Psalm 104 -- We Laugh At What They Thought, But How Little We Truly Understand

When the writer penned Psalm 104, the commonly held belief was that the earth was flat, that it was circular, based on the horizons men could see, that it had edges we would fall off, that great foundations supported it, and that the bowl of the sky represented the margin between heaven and earth, with the heavenly bodies running on tracks built into that bowl.

Some of his verses reflect those beliefs, but they are not necessarily wrong – simply not fully understood, just as God chooses to reveal more of Himself and His creation in His own timing.  What is remarkable is that though the writer may not have fully understood what he was seeing, God did, and His glory shines through it!

Verse 5, for instance, says, “You built the earth on its foundations so it can never be moved.”  At first we laugh because we know that the earth is moving and in fact never ceases to move.  But the greater truth is that the foundation the earth is resting on is gravity, and that gravity keeps the earth right on course, rock solid and stable, as it hurtles through space!  That same gravity keeps the oceans in place as the earth spins instead of causing them to be flung into space.

It takes man incredible amounts of energy for even the slightest masses to escape earth’s gravity, yet we read in verses 7-8, “But at Your command, the waters rushed away.  When You thundered Your orders, it hurried away.  The mountains rose; the valleys sank.  The water went to the places You made for it.”

And it’s not in vastly large quantities that God can express His power.  As the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and the Jordan River on their way to the Promised Land, God commanded the waters to remove themselves from their path.  They didn’t cross in the mud, but on dry ground.  When each atom of water heard God’s command, it instantly obeyed, fighting past molecules of dirt to do what its Creator commanded, leaving the dirt dry, with not a drop of water anywhere near.  It took no time to dry out because the water obeyed and departed!  Oh, that we could obey God in such a fashion!

The writer also reminds us that, contrary to the script of the movie Oh, God with George Burns, He didn’t wind it all up and sit back as it wound down.  He is actively involved keeping it all together.  Even the very air we breathe presents itself to us at His command.  “When You take away their breath, they die and turn to dust.”

The writer finishes with, “May the glory of the Lord be forever.  May the Lord enjoy what He has made … I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.  May my thoughts please Him;  I am happy in the Lord … My whole being, praise the Lord.”

Father, You have allowed us to understand only miniscule parts of Your creation, and someday we will marvel at how little of Your wisdom we really understood!  We will sing of Your glory when we dwell with You in eternity because we will realize how awesome, incredible, and above us You truly are!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 103 -- No Requests. Only Praise.

My commentary says, “There are no requests in this psalm; it is only praise to the Lord … Believers today must be obedient to God’s will if they would enjoy God’s best.  The psalm also admonishes us not to forget the blessings after we have received them and enjoyed them.”

“My whole being, praise the Lord.”  Heart, soul, mind, and strength.  A great checkup would be to ask as I am praising Him, whether any of these parts are not praising Him, maybe while being distracted by sin.  How much more meaningful our praise would be to Him if the entirety of our being is involved! 

“Do not forget all His kindnesses.”  That helps us to have more reasons to praise, even if we are currently not feeling like praising because of circumstances.

God’s mercy is remembered here:  “He does not become angry quickly … He will not always accuse us … He will not be angry forever … He has not punished us as our sins should be punished.  He has not repaid us for the evil we have done.”

“he has taken our sins away from us … He knows how we were made; He remembers that we are dust.”  That dust is something that He made.  It is not eternal.  Someday He will remake us of eternal stuff.

“Everything the Lord has made should praise Him in all the places He rules.”  Moon dust should praise Him on the moon.  Even the star dust floating in the vast areas between the stars should praise Him!  Mountains and rocks and streams should praise Him.  But because of Adam’s sin, creation was fundamentally altered and cannot now praise Him as it did after Creation.  It groans because of this restriction and longs for the day when the earth is made new again and it is able to do what it was made to do.

We have a choice to praise Him, so we should with every breath we take!

Father, if I praised You every second of every day it would never be enough praise.  Thank You for this reminder that even in the tough times I should remember all the blessings You have already given me that I had no right to receive.  Cause me to bless You especially in these tough times by reminding me of what You’ve done for me, unlovely as I am.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 102 -- Assurances When Change Is Coming

This psalm has layers like an onion.  It’s easy to see a man praying who has witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity.  But we can also see Jesus hanging on the cross calling out to God in verses 1-11.  Hebrews 1:8-12 quotes this as God answering Jesus and the Holy Spirit seems to be showing us about His millennial reign in 15-17 and 21-22.  We can see Jesus again in 19-20 and 23-24, with God responding to Him in 25-27.

My commentary then brings it back to us, saying, “As believers face and deal with the painful crises that come to us, if we are to overcome and glorify God, we must keep three assurances before us.”  They are:

There is nothing permanent but change on this earth.

God’s covenant has not changed.

God’s character is changeless.

We therefore can look to Him and hold fast when change overwhelms us.

Part of the changes we see occurring are “providential changes that God sends for our good and His glory.”  It’s important that we understand that how we respond will determine what those changes do to us and for us.  Often it involves a settling in our own hearts to the assurance that though our prayers may not be answered in our lifetimes, we know the answer will come, and our prayers may help produce the faith which future generations of our family will need to serve him long after we are gone.

Father, give me steadfastness in my prayers.  Thank You for helping me see today that Your purposes will be fulfilled in Your timing, and it may be Your will that I won’t see the answer to my prayers this side of heaven, but I will be able to see those answers on the other side.  Thank You for Your faithfulness to me!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 101 -- Integrity 101

Wow, Father!  I love Your words here, and I love the accountability challenge You set forth in this psalm! 

“I will be careful to live an innocent life.  When will You come to me?”  We never know when Christ will be returning, and this reminds me so much that we should “live like we’re leaving today.”    An innocent life doesn’t just happen.  It takes careful diligence to accomplish, much like what someone has to do when dieting.  The movie “A Beautiful Mind” featured a character who said he had to stay on “a diet of the mind,” careful not to let certain thoughts in, because those thoughts would cause his downfall – almost like ingesting poison.

“I will live an innocent life in my house.  I will not look at anything wicked.”  This spoke of diligence in our private lives – in our homes, where no one else sees what we do.  I’ve always remembered a quote a read years ago:  “The true measure of a man’s character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.”  And although a man is free to do what he wants on his own property (and King David certainly could), it’s vitally important to set boundaries we will not cross, including not looking at anything wicked.

“Those who turn against You will not be found near me.  Let those who want to do wrong stay away from me.”  What we do alone has already been discussed.  Now David addresses who we associate with, and Christian brothers are to lift each other up.  Although we want to influence the lives of those who don’t yet know God, we have to be careful not to let their choices rub off on us.

“I will have nothing to do with evil.”  We have to draw a line in the sand and determine that anything that goes against God’s Word or His will shall have no part in our lives.

“No one who is dishonest will live in my house; no liars will stay around me.”  My commentary said, “Deception is the devil’s tool, and Satan goes to work whenever a lie moves in.”  Deception is so overpowering for us.  If we give Satan a chance to grab a toehold in our lives, the first thing he does is try to put blinders on us, and before long, it’s like we see the world through a helmet with a widescreen TV screen and surround sound inside, showing us the world as Satan wants us to see it, not as God does.  Satan will then block out anything anyone tries to show us or tell us in the hopes of undermining his influence.  Only God’s direct intervention can force him to get out of the way for a moment so that we can see God’s truth.

The sidebar of my Bible happened to be by the same man who wrote my commentary – Warren Wiersbe.  It said, “At some point in life, each one of us must decide what is his highest joy, for the thing that delights us directs us.  Generally speaking, a child finds his delight in what he has; a youth in what he does; and an adult in what he is.  The first lives for possessions, the second for experiences, and the third for character.”

Finally, my commentary warned, “The heart and the eyes work together, for what the heart loves, the eyes will seek and find.” 

Father, this world of sin is poisonous to us.  In Your love for us, You show us how to detect that poison and avoid it altogether, yet we still have bodies and minds that are made of flesh and purposefully seek it out, to our own destruction!  Speak loudly, Father!  Don’t let our consciences get seared to the point that they no longer work.  And if they do, remove Satan’s blinders from our eyes so that we may see what we are doing to ourselves.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 97-100 -- Joyfulness, Submission, and Thankfulness

Psalm 100, it says, “sums up the emphasis on God’s sovereign rule, His goodness to His people, the responsibility of all nations to acknowledge Him, and the importance of God’s people exalting and worshipping Him…. When we are filled with the Spirit of God, the evidence of this fullness is that we are joyful, thankful, and submissive,” my commentary said.  We can see this in Psalm 100.

Joyful:

The psalmist calls for us to shout to the Lord – to praise Him.  “But our shouting ought to lead to serving Him, for He is the only true God.  Worship leads to service, and true service IS worship.  If we sing in the Spirit and with understanding, our songs are received in heaven as sacrifices to the Lord.”

Submissive:

“The word know means to know by experience … What we have experienced in our hearts we openly confess to others and bear witness of our glorious God … Jehovah is God, Creator, Redeemer, and Shepherd, and we are submitted to him.  If the sheep do not submit to their Shepherd, they will stray into danger.”

Thankful:

“The procession of worshippers … burst out in songs of praise.  Why?  Because of the Lord’s goodness, mercy (lovingkindness), and faithfulness … From generation to generation, the Lord can be trusted.  It is significant that the fathers’ and mothers’ worship today will have an important influence on their children tomorrow.  If we are controlled by the Holy Spirit of God and the holy Word of God, we will reveal it in the way we worship God … We will be led by the Word and the Spirit to be joyful in the Lord, submissive to the Lord, and thankful to the Lord, and the world will see the difference… A spirit of thanksgiving helps us overcome some of the sins that often invade our lives.  It was when our first parents became unthankful that the human race began that terrible descent into sin and judgment … A thankful spirit is a triumphant spirit.”

Father, in spite of my circumstances today, help me to be joyful, submissive, and thankful for all You’ve done and will do in my life.  Remind me of that often today.  I need the reminders!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 95-96 Praise, Worship, and Obedience

I liked what I read today about praise and worship:

“Praise means looking up … Our praise should be joyful and enthusiastic – He even commands us to shout – and wholly focused on the Lord … We should delight in praising Him.”

“Worship mean bowing down … bowing knees and submitting.  True worship is much deeper than communal praise, for worship involves realizing the awesomeness of God and experiencing the fear of the Lord and a deeper love for Him.  Too often Christian praise is nothing but religious entertainment and it never moves into spiritual enrichment in the presence of the Lord … Jubilation has its place only if it becomes adoration and we are prostrate before the Lord in total submission, lost in wonder, love, and praise.”

After praise and worship, we are to hear and obey the Lord.  “Hearing and heeding God’s Word must be central if our worship … is to be truly Christian.  It isn’t enough for God to hear my voice.  I must hear His voice as the Word of God is read, preached, and taught … We are to respond to God’s Word now, not just later in the week, when we review our sermon notes … How tragic when worshippers go home with full notebooks and empty hearts!”

Father, thank You for reminding me of this difference.  Help me to praise and worship You this week, to hear Your Word for me and to obey what You are telling me to do – not later, but immediately.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 93 & 94 -- Help In Uncertain Times

In Psalm 93, God is glorified for His majesty and His rule over everything.  But then in Psalm 94, it seems that the realities of the evil world have set in, and because God is longsuffering, the writer wondered why God wasn’t acting against evil.  “How long will the wicked by happy?  How long, Lord?”

He hears them say that God doesn’t seem to notice or care, but then he remembers what he knows about God – “You fools, when will you understand?  Can’t the creator of ears hear?  Can’t the maker of eyes see?  Won’t the One who corrects nations punish you?  Doesn’t the teacher of people know everything?  The Lord knows what people think.  He knows their thoughts are just a puff of wind.”

God’s discipline or chastening means teaching and instruction from God’s law, my commentary says.  “The psalmist recognized the fact that the difficulties of life could help him mature in his faith … ‘For whom the Lord loves He chastens.’”

“In evil days, we give thanks that we have the Lord as our refuge and fortress.  But we hide in Him, not that we may escape responsibility, but that we might be equipped to go forth and fight the enemy.”

Father, the world seems to have gotten more uncertain lately.  Evil seems to be thriving.  I’ve been feeling unsettled and I don’t know why.  Please hide me in You and use this time to equip me for whatever it is You are doing.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 91 & 92 -- LOVE Psalm 91!

Psalm 91 is the only chapter in the Bible besides Psalm 23 that I ever memorized (I sure wish there were more!) and I so love it!  Every verse says so much to me about God’s protection for those He loves!  It’s worth stopping to read regularly!

My commentary had these things to say: 

“It is better to suffer in the will of God than to invite trouble by disobeying God… The hidden life of worship and communion with God makes possible the public life of obedience and service … Those who abide in the Lord are safe when they are doing His will.  God’s servants are immortal until their work is done … Among His blessings will be deliverance and protection, answered prayer, companionship in times of trouble, honor, satisfaction, and a long life … It’s one thing for doctors to add years to our life, but God adds life to our years and makes that life worthwhile … Because our God reigns supremely, and always will, we can be the people of God that He wants us to be.”

Father, thank You for Your watchcare and protection.  You taught me what verse 2 says long ago – “You are my God and I trust You.”  Thanks for being my shield and my protection.  Help me to live a life of worship and communion with You that will enable me to be obedient and serve You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 90 -- The Oldest Psalm

I imagined Moses having a conversation with God, with someone else writing down what was being said, as I read this chapter this morning.  He’d had 40 years in Egypt, 40 years in Midian as a shepherd, and 40 years taking the Israelites through the wilderness.  They weren’t in the Promised Land yet, but Moses says, “Lord, You have been our home since the beginning.”  No matter where they were geographically, they’d always been home.  And I love the quote that says, “Our hearts will not rest until they find rest in Thee.”  You are my home, too, Father.

“You are God.  You have always been, and You will always be.”  God had guided Moses’ parents to protect him in a basket in the Nile.  When Moses failed by killing an Egyptian, God guided him in Midian.  And God had regularly spoken with him in the wilderness.  God is God of the past, the present, and the future.

He knew that God is all-knowing:  “You have put the evil we have done right in front of You; You clearly see our secret sins.”  We can’t hide anything from Him.

“Your anger is as great as our fear of You should be.  Teach us how short our lives really are so that we may be wise.”  If we think we know it all – if we dare to say, “I’ve got this!” – then we don’t know how short our lives really are.

Moses also asked specifically for several things:  For God to show kindness to him, to fill us with His love every morning, to give us as much joy as He’d given us sorrow, to show us the wonderful things He does, to show His greatness to our children, to treat us well, and to give us success in what we do.  How much better it is to pray that than to simply pray, “God, be with us.”  After all, He already is with us.

Father, my commentary spoke of Your compensations – making up for the hard times, whether in this life or the next.  I guess that fulfills our sense of fairness or justice, but just getting to see Your face will make this old life totally worth it!  Thank You for loving me!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 89 -- God's Faithfulness, Even In His Discipline

My commentary believes this could have been written during the Babylonian captivity, particularly with the “How long?” phrases.  But the psalmist doesn’t always let the bad times cause him to doubt God.  “I will always sing about the Lord’s love; I will tell of His loyalty from now on … Lord, the heavens praise You for Your miracles and for Your loyalty … Lord, You are powerful and completely trustworthy … Your arm has great power.  Your hand is strong … Love and truth are in all You do.”  He’s definitely not saying God is powerless to change things!

He writes about those who know how to praise God.  They will be blessed.  God will let them live in His presence.  They rejoice in God’s very name.  He is their glorious strength.  That’s all the more reason why we should focus on praising Him, especially in our tough times!

In the psalmist’s current situation, it almost appeared that God had abandoned His agreement with David, but it was the sin of the nation that caused the exile, not God.  He was being faithful to His covenant by exiling them.  And that caused the psalmist to cry out, “Lord, how long will this go on?  Will You ignore us forever?  How long will Your anger burn like a fire?  Remember how short my life is.  Why did You create us?  For nothing? … Lord, where is Your love from times past?”

He forgets that God disciplines the son that He loves, and God is displaying that love even in the exile, helping the nation to completely purge idolatry so that it will never rear its evil head again.

My commentary listed four assurances about the faithfulness of God that we can find here:

God is faithful in His character – praise Him.

God is faithful to His covenant – trust Him.

God is faithful in His chastening.

God’s faithfulness will never cease – wait for Him.

Father, I praise Your faithfulness this morning. I would exhibit unfaithfulness if I doubted Your faithfulness.  Thank you for loving me and loving my family through this.  Thank You for drawing us close, even with Your discipline, to show Your love to us!

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Psalm 87-88 What To Do In Suffering

My commentary says of Psalm 88 that Heman, the writer, was suffering intensely and did not understand why, yet he persisted in praying to God and did not abandon his faith.  It gives us four instructions to follow when life falls apart and our prayers seemingly are not answered.

First, come to the Lord by faith.  “Heman’s life had grown even more difficult … but he did not give up!  He still trusted in God … Three times we are told he cried to the Lord, and three different words are used – a cry for help, a loud shout, and a cry of anguish.  He  was fervent in his praying.  He believed in a God who could hear his prayers and do wonders, a God who loved him and was faithful … No matter how we feel and no matter how impossible our circumstances, we can always come to the Lord with our burdens.

Second, tell the Lord how You feel.  “There is no place for hypocrisy in personal prayer.  One of the first steps toward revival is to be completely transparent when we pray and not tell the Lord anything that is not true or that we do not really mean … Heman also told the Lord that He was responsible for His servant’s troubles!  Like Job, Heman wanted to know why all this suffering had come to him.

Third, defend your cause before the Lord.  A Scottish minister who suffered much wrote, “It is faith’s work to claim and challenge lovingkindness out of the roughest strokes of God… Why should I tremble at the plough of my Lord, that maketh deep furrows in my soul?  I know He is not  an idle husbandman.  He purposeth a crop.”  Heman tells God that his death would rob God of a great opportunity to demonstrate His power and glory … He kept on praying.”

Fourth, wait for God’s answer.  “The flood was rising and he felt he was about to drown and there was nobody near enough to rescue him.  He was alone!  The darkness … hid him from the eyes of those who observed his sufferings and may have said, as Job’s friends did, ‘He must have sinned greatly for the Lord to afflict him so much.’  But he continued to pray and to look to God for help! … The last word of this psalm is darkness, but the Lord always has the last word, and it will not be darkness.  We should never doubt in the darkness what God has taught us in the light.”

Father, there is a lot of darkness right now, yet I cling to what You have taught me in the light.  Though I may not understand Your purposes for everything that is happening, I trust You with everything in my life.  Help me every day to come to You, to tell You how I feel, to defend my cause before You (and let it be in Your will), and then to wait for Your answer!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 86 -- The Way To Pray For God's Help

Yesterday was a “cry for help” day for me, and this psalm is entitled “A Cry For Help”.  I’m glad that what David said here sounds a lot like what I was asking yesterday.

My commentary found three encouragements in the psalm:  God’s covenant is secure, God’s character is unchanging, and God’s glory shall prevail.  It also noted that there were at least 14 personal requests, suggesting that effective praying is specific.  It also said we can plead for help from God based on the covenant of grace we have through our relationship with Christ, just as David was praying based on the Davidic covenant God had made with him.

I particularly liked verses 11-13:

“Lord, teach me what You want me to do, and I will live by Your truth.  Teach me to respect You completely.  Lord, my God, I will praise You with all my heart, and I will honor Your name forever.  You have great love for me.  You have saved me from death.”

My commentary concluded:  “When our requests are in God’s will and glorify His name, we can be sure He will answer.”

Father, thank You for answering my prayers yesterday.  I pray that I will witness the answers to my remaining prayers shortly, and that You will have opened the closed heart of one whom I love, showing him just how much You truly love him as well.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 85 -- God Desires To Restore Us

My commentary suggests that this psalm was written after the Jewish people returned from the seventy years of Babylonian captivity.  Once they returned, life was hard and they didn’t always obey God, but they were making a new start.  “The victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings … It is a sin to disobey God and fall, but it is also a sin to stay fallen.  We must always make a new beginning, and this psalm gives us some instructions that we can follow after times of failure and chastening.”

First, give thanks to the Lord – “God protected the people as they made the long journey home.  He forgave their sin and gave them a new beginning ... When we turn back to God, repent, and confess our sins, He turns back to us and restores us.”

Second, ask Him for renewed life – “A change in geography will never overcome a flaw in character.  The return of the people to the land was no guarantee that all of them had returned to the Lord.  Not only were they concerned that God’s chastening would end in their own lives, but they did not want it to be passed on to their children and grandchildren… They desperately needed His life at work within them … New life is not something we manufacture ourselves; new life can come only from the Holy Spirit of God.”

Third, listen for God’s message to you – “God and His people were now reconciled, and He was speaking peace to them … He announced future blessings that He would send if His people continued to walk with Him.”

Father, thank You for the new beginnings You’ve offered me before.  As unworthy as I’ve felt when I have fallen, You have still sought me out and drawn me back to You, even when I was at my worst.  Verse 8 says, “I will listen to God the Lord.  He has ordered peace for those who worship Him.  Don’t let them go back to foolishness.”  Thank You for not giving up on me and letting me go back to my old life.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 83 & 84 -- Two Very Different Psalms

Psalm 83 is a cry for God to see what is happening and to do what is necessary to glorify His name.  A great coalition of Israel’s neighbor nations had allied against them, and Asaph wanted God to act.  “Asaph was troubled because the Lord had said nothing … and done nothing … to stop the huge confederacy from advancing.  Literally, he prayed, ‘Let there be no rest to You ….’  It was time for God to take notice and act,” my commentary said.

I always flinch at prayers to harm enemies, but I read in my commentary, “If Asaph’s prayers seem vindictive, remember that he was asking God to protect His special people who had a special work to see on earth.”  Messiah had not yet come and that kingly line of David needed protection.

“’Hallowed be Thy name’ is the first request in the Lord’s Prayer and must be the motive that governs all of our praying.  The Most High God is sovereign over all the earth!”

Like a light switch flicking from on to off, the tone changes greatly in Psalm 84.  The writer just wants to be near God and near His Temple, and he says, “My delight is in the Lord, my strength is in the Lord, and my trust is in the Lord.” 

Regarding our delight, my commentary said, “The important thing is that we have a heart devoted to the Lord, a spiritual appetite that cries out for nourishing fellowship with the Lord … How easy it is for us to take for granted the privilege of worshipping the Living God, a privilege purchased for us on the cross.”

The psalmist describes the Valley of Baca – “a name for any difficult and painful place in life, where everything seems hopeless and you feel helpless, like a pit of despair.  The people who love God expect to pass through this valley and not remain there.  They get a blessing from the experience and they leave a blessing behind.

Trusting in the Lord, he then lifted his petition to Him.  My commentary said, “When you walk by faith, you put the Lord and His will first, and you keep your priorities straight … The psalmist didn’t aspire to high office … but was willing to sit at the threshold of the Temple, just to be close to the Lord.  To men and women of faith, the Lord is all they need … If we walk by faith, then whatever begins with grace will ultimately end with glory.  God does not give us everything we want, but He bestows upon us all that is good for us, all that we need.”

Father, help me to pray that Your will will be done on earth, and remind me daily that my delight is in You, my strength comes from you, and my trust is only in You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 81-82 Not Just Worship

Psalm 81 was entitled “A Song For The Holiday” but it comes off as anything but cheerful.  God sent a special message that said:

“I took the load off their shoulders … When you were in trouble, you called, and I saved you … I tested you … My people, listen.  I am warning you … please listen to Me … open Your mouth and I will feed you.  But My people did not listen to me; they did not want me.  So I let them go their stubborn way and follow their own advice.  I wish My people would listen to Me; I wish they would live My way.  Then I would quickly defeat their enemies and turn My hand against their foes … I would give You the finest wheat and fill you with honey from the rocks.”

My commentary did a lot of explaining:

“It is delightful to sign praises to God and to pray, but if we want Him to listen to us, we must listen to him… Worship and service go together, and this means we must obey what the Lord commands and not have spiritual deafness … The greatest judgment God can send is to let people have their own way … When we disobey the Lord, not only do we feel the pain of His chastening, but we also miss out on the blessings He so desires to give us.  The Lord gave Israel water out of the rock, but He was prepared to give them honey out of the rocks (Deut 32:13).  He sent manna from heaven, but He would have given them the finest of wheat.  The word if is small, but it carries big consequences.”

Father, I don’t want to feel the pain of Your chastening, nor do I want to miss out on the blessings You have prepared for me.  Keep me from having spiritual deafness.  Don’t simply let me have my own way.  You love me more than I could ever love myself, so don’t let me, through my disobedience, shortchange myself of Your blessings by my own willfulness.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 79-80 Reading What I'm Feeling Today -- Such Is God's Timing

“Lord, how long will this last? … Show Your mercy to us soon … God our Savior, help us so people will praise You … Hear the moans of the prisoners.  Use Your great power … Shepherd of Israel, listen to us … show Your greatness … Use Your strength, and come to save us… God, take us back.  Show us Your lovingkindness … God All-Powerful, take us back … God All-Powerful, come back.  Look down from heaven and see.  Take care of us … With Your hand, strengthen the one You have chosen for Yourself… Give us life again, and we will call to You for help.  Lord God All-Powerful, take us back.  Show us Your kindness so we can be saved…”

Father, I pray this for someone I love dearly, in his stead.  You know the ache of my heart.  He hasn’t chosen to talk about his problems with me.  Please place people in his path who will assure him of Your presence in his life and Your love and care for him.  Change his heart, God.  Please lift the veil that Satan has placed over his eyes and his heart so that he may see Your goodness and feel Your love and mercy for him.  Ban Satan from deceiving him.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 78 - A Reminder We Need To Read Regularly

It says that God gave us His teachings and commanded us to teach our children so their children would know them and they would tell their children (our great-grandchildren!)

He reviewed much of the history of Israel because it teaches that “the one thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history,” my commentary said.

What they did is what we do:

“They continued to sin against Him … They decided to test Him … They had not believed God and had not trusted Him …”

Verse 29 says, “God had given them what they wanted.”  My commentary said, “Sometimes God’s greatest judgment is to give us what we want.”

Despite all they did against Him, “In His mercy, God forgave them and held back His wrath, but they were a generation that grieved His heart.”

“They kept on sinning, they did not believe … so He ended their days without meaning and their years in terror … Their hearts were not really loyal to God … Still God was merciful.  He forgave their sins and did not destroy them.  Many times He held back His anger and did not stir up all His anger.  He remembered that they were only human …”

“They tested God and turned against God Most High; they did not keep His rules.”

Father God, help us to examine our lives and our thoughts and our beliefs and actions.  Use these verses to cause us to admit how we do the same.  Let us learn from history and from our mistakes and give us grace so that we will not repeat them.  Remember that we too are only human.  Thank You for loving us in spite of that fact.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 76-77 He Makes A Way Through The Sea

I once had a bumper sticker that read, “I Know The Future – God Wins!”  And that’s what Psalm 76 is all about.  My commentary says Asaph shared four basic truths about Jehovah God:  He wants us to know him, trust Him, fear Him, and obey Him.

Psalm 77 finds Asaph in despair about God’s apparent rejection of His people.  He moves from praying to remembering to questioning.  “He’d led the people in worship, yet he found no comfort in his own heart.”

My commentary said, “It isn’t a sin to question God, but it is a sin to demand an immediate answer or to suggest that God needs our counsel.”  Asaph asked in anguish, “Will the Lord reject us forever?  Will He never be kind to us again?  Is His love gone forever?  Has He stopped speaking for all time?  Has Go forgotten mercy?  Is He too angry to pity us?”

He thought God had changed, but He hadn’t.  He looked at his circumstances and focused on himself and saw no hope.  “But when we look by faith to the Lord, our circumstances may not change, but WE do.”

Verse 19 gave me hope:  “You made a way through the sea and paths through the deep waters, but Your footprints were not seen.”

Father, I need Your help and intervention right now.  I feel the sea  surrounding me and the deep waters.  Make a way.  Make a path.  Help me as I pray for wisdom.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 74-75 God Is STILL On The Throne

In Psalm 74, the nation itself was in despair after the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians, my commentary said.  They were crying out to God and hearing no word from Him.  “The people felt that they were cast off forever, desolate forever, humiliated forever, and forgotten forever.”  In verse 12, though, “He lifted his eyes by faith from the burning ruins to the holy throne of God in the heavens and received a new perspective on the situation.  No matter how discouraging the situation was, Asaph knew that God was still on the throne and had not abdicated His authority to the Babylonians.”

He remembers the covenant.  “The Jews had mocked the prophets that God sent to them to turn them from their idolatry.  Israel had not honored God’s name … The Lord was paying attention to His covenant!  That was why He was chastening His people.  Asaph was concerned about the glory of God’s name and the survival of God’s people … The nation had been ravaged, the city of Jerusalem had been wrecked and the temple had been destroyed and burned – but the essentials had not been touched by the enemy!  The nation still had Jehovah God as their God, His Word and His covenant had not been changed, and Jehovah was at work in the world!  God is at work in our world today, and we need not despair.”

Father, thank You for Your faithfulness despite the unfaithfulness of our leadership.  Please guide and direct us to choose the person You want us to have as the next leader of our country – one who will honor and glorify You and lead us to return to You.  You are still on the throne and You are never late.  You know what You are doing.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 73 -- When The Worshiper Doubts

Asaph was a music minister, and he let his thoughts take control of his heart as he saw the non-churchgoers prospering and the churchgoers having problems.  That made no sense to him.  After all, wasn’t God supposed to bless His people?  It got to the point that he asked himself “So why have I kept my heart pure?  Why have I kept my hands from doing wrong?”

He had been a believer.  He’d had a clean heart (not sinlessness, but total commitment to the Lord – my commentary).  He’d been standing on what he knew, my commentary stated.  But it seemed to him that unbelievers don’t face the problems he’d been facing.  “When pondering the mysteries of life, hold on to what you know for sure, and never doubt in the darkness what God has taught you in the light,” my commentary said.

He had become a doubter.  My commentary said there’s a difference between doubt and unbelief.  Doubt comes from a struggling mind, while unbelief comes from a stubborn will that refuses to surrender to God.”  Asaph didn’t understand that “it’s an act of disobedience to envy the wicked.”

He began to wrestle with what he saw and felt.  “Based on the evidence he could see around him, Asaph came to the wrong conclusion:  that he had wasted his time and energy maintaining clean hands and a pure heart … We don’t serve God because of what we get out of it, but because He is worthy of our worship and service regardless of what He allows to come into our lives.”

Asaph returned to the Temple to worship and get a better perspective by spending time with the Lord.  “After all, Jehovah isn’t a problem to wrestle with but a gracious Person to love and worship, especially when you are perplexed by what He is doing.  God is awesome in His sanctuary, and when we commune with Him, we see the things of this world in their right perspective.

He became a conqueror.  He figured out that “the ungodly have everything they want except God, and the godly have in God all that they want or need.  He is their portion forever.”

Father, when I wrestle with doubts, bring me before You in worship and help me to see You clearly and to remember what You have already shown me about Yourself.  Don’t let me listen to the lies and the wrong beliefs of the wicked.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Psalm 72 -- Prayers For The KING

This psalm is entitled “A Prayer For The King”.  Since we don’t have a monarchy here, my first thought was, “Would this be something to pray for our president?”  The first request was for God to give him good judgment, and that would truly be something to pray for.  But as I read the rest, without that God-given good judgment, it sounds like we’d be in for more of the same.

My commentary pointed out that neither David nor Solomon ruled the entire area that God set forth in His covenant with Abraham.  “This privilege is reserved for Jesus Christ,” it said, and I saw multiple references to Jesus in these verses, although His name is not mentioned.  I particularly like reading, “Let the people of the desert bow down to Him.”  That speaks of His sovereignty over even the entire Middle East, despite what each sect or country might think of Him today.  “Let all kings bow down to Him and all nations serve Him.”  Amen!  “He will save their lives … their lives are precious to Him.”  Again – Jesus.  “Let the nations be blessed because of Him, and may they all bless him.”  Yes!

And how will this ever happen?  Verses 18-19 say, “Praise the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does such miracles.  Praise His glorious name forever.  Let His glory fill the whole world.”

Yes, Father.  Make it so.  Even in this new year.  Crust Satan’s head under Your feet.  Don’t let him wreak havoc as he did last year.  Be Lord of us all!  Help us to trust and follow You!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford