keep thinking that I will be filled by all the counterfeit things of this world, like feeding my pride or desire to be someone in this life. I am constantly wandering away from you in my heart and in my affections. Lord, have mercy on me, a foolish sheep in desperate need of a faithful shepherd. Though I am so often faithless, You are faithful. Though I wander time and time again and often seek security in the things of this world, You always seek me out through Your word. In You and through You, I lack no good thing and I am abundantly provided for. When I look at my life, I know that I am richly blessed and cared for, and that there are so many things in my life that simply did not have to be. You know what I need to follow You and to truly live. I pray that I would not forget these truths — that I would not forget or lose sight of the truth of how desperately I need You, the Good Shepherd, to lead me.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
Lord, You’ve led me to green pastures, and in You, I am filled. I can lie in peace, though at times everything seems to be raging within me and around me, and often my heart is so consumed with fears, You are the faithful shepherd who is able to make me lie in peace, because You are with me. Even in the many trials in this life that will come my way, by Your leading, I experience the refreshing that comes from knowing who You are.

Father, You alone know how best to lead me. I don’t know how to lead myself. I confess that, often, I have my own ideas of how You ought to lead me. Many of the things that I have wanted would have completely destroyed me. These things did not lead to the peace that I thought they would. Yet still, I often have my own plans, my own desires, and my sense that this or that should happen. I get bitter and upset when things don’t go the way that I want. All along, though, You’ve known how to lead me. You’ve known how to lead me to the place where I can drink of the waters that truly satisfy, the waters that lead to eternal life, rather than the dirty waters of this world that do not satisfy. Father, help me to submit to your leading. My desires tell me to seek fulfillment and refreshing waters in anything but You.

3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousnessfor his name’s sake.
Father, my soul is often broken or in despair, weighed down by my sins, regrets, fears and worries. You alone have the ability to restore my soul to right relationship with You. Your mighty name, and Your name alone, is worthy to be praised. You’ve taken a deeply lost, confused, hopeless, wicked and broken sinner like me, headed for the death and destruction that was my due, and You set me on the path of righteousness. This is not anything that I myself could have done; it is solely by Your ability and leading. Father, help me to submit to Your leading. Though right now it’s hard in many ways, and the wisdom of the world seems to fly in the face of these truths, and my emotions tell me to go my own way, help me to submit to Your guidance.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Lord, there are some difficult situations that I face right now. My emotions rage against me and darkness seems to surround. But Lord, You are with me through these valleys, and in You, I have no reason to fear the evil that seems right around every corner. Lord, it so easy to be consumed by all the fears that are here in this valley of the shadow of death–there really can be no end to the amount of fears that I let dictate my life. Lord, in You, though, I need not fear, because You have not left me alone. You have not abandoned me to fend for myself, lost and alone in this life. Even in the valleys, in the depths, in the seeming darkness, You are still faithfully leading and working out all things for the good of those who love You. In the midst of the what I currently face, conflicts on the outside and all the fears I have within, I pray that I would be able to affirm these truths, to hang onto what I’ve known to be true about You, even when it’s hard to do so.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Lord, You have richly provided for me. When I look at my life, I have not been left alone. Though in many seasons it have been difficult, You were never distant or disinterested. I have been led all the way, and I have experienced Your careful leading in my life, preparing the way so that I could know You and be set free from the empty ways of this world, and so that I could experience true love, community, and peace. In You, I have tasted the abundant life which You came to give. Lord, I pray that I would grow in confidence in this truth: “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life…” Even when things are difficult, which ought to be expected, and when things are raging on inside and around me, help me to have a much greater conviction in the truth of these words.

Psalm 22

Key verses:

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from the words of my groaning?

¹⁰ From birth I was cast upon you;

from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

¹¹ Do not be far from me

“My God my God why have you forsaken me?” These are the very words Jesus quoted from the Scripture as he hung crucified on the cross. The sentiment expressed by David’s psalm, echoed by our Lord Jesus, is that intense sense of agony for being separated from God. These words reveal the level of honesty and openness and vulnerability David comes to God with, even words of blaming, his most honest raw emotions of bitterness and doubts toward God. Through this prayer David shows me that I don’t need to come to God always feeling like I need to have “the right words” to say, but that I can be fully honest before God in prayer, crying out to God my anger, frustration, anxieties, fears, worries and confusion.

Also, the cry to God “do not be far from me” is repeated throughout the psalm. It also demonstrates the intimate relationship shared between the psalmist and God and the psalmist’s total dependency on God to the degree that being apart from God or God’s turning away from him would be such an emotionally agonizing experience. This intense sentiment of “do not be far from me” strikes me in two ways. First, I can relate to and also need to always have this cry in my heart for God to be near me during times of spiritual crisis, confusion, numbness, trouble, difficulties, facing temptations and struggles. When I am tempted by the world’s allures to achieve more, to seek pleasure and comfort, to exalt and enlarge myself, to pursue my selfish ambition and vanity, to save myself, I need to cry out with desperation for God’s truth to guard me against temptation and to help me stand firm against the natural pull of my sinful nature and the shouts of the world. When I am blinded by my own pride and sinful desires and cannot see my sins clearly, I need to cry out for God’s wisdom to provide clarity in my thinking and to pierce through the layers of callousness in my heart. When I fail to honor God in my fight against persistent sins, I need to cry out for God’s mercy and forgiveness to cleanse me and for God’s gracious nth chances. When I feel weak, weary, and burdened with the sins and troubles of others, I need to turn to God to cast my burdens upon Him, and to cry out for His comfort and for strength. When the future is uncertain and I am full of fears and anxieties, I need to cry out for God’s strength and for God to help me cling onto his promises, character and unfailing love. Oh Lord, please do not be far from me! Secondly, I see that this kind of intimate relationship between the psalmist and God is what I desire and what I need to strive for. I need to grow in my dependency on God that the presence of God and the word of God is absolutely indispensible in my life.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man,

The psalmist describes his feeling of being like a worm as he was surrounded and mocked by his enemies. This sense of being “a worm and not a man” may represent what sin, which is the enemy, does to people; sin dehumanizes, causes people to become beasts deprived of humanity, and robs people of their dignity. Sin enslaves us and causes us to rebel against God; sin controls our bodies and behavior. Sin beats us up and leaves us feeling powerless, hopeless and worthless. Sin prevents us from seeking God; sin keeps us earth-bound and tied to the temporary pleasures and things of this world.

God is …

·       V. 3 “enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel”

·       VV.4-5 trustworthy, dependable, faithful, compassionate and mighty to save “in you our fathers put their trust; you trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed”

·       V.24 The compassionate and mighty deliverer who is near us “for he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help”.

·       VV. 27-31 Deserving of praises and worship of all the earth.

Lessons for me …

I can be fully honest in my prayers to God. In my prayers, I can cry out to God and tell God exactly what’s in my heart without feeling like I need to embellish my words and say the “right things”. In my prayers, I can have honest dialogues with God and grow in intimacy in my relationship with Him and grow in child-like trust and dependency on Him. And God will listen to my prayers and he will not condemn or reject me.

My sins can beat me up and ruin the blessings that God wants to pour into my life. My sins can rob me of any senses and turn me from God’s image-bearer into a base creature without humanity. My sins can harden my heart against God and blind me to see my desperate need for Him. My sins are real and ever-present and I stand no chance facing my sins on my own. Therefore, I must learn to rely on God to defend me in the face of Satan and my sins. I need to always draw ever closer to God and his truth and always cry out to Him and turn to Him. I need to remain near God, which means to remain near His word and his people. Though I fall prey to temptation and sin over and over, though I am weak and let my sinful nature overtake me, though I am full of pride and fears, God is merciful and compassionate and he will not leave me beaten up by sin. God is my defender and deliverer. He knows my sins and weaknesses and he will hear me when I call. This is the unchanging trustworthy nature of God that I can always cling onto even during times when I feel like God is silent and not there. I need to keep turning to God, cry out to him, trust that He is for me and He is sovereign.

Prayer

Father, thank you for your everlasting love and unending mercy for me. Lord, forgive me for the times when I keep my feelings and problems to myself, trying to resolve them on my own instead of turning to you. Lord, forgive me for the times when I compartmentalize my emotional world and my prayers. Lord, I commit to coming before you honestly unloading what’s on my heart and my mind. Lord, there are times when I cry out injustices to you, when I cry out, “Don’t you see how hard this is God? Why did you let this happen to me?” and when I pour out my bitterness and resentment to you accusing you for not caring about my desires and needs. But Lord, now I see that so often the truth is that I cannot blame anyone but myself for where I end up. Lord, the truth is that it’s not that you are abandoning me and being far away from me, but it’s that I had chosen to rebel against your word and your boundaries, I had gotten myself into those miseries. Father, help me to remain near you because the truth is that I desperately need your protection against temptations and my sins. Lord, help me stay near you for your word is my safeguard, for you Lord can rescue me from the mouth of the lions and save me from the horns of the wild oxen. “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.” In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen

–

Submitted by Tim S. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Psalm 22

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

Words which shock, which should almost offend the outward piety I might otherwise want to display, if these had not been taken up by Jesus himself on the cross.  Of course, God is a loving God, and a loving God doesn’t forsake his children, right?  Of course God wishes me well, wishes me health, wealth, good fortunes in my career, good fortunes in my life in general, easy parking spots, no car accidents, good cholesterol, high pay, low stress, and the attention of the opposite gender, right?  But these truer words in this Psalm, recalled by Jesus, are words that I know and identify with, though simultaneously understanding that my situation isn’t even all that bad and yet these words are still heard by God with compassion.  This world, and the attempt to be faithful living within it is such that this kind of cry is what will emerge if we are closely following Jesus.  ”They will treat you this way because of my name, because they do not know the One who sent me.”  What does it mean to take up the cross and follow?  Here in this psalm, the crucifixion was foreseen–it was part of your plan, it was what you set your face resolutely toward: here, in this place, are pierced hands and feet, shame, insult, mockery, starvation, exposure, forsakenness–this is what Jesus invites the faithful to.  Maybe I’ve listened to too many Christian pop songs that sound more romantic than devotional, but I still do find these words so troubling, Lord.  Why do you want to invite me to this kind of place–a place where there is so much suffering and shame such that I might believe I am even forsaken by you, Lord?

“Yet…” There is a “yet” to consider still: “you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.  In you our fathers put their trust…”  For whatever complaint I have, I know God is faithful– he was faithful to those before me, who was faithful in my own life while I was still a vulnerable child, faithful through the majority of my life when I was hostile towards him, and faithful now, even in whatever trouble might seem more real to my eyes right now.  God’s faithfulness is not of the sort that would isolate me from trouble–his faithfulness is a delivering faithfulness.  That, of course, means he will not spare me from those situations where I would cry out for deliverance– rather, he works according to his wisdom–a cross shaped wisdom.  His wisdom prays, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” in the midst of being mocked, “He trusts in the Lord, let the Lord rescue him.”  It’s to this fellowship that you are inviting me, Lord: that after Jesus, nailed to the cross, mocked and humiliated, with the last of his meager earthly possessions wagered upon while he hung there, gave himself up to obedience to death, yet you exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.  ”For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one.”

Father, I know that you delight in this: in making streams in the wasteland, in making pines and myrtles spring from briers and thorns, in choosing the things that are not to humble the things that are!  And remembering that these things are true, help me to boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, help me to take up my cross and follow understanding fully what “cross” actually means, help me to be ready to bear the particular shame of being a Christian in a post-Christian society, of not living up to worldly expectations, both internal and external.  And even as I am too weak to commit to these things, even knowing that this is how you work in the world and this is what kind of life you told me I would have, “O Lord, be not far off; O my strength, come quickly to help me.”  I do not need to listen to the calls of save yourself, because you are the one who will save me.  And as much as my heart complains and groans, I will worship you and remember you; I will praise you because you are my God who listens.  Though I do not see it with my eyes, I know that you are the LORD of all–dominion belongs to you alone, and all the seeming defeat and hopelessness can be redeemed by you.  And let me understand your joy and the beauty of the works of your hands in this way: who will know you are at work for seeing streams flowing through streams?  How will I know your strength is helping me if I am never weak to the point of needing it?  How will I see your deliverance if never needing to be delivered?  But gain glory for yourself Lord, and invite me closer into the fellowship of becoming like your son in his death.

–

Submitted by Richard T. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Psalm 22

²⁴    For he has not despised or disdained

the suffering of the afflicted one;

he has not hidden his face from him

but has listened to his cry for help.

²⁵    From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;

before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

God has a history of saving man that the psalmist notes. God was faithful to his forefathers when they put their trust in him. This reminds me that God has been faithful to the people who have trusted him. This makes me think of the many people who have gone before me that have put their trust in God in practical measure and received much more than they thought they would. I need to remember God’s faithfulness to his people, appreciate the sacrifice people have made out of their trust in God’s ultimate goodness, and be inspired by those who have exercised greater faith. These are those who comprise the great cloud of witnesses in my life. I think of David Landsborough, the Scottish missionary who came to Taiwan in the late 19th century and converted my great-grandfather to the faith. This faith was passed down to my grandfather who became a moral objector to the political situation in Taiwan, to my father, and now to me. This man came to Taiwan because of his faith in God and his conviction that Taiwan was where God wanted him to be. He suffered years of tropical illness, the loss of his child and a lower standard of living to bring the gospel to the Taiwanese people, including my grandfather. I think also about Chuck Colson, who recently passed away. His contribution to Christiandom involved sacrifice and commitment as he poured his heart out and worked so hard to bolster and build the kingdom of God through his various ministries. And I think of the many people who helped build this church. This church was built on the sacrifices of many who gave their time, energy, money and resources that could have been used building their own lives and strengthening their own families, but instead, they built this church of which I have become such an immense beneficiary. As I think about all the people who have gone before me trusting in the gospel and to whom God had been faithful, I can put my present situation with all its difficulties and uncertainties in proper perspective. Certainly, it doesn’t change my situation.  It doesn’t soften people whose hearts are hardened to the gospel.  It doesn’t make life any more certain or under control, and it certainly doesn’t ease the spiritual battle that is happening over the people in this ministry.  It gives me the encouragement to keep trusting in God and doing what I need to do to respond to the gospel and God’s love that has come to me in my specific time, place and situation. I can trust God in my particular situation considering the many people who have trusted God before and found him faithful.

God has been faithful to me in my life.  He has taken me and protected me from living a selfish life committed only to my desires and my ambitions, and given me a full life with people to love and the opportunity to be part of genuine community. Thinking about what my life would have been like, I realize that I would have lived a narrow, small life focused on my career and all the empty pursuits of significance and pleasure that the world had to offer. But God took me out of a life of empty pursuits and saved me from my sins, giving me the opportunity to live with an eternal perspective, giving and serving for the sake of people’s eternal lives. Over the years, God has proved his trustworthiness and been my God. Through college, serving as a missionary in a foreign country, law school, unemployment and marriage, God has proved faithful and his word has come alive to me. As I think about this psalm, I think also about this past Sunday’s message. The psalmist describes the power of one’s testimony in times of difficulty and despair. As the psalmist suffers from those around him, he is led to remember God’s enduring faithfulness in his life from the very beginning. He recalls how God has protected and saved him, and I realize how remembering my testimony is able to bring me back to the joy of salvation, which prevents me from despair in any situation. In many ways, my life is out of my control, and so, I need to come back to my testimony again and again and stay close to the gospel in my life to prevent despair from taking root in my heart when it comes to my struggle against sin or whatever difficult situation I find myself in.

God is always for my good, which is a truth I can hold to and in which I can always place my trust. There may be times in my life in which I feel perplexed and deserted by the people around me. As the psalmist describes, there are times that ministry can be draining–when people don’t respond, or respond negatively to your words, or hold on stubbornly to their own views and question your heart and motivations. When people who I’ve invested in still reserve themselves out of mistrust and regress in their relationship with me, the church and/or God, I can feel like the psalmist– poured out without any energy left to give, lacking heart and desire to give to others, dry and brittle as clay and unwilling to speak for fear of the recourse. Yet, I can take comfort from the fact that God is not far off and will supply the strength that I need. With this in mind, I can continue to give and love others because I know that I do not minister out of my own strength, but have the resources God gives to love others.

In the end, God is worthy of all my praise and it is his name that I will proclaim in light of his love, goodness and faithfulness. God will prove faithful, if not in this life, than in the eternity that I will experience after this life is through. In life and after, God hears the cry of the afflicted and does not love his people from a distance. His heart is fully engaged in the suffering of his people, and I can trust in his faithfulness for my life just as he has been faithful to me in the past and many others before me. My response is to fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship God. This means persevering in my faith and loving the people God places in my life regardless of their response. It means working hard to build God’s kingdom and serving the people around me, just as many of those in the cloud of witnesses who have gone before me have done in their own lives. I look forward to that day when we will all be able to worship God together in heaven, and I pray that I can live such a life so as to not be ashamed to stand in their presence after having faithfully served God for the time God has given me here. Regardless of how my life turns, I have committed to living a life of love, and I pray that I can fulfill this vow to the very end and be faithful to the God who has and always will be faithful to me.

Psalm 20

The Lord is. . .

The Sovereign One that reigns over all of the world.  By His Word this universe and world was brought into creation.  He is the true Ruler of the nations.  Indeed who am I that God would be mindful of a small, lowly sinner like myself.  The Lord is not a distant, aloof deity.  But He has made Himself known to man–to me, and He hears the prayers offered to Him.  He does hear my prayers of intercession.  The verse that struck me was v.1, “May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm.” and I’m led to dwell on the different names of God.  El Shaddai, God is the strong and mighty One. El Olam, the everlasting God who rules for eternity as opposed to the chariots and horses of this world that will fall down and collapse.  Jehovah Jireh, the Lord is my Provider. I look upon my life, and God has provided from loving parents to this church community to meaningful work.  Jehovah Nissi, The Lord is my banner, He is my means of victory.  In Him I know He hears my prayers for others and for myself.  Yahweh Ro’i, the Lord is my Shepherd.  He has led my life with care and love.  When I was on the brink of leaving God as I wanted the world, He sought me. This is the God I serve.  This is the God that I pray to.  This is the God that the Psalmist prays to and why the Psalmist can have such confidence that his prayer will be answered–that the Lord will rescue His anointed king.  This is why the psalmist will boast in the Lord, and not in the things of power that the nations boasts in–chariots and horses.

Lesson for me. . .

Lesson for me is the reminder that the power of prayer is not founded upon the circumstances I or those I’m praying for are in, but prayer is founded in God and His character.  He is faithful, trustworthy and all-powerful, and so my confidence rests in Him.  This is why after interceding to God, the psalmist can proclaim that he knows God will answer him and rescue His anointed king.  Indeed such knowledge fills me with a renewed sense of confidence and willingness to intercede in prayer for the needs around me.  At times over the past few months, I feel like I have been under the cloud of death as many people around me have been affected by the death of their loved ones.  With so much death, it sucks life out of me at times as it weighs upon me and leaves me wondering if there can be healing.  And such a perspective is stripped of God, and today’s DT is a reminder that I may not know the timing or the way in which God is going to respond and bring healing, but I can rest assured He will bring healing knowing who God is.  This applies to so many other areas of my life whether it’s praying for those that I’m ministering to who are dealing with deeply-ingrained sins,  the college campus that is besieged by so many lies and false ideologies,  the youth who daily face a barrage of temptations, the missionaries who are daily persecuted and face one obstacle after another, and the many church plants and their needs.  I can latch onto God as I struggle and pray in regards to my own sins too.

The second lesson is that God chooses not to work independently of man, but has included man, has included me, in His redemptive plan. God’s mercy and faithfulness are set in stone, and God wants me to experience it first hand, to see it first hand, and to share the joy with Him.  God gives me the chance to do so through intercessory prayer.  And I, personally, have experienced that joy the psalmist longs for through many answered prayers for people I had never personally met, yet committed myself to praying for them.  After 5 long years, I recently was able to rejoice with a precious brother whose prayer was finally answered.  There were many points throughout that time that I thought about the situation and felt hopeless and wondered if the prayers would ever be answered, and thought about quitting in my prayers for him.  It was a such a surreal moment when I heard the news regarding this brother having his prayer answered and I know the joy I was able to experience wouldn’t have been the same if I hadn’t labored in intercession for him. One clear way that God wants me to serve Him is through intercessory prayers for others.  And it’s not just a chore, but it’s opportunity to share in God’s joy.  What a privilege that God gives me the opportunity to pray for others–to intercede in their times of need.  It’s also a chance for me to affirm again that what my life needs to be centered on is God. That my hope is not to be placed on “chariots and horses.” It’s not to be placed on my career,  my academic success, my role in this church, how much money I make or how powerful I become.  Their fate is destruction as they do not last.  But God gives the victory, and if I am able to stand firm in prayer–entrusting others and myself to Him–I will be able to raise that banner.

Prayer:

O Heavenly Father, I lift up those around me who are struggling with sin, desiring the “chariots and horses” of this world, addictions and facing persecution for their faith.  Lord, would you hear their cries to You.  Indeed, I know You are our Mighty Fortress and Refuge and Shield so please protect them from the harm that Satan wants to cause them.  May we, as the surrounding church, and may I be that help and strength for them. May the church be that inn to nurse and heal them from the ravages of sin.  May we freely give whatever is needed, whether it be our time or money to protect and encourage these brothers and sisters who are struggling.  May you remember when they first came to You.  When they found You, their first love and committed to devoting their lives to You.  Remember, O Lord, their heart for You, and though they don’t deserve it, though no man deserves it, would You forgive them of their sins.  I pray these brothers and sisters would be able to offer You a broken and contrite heart.  Lord, as those caught in sin repent and turn back to You, would they experience the full measure of Your forgiveness and grace.  God, I cannot wait to shout for joy when I hear news of how You worked in these people’s lives.  Lord, I ask this of You.  I know that You are the Mighty God, that You are the Good Shepherd, You are our Provider.  So I lift these prayers to You with confidence knowing the amazing God You are.  I know You will answer and rescue those You love. So we’ll rejoice and praise You and be reminded that the things of this world do not last.  That what the world boasts in: sex, money, power, career, family, status, material possessions will fall down and collapse.  These things of the world cannot rescue nor save. So Lord, let us continually put our trust in You and stand firm in Your grace, forgiveness, and that a life following You is the best life.  Lord, give those brothers and sisters, those struggling with sin, addictions, or persecutions the victory of sin, death and Satan!!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

–

Submitted by Jacqui W. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Key verse:
⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

⁸ They are brought to their knees and fall,

but we rise up and stand firm.

God is …

-Mighty to save

God has the power to help us in life’s battles. This psalm shows the many ways in which God can be very present as we go through different struggles or battles in our life. He can answer us in our distress; he can protect us, strengthen us with help and support; he can provide for us, help us successfully overcome difficulties or struggles.

-Faithful

Verse 6 further tells me that God not only has the power to help me in my battles, but that He will do so, because of the salvation I have received. As a Christian I have been “anointed,” or simply put, I have a new identity to live out, as a child of God, co-heirs with Christ, and as part of the holy priesthood. And as I go through the difficulties of living out this life, I am assured of God’s commitment and faithfulness to me that I have not won this by any merit on my part but simply because of my relationship with Him.

-Trustworthy.

There is nothing else, no one else we can place our trust in than God. Verse 7 affirms that in light of God’s power and willingness to save, there is nothing else we can trust more than the name of the Lord our God. In those days, having swift chariots and horses was probably considered to give one a superior advantage over armies that only could fight on foot. What are the equivalent of chariots and horses that people trust in today? More money.  People’s own abilities and talents to be able to pull themselves up by the bootstraps.  Or their intelligence and ability to just solve problems. Some people trust in their ability to reason and talk to other people.  Some people trust in their athletic prowess as their source of significance.  Some people trust in their appearance and the way they can draw attention to themselves. People who trust in these things to fight and win the battles of life will be humbled and disappointed to find that those things ultimately cannot save them. This is such a contrast to those who trust in the Lord, who in their humility and contrite spirit might seem so weak and lowly in the eyes of the world, but who will actually be able to rise up and stand firm against all that life throws at them.

Lessons for me …

This psalm is written in context of King David engaging in battle.

The general attitude expressed through this psalm is that of crying out to God and reliance on Him as one engages in battle. For the psalmist, doing battle is all about doing it together with God and by relying on God. He has total trust in God; not only does he assert in God’s ability to help him be victorious in battle but also God’s willingness to save.

While I may not been engaged in a physical battle, I can apply this kind of attitude to the spiritual battle that I need to engage in as a Christian. There’s a spiritual battle going on within me and around me. Within me, I need to battle against the voices of condemnation and doubt from Satan that tells me that because of my sins and weaknesses, that I’m useless and worthless, that my struggle against strongholds of sin in my life is hopeless, who am I to be engaged in God’s redemptive work. I also need to fight against my desires to “save myself,” to not make myself vulnerable to rejection or pain by getting involved in people’s lives, taking on their burdens as my own or speaking difficult truths to them, my desires to protect my time, my resources and my energy rather than giving the best that I can to loving others. And then there’s the spiritual battle I am engaged in for the people around me. There are people who I need to share the gospel with, there are people struggling with different addictions, with burdens and fears, with hearts hardened by sin. In my prideful moments, I can try to fight these battles on my own; I try to just control my thought life or behavior out of my own willpower or try to reason myself out of my sins or desires. I focus on all the things I can say or do to help these people, I think that maybe if I had a better personality, if I were a more persuasive speaker, if I had more “leadership qualities” than maybe I can do more for that person. But all of these are like the chariots and horses that the psalmist talks about. When I rely on these things, focus on my own abilities, then I end up being painfully aware of my limitations and being filled with insecurity. Truly these chariots and horses only cause me to feel defeated. It’s sobering to think that if I were to persist in such a way of dealing with my battles that I would undoubtedly become hollowed out and unable to continue to engage in spiritual battle. The reality is that God is the one whom I need to place my trust in as I go through all of these battles. I need to go to Him when I feel discouraged, weak and defeated by my own sin, and draw strength by going to His word and affirming the security I have in the salvation I have received, His promise to carry to completion the good work that He has begun in me. I need to do business with God daily, searching my heart, confessing and repenting so that my own relationship with God is made right each day, so that my ministry to others is rooted in deepening conviction of the truth of the gospel in my own life. I need to daily cry out to God for others, knowing that God is almighty and faithful, that He is the one who can soften the hardest of hearts, who can redeem any situation for good. I know life is just going to get harder and more demanding, as I get older, as I commit to taking on more ownership in ministry, as I become a mother. I really need to take this basic lesson to heart to look to God and not my own abilities to sustain me in life. While I can still be tempted to revert to my performance-oriented, self-sufficient ways at times, more and more, as I go to God and experience His strengthening and provision, I can claim with greater and greater conviction that “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.”

Prayer

¹ May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

May I turn to You Lord when I am in distress over my own sins or over the people I am ministering to and may I experience You encouraging me, addressing me, giving me proper perspective as I personally reflect on Your word, through messages and through conversations with the people you have placed in my life as spiritual leaders;

Oh Lord, just as You displayed your infinite patience and grace on someone so undeserved like Jacob and transformed a selfish, deceitful schemer into an other-centered and godly man, may You display the same patience and grace on someone like me who is so inconsistent, so quick to forget about the unconditional love and mercy You have shown me. Protect me from succumbing to the voices of Satan that try to twist the call to share the gospel into another measure of my worth or usefulness, protect me from giving into my own selfish desires that tell me to save myself, my time, my resources and energy, rather than acknowledging that everything I have is actually blessing from You in the first place.

² May he send you help from the sanctuary

and grant you support from Zion.

May You send me help and strengthen me with your brothers and sisters in Christ so that I don’t feel like I need to do Christian life and fight my battles all on my own.

³ May he remember all your sacrifices

and accept your burnt offerings.

Even though you don’t need anything from me, I pray that the steps of faith that I take, the prayers that I offer up to You, the little sacrifices that I make to die to my own pride and ego to love and serve others may be a pleasing offering to You.

⁴ May he give you the desire of your heart

and make all your plans succeed.

⁵ We will shout for joy when you are victorious

and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests.

And as I experience victory over sin, as I witness You transforming the lives of the people around me, may I rejoice and just be grateful for the privilege of being part of this spiritual battle, this ministry of reconciliation. May I experience You as a God who provides, who works out everything for Your good purpose.

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;

he answers him from his holy heaven

with the saving power of his right hand.

I know that You are a powerful and loving God, who met my greatest need by raising Jesus from the dead, and saving me into this ministry of reconciliation.

⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

⁸ They are brought to their knees and fall,

but we rise up and stand firm.

⁹ O Lord, save the king!

Answer us when we call!

Lord, there are so many people who trust in other things to help them to deal with life, to save themselves. They look to things like their own abilities, wealth, winning the approval of others to help them feel more secure or give them some sort of advantage in life. Lord, please open their eyes to the reality that these things will not do them any good in meeting their greatest need – to be saved from the consequences of their own sins.

I confess that even for myself, there is still that desire in me to trust in my own abilities and strength to fight against my own sin, to fight the spiritual battle for the souls of others. But Lord, I’m just overlooking the reality of my human limitations and how I really don’t have control in life. I pray that I can come to fully rely on You, to place my trust only in the name of the Lord our God so that I can stand firm in my faith.

Psalm 16

Prayer

¹ Keep me safe, O God,

for in you I take refuge.

² I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

apart from you I have no good thing.”

Lord, thank you that you are my refuge, someone I can go to when I feel unsafe in a fallen world. God you are the source of all goodness and apart from you, it’s so true that I have no good thing. Lord, I confess that there are times I listen to the lies of this world and think that other things can keep me safe such as financial security or comforts of this world or even a loving spouse and family but I am reminded of who you are, the Sovereign Lord, my Shelter and true Refuge.

³ As for the saints who are in the land,

they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

Lord, there are so many saints who are glorious and who are my delight.  In particular, as we mourn the passing away of your servant Chuck Colson, I am reminded of what a glorious life he led. He is undoubtedly one of the heroes in my life and for our church as we have read his books, subscribed to daily Breakpoint articles, and had the privilege of hosting him on numerous occasions.  It is a bittersweet thought to know that he is with You, sad to have lost such a godly man but thankful that he is now at home with You where he can have eternal rest and be in that great multitude worshipping you.  Lord, I am very inspired by his life, that he finished this race, strong to the end. As a young man when he was released from prison, he could’ve gone back to just a quiet life but he didn’t and instead committed to go back and serve prisoners and started Prison Fellowship.  There could have been so many junctures after that when he could have reasonably told himself that he was getting old and should stop and rest, but he didn’t. At the age of 80, he was still so actively involved in serving you, it’s amazing!  How do I delight and take pleasure in godly people and heroes like Chuck Colson, or other saints right before me like my spiritual leaders at this church?  Lord, please help me to delight in them more by committing to a life following their example.  If I really delighted in them, I think it should result in me wanting to emulate them and not in me wanting to just praise them from a distance and live my own selfish life. Lord, please help me to pour out my life for your kingdom work and not hold back and never quit and be in it for the long haul!

⁴ The sorrows of those will increase

who run after other gods.

I will not pour out their libations of blood

or take up their names on my lips.

Lord, this is so true, that those who chase after other gods will only increase in their sorrow and troubles. But the lies of this world tell us the opposite, at times I hear the voices that lie to me and say that living this life of discipleship will increase my sorrow because it’ll be hard, while a life of carefree, selfish living is more enjoyable.  But I only need to go back to my own testimony, of how I was before I became a Christian and the answer is clear.  Growing up, though I was physically at church, my heart was busy chasing after other gods, namely academic success, romance, people’s approval and it resulted in the increase of my sorrows and troubles; I was as restless as ever and full of shame and guilt and regrets.  How silly of me to forget this reality!

⁵ Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;

you have made my lot secure.

⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

Lord, indeed, you have assigned me my portion and my cup and made my lot secure and I am so thankful for this.  I am so thankful for your boundary lines, without which, I would have only gotten myself into deeper sorrows and troubles.  Lord, I confess all the times in which I have fought against the boundary lines in my life or seen them more as restrictions instead of protections, when I had this groundless rebellion against anything that seemed to limit my “freedom”.  But more and more as I get older, I see with the gift of hindsight how the boundary lines really have been pleasant as I see the depth of my sinfulness and how my “freedom” often results in others getting hurt.  Compared to that, how rich my life is right now because of the boundary lines that I have submitted to, surely I have a delightful inheritance.  And I want to commit to living a life of welcoming more boundary lines as that is the call of discipleship to every believer and what it means to love.

⁷ I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

⁸ I have set the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the grave,

nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

¹¹ You have made known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Lord, I praise you for counseling me and for being with me.  Thank you for your promise that you will not abandon me to the grave.  Thank you that you have made known to me the path of life.  I only pray for the grace to remain on this path.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

–

Submitted by Josh W. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Psalm 16

¹        Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.

Safety from what?  Refuge from what?  I need safety from sin and from Satan.  Satan uses my sin to trap me.  How naïve it is when I think that my talents or abilities can keep me safe from Satan and sin.  Only you can be that kind of refuge.  I do not take refuge in my abilities or my talents.  I do not take refuge in what I can do with my theater background in arts, or how I can lead games, or how I can be a teacher for social change, who builds good rapport with my students, or how I can be a host, or cook, or clean, or be a family man who takes care of my house and home.  I cannot hide behind these things and expect them to keep me safe.  Only God can keep me safe, and only through Jesus’ death on the cross do I have true refuge from sin.  How good and precious is the cross of Jesus that I can hide behind it and be able to withstand Satan’s attacks of self-doubt, guilt, shame, self-loathing through sin.

²        I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

apart from you I have no good thing.”

You are my Lord and master, apart from you I would have no good thing in my life.

You have surrounded me with good, caring people in my life.  At times, I may think they are not good, because I don’t want them to care about me.  I want them to leave me alone and I want them to allow me to pursue my own desires.  I want to be surrounded by people who are just like me: narcissistic, self-serving, self-preserving, egotistical, “look-at-me,” thoughtless, uncompassionate, “don’t-care-about others” kind of people.  Apart from you, I would have been given over to that kind of terrible “non-community” where I could just be left alone because everyone only cares about themselves.  Apart from you, I would have been fairly alone, been fairly isolated, and the level in which I would relate to people would be limited to a superficial level.  However, because you are the Lord and master who has given me all the good things in my life, you’ve given me people who are not like me, who actually challenge me and grow me, and who refuse to let me, the sinner, be more practiced in my sinful ways.  People like my wife, different peers, spiritual leaders, all injecting truth and wisdom and challenge into my life and forcing me to face uncomfortable truths about myself like my lack of love and concern for others.

³        As for the saints who are in the land,

they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

Who are the saints?  They are the people who take steps of obedience towards you and grow closer to you.  I delight in the life of Chuck Colson, who in his old age, became a personal hero for Christian thinking and a model of self-sacrifice.  I delight in the Christian heroes and martyrs of old.  Heroes like Jim Elliot, Hudson Taylor, Eric Liddle, William Wilberforce.  I delight in these heroes by honoring them, by studying their lives, and by trying to reproduce their faithfulness in what was entrusted to them.

I delight in the godly people in my life, many of the older and more seasoned Christians who I consider my spiritual betters, who spur me on to take on greater levels of self-sacrifice in my life as I quietly watch their choices and decisions.

I delight in those who are becoming more godly as they take steps towards godliness.   I delight in their testimonies of obedience, of greater love for others, of renouncement of sin, of surrendering of idols, of vulnerable humility.  I take pleasure in the lives of those younger than me who are growing closer to God.

⁴        The sorrows of those will increase

who run after other gods.

I will not pour out their libations of blood

or take up their names on my lips.

I do not take delight in the lives of celebrities, the rich, the powerful and influential, or even the middle-class suburban family.  The sorrows of those will increase who worship gods of fame, money, power, status, pleasure, and comfort to feed their own egos and to build up a protective fortress of security.  Their sorrows will increase when they run out of fame, money and power and they can’t maintain their current lifestyle.  Their sorrows will increase when their old age catches up with their debilitating body, or when their bank account dips to zero, or when they realize there are things that money can’t buy, or when they realize that there will always be someone more powerful or more influential than they are.  Their sorrows will increase when they look back on their life and realize that they’ve cut off all their meaningful relationships, and they’ve pushed away people who care about them for the sake of these false gods.  And ultimately their sorrows will increase when they die and realize they can take nothing they’ve acquired with them.  I will not offer up sacrifices of time, money, mental energy and emotional energy into these false gods.  I will not waste my mind researching about these false gods, nor will I align my heart to these false gods.  I will not speak about these false gods with reverence or honor.  In fact, I will seek to expose these false gods so that they do not mislead others.

⁵        Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;

you have made my lot secure.

⁶        The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

For you alone are my inheritance and I can say that is a good thing.  You have given me this inheritance: the church, a family of broken, forgiven sinners, where I can rest secure in my salvation.  Ultimately my inheritance is in heaven, so I don’t need to pine after temporary inheritances on earth.  And I am already investing in this inheritance in heaven while I am on earth as I invest in the relationships I have and the people I know.  How much more pleasant and glorious will this inheritance be in heaven!

⁷        I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

⁸        I have set the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

⁹        Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

¹⁰      because you will not abandon me to the grave,

nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

¹¹      You have made known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Because you counsel me and instruct my heart, because you are with me, because I know you are alive and you are with me, I will not be shaken in moments of distress and trouble.  Rather my heart will be glad, and I will rejoice and praise you.  I will not have my foundations be shaken when trouble, setback, hardship and persecution come, or when death occurs, because I know that my body will rest secure and that I will not be abandoned to the grave.  When my money runs low, when I lose my job, when my child keeps me up for days, when my car breaks down, when my laptop gets stolen, or when my ministry is unfruitful or painful, all at the same time, I will still praise you and be glad, because you are ever before me.  For you have conquered death itself and you have made known to me the path to life: faith and trust in Jesus Christ’ death on the cross that allows me to rejoice with you forever in heaven, where I will have the joy of being in your presence and the joy of living with you forever.  My inheritance is an eternal life of praising you in heaven, and that is truly my refuge, the most good thing, and my portion and my cup, and I shall delight and rejoice in that.

Psalm 15

• What does this Psalm teach me about God?

This Psalm teaches me what God is pleased with, and what He desires me to be like.  From this list of those who may dwell in God’s sanctuary and holy hill, what becomes apparent is that God values integrity and truth–to walk blamelessly, to do what is righteous, to speak truth from our hearts, to keep our oaths even when it hurts.  And he values love and regard for others–to have no slander on our tongues, to do our neighbor no wrong, to casts no slur on another, to lend money without usury, and to not accept a bribe against the innocent.  God is holy, righteous and good, and He desires such integrity and truth and love in His people.

• What exhortations, lessons, or warnings do I need to heed?

I need to heed the exhortation to have no slander on my tongue, to cast no slur on my fellowman.  When I was younger, gossip was a struggle, and something I had to really learn to control my tongue about.  As I get older, even though I do not engage in gossip, I have these silent judgments, criticisms and subtle assumptions about the people around me, especially those closest to me.  As a fellow sinner, I really have no business having this kind of slander and slur towards others in my life, and it really shows me how wicked and proud my heart is.  This warns me that I cannot think I am pleasing God because I am busy with ministry and do a lot of acts of service – when I do, and I start to look down on others for their failures and weaknesses and flaws, I am having that same heart of the Pharisees who so religiously obeyed the Sabbath and all these rules, but had absolutely no love and looked down on others with such disdain and hatred.  I am having the same heart of the Pharisees when I look down on others, have judgments and criticisms towards others in my heart, and think that I am better because I do things that are supposedly acts of service.  I need to really repent daily and be aware of this attitude of pride in my heart.

I also need to heed the exhortation to keep my oaths even when it hurts.  It is so easy to make a lot of promises and commitments when my emotions are high, right after repentance and prayer and coming out make a lot of realizations.  However, so often, I fall short and do not carry through with the commitments and oaths that I take before God – I stop after making the realizations and commitments, and do not do the hard work of carrying out the actual commitments throughout my life.  That’s the harder thing and the more important thing to do – to actually carry out and keep my oaths even when it hurts.  But this is what pleases God, and it is what leads to actual change.  The reason I fail to change after all these years is because I do not engage in the hard work of obeying and carrying out my oaths as it hurts, as it gets harder to apply throughout my daily life.

• What truths can I affirm, or what promises can I claim from this Psalm?  

I can affirm the promise that he who does these things will never be shaken, and that such a person could dwell in God’s sanctuary.  To walk in the way that pleases God is the best way to live, to live and act in integrity and truth, this is what allows us to have a firm footing so that we are not shaken.  So often our emotions and the world tells us to compromise – that telling a little white lie here and there, that hiding the ugly truths about us in order to keep up an image, of acting like everything is okay when they are really not is going to have no effect, and that cutting corners in order to get through life without bothering to keep our oaths and doing what is righteous is okay as long as you get away from it.  But this kind of life lacking integrity, and living with little regard for the truth only leads to a fragmented and isolated life, and an inability to remain steadfast.  God’s ways are truly right and lead to a firm footing, it leads us to be people who are not shaken, to wholeness.  I have personally experienced this to be true in my own life – over the years, through learning to speak the truth about myself and then truth to others, through learning to cast no slur on another, but rather to love and to honor those who fear the Lord, and growing in my obedience to the oaths that I had taken, God has been transforming me into a more whole person who can be a spiritual leader and who can remain more grounded through different ups and downs that life just throws, from a shallow, fragmented, very insecure, self-conscious teenager.  And to continue to live this way, this is the best way to live, and it leads to a grounded, solid life, and I want to commit to really grow in my integrity and love for truth.

• Who can I intercede for based on these words?

I can intercede for the leaders and staff of our church to strive to be people of integrity and truth, to be blameless in their walk with God, doing what is righteous, speaking truth from their hearts, and keeping their oaths even when it hurts.  I can pray for the staff of our church to not be shaken, and become people of such rootedness and grounding in this way.

What verse stands out that I want to remember or meditate on further?

¹           Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?

Who may live on your holy hill?

²           He whose walk is blameless

and who does what is righteous,

who speaks the truth from his heart

PRAYER

Dear Lord,

Who can dwell in your sanctuary and stand before your presence?  I know I fall so short for I fail to walk blamelessly, do what is right, and speak truth all the time and on a daily basis.  I am so sorry for so often I have this proud and critical heart that has slander on my tongue, and so quickly gets critical of those closest to me.  I am so sorry for I also am so quick to fail at keeping my oaths and commitments, especially when the need to keep those oaths hurts and become costly.  I see how fall I short, and I know by my own merit there is no way that I could stand before you.  I thank you for Jesus, who died on the cross, so that I can stand before your presence and in your sanctuary through the blood of Jesus that completely covers and washes over me.  And I commit to do my best to becoming such a person of truth and integrity, speaking truth, confessing the truth about myself, and speaking truth in love, and obeying the oaths that I have taken, even when things get hard.  I affirm the truth that your ways are always the best, and cling to this promise that by living such a life of integrity and truth we will not be shaken.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

–

Submitted by David W. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Psalm 15

• ·     What does this Psalm teach me about God? 

This psalm teaches me that God’s standards are perfection.  Only those who live a blameless life and who do what is righteous can dwell in God’s sanctuary, can live in God’s city, and can be with God.  He calls us to be holy, to be perfect.  Matthew 5:48 – Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  1 Peter 1:16 – for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”  And that is further broken down into specifics – to be truthful and sincere from the heart, to not slander or gossip, to do no wrong to your neighbor, to despise evil men, to honor faithful men and to be faithful yourself even at the point of self-damage, to be generous with money and to not be able to be bought.  Is there anyone who can say that they abide by all of these qualifications?  Is there anyone then who can dwell in God’s sanctuary or live on His holy hill?  There is no one, not even one, except Jesus, the Son of God, the only sinless man to have ever lived.  And because of His death on the cross, because of His sacrifice and His righteousness extending over us, we can have hope for ourselves like this psalm describes.

• ·     What exhortations, lessons, or warnings do I need to heed?

Each of the verses and qualifications listed in this psalm is an exhortation and warning that I need to heed.  All of these things are what are need to be able to dwell in God’s sanctuary, to worship in God’s sanctuary, to live on His holy hill, to enter God’s presence.  If I want to be able to do that, I need to take each of these qualities seriously.  To live a blameless life and to do what is righteous – who would disagree with that off the bat?  But it’s when those little temptations come that can lead to bigger sins, the even small compromises, justifications, excuses that I can make, and suddenly it’s not so easy to be blameless or righteous.  To speak truth from his heart – that’s something that I hold to be very important and I try to value strongly.  But what about the times where it might be easier to not tell the whole truth, or where slightly changing something or leaving some things out that could be self-damaging, to make myself look better or to be perceived a certain way or uphold some kind of image?  To have no slander on my tongue, to cast no slur on my fellowman – it’s not something that I think I engage in, but what about the times I can supposedly in “jest” or “just having fun” make fun of others or talk about them, or even just having judgmental and critical thoughts about other people?  To do my neighbor no wrong – even if I were not to do any action or thing wrong to my neighbor per se, what about my lack of love, the wrong of inaction or failure to love or sin of omission that I am guilty of?  To despise a vile man – this also seems something obvious, but perhaps there are ways that there are evils and injustices in the world that people are guilty of, but I’m too busy or too lazy to really care about them even enough to despise them.  To honor those who fear the LORD – but I’m too busy concerned with my own life, the problems I have to deal with, the things I need to get done to properly honor the faithful followers and cloud of witnesses all around me.  To keep my oaths, my promises, my commitments, even when it hurts, when it’s hard – how many times have I failed in my commitments to God and others?  More than I can count or remember.  To lend money without usury — perhaps there is a hint of expectation in the heart that I am deserving of something from that person, that the other person is somehow indebted to me, owes me something, even if it’s just mentally.  To not accept a bribe against the innocent – I don’t think I’ve faced many situations like this, but perhaps being and treating others fairly and not showing favoritism to some people just because you like them better or because they are nicer to you, whether in ministry or amongst relationships.  In each of these areas, there is a warning that I need to examine and pay close attention to in my life that I might not so obviously but still commit in some way.

• ·     What truths can I affirm, or what promises can I claim from this Psalm?  

The truths that I can affirm and the promise that I can claim from this Psalm is that the person who does these things will never be shaken.  It is what God is saying is the right way to live, is what is best for us, is firm and solid ground on which to stand.  Though I might never be able to fully achieve each of these things perfectly, God says and promises that I can’t go wrong in unceasingly striving after each of them.

• What verse stands out that I want to remember or meditate on further?

v.2 – He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart

PRAYER 

Dear God,

I want to be a person that can enter Your presence, that can live on Your holy hill, that can dwell in Your sanctuary.  I want to be a person who will not be shaken.  But this Psalm points out so many things, so many areas of my life that at first may not seem like I’m guilty of, but with a little reflection, a little deeper thinking, I can find ways in which I am.  And ultimately, how can I be blameless and righteous?  I am not – I am wretched and sinful.  If left to myself, to my own efforts, what hope could I have?  Forgive me for my failures and sins again and again that must hurt and offend You again and again, and definitely do not qualify me to dwell in Your sanctuary or live on Your holy hill.  But because of Jesus, because of His righteousness and blamelessness that covers over me, that is extended over me, can I have hope.  Thank You for Jesus, for Your mercy and grace and redemption that I don’t deserve.  I pray that in each of these specific areas of life, I can strive, though I might not attain, to live it out concretely, and know that I am going in the right direction.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

AMEN.

Psalm 10 (NIV84)

¹Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

During difficult times it seems that God is far away.  It seems like God is not acting on the situation and he’s not intervening and he’s not “helping”.  He seems like he’s hiding.  As I think about why this sentiment seems to be true it’s because the situation is not resolved or solved right away.  Often, like a hero would come to the rescue to a crisis situation I think about how I want God to come to my rescue and save me from some painful situation I’m in.  It can be situations in which I’m struggling with my own sins of anger, impatience, irritability, lack of love or some conflict with my wife and I wish it would just get resolved and go away.  Even when it’s some difficult or painful situation that maybe out of my control I want God to save me from it.  As I read through this whole psalm I see that this is sort of where this psalm goes.  From the beginning it’s like God has left us but Psalm, actually God does hear my cries.

Lord, I confess that at times I do feel this way – that you would just come and rescue me from painful situations.  I wish you would take away relational pain or difficulties but Lord, I see that you’re not hiding but actually this is a special time for me to cling onto you.  It’s a time that I can actually cry out to you and see how helpless I am and how I can only find my strength and hope in you.  Lord, help me not to despair or be discouraged but trust you and keep crying out to you.

²In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,

who are caught in the schemes he devises.

³He boasts of the cravings of his heart;

he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.

⁴In his pride the wicked does not seek him;

in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

This passage reveals to me that at the core of the wicked is a proud heart because he does not seek God and he has no room for God.  The wicked have no room for others because of the cravings of his own heart.  He’s only focused and thinking of himself. It’s his own greed that squeezes out any connection with God.   This passage shows again that I cannot serve both God and money.  I cannot serve God with a greedy heart.  I acknowledge that the desires of this world can squeeze out my heart.  I’m faced with so many comforts in this world that many people in the world just don’t have – a home, two cars, a good job, a college degree, etc. I make good money and have a wonderful family and yet all these good things–the very blessings that God has given to me–can be the things that do me in and turn me from God if I don’t properly acknowledge their place in my life, under God’s complete lordship.

These are the areas that I can be most tempted to take “pride” in and become self-focused.  And there is the warning for my own life–giving into the comforts and desires of this world by letting them squeeze out my life – time, money, energy – is going to drive me away from God.

Lord, I confess that I know these areas can be tempting for me to just focus on my family or my job or just the blessings you have given to me, but I pray I would not let these things become idols in my life or let them steal my heart.  Lord, I see how these can squeeze my heart out…help me Lord to not let these things steal my heart but instead invest in the people you have given to me to love.

⁵His ways are always prosperous;

he is haughty and your laws are far from him;

he sneers at all his enemies.

⁶He says to himself, “Nothing will shake me;

I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.”

As I reflect on this passage, I see the folly of the wicked.  It is the belief that they know for certain how things will be.  They know that nothing will shake him.  How can he be certain?  But as I think about my own life I think this challenges my own notions of what can/cannot happen in my life or in the lives of others. Do I believe that some situations will not change?  Maybe I think that people won’t change.  I have fallen into this thinking before and as a result I was saying that I know better and I know how God works and that he can’t work in this situation.  Whenever I lose hope or believe I know how things will turn out, I’m challenging God’s sovereignty and authority in my life.

Lord, help me not be so certain and sure by thinking I know how everything will turn out

⁷His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats;

trouble and evil are under his tongue.

⁸He lies in wait near the villages;

from ambush he murders the innocent,

watching in secret for his victims.

⁹He lies in wait like a lion in cover;

he lies in wait to catch the helpless;

This is how Satan operates, preying on the weak, the young ones, those who are the least able to defend for themselves.

Lord you are putting it on my heart to pray right now for those who have just made decisions.  Again I marvel at how over 40+ people made decisions to be Christ-followers during the Passion Week in all our churches.  And I’m overwhelmed as I think about these precious brothers and sisters and yet I realize that the environment they are in is a hostile one in which Satan is trying to do all he can with lies and threats.  And so I know one way I need to care for others is through interceding on their behalf.  Specifically, I’m thinking of the three guys who made decisions in my life group.  I know that Satan is going to actively try to discourage them and try to bring them down.

Lord, I pray for my new brothers in Christ that you would help them not to give into their pride and even let Satan cast doubts about their decisions.  I pray you would help them to stand firm and be convicted that this is the right and true decision they needed to make.  Lord, please protect them from Satan’s lies and deceptive ways.

God, as they know that they are sinners, I pray that you would help them not fall for the lies of Satan that tell them that they don’t need to follow God and they do not need to think about their sins.  But as you have convicted them of their sins, I pray that you would help them to see how much they actually do need you.  I pray their sense of sinfulness would grow and that they would see their need for you even more.  Please protect them as they take these new steps as your followers.  Lord, you know the battles they’re going to face so I just pray you would protect them!

 he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.

¹⁰His victims are crushed, they collapse;

they fall under his strength.

¹¹He says to himself, “God has forgotten;

he covers his face and never sees.”

¹²Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.

Do not forget the helpless.

Up until this point in the psalm, there is a downward progression and it seems as though the wicked have the upper hand and they are the ones who are about to win but then the psalmist doesn’t give up hope and calls on the name of the Lord, like a great hero to the rescue.

And this is the truth of how I need to live and how I need keep pressing on and not giving up on God or people in any circumstance.  As I confessed earlier about how I can become discouraged, this passage shows how God is in control and how my role is to call out and cry out to God.  He will hear my cry.  He has the power.

Lord, you have the power!  Maranatha – come lord and save us!

¹³Why does the wicked man revile God?

Why does he say to himself,

“He won’t call me to account”?

¹⁴But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;

you consider it to take it in hand.

The victim commits himself to you;

you are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;

call him to account for his wickedness

that would not be found out.

¹⁶The Lord is King for ever and ever;

the nations will perish from his land.

¹⁷You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted;

you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

¹⁸defending the fatherless and the oppressed,

in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

What kind of God do I have?  He helps the fatherless. He becomes the father to the fatherless.  He takes it upon himself to be the great benefactor for others.  To the weak, to those who don’t have anyone to defend them or care for them, God comes onto the scene and cares for them. He comes and hears their cries and says he will defend them.  He will come to help them.  He will encourage them.

As God heard the cry of the Israelites so he will hear my cry.  God will hear the cries of my heart to be saved and rescued from my circumstances and my situations.  Whether it’s relational issues with people who are close to me or it’s trying to repent for my own sins and my own since issues of anger, lack of love, Lord I know you can save me.  Whom else can I turn to?  I think this passage shows me that you will hear my cry and you will save me.  You do not leave me in my sins but you come to save and rescue.  Thank you that you are my Heavenly Father!  Thank you that you look upon me with eyes of mercy and see how sin has afflicted me and how I need your encouragement and help.

–

Submitted by Suzanne S. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Psalm 10

·     What does this Psalm teach me about God? 

It teaches me that the Lord is King forever and ever. That he is not a God who doesn’t care and is standing far off looking at all the wicked prosper. It teaches me that he listens to the cry of the afflicted, fatherless, and oppressed and encourages and hears them. It teaches me that God gives grace to the humble and opposes the proud like it says in 1 Peter. This encourages me to be in a place of need rather than comfort so that I can be someone who can cry out to God like this psalmist rather than not seeking him because of my own pride. Being in the position of ministering to others has been a great source of blessing for me because as I help others struggle with sin, I see myself more clearly and I definitely feel my own personal neediness as well as the oppression that sin causes.  This really causes me to cry out to God to hear my prayer rather than being proud and saying “nothing will ever shake me.”

·     What exhortations, lessons, or warnings do I need to heed?

⁴In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

⁶He says to himself, “Nothing will shake me; I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.”

However, the warning that I need to heed is that I need to be very careful of my pride. The warning is that pride is what makes a mere mortal man not seek God. Pride is what crowds out my need for God. Pride is straight from hell and is the beginning of someone’s downfall. The moment that I think, “nothing will shake me, I will always be happy and never have trouble” is the end of me. The moment that all my thoughts crowd out the room for God to speak, that in my self- reliance, I crowd out a desperate need for God–then my pride has won and I’m no different than these wicked men who go on and on without desperately seeking out God. They have made something else the KING in their lives. They have made themselves, their thoughts, their illusions the King in their own lives. This pride is so deeply engrained in all of us, in me.  I need to be warned and heed this lesson because I think in my daily course of action I can so easily allow all my worries, concerns, my to-do list crowd out my real desperate need for God. I cannot seek God in my own pride that thinks that I know what I’m doing.

·     What truths can I affirm, or what promises can I claim from this Psalm?  

¹⁷You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

The promise that I can hold onto is that God hears my cries. He hears the cries of others. He listens, he encourages, and defends the fatherless and oppressed. The truth or promise that I can affirm is that God does see all the things that go on and that he is just. He is the sovereign God in whom I can place total trust because of this very fact that he knows all. I don’t know all the information about a situation, I don’t know all the facts about different people but God knows and I can trust in him. Also, the truth that God cares for those who are afflicted is an amazing truth. I think this reveals to me that I have a God who looks at the humble and contrite and really cares.

·     Who can I intercede for based on these words?

⁶ They think, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us!   We will be free of trouble forever!”

¹³ Why do the wicked get away with despising God?  They think, “God will never call us to account.”

I can intercede for the very people in my life who I know have this kind of attitude. They feel like their lives will be free of trouble and nothing bad will happen to them. Currently, there are some people I’m ministering to and thinking about who think following God is more trouble than not following God. Part of my heart is so burdened for people like this. They think God will never call them to account. They think their lives will be fine as they follow the ways of the world and don’t have to follow the cost of discipleship. This burdens my heart the most because although they heard the message of Jesus, they are deceived by the things of the world and don’t live with the ultimate eternal reality that God sees all that is going on. That in this psalm, what stands out for me is that God is not far off, he is not blind, he sees everything that is happening and one day there will be a day of accounting. This eternal truth brings everything to focus for me. I recognize that it’s foolish to live life without answering these kinds of ultimate questions of what is going to happen after I die, that this world doesn’t hold all the answers to the questions on my heart. I need to intercede for those who are saying with a proud heart that everything will be ok while ignoring God their whole lives. It is in their pride that they don’t seek out God and think there is no God that God is dead when in reality, the truth is that he is the true King. I need to intercede for these people before life takes a toll on them and they are way too proud to seek God. At least with those I’m ministering to right now, they are still young and perhaps will turn during their troubles while they are young before they harden their hearts with the practicality of life.

–

Submitted by Jesse K. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Psalm 10 (NLT)

¹ O Lord, why do you stand so far away? 

Why do you hide when I am in trouble? 

² The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor. 

Let them be caught in the evil they plan for others. 

³ For they brag about their evil desires; 

they praise the greedy and curse the Lord. 

⁴ The wicked are too proud to seek God. 

They seem to think that God is dead. 

⁵ Yet they succeed in everything they do.

God, at times it seems like you’re so far away.  It feels like you’re not at work.  This feeling was very acute when our medical mission team went to work with special needs children in a third world country. The society as a whole and even the government is paralyzed with fear.  Those in power refuse to help.  But you want to help these children.  You want to save their lives. Please strengthen them as they undoubtedly feel hopelessness at times.

They do not see your punishment awaiting them. 

They sneer at all their enemies. 

⁶ They think, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us! 

We will be free of trouble forever!” 

Such unfounded pride–thinking that they are invincible and that they can dodge the consequences of their lives. But the fact is that you are real.  And whether or not people see that their lives and their sins have consequences, they will ultimately have to give an account for their lives before you.  God, I confess that this same pride I see in myself–the pride that blinds me to your gaze on my life.  Every time I decide to give into my selfishness; every time I see somebody in need and, instead of helping them, decide to preserve myself; every time that I let my pride ramp up, I’m telling you, “Nothing bad will ever happen to me…I’ll be free of trouble forever.”  Forgive me for such unfounded thoughts.  I realize that it’s pure pride that makes it so that there is no room for God.

⁷ Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats.

Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues. 

⁸ They lurk in ambush in the villages, 

waiting to murder innocent people. 

They are always searching for helpless victims. 

⁹ Like lions crouched in hiding, 

they wait to pounce on the helpless. 

Like hunters they capture the helpless 

and drag them away in nets. 

¹⁰ Their helpless victims are crushed; 

they fall beneath the strength of the wicked. 

¹¹ The wicked think, “God isn’t watching us! 

He has closed his eyes and won’t even see what we do!” 

¹² Arise, O Lord! 

Punish the wicked, O God! 

Do not ignore the helpless! 

¹³ Why do the wicked get away with despising God? 

They think, “God will never call us to account.”

¹⁴ But you see the trouble and grief they cause. 

You take note of it and punish them. 

The helpless put their trust in you. 

You defend the orphans. 

God, thank you that you are a God who defends the orphans.  Thank you for being one whom the helpless can put their trust in.  Because many times, especially as I see the “wicked” get away with despising you, things can feel helpless.  As I see college students who have completely bought into the party scene, as I see precious souls being starved with different addictions, I feel helpless.  But you see the trouble and the grief that the society and the college culture causes, and you take note of it.  Save the helpless from those who say, “God isn’t watching us!”

¹⁵ Break the arms of these wicked, evil people! 

Go after them until the last one is destroyed. 

¹⁶ The Lord is king forever and ever! 

The godless nations will vanish from the land. 

¹⁷ Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. 

Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. 

¹⁸ You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, 

so mere people can no longer terrify them. 

You will bring justice to the orphans and oppressed.  Everybody will have to answer for their lives, and ultimately you will set things right. You are king forever and ever and with your power you comfort those helpless victims of the wicked.  God, I long for that day when everything will be set right.  When sin will no longer have its effect on people.  And though through your blood, I’ve already been given forgiveness and salvation from my sins, in this world, I still experience the constant battle inside of me between my old sinful nature and the new nature you’ve given me as your son. So I look forward to heaven when things will be set right and I won’t have to struggle with sin inside of me.  I look forward to that day when you will bring justice to those who have been suffering to further Your kingdom.  God I pray for them, that again, you would bring comfort and justice as they persevere doing your kingdom work.

Psalm 9

• What does this Psalm teach me about God? 

Immediately what stood out for me from this Psalm is the theme of God’s judgment and justice.

• v4 …judging righteously
• v7 …established his throne for judgment
• v8 …judge the world in righteousness
• v8…govern the people’s with justice
• v16 …the Lord is know by his justice
• v19…judged in your presence

But more than just a declaration or acknowledge of the truth of God’s judgment or that he rules with justice, the Psalmist begins by pouring out praises and glory to him for being “righteous” and “fair.”  He sings praises and is glad and rejoices for how he judges in favor of the “needy,” how he doesn’t ignore the “afflicted,” and how he is a refuge for the “oppressed.”  The overall emotion expressed is one of utmost gratitude for who God is. Being afflicted, oppressed, and needy was certainly the state the Psalmist, who is King David, was in over and over again. But also what he’s experienced, is over and over again during those difficult moments of when he was being persecuted by his “enemies,” God had mercy on him and lifted him up from the “gates of death” as written in v13.  He knows that all the times he’s been delivered, or spared by his enemies, it is no credit to him or anything a human being could have done, but it was all because of the mercy of God who is a righteous, fair, and just judge.

• What exhortations, lessons, or warnings do I need to heed?

The praise that God is a righteous judge, who judges fairly, who judges justly is good news only to those who are afflicted, oppressed, or needy. Perhaps the lack of joy in my life at times comes to show just where my heart is, whether or not I am in that state of being afflicted, oppressed, or needy. These heartfelt praises that King David lifted up to God, declaring aloud and singing praises to Him was something that came to him because he was clearly in a state of much suffering and affliction. I know that, externally, I may not be in this state as King David was, being chased after my life by my enemies, trying to avoid death each time I turn around the corner, but internally, in my sinful state, such sense of desperation and cry out to God for mercy and justice was not unfamiliar to me. In my battle against my fleshly desires, I am constantly waging war against my body as is stated in Romans 7 by Apostle Paul when he said, “I do not do what I want to do, but what I hate I do.”  Just 2 weeks ago, I was able to spend some time reflecting on the Passion week, going through the Passion Experience and personally identifying once myself once again as the characters in the Bible who crucified Jesus. I was able to see myself as the proud, self-righteous Pharisees who valued their status, their position far more than what is right. I was able to identify myself as Peter who ultimately pursued his comfort and followed just enough to the point where the cost wasn’t too high for him, I can identify myself as Pilate who ultimately did not desire to know the truth but ultimately was a slave to the opinions of people. In recognizing myself as these characters, I got to see just how depraved my heart really is, how I was the one who ultimately put Jesus on the cross and felt an intense sense of affliction, oppression, and neediness towards God, just as the Psalmist states. But thanks be to God, who “reigns forever,” for what he has done for me on the cross through Jesus Christ, that he has freed me from the power of sin, bondage and enslaved life I was living in my sinful state. I have experienced being delivered from this sinful state of mine over and over again, and for that I give praises to God and rejoice in Him.

• What truths can I affirm, or what promises can I claim from this Psalm?  

The truth that I can affirm and the promise that I can claim is stated well in v18, “But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.” Because of this promise, no matter what storms I may be experiencing through life, whether it be externally like King David who felt constantly being persecuted by his enemies, or whether it be through the internal burdens of my own sinful state, God will not forget those who seek him earnestly out of desperation and I can continue to hope–hope affirmed by the assurance that comes through the cross and what Jesus has done for me there. It’s ultimately because of this hope that I can continue on through my struggles against my own sins. As I have been entrusted with the ministry of college students to be their shepherd guiding them spiritual through God’s word, being a compassionate leader just like Jesus was to those he ministered to, I recognize just how short I fall. Even in the midst of my greatest acts of kindness and care for my students, I see I lack in compassion. It’s been a struggle to see my own selfish heart, to see how often I desire more comfort and my own agenda, even though I know that there is a spiritual war out there, that I can’t let down my guards. This truth of who I am and just the many failures of continuing to struggle and claim victory over this, has been difficult and it can get discouraging. However, once again I am reminded that God will not forget those who are desperate, those who are in need. Even if at points it seems hopeless, and that I will never change, knowing full well what Jesus has done for me on the cross, I do not lose hope.

• Who can I intercede for based on these words?

I can intercede for those who are going through some personal struggles, feeling discouraged, defeated, and perhaps even cynical thinking that there’s no point in struggling if they are going to fail again. I can intercede for my students who are experiencing this especially as many of them are new Christians and are beginning to experience a lot of the costs of discipleship and really seeing how hard it is to live out their Christian life. I can intercede for them with the truth God knows their struggles, who does not ignore those who are afflicted, who will be a stronghold for those in trouble.  This is the righteous and just God who we are serving and that “the hope of the afflicted will never perish.” Also from this Psalm, I can intercede for those who are feeling spiritually dry, going through the motions and lacking in joy, gratitude, praise, and worship for God. Those who cannot share the same kind of emotions or sentiments as the Psalmist shared of one of utmost praise and worship to God for who he is. To those I can intercede that their joy may be restored in their salvation. That their joy not be solely based on their momentary feelings, but rather through recalling and remembering how God has delivered them in the past, but ultimately through the cross, what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. In remembering my own salvation, in reflecting and recognizing just the sinful person I am, that in my sins I am afflicted, oppressed, and needy, who God is, and what he has done can lead to none other than praise and worship for him.

• What verse stands out that I want to remember or meditate on further?

The verse that stuck out for me was verse 20 of the NLT version. It states “²⁰ Make them tremble in fear, O Lord. Let the nations know they are merely human.” This verse struck me because in my spiritual walk I’ve realized just how much I lack in proper fear towards God because I can often forget that I am “merely human.”  Merely human to me meant that my life is really like the grass and the flowers as declared in Isaiah 40 or like a mist as stated in James 4, ultimately really not much. I am this mere human and when I think about this and think about who God is, I am struck with fear, fear of who I am before a Holy, awesome and amazing God. It really puts things into perspective, and puts me in my proper place, makes me have the proper attitude before God, and once again be amazed of what God has done for me on the cross. The past couple of weeks, the bible studies in 2 Corinthians, the message series on Sundays and the daily devotions in Luke have been over this area of God’s judgment, and who I am, a mere human, a sinner who rebelled against God and his proper claim and authority over my life, and right and just response that God ought to have had on my life, which is death. But I marvel at his grace and mercy in my life, that through the cross I have been redeemed, atoned for, that although I am “merely human” that I have been restored into a greater position of being adopted as His son, and that one day I will be able to enjoy eternity in His presence.

¹ I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wonders.

² I will be glad and rejoice in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Heavenly Father,

I give you all praise and glory. When I just think of all the wonders of what you have done for me saving me from the pathway of destruction that I was going down, I cannot help but to praise you. Lord, for this reason, I am compelled to share and tell of this to the world, and live a life wholly devoted to you.

³ My enemies turn back;

they stumble and perish before you.

⁴ For you have upheld my right and my cause;

you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.

You are the righteous judge, you are just and fair, and if you were to treat me as my sins deserve, I would deserve death. However, through Christ and his interceding on my behalf, my right and my cause has been upheld by you.

⁵ You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

⁶ Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy,

you have uprooted their cities;

even the memory of them has perished.

⁷ The Lord reigns forever;

he has established his throne for judgment.

⁸ He will judge the world in righteousness;

he will govern the peoples with justice.

⁹ The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

¹⁰ Those who know your name will trust in you,

for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

You indeed, reign forever. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You are indeed my refuge, you are my shield, my protector, my stronghold in times of trouble. When I seek you, you are there. But even times when I try to run away from you, you never let me go.

¹¹ Sing praises to the Lord, enthroned in Zion;

proclaim among the nations what he has done.

I praise you, I give glory to you, I worship you with all my heart.

¹² For he who avenges blood remembers;

he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

¹³ O Lord, see how my enemies persecute me!

Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴ that I may declare your praises

in the gates of the Daughter of Zion

and there rejoice in your salvation.

You have shown mercy in me. Out of your mercy and grace, you have given me the free gift of salvation that I do not deserve. I will declare your praises and rejoice of this.

¹⁵ The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;

their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

¹⁶ The Lord is known by his justice;

the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.

Higgaion. Selah

¹⁷ The wicked return to the grave,

all the nations that forget God.

¹⁸ But the needy will not always be forgotten,

nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

¹⁹ Arise, O Lord, let not man triumph;

let the nations be judged in your presence.

²⁰ Strike them with terror, O Lord;

let the nations know they are but men.

Selah

You are the righteous and fair judge. There will be a day when I will have to stand before you to give an account. There will be a day when all the evil, wickedness will be revealed. To know that I am merely human, that I am but man, strikes me with terror, to know who I am before a Holy and awesome God. Father God, but wonder of wonders, you have brought the punishment that is properly due to me upon your one and only son Jesus, to take away my sins, as stated in Psalm 103 as far as the east is from the west you have removed them. What can I do but give you all the praise and glory. What I can do but rejoice in you. Thank you Lord, for your love. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen. 

–

Submitted by Florence T. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Psalm 9 (NIV84)

¹     I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wonders.

²     I will be glad and rejoice in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

³     My enemies turn back;

they stumble and perish before you.

⁴     For you have upheld my right and my cause;

you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.

V1-2

Dear God, it is only right of me to praise you with all my heart because I am nothing but a broken, wretched sinner whom you rescued from the pit of self-destruction and aimless existence during my college days.  And though I am unworthy, you called me Your beloved daughter worth loving to the point of sacrificing Your one and only precious Son on the cross to pay for my sins so that I can have a second chance in life.  I do not deserve Your immense love and at times I can hardly wrap my mind around it.  My heart is filled with a sense of awe and gratitude because my life really didn’t have to turn out the way it did.  And my only response is to praise you for being my loving heavenly Father who shepherds me to the green pasture and safety.  Lord, I pray that I will never get over what you have done in my life and everyday choose to praise you with all my heart, choose to tell of your wonderful, redemptive work in my life, choose to be glad and rejoice in you for my salvation.  Life throws at me situations that bring anxiety and fear, my own sins of lovelessness, laziness, and cowardice can be so deflating at times, but Lord I pray, that in the midst of these troubles I will remember still the greater reality that You are truly worthy to be praised with all my heart, and as a result I will choose to praise you.

⁵     You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

⁶     Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy,

you have uprooted their cities;

even the memory of them has perished.

⁷     The Lord reigns forever;

he has established his throne for judgment.

⁸     He will judge the world in righteousness;

he will govern the peoples with justice.

V3-8

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for being the Righteous Judge who judges the wicked and provides refuge for the oppressed.  Lord, each time I hear in the news about the atrocities, injustice, oppression and senseless violence inflicted upon the innocent and powerless, I am filled with a sense of anger, thrown into bouts of confusion wondering, “Why is the world so messed-up?”  Surely I would have become a hopeless cynic were not for this very fact that my God is NOT one who is blind, apathetic or powerless, rather I serve a God who sees and identifies with the plight of oppressed and afflicted, because they are Your children and every sin done unto them is sin against You.  The wicked will not gloat forever because they cannot stand before You.  As I reflect deeper however, I cannot help but recognize within me the same kind of pride, greed, selfishness, envy, anger and recklessness that drove people to kill and wreck others lives, that same excuse of “but I had no choice” echoes in my sentiments as well.  Indeed, as Solzhenitsyn says, “the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts,” I am very much guilty as well.  V8 says, “He will judge the world with justice and rule the nation with fairness,” I know I don’t stand a chance of walking away innocent.  So Father, I am so thankful that somehow I received the gospel and that though I deserve condemnation and judgment, I have instead received a pardon because Jesus’ blood covers me.

⁹     The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

¹⁰    Those who know your name will trust in you,

for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹    Sing praises to the Lord, enthroned in Zion;

proclaim among the nations what he has done.

¹²    For he who avenges blood remembers;

he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

¹³    O Lord, see how my enemies persecute me!

Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴    that I may declare your praises

in the gates of the Daughter of Zion

and there rejoice in your salvation.

V9-14

Dear Heavenly Father, indeed “save me so I can praise you.”  Save me from myself, my fears and anxiety about the future, my irrational worries about my child and his safety, my insecure self that constantly seeks affirmation from others and my stubborn pride that refuses to admit wrong and apologize even at the expense of hurting those I love and care deeply about.  Please save me also from voices that accuse me of being a fraud of a person — infantile, lazy, cowardly and unfit for ministry.  These voices tell me that I need to hide and keep things to myself lest others find out what I am really like inside and reject me in disgust.  Father, during times when my thoughts are going crazy, have mercy on me as I desperately cling to Your promise that You are my Shelter and Refuge, where I am safe from Satan’s accusations that ultimately tells me that I am no good for God or others in my life.  God, every day help me to move beyond my petty self and be fully engaged in singing praises to the Lord who reigns forever and telling the world about Your unforgettable deeds!

¹⁵    The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;

their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

¹⁶    The Lord is known by his justice;

the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.   Higgaion. Selah

¹⁷    The wicked return to the grave,

all the nations that forget God.

¹⁸    But the needy will not always be forgotten,

nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

¹⁹    Arise, O Lord, let not man triumph;

let the nations be judged in your presence.

²⁰    Strike them with terror, O Lord;

let the nations know they are but men.           Selah

V15-20

Dear Heavenly Father, it is so true that evil will not and cannot triumph in the end.  The wicked will fall into the pits they have dug, be caught by their own traps and ensnared by the work of their hands because there will come a time when You will come to bring judgment, and the fate of those who have ignored and defied You will be terrifying.  In light of this, Father I want to intercede for those around me who ignore Your beckoning.  Father help them to see the folly of sin and those sins will ultimately destroy them.  Father, please open the eyes and touch the hearts of those who have taken up a position of resignation and self-pity because life had not been easy for them, help them to see that You have not neglected or ignored them, and that they can turn to you even now.  Lord, as for me, I thank you for giving me this privilege to fight on Your side and engage in this work of reconciling people to You.  Please help me to stand firm to the end, not despair or feel defeated with Satan’s schemes and temptations seem to gain the upper hand causing people to grow cold toward You or lose interest to seek You, because the ultimately the battle has been won.

–

Submitted by Jin K. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

What does this Psalm teach me about God?

This psalm teaches me that God is my great protector. God is not someone who is out to get me but it says that he upholds my cause. So much is God my protector that he can stand up to nations on my behalf, if need be. Yet in the midst of singing praises to God, there is also the somber recognition of who God is: the ultimate judge. And God is someone who will assert himself as one who cannot be ignored but to be taken seriously as he takes people seriously.

What exhortations, lessons, or warnings do I need to heed?

The bible is indeed full of many examples of the grace of God and the mercy of God. It also provides examples such as this psalm which shows the reality of God being the ultimate judge. The lesson I need to heed is that I cannot treat God like a senile old grandfather who is put away in some corner and lets the little children like me to do whatever I want. God has opinions, he feels emotions like hurt and betrayal and even anger, and in the end, he has to be true to reality, which is that his justice will be carried out. Though I know this intellectually in my head, what needs to get marinated deeper in my heart is that there needs to be greater fear in my heart towards God. Not one of utter terror but one that holds a balanced biblical picture of God and based on that reality, to not take God for granted and to have that perspective only deepen my appreciation for him.

 What truths can I affirm, or what promises can I claim from this Psalm?  

One truth I can affirm is that God is on my side indeed. He upholds my strength and my cause. He will look out for me. He is not someone who is there to frustrate my every endeavor nor to poke holes in every attempt I make, wondering aloud why my motive wasn’t in the right place, why I couldn’t exert my efforts a little more, etc. God is there to help me fight any opposing forces that stand in the way of my relationship with him and carrying out his purpose and work on earth. So I can confidently approach him in prayer and in obedience.

Who can I intercede for based on these words?

Some people who are close to my heart are going through some difficult struggles right now. I can pray that they may be able to see that whatever they may be going through right now, that they may see God is for them and not to deprive them of anything, and that this truth may bring them encouragement.

Psalm 5

(NLT)
7 Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house;
I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe.

Indeed, O Lord, only because of Your unfailing love can I enter Your house and come before You. When I look at my heart and my natural inclinations, it’s clear that I am a sinner through and through. I am filled with my own desires, my own wants, and the words, “It’s my life,” come so naturally and resonate so deeply. Mired in this self-focus I would never have come into Your house. I would have ruined my life pursuing my own desires. But Your unfailing love through Jesus on the cross, the living and active Words I find in Scripture, and through the hands and feet of the people of Your church, these have all been your unfailing love humbling me with truth, and leading me into Your house. And so, Lord, help me always to remember that indeed, Your unfailing love leads me to enter into Your house and into Your presence.
Moreover, brief reflection over my life and my sinfulness shows me what a miracle You have worked in my heart to bring me to Yourself. You’ve led me to the cross to meet Jesus, to lay down my sins and pick up a new life that is now engaged in serving others, building the church, and leading others into eternal dwellings. You have given me a purpose for my aimless life, and You have given me back my dignity and freed me from sins that enslaved me; You have forgiven me my sins and reconciled me to Yourself. It causes me to worship at Your temple with awe. Thank You for reminding me of this fundamental truth and reality.

(NLT)
8 Lead me in the right path, O Lord,
or my enemies will conquer me.
Make your way plain for me to follow.

This is my prayer, God, “Lead me in the right path!” Your path is clearly laid out in Scripture, how I should live, what values I should place as gems in my heart, and how to decide and live out the different decisions I must face daily: how I should treat my friends, how I should respond to misunderstanding or insults, how I should respond to rejection, how I should respond to people who say mean things or treat me poorly; how I should receive truth from people rather than fighting them; how I should lay down my rights to serve others; how I should use my time and energies not to indulge my desires but to build Your church; how I should treasure people over things; and that I can have the spiritual eyes to see the responsibilities given me not as burden or mere duty, but as tremendous privilege and joy.
Lord, I ask you to lead me in the right path because the consequence of not living according to Your Word is that “my enemies will conquer me.” The enemies are my sinful nature, my old desires, my natural comfort-seeking, entertainment-seeking, self-preserving heart. This is the old self which I am daily trying to put off (cf. Eph 4). Lord, please lead me in the right path, and let your way be plain to me to follow. Help me to be well-grounded in Scripture, because Your word makes it plain, makes it clear for me how to follow You no matter what decisions or struggles I may have (cf. Psalm 119:105, Psalm 19:7-8).

(NIV84)
9?Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.

My enemies speak all sorts of words to me. My sinful nature, like the serpent in the garden, tells me,
-  “It’s ok, just slow down for a while. You have time to pursue God later. Just a little bit right now is okay.” Cf. Matt 11:12, Eph 5:15-17
-  “Spiritual life doesn’t need to be this hard. It’s not supposed to be this hard, something must be wrong. Spiritual life doesn’t work.” Cf. Galatians 5:16-25
- “A little bit of compromise won’t kill me.” James 1:15
- “Why do I have to serve others? Why do I feel like I keep giving my life to others?” Cf. Gal 5:13-14, 1 Pet 2:21

I can continue writing all the different words my enemies will tell me. But I affirm the truth of the words of the psalmist, that the words of my sinful nature and of Satan are filled with destruction, are an open grave, and are filled with deceit, intending to bring me to death. Help me Lord to cling to your words, to Your path outlined in Scripture, and to experience true life.
As I do this and take refuge in You, I will experience these verses:

11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them sing joyful praises forever.
Spread your protection over them,
that all who love your name may be filled with joy.
12 For you bless the godly, O Lord;
you surround them with your shield of love.

Praise the Lord and Amen.

–

Submitted by Hannah C. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Psalm 5

What does this Psalm teach me about God? 

God hears me when I pray. He pays attention to my groaning and need for help. When I bring my requests to God, I can have confidence that he is listening to me and does not neglect me.

God takes no pleasure in wickedness and cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked. The proud cannot stand in his presence because God hates all who do evil. He is not blind to what is going on in the world or in our hearts. Pride, wickedness and evil intents are apparent before God.

What exhortations, lessons, or warnings do I need to heed?

I can learn that God hears me when I pray. There are times when I wonder if he is listening. If there are no immediate answers to many of my prayers, I get discouraged and think that God does not care or hear. But David, who wrote this psalm, brought his requests to God each morning and waited expectantly. He never lost his childlike faith that God hears him and continued to pray and expected an answer. And this was while he was waiting for God to deliver him from the hands of Saul. He did not know if Saul would stop pursuing him or he would become king as he was promised, but he “[waited] expectantly” for God’s timing and answers. This is a picture of faith I want to emulate as an impatient person who expects answers quickly, situations to resolve fast and my sin issues to be fixed instantly. Rather than focusing on results or answers, I want to focus on lifting up honest prayers and requests and have confidence that God listens and wait for him expectantly.

Another thing I thought about is why the proud cannot stand in God’s presence. It might be because God represents everything opposite of pride. What God promotes is self-denial, goodness and humility. Even though he is the creator and almighty God, he wants to listen to our prayer and pay attention to our needs. Though we are insignificant and small, God finds us significant.  His other-centeredness is repulsive to the proud, and therefore the proud cannot stand in his presence. During the passion week, I thought about the responses of various people. The teachers of the law could not stand Jesus because they were only interested in promoting themselves. They were hostile to Jesus’ teaching because it contradicted what they wanted. But those who were repentant found hope in Jesus and thanked him for his sacrifice on the cross. This passage is a warning to me because I see how proud I am. My proud mind tells me that I should be respected and recognized as one of the older ones at our church, and that I should be over certain struggles by now. This kind of pride causes me to not be honest and hide, and what I am doing is essentially rejecting all that God wants. And with enough time, I will not be able to stand in God’s presence anymore. But the person who finds peace in God’s presence is the one who recognizes that it is only by God’s mercy that she can come into His house. Not because of merits or accomplishments, but only by God’s great mercy shown on the cross. This is such a simple and clear fact, which gets lost often in my proud heart. The truth is that no matter how old I get, my identity as a sinner will never change. But God does not condemn me and wants me to take refuge in him and humbly accept the fact. This is what I want to take to heart.

PRAYER:

Dear God, I affirm once again that the best place to be is at the foot of the cross where I am clear about my identity as a sinner. Please forgive of my pride that wants to exalt self. When you hear me pray, please listen to my cry for help and rescue me from myself. I want to be in your presence where I am humbled and recognize your great mercy. Thank you for being such a loving God who listens to me and knows me. Amen.

–

Submitted by Steven C. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Psalm 5

·     What does this Psalm teach me about God? 

-God is the one who hears my prayers (v.3)

-God does not delight in evil (v.4)

-God will destroy those “who tell lies” and hates “bloodthirsty and deceitful men” (v.6)

-God is the one who protects (v.11)

-God chooses to bless the righteous and surrounds them with pleasure (v.12)

·     What exhortations, lessons, or warnings do I need to heed?

⁷ Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house; I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe. ⁸ Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me.  Make your way plain for me to follow.

God is the one who invites me into relationship.  There is no good in me, and the way to entering the house of God and a restored and forgiven relationship is only through the love and mercy of my God.  The hope of fellowship and relationship is not contingent upon any goodness or righteousness of my own.  So, the way to God cannot be found on my own, but must be found through God and sustained by following and obeying His leading.  If left to my own choices and desires, I would most certainly not follow the “right path” and the worries of life and the things of this world would surely conquer me.

·     What truths can I affirm, or what promises can I claim from this Psalm?  

God is not this distant and aloof being that is unaware of the plight and distresses of his people.  He is the one who hears our groans our pains, sees our silent tears and knows the darkness and doubts that swirl inside.  He is the one and only one that I can pray to and petition that life will not always be what it may seem.

• What verse stands out that I want to remember or meditate on further?

¹²For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

God is one who desires to bless and grant favor.  He is not this killjoy, Grinch of a god, but he is one who blesses the righteous.  The way this happens is through taking refuge in God and no longer taking confidence in the things of the self.  It requires that God become the one who is in charge of my life.  To find refuge in God, means to come to God and claim to have him as the protector and master of my life.  But, so much of my natural self balks at God’s claim over every area.  Such a life of submission and surrender seems so depressing and restrictive, but it is precisely this submission to God and full surrender of our own wills and desires, that allows God to do something beautiful with my life.  The fact is, that God wants to bless and bless abundantly, but what it requires is that I’m no longer seeking blessings for my life.

PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father,

Help me to pray to you each morning, with a newness of heart and a fresh resolve and understanding that you hear my prayers and pleas.  Lord, you hear my groans day and night, you know all the turmoil and different stresses of life, and your promise to me is that it will not always be.  Lord God, you know me, you know the deepest parts of my life and you know my greatest needs.  I do not have to go through this life alone, relying on my own strength and ability, because I’ve become so aware of how weak and frail I truly am.  Instead, God, into your refuge and your presence I go.  Lord, you are my King and My God and I wait expectantly for you to hear my prayers and cries.

⁸ Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.

God, you are the one I want to follow, but I confess that at times, it feels like it’s so hard to follow. The sufferings of this life, the things that I do in the name of obeying you, Oh Lord, let me know that they are not in vain.  Lord, show me the right path, the path that I am to stay on that leads to flourishing, blessing and life.  The life that I see before me, is the daily grime, I see my sins, I see my character flaws, I see my insecurities, I see the physical world, I see my lusts and desires and I wonder when it will all pass away.  God let me not take confidence in any of the things of myself, my abilities, my competencies, my education, my status, my anything, but instead wholly boast and find refuge in you.

¹¹But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy.  Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. ¹²For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Read the Psalm slowly several times, paying attention to the content, cadence, and the emotions expressed; note words and phrases that stand out.

Psalm 4 (NIV84)

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

¹            Answer me when I call to you,

O my righteous God.

Give me relief from my distress;

be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

Father, thank You for being the approachable God.  “Come near to God and he will come to you” (James 4:8).  With this promise, Lord, I come before You, humbly asking that You hear my prayer, for I come before You as one who is distressed and troubled – by my own personal sins and brokenness, by situations beyond my control, by the burdens of those whom I am raising and to whom I am ministering and leading.  While the easy course of action is actually to not do anything at all and to not think about these distressing things, You beckon me to come and cast all my cares upon You.  So I call to You, in the honest admission that I need Your mercy and relief and comfort.  I am distressed by my own pride and ego, which seem to rear its ugly head at every turn; by my lovelessness and selfishness; by the heavy responsibility of raising two small children as well as discipling the college students You have entrusted to me; by the unpredictable nature of my wife’s MS, for which she recently resumed treatment; by the intermittent reminders of the passing of our third child, which bring about the same gnawing pain of grief.  Though I can pray for You to take these things from me, at the same time I know that this is called “life,” and I simply ask that through these distresses, I may deepen in my dependence on You.

²            How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?   Selah

³            Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;

the Lord will hear when I call to him.

O my righteous God, You call me “righteous” in Christ.  When I look within, I do not see myself as godly, but through the cross, where You “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), I am able to see myself as such, in faith.  Thank You for setting me apart, calling me out of my old life of sin and self-gratification and rescuing me from the trajectory filled with breaking a lot of hearts and a lot of relationship, ending in self-destruction and ultimately hell.  Thank You for setting me apart for Yourself, for a personal and eternal love relationship.  Thank You for also setting me apart so that I may do Your will – seeking and saving the lost, laboring to alter people’s eternal destinies, serving as a minister of reconciliation and as a shepherd over Your flock and a watchman over Your people.  You have given me such good work to do, such a noble vocation.

Because You have set me apart and elevated my identity, I am filled with holy significance – so I do not have to seek significance in the things that the men of this world love, whether it be career, wealth, or social status.  These are merely delusions and false gods, presented as sources of happiness and significance, but in reality, they are endless sources of anxiety, frustration, and drudgery.  Lord, I turn away from these things, and re-commit to setting myself apart for You and You alone.

⁴            In your anger do not sin;

when you are on your beds,

search your hearts and be silent.   Selah

Lord, You search my heart, and You find the anger lurking within – anger over not getting what I want, anger over not having my expectations met, anger over petty squabbles.  In my anger, how I am prone to sin!  To utter a hurtful comment, to entertain evil and violent thoughts, to withdraw from people or simply be a cold presence in the room.  “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry…” (Ephesians 4:26).  Help me to deal with my anger right away, to not allow my anger to fester in my heart.  Help me instead to examine my own heart and recognize that I deserve Your holy wrath – and be silent.  As the unworthy recipient of Your costly grace, I have no reason to complain, to be bitter, to uphold any sense of entitlement regarding the way my life should be.

⁵     Offer right sacrifices

and trust in the Lord.

⁶            Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?”

Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.

⁷            You have filled my heart with greater joy

than when their grain and new wine abound.

⁸            I will lie down and sleep in peace,

for you alone, O Lord,

make me dwell in safety.

God, this is the predominant sentiment of our generation.  You hear the cries of Your lost children: “Who can show us any good?  Who will show us better times?”  It is the angst-filled woe, loaded with cynicism and disappointment and hopelessness.  People who loved delusions and sought false gods are left spent, empty, broken, and jaded.  Wealth, luxury, fame, romance, high-paying job in a lucrative career, the pleasures of this world – none of these could satisfy, and so they wonder if life is nothing more than a cosmic joke.  Looking for joy, they anesthetize their pain with more grain and more money, with new wine and other drugs, with escapist pursuits.  Lord, You have filled my heart with greater joy, an everlasting joy, a transcendent joy – the joy of losing myself in You, of losing myself in being a source of blessing to others. 

So I will trust in You, my Father – trusting that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  Even in the midst of my distresses and troubles, I will trust that You are showing me good, though I may not perceive it at the time.  And lastly, I will offer up right sacrifices –a grateful heart and a life of humble service, declaring the gospel message of Your goodness and mercy and righteousness. 

This world is not all there is, and it certainly is not my home.  One day, I will lie down and sleep in peace – in heaven with You, where I belong.  Until then, may I be faithful.

In Your Son’s name I pray.  Amen.

–

Submitted by Jenny H. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

• ·     What does this Psalm teach me about God? 

This psalm teaches that God is a God who does not treat me as my sins deserves, but declares me innocent.  This is a scandalous, wonderful thing that the God of the universe who has seen every single hour of my life and all of my motivations and thoughts – that he deems me innocent through the blood of Jesus.  He hears me when I call to him, my prayers do not fall on deaf ears.  I can call on him when I am in distress, when I have troubles weighing down my heart. God does not want me to only come to him with praise in my heart, but when I am down, when I am in distress and need relief.  I can learn that God sets apart the godly for himself. What does this tell me – it matters how I live before God, he notices and not only that but “sets apart,” cherishes when people choose to say no to selfish, worldly life and decide to follow him.

• ·     What exhortations, lessons, or warnings do I need to heed?

One lesson is that life will throw at me rejection, that in ministry and in life, I will face people who will “ruin my reputation” and “make groundless accusations.”  This is something Jesus promises will happen to me if I follow Him. This is something I can’t be shocked by but prepare myself for.  How? By weaning myself off of the addiction to people’s approval and the soothing of my ego.

The warning and lesson that I need to heed is that in my anger, I can sin, I can hurt many people, I can do things that I will regret, that will grieve God and leave a trail of victims. How true this is and how true it was of my day today. In my moodiness, I can say careless and hurtful words to my husband, to people I care about. In my anger against someone who has offended me, I can sin against that person in my heart, wishing ill upon them or just turning my heart cold towards them.

I am this prone to sin. God, please have mercy on me. The psalmist says to remain silent – wait overnight before doing anything rash, before letting words that can cut people come out of my mouth.  This is practical and sound advice. To wait before God, to be silent and to consider before reacting and not be driven by anger or ego.

Another lesson is that this psalmist, when confronted with people who are slandering him, who are ruining his reputation, his response is not to retaliate, but to turn to God and to pour out his anguished heart.  For me, when my attempts to help someone are met with rebellion or straight up rejection, the old self in me wants to fight back, to have the last word or to close my heart towards that person, and not just towards that person but my response is for my heart to close not just towards that person but towards people in general because the desire to not get hurt. But the psalmists point me to a different way of dealing with rejection, disappointment, slander. To bring it honestly before God, to trust him in the midst of it, instead of caving into self-protection and cynicism or coldness towards people.

• ·     What truths can I affirm, or what promises can I claim from this Psalm?  

That there is a greater joy… something besides relying on the ups and downs of life circumstances.

The psalmist’s joy comes from God, not from the circumstances in his life working out well.

⁷ You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.

There is such thing as a “greater joy” – what is that greater joy?  Abundant harvest and new wine – fruit in ministry, relational peace, things working out well, accomplishments – these are good things. but the psalmist knows and points to a “greater joy” that comes from God. God has shown me a greater joy that comes from knowing that he has rescued me from Hell and but not only that, but from the hellish life of living for my own selfish desires and ego by inviting me to follow Him and submit myself to His vision of life.

I can affirm that there is a greater and deeper joy in relationship with God. Who is the source of the greater joy?  Only God. That there can be peace even when there is no harvest and when circumstances are difficult.  How is that possible? I see it in the lives of the godly people around me, people who despite tragedy striking are able to still hear God speaking to them, can still cling on to His love and hope for them, can still recognize God’s people embracing them.  In my own life, I have experienced the peace of God. Recently, I have experienced a sense of peace even in situations of feeling very vulnerable, being in that scary situation of uncovering and confessing my sins, not mincing words or making things sound better than they are. Where does that peace come from?  From knowing that in the end, God is not a God of truth but that he is a God of grace and that even in the face of the shameful things I confess, still the cross of Jesus covers me.

I can affirm that it’s God who keeps me safe. Will I be safe from difficulty or heartache?  No, not necessarily, but the truth that I have affirmed as a Christian is that God will go with me through this broken and uncertain life and through the greatest storm, death itself.

• ·     Who can I intercede for based on these words?

I can intercede for those in my life, even those that are rebelling or unresponsive to me as I try to minister to them instead of harboring any grudge against them or allowing a “safe” distance to be created between us. I can intercede for them, learn to keep my heart aching for them to understand God’s heart and in my prayers peel away the layers of self-protection and the need to be liked or approved of in the eyes of people.

• What verse stands out that I want to remember or meditate on further?

⁷ You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.

⁴ Don’t sin by letting anger control you.  Think about it overnight and remain silent.

PRAYER

Please spend some time praying, referring to the words of the Psalm, and personalizing the Psalm as a prayer for yourself, or as an intercessory prayer for others.  Or, you might want to write out a personal prayer based on the thoughts and words in this Psalm. 

Dear my Righteous God, you hear this prayer and you beckon me to cry out to you.  Thank you that you hear me.  Please God, grant me relief from my distress, that distress of knowing I’ve hurt the precious people in my life because of my careless words and tone, distress from knowing I cannot carry out what you ask me to do because of my sin. Thank you that instead of turning away from me, you desire to give me relief from my distress.  Thank you that somehow, though you are Righteous, though you are Holy, through the costly blood of Jesus, you declare me innocent in the face of all the accusations of my sins and of Satan.  In my clearest moments, I understand that you have given me greater joy than anything else in the world can offer. Joy that cannot be taken away by life circumstances because it’s not dependent on those circumstances. Joy that comes from being forgiven and washed clean of my sin, joy that comes from the hope in the reality of heaven, joy from knowing that I am loved with a rich a pure love though I do not deserve to be.

God, please help me, I am so prone to sin. Please help me not to sin by allowing anger or mood or crankiness or my own lack of self-control to overtake me. Help me God to remain silent, help me remember how you remained silent.  This is what you did as you walked to the cross, as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so you did not open your mouth. You modeled this for me in the deepest, most loving way as you went to the cross.  In my sinful heart, I just want to open my mouth and retaliate or just let loose words to defend myself.  Have mercy on me O God and let me remain silent so that I don’t sin, so that I don’t grieve your heart and hurt those I’m called to love.

Thank you God for giving me peace, that I can rest knowing that my life is in your hands, knowing that I don’t have to be the sole protector of my life.  How sad, how insecure, how unsafe that would be if I’m to be the protector and guardian and master of my life. Thank you God that I can rest in your leading of my life.

–

Submitted by Daniel C. from Gracepoint Berkeley Church

Father, first of all I want to thank you for being a God who hears my prayers. As this psalmist affirms throughout his prayer, you are a God who hears me when I cry out to you. That is such a comfort to me. You are near to those who cry out to you about their distresses, and you have the power to free them from what distresses them. Lord, you know me through and through. I am so full of inner turmoil. Constantly battling my sins, my thoughts, and the many competing voices that I hear. So I am so thankful that you hear my cries for help, that there is someone I can always turn to even to just pour out everything I’m feeling. I see your faithfulness in this, O Lord, that whatever I am going through, you never change your attitude towards me. You always listen to my prayers, and you are always merciful to me. I need you, Lord. It’s a fundamental need of mine to be heard by you and acknowledged by you, to know that you understand what I go through and am concerned about it. I can never say that no one hears or understands me. Thank you Lord, for always hearing me.
Lord, thank you so much for being a refuge for those who you’ve set apart for yourself. Lord, I live in a world that loves delusions and seeks false gods. Everywhere I look – on campus, at my workplace, in all that I read and hear about in the news everyday – people are all chasing so hard after money, success, pleasure, quick and cheap thrills. Every single person is chasing after the same tired things. And there is so much sin and brokenness everywhere, I don’t even want to read all the sick things in the news. People are so hostile to any talk about God and Christianity. They refuse to acknowledge there’s anything wrong with them. In the midst of all this mess, Lord, I often chase after those very same things, especially longing for the approval of others and a sense of being successful in life. So I’m so thankful, that out of your mercy you’ve saved me, you’ve set me apart for yourself, that you call me “godly” though I’m just like every other sinner I see out there, and now I can find refuge in you. I find refuge in you when I call out to you and know that you hear me.
Lord, I was struck today that for those you’ve set apart, they can live in peace, rest, and joy even in the midst of their sins, and in the midst of living in a world hostile to you. I want to affirm again that you are my greatest, most fundamental need. You give me a deeper, more profound joy than anything else I can obtain in this world. After years of being a Christian, I have grown more and more convinced of this. Yet I confess that this is a truth I can wholeheartedly affirm but which my emotions often don’t obey, as in my heart I long for power and for others’ approval.
Father, what I thought of today is that I want to intercede for so many of the college students I know–especially those who I’ve been talking with a lot this year about their struggles with wanting the world. These students are right in the midst of a period of life when they are tempted by the world and all it offers, and by the potential lives they think they can live. They all have certain ideas about how they want their future to pan out, but those ideas are so strongly influenced by the world! Lord, I want to intercede for them now. I pray that they’ll be thoroughly convinced, like this psalmist, that their deepest joy will come in you, not the power and status they lust for, that makes their heart quicken, that causes them to drift away from you. They think that somehow living for you will limit them. That is such a lie; please help them to see this. I pray that they won’t merely intellectually agree that only in you will they have “greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.” They really need to find their true peace and rest and security in you, so that they will not go after all those false and destructive things that promise fulfillment. They are at a stage in their lives when they are bombarded by temptations and lies, when they are right in Satan’s crosshairs, so please protect them and help them come to know that they were made to find lasting fulfillment in you.
Lord, thank you once again. You know me; I was so restless. Wanting to make a name for myself even after I became a Christian. Wanting to accomplish great things, and being restless and edgy because of it. Always feeling like I wasn’t progressing in life fast enough, not realizing what potential I thought I had. I thank you Lord that you have really worked in my life to deliver me from such restlessness, so that I can rest from all that and find peace and contentment in you. Help me to continue to find my rest in you. Please quiet all those voices that sometimes ask me, what are you doing with your life? Help me to rest as your child, as one you’ve set apart for your purposes. Use me to help others find similar rest in you, and to wage war against the lies of the world that cause people to be as restless as I was.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.