#701 Psalm 22 Part 2 A Very Bright Candle Part 2

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

Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,

and by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

4 In you our fathers trusted;

they trusted, and you delivered them.

5 To you they cried and were rescued;

in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me;

they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;

let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;

you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.

10 On you was I cast from my birth,

and from my mother's womb you have been my God.

11 Be not far from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is none to help.

12 Many bulls encompass me;

strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

13 they open wide their mouths at me,

like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint;

my heart is like wax;

it is melted within my breast;

15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass me;

a company of evildoers encircles me;

they have pierced my hands and feet—

17 I can count all my bones—

they stare and gloat over me;

18 they divide my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!

O you my help, come quickly to my aid!

20 Deliver my soul from the sword,

my precious life from the power of the dog!

21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!

You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!

All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,

and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24 For he has not despised or abhorred

the affliction of the afflicted,

and he has not hidden his face from him,

but has heard, when he cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;

my vows I will perform before those who fear him.

26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;

those who seek him shall praise the Lord!

May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember

and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

shall worship before you.

28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,

and he rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;

before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,

even the one who could not keep himself alive.

30 Posterity shall serve him;

it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;

31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,

that he has done it. Psalm 22 ESV

Out of the womb - Like the baby Moses hidden in his little cradle of an ark, so God stayed the hand of Herod away from His Son. He, who was miraculously placed inside the virgin womb, was protected by God from jealous rulers, had a relationship with God from early on. He did not suffer the same infirmity of being spiritually dead as the first Adam became and every human born of Eve was. This is that which consoles Him, that God was with Him from the first, that He caused Christ to trust Him from a babe. This is what Satan must attack, where he tells his minions to chip and tear away, but the Perseverance of the saints is marked and secured well before the devil's time. Make those who trust in God doubt, and those who trust in all else, let them believe without question, let the whole world console them, agree with them, reassure them, but the man who refuses to bow to the system or idols of the day, then let him be given to the lions. 

Be not far from me - Stripped of recognizable features, having your humanity torn from you, lonely as the soul could ever know, and though He must endure this for a little while, it is all infinitely greater than I can put forth in words. This separation from the sense of God's presence is the hell reserved for sin, and for those who cling to sin here, to life now only, with no respect unto eternity, then the worst day here will be like heaven in their thoughts then. He has been abandoned by all his friends, and though God has turned His back in justice, it is only God Who can deliver, no one else can save, and let this be to you an example, no man, no priest can give you assurance, no one can deliver but God. 

Strong bulls of Bashan - Those who should have known him, who should have rejoiced with the Magi, those most learned of Israel, the Pharisees, elders and priests, they would snort from the nostrils, and with wide, open mouths, they would declare Jesus a heretic. The place where all men would need to look for salvation, acknowledging the necessity of this payment for their sin, that this was eternity's Kinsman Redeemer, would be a place despised by the Jewish elite, for "cursed is everyone who hangs from a tree." They saw no victory for God's people here, they wanted His name to be a byword, a curse and struck from the pages of history. He was not a respecter of persons, he did not pay homage to their positions, and though the Scriptures spoke of Him, called for Him, they could not accept Him when He appeared. 

Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “You know Me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on My own accord, but He who sent Me is true. You do not know Him, 29 but I know Him, because I am from Him and He sent Me.” 30 So they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.…John 7: 28-30

I am poured out like water - Completely spent, I am giving down to my last. This is the way of obedience unmatched, every ounce of His life, but He still prays. The Psalmist may have related to this as humans do, on some blurred level of what is anxiety, what is pain, but Christ willingly came to this place, wanting to give all to the glory of God. 

Out of joint - David never felt the pain of being nailed to a cross, nor the jarring agony of being lifted into it's base. How unnatural a position to place one's weight upon a nail through your feet. Now to breathe you must feel every pull upon the hands, and every cramp that begs the legs to straighten out must cause the head to spin. I would think this is more than I could do to my worst enemy, yet I know men become so hard of heart. There is nothing that surprises me about men here, only that God would agree to this, that is the puzzle and the beauty of this. My pride could not handle their taunting, my ego would not have lasted through their kangaroo court. Every movement, involuntary or intentional would be horrendous, and topped with undeserved rebuke.  

My heart is like wax - How close He must be, and the two thieves that suffered beside Him, they felt all the physical pain, but knew nothing of His loss. They knew yet nothing of the wrath of God that fell upon Him, or that all consuming fire from heaven that melted Him to the core. 

My tongue sticks to my jaws - He is spent, thirsty, and earlier they had offered Him wine, but He had spit it out. His body is locking up on Him, the dust is beckoning Him, though He did not come from it. Like an old, baked, broken piece of pottery, He is without moisture.

For dogs encompass me - There were the religious leaders, the bulls, but now as the deer panteth for the water, it is surrounded by the pack. There are those who call themselves members of the body that are quick to tear down. He is surrounded by a howling mass, eager for His blood, not comprehending the significance of what is happening before them. Salvation is near, but they can only mock it. The soldiers now cast lots for His garments. He is only worth that much to them.

they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified Him,they divided up His garments by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.…Matthew 27: 34-36

When 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. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots. 35 The 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

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#700 Psalm 22 Part 1 A Very Bright Candle Part 1

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

Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,

and by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

4 In you our fathers trusted;

they trusted, and you delivered them.

5 To you they cried and were rescued;

in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me;

they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;

let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;

you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.

10 On you was I cast from my birth,

and from my mother's womb you have been my God.

11 Be not far from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is none to help.

12 Many bulls encompass me;

strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

13 they open wide their mouths at me,

like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint;

my heart is like wax;

it is melted within my breast;

15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass me;

a company of evildoers encircles me;

they have pierced my hands and feet—

17 I can count all my bones—

they stare and gloat over me;

18 they divide my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!

O you my help, come quickly to my aid!

20 Deliver my soul from the sword,

my precious life from the power of the dog!

21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!

You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!

All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,

and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24 For he has not despised or abhorred

the affliction of the afflicted,

and he has not hidden his face from him,

but has heard, when he cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;

my vows I will perform before those who fear him.

26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;

those who seek him shall praise the Lord!

May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember

and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

shall worship before you.

28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,

and he rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;

before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,

even the one who could not keep himself alive.

30 Posterity shall serve him;

it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;

31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,

that he has done it. Psalm 22 ESV

A Psalm of David, and if we were uncertain before it will become evident now that David is often writing and singing prophetically. These are the words echoed by Christ upon the cross, by a king who did not know such means of torture nor lived in Roman times. There are things described here that offer another candle of light, a way to examine redemptive history, looking forward to the coming of Messiah. As far forward as Christians may claim it looks, and as old as these poems may be, the idea is yet older still. 

So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3: 14-15

1Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. 2“Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”…Genesis 22: 1-2

Just then, the Angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the Angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.” 13Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.…Genesis 22: 11-13

Substitution

In truth there was no reason to write any of the Old Testament if there was no mediator, no promised substitution, it all points to a just and loving God, a Holy God and a perfect sacrifice. To write of God's holiness, the fall of mankind, sin, the law and death without the promise of an acceptable sacrifice would be vain, and that God cannot be. 

45From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” 47When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He is calling Elijah.”…Matthew 27: 45-47

My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me - To those who are born spiritually dead this is incomprehensible, and to those who are made alive it is only through a glass and by faith that we come to see such a hell. You have been nailed to a cross, dearest Savior, You have been whipped and mocked beyond my egos ability to comprehend, yet for You this is the worst portion, that You have taken on my sin, and God has unleashed His wrath and turned His back upon You. God hates sin and You became sin for me, to justify me, to redeem me. The feeling of separation from the Father, Who You have never been apart from, that You have existed with before time, that to You is the most crippling thing, to be forsaken. It seems a light thing to some of us, to be eternally separated from the Creator, Who we could not come into being without. Light, life, truth and love, infinitely so, or justice, wrath and separation to infinity, and we think somehow we can decide that it doesn't matter.

But You do not answer - I cry, and this would be strange for someone Who was always in constant fellowship with the Father. David experienced this as a type in the shadow lands of the coming reality. I have felt a measure of brokenness before, where I asked God, pleaded with Him, but felt as if my prayers did not have the fuel it would take to break free of earth's gravity. There were many times in David's life that he was distressed for his life, by his enemies, even his family, but the puzzlement here is a life lived perfectly. David, myself, every human being that I have ever met, could not make here a more just argument then He Who knew no sin, why? Why have You turned Your back to Me? He tells Peter he will deny Him three times, He knew they would all run like sheep, that Judas would betray Him, that He would have to explain all this to them yet again after His resurrection, but their denial of Him was nothing compared to the quietness of God, the abrupt stop in communion. 

Yet You are holy - Why is this happening? Because God is holy, and sin cannot stand before holiness. God has decided to love us while we are yet in our sin, but since He is infinitely holy there has to be a substitution, someone infinitely pure. So unless Jesus is God incarnate, infinitely good and pleasing to God, it can't happen. The finite does not fix the eternal, and God is not the One Who needs to change. He does not need us, He is holy and we are not, yet He goes out of His way to bring us to Himself, to reconcile us through His Son. 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.…John 1: 1-2

But I am a worm and not a man - His trial was illegal, His sentencing abrupt and cruel, for what did they punish Him? There is not even a hint of human decency here, those who were the law reverted from justice to politics. He was not received by His own, not treated as a citizen, yet He is God and here not laying claim to that most appropriate of stations. I like how Spurgeon puts it:  

“This verse is a miracle in language. How could the Lord of glory be brought to such abasement as to be not only lower than the angels, but even lower than men. What a contrast between ‘I am’ and ‘I am a worm‘!” (Spurgeon)

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who,existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.…Philippians 2: 5-7

All who see Me mock Me - You claimed God as Your Father, some thought You were a prophet, You healed many, raised some from the dead and cast out demons, but look at yourself. If You truly belonged to God, would He let His own Son suffer in such a way? "King of the Jews," and yet they will have nothing to do with You. He had already confronted them about this before, "Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem who kills the prophets", they did the same thing their forefathers did to men who were only His shadow. He told His disciples that if the world hated Him they would hate you also, and blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake, rejoice and be exceeding glad. Sinful man has not changed, this is how they treated the prophets of old. 

As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Matthew 27: 32-44

The soldiers first take a swat at him before this, dressing him up in a fine robe after he was beaten. They make themselves drunk as men do, finding themselves clever, not realizing it is at the expense of God, but also their own humanity. What do you punish Him for? For healing people, for claiming to be God, for not kissing your hand, what part of this have you proven without doubt? They punch Him and then ask that He prophesy, "who hit You?" 

He trust in the Lord, let Him deliver Him - Here we go, men are going to decide whether this is Christ, whether or not He is Who He claims to be. Never mind what scripture says of Him, never mind every lamb, bull or other shadow of this Substitution, "if You are God, then call down angels." This is the worse temptation for the One Who has never been apart from the Father, the One Who has enjoyed a perfect sense of love and community as the eternally begotten Son. They question His relationship to God, that He delighted in Him, so if this is the case then let Him save You. Fools we are, for if God moves a hand against this here, then we are all doomed. Read Psalm 22 again, this was known to God, the mockery, the ridicule, the slander, the ungrateful nature of the objects of love. 

No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.…John 3: 13-15

In Moses Time

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#699 Psalm 21 The Answer

O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices,

and in your salvation how greatly he exults!

2 You have given him his heart's desire

and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

3 For you meet him with rich blessings;

you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.

4 He asked life of you; you gave it to him,

length of days forever and ever.

5 His glory is great through your salvation;

splendor and majesty you bestow on him.

6 For you make him most blessed forever;

you make him glad with the joy of your presence.

7 For the king trusts in the Lord,

and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

8 Your hand will find out all your enemies;

your right hand will find out those who hate you.

9 You will make them as a blazing oven

when you appear.

The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,

and fire will consume them.

10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,

and their offspring from among the children of man.

11 Though they plan evil against you,

though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.

12 For you will put them to flight;

you will aim at their faces with your bows.

13 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!

We will sing and praise your power. Psalm 21 ESV

They prepared for war, but while the enemy trusted in the number of soldiers, horses and chariots, David put his hope in God, His salvation would come from above. This is the answer to the prayer of chapter 20, it is the praise not held by the king to himself, but directed to the One he asked to deliver him. 

In your salvation how greatly he exults - Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord. There is so much confusion that comes with the disability of pride, that you went to battle, that you were victorious, and so you are in your mind the better man. David's certainty was in a God that honors righteousness, that makes men righteous. May the army on the other side of the field always be so many more in multitude, so that we look upon all our means as meager, our strength as insufficient. Now that it is too big for you, trust God, and know that He has brought you through it, praise Him for it.

He asked life of You - Lord, so many things may go wrong in battle, kings have hid their identity but still been struck down by an uneducated arrow. I will not run away from this fight, but the natural odds are against me, You will have to deliver me if I am to make it out alive. We do not have life of ourselves, it is a gift, and eternal life cannot be bought or earned by us, it is a sacrificial gift.  

For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”… Romans 9:15-17

His glory is great through Your salvation - By the power of God we enjoy victory, through the Work of God upon the cross we have salvation. Continuing in verse 5, from where comes his splendor and his majesty? They are bestowed. Why is he blessed forever? He is made that way. From whence comes his joy? The presence of God. People fight to pull you away from there, because if you forget that God is sovereign, if you leave His presence then you are vulnerable, it is easy for you to be depressed, to stop growing. They tire of you praising God, of your joy in Him, because they hate Him and refuse His grace. 

For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those He predestined He also called; those He called He also justified; those He justified He also glorified. 31 What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?…Romans 8: 29-31

With your bows - God has not faltered or forgotten, His bow is drawn and aimed at sin. It points to the face of that which defies His grace, shuns His forgiveness, thinks it lives of it's own. He has not changed His opinion of sin, and it is mercy that His arm is so strong, that He has not yet let go. In a world where people scream about justice, there is real justice in God's hand, but if you knew where it was pointing you might beg for grace instead.

Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as someunderstand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyoneto perish but everyone to come to repentance. 10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.…2 Peter 3: 8-10

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#698 Belongs to God

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!

May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!

2 May he send you help from the sanctuary

and give you support from Zion!

3 May he remember all your offerings

and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

4 May he grant you your heart's desire

and fulfill all your plans!

5 May we shout for joy over your salvation,

and in the name of our God set up our banners!

May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

6 Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;

he will answer him from his holy heaven

with the saving might of his right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

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

8 They collapse and fall,

but we rise and stand upright.

9 O Lord, save the king!

May he answer us when we call. Psalm 20 ESV

Welcome to the shadow lands. This is a poem by David about a prayer from the people for their king going into battle. In just a few short chapters from here, you will be able to look back upon this from another battle, you will see that their are often two worlds represented in the Psalms. 

In the day of trouble - The battle was certainly coming, and there is a point at the start where you are looking at your enemy across the field, and this is the last time you will see your quiver full, your strength at it's peak, the mind sharp. The young and untested do not yet realize except in the hearing, at the testimony of the older and more seasoned, that soon their strength will leave them, their larger muscles will fill with toxins, and their lungs will frantically search for breath. The hour will come, that day of trouble must come, whether the field or the cross, the visible or invisible, physical and spiritual. 

May the name of the God of Jacob - Let Yahweh be with you, He is the God of Jacob, who is Israel, the father of the twelve tribes. As king of Israel, David represents all God's chosen people in battle. He goes out to war for them, to defend the honor of the tribes and of Yahweh. As King of kings and Lord of lords, Christ represents God's elect from every time and corner of this world, the Hero of the greatest battle ever fought, there will never be a contest with higher stakes, don't kid yourself. 

Support from Zion - Be present oh God, send help from Your throne room, send down angels. Jesus had a skirmish with the devil in his temptation, but it seemed more like sparring in comparison to the strain in Gethsemane, where he sweat drops of bloody anxiety. He was approaching a battle without comparison, and He would need the ministry of angels to sturdy Him for this final leg. 

Regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah - Pause, reflect, hear the drum, there is a sacrifice that God does not regard, every sheep, lamb, bull, red heifer, none of them moved God, but all of them were meant to point towards perfect obedience. A billion sacrifices would not save you, but the favor of God, the Love of God, would send the perfect sacrifice, just One, obedient even to death on the cross. God has purchased His own favor, prepared His own sacrifice, and only regards yours in obedience to His perfect will, looking forward to His Son. On earth as it is in heaven. 

Instead, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for me.…Hebrews 10: 3-5

Grant you your heart's desire - God will literally grant you not only the desires of your heart but also the heart that desires His will. You will never realign God to your plan, but your plans will come about to His purpose. This is peace unattainable by human effort, human will, or comprehension. You will never be satisfied with God if you need Him to be subordinate to you, to answer to your cries of entitlement, because He does not nor need to change. He is and you are because He is. 

Fulfill all your petitions - It says that we have not because we ask not, but when we do finally ask it is never to our growth, but rather for earthly things, to honor ourselves and our appetites. Listen to this most beautiful prayer:

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted His eyes upward and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.”43 After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”…John 11: 41-43

Chariots and Horses - Some trust this world's treasure, it's weapons, strength of youth and numbers, but all these things are passing, and what we find fierce is to God the down that He would stuff His pillow with, if He wanted to. Listen, Christ already won the greatest battle, you can fly the flag of His victory without fear or shame, for yours is eternity in Him, and no gun, or nuclear war, earthquake, tornado or army can ever take that a way from you.

I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected and preserved them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost,except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to You, and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them.…John 17: 11-13

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#697 Night and Day

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

2 Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

3 There is no speech, nor are there words,

whose voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for the sun,

5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,

and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,

and its circuit to the end of them,

and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

making wise the simple;

8 the precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure,

enlightening the eyes;

9 the fear of the Lord is clean,

enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true,

and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold,

even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

and drippings of the honeycomb.

11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors?

Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;

let them not have dominion over me!

Then I shall be blameless,

and innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19 ESV


Proclaims His handiwork - This is a beautiful song. I have shown my children nature, but it is ever before them, a screaming testament of greatness. The instant knowledge of something above me, bigger than me, of distance, and time and space, as the sky changes from one moment to the next, day then night and again. It is the first book, the Creation, but God is no longer walking with man in the garden, and day reveals what night has hid. What is the earth without the sun? It brings the light of day, it works with the water in the hydrologic cycle, photosynthesis, warmth, so much that would die without the light of the sun, and yet it did not make itself. It has been placed at the proper distance, lest it kill, and even from so many millions of miles away, a man will find the need to cover himself from it's rays. He tells me I am frail, that I am small, in the morning I know he is not far off, by the ever growing light that peaks up from the east. The shadows walk accordingly and in time to his place in the heavens, so much so that you could set a dial to it, yet he does not praise himself, for he is stupid of his origin, set in place by his Creator. He points, he tells me, there is a greater than the sun.


The law of the Lord is perfect - Why is there no longer the holding of hands, the conversations of Eden? How will I come to know the Creator of the thing that brings light from afar off, and where did He go? "Blessed is the man,' says the poet, 'who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way with sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law doth he meditate day and night." Oh God, thank you, for not just leaving me to my own inner darkness, the vanity of my imagination, but for explaining to me Your original intent, Your holiness, our fall away from this, and the law that teaches me about sin. I could study the sciences with a million men for a million years, and yet without the light of Your Word we would all die in darkness. Please let me know the hunger, the desire, the need for your word, quicken the hearts of my wife and children, of my friends and foes alike, open the eyes of their hearts to recognize the superiority of Your word. If the Psalmist is thankful then I am all the more, for I have received so much more. 

children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’”…  John 1: 13-15

He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.… John 1: 2-4


Gold and honey - Better than the wealth that men will tear down mountains for, will go to remote places to find, sweeter than the juice of the comb, the work of bees. More sure, more stable and secure than the treasuries that men lay up here, that we think will bring us peace and keep us from the day of disaster and want, but age and death find us all and they do not deal in gold. The sweetest things in this life are also not in vain, for it is not what goes in that defiles a man, but what proceeds from his heart. Taste the honey, but leave enough for the stranger and the bee. Let not pleasure be to you like gold is to some, the measure of truth, the measure of success, of greater value than the One that made it. Let the words of Him Who made it be more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey. 
Keep back Your servant - God help me not to offend You, thank You for Your Word, but do not let my heart be hard against it, clinging to my favorite patches of the dark. Let Your light shine so much that it burns out those blankets or securities that hide the things I did not yet know as sin or want to recognize as such. Do not let me be that man who sees himself then walks away and forgets what manner of person he was. 
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight - Meditate on that.

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#696 I Love You, Oh Lord

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me;

the torrents of destruction assailed me;[a]

5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I cried for help.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears.

7 Then the earth reeled and rocked;

the foundations also of the mountains trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

8 Smoke went up from his nostrils,

and devouring fire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

9 He bowed the heavens and came down;

thick darkness was under his feet.

10 He rode on a cherub and flew;

he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,

thick clouds dark with water.

12 Out of the brightness before him

hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,

and the Most High uttered his voice,

hailstones and coals of fire.

14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;

he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.

15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,

and the foundations of the world were laid bare

at your rebuke, O Lord,

at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16 He sent from on high, he took me;

he drew me out of many waters.

17 He rescued me from my strong enemy

and from those who hated me,

for they were too mighty for me.

18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

19 He brought me out into a broad place;

he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

20 The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22 For all his rules were before me,

and his statutes I did not put away from me.

23 I was blameless before him,

and I kept myself from my guilt.

24 So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful;

with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

26 with the purified you show yourself pure;

and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

27 For you save a humble people,

but the haughty eyes you bring down.

28 For it is you who light my lamp;

the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

29 For by you I can run against a troop,

and by my God I can leap over a wall.

30 This God—his way is perfect;

the word of the Lord proves true;

he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

31 For who is God, but the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God?—

32 the God who equipped me with strength

and made my way blameless.

33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer

and set me secure on the heights.

34 He trains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your right hand supported me,

and your gentleness made me great.

36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet did not slip.

37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them,

and did not turn back till they were consumed.

38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;

they fell under my feet.

39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;

you made those who rise against me sink under me.

40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,

and those who hated me I destroyed.

41 They cried for help, but there was none to save;

they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind;

I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

43 You delivered me from strife with the people;

you made me the head of the nations;

people whom I had not known served me.

44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;

foreigners came cringing to me.

45 Foreigners lost heart

and came trembling out of their fortresses.

46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation—

47 the God who gave me vengeance

and subdued peoples under me,

48 who rescued me from my enemies;

yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;

you delivered me from the man of violence.

49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,

and sing to your name.

50 Great salvation he brings to his king,

and shows steadfast love to his anointed,

to David and his offspring forever. Psalm 18 ESV

There is a long title to this poem which starts out similarly to others that it is being given to the Chief musician. Some think the Chief musician to be God Himself, but I don't see it the same way as those commentators. The title says to that musician, then it says the Author (David, a servant of the Lord), and then that this Psalm comes from the words that David spoke to the Lord on the day that he delivered him from Saul. The title affords us great context, the end of a very tumultuous period in David's life, him looking back upon it, and then praising God in retrospect. I see this more as his prayer to God, his worship of God, the things he said to God, now being put to song and shared with the musician.  

The Lord is my rock - Remember that 20 years or so prior to his deliverance he was the overlooked son of Jessie. He is chosen by God and anointed by Samuel to replace Saul. So a year goes by and another, he plays the harp for a psychotic king, he takes food to his brothers who scold him, he kills a giant, and still he is not made king. He is learning to wait upon God's time, and he is learning about the kingdom he will one day rule, but then come the lessons of adversity. Saul's eyes squint and harden towards the boy, for he has received praise over Saul, and Saul is of an unrepentant heart. He is like Herod when the Magi come seeking the Messiah, "find him, bring him to me." Now David had served him well, and this should put us in good standing, but not with the wicked, your good deeds are ever against them. You are heaping coals of fire with every loyalty and kindness you show. Saul acts as though he can circumvent the decree of God, yet now comes the solidness of faith, for David looks back and sees the rock in which he hid was God. He sees that his anointing was from God, the fact that so many stood against him, and those in power hunted him, yet here he is delivered and so looking back we may have light to look forward. If God be for us then, who can be against us now. There is no surer foundation. 

In the day of my calamity - He describes his enemies as too strong for him, which becomes all the more reason for praise. We have heard David cry out and mourn in times of trouble, and I do that much, when I can no longer think my way out, punch my way through, then I pray. The cloud here is lifted though, and David recalls it and so many more ways that God has rescued him. It was as though he were drowning in a tempest at sea, and God reached down, like He did for Peter when his faith faltered, helping him to stand. Oh, if my soul could learn this, pray without ceasing, in every thing give thanks. The more God is in His rightful place, the less your heart will falter.

With the merciful - David had more than one opportunity to take Saul's life, to punish those who agitated his own ego, yet he extended mercy instead. Sometimes it seems to spring from his own integrity, but in others it is clearly a work outside of himself, like in the voice of Abigail. 

Abigail

With the blameless - How can a man be blameless before God? Some will say that David wrote this before his great sin with Bathsheba, yet he also sings this song near the end of his days. There is a huge difference here that should be noted, and that is the way David reacts to being confronted about his sin and the way Saul reacts. One would kill the messengers and the other will prostrate himself, will search God's word and his own heart, begging for God's forgiveness. Once most men become king, they will think themselves above any reproach, and there was in reality never a time before Bathsheba that David was without sin, for all have sinned. There is undoubtedly in the call of God, a call to holiness, but there is in man a huge deficit as pertains to righteousness. Just like mercy though, one cannot appreciate holiness so well as in the realization of your bankrupt state. Even then the righteous lived by faith. It says, "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

As Benjamin Franklin wrote: “Many princes sin with David, but few repent with him.”

Among the nations - Just like Abraham's offspring would be a blessing to all nations, David would proclaim the greatness of the One true God, both in the story of his life in Samuel and Kings, the Psalms, and in the proclamation of Messiah to come, the Son of David, Seed of the woman, a Mediator. 

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