Psalm 33-36 More God Than We Know

“God’s word is true, and everything He does is right … the Lord’s love fills the earth…”

“He spoke, and it happened.  He commanded, and it appeared.”

“The Lord looks down from heaven and sees every person … He made their hearts and understands everything they do.”

We have to believe these things.  Otherwise we will get a wrong view of God.  If we believe that His word contains errors, then Satan will lead us to feel that we are the exception and that His word doesn’t apply to our situation.

If we fail to believe that everything He does is right, then we leave open the possibility that God can mess up.  That would imply that He’s not perfect.

Unless we understand that God is motivated by His love for us, we will assign wrong motives to Him and doubt His goodness.

We must believe that God is all-powerful and that He created everything we know from nothing.  Otherwise we may be tempted to think that His will can be defeated.

If we fall for the lie that God is God only from a distance, and that He’s left it all up to us to make it work, we will miss out on the myriad ways He arranges our circumstances to grow us in Him.  We’ll cease to believe He loves us and know Him only as Creator and not as Savior.

And if we fail to take to heart the truth the He made our hearts and understands everything we do, we will see His commands as arbitrary, designed solely to inflict misery on us.  We’ll miss out on the fact that He loves us enough not to leave us the way we are.  We won’t understand that temptations we are susceptible to cause us to build our trust in Him when we steer away from them, and though our failures hurt and disappoint Him, He knows that we are dust, and He loves us anyway.

Father, You are so much more than we can fathom.  You are more active in our lives that we could ever perceive, and Your love for us is more than amazing.  Thank You for being so personally involved in my life!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 26-32 Praising God

It was great to just read through many chapters this morning, and God sure mad it pleasant with the cool gentle breeze blowing through my study after the hot day yesterday with our air-conditioner out.  I found myself focusing, as David did, on thanking God and magnifying His goodness:

“I see your love and I live by Your truth …

I raise my voice in praise and tell of all the miracles You have done…

The Lord is my light and the One who saves me.  I fear no one.  The Lord protects my life …

During danger He will keep me safe … He will hide me … I will sing and praise the Lord …

My heart said of You, “Go, worship Him.”  So I come to worship You, Lord…

If my father and mother leave me, the Lord will take me in …. (Made me think of my boys!)…

Wait for the Lord’s help.  Be strong and brave, and wait for the Lord’s help …

Praise the Lord, because He heard my prayer for help.  The Lord is my strength and shield.  I trust Him, and He helps me.  I am very happy…

Save Your people and bless those who are Your own.  Be their shepherd and carry them forever….

Praise the Lord for the glory of His Name; worship the Lord because He is holy…

I will sing to You and not be silent Lord, my God.  I will praise You forever….

You are my Rock and my Protection…

I give You my life.  Save me, Lord, God of truth…

Lord, I trust You.  You are my God.  My life is in Your hands….

Save me because of Your love….

You heard my prayer …

The Lord’s love surrounds those who trust Him….”

Father, thank You for being all that and more.  I love You!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 23-25 Even David Had His Days

It seems that in chapter 25, David finds himself just like us, knowing what he needs to believe and do, but struggling to get there.

For instance, he says, “Tell me Your ways.  Show me how to live.  Guide me in Your truth, and teach me, my God, my Savior.  I trust you all day long.”

But then he also says, “Do not remember the sins and wrong things I did when I was young … Forgive my many sins … Turn to me and have mercy on me, because I am lonely and hurting.  My troubles have grown larger; free me from my problems.  Look at my suffering and troubles, and take away all my sins.”

David’s foundation of faith is what helps him to endure.  He says, “I trust You, so do not let me be disgraced.  My hope is in You.”

God approaches us.  He seeks us out.  Even in our sin, He wants us to return to Him.  Were it not for His great love for us, we’d have no hope!

Father, I love what David said here, and help me to keep the first verse foremost in my life:  “Lord, I give myself to You; my God, I trust You!”

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 22 -- For ME?

“For ME!”  That’s what my commentary says should follow every line of the first 21 verses of this chapter, for it describes Christ’s thoughts and feelings and agonies while on the cross in intimate detail, hundreds of years before it all happened.  Crucifixion hadn’t even been invented as a method of death when these words were penned, but now we can see with perfect 20/20 hindsight that it’s all there.

It starts with Jesus’ fourth statement from the cross (“My God, My God, WHY have You forsaken Me?”) and includes His seventh statement (“It is finished.”)

The timing is amazing, too.  David was on the throne.  I wonder if people back then read this psalm and wondered what in the WORLD it was about!  Yet God and Jesus, being fully divine and at that moment together in heaven before the Incarnation, being timeless and eternal and unbound by time, had already experienced the entire event of the crucifixion in the future.  At the very same moment for them, they were watching as Adam contemplated the forbidden fruit.  All humanity hung in the balance.  God had already made provision for Adam’s sin before he’d ever sinned!  He loved us that much! 

And as Max Lucado described in the sidebar, Jesus didn’t simply banish our sins.  He took them out Himself by placing them upon Himself, carrying our load away for eternity.

For a moment, God’s holiness  and righteousness and justice required that He turn His back on His own Son, refusing to rescue Him, so that He could carry our sins away in death.  But since Jesus was perfect and had never sinned, God likewise couldn’t leave Him in the grave.  That’s why He brought Him back to life.

It’s all far above our ability to comprehend, for our love is far less than His.  All we can do is marvel at the mercy and grace and love God showed for us in all of this.

Father, all this for me?  WHY?  I’m full of sin, yet You love me anyway and want me with You for eternity!  Such love!  Such love!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 20-21 Careful With That Prayer ...

David had come to offer sacrifices and to ask God for assistance as the nation faced war.  The people were petitioning God on behalf of their king as well, which was wonderful.  David had been called “A man after My own heart” by God Himself, so God was happy to comply.

I thought about this in modern times and whether it would still be a great prayer to ask.  But something said, “Be careful what you ask for!”  Verses 3 & 4 seemed to be what the warning was about, and it seemed to beg the question, “Have you done what David did?”  Here’s what came to mind:

“May He remember all your offerings” – I suppose we’d each better think about our offerings before someone prays that for us.  For what if our offerings have been miserly?  What if we’ve given less that the 10% that He calls us to return to Him?  Would He then be inclined, when He remembers our offerings, to put forth His efforts at the same rate?  For instance, if we’ve only been giving 5%, would we want him to only give us half His effort?  WOW!  Doesn’t that hit us where we live!

Another petition said, “May He give you what you want and make all your plans succeed.”  That also assumes that our thoughts are pure and that we are only desiring things that God has placed in our hearts to desire.  But if we harbor in our hearts thoughts that God would disapprove of us having, then we’d be bringing disaster upon ourselves were He to grant our requests. 

Since others were praying for the king here, it certainly indicates just how important our private thoughts can be and how important it is to keep them God-centered.

Father, help me not to scrimp when it comes to returning offerings to You from everything You’ve blessed me with.  Help me to always remember that You love a cheerful giver.  When You remember my offerings, I hope that You will have no reason to express disappointment.  Keep my mind and heart centered on You as well, Father, so that my wants and desires are godly, so that I’ll have no cause to flinch if someone prays for You to grant my desires.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 19 -- We Won't Like It, But ...

This chapter has something in it that I imagine most people don’t want to admit, don’t like, and that probably grates on them, but it’s something that each person must come to understand and accept in his own heart if he is to come to a full understanding of God:

“The teachings of the Lord are perfect ...

The rules of the Lord can be trusted …

The orders of the Lord are right…

The commands of the Lord are pure …

The judgments of the Lord are true; they are completely right.”

See what I mean?  I’ll  bet that most people will wince at the words rules, orders, and commands, not wanting anyone to tell them what to do … I was that way.  I know.  Most also won’t like the judgments of the Lord, either, because they don’t want to be judged because they know they’ll fall far short.

Yet until we surrender our will, effectively say, “Okay, I give!  You win, God!” we’ll be holding on to something that opposes God’s will.  The bad thing is that most people will see that as total DEFEAT when God is giving them total VICTORY and they just can’t see it.  There’s just a little too much rebel in us for our own good, and it’s called sin.

Even if we don’t like it, we still need to admit to God that He’s always right and we’re not.  It’s the only way to break through the pride we harbor in our hearts.  It’s nothing to do with self-esteem.  It’s instead self-worship.  It’s idolatry, and we can’t allow it in ourselves, for it amounts to putting ourselves ahead of God.

David included a little prayer at the end:  “I hope my words and my thoughts please You.”  In other words, “I hope they match up.”  If what we think and what we say are materially different, then we’re most likely looking at something David mentioned in verse 13:  “Forgive me for my secret sins.”

Father, I know now that You are completely right in everything – I have no defense that I can raise if my thoughts, words, or actions run counter to Your Word.  I still hate it when I find myself having to admit that I don’t like something You’ve commanded, for that means that my heart isn’t in sync with Yours.  Help me to change that, Father, for knowing it is one thing.  Doing it is quite another.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 18 -- Revised Version

As I read this, I thought about what David had said in the last chapter as well – that he’d been innocent of the charges others were bringing against him, that he’d followed the Lord and was being unjustly accused, and he was asking God to vindicate him.  That same theme was running through chapter 18 as well.  But I thought about Bathsheba …

Was this written before or after his fall?  If after, then God had certainly helped him to feel better about himself and his sin.  I wanted to look at what David was saying from the “guilty” side instead of the “innocent” side.  And still David’s words carried real meaning:

“I love You, Lord.  You are my strength … my protection … my rock.  I can run to Him for safety.  He is my shield, my saving strength, my defender.  I will call upon the Lord … and I will be saved … In my trouble I called to the Lord.  I cried out to my God for help.  From His temple He HEARD my voice, my call for help reached His ears … He tore the sky open  and came down … The Lord reached down from above and took me; He pulled me from the deep water.  HE saved me from my powerful enemies … because they were too strong for me….  Because He delights in me, He saved me.”

The next verses can be changed to describe a time of sin when he needed God to save him from that sin:

“The Lord spared me even when I’d sinned … I hadn’t followed His ways; I had done evil by turning away from Him.  I’d not remembered his laws.  I’d broken his rules.  I stood guilty before Him.  I hadn’t kept myself from doing evil …. Lord, give light to my lamp.  Brighten the darkness around me … Your ways are without fault.  You’re a shield to those who trust you.  Following Your way can keep me from sinning … You give me a better way to live, so help me to live as You want me to.  Chase down my enemies who want me to sin and fail.  Destroy them …. Give me strength in this battle … God, give me victory over my enemies.  Thank You for loving me enough to bring me back.”

Although we’d all like to pray chapter 18 in its original form – from the heart of an innocent man, I cherish what God has shown me in this revised version, for too often when we sin we don’t feel that we can cry out to Him.  Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we are embarrassed about our sin and hide from Him rather than asking Him for help.  That’s exactly the wrong thing to do.

Father, thanks for showing me how to honestly come before You to admit my sin, so that You can do all of these things to protect me and to bring me back to You.  Your love for us amazes me!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 13-17 A Hint At Something MUCH Better

I’d love to know if David was amazed at the concept he was discovering as God gave him these words to pen.  As I understand it, the Jewish people only hoped that their soul would be gathered to the bosom of Father Abraham when they died, to rest with him for eternity.  I can’t imagine that that would be very exciting after a month or two.

But here, David is giving (given) hints of a better afterlife than that:

“So I rejoice and am glad.  Even my body has hope, because You will not leave me in the grave.  You will not let Your holy one rot … at Your right hand I will find pleasure forever… Lord, save me by Your power from those whose reward is in this life … Because I have lived right, I WILL SEE Your likeness and be satisfied.”

Not just soul continuance after death, but hope for his body as well – resurrection!

Not just sleep with the patriarch, but pleasure forever.  Not 42 virgins in paradise, but seeing God’s likeness, awaking in His likeness, which will result in pleasure forever.

Father, we too often forget about how incredibly better heaven with You will be than this measly existence.  Remind us often that this is not our home.  Our hearts cannot rest until they rest in YOU.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 7-12 Boldness, Not Political Correctness

David, the man after God’s own heart, spent a lot of time asking God for answers and help.  When he was unjustly accused, he asked, “Lord my God, what have I done? … Have I done wrong? …Lord, defend me because I am right … Lord, have mercy on my.  See how my enemies hurt me … Save me, Lord …. Lord, You will keep us safe; You will always protect us from such people.”

He knew God to be a defender.  He also wasn’t timid about asking God to take action against evil people who were doing wrong:

“Lord, rise up in Your anger; stand up against my enemies’ anger.  Get up and demand fairness.  Gather the nations around You and rule them from above.  Lord, judge the people … Silence Your enemies and destroy those who try to get even …. Lord, rise up and punish the wicked.  Don’t forget those who need help … Lord, surely You see these cruel and evil things; look at them and do something … Break the power of wicked people.  Punish them for the evil they have done.”

In this era, we can be tempted to say that David was not being compassionate … He wasn’t loving the sinner but hating the sin.  He wasn’t being politically correct.  But God sees evil for what it is.  Evil deserves punishment.  The nation of Israel evolved to the point that everyone did what they felt was right, and the nation disintegrated.  We have to agree with God and call out evil whenever we see it as David did.  Sin is not personal choice.  It’s against God, and if we fail to agree with God, then we are against Him, and we stand in danger of losing our own nation as well.

Father, call us out to be a people like David, who knew Your heart and wasn’t afraid to ask you to do the hard things.  Bring our nation back to You, Father.  Show people Your power again.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 1-6 Trying It Out For Myself

The introduction to Psalms in my Bible said, “Don’t just read the prayers of these saints, pray them.  Experience their energy.  Imitate their honesty.  Enjoy the creativity.  Let these souls lead you in worship.”  After listening to how God was approached in these first six chapters, I want to try it myself:

Father, I am amazed that You even bother to listen to me!  You, as Sovereign God, owe me nothing.  Were it not for Your son’s death on the cross for me, I would be unable to even approach you.  But as Your Word says, You have allowed me to come boldly before Your throne.  Father, I know Your ways are right, and Your commands are the only way that I should live, yet still I find myself listening to voices other than Yours at times, daring me not to trust You and to trust my own instincts.  They will always be wrong, and I am a fool to do so, Father.  When circumstances become overwhelming for me, I should run into Your arms to find comfort and stability.  Instead, all too often I become so wrapped up in my problems that I find myself reacting as the world does instead.  I hate it when I disappoint You in this way!  Please forgive my stumbles, my lapses, my falls.  Pick me up.  Remind me that I’m Yours, and show me the path back to You!  No other god could love me as You do.  I can’t even love myself that much.  Please cause me to always understand that, and help me know that I’m actually loving myself and You less when I try to step out of Your will and allow myself to experience what Satan describes as freedom, but what You call sin.  I’m not entitled.  I’m simply a sinner in need of Your grace.  And I should never presume upon it.  Instead, I should understand that it is dispensed as the costliest substance in the universe, for it comes from the blood of Your Son Who was on the cross for me.

 Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

James 5 -- The Importance Of Our Faith To The World

My commentary says a lot about what we should take away from this book:

“We’ve seen faith on trial… tested by the problems of life, by unholy temptations, by obedience to the word of God … We’re challenged to exhibit that faith … The reality of it is seen in a person’s speech; the believer leans to yield his tongue to the lordship of Christ … Faith avoids the feuds, struggles, and jealousies that spring from covetousness and worldly ambition.  It avoids a harsh, critical spirit.  It avoids the self-confidence which leaves God out of life’s plans.  Faith stands trial by the way it earns and spends its money … Faith goes to God in all the changing moods of life … Finally, faith goes out in love and compassion to those who have backslidden.”

Those are tremendous tests of our faith.  But that’s what unbelievers notice.  It’s in the fire that our faith shines out brightest.  It’s in sin where our lack of faith is picked up by the world and used to steal God’s glory. 

Father, please increase my faith.  Help me at those times where I’m tempted to not go the distance with You.  Remind me in those times that my decisions are the hinge-pins that will either lead people toward You or turn them away, and I don’t want that responsibility on my shoulders if I fail.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

James 4 -- Where Our Arguments With God Come From

James asks the question:  “Do you know where your fights and arguments come from?”  He’s not meaning simply our fights and arguments with other people, I thin.  He also means those times when we fight and argue with GOD, for look what he says about where these fights and arguments originate:  “They come from the selfish desires that war within you … You want things so you can use them for your own pleasures.”

Sometimes I think we let our sense of entitlement build up within us to the point where we call a timeout from our Christian walk so we can let our selfish desires have their way.

But James digs back into Exodus 20”5 and delivers a knockout punch:  “The Spirit that God made to live IN us WANTS us for Himself alone.”  God is a jealous God, and He doesn’t want to share us with sin.

When we do give in, James has ready advice:  “God gives us even more grace … Come near to God, and God will come near to you.  You sinners, clean sin out of your lives.  You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time, make your thinking PURE.  Be sad, cry, and weep!

Father, I hate it when I do exactly what You’ve warned us about in this chapter.  I hate the way I fell – the separation from You that sin causes.  It’s still stunning to me that You want me for Yourself alone, warts and all.  I don’t deserve such love, but I cry out for it.  Forgive me.  Root out my selfish desires.  Give me a clean heart that beats only for You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

James 3 -- The Marks Of A Truly Wise Man

God’s version of a “wise man” is very different from ours.  Too often, I think that we give definitions more akin to a wise guy than a wise man.

I loved how my commentary fleshed a lot of this out.  I read, “James tests a person’s spiritual health … self-diagnosis begins with sins of SPEECH.”  There was a warning particularly for those who teach God’s word – they’ll get heavier judgment if they fail to practice what they teach.  “A teacher can never hope to lead others beyond what he himself has practiced.”

Regarding our speech, “in our efforts to injure others we may succeed, but we always inflict the deeper injury upon ourselves.”

James talks about the marks of a truly wise man – not a man with tons of knowledge, but one who knows the godly way of applying what he’s learned to his daily life.  Those marks are:

1)       Genuine humility – not putting on airs, but putting others at ease right away;

2)      Other-worldly behavior;

3)      Not living for the body but for the spirit;

4)      Morally and spiritually clean;

5)      Enduring peaceably insult and false accusation without seeing a need to justify himself;

6)      Tenderhearted;

7)      Easy to reason with;

8)      Not vindictive;

9)      Ready to forgive;

10)   Habitually showing kindness to others, especially to those who don’t deserve it.

The world would look at that list and say, “I’ll chew him up and spit him out!”  But God says, “There goes a man after My own heart!”  I’d rather listen to God any day!

Father, You know where I fall short in this list.  Work on me.  Change me.  Help me to conform to Your idea of a wise man.  I especially need it now, Father, and as usual, Your timing is perfect.  Help me to be on guard today in the areas I most need help with.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

James 2 -- Overlooked?

I’ll bet most people have forgotten encountering these verses in the Bible:

“But if you treat one person as being more important than another, you are sinning.  You are guilty of breaking God’s law.  A person who follows all of God’s law but fails to obey even one command is guilty of breaking ALL the commands in that law.”

Simply treating one person as more important than another is a sin.  That produces spiritual death in us.  And in case anyone wants to argue about definitions, my commentary wrote this:  “Sin is any lack of conformity to the will of God, a failure to meet His standards.”  Additionally, it said that all of God’s commands are like a chain, and breaking any of them breaks them all.  We cannot choose which of His laws we like.

Father, I admit that even as hard as I try, I have trouble keeping even that one small command!  So that means I’ve broken them all.  I’m a sinner in need of race and forgiveness.  Thank You so much for giving them both to me, but the cost to You, in the death of Your Son for my sins, was staggering – more than I could ever repay.  Help me never to forget what love You showed me in doing that for me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

James 1 -- It's All About US on THIS One

Yesterday, as Josh and I were leaving early, he’d changed the radio station and I heard the singer singing, “God made me hard to handle.”  The second I heard it, I thought, “Don’t blame God for that!” 

James picks up that thread this morning – “When people are tempted, they should not say, ‘God is tempting me.’  Evil cannot tempt God, and God Himself does not tempt anyone.  But people are tempted when their own evil desire leads them away and TRAPS them.  This desire leads to sin, and then the sin GROWS and brings death.”

A little later, James gives us some help in avoiding the desire that leads to sin:  “In gentleness accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts … Do what God’s teaching says; when you only listen and do nothing, you are fooling yourselves.”

In other words, if we found ourselves tempted and we failed, we can’t say, “It’s Your fault, God!  You made me this way!”  Instead, when the desire raises its ugly head, God says to cry out for help right then and He’ll immediately respond.  Too often, we don’t do what God’s teaching says – myself included.

Father, thanks for the reminder.  I too find myself trying to take what I wrongly believe is the easy road, thinking that’s just the way I was made.  But You don’t create junk.  I’m Your child, and I should always act like I’m Your, not act like a child, wanting only what I want.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford