Month: April 2013

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 34 (day one)
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.”  (vs 8)  There are some things we must learn for ourselves.  Like marriage.  Listening to other people talk about marriage, attending weddings–nothing substitutes for the experience of living with/loving a spouse in covenant commitment to God.  It is an experience! Living faith is similar.  In today’s song, David urges all of us to “taste and see (for ourselves) that God is good.”  Without personal experience a powerfully real relationship will be for us only superficial words.  As Jesus told Nicodemus, “YOU (singular) must be born again”  (John 3:7)  None of us can be satisfied, or should, with the experience of others.  We are to learn for ourselves what it means to take refuge in God.  We are individuals.  This by His sovereign choice.   He, therefore, wants a relationship with us that is unique and real.   He wants us to taste His goodness for ourselves.

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 32 (day seven)
“How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whom there is no deceit.”  (vs 2) ” We are only as sick as our secrets.”  So says the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book.  A proven truth.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  (1 John 1:9)  When we hide (from God, from ourselves, from others) our sins control us.  They rule our inner lives, expressing themselves in anxiety, regret and shame.  When we bring them into the light, they lose their power.  Painful?  Yes.  Life-giving?  Yes.  One of God’s great blessings in the life of His children is this lesson that we are to be open and honest in our communication–even about the things we are ashamed of.  Especially about the things we are ashamed of!  Forgiveness comes when we are honest, and life with it!

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 32 (day six)
Philip Yancey’s father-in-law was a  lifelong Bible teacher.  In his final years, he experienced deep and prolonged heartbreak (degenerative nerve disease, the death his daughter, financial pressures).  Taken together, these disappointments became a crisis of faith.  He began to wonder what he still believed.  That year, in a Christmas letter he communicated “3 certainties”.  3 undeniables.  “Life is hard.  God is merciful.  Heaven is sure.”( Reaching for the Invisible God–page 95.)  In Psalm 32, David echos this raw/real confession of faith.  “I acknowledged my sin to you. . .you forgave the guilt of my sin”  (vs 5)  Even surrounded by experiences we do not understand, one truth remains clear.  1000 years before the cross of Christ, David experienced (and encouraged us to do the same) the sweet assurance of God’s mercy.  “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive MERCY and find grace to help in time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:16)

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 32 (day four)
The Psalmist gives us a model for discipleship in this chapter.  Verses 1-4 describe his experience in sin.  God weighs heavily on his soul (conviction) and brings him to repentance.  Verses 5-7 describe his response to the conviction…confession, and the result of the confession…joy.  Finally, in verses 8-11, the Psalmist encourages the reader to trust in the Lord.  With trust, comes loving kindness and joy.  This is the same model that Christ gave Peter…’when you go through a trial and learn from it, share it with others.’  In Luke 22:31-32, it says, “And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you (plural), that he may sift you (plural) as wheat.  But I have prayed for you (singular), that your (singular) faith should not fail; and when you (singular) have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.’” As difficult as repentance and confession is, we can still encourage others in their faith and trust in the Lord.  The result is joy…for us and for them.

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 32 (day three)
“Do not be like the horse or the mule…”  A society that has estranged itself from the Bible says God functions as a substitute for thinking.  A society that has estranged itself from the Bible says religion keeps people in an intellectual cave.  A society that has estranged itself from the Bible says no one can really know what’s true. Actually, rote belief and slavish thinking have no place in the life of anyone instructed by God’s word.  Control by bit and bridle is for mules, not for people.  To understand the seriousness of sin, to confess to the Lord, and to learn from God how to live and not die—this is height to which God calls the human mind.  God actually has a higher view of human beings than a society which claims that truth is out of reach for us.

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 32 (day two)
“For day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat” (32:4). I think my junior high Sunday school teacher was right. The most miserable person on the planet is not the atheist or agnostic, Muslim or Mormon, rebellious or religious. It is the redeemed, follower of Jesus who is living in willful disobedience to God. Whether in deliberate sin or simply refusing to follow the Spirit’s prompting, the Spirit of God may make that person miserable until he or she yields. To that person, the “still small voice” becomes “like a lion roaring.” This gift of misery is indeed a powerful expression of mercy. The misery reveals the need for forgiveness (5), brings protection (7), opens the door for God Himself to instruct (8) and rejuvenates praise (11). All of this comes to those who will “acknowledge their sin.” What a great gift misery can be!

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 32 (day one)
“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. . .Then I acknowledged my sin to you. . .and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”  (vs 3, 5)  In 1995, Jimmy Allen, a former pastor of FBCSA, published a book called The Burden of a Secret. In the 70’s his daughter-in-law and two grandchildren  contracted HIV through a blood transfusion.  The book tells the agony of the family as they struggled with this ultimately fatal diagnosis in a time when it was not safe to share with others.  King David knew the burden of a secret but with sin.  When he kept silent, he experienced the weary inner cost.  Thankfully, he eventually broke the silence in confession to God.  The result?  Forgiveness and help.  Secret sin is a burden that none of us can carry alone.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive. . .and cleanse us.  (1 John 1:9)