Savoring the Scripture

Regarded as Sheep Psalm 44 As it is written, “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Romans 8:36 NKJV We love a happy ending. We love to hear of Job’s restoration after his loss and suffering. We look at the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and rejoice at God’s mighty and miraculous deliverance. And we should! What hope many a believer has received that God wondrously works on behalf of His people. But 40 years of suffering? A lifetime spent in bondage? Counted as sheep to be slaughtered? We don’t like to contemplate that.  Jeremiah spent over 40 years warning his people to repent because God was sending the Babylonians to capture them, and they ridiculed him and abused him. Before the Exodus, there were many Israelites who died while in bondage still looking for the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham. Throughout the ages, God’s people have suffered chains, imprisonment, ridicule, rejection, and death.  But this reali...

God, My Exceeding Joy Psalm 43 My God will clear the furrows from my brow, and the tear marks from my cheek; therefore will I lift up my head and smile in the face of the storm. C.H. Spurgeon Is God your exceeding joy? Is He mine? In today’s psalm, the psalmist declares, “You are the God in whom I take refuge.” The Lord our God is a refuge, strength, stronghold, and fortress for His people. But how many times do we miss out on the sense of security that we could have because we do not actually go to Him? How often, in our difficult situations, do we remain in turmoil because, instead of fleeing to Him, we try and manage on our own? When we are desperate for a clear path, how often does it remain hidden because we have not sought His wisdom and leading? How many times do we remain downcast because we focus our attention on our circumstances instead of hoping in God and confident in His deliverance?  I admit this is not easy. At times, we may feel we are in the thick of battle and ar...

Thirsting for the Lord Psalm 42 Hope says, “You are my God,” in anticipation of the fulfillment of the promises, even when help is far off. VanGemeren  Charles Spurgeon famously said, “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” In Psalm 42, the psalmist is struggling with despair. He has been separated from participating in temple worship perhaps because he is in exile in a foreign land. He is longing for the presence of the Lord. His tears are his food day and night. He is being taunted by his enemies. Indeed, he feels the heavy weight of God’s judgment on him as “all your breakers and your waves have gone over me” (42:7). These troubles have caused him to pant and thirst for his living God. However heavy his troubles, he does not wallow in self pity or give in to despair. He pours out his soul to the Lord, his rock. He remembers the joy of the songs of praise and the glad shouts. He knows the Lord’s character and faithfulness and that He commands Hi...

Mercy for the Guilty Psalm 41 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Or the LORD will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him. Proverbs 24:17-18 NASBS How easy it is for our sinful hearts to rejoice when we see someone receiving what we believe is their due. When someone has wronged us, or we see them making foolish choices, in our bitterness and desire to feel justified, we can be quick to inwardly, and maybe even outwardly, smile or gloat over what has befallen them.  But God calls us to something different. There is a proper time to rejoice in God’s perfect justice toward wickedness, but in today’s Psalm and prayer we’re going to focus on being merciful toward those who are suffering negative consequences because of their own foolishness. Jesus tells us, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7).  Perhaps today it is someone you love that is suffering because of their own deci...

His Compassion Will Not Be Restrained  Psalm 40 To speak of God the Father as “the Father of mercies” is to say that he is the one who multiplies compassionate mercies to his needful, wayward, messy, fallen, wandering people. Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly God’s compassion toward us is His tender mercy, pity, and love. In Psalm 40, David prays, “You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me.” The ESV translates this as, “As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me.” This is tender comfort for those times when “evils beyond number” surround us (40:12). Whether it be our own iniquities which abound, others who seek to hurt us and delight in it, or anything that makes us afflicted and needy (40:12,14, 17). His compassionate mercy toward us is not restrained. He is mindful of us. He is our help. He is our deliverer. In His faithfulness and lovingkindness He will be there to meet us with His presence in our time of need.  We can trust that He will act acco...

Waiting in Hope Psalm 40 Answer to prayer may not be immediate, but perseverance in prayer expresses itself in humble submission to God’s sovereignty and the longing for a “new” expression of God’s covenant faithfulness. Willem VanGemeren  In our western culture, waiting is not usually something we are accustomed to. We live in an instant messaging, easy access, immediate response age, with most of those things happening right in our hands with a simple touch or swipe. I suppose, though, that for the sinful human heart, patiently waiting has always been a struggle.  The Scripture exhorts us to “wait patiently for the Lord” (Psalm 37:7), and “continue steadfastly in prayer” (Romans 12:12),  and Jesus told the parable of the persistent widow in order “to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). What situation have you been praying about and waiting for the Lord to act? Many years may have already passed and still there seems to not even be ...

This Transient Life Psalm 39 It is his right to do as he wills, and he always wills to do that which is wisest and kindest; why should I then arraign his dealings? Nay, if it be indeed the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. Charles Spurgeon Life has always been filled with transitions and changes. Many are good changes: births, promotions, marriages, or growing up to name a few. Sometimes changes bring difficulties we didn’t anticipate. There are changes that cause us to be perplexed and confused about the direction the Lord is leading us.  In Genesis we read about the life of Joseph. Joseph must’ve been confused when his brothers cruelly sold him as a slave. Yet even in slavery, the Lord was with him causing all that he did to prosper. Then he must’ve been equally confused when, after living in integrity despite his master’s wife’s advancements, he finds himself in jail unjustly. But yet again, the Lord blesses him and he is placed in charge of the prison and all the prisoner...

The Heavy Burden of Sin Psalm 38 If the mind fails to identify a sin as evil, wicked, vile, and bitter, the affections will not be safe from clinging to it, nor the will from giving consent. This is one side of the castle wall, the first line of defense: to keep in mind that every sin is a forsaking of God (Jeremiah 2:19), to never forget the polluting, corrupting, defiling power of sin-to be shaken to the core by how much God loathes sin. Kris Lundgaard, The Enemy Within The First Catechism defines sin as “any thought, word, or deed that breaks God’s law by omission or commission.” The sins of omission are those things required for us by God that we fail to do. The sins of commission are those things we do that God has forbidden. As believers, followers of Christ, we take seriously our obedience to the Lord. Our obedience does not earn us a right standing, forgiveness, and acceptance with God, but rather, because of our forgiveness and acceptance by God through Christ, we pursue holin...

Not Forsaken Nor Abandoned Psalm 37 He is their strength in time of trouble. While trouble overthrows the wicked, it only drives the righteous to their strong Helper, who rejoices to uphold them. Charles Spurgeon What need are you facing today? Does it seem insurmountable? Are you tired of trying to figure it out? We have a loving Father and a humble Savior who says to us, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He loves to “satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes” (Jeremiah 31:25). If you find yourself feeling weary and discouraged today, draw near to Him who says, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27) He is willing and able to carry our discouragement, our burdens, and our suffering, and invites us to cast those on Him and find our rest in Him. Rest from the heaviness. Rest from the mental battle going on inside. Rest from the worry.  Pray through the ...

Upheld By the Lord Psalm 37 Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid; I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand. How Firm a Foundation, Ye Saints of the Lord Having eight children over a span of nineteen years means that we have spent many years having a little one in our home. Each baby must learn to scoot, sit up, crawl, and eventually walk. In those early years, our children often hold our hand as we lead them where we are going. Many times, their little foot trips, and had they not been holding our hand, they would have taken a nasty fall. And we know, their tiny grip on our hand is not firm enough to keep them from falling, but rather it is our grip on their hand that keeps them secure. And so it is with our Lord.  In Psalm 37, David tells us twice that it is the Lord who upholds the righteous. Though we may stumble, we will not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds our ...

Be Still Before the Lord Psalm 37 The man, therefore, who, leaving the issue of all his affairs to the will of God, and who, patiently waiting to receive from his hand whatever he may be pleased to send, whether prosperity or adversity, casts all his cares, and every other burden which he bears, into his bosom. John Calvin How would you describe stillness? An absence of movement? An absence of turmoil or noise? A place devoid of anxiousness and fretting? A feeling of peace and rest? Quietness? David tells us in Psalm 37:7, “Be still before the Lord.” This stillness is silence in the face of evildoers and the lack of emotional distress and turmoil we can feel inwardly when going through distressing circumstances.  Stillness is the ability to have an inner quietness and rest even when outward situations are pressing upon us.  A stillness in our spirit depends on our proximity to our Savior and resting securely in His sovereign care.  When I am feeling unrest, turmoil, anxio...

Psalm 36 The Steadfast Love of the Lord Far, far above all comprehension is the truth and faithfulness of God. He never fails, nor forgets, nor falters, nor forfeits his word. C.H.Spurgeon  God has promised to His children that He will never leave them nor forsake them (Hebrews 13:6). He has promised to work all things for good to them that love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). He has promised that one day He will return to gather His children to Himself and take them to a place He has prepared for them (John 14:3). What undergirds these precious and magnificent promises He has made to us? His steadfast love. His steadfast love is His faithful, covenant love toward His children. Throughout Scripture this love can be translated as His lovingkindness, faithfulness, mercy, and favor. It encompasses God’s generous compassion, grace, and mercy toward a people who could never earn it and who could never deserve it.  In Psalm 36, David cries, “How precious ...

Psalm 35, part 3 Here is comfort, our Heavenly Father knows all our sorrows. C.H. Spurgeon Our God is a delivering God. The Scriptures recount many ways in which God rescued His people, coming to their aid as their strong deliverer. In 1 Samuel 19, David faces death several times in the chapter, and each time God helps him to escape.  First, Saul orders his men to kill David. Jonathan, Saul’s son, is a beloved friend of David’s, and so he warns David of the danger and then Jonathan persuades his father to not continue to pursue David, and “Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan” (19:6).  Later, after David has defeated the Philistines, an evil spirit comes upon Saul and he tries to kill David with his spear, but David “slipped away out of Saul’s presence…and David fled and escaped that night” (19:10). Then Saul sets an ambush to catch David at his home. But his wife, Saul’s daughter, covers for David and again David is able to flee and escape (19:18). When Saul finds out where...