Lord of lightning

His lightnings light up the world;

the earth sees and trembles.

Psalm 97:4

Reflecting on the power of God as He displays it in His created world brings both wonder and worship. Informed by science, my modern self can say that lightning is just electrons forming the path of least resistance from the ground to the clouds because of static build up during pressure changes in a storm. But knowing what makes lightning does not make it any more or any less impressive. It gives me absolutely no control over the power of the tempest or of the power of the thunder bolt! Only God has that control.

But I think that most contemporary readers of this psalm might miss the wonder of the Bronze Age author reflecting on the awesome power of God. For the ancient Jewish observer who wrote this, lightning was an evidence of the power at God’s disposal. It wasn’t about a random discharge of electrons. And I believe the mindset of the ancient observer is much greater than that of the science-warped modern.

I’m glad for science and its advances. I’m glad to know why certain things happen. I am grateful that human curiosity finds out ways to understand, even manipulate the resources around us. Electricity is managed as watts and voltages and courses through the veins of every building I spend time in. I can write this journal entry with a cheap pen and a book manufactured in a factory, reading my bible with light generated by electricity, enjoying fresh brewed coffee because of the advances in knowledge afforded us through science. But all of that CANNOT diminish the wonder I know in my Creator! I know what lightning is physically, but HIS lightnings still light up the world... I see them and I tremble.

God of lightning... God of the storm... I see Your power throughout the universe displayed. I give You glory and worship as the Creator! And in this glorious world You have made, I will wander with wonder, understand it as I can, and make You known!

Amen

the glory due God’s name

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

bring an offering, and come into his courts!

Psalm 96:8

God is worthy of my worship. He showers my life with His daily provisions, mercies, holiness, and grace. I can open His Word and hear His voice loudly... clearly... confident He is speaking right to me. He shows me the way to go. His Holy Spirit confirms His work in me by convicting me of my sinful thoughts, atttitudes, and actions. And then as I turn from sin, His Word shows me what I should be and do instead and He gives me the strength through the righteousness of His Son to do them. He gives me all that I need for life and godliness according to His great and precious promises. Glory is due His great name!

I will come to Him in prayerful praise even now. I will give back to Him this entire life as an offering of thankfulness. He can have it all... not just a tenth of my money.... but all of my life! He is worthy. He can use me however He sees fit. And I will trust God to give me great joy in Him!

Lord,

You are worthy! You are glorious! I praise You. I life up Your name. I credit You for anything that I am or that I have. I trust You to provide for me... to call me Your own... to use me so that Jesus is seen as Lord to all! 

Amen

the way to win

But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Mark 9:34-35

Achievement in the eyes of Jesus is misunderstood and over emphasized by the world. Jesus saw a life of kind service to others, of selfless giving for the joy and betterment of God’s kingdom to be the way to “win” at life. To come in “first” one must serve everybody else and stay at the back of the line. It is only in putting selfish ambition to death, willing to be the last one through the line, that true impact can be found. It is caring so much that you don’t care who gets the credit! This is how Jesus lives. This is how He expects His followers to live. The finest achievement in life is to serve others. It is the way to be like Jesus.

Yet especially in the popular expression of American evangelical churches, where people are supposed to be assembled to commit to following Jesus, egocentric battles for “greatness” abound... sadly we are no different than Jesus’ first 12 disciples. When someone serves only for the recognition, they are consumed with their own greatness. When Christians celebratize leaders and preachers, and preachers obsess over “picture perfect” image and “perfect” sermons that become best-selling books generating programs that make them millionaires, we have totally lost sight of Jesus. He is back washing feet and touching lepers while we are busy brushing our teeth and making deals. The best worship services totally focus on Jesus, not on a singer, or a music band that sells millions of albums, or a speaker, or production values of any kind. And when the worship service centers on the gospel, people can be truly served.

But the real way to understand what Jesus is saying here is to move far beyond the Sunday gathering. When we leave church on a Sunday, are the hungry fed? Are the sick cared for? Are the homeless sheltered and clothed? Are those without justice pled for? Are orphans adopted? Are the hurting healed? Are the marginalized given a voice? All these things show that we take the gospel, and servanthood seriously. And in the end, that is when we will know if we are “first”... if Jesus and His Servant’s hands are first in all our actions.

my unbelief

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:24

I find this to be a refreshingly honest response to Jesus. Growing up as I did with a lot of Christian culture platitudes, I never really saw Christians make much of this sort of conversation with Jesus. Talk of faith was all about moving mountains, trying harder... and never.... never admitting any weakness or struggle. It would never make Christians echo with a hearty “Amen!” to have someone say “I am struggling and need Jesus to help my lack of faith.”

But faith is a struggle. It is legitimately hard sometimes. Not because I am a skeptic. I believe God exists.... I know He does without a doubt in my mind. He has done too much for me to become an atheist! No... my struggle with unbelief stems not from skepticism, but from my own selfish, sinful heart wanting its way. I want what I want and that comes in conflict with the rule of Jesus in my life. That is what creates my unbelief.

So, like this man, I cry out to Jesus for a cleansing touch. I believe Him. He will help my selfish, sinful, wandering heart to truly believe.

Mightier

Mightier than the thunders of many waters,

mightier than the waves of the sea,

the Lord on high is mighty!

Psalm 93:4

Storms rage

with wind and water

floods rise

it doesn’t matter...

For God is mightier!

The oceans surge

threatening destruction

no place to hide

of our construction...

Yet God is mightier!

He is our shelter from the storm.

He lifts us above the flood.

That which threatens shall no more

hurt us... God is good.

Waves crash

battering our sand

but their power

cannot withstand

where God is mightier!

Don’t be ashamed.

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Mark 8:38

The circumstances of this warning from Jesus remind us to never by ashamed of the gospel. In Mark 8:31, Jesus plainly explained to His disciples that He would rejected by the Jewish religious leaders who would kill Him, but three days later He would rise from the dead. Peter pulled Jesus aside for a sidebar, rebuking the Master (Mark 8:32).  But it is Peter’s self-centeredness that gets rebuked when Jesus turns to all the disciples to confront Peter’s worldly-minded rejection of the work God would do (Mark 8:33).

Jesus then calls the crowd close and preaches a short sermon on discipleship, inviting them to the hard call of cross-bearing following of Jesus. He reminds us of the paradox of discipleship: to gain life by dying to it, of losing everything to gain salvation in the gospel (Mark 8:34-35). Nothing is more valuable than gaining eternal life for the everlasting benefit of our souls (Mark 8:36-37).

But to the one who would let the comparison of the glory of the gospel to draw their heart back to this wicked generation, Jesus gives the chilling warning to beware of the severe consequences of being ashamed of Him. For Jesus will return to judge. He will know those who aren’t truly boldly believing. He is ashamed of those who are ashamed of Him.

O Lord,

Deliver this heart from temptation to long after a sinful generation. May I never be ashamed of You or Your gospel. It is the power of God! It is my salvation! I believe You, Lord Jesus!

Amen

my three rules for life

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

1 Corinthians 14:33a

There are three simple rules that I want to direct my life and my thinking. They have served me well in following Jesus, and I want them to lead me to finishing life well over how many more years I may have left.

1. Worship with discipline. What I mean is this: I must regularly practice spiritual disciplines both in my personal pursuit of knowing God and also in corporate worship with the saints. I expect self discipline (getting up early each morning, having a method to reading God’s Word and practicing fervent prayer, capturing my time with God in a written production of some kind—either a simple list or a journal entry) to yield the delicious, abundant fruit of knowing God. The same is true in a church service. I expect an orderly commitment to prayer, singing God’s Word, reading scripture, preaching and applying the Bible, centering on the gospel, to all yield growth and maturity in Christ.

2. Live with simplicity. Our lives are bombarded with complexity at every turn. I reject that! I think most families in our culture (and tragically... even Christian ones) are revved at full RPMs all the time. This is unhealthy and I believe it is wrong. I refuse to live with the American Dream of maximum floor space in a suburban McMansion. I refuse to think I have to enroll in every experience possible. I refuse to think I have to watch or listen to or follow every popular entertainment. Instead, I have found living in half the space, doing just a few things I love with gusto in a way that creates margin to reach into the lives of other people really well, and walking my life at a “pilgrim” pace rather than an all out sprint to be much more satisfying and rewarding spiritually. I regret that it took me too long, and cost my family too much, for me to get this.

3. Seek peace through kindness. This is how I want people to know and think of me. I want to be as kind as Jesus is as much as I possibly can. I want to be a generous, kind, understanding soul who is known for making peace and not causing commotion. It’s why I want to give away as much of my income as I can, why I want to run from materialism and immerse myself in loving people, helping people, giving myself to my Savior for the betterment of Christ’s kingdom. I despise the thought of leaving any personal estate behind to be a burden of maintenance to anybody else, but instead long for the peace of the King of Kings to rule my world!

no secrets

You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your presence.

Psalm 90:8

The reason I need the blood of Jesus to atone for my sin, why I must be clothed in a righteousness not my own but given to me by Christ, is found right here in this verse. The sins I hide diligently from all people around me, the worst that is in my heart... my private iniquities... all are on display to God in the full, glaring light of His presence. I cannot hide from God. He knows I am a filthy sinner, just as I know this when I stop fooling myself.

I need this reminder about me. My ministry vocation gives me plenty of self-righteous cover to hide behind and although it may fool others, God will not have it! In fact, He knows that I often hide behind an awful, Christ-dishonoring, Pharisaical hypocrisy. I sin in full knowledge of just how evil it is for me to cloak my sin with the great evil of self-justification. I just add to my awfulness by pretending I’m OK and masking my sinfulness with false sanctimony.

Thank God, Jesus died for this! Thank God His Word has reminders like this to lead me to self-honesty in order to confess this sin, repent in broken humility, and plead the redemption I only have through Christ! Thank God His Holy Spirit presses hard on the pain of my secrets to lead me to such healthy confession!

O Lord,

I am filled with tearful humiliation now knowing my most sinful actions, my most selfish thoughts, my worst secret hates and bitterness are brought into the light of Your presence. They are never hidden from You. And in that humiliation I confess I am a sinner saved only by Your mercy in Jesus. The depth of Your mercy to redeem such a soul as mine is undeserved. I am forever grateful that You know this, yet forgive me!

Amen

Love is the greatest.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

By faith in Christ’s saving work in and for me, I know true hope and love. So faith, hope, and love now live in my heart. They carry me through life. They provide perspective. They move me beyond my problems. They asure me of a bright and God-given future in Christ forever. Yet like Paul, I must say that love is the greatest. Without God’s love in Jesus, I would have no faith nor hope.

I know what love is because of the love of Jesus. Jesus willingly gave Himself as a sacrifice for my sins... for all the sins of all people for all time. He took my penalty. He died my death. All this, He did to show me the love of God. God the Father loved us by sending His Son in this way. Because of that love I can now believe. Because the death and resurrection of Jesus really happened, I can now, by faith, believe and find that love in my life. And by it I can learn to love God and love others as Jesus did.

The love of God in Christ secures my hope for the future. I can rest in the historical surety of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and by faith I trust that His promise to save me and bring me to Himself in a place He has prepared for me is true. This hope carries me past all misery I may know in this life. It is a true “living hope” given to me by love and I am confident in it.

Yes, love is the greatest. I know my hope and I place my faith in Jesus because He first loves me. And I seek to always know and celebrate such love.

Only You Lord

For you are the glory of their strength;

by your favor our horn is exalted.

For our shield belongs to the Lord,

our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Psalm 89:17-18

Only You, Lord, are our glory.

We cannot worship another

for You give us all You are

every day and in every way.

Only You, Lord, are our strength.

We cannot trust anything else

for You keep us, protect us, provide in

every day and in every way.

Only You, Lord, give us favor.

We are graceless people without Your love

for in Jesus You have loved us

every day and in every way.

Only You, Lord, are our shield.

We cannot protect ourselves

for You alone can save from sin

every day and in every way.

Only You, Lord, are our King.

We cannot ever rule our own lives

for You alone are in control of

our every day in every way.

out of my heart

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.

Mark 7:15

Jesus says that what comes out of us — our thoughts, our attitudes, our actions — all show what is in us. We think and act from our hearts. Our lives are lived by the outflow of our hearts. We do not live in a vacuum. We do not do things arbitrarily. What comes out of us shows the world the person that is within us.

I say what I say and I do what I do because my heart wants what I want. It’s that simple. So if I ever hope to change what I say that is bad or hurtful, or to do things that please God, I must have a heart that is changed to enable me to say and act that right way. I need Jesus to change my heart if I hope for a better life.

What Jesus says here helps me know myself. And it helps me understand people. In order for real change to take place, we must start at our hearts. And in order for me to follow Jesus well, I must let the gospel transform my heart. I must let God’s Word in the full use of God’s Holy Spirit discern the thoughts and intentions of my heart. And once God’s thoughts begin to direct my thoughts, what comes out of me can come from the best that is within me.

The Lord, The Judge

“I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.”

Judges 11:27

Jephthah is remembered most for one very tragic, rash vow. But he was actually a man of great faith, boldly confronting the Ammonite occupiers of Israel and trusting God to deliver His people. He served as a judge for the deliverance of his countrymen, but Jephthah knew Israel had only one true, righteous Judge. Jephthah trusted the LORD to be the Judge.

It was that trust that led Jephthah to promise God anything, even at tremendous personal cost. And God rewarded Jephthah’s trust, eventually subduing the Ammonite invaders and helping him capture twenty of their occupied cities (Judges 11:33). God, the Judge, decided in Israel’s and Jephthah’s favor. This was God’s care for Israel. This was God’s desire for His people, despite the tragedy of Jephthah sacrificing his only daughter to keep a rash vow.

The LORD is Judge. The LORD will be honored. The LORD will keep His promises to us, even when we imperfectly keep our promises to Him. The LORD will love us, even when we imperfectly love Him. God is our Keeper, our Helper, and our Judge. We will always know this in Jesus, Who saves, helps and judges us perfectly.

too busy

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

Mark 6:30-31

The disciples had been hard at work doing what Jesus had commanded them. In Mark 6:7-13, Jesus commissioned the twelve apostles to go through villages preaching the good news of the kingdom, calling people to repentance, and healing the sick. They were sent to do what Jesus Himself did. They returned with excitement, still busy in the work He gave them. Jesus saw, however, that they were too busy in this work. He commanded them to take a break.

There were three signs of their “over busyness” on display in verse 31: 1) Many were coming and going (lots of busy activity, but “coming and going” were not the commissioned ministry). 2) they had no leisure (there was no healthy downtime). 3) they didn’t even eat (lunch breaks, apparently dinner breaks, were lost in the insane pace). Jesus recognized this as unhealthy and unsustainable. He insisted that they stop and rest.

Jesus’ solution in the midst of the onslaught of demands made little sense from a “productivity solution” point of view. Yet, this was exactly what was needed. A reset was in order. They all piled in a boat and headed to a wild corner of the Sea of Galilee for a break. In the slow boat ride, the hope was to get away from demanding ministry (the desolation was meant to achieve relief from people overload) and to concentrate on recharging through rest. Plus the disciples would have valuable, extended, unrushed alone time with the Savior.

Jesus’ command is exactly what is needed for demanding race pace ministry lifestyles! We need Sabbath. We need wild places. We need to be unhurried in our approach to faith, obedience and service. We need to rest in the joy of the Lord, spending time alone with the Lord before facing the demands of ministry. We need our desolate places, our boat rides with Jesus, our leisure, our unhurried meals, and our Sabbath rest.

only one Ruler

Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”

Judges 8:23

After God used Gideon’s faithful obedience to lead Israel in the defeat of Mideonite oppressors, the nation turned to Gideon with an offer to make him king and install his family as a dynasty. But Gideon would not be tempted by the offer for even one moment. He knew Israel already had a Ruler. He pointed them back to recognizing the LORD as their only King.

Gideon worshiped God first. And he saw in Israel’s request a dangerous beginning of a kind of idolatry. He short-circuited it by reminding them the LORD is already their King. He was all they needed. They did not need a human king. God ruled perfectly.

When I see Gideon’s love for God override any love for self, fame, and power, I am forced to examine my own heart. Human acclaim is a subtle temptation. The power and the pride it builds are very alluring, especially when mixed with “sanctifying” terminology. God is still greater and deserves all praise, yet sometimes God’s servants get lauded more than God does. When we sense it, we need to redirect it, in humility to God, lest we sin with those who are doing it! That’s what Gideon did.

My prayer, O Lord, is that You keep me humble. Keep me pointing to You. I never want to feel like I have it all together, like I am something big or important. I want You to get the glory, so keep me broken, humble, stumbling forward in faith relying on You, just as You did with Gideon.

Amen

People should repent.

So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.

Mark 6:12

The first sermons preached by Jesus’ apostles were one word wonders: Repent. The twelve were sent out to go through all the villages and towns to make Jesus known. But it was serious business. They looked nothing like the “professional” class of preachers we see today. They were to travel light, dress simply, look for hospitality, bring no money neither ask for any, and simply proclaim the kingdom. They would be known ONLY by their message. Preaching this meant pointing out an inconvenient reality: Sin is a problem. To be right before God, people should repent.

Repentance is about doing a 180. To repent is more than to feel bad, or “say you are sorry”. To repent means to turn one’s back on a sinful, wrong life headed to hell, and instead to turn into the direction of Jesus so that in forgiveness He might lead us through His Word and by His Spirit in a new direction that pleases God. We begin marching to a different destination.

It is necessary that people should repent. Even today, where sins are constantly being culturally softened and selfishness is being heralded as bravery, we must call people to repent. We must know our sin, be dissatisfied in it, turn from it, renounce ourselves, and turn to follow Jesus!

People should repent. Christians should repent. I should repent. I am easily swayed to promoting my agenda over that of following Jesus. I give in to my selfish wants. I idolize what is false and get turned from trusting Christ. I should repent. I do repent. I want to be a professional repenter! People... repent!

Against His Foe

O God, do not keep silence;
do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate you have raised their heads.
Psalm 83:1-2

There are people
Who defy God
They make outrageous claims
Against God
They will deny
There is a God
Loudly they raise
Their clamor
Vainly they praise
Their own sense of valor

God is not silent
Against His foe

I am a sinner
Who defies God
My will can rage
Against God
Practical denial
Of God
I too will rage
In swagger
And proudly praise
Self in godless manner

God is not silent
Against His foe

On Calvary
My sins borne by God
My selfish claims
Pitted me against God
Jesus took them as
My Lamb of God
Loudly they raised
His cross
So He could pay
Sin’s cost

God is not silent
Against His foe

no barriers

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:12b

The apostle Paul deliberately chose to put nothing in the way of the gospel. The gospel was offensive enough, without anything of his own person getting in the way. He did not put the demands of support of his ministry above the preaching of the gospel. In fact, he just avoided the topic altogether. He was not a money-begging televangelist huckstering funds for his own private jet. Paul was the opposite: he deliberately did not ask support of the Corinthians so as not to create any sort of barrier to the gospel. He humbly worked to support himself. He downplayed his need in order to lift up the cross. He didn’t take an offering. He simply offered the preaching of the gospel unhindered as his total presentation of his ministry.

We know Paul had no qualms about Christians stewarding financial resources. In fact, his second letter to Corinthians gave explicit instructions on collecting generous funds for relief of saints suffering in Jerusalem. It is a healthy call to give. It was Paul’s regular practice to do this in all the gentile churches. But what Paul did in Corinth was to not take a dime of funding for himself. He modeled ministry austerity to make a point: He was not gaining personal financial profit from the apostleship God had given to him. Instead, Paul wanted the gospel to be known, and the potential barrier was removed.

I too want no personal barriers to the gospel to get in the way in my ministry. I will look for and listen to anything God shows me about my personality, my ministry, or my lifestyle that might cloud the clarity of the cross and not enhance it. And God helping me, I wish to remove them so people see past me to Jesus.

both wheat and honey

But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,

and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.

Psalm 81:16

This psalm calls Israel to rejoice in a history of God’s deliverance and protection. God delivered His people from Egypt. God provided for His people in the wilderness. God delivered His people into the Promised Land. God provided them with abundant food as by faith they claimed the promise. Once in the place of promise, God delivered Israel from enemies and provided His people with peace, food, and shelter as they obeyed His covenant in worship of Him.

Now in this psalm, Asaph calls Israel to rejoice in God’s care of them. He calls them to keep the covenant, to worship the Lord, to remember and celebrate their deliverance, and to enjoy the provision God gives. There is the finest of wheat grown in their farms. There is an abundance of honey, as if it bubbled up from rock springs, for them to enjoy. God wants to satisfy them, with the essentials (wheat) and the superfluous (honey) for His glory, if they would only rejoice in Him.

Wheat and honey are wonderful pictures. We would expect the wheat... for daily bread. But the honey? That’s a sweet bonus! That is a surprise of grace. God is both practical and pampering!

In Jesus I too have been delivered. Through Jesus I too am satisfied. I rejoice in the God Who provides for me. I am in awe of His great love shown to me in Christ. I worship the One Who has brought me this life, sustains me with essentials, thrills me with surprises, and gives me good things every day!

course correction

Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left...

Joshua 23:6

I love getting out on the open water in a canoe or kayak. But when doing so, I have found it easy to be carried by the wind and waves without careful attention to some fixed object on the shoreline by which I can navigate and maintain direction. Without the fixed goal providing clear direction, I’ll drift all over the place and zig zag around the lake aimlessly. In life, the Word of God is my fixed beacon, keeping me on course and away from the dangers of drifting far from home.

Joshua, as a brave spiritual leader, knew the importance of God’s Word for such personal stability. This is why near the end of his life he passionately instructed Israel’s leaders to keep the Law of God as their fixed point of reference so that they deviated neither left nor right. They had to stay true so that they could lead true. Leaders need the fixed point, the true north, the steady reference of solid truth to navigate a shifting culture. Leaders need Jesus shown as the Truth of God in the Word of God.

So Lord Jesus,

I am thankful You are my Bright and Morning Star today! By the light of Your Word shining steady in my sky I can navigate true on my voyage home. Your Word lights my path and guides my steps. Help me, like Joshua, to call others (especially leaders) to live with the steady constant of Your Word providing necessary course correction!

Amen

praise in the dark

But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,

will give thanks to you forever;

from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Psalm 79:13

The long term vision described at the end of this psalm comes as something of a surprise ending. All of the seventy-ninth psalm is a complaint and a cry for help. It is a post-exilic picture of pain as it opens with the cry to God that gentiles have come into God’s inheritance, defiled the temple, and left Jerusalem in ruins (Psalm 79:1). There is a stark description of dead bodies picked at by vultures (Psalm 79:2), of blood and unburied corpses in the rubble of the destroyed city (Psalm 79:3-4). It is all very grim.

And the psalmist knows this all occurred as just judgment by God on a disobedient people (Psalm 79:5). The psalm cries out for the survivors to repent and for God to deliver the nation and avenge those who now mock Israel and Israel’s God (Psalm 79:8-12). The hope for deliverance, justice, and restoration is all that the survivors have left.

One would not expect theses circumstances to turn the heart to thankfulness and praise. Yet there it is... plain as day at the end of all the horror and pain. God’s people will trust God in their grief. They will thank Him even as He has humbled and chastened their pride. They will praise Him and pass on that worship to the next generation, choosing to make even of their darkest days a worship song to the Lord. Praise in this kind of dark has got to be the most legitimate worship we can know. God’s goodness is greater than the worst thing... the catastrophic thing... the deadliest disasters. When that is known, worship is very, very real.

raise us up

And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.

1 Corinthians 6:14

One day

as all flesh does

our bodies will die

Our souls

will rise above

while our bodies lie

And in the resurrection

Christ will raise us up

No way

will death be the end

There is eternity

We’ll live

forever with our Friend

Who died to set us free

For in the resurrection

He will raise us up

Death divides

body from soul

a temporary situation

God reunites

and makes us whole

in a certain resurrection

And in the resurrection

God will raise us up

A complete history of sin

In spite of all this, they still sinned;

despite his wonders, they did not believe.

Psalm 78:32

This verse has me thinking about how I really sin. But first, some background... Psalm 78 is the second longest psalm of the Bible. It is, like the 105th and 106th psalms, a historical psalm. It recounts the history of Israel. This is a history of sin, rebellion against God, and disobedience to the Law of God. You’d think God’s people could do better than that. They didn’t. The only person Who is true and upright through all 72 verses of psalm 78 is God.

This “worship song” which was an ode to the epic failures of Israel’s blunders away from God, calls people to trust in a God Who is faithful even when they are not. Even as Israel sinned, God kept His covenant. He fed them in the wilderness. He gave them a land, then a king, then a temple in which to worship. God’s mercy was greater than their mess.

Back to what I see about how sin works in me: I always sin against the wonderful power of God. God saved Israel from Egypt by awesome power in the Exodus, drowning the Egyptian army in the same Red Sea Israel crossed through dry land. They immediately complained to Moses and wanted to go back to slavery. God fed them manna and quail. They complained about the food. They worshiped a golden calf while Moses was receiving God’s Law. They “tested God again and again” (Psalm 78:41).

My sin does exactly this as well. I sin against the miraculous saving work of Jesus. I turn my back on the resurrection and the power of the gospel for some selfish desire I temporarily exalt as greater than God. I also momentarily “unbelieve” God in order to put trust in my own heart, the world’s “stuff”, or Satan’s lies. In spite of God’s good grace, I still sin. 

God, be merciful to me, forgive me, keep me in awe of Your saving power in worship! I believe in the gospel. That is the only way I can fight my complete history of sin! Amen