Plymothian

The sky is speaking.  It communicates to us about the one who formed it.  Its vastness indicates our smallness.  The one who created the heavens (the sky) is larger than the sky.  The sky’s beauty speaks of creativity and flair.  God has flair.  God is not only the Creator, but he is also creative.  The sky says that God is good.  From the sky comes rain which gives us water.  God provides the most basic element of our survival from the sky.  Sometimes the sky speaks of judgement, like when the rain is withheld.  Sometimes the sky intimidates with the power of thunder and lightning.

In McHenry, IL today God sent snow from the sky.  It is the 18th of April and there is snow. What does that tell us?

Psalm 19

 For the director of music. A psalm of David.

 ¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they reveal knowledge.
³ They have no speech, they use no words;
   no sound is heard from them.
⁴ Yet their voice^[b] goes out into all the earth,
   their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
 ⁵ It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
   like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
⁶ It rises at one end of the heavens
   and makes its circuit to the other;
   nothing is deprived of its warmth.

 ⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect,
   refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
   making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts of the LORD are right,
   giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
   giving light to the eyes.
⁹ The fear of the LORD is pure,
   enduring forever.
The decrees of the LORD are firm,
   and all of them are righteous.

 ¹⁰ They are more precious than gold,
   than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
   than honey from the honeycomb.
¹¹ By them your servant is warned;
   in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² But who can discern their own errors?
   Forgive my hidden faults.
¹³ Keep your servant also from willful sins;
   may they not rule over me.
Then I winll be blameless,
   innocent of great transgression.

 ¹⁴ May these iwords of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
   be pleasing in your sight,
  h LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Questions

1. What two subjtects does the psalm discuss?
2. How are the sky and God’s law connected?
3. Why do predictability and consistency comfort pe ople?
4. When you see the new day, the new sunrise, how can that help you?
5. Thank God that he does not change in essence.

I have just come away from hosting my first seder.  I am glad that I did it, but it was made harder because it was the day after my birthday and my wife had an accident in the Land Rover.  She is fine, but the car was dragged by a seventeen-year-old sideways in a parking lot.  A tow truck had to tear the two cars apart and the car was taken to a place where it will sit until it is fixed.

Although I didn’t read a psalm, I read some scripture as I was preparing for my Jewish-Christian cross-over.  It always puts things in perspective to look at God working with the people of Israel.  My wife was unhurt and that is a blessing.  My foster son was not in the car, and that was a blessing.  The people at the Passover Seder had a good time, and that was a blessing.

Sometimes epics don’t seem to tell the truth.  The epic story is a grand narrative of heroic actions with often supernatural elements.  We think of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars or the Kia Optima commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLGj6iSZvak .  We know how to describe the best of human nature by illustrating virtues and beliefs in these grand stories.

In Psalm 18 we read about God as if he were the hero of an epic.  In a way He is.  He has been the saving hero during the story of David.  David has been able to turn to God and God has helped him, saved him, and exalted him.  The imagery of Psalm 18 figuratively shows the power of the truths that David has realized about God.  The epic language of myth reveals truths about God:  Truths that bring us safety and comfort in the midst of great pain or suffering.

Psalm 18

  For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD. He sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

 ¹I love you, LORD, my strength.

 ² The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
   my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
   my shield^[b] and the horn^[c]of my salvation, my stronghold.

 ³ I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
   and I have been saved from my enemies.
⁴ The cords of death entangled me;
   the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
⁵ The cords of the grave coiled around me;
   the snares of death confronted me.

 ⁶ In my distress I called to the LORD;
   I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
   my cry came before him, into his ears.
⁷ The earth trembled and quaked,
   and the foundations of the mountains shook;
   they trembled because he was angry.
⁸ Smoke rose from his nostrils;
   consuming fire came from his mouth,
   burning coals blazed out of it.
⁹ He parted the heavens and came down;
   dark clouds were under his feet.
¹⁰ He mounted the cherubim and flew;
   he soared on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
   the dark rain clouds of the sky.
¹² Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
   with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
¹³ The LORD thundered from heaven;
   the voice of the Most High resounded.^[d]
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
   with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
¹⁵ The valleys of the sea were exposed
   and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, LORD,
   at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

 ¹⁶ He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
   he drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
   from my foes, who were too strong for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
   but the LORD was my support.
¹⁹ He brought me out into a spacious place;
   he rescued me because he delighted in me.

 ²⁰ The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
   according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of the LORD;
   I am not guilty of turning from my God.
²² All his laws are before me;
   I have not turned away from his decrees.
²³ I have been blameless before him
   and have kept myself from sin.
²⁴ The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
   according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

 ²⁵ To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
   to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
²⁶ to the pure you show yourself pure,
   but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
²⁷ You save the humble
   but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
²⁸ You, LORD, keep my lamp burning;
   my God turns my darkness into light.
²⁹ With your help I can advance against a troop^[e];
   with my God I can scale a wall.

 ³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect:
   The LORD’s word is flawless;
   he shields all who take refuge in him.
³¹ For who is God besides the LORD?
   And who is the Rock except our God?
³² It is God who arms me with strength
   and keeps my way secure.
³³ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
   he causes me to stand on the heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for battle;
   my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You make your saving help my shield,
   and your right hand sustains me;
   your help has made me great.
³⁶ You provide a broad path for my feet,
   so that my ankles do not give way.

 ³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
   I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
³⁸ I crushed them so that they could not rise;
   they fell beneath my feet.
³⁹ You armed me with strength for battle;
   you humbled my adversaries before me.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
   and I destroyed my foes.
⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
   to the LORD, but he did not answer.
⁴² I beat them as fine as windblown dust;
   I trampled them^[f] like mud in the streets.
⁴³ You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;
   you have made me the head of nations.
People I did not know now serve me,
 ⁴⁴ foreigners cower before me;
   as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.
⁴⁵ They all lose heart;
   they come trembling from their strongholds.

 ⁴⁶ The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!
   Exalted be God my Savior!
⁴⁷ He is the God who avenges me,
   who subdues nations under me,
 ⁴⁸ who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
   from a violent man you rescued me.
⁴⁹ Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations;
   I will sing the praises of your name.

 ⁵⁰ He gives his king great victories;
   he shows unfailing love to his anointed,
   to David and to his descendants forever.

Questions

1. What words does David use to talk of God’s protective strength?
2. How would you divide this psalm into sections by theme?
3. What thoughts and feelings would the people of Israel have focused upon when reading this psalm?
4. How have you seen people protected by God?
5. How do you need God’s protection right now?  How would thinking of God in these ‘epic’ terms help you to trust in his strength?

It has been a testing time, but there has been encouragement.  I deserve nothing from God, so these words that people say, even a ‘thank you’, seems like sweet honey.  It was encouraging that God seemed, on two occasions, to allow me to say something particularly helpful to people.  We ask for justice, like Psalm 17, but over time justice is not something I desire.  I desire mercy and compassion for myself and that I might show it to others.

Psalm 17

 Hear me, LORD, my plea is just;
   listen to my cry.
Hear my prayer—
   it does not rise from deceitful lips.
² Let my vindication come from you;
   may your eyes see what is right.

 ³ Though you probe my heart,
   though you examine me at night and test me,
you will find that I have planned no evil;
   my mouth has not transgressed.
⁴ Though people tried to bribe me,
   I have kept myself from the ways of the violent
   through what your lips have commanded.
⁵ My steps have held to your paths;
   my feet have not stumbled.

 ⁶ I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
   turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
⁷ Show me the wonders of your great love,
   you who save by your right hand
   those who take refuge in you from their foes.
⁸ Keep me as the apple of your eye;
   hide me in the shadow of your wings
⁹ from the wicked who are out to destroy me,
   from my mortal enemies who surround me.

 ¹⁰ They close up their callous hearts,
   and their mouths speak with arrogance.
¹¹ They have tracked me down, they now surround me,
   with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
¹² They are like a lion hungry for prey,
   like a fierce lion crouching in cover.

 ¹³ Rise up, LORD, confront them, bring them down;
   with your sword rescue me from the wicked.
¹⁴ By your hand save me from such people, LORD,
   from those of this world whose reward is in this life.
May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies;
   may their children gorge themselves on it,
   and may there be leftovers for their little ones.

 ¹⁵ As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face;
   when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness

Questions

1. What is the cause of this psalm?
2. What does David want from God?
3. How does God’s justice display itself in the Old Testament?
4. How do you want justice?
5. How should we be agents of both justice and mercy?

Today was a day of significant trial, so this walk through the Psalms was personally encouraging.  A key committee that I am on had a busy day, only to find sources of discouragement at the end of long deliberation.  I had my eyes checked over for a possible detached retina.  It was all clear, which means that I must look for another solution to health issues that have bothered me since October of last year.

So, Psalm 16 called me back to the source of my hope.  My colleagues on the committee were personally uplifting.

Psalm 16

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

 ² I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
   apart from you I have no good thing.”
³ I say of the holy people who are in the land,
   “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
⁴ Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
   I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
   or take up their names on my lips.

 ⁵ LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup;
   you make my lot secure.
⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
   surely I have a delightful inheritance.
⁷ I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
   even at night my heart instructs me.
⁸ I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
   With him 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 realm of the dead,
   nor will you let your faithful^[b] one see decay.
¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
   you will fill me with joy in your presence,
   with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Question

• How does this Psalm comfort you today?

God is present everywhere.  This would mean that everyone lives in God’s presence to some degree.  There is the outer limit where it is sometimes described as cast from God’s presence, where there is weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.  There was the presence of God exhibited in the nation of Israel.  Israel had a special relationship with God and he was their national God.  That’s why Jonah left Israel to ‘escape’ God, even though he knew that God was the God of the heavens and sea.  Jerusalem was understood to be God’s holy city, the temple was God’s house, and the Holy of Holies was God’s room.  The presence of God increased as you went through these concentric domains.  Who then lives in God’s presence?  The answer is everyone and no-one.  The path to a deeper experience of God is laid out below.

Psalm 15

A psalm of David.

 ¹ LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
   Who may live on your holy mountain?

 ² The one whose walk is blameless,
   who does what is righteous,
   who speaks the truth from their heart;
³ whose tongue utters no slander,
   who does no wrong to a neighbor,
   and casts no slur on others;
⁴ who despises a vile person
   but honors those who fear the LORD;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
   and does not change their mind;
⁵ who lends money to the poor without interest;
   who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

   Whoever does these things
   will never be shaken.

Questions

1. How can you tell that the temple has not yet been built?
2. What will happen to ‘he who does these thing’?
3. Describe in your own words the person who can enter God’s presence?
4. How have things changed for Christians?
5. Why live in heaven (God’s presence), if hell is easier to get to (away from God’s presence)?

Going Deeper

I’ve been reading a book by Rob Bell and I am not impressed.  His logic is poor and he argues from ‘incredulity’, which is a poor way to argue.  However, he raises some interesting questions.  Get a copy of Love Wins and write in the margins the answers to Rob Bell’s many questions.

The Gap store has become a symbol to some of exploitation( http://articles.cnn.com/2007-10-29/world/gap.labor_1_clothing-retailer-gap-child-labor-gap-kids-stores?_s=PM:WORLD ). I have a pair of pyjamas that I am particularly fond of that are from Gap.  I play with soccer balls made in Pakistan, from living there I know that working conditions are not great.  Because many of us buy from the clearance rack in Gap, Banana Republic, or Old Navy we think of ourselves as poor.  However, our patterns of consumption are at one end of a complex chain that has oppressed and poor people at the other end.  The younger generations are aware of this oppression more than the older ones in the USA and UK.  They alleviate their conscience by taking part in campaigns like the Red campaign, which is part of a bigger movement called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).  Two things are worrying about CSR.  CSR is a PR gimmick which counters the grass roots reporting of oppression.  CSR often gives the workers just enough to maintain their oppression and keeps them there more effectively than letting them starve.  Starving people have nothing to lose and tend to revolt and change their conditions ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpAMbpQ8J7g ).

As Gerald Wilson points out in his commentary on Psalm 14, the striking element of Psalm 14 is how ‘evildoers’ is a reference to all of us:  “there is no-one who does good …”  Our tendency not to think of ourselves as doing evil is the tendency to live as though there was no God, what The Chapel addresses as ‘practical atheism’.  We are often fools who are shopping in godless ways.  We shop as though there is no God.

Psalm 14

For the director of music. Of David.

 ¹ The fool^[a] says in his heart,
   “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
   there is no one who does good.

 ² The LORD looks down from heaven
   on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
   any who seek God.
³ All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
   there is no one who does good,
   not even one.

 ⁴ Do all these evildoers know nothing?

   They devour my people as though eating bread;
   they never call on the LORD.
⁵ But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
   for God is present in the company of the righteous.
⁶ You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
   but the LORD is their refuge.

 ⁷ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
   When the LORD restores his people,
   let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Questions

1. How are atheists described in this passage?
2. Who has turned away from God?
3. Is the restoration of God’s people past, present, or future in this psalm?
4. How are today’s atheists foolish?
5. How do Christians live day to day lives as though there were no God?

Going Deeper

Check out some of the intelligent 11 minutes videos from The Royal Society for the Arts.  See how compatible they are with biblical truth. http://comment.rsablogs.org.uk/videos/

In our limited perspective as humans where 70 years is a long time, to wait for a year seems like a long time.  There are studies that say our perceptions of a long time and a short time are changing.  People in the west now think of a second as a long time (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3oIiH7BLmg ).  The Lord develops patience and trust in us as we learn to wait longer periods of time for justice to be done.  However, like the whining children that we are, we ask “How long?”  It is the cry of a desperate heart, but God responds in his own good time.  It was the same 3,500 years ago, and it will be the same until the end of time.

Psalm 13

 For the director of music. A psalm of David.

 ¹ How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?
   How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
   and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
   How long will my enemy triumph over me?

 ³ Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
   Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
⁴ and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
   and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

 ⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
   my heart rejoices in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing the LORD’s praise,
   for he has been good to me.

Questions

1. Why do you think the psalmist repeats, “How long?”
2. To what does the psalmist change focus?
3. How is this a lesson in how to be patient?
4. When do you cry out, “How long?”
5. How can you learn from the psalmist how to be both authentic and patient?

Going Deeper

How do U2 in their 1983 song Sunday Bloody Sunday, show the same longing as David when they long to see the end of the violence in Northern Ireland? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQZLPV6xcHI  How has God resolved the issues in Northern Ireland?

When I was younger I was betrayed.  I was rarely betrayed in friendships, but I was betrayed in love.  I would sometimes wake in the night replaying discussions where I was lied to.  I would think of the injustice, the betrayal, and the pain.  It would throb in my chest and my head would ache just trying to comprehend it.  Sometimes I was the betrayer.  I forgave myself quite easily at the time.  It was necessary, or I just enjoyed the thrill of deception too much.  I was young and irresponsible, but I see more clearly now that I perpetuated a cycle of betrayal and revenge.  In my own vendetta against the opposite sex, I was living out a twisted justice.

In Psalm 12, David rails against betrayal in some trusted relationship.  It is comfort that David felt the betrayal many of us have felt.  It is a cold reminder of the harm that we do when we betray others.

Psalm 12

For the director of music. According to sheminith.^[b] A psalm of David.

 ¹ Help, LORD, for no one is faithful anymore;
   those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
² Everyone lies to their neighbor;
   they flatter with their lips
   but harbor deception in their hearts.

 ³ May the LORD silence all flattering lips
   and every boastful tongue—
⁴ those who say,
   “By our tongues we will prevail;
   our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”

 ⁵ “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
   I will now arise,” says the LORD.
   “I will protect them from those who malign them.”
⁶ And the words of the LORD are flawless,
   like silver purified in a crucible,
   like gold^[c] refined seven times.

 ⁷ You, LORD, will keep the needy safe
   and will protect us forever from the wicked,
⁸ who freely strut about
   when what is vile is honored by the human race.

Questions

1. What is David’s main complaint?
2. How does David find comfort?
3. Why would this be a song to be sung by a large group of people?
4. How have you felt like David?
5. What songs do you turn to in a time of betrayal?

Going Deeper

When Phil Collins was betrayed by his wife he made a song called “Do you know?  Do you care?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5-qRum7lgU&feature=related Listen to it and see how the emotion parallels that of David.

Read the lyrics below.  What do they lack?

“Do You Know, Do You Care”

You said you would, you didn’t and I wanna know why
And don’t make no excuses
You promised, you promised, you better explain
Tho’ I don’t know what the use is
You said you could, you couldn’t, now why did you lie
You made it look so easy
You did it, why do it, what was your point?
Laughing while you tease me

Oh, do you know and do you care?

I said I did, I shouldn’t cos the magic will go
It happened once before
You’ll see it, you’ll steal it and take it away
And then come back for more
Don’t say you weren’t, you were ‘cos I saw you myself
It’s too late for your reason
You’re lying, you’re lying, you’ve done it this time
I’m sick of all the cheating

Oh, well do you know and do you care?

‘Cos I watch you
oo every day I watch you pass me by
I’ll get you
Yes in the end I’ll get you
Just watch me try

Oh you make it hard to be hard but I’m trying my best
Cos down inside I’m burnin’
You want it, you get it, now take it and run
I’ll hide how much it’s hurtin’

Oh, well do you know and do you care?
Oh, well do you know and do you care?

When things seem overwhelming Christians withdraw.  We have formed many Christian schools that hide us from the rest of the world.  We can sometimes withdraw from those around us who are strange, sinful, or somehow different from us.  The psalmis in today’s psalm is under pressure again.  He is mocked by those who expect him to flee, “Fly away little birdie!”  However, he engages with those who threaten him by taking a stand in the presence of God.  God is present with us at all times.  If we change our focus from the foes that surround us and the oppression that scares us to the calm assurance that God is with us, we can transform the world that we live in.  If we flee, we will leave the world less transformed by our God.

Psalm 11

For the director of music. Of David.

 ¹ In the LORD I take refuge.
   How then can you say to me:
   “Flee like a bird to your mountain.
² For look, the wicked bend their bows;
   they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
   at the upright in heart.
³ When the foundations are being destroyed,
   what can the righteous do?”

 ⁴ The LORD is in his holy temple;
   the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
   his eyes examine them.
⁵ The LORD examines the righteous,
   but the wicked, those who love violence,
   he hates with a passion.
⁶ On the wicked he will rain
   fiery coals and burning sulfur;
   a scorching wind will be their lot.

 ⁷ For the LORD is righteous,
   he loves justice;
   the upright will see his face.

Questions

1. Whose psalm is this?
2. What kind of pressures might David have felt to flee?
3. How did Israel benefit from David standing firm in God?
4. What pressures have you felt to withdraw?
5. How do others benefit when you stand firm with God?