wait… don’t retaliate

Do not say, “I will repay evil”;

wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.

Proverbs 20:22

One principle that informs waiting on the Lord goes something like this: Avoid the temptation to take matters into your own hands. This proverb warns against wanting to “repay evil”, seeking to create our own brand of justice when we feel we have been wronged. The greater principle is to wait ON THE LORD. God settles the accounts. God rewards the righteous. God punishes the wicked. Impatience seeks to do what only God can do, and impatience always fails.

The proverbs in chapter 20 have a sub theme involving planning, the future, and understanding that it is God Who controls all outcomes:

• Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war. Proverbs 20:18
• A man’s steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way? Proverbs 20:24

Contrasted with this sub theme is another sub theme teaching us about the instability of sinful human intellect and ability to be just:

• Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find? Proverbs 20:6
• Who can say “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”? Proverbs 20:9
• Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright. Proverbs 20:11
• The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts. Proverbs 20:27

This inability on our part, which can only be overcome by trusting God for His part of making us holy, is why we must shelve our own plans to fix what we see as wrong in our world. It is why we must trust God as we wait for His justice to work. We can only act on what He reveals. Then we can “do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8).

Waiting on the Lord to bring what is right and just to us involves self-discipline. Yes, we do often experience the frustration of being in bad circumstances at the actions of sinful people. Yes, we must WAIT and PRAY FOR justice. Yes, we can trust God as we only do what He says as we wait. And taking matters of judgment into our own hands is never the solution. We will sin when doing so. Instead... Wait for the Lord. He will deliver. 

what it takes to wait

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

Psalm 130:5-6

What will help me wait for the Lord? I see three things that will help me to bear up well in this current season of waiting. And all three of them are available to me RIGHT AT THIS VERY MOMENT!

1. His Word. God has indeed spoken. I hold in my hands every day the most valuable resource for waiting: God’s holy Word. The Bible will provide me with God’s thoughts, God’s wisdom, God’s perspective, and will give to me comforting direction as I wait. So the very best way to wait on God involves putting my mind to the task of hearing from God. So in His Word I will read… reflect… ruminate… write… and wait. Saturated with and soaking in scripture I will gain the strength I need in this season of waiting on God.

2. Hope in God. Specifically this is hope that comes from His Word. And I know this. Already, as I have spent these few weeks searching scripture for insight into waiting on the Lord, I have been filled with hope — hope for my future, hope for my present, hope that my past does not limit either of those! Thank You, Lord, for the hope found in Your Word. The Bible spills over with present and future hope in Christ, and truly my cup overflows!

3. Holy Expectation. The repeated line “more than watchmen for the morning” is beautiful, poetic, and practical. Morning always comes… ALWAYS! God will not leave me in the darkness. My hope will arrive as surely as the rising sun. God will provide direction just as He already has done so in my waiting. I know comfort, confidence, and contentment in Christ. I will wait. It will help me in the waiting to appreciate the holiness of this pre-dawn season, and at some point, when the first rays of a rising new day hit the horizon of my life, I will receive the gift of a new day! I will have what I wait for! I will rejoice!

So Lord, as I wait, soloing forward, leaning into You, finding new adventures one on one with Your hand leading me, confidently knowing that the pink glow of the sunrise will come as it always does, I hope in Your Word! Thank You for providing all I need right now to wait contentedly.

Amen

focus

For God alone my soul waits in silence;

from him comes my salvation.

Psalm 62:1

Many things distract me, Lord.

May You be my focus.

Nothing else can satisfy

or provide like You will.

Why do I worry instead of quietly wait?

Why do I give in to the sin You hate?

Help me to trust You alone, my Lord!

Help me believe what You say in Your Word!

Nothing should grab this heart

except Your unfailing love, Lord.

Everything I want or need

will eventually come from Your good hand.

I will believe You; I wait in peace.

You will be my salvation and bring relief.

I claim this promise from Your Word.

In silence I trust in You, my Lord.

One thing should hold my attention.

One thing alone is my focus.

You will be my soul’s great delight.

You always keep and lead my heart.

I’m looking only, exclusively to my God’s power.

You supply grace and strength each day and hour.

For You alone my soul will wait and sing

until Your mercies and deliverance You bring.

waiting together in the dark

I will thank you forever,

because you have done it.

I will wait for your name, for it is good,

in the presence of the godly.

Psalm 52:9

When we understand the context for David to write these words of confidence, we will find them quite comforting. The background for Psalm 52 is 1 Samuel 22. The occasion for which it was written: It is a song of mourning for a dark day in Israel’s history… really the darkest day of King Saul’s ill-fated rule. David mourns that Saul, in a rage against David who had been helped by Ahimelech the priest, went on a rampage and murdered eighty-five priests and Levites in the priestly town of Nob. The entire city of the priests of Israel was destroyed by the King of Israel. Saul defied God in his hatred of David. In his anger and fear against David, Saul turned on God and directed his power against God’s own worship.

One priest, Abiathar, escaped to find refuge with David, and David took it upon himself to save the last surviving priest in Israel in order to maintain faithfulness to the covenant. Indeed it was a very dark time in Israel’s history. The light almost went out. It hardly seems to be time of hope, but here is David, in a memorial psalm, singing about hope!

Despite this grim reality, David trusts God and envisions himself thriving in God’s house (Psalm 52:8). David trusted the steadfast love of God despite the bleak nature of what was being faced. David thanked God for the chance to help restore the priesthood and together with his band of discontented mighty men covenanted to wait for God to bring good from it all.

In the darkest of times, God’s people can wait together with praise and with hope. The truth that motivated David: one surviving priest kept God’s worship alive. He would trust God to help him protect and then later see restored what was lost. God had preserved His worship and David trusted that waiting for what would happen next was a good thing. 

And so today, we should not fear if God’s name is not revered. Christians do not need to cower in a holy huddle afraid of what the culture does next! Let it rage against God. God is among us still and is not being diminished in power one bit by human raging! We should not cower before cultural threats. God keeps His work very well defended! We may be hated, hunted or hurt, but the fact is, none of it touches God! He will help us thrive, not just survive, as we wait together. As long as we worship, God’s power is known in us. As we wait, we grow stronger. Sinful society creates its own dark days. But bright hope lives with those who will wait!

W. A. I. T.

I waited patiently for the LORD;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

Psalm 40:1

Perhaps waiting on the Lord would be an easier thing to do if it wasn’t for that pesky word: PATIENCE! Yet the testimony of David, an experience that led him to sing praise and call others to praise, was that he found that God rewarded his patient waiting. Thus waiting with patience has precedence for real answers. And so we are encouraged to be patient. I reflect on that process with a simple acrostic: W.A.I.T.

W - Who. Who I wait upon, not what I wait for is the most important focus.  I must worship the God on Whom I wait. I must realize that the wait looks directly to Him, and does not look at my perceived need or my persistent pain.

A - Attention. I mean this in three ways: 1) I pay attention to how I wait, purposefully making it about focusing on God’s power to change my situation. 2) I don’t wait to draw attention to myself. 3) I do wait to pay attention to the answer God will bring and in the waiting as a process itself there can be a growth in Christlikeness well worth all the patience.

I - Intention. I wait intentionally with purpose. I expect God hears me. I expect an eventual answer. I process the situation and I journal and reflect in a season of waiting which then creates a kind of purpose in the patience. This builds character, creates margin for me to really worship while I wait, and helps me find life lessons that are valuable in the waiting itself, which become part of the answer I seek.

T - Trust. Patient waiting on God will pull my trust from wrong sources such as self,  such as my own self-generated, limited options, such as worldly means. Instead it builds my faith as I trust the God Who inclines to me, hears my cry, and eventually lifts me up just like He did for David.

So I WAIT… with patience… for a purpose… praying and praising.

waiting temporarily

And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

My hope is in you.

Psalm 39:7

The message of this psalm gives a unique perspective on waiting on God. The overall theme of Psalm 39 is the brevity of life. Our existence on this planet is a spark’s flash in comparison to the enduring sunshine of eternity. All of a life is a mere exhale. A brief walk through this song of David’s gives us insight into this question on waiting on the Lord.

The psalm begins with Determination and Desperation to Dull a Dialogue. David determines not to say the wrong thing to the wrong people. Some temptation to sin with his tongue has come to him (Psalm 39:1). But the situation he was struggling with also had a component of growing desperation as he kept his mouth literally shut. And finally David could stand no more, but carefully directed his words to the right place (Psalm 39:2-3).

The psalm then moves to a Call to Consider the Cursory Character of Life. David speaks. He breaks his silence with a prayer for God to make known to him the measure of his days and the fleeting nature of his mortality. And in that knowledge, he realizes all of human history is but a breath exhaled before the eternal God (Psalm 39:4-6)

From there the song turns to a final section. David’s prayer is a Personal Petition for Perfect Peace. David resolves to wait for hope to come from God (Psalm 39:7). God will deliver from sin (Psalm 39:8). God will discipline in love and rebuke (Psalm 39:9-11). God will bring peace even in our temporary tears (Psalm 39:12). God will bring a smile before we die (Psalm 39:13).

There are two “selah” pauses strategically in this Psalm (Psalm 39:5, 11) — both of them at the attention-grabbing line of poetry: “surely all mankind is a mere breath.” In the final summary, we are all sojourners, travelers, guests in this hotel of life, not permanent residents here, instead looking to God for our eternal home as we journey toward Him (Psalm 39:12). The conclusion in terms of what it means to the subject of waiting on God? All waiting is focused on the vivid hope of our destination to be with God in eternity. All times of waiting point there. Even if we hope for direction still in this life, it is only as a travel stop on our journey. We wait AND we travel. We wait AS we travel. But our destination is the thing. That is the hope. And the destination is vastly greater than the mere exhale of our existence!

It is You, O Lord

But for you, O LORD, do I wait;

it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.

Psalm 38:15

It is for You

     O Lord

          that I wait

Help me look

     only to You

          as I pray

Eyes away from circumstances

Heart turned away from controlling demands

Mind fixed on You for perfect peace

It is for You

     O Lord

          that I wait

It is You

     O Lord

          Who will answer

I must listen

     to Your Word

          and obey

Wants arranged by what You want

Will surrendered to Your will

Ready to do what You will show me

Only You

     O Lord

          will answer

And so I wait

waiting vs worry

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

Psalm 37:7

Sin complicates waiting on the Lord. And in this psalm we are reminded that two sinful attitudes in particular can derail waiting in faith on God. We must guard our hearts, turn from attitudes that hinder faith, and wait patiently.

The first sin that will makes it impossible to properly wait is comparison to other people that leads us to worry. In this psalm, David observes that evil men who plot against him seem to get the upper hand and do quite well for themselves. They seem to be able to do whatever they want. They seem to get whatever they want. It doesn’t seem fair (comparison always has us falsely thinking God is unfair). And this gets his soul anxious. When that kind of comparison dominates our thinking, we wonder if it is worth trusting God at all. We doubt God’s goodness to us. We not only lose hope, but we may even think that God doesn’t see us or care about us. But nothing could be further from the truth.

There is a second sin we can fall into: anger at a situation in which we must wait. In Psalm 37:8 the command is to “refrain from anger, and forsake wrath”. Again this anger leads to anxiety at the end of verse eight. I have found myself caught in this particular trap more than I want to truly admit… many times over the last seven months, comparing my situation to that of others, and then getting pouty and upset as I observe people… overcome and overrun by my strong feelings and changed situation. I get anxious and angry over the slow pace of grief and pain. Especially if I think other people who I sinfully judge as “more sinful” than me seem to thrive. But the warning is this: “fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.” That kind of angry judgment is a very ugly sin in me.

Instead of comparison, worry, and anger, we must point our hearts to repentance and patient faith. God will not let evil prosper. And He will confront our own awful attitudes as we wait on Him. Look at the conclusion to this section in Psalm 37:9: “For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait on the LORD shall inherit the land.” God will always bless in our faith-focused waiting. Always! And so I will turn from my sinful comparison, anger, and worry. I will guard against them, not letting them gain a handhold on my heart. God will reward me in the wait! I know it! I trust Him! And what He has for me is well worth this soul-searching, faith-filled, humbling time of trust!

Waiting: the crescendo

Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

all you who wait for the LORD!

Psalm 31:24

There is background to this enthusiastic encouragement. Psalm 31 shows us how to wait with strength and courage. It is worth summarizing all of Psalm 31 to get to this powerful ending. This is the joyous crescendo that ends Psalm 31. We have to understand the other more plaintive melodies and rhythms that led David to compose this full orchestral blast of praise at the end.

MOVEMENT ONE: God redeems a life needing shelter (Psalm 31:1-5). This is the short opening to this symphony of praise. There are sad and slow tones as David cries out to God as his refuge, needing God’s deliverance. He needed a place of safety from attacks from enemies. And he found that God had led him even then. God did indeed save him as he committed his spirit to God. Verse five contains some of the last words of Jesus and is a prophecy fulfilled at His crucifixion. This is an intense trust in God the Redeemer, and points us all the way to the cross where Jesus secures us safely in His sacrifice. “Into Your hands I commit my spirit.” God’s hands are shelter where we are safe.

MOVEMENT TWO: We can trust a God Who holds our times in His hands (Psalm 31:6-18). This is the longest part of the symphony. It moves in melodies and countermelodies, picking up and weaving together three major themes as the worship orchestra performs:

• God showers us in His grace and steadfast love (Psalm 31:7, 9, 16).
• God knows our affliction, grief, and suffering (Psalm 31:7, 9, 10-13).
• God controls our times and circumstances, making Him worthy of our trust (Psalm 31:14-17).

MOVEMENT THREE: Love the God Who saves you as you wait! (Psalm 31:19-24). God is abundant in His goodness to us (Psalm 31:19). God covers us constantly with His presence as we seek His perspective and power (Psalm 31:20). God shows His steadfast love to bring wonder in the waiting (Psalm 31:21). God is to be loved by His saints (Psalm 31:23). God preserves His faithful ones (Psalm 31:23). God humbles the proud (Psalm 31:23).

So as the song moves from our need to call us to trust in a trustworthy God, it compels us in relationship to love Him. We can find then that waiting on the Lord is a good task. We can be strong because Jesus is already a strong Savior Who committed to us and the Father by His sacrifice. We can take courage because God already holds our times firmly in His hands. God sets our lives safely on the Rock of our Salvation. We wait on Him as we wait in Him and having sung about His redemption and sovereign control, we can confidently love God as we wait.

faith to wait

Wait for the LORD;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the LORD!

Psalm 27:14

This four word command at the beginning and at the ending of this verse gets my attention. It is a call to wait on God, a command to look to Him, an order from God to be patient for God. It feels impossibly difficult to manage. And in the middle of the strong command to wait are two other commands that feel equally difficult to follow as I am trying to wait.

BE STRONG. How can a person just “be strong”? It’s like telling a sick person “Get better”. Really? Duh! Of course I don’t want to be sick! Of course I want to trust God! For those waiting on God, of course we want to be strong! But how? How can my soul strongly wait for what it wants most of all but does not , as yet, have? This command to be strong has to have a root somewhere. It needs an anchor. It needs more than just my willpower. 

TAKE COURAGE. Where will my heart get this courage? It seems equally implausible that I can muster this up by waiting alone. The root meaning of “courage” in Hebrew means both to withstand (like weathering a storm) and to maintain (like staying on course). How does my heart withstand what seeks to deter me from waiting on God? How can I stay at it for as long as it takes?

The answers to all these questions that come to me as I read Psalm 27:14 are answered when I read and understand Psalm 27:13:

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!

I can wait with faith. Because I believe God, I can wait. Because I trust Him I will find strength. Because I will see Him now, and find Him at work in me while I yet live, I can have the courage to keep waiting, keep trusting, keep knowing God’s goodness for me. FAITH is what it takes to WAIT. I believe God… so I will wait for Him.

A reminder about the God upon Whom we wait

May integrity and uprightness preserve me,

for I wait for you.

Psalm 25:21

The final request of Psalm 25 is for God to keep David, to preserve the king of Israel as God also redeems the nation from trouble (Psalm 25:22). And in the middle of this prayer request David commits to waiting on the Lord. Even when we ask what we know it be God’s will, we must still often wait. We may want to ask “why” this is so. But to ask so may betray improper motivations on our part. If we HAVE to know why, we really aren’t waiting well are we! It is the wording of verse 21 that makes me draw the conclusion that needing to know why we wait is not truly waiting. Let me explain what leads me there.

David asks for integrity and uprightness to watch over him. The question becomes: Whose integrity and uprightness is doing the watching? Is it David’s own character so that he earns the favor of God, or is it purely the integrity and uprightness of God Who will provide the preservation? I believe it is God’s character that David longs to preserve him while he waits. Here is why I believe that FROM THE TEXT…

1. David knew that sinners brought shame by their actions, and no person that waits on God is put to shame (Psalm 25:3). Therefore it is God’s character that matters in the waiting. His sinful condition would only shame him.

2. All along in this psalm there are strong appeals for God to do what only He can do. David wants to know God’s ways and paths (Psalm 25:4), God’s truth (Psalm 25:5), God’s mercy (Psalm 25:6), God’s steadfast love and goodness (Psalm 25:7), God’s faithfulness (Psalm 25:10), God’s friendship (Psalm 25:14), God’s grace (Psalm 25:16), and God’s deliverance and rescue (Psalm 25:20). Thus in keeping with the direction of the song, David is looking to God’s integrity (moral strength) and uprightness (moral perfection) to keep him as he waits.

3. David confesses sin all throughout this song. It CANNOT be his own moral character he hopes to preserve him. He doesn’t have any! He is not extolling his own obedience. He is begging for God to forgive, keep and save (see Psalm 25:7, 11, 18). Sinners plead for God’s integrity and righteousness. We have none of our own!

O God,

In my waiting, I throw my soul’s need upon Your holiness, Your perfection, Your goodness. I know with confidence You will not let me down. Forgive me for my own self-pity, for narrowly thinking You owe me something because I have endured “so much”. No, the truth is, even in my troubles, I am often sinning. I need Your righteousness to preserve me! I am at his moment kept in the perfect, loving, omniscient, all-powerful care of my soul’s only Preserver! And in confidence in You, I will wait. May Your integrity and uprightness preserve me!

Amen

truth that empowers the wait

Lead me in your truth and teach me,

for you are the God of my salvation;

for you I wait all the day long.

Psalm 25:5

O God,

I pray this prayer as I begin thinking about what it means to wait. Lead me in Your truth. Teach me. You are my salvation, Lord Jesus!

Amen

As I explore the message of this bit of ancient song, I reflect on how waiting on the Lord provides for my deepest needs. I wait for what will be yet to come from His hand. I rest in what I already have from Him. And this little verse in a psalm of praise reminds me of two precious truths for all who will wait. These two truths meet two great needs.

The first fact is that God teaches me His truth. In fact, in Jesus, God is the truth. He is all I need to know. Knowing Jesus and His ways supersedes any and all of my other perceived needs. Even when I don’t quite believe it, I need truth. I need to be taught. Jesus is both my Truth and my Teacher. Be my soul’s Rabbi, Lord Jesus and lead me in the truth while I continue to wait for what I am trusting in You to teach me!

The second truth is that God saves me… He alone is my salvation. Why wouldn’t I wait for Him as long as it takes? I was saved when I first believed the good news of salvation: that Jesus died and rose again to save my soul from hell. I am being saved as I believe and follow Him, an ongoing experience of rescue as I turn from known sin to follow my Great Savior. I will be saved forever, united completely with Christ, with all the redeemed (especially those I am separated from by death), destined for eternal life in a new heavens and a new earth, the home of righteousness! That is worth believing, serving, living for, and waiting for!

With these two truths in mind, I can wait. David was content to wait if it took “all day long”. And those who are led in God’s truth, who rejoice in the God of their salvation, look to Jesus as they wait, knowing all the good they have in Him, believing all the good to come in the waiting, and hoping for all He has for them after the waiting!

waiting with

The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there…”

Exodus 24:12a

As God prepared to give to Israel the laws that would be His revealed will for the newly delivered nation, He offered an invitation to Moses. It is an invitation to come into God’s presence. It is an invitation to wait.

God chose to visibly make His power known to His people at this season. He descended upon Sinai. The mountain was shrouded in thick smoke, fire, and lightning. The ground around the peak shook with the thunder of God’s presence. The people were afraid of what they saw and heard. In the midst of this powerful display, God made His Word known to His people. His power, His majesty, His concern, His provision, and His Word all converged there in that collision of power and Presence at the crest of Sinai.

And then God gives this invitation. He calls Moses to come to the burning top of Sinai that is electrified and rocking in God’s pulsing Person. And there His expectation of Moses is this: wait. “Come up here into my fearful Presence… and… wait.” Moses had heard the thunder, seen the lightning, felt the ground shake, and smelled the smoke. But there was more of God to be known than this… it would be known by waiting in His presence.

It is good to see this story when thinking about waiting on the Lord. This is the first Bible story to SHOW us what waiting looks like from the direct command of God. It informs for us what we really do when we wait. I often feel like I am waiting FOR God. “God, when are You gonna do something?” “How long until You act?” “Will You ever change this?” But that thinking shows I’ve got it all wrong. Instead God, like He was at Sinai, is always right there with me in the waiting. It isn’t that I am waiting FOR God… it is rather that I am waiting WITH God. It is true I may be waiting for a specific work of God, or an answer to a prayer, or for a hope to arrive. But the truth in the experience is, when waiting, I am always waiting WITH God Who is there alongside me. And just like Moses eventually received the Law written on stone from the hand of God and returned back down the mountain, so God will give something amazing as I wait with Him. As I think about and appreciate this, I too can accept that perhaps what I think is fog around me in the waiting is really the shroud of His presence pulling me into waiting WITH Him, trusting Him for the coming clear blessing. 

The waiting is the story.

I wait for your salvation, O LORD.

Genesis 49:18

Here is a brief prayer inserted into a litany of blessings. As Jacob blesses all his sons, prophesying by unique Holy Spirit empowerment the fate of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, he stops to offer this very personal prayer. It is interesting that it is a prayer of “waiting”. It is the very first time in scripture that the concept of waiting on God is clearly articulated for us. As such it is worth figuring out why it is here.

Of course, coming as it does near the end of the story of Joseph, it should get our attention. Joseph’s story from the very start pointed to a life waiting to have God fulfill His revealed purposes. God had given the young boy Joseph some very unusual dreams. They were dreams about his future. They were glorious dreams. They were a vision of a much bigger future than a young boy could possibly imagine. They offended the sensibilities of his situation. They were dreams that disrupted the order of things, even upsetting his entire family.

Joseph waited. He waited obediently as a boy to know what God’s strange dreams to him could mean. He waited as his angry brothers rejected him and sold him as a slave. He waited as the head of Potipher’s house. He waited in the royal Egyptian prison. He even waited for the final fulfillment as second in command of the Egyptian empire. He waited as God brought his family back into his life. But Joseph himself never speaks of this waiting. It is just unfolded for us in the narrative. Yet here, his father Jacob hints at all that waiting in his small prayer. It is easy to miss. But all of the story so far was a patient LIFETIME call to wait, through a twist of circumstances as God, the Author of it all, spins the tale of the deliverance of the sons of Jacob through His purposes with Joseph.

Lord,

In a sense, all our waiting then is a patient purpose that You have for us. It is how You write the story! In fact, WAITING OFTEN IS THE STORY! Your pen is carefully inking Your desired story of Your greatness and our salvation across the blank pages of our lives. You are the Author of eight billion plus stories right now at this moment! Each unique. Each a love story of the gospel. Mine is just one of them. And as I wait, may I be patient. May I marvel at Your greatness, at the characters You have alongside me, and most of all, at Jesus, the Great Hero of all these stories! Waiting on this story right now is worth it. I too have dreams… many interrupted… feeling disrupted… yet I will trust the plot lines will come together, resolving beautifully in Your grace! Waiting in the story You write is worth it. I wait for Your salvation, O LORD!

Amen

straight or crooked?

Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered,

but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.

Proverbs 28:18

The best possession any person can have to gauge the impact of their life has to be integrity. Rich or poor, famous or unknown, powerful or pawn, all of these are insignificant once compared to character. It is integrity of character that matters most of all. Our impact depends upon character. Our families depend upon it. Our hopes rest on the righteousness given to us, stewarded by us, displayed by Christ in us for the world to know. Integrity is therefore the most important thing. Get character! Hold to integrity! Really… in the end… it is the only thing!

This proverb tells us that integrity gets us through the hardest situations. It promises deliverance for the person of character and commitment to following God’s ways. Of course Christians are given the righteousness of Christ, are equipped to choose to be holy as He is holy, and are led by His Holy Spirit. We are given every integrity resource possible to enjoy the promise in this proverb. We can walk “straight on” (integrity has the poetic word picture of a straight and clear path elsewhere in scripture) with integrity. We are without fault (the Hebrew word translated “integrity” means “unblemished”) before God as His Word and truth direct our ways.

But the opposite of integrity here in this proverb is crookedness. The meaning of crooked is “perverse, twisted, or knotted”. Without the integrity Christ provides, this is our default condition. We still fight it with sin natures within us. We are hopelessly bent and twisted, unable to straighten ourselves. And the end of this twisted character? … sudden calamity. Without integrity a life is doomed. It’s that stark of a difference! With integrity— deliverance. Without it —- doom!

Lord Jesus,

Help me live with the integrity that You alone give to me… driven far away from my twisted thinking and my crooked ways by Your righteousness! Make my paths straight! Propel me with integrity to bless others until, led by Your truth and Your Holy Spirit, I arrive at the gates of my eternal home that Your righteousness has made for me.

Amen

Cold Water / Good News

Like cold water to a thirsty soul,

so is good news from a far country.

Proverbs 25:25

Bring the glass… give me a drink

weary, thirsting from what I think

I need better thoughts to fill my head

something peaceful on my bed

Tired of hurting, tired of pain

dry and needing refreshing rain

I long for something good to hear

Bring that water! Bring it near!

Cold water to my thirsty soul

is what this heart craves to know

so in Your Word I search and pray

Lord, quench my thirst to start my day!

The gospel saves and sets me free

from endless, craving, thirsting need

Jesus fills up this empty soul

renews, refreshes, makes me whole

Like a chilled glass in my hand

this saving news from far off land

comes from heaven to earth to me

then liberates and sets this soul free

From heaven’s far country to earth’s dark shore

Jesus came to redeem us forevermore

Brings saving grace and life abundant

brings power over death, victory triumphant

Holding this glass in my hands, I drink

and smiling now, joyful, I think

of all God’s grace poured out for me

I see now with the insight of eternity

What God began in Jesus at the cross

recovers for me everything once loss

Good news brings joy in all I see

Good news, cold water, joy from the Far Country!

“peace from trouble” - a biblical lament playlist

This post is a deviation from my normal blogposts on scripture. I post it as a kind of palate-cleansing set of thoughts at the conclusion of this series on the book of Lamentations. Think of it as that slightly savory cheese and cracker at a wine-tasting… meant to help you appreciate the tastes you’ve had and those yet to come. 

I have found music to be very healing and helpful in processing my need for peace beyond loss. But honestly, I LOVE MUSIC! I mean I really love music… all kinds… all the time. So what resonates with my soul, may not do so for you. But with that disclaimer, I will let you in on a playlist I have developed over the last few months. I play it every morning as part of each start of the day. These songs aren’t losing any meaning to me anytime soon. I’ll give a little explanation as to WHY each one is meaningful, and I hope you’d find them enjoyable too. Hyperlinks will take you to each separate song.

1. “Ulysses” by Josh Garrels from his album Love & War & The Sea In Between. This has been flat out one of my favorite albums for a long time. And this song defines my conviction that the ancient Greek concept of “Thumos” as the fire inside each man’s masculine soul is crucially important. It seems at least to me to be part of the image of God, but of course, the Greeks went goofily polytheistic with it. Discernment is a must. (Good blog posts HERE and HERE if you wish to explore further.) I was raised in a weird mix of “proto-hippie” anti-authoritarianism and hyper-fundamentalist dogma, which meant from the age of 8 to 14, we had no television in my home. Instead, my mom pushed me to the glory of books… particularly the classics. She ordered a mail-order collection of classics with a new volume arriving in the mail each month. And when I first read Homer’s  “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, I never got over the adventure and the romance those epic stories told. This song captures that “thumos” fire… that romance… that epic motivation. And I realize that the last eight words of this song will be my Odyssey… a fulfillment I will only know when I sail my ship back, not to Ithaca, but into my eternal home. And this driving passion is comforting. I will let it carry me… both to any new adventure…  and eventually to the finale of the story where I confidently know those last eight words will make the fire’s burning worth it all.

2. “Steady” by Loud Harp. It’s the chorus of this song that comforts and mystifies at the same time: “You’re the joy in the middle of my pain. You’re the peace that I cannot explain. You’re the love I’ll never escape. You are God.” Plus the song has a river in it… I’m practically aquatic, so that flows a special comfort into my soul as well!

3. “Is He Worthy?” by Andrew Peterson. The questions and the litany back and forth in this praise song are the questions of life… asked plainly, almost disturbingly so. I LOVE IT! And Jesus is the only One able to answer these questions that haunt us in this broken place! After Rich Mullins died in a horrible accident in 1997, I thought there would never be a more authentic singer/songwriter on the Christian scene. Fortunately I later found Andrew Peterson to restore my hopes. This is just wonderful worship. And real!

4. “Far Kingdom” by the Gray Havens. A band named for Tolkien’s concept of heaven? Yeah… gotta love that. And this song, mixing biblical imagery and Tolkien metaphor is a wonderful perspective builder. The last verse just makes me weep with the realization that heaven already knows my name! Umm… and another river in the chorus!

5. “Gratitude” by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. I am indebted to my niece for the notion of “Sacred in the Secular” when it comes to music. I find something holy in this song. Not a Christian band necessarily. Not a Christian song exclusively. But it captures gratitude better than anything I’ve ever heard… lots of these little things add up to overwhelming thankfulness. And I am OK with that “first sip of whiskey” line… I may be Baptist, but I am pretty sure when it comes to Bourbon, I was actually born Presbyterian!

6. “Long Journey” by Sarah Jarosz. Again “Sacred in the Secular” going on here. My son introduced me to this 4 time Grammy winner (all before age 30). She is a gifted song writer and musician. Hard to believe she wrote and recorded this at the tender age of 19… another “Odyssey” song (this time from a feminine perspective) and also a love song. Sarah helped me give up my grudge against love songs with this one. I can listen to them again now. And her voice… I want it in my ear as much as possible. 

7. “Broken Heart” by Andy Gullahorn. Like Andrew Peterson, another authentic voice that fills the Rich Mullins gap for me. I have used lines from this song in counseling for years… my favorite is this: “A broken heart is better than one that doesn’t feel”. Yes… Yes it is. The last verse is a wonderful worship reflection.

8. “Psalm 13” by The Corner Room. This band does scripture songs exclusively. I mean the lyrics are ONLY scripture quotation. Great to learn some scripture memory. This one is good lament… “How long O Lord?” Plus it is bluegrass/country with some banjo pickin’ and fiddle-playin’… and that sound is hard-wired in Burch DNA… the music of my people!

9. “Doubting Thomas” by Nickel Creek. This will be controversial I know. I hope Chris Thile has not fully deconstructed his Christian faith, but that is entirely possible. Still this tune is NOT about rejecting God. If you listen carefully, it runs to God, with doubt. The last verse is a clear prayer for forgiveness and a commitment to believe despite doubt struggles. The line that gets me the most: “Sometimes I pray for a slap in the face, then I beg to be spared because I’m a coward.” Also that repeat of “O me of little faith”… Yep. Been there.

10. “Jesus…” written by Rich Mullins, performed by Ashley Cleveland. This is from the record Rich never got to finish. But his band took the songs and rough recordings Rich left and several singers lent their talents. This is such a powerful song… all the way through… lyrics that squeeze the doubt and difficulty right out of my thinking and blinding me with the light of Jesus! The last line lingers hauntingly… “Feels like the devil’s rolled a stone onto my heart. Can You roll that stone away?”

11. “Pastures New” by Nickel Creek. Just a wonderful acoustic instrumental song. And it evokes some Psalm 23 imagery. For me it is the simple melody and counter melodies back and forth between instruments that bring a sense of calming peace.

12. “Jesus is Better” by Austin Stone Worship. This worship band just consistently produces some wonderful music. I need this simple three word reminder… a lot. “…in all my sorrow, Jesus is better, make my heart believe.”

13. “Psalm 23” - by The Corner Room. Another scripture song… this time the most recognizable scripture in all the world. So good to know a Shepherd is leading me …even in the valley of the shadow.

14. “Lord From Sorrows Deep I Call (Psalm 42)” - by Matt Boswell & Matt Papa. A modern hymn… majestic… biblical… powerfully captures both lament and hope. “When all I possess is grief, God be then my treasure.” A new favorite of mine as well.

15. “(144) Steadfast Love” - by Loud Harp. Yet another Psalm set to music. It is “steadfast love”… grace… that gets us through the hardest times, showers the good times with outrageous joy, and takes us all the way home! And God Himself IS that steadfast love… It is not PART of Him, It IS Him!

16. “All Because of Christ” - Austin Stone Worship. Play this song at my funeral! It is the song that most defines my life. If there is anything in this man at all… it is because of Christ. “…though the things of earth may fall… You will remain. ..If I stand and see it through, if I stay the course and make it home, if my heart is overwhelmed with peace in the storm, it’s all… it’s all because of Christ.” This is Odyssey “thumos” fire redeemed by the True Warrior King!

17. “Farther Along” - by Josh Garrels. I bookend this playlist with a last one from the same album that started the list. This remake of an American gospel song with a modest hip-hop beat behind it is awesome. Josh’s ability to do a sing-song slow rap of the verses is a complex, thought-provoking, spirit-lifting sermon in and of itself. And the journey goes all the way to the final destination… a reminder of the true voyage that “thumos” fire is fueling. “So cheer up my brothers… we’ll understand this all by and by.”

three truths to resolve the “why” dilemma

But you, O LORD, reign forever;

your throne endures to all generations.

Why do you forget us forever,

why do you forsake us for so many days?

Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!

Renew our days as of old…

Lamentations 5:19-21

The hardest question to wrestle with in times of grief is the simple three letter interrogative: “why?” And it almost exclusively is the question that is impossible to answer. 

Why? 

Why, Lord? 

That is the question at the heart of this passage.

Looking carefully though, we can see that question is surrounded by hope both before and after the question is asked. And what Jeremiah shows us is clear: “Why” is a natural question to ask in our grief. God is the supernatural solution to get us over the impossibilities of our “why” questions. Three truths about God help to settle our hearts when “why” troubles us.

1. The Lord Reigns. God is our ruler. He is in control. He has been in control forever. He will always continue to be in control. His rule extends far beyond our limited understanding. His reign is for generations past and future to whom He has always been and will always be faithful. The pesky little “why” in my moment is rightfully resolved by His eternal rule and reign alone. This big picture diminishes my need to have the answer right now. God is in control. He is sovereign. He is good. My experience then will resolve before HIS THRONE forever.

2. The Lord Restores. God controls this outcome. We never do. We can’t. So we must trust the One Who restores. And all of scripture compels me to believe that He Who has restored all things through the blood of Christ… Who restores my soul… He will restore all my lingering confusion and so I must trust Him. He began a good work in me. He will complete it. My confusion is not an impediment to this! God WILL restore joy, life, love, and meaning to me. I need only keep looking to His resurrected Son to know this and see it is already coming!

3. The Lord Renews. My prayer is to be renewed. And as Lamentations has already shown us, new mercies are revealed by God day after day… every morning I arise to a sunrise of renewal! I am a new creation in Christ. The old has gone. Behold, the new is coming! I can trust that the new is already at work in me… today… right now… this morning… for His glory! Amen!

inevitable comparison

Happier were the victims of the sword

than the victims of hunger,

who wasted away, pierced

by lack of the fruits of the field.

Lamentations 4:9

In the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah, in grief and lament, makes a painful and poetic comparison. Two horrors haunted him in the chaos. The first was the horror of the dead left from the war. The army of Israel was decimated. There were no able-bodied men left to defend a city in ruins. Most had fallen at the sword of the invaders. In Jeremiah’s mind those were the “happier” ones… the dead could rest. To be pitied were those left behind to starve in the rubble.

The refugees were gaunt, decimated physically, and traumatized. They were starving and humiliated. Some had done unthinkable things during the long siege. Some had even eaten their own children to survive. In comparing the “happy dead” with the “traumatized survivors”, Jeremiah does what we often do in grief. We try to make meaning from the messages. In so doing we often get a disturbingly wrong picture.

Comparison in grief kills any progress toward healing and repentance. At least that is what it does for me. It gets the grieving soul in a stuck place. It traumatizes and freezes the images in our brains. I tend to fight this comparison battle in three “tenses”:

1) PAST TENSE. I compare my life now to what once was not so long ago. I pine away for the past… even last year at this time seems so glorious. Instead of embracing the treasure of great memories and gifts from God, I enshrine the trauma of losing them. It is a kind of worship of pain. It is insidiously seductive, temporarily soothing, but spiritually numbing. This gets me nowhere. HOW I FIGHT IT: I must confront it when it creeps into my thinking. I must look to God, His Word, and accept a new present that will rework a better future.

2) PRESENT TENSE. I compare myself to others, usually married friends. This is often very prideful and judgmental of me… just to get that out there so you know how sinful any person, even one in grief, can be. If I know of a marriage conflict, I tell myself how stupid they are for fighting with each other. I pass my judgment on them, forgetting Joni and I had our conflicts to manage, repent from, and grow closer by resolving. This comparison makes me Pharisaical and my grief becomes “my law” that then gives me “the right” to exist as a wicked judge. HOW I FIGHT IT: I must repent of this sort of comparison as well. I must accept the reality that mine was an imperfect marriage too, and that it only gave me so many pleasant memories because of what Jesus did to make it thrive.

3) FUTURE TENSE. I only see my present hunger and what I’ve lost, so even thoughts of my future seem to be impossible to accept. Future hope exists as a kind of doctrinal statement, fuzzy at best, when I dwell on my unhappiness. I overlay my pain with the future and even though God has blessed me with some bright hopes… I forget them, or I minimize them. Really, when I am honest, I am choosing unbelief. I WANT to see God bring a bright future (even in what earthly life I have left), to restore joy and relationship, but there is still a lot of rubble I am stumbling through. This hampers my faith. HOW I FIGHT IT: I must saturate my thinking with the vision of the Kingdom to come! That is my hope! That is my future! That is what God will remake this life to experience.