Want Antifragile Kids? Make Them Listen to This Kind of Music. [Psalm 129]

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Remember, these “Songs of Ascents” are the songs that the Israelite pilgrims would sing as they made their way up to Jerusalem every year for the big festivals. The boy Jesus certainly sang these with his family.

Think about how singing something like this would shape a child for life!

 
 

Something antifragile is something that not only withstands hardship but actually thrives as a result of hardship.

(Americans are not antifragile these days.)

 
 

Psalm 129

A Song of Ascents

1 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth”—
    let Israel now say—
2 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,
    yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
    they made long their furrows.”

So, the Israelites taught their kids to SING that, though they had been sorely oppressed by their enemies— “they plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows”—they were not defeated.

They acknowledge difficulty—they sing about it!—but they all tell themselves they’ve not been defeated.

Can you imagine singing that your whole life? Can you imagine how antifragile that would make you?

 
 

The psalm closes with a defiant statement that God will defeat Israel’s enemies:

4 The Lord is righteous;
    he has cut the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
    be put to shame and turned backward!
6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
    which withers before it grows up,
7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand
    nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8 nor do those who pass by say,
    “The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
    We bless you in the name of the Lord!”

It strikes me that this is EXACTLY the kind of music we need to be singing and memorizing these days.

What do you think?

Obedience-->Blessing [Psalm 128]

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Stop over-thinking it!

Psalm 128 reminds us again of the Bible’s clear teaching:

obedience leads to blessing.

Stop over-thinking it. Where do you need to be obedient today?

 

P.S. Isn’t it interesting that the images the psalmist uses to illustrate blessing are all domestic? We get it totally BACKWARDS—we think the primary form of prosperity is OUTSIDE the home, whereas the Bible sees prosperity’s ultimate form to be domestic harmony and abundance.

Roadtrip Music - Psalm 127

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The last Psalms post I wrote was for Psalm 79 on June 30! Today is my first Monday back after taking the last 6 weeks off, and today we find ourselves at Psalm 127. Let’s look at it.

 
 

Songs of Ascents=Roadtrip Music

Psalms 120-134 each have the same superscription: “A Song of Ascents”. These psalms were sung by the Israelite pilgrims as they made they way “up” to the Temple Mount for the big religious festivals every year. (To the Israelites, you always go “up” to Jerusalem, even if you are coming from a higher elevation. Mount Zion was spiritually high, so to speak.)

So, these psalms were roadtrip music.

No doubt the boy Jesus sang these songs as he made the 3 week journey from the Galilee to Jerusalem every year!

 
 

What are you listening to as you make your journey through life? With what are you filling your thoughts?

 
 

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

127 Unless the Lord builds the house,
    those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
    and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
    for he gives to his beloved sleep.

The Lord is the ultimate source of all strength and success, and unless we are building on his principles, what we are doing will be both exhausting and ephemeral.

The reason so many people are so tired is because they are trying to do it on their own.

What would it look like for you to partner with the Holy Spirit today in whatever it is you are doing?

 
 

P.S.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
    the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
    are the children of one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man
    who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
    when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

What a great image! “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.”

They Put Out The King's Eyes [Psalm 79]

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In 586 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried off its citizens into exile. That event is the background to today’s psalm. I’ve pasted below the account in 2 Kings 25 of the downfall of Jerusalem. Warning—it’s not for the faint of heart.

 
 

2 Kings 25 New International Version (NIV)

25 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 2 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.4 Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, 5 but the Babylonian army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 6 and he was captured.

He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him. 7 They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

8 On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 10 The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 15 The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—all that were made of pure gold or silver.

16 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the movable stands, which Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed. 17 Each pillar was eighteen cubits high. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was three cubits[f] high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its network, was similar.

18 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. 19 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and five royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of the conscripts who were found in the city.20 Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.

So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.

22 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be over the people he had left behind in Judah. 23 When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. 24 Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.”

25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. 26 At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians.

Jehoiachin Released

27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. 28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 30 Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.

Quick Primer on Israelite History

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[No, you didn’t miss any posts from me—I’ve not written anything since 6/24.]

 

Psalm 78 draws on Israelite history, so here’s a quick primer:

  • God gives Jacob the name Israel—from now on in the Bible, Jacob/Israel is a shorthand way of referring to the people of God;

  • Jacob has 12 sons;

  • The 12 sons give their names to the 12 tribes of Israel;

  • The 12 tribes are enslaved in Egypt;

  • After the Exodus, the Israelites live in the Promised Land, but they constantly forsake the Lord and turn after foreign gods;

  • Saul is the first king of Israel—he’s from the tribe of Benjamin, but he’s a bad king;

  • David follows Saul around 1000 BC—he unites all 12 tribes under his leadership;

  • Rehoboam is David’s grandson, and during his reign the 10 northern tribes rebel and form their own country called—confusingly—Israel;

  • The 2 southern tribes—Judah and Benjamin—form the nation of Judah, with Jerusalem as their capital;

  • In 722 BC, the Assyrian Empire destroys the 10 northern tribes (“Israel”);

  • In 586 BC, the Babylonian Empire conquers Judah and destroys Jerusalem, carrying off the best and the brightest of Judean society into exile.

Do This When You Get Upset That Bad People Are Getting Away With It [Psalm 73]

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Psalm 73

 

There is nothing new under the sun.

Psalm 73 is about a perennial complaint:

Why does it seem like bad people are getting away with doing bad stuff?

2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
    my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

There’s nothing new.

 
 

If you fixate on the seeming impunity of the wicked, it will make you crazy with anger.

What should you do?

 
 

The psalmist takes his confusion and complaint to the Temple, and through worship, he no longer feels so angry and discouraged:

16 But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
    then I discerned their end.

It’s not that we get all our questions answered; rather, it’s that we get a sense that God sees what’s going on and that the wicked will ultimately be held to account.

So, when you find yourself getting upset because it seems as if bad people are getting away with bad stuff, make a practice of taking those concerns to God in worship.

Let's Talk Politics [Psalm 72]

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Psalm 72 is a royal coronation psalm. It’s a prayer for Israel’s king. The psalmist asks the Lord to bless him and make him just.

 

We have no kings here; today, this psalm can be a model for how to pray for our leaders, as well as a model for what godly leadership looks like.

 

Of course, Israel’s kings never actually lived up to this promise; many of them were wicked, and none of them was perfect.

 

Our leaders also fail us, and they will always do so. This is because we cannot save ourselves: we need a savior.

 

And so, this psalm is finally a messianic psalm—it’s about the Jesus, and his future reign.

 

When we pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” this is what we’re praying for.

 

Politics is important, but it won’t ultimately fix what’s wrong with us. Therefore, put not your ultimate trust in princes—put your ultimate trust in the Prince of Peace.

 

P.S. This also means that you should not put your ultimate trust or focus in politics—it can’t save us. Is your current level of anger or frustration or contempt for folks of other political opinions therefore appropriate?

Zeal [Psalm 69]

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All four Gospels tell the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple by flipping over the tables of the money-changers. I think it’s fair to say that it’s that act that gets him killed—it is extremely provocative.

 
 

Here’s how John tells the story:

13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. [John 2:13-22]

 
 

Did you catch that? The disciples see Jesus flip over the tables, and they immediately think of a line from today’s psalm:

9 For zeal for your house has consumed me,
    and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. [Psalm 69:9]

This is a good example of how the early Christians used the Psalms as a way of understanding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They see Jesus as zealous for the Lord’s righteousness, and punished for it.

 
 

Friends, this is one reason why it is so important that we are reading through the Psalms—without understanding the Psalms, we won’t understand Jesus.

 
 

A second reason we’re reading the Psalms is that they teach us to pray through our emotions, thereby giving our emotions over to the Lord.

Psalm 69 is a prayer of desperate complaint. If you have ever been in a difficulty way, the 69th Psalm is for you.

“This is one of the longest prayers for help in the book of Psalms. Its petitions are complex, covering multiple themes. The prayer opens with a proclamation of personal trouble (vv. 2-3), followed quickly by cries about the enemies (v. 4). Next is a declaration of one’s own sin (vv. 5-6). The prayer also addresses problems with God’s inaction (v. 26). Another element is an expression of suffering because of dedication to God, a Suffering Servant motif (vv. 7-12). In and of themselves, none of these motifs are unusual in prayers for help. What is unusual is that they all appear in one prayer. The psalm shows just how complicated life can be and that one can suffer because of God’s action and/or inaction and that enemies can threaten because of personal pain, sin, or because of a person’s faithfulness—or in this case, all of the above at the same time. The remainder of the psalm is typical for a prayer. It offers petitions for God’s action followed by the praise that testifies to the promise of being heard.”

—Beth Tanner

The Warrior God [Psalm 68]

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Psalm 68

 

The past is another country. It’s very hard to get in the minds of the people who’ve come before us, but it’s still important to try. Psalm 68 is a song celebrating the Warrior God of Israel, and it’s very different from how we modern, mild-mannered Christians think of God today.

All the more reason to be challenged by it.

 
 

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

1 God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
    and those who hate him shall flee before him!
2 As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
    as wax melts before fire,
    so the wicked shall perish before God!
3 But the righteous shall be glad;
    they shall exult before God;
    they shall be jubilant with joy!

Verse 1 is what the Israelites would sing under the leadership of Moses whenever they took the Ark of the Covenant and set out for battle:

Whenever the ark set out, Moses said,

“Rise up, Lord!
    May your enemies be scattered;
    may your foes flee before you.”

(Numbers 10:35)

This is a psalm that’s about Israel’s ancient warrior past. Once God rises up, his enemies melt!

 
 

4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
    lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the Lord;
    exult before him!
5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
    is God in his holy habitation.
6 God settles the solitary in a home;
    he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
    but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

We praise God because of who he is. I love the description of God as “father to the fatherless and protector of widows.” That is, God is a warrior who cares for the vulnerable.

 
 

7 O God, when you went out before your people,
    when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
    before God, the One of Sinai,
    before God, the God of Israel.
9 Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
    you restored your inheritance as it languished;
10 your flock found a dwelling in it;
    in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

The psalmist looks back and recounts Israel’s journey from Egyptian slavery into the Promised Land as a victorious procession. God is the God of the storm and the God of life (and not the Canaanite god Baal).

 
 

11 The Lord gives the word;
    the women who announce the news are a great host:
12     “The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home divide the spoil—
13     though you men lie among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
    its pinions with shimmering gold.
14 When the Almighty scatters kings there,
    let snow fall on Zalmon.

A victory song from the women in which they criticize the men who stayed behind in the sheepfolds and didn’t fight in the battle. God scatters foreign kings like snow on a mountain.

 
 

15 O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
    O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16 Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
    at the mount that God desired for his abode,
    yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?
17 The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
    thousands upon thousands;
    the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
18 You ascended on high,
    leading a host of captives in your train
    and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.

Bashan is north of Galilee, in present day Syria. The psalmist imagines that the mountain of Bashan is jealous of Mount Zion, which is just a small hill in Jerusalem. But, God is so powerful that he makes a small mountain mighty, and has defeated all his enemies.

 
 

19 Blessed be the Lord,
    who daily bears us up;
    God is our salvation. Selah
20 Our God is a God of salvation,
    and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
21 But God will strike the heads of his enemies,
    the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
22 The Lord said,
    “I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 that you may strike your feet in their blood,
    that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

God fights for his people! When the Israelites said “our God is a God of salvation,” they meant that he defeated their enemies. The language of blood is the language of humiliation—even the dogs will be better off than their enemies.

 
 

24 Your procession is seen, O God,
    the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
25 the singers in front, the musicians last,
    between them virgins playing tambourines:
26 “Bless God in the great congregation,
    the Lord, O you who are of Israel's fountain!”
27 There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
    the princes of Judah in their throng,
    the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

 

“The psalmist speaks as if he is someone in the audience as a procession appears. In the context of this warfare song, the procession is likely a post-battle victory parade, probably heading towards the temple, perhaps even to return the ark of the covenant to its resting place after being with the army on the battlefield (see Ps. 24). As the procession winds its way to the sanctuary, they sing praises to God. Among the singers are women playing the timbrel (see v. 11, above). Representatives of the tribes are mentioned by name, beginning with Benjamin, one of the smallest tribes, followed by Judah one of the largest. Zebulun and Naphtali are two northern tribes. These tribes may be named to represent the whole nation of Israel.”

—Tremper Longman

 
 

28 Summon your power, O God,
    the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem
    kings shall bear gifts to you.
30 Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,
    the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;
    scatter the peoples who delight in war.
31 Nobles shall come from Egypt;
    Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.

“Cush” is the region south of Egypt, near present-day Sudan.

 
 

32 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
    sing praises to the Lord, Selah
33 to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
    behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
34 Ascribe power to God,
    whose majesty is over Israel,
    and whose power is in the skies.
35 Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
    the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!

 

“Jesus is our Warrior who defeats Satan by his death on the cross (Col. 2:13-15).”

This is why Christians should be confident—evil isn’t going to win!

Stand Up Straight, With Your Shoulders Back [Psalm 64]

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The last line of this Sixty-Fourth Psalm caught my attention:

“Let all the upright in heart exult!”

If you are walking with God today, be confident! Stand up straight with your shoulders back. The Lord will vindicate you and will bring the wicked to account, and that is the reason for our confidence and joy.

If you are not walking with God today, turn around and repent!

Salt on Our Lips [Psalm 63]

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“Lord, thou hast put salt on our lips that we might thirst for thee.”

 
 

All good things come from God, and only God will truly satisfy.

The reason you can never be permanently happy in this world is because you weren’t made for this world; you were made to enjoy the presence of God forever.

Psalm 63 is a beautiful psalm about a thirst that only God can satisfy.

Psalm 63

 
 
 

I love this version of Psalm 63 from Shane and Shane.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

3 Minutes 13 Seconds [Psalm 62]

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Image 6-11-20 at 4.01 PM.jpg
 

The Psalms were meant to be sung, and sometimes the best way to experience a psalm is as a song.

This is from John Michael Talbot. Take the 3 minutes and 13 seconds to just sit and listen.

 
 

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group Psalm 62 (Only In God) · John Michael Talbot Master Collection ℗ 1989 Sparrow Records Released on: 1989-01-01 Pr...

 
 

Psalm 62 (Only in God)

Verse 1
Only in God is my soul at rest
In Him comes my salvation
He only is my Rock
My strength and my salvation

Chorus
My stronghold my Savior
I shall not be afraid at all
My stronghold my Savior
I shall not be moved

Verse 2
Only in God is found safety
When the enemy pursues me
Only in God is found glory
When I am found meek and found lowly

Chorus
My stronghold my Savior
I shall not be afraid at all
My stronghold my Savior
I shall not be moved
Only in God is my soul at rest
In Him comes my salvation

 
 
 
 

From the Bible Project:

David meditates on how, in times of distress and instability, God himself is the only source of hope and rest. Whatever people may be plotting against him, their plans are ultimately temporary and transient. In contrast, God is likened to an unshakable rock to whom David can call upon in his pain and anxiety. So David chooses to simply wait for God to answer with loyal love.

As you read Psalm 62, what brings you the most comfort?

In what ways do you resonate with the idea of being in the midst of chaos but finding rest in God?

Take a moment to meditate on the idea of God as a refuge in the midst of chaos.

Do You Know Someone Far From God? [Psalm 61]

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This is a psalm for someone who feels far away from the Lord:

1 Hear my cry, O God,
    listen to my prayer;
2 from the end of the earth I call to you
    when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
    that is higher than I,
3 for you have been my refuge,
    a strong tower against the enemy.

 

“From the end of the earth I call to you….”

Whom do you know who might be feeling far away from God today?

Use the language in this psalm to pray for that person. When David asks to be led “to the rock that is higher than I”, he’s asking for a help outside himself.

Who needs God to reveal himself to him today? Who needs divine assistance?

“Lord, please lead my friend to the rock that is higher than her.”

Fighting Not Against Flesh and Blood [Psalm 60]

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[My apologies for not writing the last two days. I write these psalms posts in batches, and I just got behind and didn’t get it done. Don’t give up on me yet! —AF]

 
 

This is a psalm after a military defeat:

1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;
    you have been angry; oh, restore us.

 
 

About a thousand years later, the Apostle Paul would write this to the Christians in Ephesus:

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” [Ephesians 6:12]

Did you catch that?

Our fight is not ultimately against flesh and blood, but is a spiritual fight.

Two things:

  1. The only way to fight spiritual problems is with spiritual weapons: PRAYER AND LOVE. Are you praying for our country and community today?

  2. Don’t lose heart, but pray the final verse of Psalm 60:

“With God we shall do valiantly;

 it is he who will tread down our foes.”

 

All the spiritual foes of evil are fighting on borrowed time—the Lord is our strength:

“It is he who will tread down our foes”!

What If You Were CERTAIN God Was With You Today? [Psalm 56]

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Danger and difficulty will never go away until the Lord himself returns.

This is a fact that the Bible acknowledges over and over. In Psalm 56, e.g., David finds himself attacked yet again by vicious enemies:

5 All day long they injure my cause;
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk;
    they watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.

 
 

Who or what are your enemies today? What are you afraid of? What do you dread?

 
 

The Bible acknowledges that danger and difficulty are ever-present, but it also tells us something more important:

God is for us, and if God is for us, who can be against us?

Here’s how David puts it in Psalm 56:9:

“This I know, that God is for me.”

 
 

What if you were CERTAIN that God was with you today?

What if you were CERTAIN that God was for you?

What if you were CERTAIN that God was with his church?

 
 

THE GOOD NEWS?

HE IS.

(And anything else is a lie.)

Ever Been Betrayed by a Friend? [Psalm 55]

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Remember: the Psalms teach us to pray through our emotions. When we do so, we hand our emotions over to God and thereby we can learn to control our emotions and not be controlled by them.

The Psalms speak to the whole variety of experience, including the experience of being stabbed in the back by someone you trusted.

From today’s psalm:

12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
14 We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God's house we walked in the throng.

If the psalmist keeps that bitterness inside, it will kill him!

If we keep the bitterness inside when we are stabbed in the back, it will also kill us!

But, when we give our anger and bitterness at our friends over to the Lord, eventually we will be able to say:

16 But I call to God,
    and the Lord will save me.

What do you need to hand over to God today?

"In a World of Violence and Cruelty" [Psalm 54]

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“In a world of violence and cruelty, it is hard to be confident that God will make it right. This psalm invites each reader to affirm its words and to share in the confidence of the one praying. The psalm opens with cries lifted to God’s character—the power of God’s name and the belief that God will judge the world and make it right. The psalm ends with more confidence that God will do exactly as God has done in the past. The last line, which may be unsettling, reminds us of God’s care of the least of the world and how Jesus promises to lift the lowly and humble the haughty. There are many powers in this world that try to thwart the purposes of God’s kingdom of justice, and those same powers have taught Christians to be docile and polite because Jesus loved his enemies. Yet Christians throughout the centuries have risen up against those powers for the very sake of God’s kingdom. Justice may be delayed, but justice is the end result. Those who live to harm others will eventually have to face up to how they have chosen to live their lives.”

—Beth Tanner

Pascal's Wager [Psalm 53]

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Psalm 53 is almost identical to Psalm 14; both psalms begin the same way:

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

 
 

Are you familiar with Pascal’s Wager?

[The text below is from Professor Joseph Incandela’s website.]

 
 

It's important always to remember Pascal's project of trying to provide a defense of Christiantiy. Part of the crowd that Pascal hung around with before his conversion did all the things he later identified as diversion: hunting, partying, but especially gambling. Pascal himself is often credited with inventing roulette. So it's not surprising that he uses the device of a wager to try to convince people, who are already gambling, to take a chance on God. That is, if you want to make a point to a gambler, put it in the form of a bet. That'll at least get their attention and disturb their indifference. 

Pascal begins by presenting a decision. Either a person will choose to believe or she will not (there are only two possibilities). As for the way things are, either the God whom Christians worship exists or that God does not (there are only two possibilities). Pascal thought that reason by itself cannot help you decide which path to follow. And in light of this, and the two choices listed above, Pascal asks 'how will you wager?' And note that we have to wager. We can't just not play the game at all. Pascal thinks that by the way each of us is already leading our lives, we are all already making a bet one way or the other. As he says, "There is no choice, you are already committed." He continues, "A coin is being spun which will come down heads or tails. How will you wager? Reason cannot make you choose either, reason cannot prove either wrong."  

If we have to bet, then, how shall we decide? Well, says Pascal, let's look at the possible payoffs (that's just what gamblers do, after all). 

—If God REALLY exists, and we believe (= bet that God exists), we have an infinite gain (heaven).

—If God REALLY exists, and we don't believe that, then we have the potential of an infinite loss (hell, or at least eternal separation from God).

—If God really does NOT EXIST, and we believe that God exists, we essentially lose nothing.

—If God really does NOT EXIST, and we believe that God doesn't exist, we essentially gain nothing.

This can be represented in a table as follows: 

Screen Shot 2020-06-01 at 2.36.37 PM.png

There are really two other versions of this wager in Paragraph 418, but they just build on the point made above that if one has to bet (and we do), then it's always more rational to wager on an infinite gain. An infinite gain will always outweigh even a finite loss or gain. Therefore, it's always more rational to bet that God exists. As Pascal says, if you wager and win, "you will win everything." 

 
 

Pretty interesting stuff, huh? —Andrew