#686 What is Man

O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

7 all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 8 ESV

How majestic - I remember parts of this Psalm as it was sung in my childhood, and I try to think of this as a king here writing about something much grander than any position upon this earth. You are not just God of those who believe in You, not just the God of Israel, but even of all who do not acknowledge You. This is a king writing in submissive manner praise to the One Who is not only above the earth, but also the heavens, no creature, no matter, nothing comes into being without Him. He was before all things and through His Son all things were made. God's glory cannot be exhausted, words will not suffice.

Out of the mouth of babies and infants - God does often use the weak things to confound the wise. David's own life as a young man was a rebuke to two armies, those that said they were of the Lord, and those that mocked the God of Israel, Who is the God of all. David killed Goliath, making the Philistines tremble and many in Israel jealous. He was a whelp with a sling and some stones, not a trained warrior, but he desired the honor of God. 

The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them. 15 But the chief priests and scribes were indignant when they saw the wonders He did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” 16“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered, “have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”…Matthew 21: 14-16

The lame have often silenced my whining, for how can I be so cross when the cripple is smiling at me? Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of heaven. David is becoming that child here, recognizing the greater in God, and also seeing that strength which comes from the strangest of places, our weakness. 

Your heavens - The universe itself is unfathomable, and we may assign more numbers, attest to greater distances, in every age discover more, but we cannot be in all those places, nor make them. I shall never know all the intricate details of my own body, much less the billions of stars in the universe. Stop and consider the creation, pull your eyes away from your smart phone and turn over some rocks. How majestic, how marvelous is the Creator of all these things. 

Mindful of him - You, Who by Your word has made the universe and man, who is such a small thing in it, what is this speck to You? I know that You see me, but why do You care to? My very nature is fallen and unholy, so why do You persist to know me, to save me, when surely You could simply erase the memory of me? Does anyone notice the grain of sand that is missing from the beach they walk upon?   

Lower than the angels - Angels are more magnificent in power than humans, and they have greater access now than humans. 

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere,

“What is man, that you are mindful of him,

or the son of man, that you care for him?

7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels;

you have crowned him with glory and honor,

8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2: 5-9

Under his feet - Man has been given dominion over the earth and it's resources. We should manage these things to God's honor and glory, respecting first those made in His image and also the animals, plants, and other materials that He has placed under our care and usage. We should rule with neither greed nor laziness, but as stewards entrusted with this planet. Remember the Sabbath, that the earth belongs to the Creator, let the land and the people rest. Do not terrorize the animals, do not poison your water or the place where others drink. It is easy to destroy, but it takes a long time to rebuild, so use in sustainable fashion. There is much here that gives credit to the majesty of God.  

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#685 Refuge From Man

O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.


3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah


6 Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.


8 The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.


12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.


17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. Psalm 7 ESV

A song for the slandered. David writes this describing his trial with Cush, the Benjamite. He describes his enemies as lions in pursuit. David is being stalked, and this will happen often in life, that men will paint a picture of you, write a story about you, and then tell others it is a biography, a non fiction. King Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin, and he saw David as a usurper, challenger. People are quick to believe evil about you when they are in want of it, when they cannot do right for themselves, it is the story they need told, the perception they want others to hold. These stories chase you, nipping at your heels, following you from one place to the next, until God so intervenes that you are made known as other than they say. It only takes one person to take the time to get to know you, to see your work and consider the source, and chase the dogs away. They were never lions, just ill bred dogs, if you stop running they will become uncertain. 

Awake for me - David is weary of the slander, and he knows that God has appointed this to the place of all sin. He has judged that it is wrong to lie and to lie against another. God does not sleep, yet a day can be as a thousand years, and where He seems slow to us to react, I have to be thankful, for if He would have acted against me quickly then I would not be here to write this now. Nevertheless, take it to Him, present Him with what He already knows, because this is the help to you, that He sees what you cannot. 

According to my righteousness - What they are saying about me is not true and others are believing it, so I need the One Who sees everything to take up my cause. Only You can judge, for it has come down to my word against his, and this person has the earthly kings ear. 

If a man does not repent - David is not speaking to inherent righteousness, a sinless life, for that is easily demonstrated in other poems and by the books about the kings. He will also say to God, "against You and You only have I sinned." No one says of eternity, judge me by my righteousness, but rather they repent and ask for the righteousness that is imputed to them by faith. Here, he is not guilty of the accusation and he is also warning the liar that though God may not move immediately, don't deceive yourself, because He has already decided against evil. God has already judged these things, and those who do not repent will face His sword. 

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#684 Uncomfortable Silence

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly troubled.
But you, O Lord—how long?


4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?


6 I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eye wastes away because of grief;
it grows weak because of all my foes.


8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. Psalm 6 ESV

A song to be played upon string and not just any instrument, but the 8 string harp.
Discipline me in Your wrath - It does not say on which occasion David wrote this, but he was known famously for Bathsheba, for lying, conspiring to deceive Uriah, and then murder. He also took many wives, was unequally yoked and a father who preferred to be a companion or "friend" rather than a parent. He is the king, but there is still One greater, and so that One, the Creator, God, will not fail to discipline His own. It says, whom the Lord loveth, He chaseneth. There is not a rock in the river that is left unshaped. 

I am languishing - Other versions will say weak, and this is good recognition on the part of the poet. He is not foolish enough to come and ask for grace based upon his merit. His merit is what brought him to this place, our free will is what chooses our detriment, not what saves us. We need to no better than to ask upon our works, for they are as filthy rags, rather ask for mercy undeserved, that is an honest request, "Lord have pity upon me, for I fail to progress in my own strength. I am weak and feel it down to the marrow, shaken physically and spiritually, I can do nothing but plead." We may ask our heavenly Father for what we do not deserve, and we may also ask for comfort while He is conforming us to the image of Christ. 

For the sake of Your steadfast love - Not because of the things I have done, but for Your own glory and honor, that You loved me in the most powerful of ways. Save me because I am Your child, I belong to You. Let me live that I may praise You.

I flood my bed with tears - Remember Christ in the garden, the tears of blood, anxiety over the coming separation, the moment when His Father's back will be turned, the hours when His wrath will be upon Him. He would be chastened not for the sake of His sin, for He knew none, but for mine and yours. David is crying over physical pain, anguish, the state of being separated from God due to walking a path that God does not honor. We should suspect to grieve over sickness, pain, loss, but if ever we would make the connection to grieve the sin that got us here. Praise God, dear David, that He has not left you without the correction of a son.

The Lord accepts my prayer - Most do not prepare to pray, do not pray, or consider it a bother that must happen quickly, be gotten through. Others, like David, find times when it is revealed to them that there is no other place to go. They wrestle in prayer, cry in prayer, groan, and they are shone a most glorious light in prayer, a peace that does not match the circumstances. 

Let your gentleness be apparent to all. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.…Philippians 4: 5-7

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#683 Wrecked to See

Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.


4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.


7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.


9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.


11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover him with favor as with a shield. Psalm 5 ESV

A song to be sung with the accompaniment of the flute, or so some think the title comes to mean. 
Give ear to my words - It is as though there were a prayer preceding the prayer, hear my words, Oh Lord. David seems to ask for God's attention both to what he says and also his groaning, that innermost prayer, the halls of so many voices and images, the chewing contemplation, that meditation of the heart. Lord, here are the letters from my enemy, I am going to pray but I am not so certain of what to ask, though my heart is vexed within me. This is the way he starts his day, prayer and sacrifice, then he waits and watches. The king refers to God as his King and God for there is none higher to appeal to, and there is none more righteous to guide. How much do you put into prayer? The answer will coincide or intersect with how much you put upon it.

You are not a God - Pray with the understanding of Who God is, what He has revealed about Himself. He hates wickedness so David aims his prayer upon this notion that God will correct the wicked. They are not only wicked but boast in it, and we know that the Lord gives grace to the humble, He shows compassion to the lowly, but He resist the proud. God, they reject the very idea of mercy and forgiveness, they are liars who love violence, blood is to them like water.

But I, through the abundance of Your steadfast love - What is the difference between the wicked and David? That is simple, David does not rest upon his own merit but rather God's steadfast love, His mercy overflowing. He has most graciously brought David to the place of looking up, and He has most compassionately revealed to Him his own sin and need. He bows down in fear, yet he is able to enter. The leader asked to be lead, the captain, king and warrior want to hold the hand of his heavenly father, to be taken by the way he would never have imagined, the road that has to be revealed.

No truth in their mouth - Be aware of the flatterer, the oily tongue, the words that go down sweetly but are empty of nourishment. It's an open grave, don't be deceived lest you fall in, for surely there is nothing there that leads unto life. Lord, do what is just, and please make my way straight.

Who take refuge - There are those that come to rejoice, not because of their own righteousness, but the righteousness of God that has been revealed to them and in them, that is their place of refuge. They pray at first like children, crying, Abba, and they see that God hears them, but then they neglect to pray for a time, because all in the physical is good. These things fall apart and so they come to pray again, but will He listen they wonder, is He still there? God answers the smallness of the child where he is at, but He is never satisfied with the soul that remains a babe forever. They now find themselves wrestling in prayer, meditating upon the law, confessing not only the sin they thought had disqualified them, but also the sin of a stunted life, that they had not sought to know the Lord any deeper than their physical want. These are humbled yet again so that they may grow to become young men. Prepare to pray!

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#682 Song's Companion

4 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!


2 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.


4 Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.


6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
7 You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.


8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4 ESV

David was a musician long before he became a king. He was a player of the harp and this song was written to be given to the chief musician that it might be played and sung. This king was also a prophet and we will find the messianic message and contemplation in some of his songs. This is a beautiful prayer.

When I was in distress - Looking back on the road here, there were many bumps along the way, yet the hand of God was unmistakably present in seeing David through. Lord, we may say, You are holy and I cannot hold up my end to that standard, but I remember calling out to You in times past and that You delivered me. Will You hear me once more? 

My glory to shame - Many good men have been attacked by men of lesser character, and David has his faults for sure, but he has also confessed them and sought God again in humility, through the law, in poetry and song, fasting in sack cloth and ashes. God is not held to respond when we do these things, He is not a vending machine, but He does seem so inclined to hear the prayers of the honest, not for their many words, but for their hope and sincerity. In this pond there is also the reflection of the Son of David, the seed of God, for every great miracle He performed before men, for all His good works, those that only cleaned the outside of the cup did mock and accuse. David can mourn over such slander because all men are guilty and what would you do in the place of such power, how is it that you cannot come to rejoice in his repentance? Now, while the reflection in the old testament is disturbed, the surface is not as placid but the image is of Christ. Jesus will bring the purest of clarity to this, for he is without blemish, yet when His disciple eat they are accused of breaking the Sabbath. When he heals on the Sabbath He is accused of defying God's law. When He cast out demons they say that he does it by Satanic power, black magic. When He tells them He is God they seek to stone Him. 

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the show bread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple [a]profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord [b]even of the Sabbath.”

Healing on the Sabbath

9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him. Matthew 12:1-14

Be angry and sin not - Hate the wickedness but do not let your anger become an excuse for vain retaliation, let God judge. He remembers a place to take this, the quiet meditation on His bed, talking to God, pondering the things of God, the mercies of God, it is like aloe for the soul, when we contemplate the sovereignty of God. 

Grain and wine abound - They thought, I thought too, that all was so well and could never be so grand as when the feast was laid out and the drink would not stop flowing. But I have experienced what they do not know, the joy that You bring in the darkest and coldest of nights or in the morning that looks upon a battle where I am outnumbered. His relationship with God is better than all his earthly comforts. 

A relationship with God is that peace that passes all understanding. I feel sorrow for those that cannot bear to be alone, for it is there that I have often found the greatest company. 

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#681 Unworthy You Say

O Lord, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
2 many are saying of my soul,
“There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah


3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4 I cried aloud to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah


5 I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.


7 Arise, O Lord!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.


8 Salvation belongs to the Lord;
your blessing be on your people! Selah Psalm 3 ESV

This is the poem about the time of David's trouble with Absalom. Below are the links to that part of the scripture which records the history. 

2 Samuel 15

2 Samuel 16 Absalom

2 Samuel 17

2 Samuel 18

When we think of our enemies it is a dark place to have to visit the faces of those who we called friends, advisers, and worse, family. David is being hunted by his own son and his counselor, Ahithophel.  

There is no salvation for him in God - I think only God may rightly determine if this is so, but it could play well upon our anxieties, for David could easily trace the events prior to this. He could think that maybe they are right, for am I not guilty of treason against God's moral law? I stole, I lied and I murdered. His enemies may think they have taken the best side in this, they are in the seat of right and fit to judge, for they know the stories well and the rumors even better. This is where we are in danger of embracing doubt, or ideals that are worse than our sins, for we are so caught up in our despair that we come to believe that there is no God for us to cry out to. Like Judas, we hang ourselves thinking there is nothing left, and this same cloud hung over the Apostle Peter when he denied Christ himself. It is depressing, but the rope took Judas nowhere, and to see the memories of our worst days is only a micron in a galaxy of sin's potential. Peter confessed to Christ that he was a sinful man, and often times our worst enemy is the self that doesn't make this confession. Ah, have I become so much a sinner that I cannot pray, that I may not confess, or was I so sick all along? It is the sick that need a physician, so cry out.

I will not be afraid - Those that judge our past may be so blind to their own, but David has cried out, and he has realized that God has sustained him all along. If we trust in ourselves then there is good reason to fret, but when we trust in God, then the thousands are a small lot.  

Salvation belongs to the Lord - I have summed up my stance on salvation in that very phrase. I am a Christian, who believes the Bible to be the word of God, that mankind is in a fallen state, that God is Holy and just, and so hates sin. I believe in the total depravity of mankind and our inability to save ourselves, and for that I am labeled a Calvinist, though John Calvin was just a man, as Paul or Apollos, but I am more than happy to be numbered with them, counted among those who believe that salvation is of the Lord. It is a most blessed and undeserved gift, to be able to cry out to the One Who knew you before you were born, Who owes you nothing, yet has made Himself known. David could have given up, if it were merit based then rightly so, but he is not the author nor the finisher of his salvation, and he had nothing to offer God but a broken life, a pile of bad decisions to be heaped upon his Savior. 

Gull

An Eagle

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#680 Despite All Your Rage

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”


4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”


7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”


10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Psalm 2

Peoples plot in vain - There was this tower called Babel, and some of the old Jewish writers said that it was an attempt of men, a plot of one of the earliest dictators, Nimrod, to build a tower so high, to reach into the heavens. They would not suffer the flood again, and would think themselves capable of deliverance by their own hand. We will not suffer the yoke of God, so let us lay up one of brick and mortar, as if He does not own these things as well. Water is not the only cleanser, and He that sits upon the heavens must laugh, knowing that He will send His anointed One, that He has chosen a King to be above all Kings. 

See Babel #34

Holds them in derision - They are held in contempt of reason, trying to get at a God Who they cannot build a tower to meet. Men are in the same delusion who would put their trust in other men, in systems, politicians, earthly rulers and works of their flesh. God laughs, for He Who has spoken the world into existence has already declared the way of all joy and peace, and has set up His own Son to rule. Who is more fit? He is the Son of God after all, and was He not promised at the fall? 

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11: 29-30

Today I have begotten You - Christ was not created, but begotten of the Father. It is an important contrast for many false teachers would build a tower that they think brings them up to God, pulling Christ also down to them, but there was nothing ever made that was not made through Him. 

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.…Colossians 1: 15-17

Kiss the Son - I watch men at my work, running and tripping over one another, trying to be the next in line to kiss the ring. They work hard at being noticed, but could accomplish so much more actual work, if they spent more time looking into the truth. It becomes a time when doing is just as good to men as doing well or right. They make decisions, and no matter how poor they are they want to be commended for them. You cannot buy off Christ, the King of kings is not so easily flattered, and he is not blind to the ways of your heart. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him, and that needs no further explanation. 

And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh: King of kings and Lord of lords. 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,…Revelation 19:15-17

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#679 Only Way He Knows

1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.


3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.


5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish. Psalm 1

For all our talk of individuality, being "yourself", my own man, and all our differences, there are but two kinds of men here in this chapter. The poet speaks of the blessed, and all else are not, but those who are made holy, set apart, and this is what God's people are being made to look like. 

Counsel of the wicked - Many a man has forfeited the counsel of God in preference of those who think they have no need for Him. I suppose they exist somehow by their own power, and with that sort of confidence they beguile many to listen to them. The blessed are not so impressed by the heroes of men, their scales are not built to the respect of violence, money or outward appearance. The counsel of the Lord has not always come from kings, rarely in fact, and so many times it has been the one in camel skin, a lonely voice in the wilderness, the root out of dry ground. The blessed have learned to measure both the message and the messenger against the Word of God. 

Way of sinners - It is a difficult day, as devastating and as beautiful as can be understood of a time or place, the day we say farewell to the way of destruction. There is a path that leads to destruction, the wages of sin is death, the flesh testifies of decay, but the path I once lived on did not acknowledge the spirit, so it was not afraid of what it could not see. I did not know that I was already dead in that way, for I was surrounded by friends, family and excitement. I had already elevated the counsel of the wicked, that nothing mattered, that what felt good to me was good, because there was no God, and I found solace in so many like minded people. There is a path, and while it may intersect with so many others, and we are not to leave these places without light, we still must stay the course of righteousness. It is the babe in Christ and the younger of the young men that crave a physical journey. Those that are stunted, so oft inside themselves,  will so disdain the way of the ungodly but for fear make it a place of geographical location. They refuse to walk any further, worried that they will once again come upon the places of the world, and it is good they have come to detest sin, but who then is to be the light of those dark crossroads? We know that there is nothing but death on the path of the wicked, that we cannot be conformed to the image of this world, but someone has to have compassion, they have to speak to those at the intersections of life, to offer the hope, the love, and truth of the gospel. 

Seat of scoffers - The blessed do not have time to sit with those who mock others, and they themselves feel ashamed of those times that they have been so entertained. We often look down the bridge of our noses at those who are our brothers and sisters, and like Job's friends, we assess the struggles of their lives as warranting both the pain of itself and our disdain. The feet of saints could be yours, and the wings of angels may be my arms, a little empathy can turn the wheels of compassion that carry the hurting to comfort. I do not agree with those who steer away from the truth, that think when the Bible says, "love covers a multitude of sins", that it means to cover up. It is not love if it is in denial, and God has not shown us a blind example, but offered up His Son to reconcile these things, that men are dead in their trespasses and sins, God is Holy and Just, and that blood of the only spotless lamb was sufficient to cover our sins. So without scorn we should remember the way we first walked, that we could not save ourselves, and with patience tell the truth in love. 

His delight is in the law of the Lord - Where do the blessed go for counsel? Where do the righteous find truth, learn of their sin, this breach between God and man? 

15From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.…2 Timothy 3: 15-17

The blessed have the light of Scripture, it is precious to them, and the more they are there, the more like food it becomes to them. There is a place and a way for every man, but the just live by faith, not blind or mustered up, they are guided by the Word of God, that light unto their path. There comes a time when a man's eyes are opened, that he begins to hunger for the Word of God, that he not only reads it but chews upon it throughout the day, prays it when he is alone, and then like a baby deer he gets up, stumbling at first, but then walking in it, the way. It does not stop here, for those that have been emptied of themselves can be filled to overflowing. 

He is like a tree - A tree planted by water is always well fed, and a good tree brings forth fruit. There is a practice among those who care for orchards, that they graft the branches of a weaker tree into the tree that has survived the cold, and it is like this with those who are being saved, that they are grafted into the vine that is Christ, who has conquered sin and death. We live because of Him, we live through Him and are accepted by God because of Him. 

Like chaff - The wicked are the only other type mentioned here, for God and reason have kept it this simple. The fruit of wheat is the grain and men would set up threshing floors on knolls that kissed the autumn wind. When you toss the grain into the air, there is a thin, paper like covering, that is light and of no value to the farmer, the wheat is heavy enough to fall back to the floor, but the chaff is carried away by the wind. Such is the wisdom of the wicked, God does not hold to these ways, Christ was the only offered way, all else just blows away. 

3You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock. 4You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. 5They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered, they became food for all the wild beasts.…Ezekiel 34:3-5

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#678 Summation of Job (Happiness and Joy)

The first chapter of Job starts with a description of the man who lends his name to this book. He is described as being upright and blameless, a man that other men would be wise to use as an example. Job is a man of great means, a man with a wife and family, and with all these things he is quite happy. He is a man who prays to God and attributes his blessings as from Him. His children live well and in happy communion with each other, yet for all that goes so well with him materially, he is not lax in his tributes to God. Job even acts as the priest to his family, making sacrifices against sins known and unknown. 

And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Ezekiel 22:30

Then there is a conversation that occurs in the heavens, between the great Leviathan and the One Who made him. "Consider My servant Job", and what follows this becomes an argument against the very fabric of human religion and philosophy at that time. God allows the devil to test Job, to see whether he will curse God or not. To the devil, Job is faithful because he is blessed, a rich man with a good family life, many servants, livestock, land and other holdings. He is Your dog because You feed him well. He regards You because he is happy. This is a contest between happiness and joy, the battle between darkness and knowledge, the material and faith. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul. If you see riches as the great end, comfort and the guard against the ills of poverty, then money may find you happy for a moment. If you see health as the greatest gift, then the God you think has given it to you, is to you a God worthy in deed. Men chase after happiness, drink to it, play for it, roll it up in paper and smoke it, but that is all fleeting, temporary. 

When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth. 23Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”…Matthew 19: 22-24

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15: 13

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, James 1:2

There is a temptation in the temporary, to elevate it into and above eternity. Many false prophets put the happiness they find in money, sex, human honor and prestige, above the joy that rests in God alone. All these things have been made, yet men cannot seem to count them in there place, and elevate them to the here after, a heaven that brings them many virgins and a god more like that jolly fat man at Christmas, that to them is pure joy. They cannot account for the songs of Paul and Silas, the chorus that comes from those beaten and imprisoned for the gospel's sake. It cannot reconcile that smile that breaks across the face of the child of God, who though in constant pain, through stained glass windows, still manages to glimpse a Sovereign God. There is a comfort that His children find in the knowledge that in whatsoever state they may find themselves, there is reason to be content, more than this, there is reason to feel blessed. He is there in the gloomiest of days, that dark is only the shadow of His wings, for He will never leave you or forsake you, and all the riches of this dying world cannot compare to the love of God. Happiness is fleeting, it is smoke, a warm embrace, the strength to run the hills, fight the enemies of your ego, and hold a moment of what you think is joy. Joy is the assurance of salvation, the relationship you have with the Creator of the universe, and she is different from her sister, happiness, for joy has overcome the present and rest safe inside the eternal. 

In Job we find a man of faith, integrity, and a man who is broken yet unwilling to curse God. He is challenged, as his friends are, in that they relate the wealth of this world to their merit with God, yet Job, who God has spoken highly of, is now left without children, without livestock, poor and of poor health. His friends judge him as the wicked, for to them there can be no other explanation then that Job has committed a great treason against the Creator of the universe, otherwise he would not have lost his estate. Humans should judge by merit rather than by color, sex or any outward appearance, but God is even above merit, for He is holy and we are not. Job's friends would suspect that God should live in a box that takes the tokens of merit and spits out the objects of desire, but God owes no man such a system. Job comes to hear him out of the whirl wind and finds himself without so many words. He comes to see himself as inadequate and begging for a mediator. 

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#677 Pray For Me Job

Then Job replied to the Lord:

2 “I know that you can do all things;

no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me to know.

4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.’

5 My ears had heard of you

but now my eyes have seen you.

6 Therefore I despise myself

and repent in dust and ashes.”

Epilogue

7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years. Job 42 NIV

I know You can do all things - This sounds similar to Christ when He says, "let this cup pass from me," He says it before the great trial of the cross, and here Job says it after his trials. Faith is not blind to harsh circumstances, it may even flirt with doubt for a moment, but in the end it is "nevertheless not my will but Yours be done." No one gets one over on God, and I should have known that this was to your purpose and end. 

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand - I thought I knew what I was talking about, I thought I knew your purpose, your MO, but I misspoke. Those who find it hard to relate to Job here are without doubt disconnected from reality. There are things too wonderful, beyond our comprehension, I have heard of many things that I cannot wrap my head around, but Job is finding that this is ok, that he is not God, but God has spoken to Him.

Therefore I despise myself - I said some stupid and ignorant things. I spoke out of my pain and loss, but it was wrong. I despised the day of my birth, and that was not my right. I started to doubt your intentions, and for a moment I thought You owed me an answer, but again I was wrong. For this Job repents, not from the secret sin that his friends assumed, but for those wrong thoughts and words that came after the loss of his children and during his physical affliction. 

I am angry with you - God confronts Job's friends but what is curious here is that Elihu, who ranted quite a bit, is left out. Some of what he said and Job's friends said was correct by way of some proverbial cliché, but the premise and application were all wrong. I think God does not address Elihu because of his pride, he claimed to speak on behalf of God, yet God is not here acknowledging him. He desired the spotlight, yet God has left him to stand here in silence. Some say it is because Elihu was correct in his address, but he regurgitated much of the same as the others, things Job knew and things based upon Job being punished for some great sin. I don't think he was left out for being God's prophet, but rather shunned for speaking beyond what he knew. 

The anger of the LORD will not diminish until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand it clearly. 21I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. 22But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people and turned them back from their evil ways and evil deeds.”…Jeremiah 23: 20-22

It is interesting that this started out with Job's great calamity, and his friends coming to comfort him. This quickly turned to debate, and Job's friends became more his tormentors, his false accusers, the mosquitos that seemed to have no end of appetite, round after round of draining conversation. Now, God offers them forgiveness through Job, that they make a sacrifice and Job pray for them, when oddly they should have been praying for Job all along, admitting that they could not see. They thought it was a particular evil in Job, for why else would he suffer this way? They were wrong and misrepresented God. Job, in praying for his tormentors, his false accusers, in forgiveness is set free. Sometimes our words are not enough, and the only thing that will vindicate both us and our enemies is an encounter with God. God please open our hearts, let us understand Your word, let us be humble and slow to speak. 

33When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left. 34Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots. 35The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”…Luke 23: 33-35

While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7: 59-60

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