WATCHFUL (Psalm 123)

"Saddlerock"--a popular hiking destination in our valley--is 

said to be an old volcanic neck and definitely (with its prominence)

a sight we "look up" to!

(Part of an ongoing series of the 48 psalms commended for times of "feeling down," from pastor/counselor Dr. David Seamand's book, Healing for Damaged Emotions.)

This psalm makes me think of the arrogant king in the musical/film “The King and I.”  His arms crossed in a position of power, he was tended to by servants who watched for some hand signal (was it snapped fingers?) to tend to his needs. When this psalm was composed, it likely referred to the Jews under Babylonian captivity, when many were slaves to the wealthy or political leaders. The Jewish servants—male or female—constantly had to watch for the hand signals that indicated what they had to do.

The analogy is right in the opening words:

I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. (v. 1)

In Psalm 121, the believer looked to “the hills”—presumably the location of the holy city of Jerusalem or further skyward in aspiring to the invisible God who is “high and lifted up.” But Psalm 123 is more intimate, and thus more encouraging for times when discouraging circumstances drag us down. I pick that up from the two key words of this psalm: “eyes” and “mercy.”  With our spiritual eyes we watch for mercy and help in trying times.

TRYING TIMES

The psalm describes these “trying times” as enduring “much ridicule from the proud…much contempt from the arrogant” (v. 4). If this psalm reflects the trials of Jews who returned to rebuild Jerusalem after their 70-year captivity in Babylon, that’s a good description of what happened. The books of Nehemiah and Ezra show it wasn’t a smooth transition. Through those ancient stories come the lessons that apply to our own trials from another's grudges, bitterness, or unkind actions.

The very first verse offers the key instruction for times when we feel put down and discouraged: “I lift up my eyes to you.”  Lifting our spiritual eyes to God cancels the “lower vision” of discouraging trials. The author of Hebrews took this analogy to Christ’s example:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3)

In its purest distillation, this verse says: “Jesus understands. He endured the worst of it.” If that’s not enough, remember the seasoned counsel of John, one of Jesus’ closest disciples. In his letters, believed written in very old age, he couldn’t find enough words to describe the Lord’s love:

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

We’re not stuck in the throne room of an earthly palace, on constant edge for the whims of a potentate. Nor do we need to live on “edge” for events or people who threaten our security. Those who are “children of God” can look to His throne and rejoice in being secure and loved. For times of “feeling down,” it’s the best perspective-changer ever.

MERCY (Psalm 86)

One of the miniature railroad enthusiasts at our local 

county fair had this "perfect" winter display for our

enjoyment. Fun to look at--but not our real world.

(A continuing series on the 48 psalms recommended for reading and study during times of depression by counselor/pastor David Seamands, author of Healing for Damaged Emotions.)

Like a pep rally of almost galactic proportions, the frenzied shopping and hoopla that now seem to define the Christmas season will soon end. I’m probably in the minority but I vote for simplicity: less stuff, more of Jesus. Millions do not have what our culture considers the “normative” holiday. Disaster and discouragement dog each day. King David, who lived centuries before Christ, had his share of those days even after rightfully ascending the throne. When I began to study Psalm 86, realizing I’d unwrap its message right before Christmas, I thought how inappropriate. I was wrong.

This is the only psalm by David in the entire “Book III” of Psalms, the majority written by Asaph or other Levites who led worship. I can’t answer why except this is the way the ancients organized psalms. But as only God could arrange things, there is a Christmas message here:

All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord. They will bring glory to your name.  For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.  (vv. 9-10)

GLORY TO HIS NAME

On a bitter night in Bethlehem, a marvelous thing happened: God become flesh. Rough-and-tumble shepherds were the first visitors of a Baby who, though born into poverty, was an earthly descendant of King David. The infant’s birth was announced by angels, heralding that this was now (as Bible translator J.B. Phillips famously said) the visited planet. Later, a curious star led royal seers from far away. Some day, as David wrote, all nations will worship God alone.

David had no idea this was in the works when he wrote this psalm. Much of it reflects the message from the prophet Nathan to newly-enthroned King David, found in 2 Samuel 7 and often called the “Davidic Covenant.” It’s full of good and hopeful things, including this prophecy about Jesus:

Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.(2 Samuel 7:16)

This is a psalm about mercy. “Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I call to you all day long” (v. 3). “Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for mercy” (v. 6). David appealed to God to help him on the basis of God’s character. Consider circling verse 15:

But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. 

GOD-GIFTS

It’s easy to let lists like this fly over our heads, like kids fling wrapping paper on Christmas morning as they tear into their gift piles. But each of these qualities is a precious gift. When I am discouraged from negative circumstances or critical people, I find help in simply focusing on these qualities of God.  Even this morning, as I prayed for the person who has verbally abused me, God visited in simply bringing to mind the chorus of an old hymn written by George Young, a preacher and carpenter. One time when he was away preaching, some thugs who didn’t like his message burned down his humble home. Out of that experience he wrote the hymn “God Leads Us Along.” Its chorus reached across a century to cloak me with a sense of God’s care in my “cares”:

Some thro’ the water, some thro’ the flood,

Some thro’ the fire, but all thro’ the blood;

Some thro’ great sorrow, but God gives a song,

In the night season and all the day long.

It's not in the “Christmas” section of my hymnal, but it reminds me of God’s incomprehensible love for me—that He would send His Son to this messed-up planet to show us up-close what “mercy” really looks like. Glory to His Name. Blessed Christmas!

Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 103: All Praise

Part of a continuing series on selected psalms.
If your prayers became letters to God, would He slit open the envelope and read complaints and demands? Or would His heart be warmed by praise and thanksgiving? Those more prone to the complaints/demands end need the perspective of Psalm 103, which steps away from petitions to simple praise of who God is and all He does. David wrote his share of down-in-the-dumps and corporate praise psalms, but this psalm is positive and personal.  This is no polite “thank you” prayer.  David’s words throb with intensity as he tries to embrace all that is God and all of God’s blessings. The simple word “all” (used eight times in NIV) attempts to convey the concept that God is complete in who He is and what He does.Many outline the psalm this way:
*Personal praise to God (vv. 1-6)
*National praise to God (vv. 6-18)
*Universal praise to God (vv. 19-22)
Because the psalm focuses on praise, I’d suggest another outline off the acrostic PRAISE.

P—Provision for life (vv. 1-3). David realizes that without God, he is nothing. “All my inmost being,” he says, “forget not all his benefits.”  God forgives “all my sins.” The forgiveness of sins, which enables us to have a relationship with a holy God, is the greatest benefit.  The second part of verse 3, “he heals all my diseases,” has led some systems of theology to stress “healing in the atonement,” which presumes that salvation goes hand-in-hand with healing of physical affliction. But believers do get sick, and many other passages teach that God may have purposes in a person’s illness. Paul desperately sought healing, but the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). It is true that all healing comes from God, whether through medical intervention, the power of the body to heal itself, or a miracle.

It’s also worth mentioning that sins like anxiety, sexual misconduct and an unforgiving spirit can bring on illness. David experienced that when his effort to hide his sexual sin with Bathsheba left him a physical wreck. In Psalm 32, he spoke of his bones wasting away, day-long groaning, a sense of heaviness, and sapped strength. I read recently of a woman who had numerous problems that baffled doctors.  Finally, a pastor confronted her about bitterness toward a family member. As soon as she broke down and confessed it, and started the steps toward reconciliation, her symptoms began to fade.

R—Renewing presence (vv. 4-5). Redeemed from the pit of hell (v. 4), we are “crowned” with God’s love and compassion. “Crown” comes from a word meaning “encircled,” like a monarch’s crown. It helps picture how God encircles us with good things of which we are unworthy, except for His amazing love. He is aware of our desires, and He knows the world’s definition of “satisfied” won’t fill us apart from Himself. The next verse, “so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s,” has given rise to some strange tales about the molting habits of eagles. It’s best read as a reminder that, like the mighty eagle, with God we can be lifted to higher, better things.

A—Almighty plan (vv. 6-9). History turns on God reaching down in power and mercy to emancipate the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. David referred to that almighty plan in these verses, referring to how “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed” (v. 7). When David described God as “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (v. 8), he was quoting from the account of God revealing His essence to Moses (Exodus 34:5-7). Remembering this key historical event emphasized God’s patience even among stubborn and grumbling people.

I—Immeasurable mercy (vv. 10-12). This section of the psalm is full of superlatives. There aren’t words big enough to describe how God’s mercy covers our sins and iniquities (Hebrew: “twistedness”). Instead, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” The distance to Heaven, wherever it is, is unknown, and the universe defies numbers. In David’s time, people thought the world was flat, yet still couldn’t comprehend the extent of “east” or “west.” We know now that the world is round, and east and west never meet in its circumference. I will never forget the difficult night a phone call summoned me to the apartment of a young woman who had attended a Bible study at our home. She was dating a young man who “played church” but lived immorally. Once she had yielded to his sexual pressures, he dropped her. She felt God would never forgive her. As she sobbed in my arms, that verse came to mind as I tried to explain God’s expansive (and expensive) love for her.

S—Sympathetic care (vv. 13-18).  As that young woman moved away to a fresh start in life, including marriage to a Christian young man who honored her, I thought of the subsequent verses: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.” This section of Psalm 103 reminds us that life is fragile (we’re essentially “dust”) and fleeting (like wilting flowers). But even in life’s brevity, God cares for us: “From everlasting to everlasting, the LORD’s love is with those who fear him.” Verse 18 explains “fear” as “those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.”

E—Eternal dominion (vv. 19-22). The psalm that began with David’s personal praise ends with him calling on heavenly beings to praise God, who reigns over all. As in the beginning, the word “all” is again prominent. His kingdom rules over all. David calls on angels, mighty ones who do His bidding and obey God’s Word, all the heavenly hosts, servants who do his will, and all God’s works, everywhere (all places) in His dominion. The cadence intensifies until David has exhausted his undersatnding of heavenly beings. Finally, he returns to himself: “Praise the LORD, O my soul.” He is so in awe of God, so grateful for God’s mercy, that he can’t do anything but praise.

When our faith gets comfortable with “church ways” and worship routines, we need to be pulled back to the truths of Psalm 103. He is the mighty God, yet merciful. He is beyond our understanding, yet intimately acquainted with us, worthy of all our praise. Henry Lyte’s 1834 hymn, based on Psalm 103, still rings true:

Praise my soul, the king of heaven,
To His feet your tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who, like me, His praise should sing.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise the everlasting King

Next: Psalm 104

White wake-up call

One of the advantages of living in a northern climate is Nature’s winter alarm clock for sleepy children and teens.It’s been a few years, but I still remember the routine. They’d go to bed begging for an extra afghan on top because it was so cold. When morning came, they’d remain cocooned under their multiple layers unless somebody whispered two words and opened the curtains to reveal the truth.

It snowed.

Plus, it happened on a no-school day. Can life get any better? Suddenly, they were awake, eager to rush through breakfast (mean Mom says, “No corn flakes, no snow flakes”) and dig out those snow pants, caps, gloves and mufflers. A white world meant snowballs, snowmen, heaping snow for your own three-foot sledding hill, and making a snow fort. Oh yes, maybe scraping a few sidewalks to be “helpful.”

The only downside was Mom, who kept an eye on the clock and temperature and called them in before they turned into snowmen. Then it was hot chocolate while the wet snow gear tossed in the dryer for another stint in that wonderful white world.

Our first significant snowfall of the winter came yesterday. But those kids who sprang from their blanketed cocoons to revel in its wet whiteness don’t live here any more. They’re grown up and on their own. Now, snow means getting a shovel out to clear their own walks before anything else. Then, if it’s not a work day, maybe a trip to the ski hill.

Yesterday, as I scraped the driveway and sidewalks, I wistfully remember seeing snow through a child’s eyes. I have a picture of my son and daughter all bundled up, faces toward the sky, tongues out, trying to catch a flake on their tongues. Learning each snow flake is unique, they also tried to examine them with a magnifying glass. But their breath melted the fragile flakes before that happened.

The only member of the family not too excited about snow was Aug the cat. He made no secret of disliking having to hop through cold, wet stuff to his favorite guard station under the bird feeder. Who knows the mind of an animal, but snow clearly impaired the smells along the route of his daily territorial policing.

Of the Bible’s 14 references to snow, one of my favorites is in Isaiah 1:18:
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord.
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
When we ask God for forgiveness of our sins, a blizzard of mercy pours out from Heaven, covering the dirty stuff in our lives.

And even though most of the world doesn’t experience a “white Christmas,” there’s a lot of symbolism in those Currier-and-Ives snow-time scenes. For isn’t Christmas about the Divine storm of mercy? And of Jesus coming to a sin-polluted world, spreading the soft blanket of pure hope?