We Tone The Night (Psalm 134)

Those of you who are old enough… Do you remember when you would go to a theater to watch a movie? Those were good times.

I especially liked the trailers. You know, the previews for upcoming movies. They preceded the movie, but that wasn’t always the case.
When movies were sent to theaters on film, the previews were added to the end of the reel; hence, trailers.

End credits are another story. They have gotten longer and longer over the years. Ten… Twelve… Sixteen minutes is not unusual. Why not leave? We are forced to watch them because the producers have added mid-credit and end-of-credit scenes.

Gang Boss… Gaffer… Grip… Wrangler… Best Boy. Who cares, beyond their moms? No one ever says, “Look – isn’t that the Gang Boss from Rogue One?” Instagram isn’t blowing up with Best Boy selfies.

These folks are absolutely essential to the movie. Without them behind the scenes, there would be no scenes.

Psalm 134 introduces us to some end-credit-like servants behind the scenes of the annual feasts. Look at verse one: “You servants of the LORD, Who by night stand in the house of the LORD!”

We will see that this special unseen night shift included workers and watchmen.

Can we see ourselves in this psalm? Sure.

In First Thessalonians 5:6 we read, “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.”
In the Revelation, Jesus told us, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (22:12).

Don’t sleep; you’ve got the night shift and should watch and work, behind the scenes of the great drama unfolding, because the Lord is coming.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 You Are The Lord’s Behind-the-Scenes Worker, and #2 You Are The Lord’s Behind-the-Scenes Watchman.

#1 – You Are The Lord’s Behind-the-Scenes Worker (v1-2)

Those of you who are old enough… Do you remember when you could go to a magical place called Disneyland? Those were good times.

Over 1500 workers were employed on the night shift to get the park ready for the next-day’s guests.

The Temple in Jerusalem required a lot of night shift workers. It’s hard to be totally accurate about exactly what went on overnight. Both Jewish and Gentile sources are spotty at best; and they sometimes disagree on details.

We don’t need to know exact details. We only need to realize that there was a lot to be done. Whether it was the Feast of Passover & Unleavened Bread, or Pentecost, or Tabernacles, Jerusalem would swell with pilgrims coming to the Temple for the prescribed days of those festivals. The numbers of pilgrims is hard to calculate. At its lowest it had to be tens of thousands.

Sometimes at a large gathering, e.g., a dinner, the host will recognize the kitchen staff, or others, who “made it all possible.” That is essentially what happens in verses one and two.

Psa 134:1  A Song of Ascents. Behold, bless the LORD, All you servants of the LORD, Who by night stand in the house of the LORD!

As the returning pilgrims say, adios, to Jerusalem, we say, au revoir to the Songs of Ascent – Psalms 120 through 134. These going-up-to-worship songs, Israel’s festival playlist, end fittingly in 134.

The pilgrims pause to recognize those “servants of the LORD, Who by night stand in the house of the LORD!”

In the Old Testament book of Second Chronicles, in chapter nine, some of the general duties of workers in the Temple are listed. Let me read you an edited passage:

The gatekeepers were assigned to the four directions: the east, west, north, and south… in this trusted office were four chief gatekeepers; they were Levites. And they had charge over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God. And they lodged all around the house of God because they had the responsibility, and they were in charge of opening it every morning… Now some of them were in charge of the serving vessels, for they brought them in and took them out by count. Some of them were appointed over the furnishings and over all the implements of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour and the wine and the oil and the incense and the spices. And some of the sons of the priests made the ointment of the spices. [Some] of the Levites… had the trusted office over the things that were baked in the pans. And some… were in charge of preparing the showbread for every Sabbath. [There were] the singers… Levites, who lodged in the chambers, and were free from other duties; for they were employed in that work day and night.

The “gatekeepers” were the watchmen we will discuss in our second point. Notice some of the additional duties: Treasury security guard, those charged with the vessels and implements, those who oversaw the furnishings, perfumers, and bakers. It isn’t an exhaustive list. There was plenty of additional work to do.

Let’s see if we can make a biblical application to the church. The Jews attended the annual feasts. There were seven altogether, but only three were required.

We know that all seven of the feasts pointed forward to Jesus:

Jesus was the final Passover lamb, the Lamb of God slain for the sins of the world. He died on the Cross exactly when the lambs were being slain in the Temple.
Passover included the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It pointed to Jesus’ sinless life (as leaven is a picture of sin in the Bible), making Him the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

• First Fruits pointed to Jesus’ resurrection as the first fruits of the righteous. Jesus was resurrected on this very day, which is one of the reasons that Paul refers to him in First Corinthians 15:20 as the “first fruits from the dead.”

• Pentecost occurred fifty days after the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and pointed to the great harvest of souls and the gift of the Holy Spirit for both Jew and Gentile, who would be brought into the kingdom of God during the Church Age. The Church was established on this day when God poured out His Holy Spirit and 3000 Jews responded to Peter’s great sermon and his first proclamation of the Gospel.

• Trumpets was the first of the fall feasts. Many believe this day points to the rapture of the church when Jesus will appear in the heavens as He comes for His bride, the church. The Rapture is always associated in Scripture with the blowing of a loud trumpet (First Thessalonians 4:13-18 & First Corinthians 15:52).

• The Day of Atonement points to the Second Coming of Jesus when He will return to earth. That will be the Day of Atonement for the Jewish remnant when they “look upon Him whom they have pierced,” repent of their sins, and receive Him as their Messiah.

• The Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) points to the Lord’s promise that He will once again “tabernacle” with His people when He returns to reign over all the world.

When we meet on the first day of the week, following the custom of the early church, it be like celebrating all four feasts that were fulfilled, and the three that will be fulfilled.

When the Lord died on the Cross, one of the miracles that accompanied His accomplishment was that the veil in the Temple, that kept the Ark of the Covenant out of view, was torn from top-to-bottom.

It forever signified that access to God was immediate and for everyone through Jesus Christ. It communicated that everything preceding the veil was now done away with. All the sacrifices and ceremonies were fulfilled in Jesus.

The gathering of the church to celebrate Jesus requires behind-the-scenes work and workers. Let me ask you this – not to burden you, but to make a point. Can you name all of our Children’s Ministry workers? I can’t!!

Yet they have prepared all week to minister to children Jesus desires would come to Him.

Back to our psalm… Verse one mentions those who by night stand in the house of the Lord. The passage we heard from Chronicles specifically mentioned “singers… the Levites, who lodged in the chambers, and were free from other duties; for they were employed in that work day and night.”

As I mentioned, details are spotty. But from these two passages I think it safe to say that there was singing in the Temple all through the night, every night.

Why not? We know that the earthly Temple was patterned after the Temple in Heaven (Hebrews 8:5). In the Revelation, in Heaven, we read that there is constant worship singing.

Commentator Derek Kidner wrote, “The Temple was never left without… Levites, to… sing praises in it.”

Should we form choirs that sing 24/7 while we are not having services? It’d be hard to fill some slots.

Not necessary IF we obey the apostle Paul’s exhortation that we each, “[speak] to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). It is an example of what we mean when we say that everything is fulfilled in Jesus. The constant worship in the Temple is replaced by constant worship in our hearts.

Psa 134:2  Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the LORD.

A quick word regarding lifting your hands, and worship posture in general. A good rule to follow when you feel led to express worship in a more physical manner is this: Do not disturb. Will your movement disturb others, distracting them? Will it call attention to you, instead of to the Lord? In First Corinthians 14:32, in a passage about orderly worship, the apostle Paul said we can control ourselves; and we should, for the sake of others.

The bakers were baking for the LORD; the perfumers were perfuming for the LORD.

In the church, we are told, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24).

That’s great – until you start to think that what you are doing for the Lord is menial, or that it doesn’t matter. If it is service for the Lord, and it is done as unto Him, it cannot be menial, and it does matter.

In one of the great movie sequences of all time, Daniel Russo was given three tasks:

Wax car.
Paint fence.
Sand floor.

Mr. Miyagi gives him very explicit instructions about how to perform each task. “Wax on; wax off.” Daniel despairs, thinking what he is doing has no connection to karate.

Until Mr. Myagi takes him through the sequence. “Show me wax car… Show me paint fence… Show me sand floor.” The repetitive motions had become second-hand reactions and functioned as defensive blocks.

I think sometimes the Lord says to us, “Show Me clean toilet.” “Show Me wash feet.”

#2 – You Are The Lord’s Behind-the-Scenes Watchman (v3)

Somewhere during our study of the psalms we mentioned that many are antiphonal. Loosely defined, that means they are written so that the singers are responding to one another.

In Psalm 134, it seems verses one and two are the good-bye recognition of the pilgrims directed to the night shift. That makes verse three the response of those tireless, mostly anonymous workers.

Psa 134:3  The LORD who made heaven and earth Bless you from Zion!

As if they had said, “We will lift up our hands and bless the LORD; now go in peace, and may God shower down his blessings upon you!”

The “heavens” is the universe God created. In it is the earth upon which He placed mankind.

In all of that created universe, in all its splendor and wonder, on the earth… “Zion,” Jerusalem, is arguably the most important geography. It is the spiritual center. It is the place God chose to dwell among His people in the Ark of the Covenant, in the Holy of Holies, in the Temple.

All “blessing” comes from God and thus, in a sense, it comes from “Zion,” from Jerusalem.

Jesus died on the Cross at Calvary just outside of Jerusalem. He was buried; He rose from the dead there. When He comes again, in His Second Coming, it will be to Jerusalem. He will rule over the world on David’s throne in Jerusalem.

The future seven-year Great Tribulation is a time when God will be dealing especially with the Jews; and much of it will focus on Jerusalem and the Promised Land.

Let’s talk specifically about the night watchmen at the gates. We have the most agreed upon information about them. One reliable source, the Jewish Encyclopedia, says the following:

A strict watch over the Temple was maintained, the guard being composed of three priests and twenty-one Levites. The Levites kept guard as follows: One at each of the five gates of the mount entrances; one at each of the four corners within the mount enclosure; one at each of the five important gates of the courts; one at each of the four corners within the court; one at the Chamber of Sacrifice; one at the Chamber of Curtains; and one behind the Holy of Holies. The captain of the guard saw that every man was alert, chastising a priest if found asleep at his post, beating him with his staff, and sometimes even punishing him by burning his shirt upon him, as a warning to others (Midrash i. 1).

The info about shirt-burning comes to us through what is called midrash, which is ancient Jewish interpretation of the Scriptures.

The watchmen – they didn’t know when their captain might visit their posting. Other reliable sources explain that the napping watchman would puff-up his outer garment as a pillow to rest his head upon. Caught napping, his captain would burn his puffy-shirt.

Watching, staying awake, not slumbering, are all exhortations given to us as believers in the Church Age. We’re the watchmen, the watch-women, the watch-children.

Our Captain is Jesus. He could come to resurrect the dead believers of the Church Age, and to rapture we who are alive, at any moment.

If He needs to chastise me for slumbering, I know that Jesus only chastens those He loves, for our own good.

Commentators see a devotional insight in Psalm 134. They compare the night watches with afflictions, sufferings, troubles of all kind.

I came across a quote attributed to C.S. Lewis that is appropriate. “Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.”

When you find yourself in a difficult night watch, be encouraged by Paul and Silas singing praises while in the disgusting, dismal, dreadful, dank, deep, dirty, dreary, dark, Philippian dungeon.

Transform your troubles into a sanctuary in which you bless the Lord.

Human history is a drama being played-out. It’s been called The Romance of Redemption. God’s love was spurned by our original parents. But they had no idea the length, the breadth, and the depth of His love. He would redeem them, restore them.

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The drama is one story, told in 66 books, that progressively reveals how God sent Jesus to woo us back to a relationship with Him.

There are a kind of end credits in the Bible. It’s the Book of Life. If you’re saved, your name is found written there.

If you die in your sins, without Jesus, your name won’t be found in the Book of Life. It will appear in other books, pertaining to the lost.

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
Rev 20:15  And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

The Lake of Fire, and an eternity of conscious suffering, need not be your end-of-credits scene.

Running Down The Hair Of My Chinny-Chin-Chin (Psalm 133)

I doubt that most of us have ever heard of Jason Kiley – despite the fact that he was 2019’s US National Champion.

Or the 2019 World Champion, Lucio Battista (who, BTW, is an American).

They were the freestyle champions in the annual national and international beard & mustache competitions. Among thousands of competitors, their beards were voted the hairy-best.

Beards are back in a big way. Proctor and Gamble has publicly blamed the beard for slumping sales of shaving products.

Like everything else, beards & mustaches are a COVID19 public health concern. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has suggestions for those with facial hair. It’s a chart illustrating proper mask placement with thirty-three styles of facial hair.

I have to stop and read you a few of the beard styles they list: French fork… Garibaldi… Chin strap… Balbo… Van Dyke… Hulihee… Walrus… Tooth brush… and Zappa.

You bearded guys might want to check it out. (You bearded ladies, too, I suppose).

Beards can affect history; at least one beard did anyway. According to biography.com,

Abraham Lincoln’s beard is now an indelible part of his image. Lincoln decided to grow out his whiskers in part thanks to some well-meaning advice from a young supporter. In 1860, 11yr-old Grace Bedell wrote Lincoln a letter that said in part: “I have yet got four brothers, and part of them will vote for you any way, but if you let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you. You would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President.”

Lincoln thus became our nation’s first fully-bearded president. Following Lincoln, our 18th, 19th, and 20th presidents were fully bearded. As far as I can tell, after them there were presidents with only partial facial hair.

I might need a fact-check on this, but it seems that Taft, #27, was the last US president to sport any significant facial hair.

A bearded man is prominent in Psalm 133. Let’s read it through, and meet this person.

Psa 133:1  A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!
Psa 133:2  It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments.
Psa 133:3  It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing – Life forevermore.

Surveying the crowds of pilgrims jammed into and around Jerusalem during one of the annual feasts, David was impressed by their “good” and “pleasant” “unity” as they “dwell[ed] together.”

The LORD was going to inspire David to turn what he beheld in that moment into a psalm. The Holy Spirit whispered to David, “What you are seeing, compare to the oil running down Aaron’s beard, and the dew on Mount Hermon.”

Thus this precious chorus comes through time to us. Gathered together, in unity, is still God’s blessing for His saints.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Dwelling Together In Unity Is A Sight For You To See, and #2 Dwelling Together In Unity Is A Scent For You To Diffuse.

#1 – Dwelling Together In Unity Is A Sight For You To See (v1)

I have a hard time with an abstract concept like “unity.” It’s hard for me to get a handle on it. I’m therefore thankful for what David did in Psalm 133.

He gave us a visual presentation of unity.

Ever give a PowerPoint presentation? You could present Psalm 133 with three main slides:

The twelve tribes attending a feast.
The High Priest being anointed for service.
Mount Hermon in the background.

We will fill it out more, but here is the nutshell version:

Israel was a diverse nation of twelve tribes spread out all over, and outside, the Promised Land. Three times annually they were invited to journey to Jerusalem to gather together and celebrate one of the feasts.
Their High Priest wore a breastplate with twelve stones on it representing each of the twelve tribes. He stood in the line of Aaron, as one of his descendants, anointed by the LORD to represent Israel.
In the background was majestic Mount Hermon. If we can trust the commentators, they say this tallest mountain was blanketed with heavy dew.

The priest & the people beautifully, visually, depicted Israel as one man, standing before the LORD to receive His blessings, poured out from Heaven like the abundant morning dew on Mount Hermon.

Unity was a snapshot David could “behold” in that moment. It was a unity all Israel could “behold.”

We can “behold” unity even more than David did:

We are described in the New Testament as being “in Christ.”
We are described as being members of His one “body.”
We are described as being stones in His earthly Temple, fit together as one building.

Jesus is described as our Greater High Priest. He carries us upon His heart – proven at Calvary, on the Cross where He gave Himself as a Substitute for your sins.

Our ‘Mount Hermon’ isn’t a place; it’s a Person, the Holy Spirit, by whose living water rushing into and through our lives we enjoy abundant spiritual blessings.

There are a lot of ways we could approach a talk about “unity.” Whatever else it is, in this psalm, unity was God’s people gathered together to worship the LORD as prescribed in God’s Word.

Same with us. As we gather together to worship Jesus as prescribed in the Word, we are “one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord.” We are a visual of unity for ourselves and others to see.

Psa 133:1  A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

Psalm 133 is the next-to-the-last of the psalms (or songs) of ascent sung by the pilgrims going up to Jerusalem.

The spiritual unity David could visualize was something that ought inspire the Israelites to aspire to in practice. They were one; they ought to act like it.

Here is another way of putting it: They could (if they chose to) “dwell together in” relational “unity” with one another. They could be kind to one another, forgiving one another, preferring one another. They could get along. Could and should. So can we – only more so.

Dwelling in practical unity is “good” and it is “pleasant.”

The word “good” can be rendered better, best, and bountiful.

Unity is better than contention and strife.
Unity is best for everyone.
Unity’s blessings are bountiful rather than meager.

Dwelling in relational unity is “pleasant.” It may sound selfish, but the idea here is that you experience delight rather than difficulty. You’re not distracted from worshipping and serving the Lord.

The apostle Paul exhorted us,

Eph 4:1  … to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
Eph 4:2  with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
Eph 4:3  endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Unity is our default position. It is part of being a Christian. Jesus unites us as His body, as His building. Our practice can either maintain unity, or it can undermine it.

The qualities Paul listed are not exhaustive. He is essentially saying, “Act like a Christian should,” then reminding you of a few characteristics. You can act like a believer on account of being in Christ, and of His Holy Spirit being in you.

#2 – Dwelling Together In Unity Is A Scent For You To Diffuse (v2-3)

When we first relocated to Hanford in 1985, we noticed the area had its own peculiar fragrances:

There was (and still is) Dairy Smell, a sort of manurey, methane scent.
There was, seasonally, Garlic Smell, from the seed plant as you’d drive along the 198 entering or leaving town. I love the smell of garlic in the morning.
The aerial defoliant sprayed by the crop dusters has that distinctly sickly-sweet aroma of death.
The tap water smelled like rotten eggs. So did you after showering.
The holy anointing oil had a more aromatic scent. As it was poured upon the high priest, the fragrance would diffuse into the surrounding air.

Psa 133:2  It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments.

Did they really pour so much oil on Aaron’s head that it ran down through his beard and onto his garments? Seems so. Another reason I’m glad we aren’t under the Law.

Aaron had a beard. On the CDC chart, I’m guessing it was a Bandholz – a beard “attached at the mustache and allowed to grow freely.” Think David Letterman, if you’ve seen him recently.

There were lots of bearded Bible characters: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses. In fact, it’s hard to find ones without beards.

David sported a beard. We know that because in one episode he feigned madness, “and let his spittle fall down his beard.”
Ezekiel wore a beard, as we see in this passage where God has him to shave part of his hair and beard, as a symbolic gesture showing the shame that would soon come upon Jerusalem.
Jesus was bearded. Describing the sufferings of the Savior, Isaiah wrote, “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting” (50:6).

Jewish men could be shamed simply by cutting their beards:

“So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away. When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return” (2 Samuel 10:4-5).

Should Christian men sport beards? Our answer in this New Testament Church Age of grace is that it isn’t mandatory.

A.W. Tozer talked about the anointing oil in a devotional. I quote him:

Going back into the Levitical priesthood, we discover a ritual of an anointing with a specially prepared holy oil. Certain pungent herbs were beaten into the oil, making it fragrant and aromatic. It was unique; Israel might not use that formula for any other oil. When a priest was set apart and anointed, the oil was a vivid type of the New Testament anointing of the Holy Spirit. The holy anointing oil could only be used for the anointing of men with special ministries – priests and kings and prophets. If someone went near an Old Testament priest, he could say immediately, “I smell an anointed man. I smell the holy oil!” The aroma, the pungency, the fragrance were there. Such an anointing could not be kept a secret.

The passage of Scripture that brings this to us in the Church Age is found in Second Corinthians 2:14-16: “Now thanks be to God who…through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death to death, and to the other the aroma of life to life.”

Bob Hoekstra said,

This spiritual aroma of Christ impacts every person we meet. For those who are enjoying life in Christ, Christ’s fragrance in us draws them to seek abundant measures of that life which they have already entered. This spiritual scent also influences those who do not yet know our Lord. They are dead in their sins, and this aroma makes them more aware of their deadness, more aware of their need for Christ. When this fragrance is emanating from our lives, we are not the cause. God is the active agent, working in and through us to bring forth this heavenly scent.

Jesus uses us as His diffusers, to give off a heavenly scent that is “smelled” by believers and nonbelievers.

Fragrances are achieved by carefully mixing together certain substances. The priestly anointing oil was made from myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia, and olive oil. They weren’t to add or subtract from the recipe.

The fragrance we give off isn’t something you can smell; it’s spiritual. I wonder, however, if the things we add to, or subtract from, our lives changes the fragrance of Jesus?

Christians sometimes add things that they consider to be spiritual, but which are nothing more than the flesh seeking to do the work of the spirit:

Take a whiff of legalism. It is a term Christians use to describe emphasizing a system of rules and regulations for achieving both salvation and spiritual growth. It’s a deadly odor, a stench.
Take a whiff of license. In the Bible, liberty is the freedom to do right. License is the freedom to do wrong. Our salvation is not a license to sin. It is a deliverance from sin. When liberty turns to license, it first gives off an intoxicating aroma that numbs our senses. Then it turns to the stench of our flesh.

Likewise, we can subtract things from our walk with the Lord. Talking to God, reading His Word, gathering with his people, sharing the good news, are all things that we can overlook.

Psa 133:3  It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing – Life forevermore.

9,232 feet above sea level. It’s the star of the Hermon mountain range. We noted earlier it is famous for its ‘heavy’ dew.

What does dew, do? According to one source, “Though the Mediterranean climate of Palestine had no rainfall from May or June to September, it had dew. Dew was important in the summer and a supplement to rain. Zion was therefore a place of fertility which even in the rainless season has an abundance of dew, like that of mighty Hermon to the north.”

Verses two and three are what scholars call parallelism. They make the same point in two different ways. Oil runs down… Dew runs down. Both indicate abundant blessing from ‘above,’ in this case, from Heaven.

It also communicates how potent the anointing oil was. It may only be a few ounces running down on Aaron, but spiritually it is more like all the heavy dew running down from Hermon.

“For there the LORD commanded the blessing – Life forevermore.”

“There” is Zion, and Jerusalem in particular. It was and it is His city. In Psalm 132:13-14 we read,

Psa 132:13  For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place:
Psa 132:14  “This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

God “commanded the blessing” encompasses the whole Old Testament revelation of God’s redemption of lost humanity. To save mankind, God instituted substitutionary sacrifice. A slain lamb could temporarily take your place. Over time, God chose Abraham to father a new nation. Then He gave that nation a detailed system of substitutionary sacrifice. It was housed in Jerusalem, in the Temple. Then He sent Jesus, God-in-human-flesh, to be the final lamb Who takes away the sin of the world.

Salvation – “life forevermore” – emanated from the Temple in Jerusalem to the rest of the world. If you wanted to know God, you traveled to His Temple, to see His chosen people.

In the future, after the resurrection and rapture of the church, and after the seven year Great Tribulation, Jesus will return in His Second Coming to… Jerusalem. He will rule the earth sitting on David’s throne. Salvation will emanate from there. the prophet Zechariah wrote, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (14:16).

Any decent beard expert will tell you beardcare involves washing your face and applying beard oil.

From the moment we are saved, Jesus is at work making us “holy, cleansing [us] by the washing with water through the word” (Ephesians 5:26).

He gifts us with the Holy Spirit – our anointing oil.

When someone comes near me (or to you), do they get a whiff of something spiritual?
Or do we smell more like food rotting on our unkept beards?

I quoted Tozer earlier, saying, “If someone went near an Old Testament priest, he could say immediately, “I smell an anointed man. I smell the holy oil!”

Let’s put our names in there, with these changes: “If someone went near Gene, he could say immediately, “I smell ______.”

Fill-in the blank.

The Psalm That Never Ends (Psalm 136)

As children we’re much more comfortable with constant repetition than we are when we get older. Kids will watch the same movie over and over again. They like to have the same books read to them again and again. It’s true with songs, too. I’m sure most of us can think of a time when our parents had to put a moratorium on 99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall or The Wheels On The Bus or This Is The Song That Never Ends. Remember that song from the old Lamb Chop show? By the way, you can go on YouTube and watch a video that loops that song for 10 hours straight. 3.2 million views so far.

But our interest and even tolerance for repetition starts to fade over time. Sometimes we just tune it out. Like all those lists of prescription drug side effects or when you’re at an amusement park or on an airplane and they go over the safety stuff. “I’ve heard it once, I don’t need to hear it again.”

Repetition has long been an issue of debate when it comes to worship styles in the church. One of the criticisms that has been around for decades is that many modern worship choruses are too repetitive and, therefore, are not as legitimate, meaningful or spiritual as densely worded hymns.

Like most debates of that nature, it does no good to make a sweeping generalization. Some of the worship offered in the Bible is very repetitive. The most pointed example is in Revelation 4 where we see angelic beings constantly singing a three line song over and over, never stopping day or night.

Another example is set before us this morning. Psalm 136 is a unique and important song but it is very repetitive. 26 times the same line is repeated. Not only that, but a lot of Psalm 136 is actually a repetition of what you find in Psalm 135! If we’re not careful, we might come across this lovely song but start to think of it as those disclaimers we hear on commercials. “Just get through it and on to something I can connect with.”

But God’s Word contains no waste. There’s no fat in the Psalms. This song has been recorded and preserved and delivered to us because it is God’s opinion that we need it. There are some times when repetition is welcome and necessary. I, for one, am glad that the Miranda rights are explained each time it is necessary. Or think of chest compressions during CPR. There’s no thought of getting annoyed at that repetition. There’s no number that’s “too many” in a situation like that.

In Psalm 136 there’s something God wants you to repeat to yourself and to the world at large over and over again: That His faithful love endures forever. As the song is sung we’re taken from creation, through history and on into eternity. But, after each phrase we’re reminded again: His faithful love endures forever. Your translation may have the word “lovingkindness” or “mercy” instead of love. The term being used is the Hebrew word “hesed.” Hesed is a kind of personal, affectionate love that is covenantal in nature. It’s not just about someone liking someone for a time or having a friendliness toward another person. It is a love so deep and so active that it brings two parties into a living relationship, full of promises and tenderness and kindness. It’s a relationship where a stronger Person protects a weaker person, not just out of duty or obligation, but out of a faithful generosity. That is a glimpse of how the Bible describes God’s love for you. This devoted love of hesed is one of the most important terms and ideas in all the Old Testament. It is strong and gracious and everlasting and it is directed toward you.

Psalm 136 is not only meant to proclaim the greatness of God but also to remind us of many of the aspects of God’s love and to remind us that, no matter what we face, God’s love is sure and is in operation in our lives.

The song opens by calling us to celebrate God’s goodness.

Psalm 136:1 – 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His faithful love endures forever.

In the worship services of Israel, it’s believed the priest would say the first half of each verse and then the Levitical choir or the congregation of the people (or perhaps both) would sing the refrain “His faithful love endures forever.”

From the start we’re reminded that God is good. Whether sung after a triumph or in the middle of exile, Psalm 136:1 remains the same. God’s goodness and compassion rests on all He has made.

Commentators often cite this quote of Charles Spurgeon which puts God’s goodness in perspective:

“He is good beyond all others; indeed, he alone is good in the highest sense; he is the source of good, the good of all good, the sustainer of good, the perfecter of good, and the rewarder of good. For this he deserves the constant gratitude of his people.”

We’re heading into the Thanksgiving season. Maybe you have a tradition of going around the table and offering something you’re thankful for. What we’re invited to do here is more than that. To “give thanks” in verse 1 means a specific gathering to sing together as God’s people. It means to worship with raised hands. Have you ever wondered why people sometimes raise their hands while they sing worship songs? It’s a Biblical activity.

To give thanks means to “make a public confession of the attributes and acts of power of [God].” This is yet another reason why it is essential for the local church to come together and not just gather, but sing together. God commands it and He deserves it. How could we not respond in thankful praise, knowing how good He is? Imagine you leave here and are hit by a car. A stranger comes up, keeps you alive through CPR, tends to your wounds, pays your bills till you are well, then writes you a check for a million dollars. Would you refuse to thank him? That hypothetical isn’t even close to what God has done for us in saving us from our sin and bringing us into His family.

The question is: Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good? You do so by trusting in Him. If you have not taken refuge in His salvation, then you don’t know about His goodness. But He is ready to receive you today if you, by faith, turn from your sin and believe in Him.

After a call to celebrate, we’re shown some of God’s character.

Psalm 136:2 – 2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His faithful love endures forever.

When comparing the God of the Bible to the gods of all other cultures and religions, we have a lot to be thankful for. Those gods are in competition with one another. Those gods can often be corrupted or bought off. They are impatient and cruel. They make sport of human beings. Not so our God, the One true God. He has no rival in strength or generosity. There is no worry that He might ever be defeated or incapacitated in any way. No new contender will ever arise and take His place.

Psalm 136:3 – 3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His faithful love endures forever.

Not only is God God, He is also Lord. Meaning He is the Ruler of all things. He is the Master. He decides and it is done. And His decisions flow from His unending love. If you are a Christian that means that God has bought you back from the Devil, who was your master. The Lord paid with His own blood. And now this good and loving Master gives you freedom in His Spirit. He’s brought us into His household where we’re able to share in our Lord’s joy. In Him there is no reason to fear, no condemnation. Instead the Psalms say goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives.

Most of you have had both good bosses and bad bosses. Think of how much that matters in your day to day life. Now let us consider that on the far greater level, Satan was our master. His purpose was to kill, steal and destroy – to ruin us in every way. Now, in Christ we have a Master who emptied Himself, took the form of a servant and died a horrible death so we might have a chance to be saved from that ruin. There’s so much to be thankful for.

From God’s character, the Psalm now turns to consider His acts in creation.

Psalm 136:4-6 – 4 He alone does great wonders. His faithful love endures forever. 
5 He made the heavens skillfully. His faithful love endures forever. 
6 He spread the land on the waters. His faithful love endures forever.

Often when we think of God’s “wonders” we jump immediately to the miraculous signs recorded in the Bible. But in view here are the fantastic marvels of creation. Look in any direction. Use a telescope or a microscope and see what He’s done. Job says “He hangs the earth on nothing.” Colossians 1 tells us that He “holds all creation together (ESV).” Did you know that scientists estimate that there are more atoms in a single drop of water as there are stars in the universe?

The universe God created is not just large, it is skillfully made. It’s meticulously fine-tuned for a specific purpose: To sustain life that He might place human beings on the planet earth, show them His love and so everywhere they look they can see a testimony of His power and grace. From the land you stand on to the rotation of the earth, it all declares God’s glory, but it is meant to be a stage on which we can live so that we might know God and receive His love. None of His creative work is slip-shod or haphazard. And He keeps all of creation in balance in order to accomplish His purposes in your life.

Psalm 136:7-9 – 7 He made the great lights: His faithful love endures forever. 
8 the sun to rule by day, His faithful love endures forever. 
9 the moon and stars to rule by night. His faithful love endures forever.

I don’t find myself often being thankful for the sun, especially not during our Valley summers. But think of what God has provided for us out there 93 million miles away. This bright star that brings us light and warmth. It causes the plants to grow, gives us vitamins that we need. It boosts our serotonin and reduces our stress.

If I take the sun for granted, I am even more thoughtless of the moon. At the breakfast table the other day we got into a discussion with the kids about what would happen if we had no moon. There’s actually some research on that question. First of all, without electricity or fire, the night would be so dark you wouldn’t be able to see your own hand in front of your face. The earth would spin much faster, meaning our days would only be between 6 and 12 hours. And the tilt of the earth would become unstable, eventually leading to either no seasons at all, or wildly extreme seasons that would threaten life.

Our God has been amazingly generous in His meticulous design. He did it all to show you His love.

The Psalm now turns from creation to conquest in verses 10 through 22.

Psalm 136:10-12 – 10 He struck the firstborn of the Egyptians His faithful love endures forever. 
11 and brought Israel out from among them His faithful love endures forever. 
12 with a strong hand and outstretched arm. His faithful love endures forever.

How can these judgments possibly show God’s loving mercy? In fact, the story of the Exodus does show many important aspects of God’s love. First of all, that He is mindful of the suffering of His people. He knows every single thing that every single one of us is going through. And He will do whatever is necessary to rescue us from our foes. Second, though His love is everlasting, He is not blind to sin and injustice. He will judge those who refuse to acknowledge Him and receive His mercy. Because the wages of sin is death, both for nations and for individuals. All along the way, God repeatedly gave Pharaoh and Egypt the chance to do what was right. In the end many Egyptians did leave with the Israelites and were received with welcome. This example demonstrates that God will never force His powerful, everlasting love on anyone. You must choose whether you will accept it or reject it. And it’s a choice between life and death.

Psalm 136:13-15 – 13 He divided the Red Sea His faithful love endures forever. 
14 and led Israel through, His faithful love endures forever. 
15 but hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea. His faithful love endures forever.

We talked about the meticulously fine-tuned nature of God’s creation. But throughout the Bible we see that it still gives way to His command. The wind and the waves still obey Him. More importantly, though death is one of the most ‘natural’ things of all, one day He will say “Rise.” And the grave will yield to Him and we will live forever with our Lord.

Psalm 136:16-20 – 16 He led his people in the wilderness. His faithful love endures forever. 
17 He struck down great kings His faithful love endures forever. 
18 and slaughtered famous kings—His faithful love endures forever. 
19 Sihon king of the Amorites His faithful love endures forever. 
20 and Og king of Bashan—His faithful love endures forever.

One of the greatest marvels of God’s love is that He remains faithful even when we do not. Those wilderness years were marked by complaining and rebellion and disobedience and disbelief. And yet, God endured with them. We have our own share of shortcomings, missteps, doubts and failures. God will not cast us off. His love for you does not ebb. It’s always at high tide.

Something else to consider from this recounting of Israeli history: They had been delivered from bondage in Egypt, the world’s greatest military power conquered by God. But, you know what? There is always another enemy. Another king coming in opposition. Maybe from the Amorites. Maybe from Bashan. Luckily, God is enough to bring us through. We’re headed into an election this week. The world wants us to be afraid, one way or another. As Christians, we don’t hang our hopes on the outcome of one battle. There’s always another ahead, anyway. Instead, all our hope is in our Lord and His perfect love. He is our Refuge and Shepherd and we can trust wherever He leads us.

Psalm 136:21-22 – 21 and gave their land as an inheritance, His faithful love endures forever. 
22 an inheritance to Israel his servant. His faithful love endures forever.

The story of Israel is a story of God keeping His promises. He will still keep His promises to them because His love endures forever – for them and for us. His promise to you includes a heavenly inheritance, priceless and unspoiled by thieves or economic downturns. It’s more than a monthly check, it is an eternal Kingdom of blessing and glory and reward. Today, we have the chance to add to that inheritance as we serve God and glorify Him through our lives and worship. As the Israelites were invited to cultivate the land of Canaan, we are invited to join the Lord in His work and receive a rich future reward for what we’ve done when the Master returns.

From conquest, the Psalm now turns to God’s love in the midst of present crisis.

Psalm 136:23-24 – 23 He remembered us in our humiliation His faithful love endures forever. 
24 and rescued us from our foes. His faithful love endures forever.

The song has talked in cosmological terms and historical terms. Now it becomes personal. “Our” and “us.” Our hurts. Our struggles. All that God has done and all that He is capable of still applies to you and me. His love empowers us to overcome temptation. His love empowers us to be of good cheer, even in the face of humiliation. His love still overcomes, still makes a way, still works its generosity toward God’s people all over the earth. He is still a Redeemer and Rescuer.

Psalm 136:25 – 25 He gives food to every creature. His faithful love endures forever.

In theology there is something known as ‘common grace.’ Meaning that God, because He is so compassionate, allows the rain to fall on the wicked and the good. The sun shines on Christians and non-Christians alike. Everyone here, whether you belong to Christ or not, is given the perpetual gift of breath and a beating heart. That is a lavish generosity. But are you a member of His family? Only through faith in Jesus Christ can a person find refuge and forgiveness and salvation. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life and no one goes to the Father but through Him. You may enjoy God’s common grace today, but it will all be a waste if you aren’t born again.  If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. God has love for you, more than you could possibly know. Don’t refuse it today.

Psalm 136:26 – 26 Give thanks to the God of heaven! His faithful love endures forever.

Have brought us through thousands of years of history and into our own present experience, the song ends as it began: Calling us to praise and worship and thankfulness for God’s unfailing love. In this closing verse we’re reminded that there is an eternal future waiting for us. Heaven is just as real as earth. In fact, those who will spend eternity there will be more alive, more whole, more overjoyed than any of us has ever experienced in this life.

At awards shows, sometimes the acceptance speeches are full of mechanical thank-yous to various production companies and staff. But sometimes you see the winners overcome with excitement and emotion at what they’ve just received. They talk about feeling unworthy and so lucky to lay hold to such an honor. Maybe you’re not facing some sort of great foe or adversity or fear today. Think of the incredible gifts God has given. Consider the powerful, generous love of God and allow your heart to overflow with thankful praise.

But maybe you’re not in a time of wonder. Maybe you find yourself more in a time of humiliation. Maybe you’re afraid of what’s going to happen in your life or in our nation in the coming days. Maybe you feel like you’re caught between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea, seeing no way out of some trouble you’re in.

I was reminded of that iconic scene in How The Grinch Stole Christmas. The Whos down in Whoville woke one morning to find their homes ransacked and vandalized. Everything they had been so looking forward to had been robbed from them. What happened? The Whos came together to sing. A somewhat repetitive song, but one profound enough that it melted the heart of their sworn enemy.

That’s a trite comparison to make. But it shows how much more is intended by Psalm 136. Whether we find ourselves standing in awe of the wonder of God’s majesty, or just wondering how we’re going to make it through today, the same truth rings out: His faithful love endures forever. And we should get to singing. Because that refrain, that promise, isn’t a vain repetition. No, it’s more like the powerful waves that lap on the shore, hour after hour, day after day. That soothing sound of constancy and strength. From the beginning and to the end of all things, God’s love is faithful toward you. And as we sing His praises, our hearts are fortified, our perspective is calibrated and a testimony of His life-saving grace goes out to all the world. This Psalm, known as “The Great Hallel” in Jewish tradition, has been called “The Psalm that never ends.” We can keep singing it in our hearts and in our gatherings from now through eternity because God’s love never ends. Let’s give thanks and get to singing.

Returners Of The Lord’s Ark (Psalm 132)

“Tell me a little about yourself.”
“What are your biggest weaknesses?”
“What are your biggest strengths?”
“Where do you see yourself in five years?”

If you’ve recently had a job interview, those might have been among the questions you were asked.

Employers sometimes ask weird questions, to see how you handle yourself:

“Can you tell me 10 things you could do with a pencil other than write?”
“If you were a kitchen appliance, which kitchen appliance would you be, and why?”
“Why are man-hole covers round?”
“What is your gun noise?”

According to a group called The Interview Guys, more-and-more employers are asking, “What are you passionate about?”

It’s a great question to ask ourselves as believers in Jesus Christ. Before we ask and answer it, we might want to take a look at someone in the Bible who is an example of godly passion.

That someone would be King David. You’re not called “a man after God’s own heart” unless the LORD is your one, first, great passion in life.

The LORD was David’s passion, AND there was something in particular that he was passionate about. That “something” was returning the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, and installing it in a magnificent Temple. It is expressed in verses three, four & five:

Psa 132:3  “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, Or go up to the comfort of my bed;
Psa 132:4  I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids,
Psa 132:5  Until I find a place for the LORD, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

The “dwelling place” of the LORD was the Ark of the Covenant. It’s mentioned by name in verse eight and called God’s “resting place” on the earth.

David’s Ark-in-the-Temple passion was the background and context for our psalm. Reading it gives us the opportunity to discuss our own passion for Jesus.

I’ll organize my comments around two questions: #1 How Do You Express Your Passion For Jesus?, and #2 How Does Jesus Express His Passion For You?

#1 – How Do You Express Your Passion For Jesus? (v1-7)

In the Arcade on Main Street in Disneyland, USA, there used to be a machine called the Love Tester. You’d squeeze a handle and it would gauge your passion from below cold to red hot.

I don’t know what being passionate looks like in your life. There is no ‘passion meter’ by which to gauge. As we use the word “passion,” don’t think being overly-emotional or underly-emotional means anything. Be yourself.

Psa 132:1  A Song of Ascents. LORD, remember David And all his afflictions;

We’re almost to the end of the fifteen so-called “Psalms (or Songs) of Ascent,” Psalms 120-134. They were the play-list for Israelites journeying to the Temple in Jerusalem to attend the annual feasts.

It is important we ‘get’ what the psalmist means by David’s “afflictions.” Otherwise we will miss the impact.

“Afflictions” is not referring to things like his many years as a fugitive, on the run from the murderous King Saul.

“Afflictions” is not referring to things like the rebellion and attempted coup by his own son, Absalom.

No, David’s “afflictions,” in this psalm, have entirely to do with what we read about in verses two through four. They were the hardships accompanying the return of the Ark that caused him discomfort of soul.

The “Ark” we are talking about is the ark that Indiana Jones found in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

It was the centerpiece of the Israelite’s wilderness Tabernacle after they left Egypt. It was a smallish box with the Mercy Seat as its lid. It was kept hidden in the Holy of Holies… In the Holy Place… In the Tabernacle. The very presence of God on earth was there.

(BTW: Psalm 132:8 is the only mention of the Ark in the Psalms).

It isn’t necessary to our study, but any mention of the Ark arouses curiosity as to where it is today. It is believed that the prophet Jeremiah took and hid the Ark prior to the Babylonian captivity. Then it fell out of history.

Some say it is hidden in a chamber under the ruins of the Temple.
Others say it is in a small church in Ethiopia.
We know that it is in storage in Hanger 51 in Nevada. Why would Steven Spielberg lie?

The Ark was at Shiloh for nearly 400 years. It was captured by the Philistines, who put it in their temple to Dagon. The statue of Dagon collapsed and God sent a plague upon them. The Philistines kept trying to rid themselves of the Ark. It finally made its way to the house of Abinadab.

David sent for it. What happened was unexpected:

2Sa 6:5 Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the LORD on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.
2Sa 6:6  And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.
2Sa 6:7  Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.

I’d say that if your passion for the LORD got someone killed, it would fall under the category of a hardship that afflicted your soul.

David would get the Ark to Jerusalem, only to be afflicted once again. David had what can almost be called a compulsion to build the Ark a magnificent Temple. He shared it with the prophet Nathan and got immediate two thumbs-up from him. God sent Nathan back to tell David that he would not be the one to build the Temple.

The one thing David was most passionate about, and the Lord said, “No.”

Psa 132:2  How he swore to the LORD, And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
Psa 132:3  “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, Or go up to the comfort of my bed;
Psa 132:4  I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids,
Psa 132:5  Until I find a place for the LORD, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

This is a poetically powerful way of saying, “I won’t rest until it is done.” It conveys that your whole mind, heart, soul, and strength will be engaged in it. Whenever you’re not doing other necessary things, you’ll be working on this. All your waking hours, into many late nights, will be dedicated to it.

But wait: Didn’t God tell David that he would not build the Temple to house the Ark? He did indeed; but that only fueled David’s passion. If he couldn’t build it, he could plan for, and provide for, it to be built after him.

One commentator said:

Wearied with a stormy life, he might well have left it to others to care for the work which the prophet had told him that he was not to be permitted to begin. But not so does a [passionate] man reason. Rather, he will consecrate to God his leisure and his old age, and will rejoice to originate work which he cannot hope to see completed.

Talking to his son, Solomon David would say:

1 Ch 28:9 As for you, my son Solomon…
1Ch 28:10  Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it.”
1Ch 28:11  Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat;
1Ch 28:12  and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, of all the chambers all around, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things…

It goes on to describe the gold, the silver, all the resources that he had accumulated for the project.

Psa 132:6  Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; We found it in the fields of the woods.

“It” was the somewhat-lost Ark.
Psa 132:7  Let us go into His tabernacle; Let us worship at His footstool.

In Isaiah 66:1 we read, “Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?”

The LORD cannot be contained in an earthly Tabernacle or Temple. Nevertheless, He condescended to be present in glory in the Ark, and to meet with Israel there.

If you were a Jew, could you only worship God in the Tabernacle?

When David got the inspiration to write, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1), or “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:3-4); He was probably not in the Tabernacle. Do you think he was worshipping God?

You could worship anywhere, anytime… But gathering together at the place God’s presence was promised in a special way was essential.

You know what I’m going to say next. How much more essential is the gathering of the church. If one more person tells me, “The church is not a building,” to argue that our meeting together is non-essential, I’ll snap. When we meet, WE ARE THE BUILDING.

Solomon built the Temple. He wrote this psalm commemorating his dad’s passion.

You didn’t have to ask David what he was passionate about. He would tell you; or you’d see it for yourself if you were around him.

Your passion for Jesus may be a life-long pursuit. More likely, it will express itself in different pursuits as the seasons of your life change.

Something you must factor: You will suffer “afflictions” as you pursue your passion for the Lord:

Like David, there may be serious setbacks akin to the death of Uzzah.
Like David, you may never see the realization of your passion. Solomon did build it, but David had no assurance he would. Solomon turned out to be a prodigal, which I’m certain would have broken his heart.

Afflictions can make you want to question your choices, or to quit. But in another important way, they prove your passion. Things may not work out exactly as you’d hoped. Don’t lose heart. The Lord sees your heart. He sees the passion regardless the result.

I mentioned the Love Tester. Think of any afflictions as God squeezing your heart, to gauge your passion. You’re not very passionate if you give up easily; or if you don’t see the results you hoped for. You can remain red hot.

#2 – How Does Jesus Express His Passion For You? (v8-18)

Herein is love:

Jesus is the Second Person of the tri-une God Who set aside the prerogatives of His Deity to become the God-man, God-in-human-flesh.
He did that because God so loved the world He was not willing that any perish, but that all would be saved.
Jesus died on the Cross, taking upon Himself the sins of the world.
By the power of the Cross, Jesus draws all men to Himself.
He is the Savior of all men, especially those who believe.
He likens His relationship with believers to a marriage in which He is the Groom and we are the bride.
While we are engaged, He is away preparing our mansions in a great heavenly city, New Jerusalem.
While we await His promised return to take us home, He has given us God the Holy Spirit as an engagement ring – promising us He will never, not ever, leave us or forsake us, and that He will most assuredly finish the work He started in us.

As we encounter the rest of Psalm 132, we can see some of the ways the LORD expressed His passion for Israel… And for us.

Psa 132:8  Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.

We read in Exodus 25:22, “There I will meet with you… on the Ark of the testimony, I will speak with you.”

Psa 132:9  Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your saints shout for joy.

This is a snapshot of Israel worshipping. A little bit of Heaven as they raised voices to the LORD.

We could spend all morning talking about being “clothed with righteousness.” Nutshell version: If salvation were like clothing, without the Lord, we all are clothed in filthy rags. When you believe God, He exchanges those garments for a robe of righteousness that represents that you are in Christ and can stand in His presence.

The church is not Israel. But like Israel, God’s presence is manifested in a special way when His church meets together. We – collectively – are His Temple on the earth. As we used to sing,

He is here, He is here,
He is moving among us
He is here as we’ve gathered in His Name

Psa 132:10  For Your servant David’s sake, Do not turn away the face of Your Anointed.
Psa 132:11  The LORD has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from it: “I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body.

This is poetic language to express that God promised David that his future descendant would be the “Anointed,” i.e., the Christ.

Psa 132:12  If your sons will keep My covenant And My testimony which I shall teach them, Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.”

If the kings of Israel had obeyed the LORD, they could have enjoyed their kingdom on earth until the Savior came to establish His kingdom. The promise that the future kingdom will come remains regardless Israel’s rebellions. They made true, free will choices.

Psa 132:13  For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place:
Psa 132:14  “This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

It’s gonna happen. There will be a Second Coming of Jesus to rule over the whole earth, in righteousness. Jerusalem will be His capital.

You might be noticing that in verses fourteen through eighteen, the LORD answers Solomon’s prayers, one-by-one, from verses eight, nine, and ten.

Psa 132:15  I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.

“Abundantly bless” can be translated, “blessing I will bless.” It is a strong affirmation, meaning that he would certainly do it; that every needed blessing would be imparted.

Jesus has abundantly blessed His church with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. He gives the church gifted men, and all saints individual gifts.

The “poor with bread” is a phrase that can signify provisions for a journey. It’s another way of saying He abundantly blesses. Pilgrim, everything necessary for living a godly life, in pursuit of Jesus, is available to you.

Psa 132:16  I will also clothe her priests with salvation, And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

“Salvation” can be righteousness. Exactly what Solomon prayed for in verse nine, God will do.

Psa 132:17  There I will make the horn of David grow; I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed.

The burning “lamp” is a figure from the furnishings of the Tabernacle. Here it signifies the continuation of David’s dynasty. The “Anointed One,” first David, then his descendants, and eventually Jesus, will be triumphant. The “horn” was a symbol for powerful rulers.

Psa 132:18  His enemies I will clothe with shame, But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”

It continues the clothing analogy. Nonbelievers can be described as dressed in shame for their unforgiving sin. They cannot enter it in their filthy rags.

I submit this word etymology for the sake of accuracy:

The English word passion referred to Jesus’ suffering long before it evolved other meanings. The Latin passio means “suffering.” Its first recorded use is in early Latin translations of the Bible that appeared in the 2nd century AD and that describe the death of Jesus. After that it began to develop broader meanings. The first new senses in English referred to martyrdom and physical suffering or affliction, and by the 13th century, passion was being used to refer to any strong emotion.

We can say that Jesus’ “passion,” His suffering, was for you.
We can say that you are the passion of Jesus.

When you stand in the Lord’s presence, after the resurrection and rapture of the church, it won’t be an interview. Jesus won’t ask you about pencils, or kitchen appliances, or man-hole covers. He won’t want to have you demonstrate your gun noise.

It will be a review; an evaluation. I think a lot of it will have to do with passion with which you served – not the results you achieved.

Don’t let the hardships that afflict your soul discourage you.

Don’t Worry, Baby, Being Weaned Will Turn Out Alright (Psalm 131)

He was a fearless shepherd. He said of himself that “[I] used to keep [my] father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it” (First Samuel 17:34-35).

He was a fierce warrior. His victories were celebrated in a song in which it was said that while King Saul had slain thousands, he had slain tens of thousands.

He was a phenomenal musical talent – inventing instruments and writing songs and psalms. We call him, “The Sweet Psalmist of Israel.”

He was a faithful king, ruling over a united Israel.

He was in fellowship with the LORD, Who identified him as a “man after His own heart” (First Samuel 13:14).

Those are some of the ways we see King David of Israel. How did David see himself? Look in verse two: “Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me” (Psalm 131:2).

Didn’t expect that.

Psalm 131 is the third shortest psalm. In many commentaries, it is taught along with Psalm 130. Not for thematic reasons, but because it is so brief.

It’s brevity should cause us to pay even closer attention. I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Do You Want To Be Weaned Or Still Weaning?, and #2 Do You Wait Like You’re Weaned Or Still Weaning?

#1 – Do You Want To Be Weaned Or Still Weaning? (v1&2)

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Two-hundred seventy-two words; took two minutes to deliver.

Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy” speech – seven and one-half minutes.

“I have a dream today” was delivered by Martin Luther King in seventeen minutes.

Some of the greatest speeches in history were the briefest. There is a saying in standup comedy that “a tight five is better than a sloppy fifteen.”

Arguably the greatest talk ever given, the Sermon on the Mount, can be delivered in twenty minutes.

Charles Spurgeon related this story: “An old preacher used to say to a young man who preached an hour, ‘My dear friend, I do not care what else you preach about, but I wish you would always preach about forty minutes.’ ”

He also said, “Brevity is a virtue which is within the reach of us all.”

David was inspired by the image of a weaned child. It perfectly communicated what he wanted to say. It was powerful enough that it could almost stand alone, needing little more to drive it home to hearts. He showcased it using a few carefully inspired words.

Psa 131:1  A Song of Ascents. Of David. LORD, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me.
Psa 131:2  Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Here comes my disclaimer for today. Psalm 131 is not a teaching on how or when to wean a child. It’s not addressing the breast vs. bottle debate. I am not going to give my advice. If you are a nursing mom with an opinion, do not approach me.

Four things to immediately note:

In his comparison, David assumed that a nursing infant is fussy, anxious, determined to get his or her next meal, with strong cries.

It is a positive step of growth to be weaned. At least once in the Bible it was celebrated as an important passage in life. In Genesis 21:8, we read, “So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.”

You should rather be a weaned child of God rather than remain an infant.

Being weaned, in the spiritual sense, is something the child of God can do for himself or herself. David said, “I have calmed and quieted my soul.”

Can we talk about those seven words for a moment? “I have calmed and quieted my soul.” I cannot think of better counsel for the times in which we are living.

COVID19, the SCOTUS hearings, the November 3rd election… The anxiety & noise can definitely interfere with our walk with the Lord.

Law enforcement is under attack. Do you know who cops shoot more than anyone else? Themselves. In 2019, 228 current or former officers died by suicide, compared with 172 in 2018. New York and California top the list.

More firefighters die at their own hands than in the line of duty.

Military suicides are up more than 20% in the COVID19 era, and they were already very high.

COVID19 has brought an increase in cases of spousal abuse.

Secular experts in many disciplines are warning of increased mental illness and suicides over the next several years as a toll from the government’s extreme COVID19 mandates.

Can we really say, “Calm and quiet your soul?”

If David could say it… We can say it. Yes; absolutely.

We can say it because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. His resurrection seals the deal. He is the Savior of all men potentially; and definitely for those who believe.

Believe in Him and you are justified by God. He sees you in Jesus, just-as-if-you’d never sinned. God the Holy Spirit comes and indwells you. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is on-board in order for you to live a transformed life. You become a new creation; old things pass away, and all things become new. Your life is no longer your own – and that’s a very good thing.

You are set free to serve Jesus by discovering spiritual gifts He gives, and performing the good works that He has prepared ahead of time for you to discover.

When you sin (and you will), He is faithful and just to forgive you your sin, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Where sin abounds, His grace much more abounds.

You have the Word of God, the Bible, in which you receive instruction in righteousness. Everything you need to live a godly life is in it.

Whatever you read you are enabled to do by the power of the indwelling Spirit.

So, yeah: You can have “calm” and “quiet” if your soul is right with God by receiving Jesus.

It starts there. You must be saved. If not, we can certainly talk about things that can contribute to mental wellness like diet and exercise and moderation. We can hold debriefings to mitigate PTSD. We want to maintain a relationship with those nonbelievers who are hurting.

But it’s all a bandaid on cancer without the Savior.

Let’s read verse two again:

Psa 131:2  Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Our immediate response is, “Tell me how.” We want the steps.

It doesn’t matter how many steps there are so long as they are clearly marked out. Seven promises; forty-days of purpose. There are so many programs to choose from; so many suggested methods to implement and follow.

Christians are right when we say, “Christianity is not a religion; it’s a relationship.” But we default to “religion” whenever we follow programs.

If you want some sort of relational guidelines, I will suggest two things:

One – The Book of Acts says this: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (2:42).
Two – Look at it from the point of view of what Christians seem to do naturally: Pray, attend church (fellowship), read the Bible, and tell others about Jesus.

David doesn’t tell you how he calmed and quieted his soul. He tells you something far more important: He tells you that you CAN do it. Believe it and learn how from Jesus as you walk with Him, obeying Him, submitting to Him, trusting Him.

“Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.” In our parenting, Pam and I followed a pretty strict schedule, and that included nursing. The kids didn’t like it at all. They let us know that they didn’t like it.

They let the neighbors know they didn’t like it. If you could hear their cries close to scheduled feedings, you’d think we were waterboarding them. A few times, we nearly cracked under the pressure.

I know what you’re thinking. What kind of a monster lets a baby cry? I say, “They are the monsters!”

Little ones want that milk. As cuddly-cute as a nursing baby is, with its occasional ooing and goo-gooing, it only wants and wants and wants.

It seeks only its own satisfaction. The baby don’t care you are exhausted to the point of being disoriented. Got milk? Gotta have milk. Gimme milk.

The “weaned child with his mother” is a different creature altogether. It’s like night and day. There are no outbursts of tortured cryings in order to be fed. There is calm; there is quiet.

David was experiencing this calm, this quiet. It wasn’t because nothing was turmoiling around him. We don’t know when he penned this, but most of his life’s seasons are enough to cause anxiety just reading about them. He was letting you know it’s possible, spiritually, to live in the eye of the storm. He said it was your choice.

Verse two is the theme and inspiration of this psalm. From there we now reach back to the opening verse, and (of course) forward to verse three.

Psa 131:1  A Song of Ascents. Of David. LORD, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me.

One of the fifteen songs sung on annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem, this one strongly encouraged Israelites to enjoy their visit as a time of rest and refreshing.

And that’s your decision. In your circumstances, you can act like a weaning child, crying, fussing, whining. Or you can realize you are a weaned child of God. You can know the calm and quiet rest in your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

David said, “My heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me.”

These aren’t the steps you take in order to be weaned. These are results, not responsibilities.

We can see them as four characteristics of the weaned child of God.

Typically we’d look at these one at a time, and take a stab at defining them. I think it would be better to see them in action. Since David was speaking, we can look back into his life for an example.

David certainly could act like he was still a baby. But there were times you see him as the weaned child of God.

Saul was the first king of Israel, chosen by the people mostly because he could dunk. He was “tall Saul,” described this way: “As handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else” (First Samuel 9:2).

He quickly proved himself a poor choice. God sent the prophet, Samuel, to anoint a young David as the king. For about thirteen years, Saul treated David as a fugitive, seeking to murder him.

On one occasion, when Saul and his men were chasing-down David, the king stopped, and went into a cave to relieve himself. He was unaware that David was hiding deeper in the cave. David’s men came to the conclusion I would have come to: “Then the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you’ ” (First Samuel 24:4).

Then this happened:

And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe.
And he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.” So David restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way (v4-7).

You can find all four of the characteristics from our psalm in that story. And a lot more. AND – It’s not the only time David spared Saul’s life.

Now, a ‘baby’ David might have demanded his own way, and killed Saul. A weaned David could not.

The answer to our question is, “Of course I want to be a weaned child of God.” Then be one. You “calm and quiet your soul.” It’s a one-step program.

Seem too easy? It’s admittedly easier said than done. Nevertheless, David did it; and that means you can, too.

#2 – Do You Wait Like You’re Weaned Or Still Weaning? (v3)

What is called an hour, but only lasts 45-50 minutes, and usually takes place once a week? “The Therapeutic Hour.”

It is pretty standard among psychiatrists, psychologists, marriage and family counselors, and the like. It seems to have carried over into the church when there is counseling.

One professional said, “There does not seem to be a consensus on exactly when the ‘therapeutic hour’ was established, but it has remained the industry standard.”

One reason has nothing to do with any empirical data. It has to do with your insurance. It is how they base their reimbursements.

You can read Psalm 131 in under 25 seconds. Let it ‘read’ you this way:

Start, as we did, with verse two as a reminder you can be like the weaned child – calm and quiet.

Next, judge your actions and reactions in your circumstances by the characteristics listed in verse one.

Finally, go about your business focusing on hope.

A quick word about judging yourself. It’s easy to convince ourselves we do not have a haughty heart, or lofty eyes; that we are not concerning ourselves with great matters, or with things too profound.

Jonah was absolutely, totally backslidden. Yet he was sound asleep in the storm that threatened to sink the boat he was on; that threatened to kill the captain and crew.

I suggest that you let the Lord lead you to a passage of Scripture, preferably a narrative story, and ask yourself, “Who am I in this story?”

Both Jonah and Jesus slept in storms. Which are you? You can be completely in the right, but be reacting like the brother of the prodigal son.

You get the idea. When I am asked to meet with folks, I ask them if the Lord has given them any verses. I try to listen for the Lord to give me something from the Word for them. It could take a therapeutic hour. It could take 20 seconds.

After spending time with the LORD, David gave his counsel to Israel:

Psa 131:3  O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever.

“Hope in the LORD” is the certainty that He will keep every promise; that He will never change; that He can never, not ever, forsake you. Little things like that.

It is the certainty that to live is Christ, and to die is gain. It is knowing that to be absent from your body is to be present with the Lord. It is knowing we shall not all die, but that we will be transformed in the rapture.

It is understanding that the wicked will be raised to a judgment followed by eternal, conscious punishment.

David said hope was “from this time forth.” Forget the things that are behind you.

If you’ve fallen, get up and get back in the race, looking to finish strong. Go and sin no more.

Be sober; be vigilant. Preach the Word in season and out of season.

“Forever” is the last word. It’s a great word to meditate upon.

Do you ever have problems with your computer, or tablet, or smart phone? A lot of the time all you have to do is restart.

If I’m injured, ill, afflicted, assaulted, discouraged, depressed, overcome, overwhelmed, and the like… The word “forever” is the restart. I’m gonna live forever, free from all that, and every other struggle and suffering. I’m going to a place where everybody knows my name. I won’t cry anymore.

The Bible describes our lives as a vapor that appears for a moment, then is gone. But we’ve seen that brevity can be profound, as in the speeches of Lincoln, King, and FDR.

We don’t have the luxury of remaining nursing infants. Let’s go forward weaned, calm and quiet, waiting in hope for the Lord.

Psalm 130 – You Take My Depth Away

How long can you hold your breath underwater?

Most people in good health can hold their breath for approximately two minutes. That’s why every time a character in a movie or television show goes underwater, I start a stopwatch.

Often they are submerged for a ridiculously long time, performing their oxygen-depleting heroic acts.

Some celebrities are the real deal underwater:

Extraction Director Sam Hargrave claims Chris Hemsworth held his breath underwater for nearly 3 minutes.

In filming the extended underwater sequence of Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, Tom Cruise consistently held his breath for between 5 & 6 minutes.

Both of them are going to be put to shame by a girl.

When we return to Pandora in the sequel to Avatar, a large portion of the story will be told underwater. Rather than rely solely on CGI and special effects to simulate the underwater realm, director James Cameron filmed scenes underwater with the actors. Kate Winslet eventually got to the point where she was holding her breath for a full seven minutes.

Now that I’ve got you Googling for the world’s records:

Set in 2012, the men’s record is 22 minutes and 22 seconds.

The women’s record is a little over 18½ minutes.

If I’ve inspired you to go for your personal best, wait until your swimming pool water is at its coldest. Breath-holding records are attempted in cold water because you can hold your breath up to twice as long underwater as you can on land. If the water is cold, your body slows its heart rate and metabolism in order to conserve oxygen and energy.

Something else that I cannot recommend since it sounds fairly dangerous. The Guinness Book of World Records allows contestants to hyperventilate for up to 30 minutes with pure oxygen before they submerge for their record attempt. It helps the body expel carbon dioxide. Technically, it’s called “oxygen-assisted static apnea.”

In Psalm 130, the psalmist said, “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD.” “The depths” are an illustration. In this psalm the “depths” illustrates the spiritual state that the psalmist was in.

He reveals his spiritual state in verses three and eight. He mentions both his and the nations “iniquities.” He, and Israel, were drowning in their iniquities. He, and Israel, were backslidden.

Being backslidden is like drowning in the depths. You keep sinking further and further, holding your breath, but with no hope of air.

No hope, that is, until you cry out to the LORD. Immediately you find you can again breathe.

How is it possible? That cry-out apprehends a glorious truth: God has forgiven your sin.

Maybe no one here is a nonbeliever, although I doubt it.
Maybe no believer here is backslidden, although I doubt it.

No matter: All of us can marvel at, be grateful for, and be humbled by, God’s forgiveness of our past, present, and future sins.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Dwell Upon God’s Forgiveness Of Your Sins, and #2 Revel In God’s Forgiveness Of Your Sins.

#1 – Dwell Upon God’s Forgiveness Of Your Sins (v1-6)

I start with a disclaimer: “Breathing” is being used as an illustration that we can all relate to. This has nothing to do with physical breathing techniques. I’m not going to have us all, with our eyes closed, breathe out our sin, then breathe in God’s forgiveness.

The Jewish pilgrims sang psalms 120 through 134 on their journey to annual feasts in Jerusalem.

This one would remind them of God’s immediate, full forgiveness whenever they turned to Him. They had backslidden many times in their storied history, but always God would hear their cry from the depths and they’d be restored.

William MacDonald, author of the very good Believer’s Bible Commentary, gives this quick lesson on God’s forgiveness:

There is forgiveness for the guilty sinner and there is forgiveness for the sinning saint:

The first is judicial forgiveness, that is, forgiveness from God, the Judge. It is obtained by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It covers the penalty of all sins – past, present and future. It is possible because of the finished work of Jesus Christ at Calvary; in His death He paid the penalty for all our sins and God can freely forgive us because all His righteous claims have been met by our Substitute.
The second is parental forgiveness – the forgiveness of God, our Father. It is obtained by confessing our sins to Him. It results in a restoration of fellowship with God and with His family. It, too, is purchased for us by the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross.

Maybe you are not in Christ. You are here today to confront the fact that your sins need forgiveness through Jesus.

If you are a believer, “If [you] walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (First John 1:7-9).

God’s forgiveness is always just a cry away.

Psa 130:1  A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD;

I can think of one prominent Bible character who cried out to God in the ocean, from the “depths.” Yep, it’s Jonah.

Jonah always reminds me of a story. When Geno was in kindergarten, his teacher was telling her students about different kinds of animals.

“Whales are the largest” she said, “but they can’t swallow people, because their throats are too small.”

Geno objected, saying, “But in the Bible, it says that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.”

“That’s not a true story,” his teacher replied.

“Well, when I go to Heaven”, he said, “I’ll ask Jonah.”

“And what if Jonah didn’t go to Heaven?”

“Then you can ask him.”

God gave him his assignment and Jonah promptly did a 180. Eventually swallowed by the great fish, he said,

Jon 2:2  … “I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, And He answered me. “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.
Jon 2:3  For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
Jon 2:4  Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
Jon 2:5  The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head.
Jon 2:6  I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God.
Jon 2:7 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.

From the very real “depths,” as well as the depths of sin, Jonah cried out expecting parental forgiveness. So did the psalmist:

Psa 130:2  Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications.

If he prayed while backslidden, his prayers were off-topic. There was a saving relationship with the LORD, but there was no fellowship.

Not until his prayers were “the voice of [his] supplications,” and God would be especially “attentive,” as any father would be with a prodigal son or daughter who returned.

King David described this in Psalm 32, saying, “When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer….I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (v3-5).

Psa 130:3  If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

You probably make lists. To do lists… Grocery lists… Check lists… Who doesn’t like a good top-ten list?

For some time now, bucket lists have been a common pop-culture reference.

The psalmist supposed that the LORD lists our “iniquities.” I’m not sure how the records in Heaven are kept, but the truth is we are all born dead in trespasses and sin. We are already ‘marked,’ as it were, from the womb.

There doesn’t need to be a long list of the sins we’ve committed. All have sinned and fall short; there is no one who can stand before God.

Sin is the universal problem of the human race. So, whatever happened to sin? People call good evil, and evil good.

I came across this quote. The author is talking about the United States.

For nearly two centuries the mainstream Protestant Churches and the Roman Catholic Church taught that man was guilty of sin and needed to repent. In the second quarter of the 20th century, liberal Protestantism began putting less emphasis on sin and the negatives of the Christian Faith and concentrating on the positives. In the 1950s, Norman Vincent Peale, famed minister of the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City, concentrated on the power of positive thinking, which became the title of his bestselling blockbuster.

Peale asserted that by concentrating on the positive things of life one could overcome the many fears of failure and develop the self-confidence needed to capitalize on his/her true God given talents and achieve success. He was criticized by many theologians and medical doctors of preaching false hope, but he was enormously popular. He was followed by Robert Schuller, founder of the Chrystal Cathedral in Orange County, California.

Gradually, mainline Protestantism has concentrated on the positive aspects of the Christian Faith. It has been the evangelical churches that have continued to stress the sinfulness of the human race and the need for repentance.

One theologian commented, “Beware preachers and teachers who swap out terms like “sin” and “wickedness” and “depravity,” for “brokenness” and “pain” and “trauma.”

The psalmist asked, “Who can stand?” Only a perfect man, without sin. That “man” was and is Jesus Christ. He alone was God come in human flesh. Since sin’s punishment is death, He could die in our place, as our Substitute. When a person believes on Jesus, that person is in Christ.

Basically, God sees you the way He sees His Son. He sees you finished, perfected, by Jesus, Who promised that the work He begins in you at the moment of your being saved will be completed.

You cannot “stand” before God in your iniquities. But Jesus can, and if you are in Him – so do you.

Psa 130:4  But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

Unless there is another God-man Who led a perfect life and fulfilled more than 350 Old Testament prophecies to the letter, there is “forgiveness” only in Jesus.

“That You may be feared” is the renewed joy of parental forgiveness. We are forgiven and can therefore walk with God, enjoying fellowship with Him, receiving grace and mercy from our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, by means of God the Holy Spirit indwelling us.

Do you feel like you are in the depths? Not from a trial, but from backsliding à la Jonah or David? Are you at that point where you need a breath but there is no air? Cry out.

I’m suggesting you “dwell” upon God’s forgiveness:

First of all – Have you appropriated His forgiveness by receiving Jesus as your Savior?
Second of all – If you have appropriated His forgiveness, do you apprehend it? Meaning, do you grasp the wonder of it so that you fear God in a daily walk with Him that involves your whole mind, will, and strength, holding no sin in reserve?

#2 – Revel In God’s Forgiveness Of Your Sins (v5-8)

Waiting. It’s mostly unpleasant. We hate to wait. I grew impatient waiting for the web page about waiting to load that I’m going to quote from.

You will spend around two years of your life waiting in line. That figure probably needs to be adjusted to accommodate COVID19. You can spend two years waiting at Smart&Final.

Americans hate waiting at the DMV most of all.

Think LA traffic is bad? In 2010, in Beijing, there was a 12-day traffic jam over a 62-mile stretch.

It took people on average three days to make the journey.

Not all waiting is unpleasant. We will wait in line, even camp out, for an event or product that we desire. The psalmist wrote about waiting on the LORD:

Psa 130:5  I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.

He wasn’t waiting to be forgiven. He wasn’t waiting to feel forgiven. Nor was he waiting to be worthy of it. Forgiveness has always been instantaneous for a believer.

I would cite The Parable of the Prodigal Son. Immediately upon return to Father, you are forgiven.

The psalmist was waiting to see how God was going to work in his life in the aftermath of his sinning. He spent his waiting getting into the Word of God.
There he would have renewed “hope,” which to a believer means certainty. God would not – He could not – refuse forgiveness to a repentant believer.

Psa 130:6  My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning – Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

Don’t read this as if the watchman couldn’t wait for his shift to end. Think of it in a Cat Stevens way: Morning has broken like the first morning.

Delivered out of the depths, it was a new day, and the possibilities were many.

King David had been in the depths, but cried out to the LORD.

After his sin with Bathsheba, God told David the child they conceived would die. The king nevertheless fasted and prayed, waiting on the LORD to see the outcome.

100% confident in God’s parental forgiveness, David actively waited on the LORD to heal his child. When the child died, David went about his life joyfully.

The context of this psalm is forgiveness from your iniquities. We’re not talking about a trial you might find yourself in; or an injury or an illness that afflicts you. If that’s your situation, we’re not suggesting you are in the depths of sin, needing to repent. Don’t burden yourself unnecessarily.

Psa 130:7  O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption.
Psa 130:8  And He shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities.

Living in a fallen world, we are used to natural resources becoming depleted. Regardless your environmental politics, as an example I cite the fact that in 100 years, the world’s rain forests will be gone. I guess that generation will learn if we need them or not.

The LORD’s resources can never be depleted. He has just as much “mercy” for you as always. It is full, and free.

In the ‘80s, Mama Celeste advertised her pizza-for-one, saying, “Abbondanza!” The LORD’s provision for you is “Abbondanza!”

“Redemption,” and “redeem” dominate the closing words. Our minds immediately go to the transaction by which a person is purchased out of slavery. We think in terms of initial salvation.

Israel – here portrayed as a single person – had long been redeemed out of slavery in Egypt. The psalmist was using “redeem” in a different sense.

Redeem is also used in non-theological language in the phrase “to redeem a situation.” In our psalm, the idea is that the LORD will redeem the wreckage and the ruin that an Israelite, or Israel, might make in his backsliding.

Sin has consequences. David’s son died. How did the LORD redeem it?

For one thing, in the aftermath, a forgiven David would write Psalms 32 & 51. These have been a comfort to who knows how many prodigal sons and daughters.
For another thing, in the aftermath, a forgiven David would say to his servants, “But now he is dead… Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (Second Samuel 12:23). Those words have been a comfort to who knows how many grieving parents.

Are you going to write the next best-selling Christian book, or establish a world-wide ministry?
Probably not. It doesn’t make the LORD’s redemption less important. You rise from the wreckage to serve Him.

It almost sounds as if we are soft on sin. No; we’re generous in grace. We’re ecstatic that God does not mark our iniquities.

Some take it too far. There is a teaching that since your present and future sins are already forgiven, it insults the Cross to confess sin and ask forgiveness.

Let me ask you this: Would that fly in your earthly family? Can your kids disobey and disrespect you without repentance simply because you love them?

We should never think teaching on grace leads to a license to sin. But when we do sin, one thing is true:

Where sin abounds, God’s grace is Abbondanza!

Call Of The Child (Psalm 141)

The National Emergency Number Association estimates that 240 million calls are made to 911 each year. They suggest a few ‘best practices’ whenever calling 911:

Make the call in “any serious situation where a law enforcement officer, fire fighter or emergency medical help is needed right away. If you are unsure of whether your situation is an emergency, go ahead and call 911.”
If you call 911 by mistake, do not hang up the phone. Stay on the line until you can tell a dispatcher there’s no emergency.
Do your best to stay calm and answer all questions.
Know the location of your emergency
Teach your kids how to call 911.

These ‘best practices’ are common sense, but that doesn’t stop some folks from making some spectacularly ridiculous calls.

Dispatchers have reported the following real calls they’ve received:

That the neighbor’s sprinkler was on and it was getting their lawn wet.

Wanting to know why traffic is so bad.

To report a laundromat washing machine that didn’t have enough water.

That a hotel parking space was too small.

And, finally, to report a huge fire that had just broken out on top of a hill and was spreading rapidly…it was the sun rising.

In Psalm 141 David makes an emergency call to his Savior. We’re not sure what was going on but we can see that he feared for his very life. In fact, looking at the situation it seems he felt like he was as good as dead. But, before the final blow fell, he cried out to God and with what breath he had left he said, “Lord, save me…from becoming unspiritual.” Surrounded by enemies who had laid traps for him, David’s first concern was his own heart and relationship with God. He wanted to be rescued but he wanted first to be sure his life was in harmony with the Lord. A life that pleased Him and honored Him. Even in this grave danger, David knew that, in the end, all would be right thanks to God’s holy power and that changed the way he thought about and reacted to suffering, difficulty, crisis. It made for an unusual 911 call, but far from being ridiculous, we can see it as wonderful and instructive.

We are living in a time of local, national and global crisis. There are serious troubles of all sorts that are pressing in on many sides. We see multitudes of people gathering for prayer at our capitols and city centers. Many of us feel anxious and distressed. In a time like that, how might we pray? How should we think as Christians who are lovingly held in the hands of the Savior?

Psalm 141 shows a way. One not very intuitive to the human mind and not always easy to apply, but profitable to us for life and Godliness. A way that draws us nearer to God in love and trust.

It begins above verse 1:

Psalm 141:1 – A psalm of David. 1 Lord, I call on you; hurry to help me. Listen to my voice when I call on you.

David just told the Maker of heaven and earth to “hurry up.” In polite society there aren’t many situations where you can say that to someone. If you say that to your waiter, you might get an unwanted addition to your meal. Do it in your car and you might find yourself in a road rage incident. In fact, Russell Crowe’s latest movie is about how he’s at a stop light, someone honks at him when the light turns green and he spends the rest of the movie terrorizing them.

There are times, of course, when “hurry up” is not only acceptable, but necessary. We’ve already talked about calling 911. But think of a small child trying to cross the monkey bars, getting a few rungs in and they realize they’re not going to make it. They don’t have the strength in themselves to hang on or go forward, what do they do? They call out for dad to hurry and save them.

If you’re a Christian, remember that God is your Father. Full of love and compassion for you. He is mindful of the struggles you’re facing. His eyes are on you. And He’s ready to hear your calls for help. Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you and will sustain you. He is a God who hears.

David’s words raise an important question: Does God listen to the prayers of unbelievers? The answer isn’t quite as simple as “yes” or “no.” Obviously, God is omnipotent and omnipresent. Nothing is hidden from him. Our thoughts are known from afar, the Psalmist says. Everything is laid bare before His eyes. And it’s clear He will hear anyone who calls out to Him for salvation. We also see examples like Cornelius in the Bible. His prayers were heard before he was born again.

However, there are also some significant warnings to those who are not His children. In Psalm 34 we’re told God turns His face against those who do evil. Proverbs 21 says those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need.

In Isaiah we read:

Isaiah 59:2 – It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.

If you’re an unbeliever, you are in a much more dangerous and precarious situation than David, who was close to assassination! You need to call out to God for mercy and forgiveness, turning from your sin so that you can be saved and brought into God’s family.

Psalm 141:2 – 2 May my prayer be set before you as incense, the raising of my hands as the evening offering.

So here we have David, in desperate need, we’ll learn in verse 8 he’s afraid for his life. He takes a moment to call out to God and here’s his request: God help me…to worship and pray. David was tremendously busy in life. He was king, he was a poet. He was an instrument builder. He was a warrior. He did administration, he planned worship services. But here we catch a glimpse into why he was a man “after God’s own heart.” He kept his spiritual life at the forefront of his mind. It was at the top of his concerns list. Now, he had quite a list. Aside from regular family concerns and interpersonal things going on like all of us, he’s got to keep the Philistines in mind. And the Ammonites. He’s trying to figure out how he can build the world’s greatest Temple in Jerusalem. He’s putting together a catalog of worship songs for an entire nation to sing. But, in this emergency call, he doesn’t simply want things from God, his desire is to have a heart and life a life that pleases God.

To David, worship mattered. Prayer mattered. They were dominant elements of his life. The prayers he offered were as meaningful as the prescribed incense that was burned in the Tabernacle. And the raising of his hands in surrender and worship as significant as the sacrifice of a lamb on the altar. That’s not just David’s way of thinking about things, but God’s as well. In Revelation 5:8 we read that, in heaven there are “gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” Jesus said in John 4 that God is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.

We also note here that David felt that he had a personal responsibility to God no matter what the circumstances of his life were. Whether in smooth sailing or shipwrecked, you and I are called to live in the presence of God, worshiping Him, not just in some theoretical, abstract way, but actually worshiping, actually praying. Actually pouring out our hearts and lives in praise to Him.

Psalm 141:3 – 3 Lord, set up a guard for my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.

David’s first request is: God help me worship. His second is: God, help me control my tongue. He felt the tongue needed to be leashed and guarded. The Bible speaks a lot to us about the tongue. It’s the most powerful muscle in your body. It can save a life or set the world on fire. God directs us about what kinds of words we use and the motivation behind them. Why does it matter so much?

For one thing, Proverbs explains that “life and death are in the power of the tongue.” But also, as Christians we are appointed as ambassadors for Jesus Christ. You represent Him. You carry out actions for Him. You connect to others as His body here on the earth. Imagine there being an ambassador, sent out in wartime to negotiate peace, but he’s drunk as a skunk. Do you really want him talking? Boris Yeltzsin was famous for inebriation. At one point during the Clinton Administration he called our president, drunk, and asked Bill to set up a secret meeting on a submarine.

Our lips need guarding. Our physical lips as well as our digital ones. You may have a truth to share but if it is done without love, you might as well be a clanging cymbal. It’s valueless, even detrimental to the cause of Christ to be lashing people with your words and not speaking in love, compassion and the kind of mercy that God shows sinners like us.

Psalm 141:4 – 4 Do not let my heart turn to any evil thing or perform wicked acts with evildoers. Do not let me feast on their delicacies.

David started thinking about the acts of worship, then his words, now he delves deeper into himself and takes a look at his very heart. He understood that it is from the heart that words are formed, actions taken, desires unleashed.

He also understood that just because you’re being offered something sumptuous and desirable doesn’t mean it isn’t being offered by an enemy. Sin may be pleasurable for a time, an easy road to take, but it brings forth death. Death in the heart and death in the life.

Psalm 141:5 – 5 Let the righteous one strike me—it is an act of faithful love; let him rebuke me— it is oil for my head; let me not refuse it. Even now my prayer is against the evil acts of the wicked.

Discipline and rebuke are not fun things. They’re no fun to give and no fun to receive. But David, having God’s perspective on things, saw them as an act of loving, medicinal correction.

God does not want His people to feel ashamed and condemned when they make a mistake, but He does want to correct us and fortify us and prepare us as He continues to conform us into the image of His Son. Think of it this way: If you want to be a boxer you’re going to do a lot of training and preparing, but at some point you’re going to have to get in the ring and spar. And in that process, poor form and bad habits can be corrected by you getting punched. When that happens, your sparring partner isn’t trying to hurt you, he’s trying to help you – to teach you how to keep your hands up. To teach you to prepare for the real blows that will be coming from the champ someday.

Don’t get me wrong, God doesn’t ever abuse us or slap us around. But David here says, “Getting rebuked is like getting hit in the face.” But with a Godly mindset he was able to see how beneficial and necessary it was. And David was a man who experienced some real rebukes.

Here is a New Testament command for Christians:

Galatians 6:1 – Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.

It’s not easy to rebuke fellow Christians. It wouldn’t have been easy to rebuke David. But thank God for those who did. Because it was those moments of correction that brought him back from the brink of disaster.

David would rather have discipline than deterioration in his spiritual life. “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living.”

Psalm 141:6 – 6 When their rulers will be thrown off the sides of a cliff, the people will listen to my words, for they are pleasing.

Scholars point out that the Hebrew in this section of the Psalm is very challenging. There’s not much consensus about how exactly verses 6 and 7 should be rendered. But we can see that David was able to look beyond his present trouble and remember what is coming in the future. One day, good will totally triumph over evil. We can be of good cheer right now because Jesus Christ has overcome the world, He has conquered sin and death, but still those enemies fight against us. But there is a day coming when all will be made right and those who rejected God will be repaid for their choices.

In your Bible you may see a note that the words can read this way: “Their judges [will] fall into the hands of the Rock.” That Rock is Christ. He invites anyone who is willing to anchor themselves to Him and be saved from the coming destruction. But all others will be crushed in judgment.

This ultimate fate of the wicked is just and is good, but we shouldn’t be excited that they will suffer such a fate. The Bible says that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

This comes back to guarding our tongues. It’s easy and popular for us to speak about our hatred of certain leaders or prominent people because of their wickedness and their refusal to do what is right. It’s true, judgment is coming. But that should propel us to evangelize, not gloat. Gore Vidal, the famous author once wrote, “The four most beautiful words in our common language [are]: ‘I told you so.’” That’s never to be our feeling. As Christians, the 4 most beautiful words we can say are: Jesus can save you. Whether that ‘you’ is a friend, an enemy, a prince or a pauper.

Think of the little servant girl in 2 Kings 5, stolen from her home in Israel. Trafficked into slavery into the house of the commander of the Aramean army. His name was Naaman. He was a chief enemy of God’s people. And he was a leper. That little girl had such grace and compassion that she told him a secret that would change his life forever: My God can heal you of your leprosy. The text says the girl thought, “I wish my master would go see the prophet.” That’s grace. That’s the love of Christ.

Psalm 141:7 – 7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil, turning up rocks, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

Some translators believe this is a quote from the conquered unbelievers in the end. Others take it as David’s emotional feeling at the time. There’s a devotional thought for us either way.

If you’re not a Christian, this Psalm reveals that there is a day of reckoning coming. It’s described in the Bible many ways, but one of them is of God reaping the earth. If you will not accept Christ as the substitute for your sin then you will be loaded like a cluster of grapes into the winepress of God’s wrath and you will die in your sins and suffer the eternal penalty for them. You will be devoured by the grave and no one can save you except Jesus Christ. But He’s ready to save you. He died to save you. And if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.

But what if it was David feeling this way in verse 7? David was no stranger to suffering, danger and hard times. This image of rocks and bones and the grave remind us of some important truths that concern God’s children. First, no matter what happens, death has no claim on you. You may suffer, you may die, but you will be made alive again. Because Jesus rose we will rise.

Second, you may feel in life as if you’re a rock in the dirt. As if you’re living out that scene in The Great Pumpkin where Charlie Brown goes to house after house and instead of candy all he gets are rocks in his pillowcase. But you are not a worthless rock in the dirt. You are a precious child of God. You are planted like a tree, which grows and brings forth fruit. You are of great, eternal value in the eyes of the Creator and He will not waste your life.

Psalm 141:8 – 8 But my eyes look to you, Lord, my Lord. I seek refuge in you; do not let me die.

In all circumstances, not least in times of fear and hurt, we must look to the Lord. Notice, David doesn’t just speak abstractly or generically. He calls Him my Lord. Is He your Lord? What does it mean to make Him yours? It means you have made Him your refuge. God is not just some sort of cosmic underwriter that approves your insurance plan or funds a heavenly mortgage. He is the loving Master. If someone is your Master that means you live in His presence. Your life is wrapped up in His. This Master, we’re told in the Psalms, surrounds us with a shield of love. He gives shelter in His household. Not only shelter, but His refuge is a place of joy. Of help. Of growth and refreshment.

David said he would “seek refuge in [God].” What a promise, given to all, that if we seek Him we will find Him.

David here gets to the brass tacks of his requests: God, don’t let me die. That was a real concern for David at many points of his life. I’d remind us that spiritual death is just as concerning as physical death. Jesus wrote to His beloved children in Sardis and said “you have a reputation for being alive—but you’re dead.”

There are many things that should concern us right now, but staying spiritually vibrant, in our first love, should always be one of them.

Psalm 141:9-10 – 9 Protect me from the trap they have set for me, and from the snares of evildoers. 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely.

There are all sorts of snares laid out for God’s people. Snares of temptation, of oppression, of bitterness, of deception. They may be menacing, but we don’t need to be afraid. Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 3 that we need not be outwitted by our Enemy, the Devil, because we can clearly study what he does. How? By paying attention to the Scriptures. We are protected from snares by letting the mind of Christ be in us, giving us the proper perspective on life. We are protected from snares by being led by the Holy Spirit. By having this proper perspective and submission to the Lord, we will avoid snares like getting mad at God when we suffer. Or the snare of calling good evil and evil good.

Instead, like David, we can move through life in confident trust that the Lord is not only with us, but is doing a great work in our lives “while I pass by safely.”

That closing image begs the question: Where are you headed? David was struggling, but he could continue day by day in the knowledge that he was not alone, he was not abandoned. He was moving through life with a God who cared for him. Even in a time of personal emergency he was able to keep his focus and his thoughts on His Lord and how he could live a life worthy of the God who had redeemed him.

Where are you headed? If you’re not a Christian, the Bible explains you are headed toward a Christless eternity in hell. You don’t have to end up there. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, but that’s a choice you’re going to have to make yourself. No one can make it for you.

Are you a child of God here today? You know where you’re headed. The road before you may take you through many mountain ranges, storms and dark valleys, but God is faithful and He is with you. As you pass by, don’t take any byways of bitterness or lovelessness or laxness. Go with God, His way, keeping pace with His leading, in the joyful refuge of your relationship with Him.

Psalm 129 – The Back Beat Boys

Pam & I saw Jaws when it was released in June of 1975. That was an era in which you watched movies in theaters, one time.

Fifteen years later, Jaws was the first movie on DVD we ever bought.

Perfect – we thought – for Family Movie Night with our kids, who were around 12 & 9.

Obviously our memories about its content were a little fuzzy. I remember one of us telling them, “You’ll love it. It’s not that violent. Only one or two people die.”

One of them is Ben Gardner. When Hooper finds Ben Gardener’s abandoned boat, and looks in the gash in its hull, he finds Ben. He finds his head, that is, floating by, in an unexpected jump scene.

For the record: It’s five people who die brutal, bloody deaths. It averages one horrific death every 26 minutes. Not to mention the suspense.

(Fans argue over whether or not Pipit the dog was eaten. If so, his death is mercifully off-screen).

Our kids insist that the horrific images of shark kills are forever etched in their minds. It’s become a standing joke in our family.

If you’ve ever heard one of us say something like, “Only one or two people die,” it’s sarcasm, and that’s what we are referring to.

You know where else you find horrific images? In the Bible:

Judges 19:29 When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

Second Kings 6:28-29 Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”

One of the most horrific of all the biblical images summarizes the historic affliction of the nation of Israel by the devil:

Rev 12:1  Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.
Rev 12:2  Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
Rev 12:3  And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
Rev 12:4  His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
Rev 12:5  She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.
Rev 12:6  Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

These “signs” are identified for us in the Bible:

The woman is the nation of Israel.
The dragon is Satan.
The Child is Jesus.

It graphically depicts centuries of Satanic opposition against Israel to prevent the birth of their Savior. Despite which, Jesus was born, and is in Heaven, victorious over Satan and his “third of the stars of Heaven” army of fallen angels.

Psalm 129 invited the Jews on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to look back upon their storied history of affliction. To recall the many horrors the nation had endured.

It was a look of victory, as they joined voices and sang, “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; Yet they have not prevailed against me.”

The worst is yet to come upon Israel in the future Great Tribulation. Once again they will sing, “Yet they have not prevailed against me.”

Afflictions are something the Lord’s church has, and will, experience until He removes us from the earth. That’s our point of contact with this psalm; that’s how it will apply to us. We want to sing, everyday, “Yet they have not prevailed against us.”

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 In Your Afflictions You Can Praise, and #2 Against Your Afflicters You You Will Prevail.

#1 – In Your Afflictions You Can Praise (v1-4)

An article posted by Business Insider was titled, The coronavirus pandemic is fueling anti-Semitism around the world, and the US is no exception.

“The global crisis has breathed new life into centuries-old rhetoric that blames Jews for the spread of disease and economic downturns.

“An example of that bubbled up in the United States as recently as Saturday. In an echo of Nazi propaganda, protesters at an Ohio rally held signs depicting a rat donning a Star of David and yarmulke that read “the real plague.”

CNN posted this not-fake-news article, Coronavirus lockdowns are fueling an ‘explosion’ of anti-Semitism online.

It’s Satanic. Zola Levitt wrote, “For thousands of years Satan has demonstrated an intense and insatiable drive to completely eliminate the Jewish people.” He offers this explanation:

For 4000 years the Jewish people have faced relentless persecution, opposition, and attempts to annihilate and destroy them; and in the future, the struggle against Israel continues. If it concerned any other people, this campaign would seem totally irrational and insane. However, with Israel, a rational but very Satanic strategy sustains this animosity.

For Satan, the destruction of Israel is a matter of self-preservation. Ultimately, the survival of Israel results in the eternal perdition of Satan. When Israel repents and nationally invites the Lord Jesus Christ to be its own Redeemer – Messiah, that generation of Israel will be saved, and Satan’s plan to destroy the Jews will be finally defeated. Jesus Christ will return to the Earth, destroy the satanic antiChrist and his armies at Armageddon, establish His Kingdom over Israel and the world for 1000 years, and then cast the still rebellious Satan into the Lake of Fire forever and ever.

Notwithstanding all her afflictions, Psalm 129 was a call to praise, knowing they will prevail.

Psa 129:1  A Song of Ascents. “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,” Let Israel now say,
Psa 129:2  “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; Yet they have not prevailed against me.

The worship leader began the song, inviting all those gathered to respond. As one instrument; as one voice; they directed their praise to the LORD.

They weren’t simply putting a positive spin on their afflictions. They understood that in a fallen world, behind which rages a cosmic spiritual war, the people of God were going to be the high-value targets.

We must understand that, too. The world hated Jesus; it will hate His followers. In the world we will have tribulation, Jesus acknowledged. Not just the normal troubles everyone encounters in a fallen world. We will be targeted because we follow the Lord.

Behind this 10th of the 15 “Songs of Ascent” is God’s providence. No matter the afflicters or the afflictions, God provided for Israel’s continuation. From Genesis to the Revelation, He is behind the scenes, working.

In remarkable episodes, He injects Himself into Israel’s history without violating anyone’s free will.

When was Israel “young?” In Egypt, where God would deliver millions of them from slavery and establish them as His nation. Their backs were indeed viciously whipped.

Egypt… Assyria… Babylon… Persia… Greece… Rome… The Nazi’s. All of these afflicted the Jews. They remain. Thus they could and can sing, “Yet they have not prevailed against me.”

God will prevail against your enemies. If it doesn’t seem that way now, it will in your future. We are a future-oriented people. Our look is heavenward. We are looking toward the finish line.

Every year there’s a report or two about a jogger getting attacked by a cougar along their route. The animal comes out of nowhere, going for the throat.

1 Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Psa 129:3  The plowers plowed on my back; They made their furrows long.”

Psalm 129 will draw its comparisons from farming to get its point across. Here the psalmist compares their being whipped by cruel taskmasters to plowing a field. It was as if their backs were the field being plowed, deeply, painfully, horribly. It’s meant to be a horrific image. It’s rated R for gore.

People tend to look upon this kind of affliction as a reason to abandon their belief in God. To heap blame upon Him for what seems to be inaction.

The psalmist had a much different analysis:

Psa 129:4  The LORD is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.

“The LORD is righteous” is a shout-out that, whatever you think about afflictions, yours or others, God is not to blame. He is righteous. He “cut[s] in pieces the cords of the wicked.”

I know that I refer to them often, but Daniel’s three friends – Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego – embody this worldview. When threatened with death-by-furnace, they answered, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).

That is what is means to “prevail” thanks to God’s righteousness. It is seeing the world realistically as it is described by the Bible. We are going to be afflicted for our relationship with Jesus. Our afflicter, ultimately, is a twisted fallen angel who is depicted as a beast wanting to eat a newborn baby.

Our other enemies are sin and death. Jesus conquered them all on the Cross. No matter what, we can sing, “Yet they have not prevailed against me.”

If you are in Christ, you prevail against afflictions. Might as well do so with praise.

#2 – Against Your Afflicters, You Will Prevail (v5-8)

Epic fails caught on video can be awfully entertaining. It’s hard to believe people can be that stupid.

We can’t help but think that to “prevail” means we will be kept safe in the fiery furnace, hanging out with Jesus, released from it without even having the smell of smoke on our clothes. Or that the lions won’t tear us apart. Or that we will be sprung from prison.

If a believer is burned-up, or torn apart, or left to rot in prison… Well those seem like epic fails, not prevails.

We tend to ignore the passage in Hebrews chapter eleven that says, “Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented… They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth” (v36-38).

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Of Himself the LORD said, “For I am the LORD, I do not change…” (Malachi 3:6).

At the same time, there are different dispensations when the LORD is dealing differently with His people. We like to quickly illustrate it by asking, “Why didn’t you bring a lamb to sacrifice?” It’s because we are not under the Law, but under grace. We are not Israel; we are the church, and we are in what can be called the Church Age.

(I want to add that, in every dispensation or age, salvation is the same: not by any works, but by faith).

When Jesus was on the earth, for the three-and-one-half years of His ministry, we are told that His miracles, healings, and exorcisms, “which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

While it is true that miracles, healings, and exorcisms most certainly occur in the Church Age, you must admit they are infrequent. It isn’t because the church is failing. It is because the Church Age is characterized by displays of God’s power in our weakness.

If you don’t want to fully embrace that truth, you must at least acknowledge that the folks in Hebrews chapter eleven we referenced as being afflicted are every bit as spiritual as those earlier in the chapter who enjoyed miraculous escapades and escapes.

Now and later, we prevail over our afflicters – the devil and his angels, and the nonbelievers who do his will whether they know it or not.

Back to our pilgrims in Jerusalem…

Psa 129:5  Let all those who hate Zion Be put to shame and turned back.

Two things jump out at us:

Israel expected to be hated.
Israel expected to be assaulted by those who would need to be turned back.

Psa 129:6  Let them be as the grass on the housetops, Which withers before it grows up,

If you have an older shake roof, it’s not unusual for grasses and weeds to grow on it. In Israel the roofs were flat and they would get this same kind of growth. Those seeds can’t root deeply, so they wither in the hot sun.

I listed earlier some of the nations that afflicted Israel. Historically, they sprung up quickly, but have not survived as world powers.

Psa 129:7  With which the reaper does not fill his hand, Nor he who binds sheaves, his arms.

Continuing with the comparison, this is a statement of confidence that Israel will take root and be brought in as a harvest to the LORD.

In Zechariah 12:10 we read, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

The apostle Paul said of Israel’s future, “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “THE DELIVERER WILL COME OUT OF ZION, AND HE WILL TURN AWAY UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB; FOR THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS” (Romans 11:26-27).

Modern Israel is nothing less than a miracle. It is the fulfillment of many prophecies. Israel must be in the Promised Land in order for Jesus to return and for them to recognize and receive Him as Messiah.

Psa 129:8  Neither let those who pass by them say, “The blessing of the LORD be upon you; We bless you in the name of the LORD!”

Harvesting in their fields, the Jews would work alongside the fields of their neighbors.

They would exchange greetings like, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you.” That greeting might be answered by, “We bless you in the Name of the LORD.”

We need to have a stronger greeting-game. I’m just as guilty at asking. “How are you?” as I rush by you, not really wanting to spend that kind of time. “How are you?” is more like the first line in a counseling session.

Remembering that we are reading a song of praise, perhaps the big finish here is that one-half of the worshippers sing, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you.” Then the other half sings, “We bless you in the Name of the LORD.”

Maybe they went back-and-forth several times, getting louder each time. I’m dwelling on this for a moment to remind us that the psalm started with a recollection of their awful afflictions. The Jews could recall sufferings as the context for extolling God’s righteousness.

In this Church Age, if you are in Christ, you have two options:

Option #1 – You will die, leaving your corruptible physical body behind to await its resurrection. You – your spirit – will be conscious and alive in the presence of Jesus, in Heaven. We are assured that to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord.

Option #2 – You will be alive when Jesus returns to resurrect the dead from the Church Age. You will not experience death, but instead be immediately transformed and in your incorruptible, immortal, eternal body.

I’d say that is “prevailing” over your afflicters.

Your future is the context within which you prevail today no matter your afflicters and the afflictions they heap upon you.

Their future is why you must have compassion upon them, making a difference:

Rev 20:11  Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
Rev 20:13  The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
Rev 20:14  Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

I’m A Man, Yes I Am, And I Can’t Help But Fear You So (Psalm 128)

Here you are in church when you could be LARPing.

It’s an acronym for Live Action Role Play.

Mark your calendars and get your costumes. The next Renaissance of Kings Faire is October 2nd & 3rd, 2021.

I haven’t been to Hanford’s Annual Christmas parade for some time. Does the StarTrek COSPLAY group still march with their shuttlecraft?

I found an archived Hanford Sentinel article from February 2019 about Comic-Con COSPLAYers gathering at the Kings Fairgrounds. They pictured a pretty convincing Boba Fett.

COMIC-CON International San Diego annually draws over 100,000 fans. They were forced to COVID-Cancel this year.

We’re going to talk a little about roles today – our roles in the household of God, and in our own houses.

Psalm 128 celebrates the biblical family – man, woman, children.
It wasn’t written to correct any failing on Israel’s part, but to celebrate family as an earthly blessing from the LORD.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 You Want To Lead As A Fearful Father, and #2 You Want To Follow As A Fearful Family.

#1 – You Want To Lead As A Fearful Father (v1-2)

This psalm was addressed to men. Yes, it opens saying, “Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD.” But it goes on to address men about “your wife,” and about “your children.” The psalmist doesn’t address women and children directly.

Men, women, and children have different roles to fulfill, both in the household of God and in their own houses.

Psalm 128 celebrates God’s design for the family. To the extent that it does, we can apply it to ourselves. It wasn’t written to us; but since it assumes the larger context of the biblical family, we can learn from it.

Psa 128:1  A Song of Ascents. Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways.

This is the ninth of the fifteen “Song(s) of Ascent” sung by pilgrims on their trips to the annual feasts in Jerusalem. Men of a certain age were required to attend. From the information given to us, it would seem that whole families traveled. The notable episode where 12yr old Jesus got left behind in Jerusalem describes His family pilgrimaging with other families.

Though required in God’s Law, these annual pilgrimages were not intended to be a burden. They were to be a blessing. God wanted to draw His people together to bless them.

Our gathering together ought to be a blessing to you – not a place to heap burdens upon you. Jesus wants to show you your blessings, what He has done for you.

The “fear of the LORD” can be described in many different ways. One way, and the way I am going to emphasize, is that you believe God always has simultaneously in His mind your good and His glory. You thus “fear the LORD” by willingly obeying Him. No matter your will, you prefer and choose God’s will. You implicitly trust God’s will over your own; you submit your ways to His way – even if it requires sacrifice. It is the only way to insure your good and His glory.

Before we go on with an example, let me say this. As we reference marriage and family today, think about where you are now, not everything that has happened in your past. For example, if you have been divorced, but are now remarried, we are talking about your current marriage.
If you are not married, we are talking about what is going on in your life today.

If you insist on looking back, look back to the Cross, where your sins are forgiven.

Back to our text. Maybe, right now, you are contemplating divorce. Do you at least have any biblical grounds?

• Have you been abandoned by your spouse?
• Has your spouse committed adultery?
(I’ve learned over the years to add this important footnote. Physical abuse is sin, and you don’t ever submit to it. Tell someone; call the police).

Without biblical grounds for divorce, and sometimes even with biblical grounds, God says you are to stay married. He would only say that if it were for your good, and for His glory. Blessed is the man (or woman) who fears the Lord and does what He says.

You’re to “walk in His ways.” You discover “His ways” by reading your Bible.

Everything you need to live a godly life is covered in the Bible. Add to that, you are given God the Holy Spirit to indwell you, making it more than possible for you to “walk in His ways.”

Psa 128:2  When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.

Israel was an agricultural nation. It was the land flowing with milk and honey. Other occupations depended upon ag. They quite literally “[ate] the labor of [their] hands.”

The phrase speaks to providing for one’s family.

We are light years away from saying that this means women can’t ever work outside the home. In fact, I’m not going to suggest any particulars of your home life. We are painting a picturesque biblical home in broad strokes. We are talking about roles, not the rules.

The psalmist was putting a joyous responsibility upon the man to see to it that his family prospers. It speaks to hard, honest labor. To a diligent work ethic.

Happiness and contentment are byproducts of assuming your roles. Ultimately, walking in God’s ways results in a peaceful existence that is to be envied.

More than ever people are walking in their own ways when it comes to marriage and family. In June 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in the landmark civil rights case of Obergefell v. Hodges that the fundamental right of same-sex couples to marry on the same terms and conditions as opposite-sex couples, with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities, is guaranteed by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Our reaction, first and foremost, ought to be this:

“Judgment must begin at the house of God” (First Peter 4:17). How are we doing at walking in God’s ways with regard to marriage?

Biblical marriage is one biological male, and one biological female, in a monogamous heterosexual union that is to last as long as they both shall live.

At the same time we rightfully decry same sex marriage, divorce is too prevalent among believers. Is it really less sinful?

At the same time we rightfully decry homosexuality, fornication and adultery are too prevalent among believers. Is it really less sinful?

You can’t “fear God” and pursue unbiblical divorce. You can’t “fear God” and commit sexual sin

Guys: Psalm 128 mentions you first, and is written to you. You’re to lead. Get into God’s Word and understand His ways. Know that you are empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk in His ways. Fear Him by following Him.

#2 – You Want To Follow As A Fearful Family (v3-6)

The Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. There is only one God. Three coexistent, co-eternal, co-equal Persons who are one God.

With regard to the plan to redeem sinful men, there is a division of roles in the Trinity:

God the Father is said to have sent Jesus. Jesus willingly submitted Himself to God the Father in His role as the Savior of the world.
Jesus is said to be the giver of God the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit subordinates Himself to Jesus, pointing men to Him for salvation.

It should come as no shock, therefore, that there is a division of roles in God’s household, and in your house.
In fact, as we each fulfill our roles, it reveals the sweet co-operation of the Trinity in salvation. It mirrors the nature of God.

Psa 128:3  Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table.

There is an obvious hierarchy in this home. Every one in the blessed family has their God-assigned role to play.

Roles, and especially the role(s) of women, is super controversial. There is a lot of disagreement among Christians. Theologians have come up with big words to describe at least two of the differing positions on the biblical roles of men and women in the church. Those words are Complementarian and Egalitarian.

Complementarianism is the viewpoint that God restricts women from serving in church leadership roles and instead calls women to serve in equally important, but complementary, roles.

Egalitarianism is the viewpoint that there are no biblical gender-based restrictions on ministry in the church.

The team over at gotquestions.org summarize it, saying,

On the one side are the egalitarians who believe there are no gender distinctions and that since we are all one in Christ, women and men are interchangeable when it comes to functional roles in leadership and in the household.

The complementarian view believes in the essential equality of men and women as persons as human beings created in God’s image, but complementarians hold to gender distinctions when it comes to functional roles in society, the church, and the home.

We are complementarians. It seems straightforward:

The original married couple was complementarian. Adam was created first. Eve was tasked with the role of “help-meet” for Adam.

After our first parents sinned, the LORD was clear that Eve was to subordinate her desire to rule and instead assume a submissive role.

The apostle Paul applied the hierarchy of the first family to the church, to the household of God, when he said to Pastor Timothy, “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man… For Adam was formed first, then Eve” (First Timothy 2:12-13).

A division in roles does not equate to a difference in quality, importance, or value. Men and women are equally valued in God’s sight and plan. Women are not inferior to men. Rather, God assigns different roles to men and women in the church and in the home because that is how He designed houses and His household on earth to function.

Egalitarians have their arguments, for sure. We find them unbiblical and, worse, dictated by cultural pressure to conform, or to seem progressive.

Israel was certainly complementarian. Psalm 128 assumes there are genders and gender roles in the Biblical home. The change from an agricultural society to our modern society doesn’t overrule God’s original design for marriage and family.

Psa 128:3  Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table.

Don’t read this as “barefoot and pregnant.” To an Old Testament wife, these words were tremendously encouraging.

It says that the wife is “the very heart of your house.” Allow me to attempt an analogy. If you are smart, you are heart-healthy in your diet and exercise. You take good care of your heart. Apply that kind of smart to taking care of your wife.

I want to again emphasize that I am not going to tell you how to run your house. It isn’t in the mechanics. It’s in co-operation with Jesus. The key to success is simply to be like Jesus in His incarnation. Though He was Lord of all, He became the servant of all.

Everything you need in order to fulfill your role as a man, or a woman, or a child, is illustrated by Jesus washing His disciples feet the Passover prior to His willing death on the Cross.

We don’t practice foot washing as an ordinance in the church, as some groups do. We should practice spiritual foot washing. It should be our individual practice to be the servant.

Is the man the leader? Yes – but that needs to be qualified. The greatest of all, in God’s economy, is the servant of all. Our “lead servant,” Jesus, didn’t come to be served, but to serve.

The man of the house is more a discipler than a delegator.

Wives and kids: The Bible verses and passages that speak about your roles are not hard to find. Neither are they hard to understand – especially if you come to them fearing the Lord in the way we are describing today.

Mark Twain is credited with saying, “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”

You can walk in His ways by yielding yourself to the Holy Spirit. He subordinated Himself to Jesus, and you should subordinate yourself to Him. He empowers you; He enables you.

Psa 128:4  Behold, thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD.

“Fear the LORD.” Believe – because it’s true – “that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Submit to God’s will, believing He is working.

Psa 128:5  The LORD bless you out of Zion, And may you see the good of Jerusalem All the days of your life.

Their blessings came “out of Zion” in the sense that they were the result of God’s presence in the Temple. For a long time, it was His dwelling place – His house – upon the earth.

It was therefore important that Jerusalem know peace and prosperity. All the Jews had to do was love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Sadly, Israel often committed spiritual adultery by worshipping the gods of the pagans around them. Then, for their own good and for His glory, God would allow His people to be defeated, and Jerusalem to be overrun.

Psa 128:6  Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!

Grand kids are pretty cool. It’s all chocolate and silly string fights. Discipline? Not on my watch.

This ending probably looks farther forward than grand kids. God promised His people an earthly kingdom ruled over by the Son of David. We call it the Millennium on account of its description as lasting one thousand years in Revelation chapter twenty.

There are descriptions of it throughout the Old Testament. Isaiah, for one, said,

Isa 2:2  Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it.
Isa 2:3  Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isa 2:4  He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.

It’s great that historic peace treaties are being signed in the Middle East. Peace is a good thing.

We also know that modern Israel’s peace will not last. At some point, a treaty will be broken, and the Jews in Jerusalem will be forced to flee for their very survival.

When LARPing, or COSPLAYing, you wear costumes. So do you as a believer in Jesus Christ:

When by His prevenient grace God frees your will to receive Jesus as your Savior, He takes off your filthy garments and dresses you in His robe of righteousness.
You are described as wearing the whole armor of God in your spiritual battles.

The outfit I want to highlight today is the one the apostle Paul described to the Ephesians:

Eph 4:24  and that you put on [like a garment] the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Eph 4:25  Therefore, putting away lying, “LET EACH ONE OF YOU SPEAK TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOR,” for we are members of one another.
Eph 4:26  “BE ANGRY, AND DO NOT SIN”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
Eph 4:27  nor give place to the devil.
Eph 4:28  Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
Eph 4:29  Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
Eph 4:30  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Eph 4:31  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
Eph 4:32  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Bread (Psalm 127)

Three bird species, two frogs, a shark, and one of the world’s largest freshwater fish were among those declared extinct in 2019.

The last known female Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle died in China a year ago April during an artificial insemination procedure, making the species effectively extinct.

You may as well cancel your trip to Oahu. The last Achatinella apexfulva died in captivity on New Year’s Day. His name was Lonesome George. This was his obituary:

George, a Hawaiian tree snail – also a 14-year-old local celebrity and the last known snail of his kind – will no longer be able to entertain school children, or eat tree fungus. He died on New Year’s Day, according to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). George the snail, named after the Pinta Island tortoise Lonesome George, never lived in a forest, being born in captivity and growing up in a lab. As it happens, George was a hermaphrodite, but it seems that two snails are required to produce offspring.

The other species lost in 2019 included Boulenger’s Speckled Skink, the Corquin Robber Frog, and the Victorian Grasslands Earless Dragon.

In 2013, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, told a conference in Shropshire that more must done to attract young people into the Church. He warned that the Church of England was, “One generation away from extinction.”

I’ve heard that line many times over the years; it isn’t original to Lord Carey. I couldn’t find an original attribution.

Is it true? It’s only true if we leave God out of the picture. Or maybe it would be better to say that it’s ultimately not true because the Lord is the One building His church, and He promised it would not fail.

The quote is intended to spur slumbering, apathetic, Christians to action. The best way to do that, however, isn’t to guilt us, but to glorify God.

Psalm 127 does just that, in its opening words. “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.”

Believers are “builders” and “watchmen,” for sure. We have a big part to play. It is a cooperative effort. But we remain dependent upon the Lord, and trust Him to complete His work both in us and through us.

I’ll organize my comments around two rather simple questions: #1 Is Your Labor For The Lord More Exertion Than Enabling?, and #2 Is Your Life In The Lord More Earthly Than Eternal?

#1 – Is Your Labor For The Lord More Exertion Than Enabling? (v1-2)

To paraphrase Celine Dion, “The church will go on.”

One verse will suffice as proof. Writing to the church in Ephesus, the apostle Paul declared that Jesus will “present [the church] to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (5:27).

Here is some math to encourage you. Let’s say you lead one person to Christ every year, and he or she does the same, and so on.

After one year, there are only 2 disciples.
At the end of the second year, 4.
Third year, there are 8 followers of Jesus.
Fourth year, 16.

By year 33, you will have more than 8.5 billion Christians. There would be 34 billion Christians as the 10 year mark.

We’ve read the last chapters of the book. The church will be resurrected or raptured to Heaven, then returning from Heaven to the earth with Jesus in His Second Coming. We then reign on the earth with Him for one thousand years. After that we live-on for eternity with “no more tears.”

Psa 127:1  A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.

Every week I remind us that psalms 120-134 were gathered together in a playlist to be sung by travelers on their pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem for one of the annual Jewish feasts.

It’s super important to keep that in mind for Psalm 127. Here’s why. When we see the word “house,” and then hear talk of children in verses three through five, we immediately begin to read this psalm as a stand-alone psalm that exalts individual home life. Sort of a marriage and family study. We forget its context as a Song of Ascent.

While it will have application to our homes in a limited way, it is not about your house. It is about God’s ‘house,’ the Temple, and it is about the “house of Israel.”

“Solomon” is credited as the author. His dad, King David, wanted to build the Temple. God said to David, “You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in” (First Chronicles 7:4). Instead, God promised to build David a “house” – a spiritual house (Second Samuel 7:11).

I submit that this is the first, main context of Psalm 127.

The backstory is a great example of what is meant by “building in vain.” David’s desire to build a house for God was good. When he shared his plans to build a house for God, Nathan the prophet immediately encouraged David. To quote Debby Boone, “It can’t be wrong When it feels so right.”

God intervened, spoke to Nathan, and sent him back to the king to stop him from building. God’s plan was for Solomon to build the house.

THAT must have been hard:

For one thing, building for God – wasn’t that a good thing?
For another thing: How hard must it have been to confront a king like David – so close to God’s heart – with a halt work order?
For a third thing: David could be a little crabby at times.

Often in the Book of Acts, the Lord sent His servant away from a successful ministry. Or He hindered a missionary from going where he desired, opening a door somewhere else.

It is so important – especially when the desire seems good – to hear from the Lord. Too many things get greenlighted that do not have God’s blessing.

From the Temple, the psalm moves out to the wall surrounding Jerusalem. Perhaps the pilgrims would recall how that the wall lay in ruins for so long until God raised up Nehemiah. Then, contrary to everything we believe about contractors, Nehemiah brought the wall in (1)Under budget, and (2)In a record time of only 52 days.

It was the LORD. He did it. He did it through Nehemiah and the returnees throwing themselves into the work; but it was understood by Israel and her enemies that God enabled them. Humans did what was humanly impossible, and God got the glory.

The wall was necessary for protection. The watchmen were critical for warning. But no city was safe unless the LORD was in the hearts of the people. Israel’s history is full of examples of impenetrable defenses being penetrated; and of improbable victories.

Psa 127:2  It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.

Solomon was not encouraging laziness. Keeping with the same theme as verse one, he was saying that it is futile to labor without the Lord’s leading and enabling. The “bread of sorrows” was a poetic way of describing someone working their fingers to the bone. We should “rise up early, and sit up late,” serving the Lord. But without His leading, then His enabling, we’re working our fingers to the bone for nothing.

Thinking again of Nehemiah and the wall-builders. They certainly were not lazy:

Neh 4:15  And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.
Neh 4:16  So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah.
Neh 4:17  Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.
Neh 4:18  Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
Neh 4:19  Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall.
Neh 4:20  Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
Neh 4:21  So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared.
Neh 4:22  At the same time I also said to the people, “Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day.”
Neh 4:23  So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.

They worked hard is an understatement. But it was with the Lord, in His will.
“He gives His beloved sleep.” Your labor in the Lord should be spiritually restful. It shouldn’t be anxious, worrisome, or depressing. There will be plenty of discouragements, but even these are to be cast upon the Lord. After all, you are His “beloved.”

Everything we are saying can be summed-up by this quote from A.W. Tozer:

If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95% of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.

That is obviously the worst-case scenario. We would do well, however, to always check our desires to see if the labor is from the Lord, and therefore enabled by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

I have to conclude that a lot of what today is labeled as “spiritual burnout” is the direct result of our exertion rather than His enabling. It’s something you ought to explore in conversation with Jesus.

#2 – Is Your Life In The Lord More Earthly Than Eternal? (v3-5)

In 2019, there was an average of 1.93 children under 18 per family in the United States. This is a decrease from 2.33 children under 18 per family in 1960.

Two-parent households in the US are declining, and the number of families with no children are increasing.

Should we be having more children? Isn’t that what the rest of this psalm exhorts us to?

There may be application in these verses to the modern tendency to have fewer children. But it is not a command; and, in context, we are looking at the house of Israel – not our homes.

Psa 127:3  Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Seems straightforward enough. If you want to be blessed, have lots of kids.

Solomon’s intent is not a command, but a promised gift from God. He promised Abraham when He told him, “and I will make you a great nation” (Genesis 12:2), and “you will be the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:9). Later the Lord promises the children of Israel in the wilderness that “He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb” (Deuteronomy 7:13).

These are not commands from God for them to reproduce, but God’s sovereign promise to reward His people, to multiply them for His purpose, their security, and inheritance.

We tend to read everything in God’s Word as a command. We want so desperately to be able to quantify our relationship with Jesus. We make checklists to be sure we are on-track spiritually. We chastise ourselves, or others, for missing one day of devotions.

The one commandment is this: “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND,’ and ‘YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF” (Luke 10:27).

To read Psalm 127:3 as a command misses the blessing. He was telling the house of Israel, the twelve tribes, what He was going to do for them – not telling them what they must do for Him.

Never in the Old Testament does anyone need to be exhorted to have more kids. Quite the opposite. It was always a shame to remain barren. It was considered a shame precisely because God had promised to bless them with kids. Thus a Jew would not have understood this as a command, but as a reward.

Under the Law, God promised to bless the godly with children (Deuteronomy 28:4). He has given no such promise to Christians. We would say that having 1.9 kids or 2.3 kids is up to you.

BUT consider this: Is your numerical goal godly? Are your reasons for your decision earthly, selfish? Or are they eternal?

If someone were to ask you, “Why did you have X-number of kids?, would your answer be based on earthly priorities, or on eternal promises?

Psa 127:4  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.
Psa 127:5  Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

Unusual wording – to us, that is, but not to a Jew. “In the gate” is where an ancient Israeli city did business. It’s where you would go with your complaint, or to settle an issue, or to transfer title, etc., etc. Think of it as the City Council, or the Board of Supervisors.

There is a passage in the Book of Ruth (4:1-12) that describes in some detail a meeting in the gates during which Boaz redeems Ruth to marry her.

The “enemies” referred to here are “in the gates.” They not foreign armies, but fellow citizens.

The picture being drawn here is of the elderly having children to defend them against those who would take advantage of them. It is a warning against elder abuse.

Elder abuse was a big problem in ancient Israel, along with taking advantage of widows, orphans, and the poor. If you had kids to care for you, you’d be protected. They were to take care of you as warriors in a battle. Their “weapons” were the words they “[spoke] with their enemies in the gate.”

FYI – Approximately 1 in 10 Americans aged 60+ have experienced some form of elder abuse. Estimates range as high as 5 million elders who are abused each year. One study estimated that only 1 in 14 cases of abuse are reported to authorities. In almost 60% of elder abuse and neglect incidents, the perpetrator is a family member. Two thirds of perpetrators are adult children or spouses.

Concluding his comments on Psalm 127, William MacDonald writes,

This psalm is a tremendous unfolding of the word of the Lord through Zechariah, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (4:6). There is such a danger that we depend on the power of the dollar or on human ingenuity. But the Lord’s will is not accomplished in that way. It is by His Spirit that we build for eternity. It is not what we do for God through our own resources, but what He does through us by His mighty power. All we can produce is wood, hay, stubble. He can use us to produce gold, silver, precious stones. When we act in our own strength, we are spinning our wheels. When we bring God into everything, our lives become truly efficient. Carnal weapons produce carnal results. Spiritual weapons produce spiritual results.

The apostle Paul captured this same thought when he wrote to the churches in the region of Galatia. He wrote, “Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (3:3).

How do you know if your priorities are eternal? Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, saying, “The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (First Corinthians 1:25).

One gauge to identify whether your priorities are earthly or eternal is to review your life in Christ thus far, looking for decisions that were absolutely foolish from an earthly perspective, but in fact revealed God’s wisdom.

Finances can sometimes reveal Christ-led foolishness. There are a few Christian ministries that teach you about godly use of your resources. That’s great – as long as you understand that there needs to be wiggle room for God to lead you foolishly so that you can reveal His wisdom.

We had a couple in our fellowship, married, who were both Navy doctors. When their time in the service was over, they went immediately into missionary medicine. I remember them being told by believers to first establish a practice, earn money, so they’d be able to have it in the bank. Wait ten years.

They followed God’s leading, and it seemed foolishness even to believers.

I’ve known lots of believers over the years who put-off doing certain spiritual things for a future time that never came.

Anytime you hear the story of the Rich Young Ruler, whom Jesus told to divest Himself of his worldly possessions, you’re told it was a suggestion unique to him. You’re told it doesn’t apply universally.

But could it apply to you? That’s the question to ask.

There used to be a Christian bumper sticker that showed believers going against the flow of the world. With spiritual priorities, that’s bound to be the case. So gauge yourself.

COVID19 is going to be held responsible for 20% of the churches in America closing their doors; to become extinct. Churches are losing court cases regarding our constitutional right to meet. Huge fines are being levied against churches who meet indoors.

There is in-fighting among believers about whether churches should follow exactly government mandates or not.

The church will go on. Then we’ll go up! Jesus’ coming to resurrect the dead in Christ, then catch-away living believers, is imminent.

Meanwhile, we are essential because we have the Gospel, the power of God unto salvation.

All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; none of us is righteous enough to deserve Heaven.
What we deserve for sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The Gospel is a universal call to every heart to believe God and be saved by grace and not by works.

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.