Category Archives: Thoughts From Scripture

Psalm Sunday: Psalm 13

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Psalm 13

1 How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

5 But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

6 I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

In the midst of trouble, one of the first things people tend to think is that God has forgotten them or is angry with them. We know from other Scripture passages that there are many reasons for suffering and trouble and that God has promised not to forget or forsake His own. In Dr. Jim Berg’s book Changed Into His Image, he refers to “reasoning yourself back to reality” — taking your thoughts and feelings and applying Scripture, reminding yourself of what God has said, and depending on that instead of your feelings. David does that so often in the Psalms.

David is also completely honest with God. In the midst of feeling forgotten, he knows where to go: he cries out to his God for help. I am reminded of and old song Hale and Wilder used to sing that goes something like:

Where shall I run, Lord, when all around me
Sorrow and strife seem to be everywhere?
Have you not said that you would protect me?
Safe in your hand I will evermore be.
With such protection, none can alarm me
Though the storms of life almost kill.
Ever to this shelter I will be fleeing;
No other one can provide these for me.

I was struck by the faith evidenced in the last two verses. David trusts in God’s mercy and looks ahead to God’s deliverance: he says with certainty his heart “shall rejoice in God’s salvation.” And the last verse doesn’t seem to be saying that he will sing unto the Lord because God has in the past dealt bountifully with him, though that is always a good thing to do — and maybe he is doing that both to praise God and to encourage himself in the Lord’s coming deliverance. But it seems to me to be looking ahead with the eye of faith, trusting that God will deliver him out of the present trial and that he will then sing to Him because of His bountiful dealings with him. Either way, David always remembers to praise the Lord for His deliverance. He doesn’t just shoot up quick prayers for help and then go on about his business after the help comes: he remembers to thank and praise God, not out of duty, but with a heart overflowing with love and gratitude.

One exercise Dr. Berg mentions in one of his books (I forget which one — it’s either Changed Into His Image, which I mentioned above, or the video series Quieting a Noisy Soul) he recommends looking up the definitions to key words in a passage, even words we’re familiar with, to enrich our study of the passage. I didn’t do that with this whole passage, but I did look up the word “bountiful” at Dictionary.com. Some of the words used in the definition were “liberal, munificent, generous, ample, abundant.” Isn’t that just like the Lord? He doesn’t just barely answer prayer with the minimum requirements: He answers “exceeding abundantly above all we could ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20).

Thanks to Erica at Butterfly Kisses for beginning and hostessing Psalm Sundays. You can find more meditations on this Psalm there.

Easter quotes

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I’ll be back later this evening with Psalm Sunday, but for now I wanted to put up the first of a series of quotes about Easter (or Resurrection Day, if you prefer). For past holidays I have put a series of quotes all in one post, but some of these are really meaty, and I think they’d lose their effectiveness all together. So I am going to post one or two a day throughout this week.

As I collected these through the years, I did note the author, but not where I found the quote — one of the changes experienced in becoming a blogger is keeping track of sources to link to. 🙂 But since I don’t have the source for these (except for this first one), I will just post them as I have them in my files.

“Easter is not primarily a comfort, but a challenge. If it is true [as he and others indeed demonstrate], then it is the supreme fact of history, and to fail to adjust one’s life to its implications means irreparable loss.”
— J.N.D. Anderson, late Dean of the School of Law at the University of London, The Evidence for the Resurrection (Downer’s Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1966), p. 4. (I haven’t read this book — all I know about it is this quote.)

On this side of the resurrection the cross is no less vulgar–the vulgarity of the cross is the vulgarity of the sin that erected it–but the cross flames with light, the light of the glory of the grace of God, Who took sin into His own heart and canceled it by the shedding of blood. —G. Campbell Morgan

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(Graphic courtesy of Anne’s Place)

(Other Easter quotes are here, here, here, and here.)

The power of words

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The Power Of Words

A careless word may kindle strife;
A cruel word may wreck a life.
A bitter word may hate instill;
A brutal word may smite and kill.

A gracious word may smooth the way;
A joyous word may light the day.
A timely word may lessen stress;
A loving word may heal and bless.

– Author unknown

There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health. Proverbs 12:18.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. Luke 4:22a.

Thursday Thirteen

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1. Man’s way leads to a hopeless end – God’s way leads to an endless hope.

2. He who kneels before God can stand before anyone.

3. To be almost saved is to be totally lost.

4. Never put a question mark where God puts a period.

5. We don’t change God’s message – His message changes us.

6. The scriptural church is prayer-conditioned.

7. Plan ahead – It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.

8. Never give the devil a ride – he will always want to drive.

9. A clean conscience makes a soft pillow.

10. Nothing ruins the truth like stretching it.

11. He who angers you controls you.

12. Give Satan an inch & he’ll be a ruler.

13. Deciding not to trust Jesus as your Savior is still making a choice.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

A sense of Him

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Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China, wrote a book entitled Second-Mile People, in which she told of seven people in her life who had illustrated the Scriptural principle of going the “second mile.”

She begins one chapter with this poem:

Indwelt

Not merely in the words you say,
Not only in your deeds confessed,
But in the most unconscious way
Is Christ expressed.

Is it a beatific smile,
A holy light upon your brow;
Oh no, I felt His Presence while
You laughed just now.

For me ‘twas not the truth you taught
To you so clear, to me still dim
But when you came to me you brought
A sense of Him.

And from your eyes He beckons me,
And from your heart His love is shed,
Til I lose sight of you and see
The Christ instead.

—by A. S. Wilson

Isobel then tells of meeting a young woman named Dorothy at a conference. Isobel had not been saved very long. “My ideas of the Christian life were still in a crude, unmoulded state.” Dorothy seemed attractive, winsome and sweet, and Isobel was pleased when she asked her to go for a walk. Dorothy had in mind to “speak just a word for Jesus” while on this walk, but as it happened, their conversation centered on happy, funny things. “When we parted Dorothy felt she had been a failure, unconscious that the one she had hoped to help was going away enchanted with this glimpse into the very human sweetness of this Christlike girl. ‘…I felt His Presence when you laughed just now….’ The Spirit-filled life cannot ‘fail’, it is fruitful even when it may seem least to have done anything. That walk gave Dorothy ‘influence’ over me when a ‘sermon’ would have created a permanent barrier. In fact at that time I carried a mental suit of armour all ready to slip on quietly the moment any ‘old fogey’ tried to ‘preach’ at me!”

“Oswald Chambers says, ‘The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies of the field, perfectly simply and unaffectedly.’ A great mistake is to think that a Spirit-filled man or woman must always be casting sermons at people. Being ‘filled with the Spirit’ (which is a first qualification of Second Mile People) is merely a refusing of self and a taking by faith of the life of Christ as wrought in us by His Holy Spirit.” “We must take the Spirit’s fullness, as we take our salvation, by faith in God’s promise that He is given to us.”

Some weeks later when Dorothy and Isobel met again, Dorothy’s “time had come” to “get in a ‘preach,’” for Isobel then was in a frame of mind and heart to receive it. “The Holy Spirit is never too early and never too late.” Though Isobel did not understand as yet all Dorothy was trying to say, her words did lay the groundwork for future understanding, and “from Dorothy I just drank in the inspiration of herself, the ‘sense of Him’, and the fact that this life of undisturbed peace was no mystic dream but a possible reality who sat before me with earnest sweet eyes and soft pink cheeks.”

Please don’t misunderstand — I don’t mean any of this in any kind of a mystic way. I have written much on being grounded in Scripture and not feeling. But I have known some people who seem to reflect Christ and carry a “sense of Him” in everything they do, every word, action, and attitude. May I live so close to Him that people always sense His presence.

God is able….

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The March 8 evening reading of Daily Light for the Daily Path had a list of verses concerning what God was able to do. That led me to look up other references with the word “able” referring to God. The results were a faith-inspiring blessing to me, and I wanted to share them with you:

II Chronicles 25:9
And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this. (See II Chronicles 25:1-9 for the bigger picture.)

Daniel 3:17
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

Daniel 4:37
Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

Luke 3:8
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. (See also Matthew 3:9)

Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Acts 20:32
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Romans 4:21
And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Romans 11:23
And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.

Romans 14:4
Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work…

Ephesians 3:20-21
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Philippians 3:21
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

2 Timothy 1:12
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Hebrews 2:18
For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Hebrews 7:25
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 11:19
Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

James 4:12
There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

Jude 1:24
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy….

Believe ye that I am able to do this? . . . Yea Lord. . . . According to your faith be it unto you. (Matthew. 9. 28, 29).

Psalm Sunday: Psalm 12

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Psalm 12

To the Chief Musician. On an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.

1 Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
4 Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”

5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the LORD;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

6 The words of the LORD are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
7 You shall keep them, O LORD,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

8 The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

I love the contrast here between with “flattering lips” and “double heart” of the wicked and their tongue “that speaks proud things” with the pure words of the Lord. He doesn’t flatter with them; He tells the truth even when it hurts; there is nothing deceitful or “double-hearted” about them. They are pure in their meaning, their motive, and in their freedom from sin. We can trust Him to keep them.

My understanding of the process of refining silver is that it is melted, then all the “scum” or dross is scooped out. But God’s words in themselves are already purer than silver that has gone though that process seven times.

Once again David encourages himself in his God. Others fail, but He will never fail. Poor and needy, we cry out to Him, and He sets us in the safety we yearn for.

Thanks to Erica at Butterfly Kisses for hosting Psalms Sunday. You can see more thoughts on this Psalm or add your own there.

Found

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I was looking for this painting a few weeks ago when I posted the words to “That One Lost Sheep.” I saw it somewhere a long time ago, only I think it was a full color painting. I love the expression of both the shepherd and the sheep — the gratefulness and love of the shepherd, the contentment of the sheep just melting into the shepherd’s care.

I found this by searching Google images for “shepherd hugging sheep,” but I didn’t find the name of it or the artist. I tried searching on a couple of Christian art sites, but couldn’t find it there, either. Does anyone know anything about it?

Luke 15:

3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

The Object of Our Faith

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The following is from A Lamp for My Feet by Elisabeth Elliot:

“Faith…makes us certain of realities we do not see (Heb 11:1 NEB).

What realities can we be sure of? There is a popular notion about prayer which assumes that the thing asked for ought to be the object of faith–“Lord, give me this or that,” wherefore “this” and “that” become the realities. No. The Bible states the absolutes that we can be certain of: the character of God, his love, his will that we be conformed to his Son’s likeness, his sovereign control of all the universe. When faith latches on to those realities which we do not see with our eyes, it can never be confounded. If it makes the thing asked for its object, faith itself will dissolve if the Lord’s answer is no, or not yet, or wait.

“In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let me never be put to confusion” (Ps. 71:1 AV).

When there is no hunger for God’s Word

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In something I read online recently, a new Christian wrote of his intense love for the Word of God, taking it with him to work and on vacation and making every attempt to read it every day. He continued, “I cannot for the life of me understand people that say that they are saved [and] never open the book. Can we truly be living our lives for Jesus Christ and not (or rarely) open the word of God? How does a Christian learn to know God just by going to church or praying? I have a Christian friend that told me, ‘I already read the whole Bible once.’ Does the average newer Christian read the Bible for a few years and then put it up? Am I just a Bible nut? I hope and pray that 25 years from now, I still hunger to read his word (God willing I am still here).”

New Christians can really put us to shame, can’t they?

If a professing Christian has absolutely no appetite for God’s Word, it would indeed be good for him to check his heart and make he truly does possess new life in Christ.

Yet there are things that can affect spiritual hunger just as there things that can affect physical hunger.

1) “Spoiling our appetite.” Moms throughout the ages have told children they can’t have a treat before dinner because it would spoil their appetite. When we’re full of other things, we won’t hunger for God’s Word. Proverbs 27:7: “The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.”

2) Illness. Many physical illnesses can cause a loss of appetite. We need to ask the Great Physician to examine us, search our hearts, and see if there is anything in our lives quenching our hunger for Him and His Word. Psalm 139:23-24: Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 119:25: My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.

3) Service. “But I thought service was a good thing!” It is, but not when it causes us to replace time with Him with our service. Mary and Martha are our classic examples of the difference between busy (and frustrated) service vs. choosing “that good part” of giving time and attention to sitting at our Lord’s feet. (Luke 10: 38-42).

4) Distraction. Sometimes people can get so busy they forget to eat. Mark 4:19 lists three “distractions” which “choke” the Word: cares of this word, deceitfulness of riches, and lusts of other things (Luke 8:14 calls that last one the “pleasures of this life.”) We need to “cast our cares on Him” (I Peter 5:7) and remind ourselves of what the Word says about the deceitfulness of riches and keep pleasures in their proper perspective.

5) Hardness of heart. I don’t know that there is a physical parallel with this one, and I am in danger of mixing my metaphors, but the parable of the sower speaks of one whose heart is “stony ground.” I think the parable is likely referring to an unsaved person, but throughout the Bible God’s people are told to “harden not your hearts.” Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

6) Enemies. People can neglect or abuse their responsibility to feed others under their care. Prisoners of war have been given very little to eat, and then found themselves eating loathsome things because they were so hungry they’d gladly eat anything. Satan can use some of the other things already mentioned, but the parable of the sower mentions that, “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart” (Matthew 13:19). Again, this is referring to a lost person (Luke 8:12), yet there is a parallel for saved people. When we hear or read the Word inattentively, sleepily, or hurriedly, we won’t understand it and whatever truth we were supposed to have gotten is caught away.

What’s the best way to develop (or redevelop) an appetite for God’s Word? Seek God’s help to diagnose and deal with any issues that are quenching our hunger for it. Then just start partaking of it. I used to hate to drink water, but due to health problems with caffeine and sugar (not to mention calories), I began to drink water rather than soft drinks with meals when we were out. I came to not mind it so much, then to actually like it. I grew up not eating broccoli, but developed a taste, and then a love for it in college just by continuing to try it. We need to set our priorities and put everything else in its proper perspective. We need to partake of it even when we don’t feel hungry for it, just as we need to eat to keep up our health and strength even if we don’t feel physically hungry. Perhaps a reading of Psalm 119 would whet our appetites by reminding us of how great and good the Word is and of what we’re missing when we neglect it.

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. I Peter 2:2.

Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Job 23:12

Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16