Hold

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 139:7-10

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 

If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 

even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

This is so comforting.

Regardless, if one has participated in the first resurrection or as Job understood and prayed, if there was a time one must first wait for God's wrath to pass, God's Holy Spirit is present.

Job 14:13

Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,

    that you would conceal me until your wrath be past,

    that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

For that wrath could not be satisfied until God became both the just and the justifier in the perfect sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Romans 3:25b-26

This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Regardless, if I obtain the power of flight, and can fly as fast as the dawn, and can visit the remotest locations of the earth, the LORD is not simply a carved image and one of many household gods, He is all-powerful and omni-present.

But that is not the comforting bit!  

The comforting bit is what He does when He is with us.  The Holy Spirit leads us and He holds ('āḥaz) us.  He does not cloister or confine us, but instead during this adventure we call "life", He walks ahead of us and with a firm hand he holds onto us so we are not lost.

John 6:39-40

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Sting

  This week we begin worship with:

1 Corinthians 15:54-55

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

With gleeful shouts, kids taunt "You can't catch me!" to start an imprompto game of tag.  That is not our relationship with death.  For, if the Lord tarries, death will surely tag us. 

Here our taunt with death is instead "Where is your sting?".  To understand, we must read on . . .

1 Corinthians 15:56-57 

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Though death will tag us, the sting of the law will not be present.  The author of Hebrews puts it beautifully:

Hebrews 9:27-28

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

The eagerness with which we wait should be more akin to a different schoolyard cry "Pick me, pick me!".

Stand

Today we begin worship with:

Ephesians 6:12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

This is not simply the daily grind.  This is not the missed bus or the rude person in line at the store.  This is not the toast landing buttered side down.

This is a battle into which we must walk prepared.  This is leaving the safety of the rear guard, being rotated forward to the contact line, and engaging the enemy.  This is war.

That said, we are not on the offensive.  The surrounding verses, our instructions on how we are to prepare, say we are holding ground already taken.  

Ephesians 6:11,13
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
. . . 

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

What ground?  Our own soul.  

That said, it is not a fair fight.  It is ground, that He will not lose.

John 6:39
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

Incompetence

This morning we start worship with:

1 Samuel 2:10

The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Frequently when faced with an absurd situation, in jest, I will say "If I were king" and then pronounce some new law or change of process that would remedy the situation.  The author Lawrence J. Peter wrote that people are promoted until they achieve a level of incompetence that prevents them from further advancement.  In business this is called the "Peter Principle" and it is the reason I will never be king!

Our verse this week is not subtle.  The words are straightforward and declare the supremacy of God.  The LORD will have dominion over the whole earth and through His anointed, He will judge it.  By "it", that means "me".  He will find me wanting, not up to the mark.  He see perfectly my incompetence, my reproach:

Psalm 119:38-40

Confirm to your servant your promise,

    that you may be feared.

Turn away the reproach that I dread,

    for your rules are good.

Behold, I long for your precepts;

    in your righteousness give me life!

Praise God, He has graciously given us life, having paid our debt on the cross.

Zeros

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 93:3-4
The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. 

Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!

 In high school I memorized this Psalm in German as a homework assignment.  The first verses begin:

Psalm 93:1 

Der Herr ist König, mit Majestät bekleidet;
der Herr ist angetan, ist umgürtet mit Macht;
auch der Weltkreis steht fest und wird nicht wanken.

The phrase "umgürtet mit Macht" or in English "girded with power" always stuck with me, partly because how funny it sounds in German, but also because it is true.  

When one takes a moment to realize that God hung a rock in space that weighs 81,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons, so precisely, so that it paints its shadow on the earth -- you begin to sense the power.

In our verse, the God's might is compared to the waves of the sea.  With each crash, the waves of the sea from around the world produce 30,000,000 kW of energy, which is the equivalent to the energy in 625,000 gallons of gasoline and there are at any moment 850 trillion waves in the ocean.  

So, let's do the math (. . . "carry the one").  The collective energy of the waves of the sea is approximately 5,200,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons of gasoline.

Das ist Macht!

Land

 Today we begin worship with:

Exodus 3:7-8
Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey."

The ancients did not have a highlighter or a type font with bolded or underlined characters.  Here "surely seen" is the Hebrew word for "seen" rā'â repeated.  Three words are repeated three times in scripture:

• Woe, Woe, Woe (Revelation 8:13), which announces the seven trumpets of judgement.
• Holy, Holy, Holy (Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8), which is an attempt to put into words purity and character of the LORD God almighty.

The third word repeated three times brings us back to our call to worship.  It is land, land, land (Jeremiah 22:29).  

We often think too little of our community and the purpose God has for us here.  With or without "milk and honey" He has brought us to this place.  We need to be observant, then, of our responsibility in this place.

Peace

This week we begin worship with:

1 Peter 3:8

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Covey, who wrote "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", said in one of those famous habits "Begin with the end in mind".  We laugh at people who paint themselves into a corner having not done just that, but do we really start each day with a goal set and a plan to achieve it?

Peter in our verse today gives us the goal we should set for every interaction we have with people.  He quotes it from (Psalms 34:12-14):

1 Peter 3:10-11

For

“Whoever desires to love life

    and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

    and his lips from speaking deceit;

let him turn away from evil and do good;

    let him seek peace and pursue it.

Our goal should be peace.  

But do we sympathize sufficiently to understand the other person's point of view?  Are we concerned more about them, than whatever we will have to postpone or forgo to love them in the moment?  Is our heart tender enough and our mind humble enough that being right is not important?

Zechariah at the birth of his son John, prophesied that John would prepare our Savior's way and that our Savior would "guide our feet into the way of peace" (Luke 1:76-79).  Let that be our prayer that we follow.

Sun

Today we begin worship with:

Colossians 2:8

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Tomorrow is the eclipse.  Robyn and I are up North hoping to see it.  I expect the viewing site we have chosen will be crowded and some present will be worshiping the sun.  They will be caught up with the creation and ignore the creator.

This verse also speaks of others that are trapped and even deceived by their own world view that pushes away the simple truth that God made them and loves them.

Let us not. Let us rest in that love and enjoy what God has done for us (Colossians 2:8-15).

Convicted

This week we begin worship with:

Matthew 27:1-2

When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took

counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and led him away

and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.

This was the final vote, the trial and testimony was the night before, which concludes:

Matthew 26:65-66

Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.”

The act of blasphemy was a brief response to a simple question.

Matthew 26:63-65

But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so.”

Jesus’ response went beyond simply responding affirmatively to agreeing with the exact words said to Him, so that His conviction would be assured.

May our answer be as quick, when we are asked if we are a Christian.

Refuge

We begin worship this morning with:

Psalm 2:11-12

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 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.

Twisted together in this single verse are fear, joy, affection, anger, blessing, vulnerability and protection.

The Psalm starts with the heart of man, which desires personal autonomy:

Psalm 2:2-3

The kings of the earth set themselves,

    and the rulers take counsel together,

    against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,

“Let us burst their bonds apart

    and cast away their cords from us.” 

But God is sovereign and sets over them a King:

Psalm 2:5-6

Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

    and terrify them in his fury, saying,

“As for me, I have set my King

    on Zion, my holy hill.”

But not simply a King, he is the Messiah, in whom refuge is found:

Psalm 2:7

I will tell of the decree:

The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;

    today I have begotten you.

LORD, twist together in us today fear and joy for you love us.

Sing

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 98:1-4

Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

When is it time to write a new song?  

"It is well with my soul" was written when Horatio Spafford after losing much of his fortune in the Great Chicago Fire, sent his wife and daughters ahead to England where he was to help in Moody's upcoming evangelism campaign.  He, himself, was delayed dealing with the aftermath of the fire.  Their ship sank after a collision and all four of his daughters were lost.  He wrote the song on his passage to England, when he passed near the site of the sinking.

"O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" was written by Samuel Trevor Francis to commemorate the night as a teenager when he decided between suicide and faith while crossing the Thames River on the Hungerford Bridge.

Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus was written by Louisa M. R. Stead after groceries were left at her doorstep following the tragic death of her husband, who was attempting to save a drowning boy.

This Psalm looks back on the exodus, the perils of the 40 years in the wilderness, and the occupying the Promised Land.  It looks forward to both the Exile and return from Babylon.  It looks back to Adam's fall in the Garden and forward to the work of Christ on the cross.  

It is always time to write a new song.