Peace that makes no sense at all . . .

 

 

READ Psalm 41-45

These days there is lots of talk about returning to ‘normal’ yet is there such a thing? Life is filled with ups and downs and I often say that normal is only a setting on the clothes dryer!

Today’s reading has very few ‘ups’ in it, mostly ‘downs’ — and those contrasts reveal what is normal, at least usual or common in the life of God’s people. The reading starts out with promises of protection, reputation and good health to those who take care of the poor and weak people in their midst:

Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. (Psalm 41:1–3)

It continues as the psalmist speaks of God’s blessings because of his integrity, but as believers realize, even integrity is also a gift of God’s grace:

By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever. (Psalm 41:11–12)

However, the next chapters tell of the downside. The psalmist is in turmoil because God seems missing and his enemies are making fun of him:

As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (Psalm 42:10–11)

For emphasis, this last lament is repeated in the next psalm, yet even at the bottom of the normal curve, he realizes that his situation will change and eventually he will again praise God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (Psalm 43:5)

The next psalm shows a rise in the writer’s life. His mood has changed for he is praising God instead of questioning Him. His confidence is not in his own resources but in His God:

You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob! Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah (Psalm 44:4–8)

This does not last long for soon he again is looking at his problems and feeling as if God has rejected him:

You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face at the sound of the taunter and reviler, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger. All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way; yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart. Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! (Psalm 44:14–26)

I have the same ups and downs. Life is not a straight line and ‘normal’ is merely a wish. God wants me to be calm, trusting Him and knowing He is with me — no matter what is going on in my world or in the world in general. In Christ, normal is not about the news, nor having constant goodness and acceptable circumstances — it is about having peace in my heart:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4–7)

This peace surpasses understanding because it is a gift from God that is with me without any relationship to those constant ups and downs of life!

 

 

Confidence Builders

 

2 Kings 2; Psalms 112–113; Daniel 6; 2 Thessalonians 2

Without getting into the back story of how spiritual gifts work and how I know what my dominant gifts are, when I asked the Lord yesterday about what He wants me doing, He made it clear that my two gifts combine to define the answer to that question: I’m to gather information about Him, myself, and others so that I can pray in His will. He also made it clear that keeping my life pure before Him is important to seeing Him and responding appropriately.

This morning I read about the power of a righteous man, Elisha. He parted water to cross a river, cleansed foul water so people could drink it and use it on their crops, and directed God to deal with several young men who mocked him because of their bad attitude toward the God he served. God does not give everyone such power yet that He can and could still do it. This builds my confidence in Him.

The reading from Psalm 112 did the same thing, partly because I see Him blessing me in these ways as He works in my own life.

Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor. The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish! (Psalm 112:1–10)

A couple thoughts stand out. The first is the promise about offspring. I pray for my adult children and their families each day and in these verses, I hear God say, “I’ve got them covered.” He is answering my prayers.

The second is no fear of bad news. This year has been filled with it. Many people are terrified about many things including Covid-19 and the outcome of the American election. I’m not — and I realize this is a gift from God. My part is simple: fear God, delight in His commands, be gracious, merciful and righteous, generous, just, trusting God and taking care of others as I rely on Him. While this infuriates some people, God will take care of them too. I’m stunned at His grace and would not trade it for anything.

Daniel illustrates the promises of Psalm 112 much more than I do. He did everything without error or fault but as the psalmist says, those who didn’t honor God decided to destroy Daniel. They tricked the king into a decree that put anyone who prayed to any god other than him would get tossed to the lions. Daniel heard yet he continued to pray as he usually did. His enemies reported him and the king was reluctant but had to keep the decree. The king could not sleep and fasted. In the morning, he rushed to the lions’ den and found Daniel alive. “Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” (Daniel 6:21–22)

The men who tried to kill him were destroyed and the king declared that all his kingdom were to “tremble and fear before the God of Daniel . . . .” and so “Daniel prospered.”

The bottom line is that God is faithful; He keeps His promises. One big one is that Jesus will return. Those who laugh at this are ignorant or dismiss His track record. He does what He says He will do. However, we often get things wrong about His return. In the NT, some believers thought they missed it (see 2 Thessalonians 2) and needed reassurance.

These days, theories abound. Yet one thing is certain; He said He will return and there is every reason to believe that He will keep this promise too. I cannot guess when or how it will happen nor have I ever been able to second-guess what God will do. His future always surprises me because His revelations are for the need of the moment. He makes promises, but how He fulfills them is not given. After the Second Coming, I simply doubt that anyone will be able to say, “I told you so.”

APPLY: “Therefore, preparing my mind for action, and being sober-minded, set my hope fully on the grace that will be brought to me at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13) and “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of my prayers.” (1 Peter 4:7, both verses personalized)