No Salvation in Socialism (Psalm 50)

Since my last blog (on Psalm 49) some significant things have happened in my life and in our country.

I've been experiencing a health struggle and our nation is just beginning what I am convinced will be a major health care reform struggle.

Will God use this new socialization as judgment on our nation? It's possible, but it's also possible that this will be a catalyst for turning people's hearts to God. We need to pray for godly leaders to be put into positions of influence within the government, academia, the media, and the church. We need to pray and work for renewed hearts in every area and on every level of our country.

The internet has some interesting observations about health care reform. Over at Big Hollywood, Greg Gutfield's "Daily Gut" talks about how "Daddy Got Us a Pony!" AP writer Liz Sidoti believes the "Dems' celebration may be short." Jane Hamsher presents a fascinating "Fact Sheet: The Truth About the Health Care Bill." Mike Adams believes the "Health care reform bill dooms America to Pharma-dominated sickness and suffering." A Washington Times editorial "Democrats' death by suicide" is sub-titled "Obamacare is an historic moment--like the Black Plague." One of my favorites is "Riders on the storm" by everyone's hero: Chuck Norris. And finally, there's this insightful "Ask Chuck" webcast by another Chuck: Iowa's Senator Chuck Grassley.

Following on the heels of this weekend, it's reassuring to be reminded from Psalm 50 that God is in control of the whole earth.

The Mighty One, God the LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting (verse 1, ESV).

God summons the entire earth and all its people to acknowledge Him as Lord.

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth,
that he may judge his people:
"Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!"
The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge! (2-6)

God's beauty shines forth in creation and in the church. He does not sit silently in heaven, wringing his hands over the mess people make in the world. He will come to judge with his mighty power. But believers will not be swept away by his fierce judgments. They will be gathered to him. We need not fear the wrath of the Almighty Judge!

Psalm 50 continues with several verses showing that everything belongs to God. We must thank him by offering "a sacrifice of thanksgiving" and performing "vows to the Most High" (14). Sacrifices and service are meaningless without a heart that is truly broken for sin and thankful for blessing. That broken and thankful heart can call upon God "in the day of trouble" and God promises: "I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me" (15).

But it's a different story for the wicked: who "hate discipline" and "cast" God's words behind them (17), who are pleased with thieves and keep company with adulterers (18), who give their mouths "free rein for evil" and whose tongues frame deceit (19), slandering their own brothers! (20).

Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart,
and there by none to deliver!
The one who offers thanksgiving
as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God! (22-23)

We are not to trust in government or socialized medicine as our saviors. We must offer heartfelt sacrifices of thanksgiving to God and live righteously. Those that do this will see God's salvation.

Resting in Peace (Psalm 49)

When I wake in the night and can't get back to sleep, I try to pray God's words back to him by repeating sections of Psalms. But when I woke early this morning, I just couldn't seem to recall very many; my mind was full of family and financial concerns.

Finally getting up, I read Psalm 49. If you have ever felt burdened by the inability to get ahead financially, read this Psalm.

Why should I fear in time of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who
cheat me surrounds me,
those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
that he should live on forever
and never see the pit (5-9).

When I fear for the future and worry about finances, I can know that earthly wealth is not the important thing; it cannot secure eternal life. No person can save another from hell.

The Psalm demonstrates in verses 10-14 that everyone dies and all their wealth is left to others; the foolish are "appointed for Sheol" and the "upright will rule over them in the morning" (14).

But God will ransom my soul
from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me (15).

God ransoms my soul through the finished work of Christ. I can rest in the comfort of knowing my eternal salvation is secure. Thanks be to God!

The gentle whisper

God continues to speak directly to me in the Psalms.

Yesterday was a long day: a long morning of uncomfortable sitting, strained listening, and concentrated note-taking at Classis; followed by a long afternoon and a longer evening of frustrating searching, stressful sorting, and interminable calculating for taxes.

This morning I read Psalm 48:

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King (1-2, ESV).

Classis is work, but it also is the church. The church of Christ is beautiful; it is the joy of all the earth. It is the city of our great King.

Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress (3).

Within the church, we hear God's Word proclaimed. God has made himself known as our fortress.

Verses 4-7 describe how God will bring panic and choas to the rulers who fight against the church. Verse 8 assures us:

As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the LORD of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God will establish forever.

God's Word speaks to us of his power and care for his people, and that Word is affirmed time and again in our lives. The church will not be overcome; God has established his city forever. What a comforting thought to hold in our hearts and minds!

We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple (9).

Just as God's name fills the earth, so his praise "reaches to the ends of the earth" and we see evidence that his "right hand is filled with righteousness" (10).

The rest of verse 10 and verse 11 are strong imperatives:

Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments!

We can rejoice because of God's righteous judgments.

One can easily imagine the people of Israel, walking around the city of Jerusalem, thinking about the ways God has delivered them:

Walk about Zion, go around her,
number her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels (12-13a).

Even though we can't see Jerusalem's walls and towers, we have seen more of God's goodness and provision than the Israelites. We've seen the bright light of the Son of Salvation. We've seen the walls and towers of Christ's church. Think about these things so...

that you may tell the next generation
that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will guide us forever (13a-14).

This morning I was like Elijah, crying in the cave. In my pity party, I felt that my limited witness was ineffective. I felt all alone.

But God has reserved for himself 7,000 whose knees have not bowed to Baal (1 Kings 19). There are many workers in Christ's church. I am not alone.

I have no idea how God might use my writing, but I am called to exalt God by proclaiming the beauties of his holy city to this and the next generation.

I don't need to be popular or well-paid. I don't need to hear God's voice in a rending wind, or a powerful earthquake, or a consuming fire. I just need to be still and listen. I must trust and obey God, who speaks to me in a gentle whisper.

In media res (Psalm 47)

After a late evening in which I heard remarks or received information that demonstrated effective ways forces of evil harm the churches and our nation, I woke this morning with a backache and tired eyes, exacerbated by an anxious spirit and a discouraged mind.

Providentially, the next psalm in my devotional reading was Psalm 47:

Clap your hands, all peoples!
Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared,
a great king over all the earth (1-2).

Wow! Now that's a joyful psalm! It reminds me that I don't have to fear foreign takeovers or internal choas; I just need to fear the Lord. He is the One and Only God who either condemns or saves. We call him the Most High because he is higher than any power or authority on this earth. Our nation may crumble, our bodies may be killed, but God holds our souls.

God isn't sitting idly by in heaven while the world falls apart. He takes an active interest in his people and works in their lives.

He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves (3-4).

God miraculously rescued his people from their slavery in Egypt. He conquered mighty nations to give his people the heritage he had chosen for them. He did all this because he loves his people as his own dear children. He is able to do this because he is Almighty God.

God has gone up with a shout,
the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm! (5-7)

Because God is the King of all the earth who acts forcefully on our behalf, we should joyfully and enthusiastically praise him!

God reigns over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted! (8-9)

God is sitting in heaven, but he is also reigning over all the nations (including ours). He will work all the events of current history for his glory and honor. No matter what people gather together, all their weapons (defensive and offensive) belong to God. He is the One who controls the outcome of each attack and every battle.

We stumble along--somewhere in media res (in the middle of things). But we've read the end of the Book, and we know how the story ends.

We win!

God as our refuge

Yesterday while I exercised at Anytime Fitness, I watched a documentary about the 1883 volcanic eruption that sunk two-thirds of the island of Krakatoa. The resulting tsunami claimed more lives than the actual eruption.

This morning I read Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear
though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved
into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble
at its swelling (1-3).

Two volcanoes and most of the island of Krakatoa fell into the heart of the sea. The waters roared and foamed in a powerful tsunami that claimed thousands of lives. The volcanic explosions were heard 3,000 miles away and the pressure wave from the final eruption was recorded on instruments as it reverberated around the world seven times.

Where the volcanoes collapsed into the sea, a new volcanic island--Anuk Krakatau (Child of Krakatoa)--rises at the rate of five inches per week (6.8 meters per year). Almost continuous low-level eruptions, with occasional explosions, have occurred on Aunk Krakatau since 1994. After the volcano released hot gases, rocks, and lava in April of 2008, people were warned to stay out of a 3 km zone around the island. In May of 2009, the volcano's eruption alert status was raised to Level Orange. Surely the mountains and people of Indonesia tremble at Anuk Krakatau's swelling!

When the volcanoes of Krakatoa exploded in 1883, they threw enough debri into the atmosphere to cover the island of Manhattan to a depth of 200 feet. People around the world described a darkened sun and a "blood red" moon; fiery sunsets were recorded for several years following the eruptions. The earth's temperatures dropped 1.2 degrees and did not return to normal for five years.

It doesn't take much imagination to think about what could happen if God allowed just a few volcanoes to erupt at the same time. The Bible speaks about the sun being turned to "darkness" and the moon to "blood" before the great and awesome day of the Lord (Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20, Revelation 6:12).

But Psalm 45 doesn't stop with this vision of cataclysmic or even apocalyptic destruction; it immediately reminds readers that:

There is a river whose streams
make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High (4).

This brings to mind the River of Life John describes in Revelation 22:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him (1-3).

The author of Psalm 45 wants to remind believers that in the midst of geological, political, or social upheaval on earth, the church can cling to the vision of the crystal river in God's city:

God is in the midst of her;
she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns (5).

God dwells with his church, and that church will not be moved. Out of the darkest nights on this earth, morning will dawn.

Even when nations rage, kingdoms totter, and the earth melts (6):

The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress (7).

With confidence, we can behold the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth (8). God's desolations are not limited to cataclysmic events within the creation; he also "makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire" (9). At least part of his desolations will be bringing a final and definitive end to warfare.

In the midst of this earth's fury, God tells us:

Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth! (10).

The Psalmist ends this remarkable song with a rousing and encouraging chorus:

The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our fortress (11).

No matter how many volcanoes explode and spew their ash into our atmosphere, no matter how many mountains fall into the sea, no matter how many nations rage, no matter how many kingdoms totter, even if the very earth melts, we can be still and know that God is with us. He is our fortress. He will be exalted!

[NOTE: As I began the day with Psalm 46, so I ended it. At the conclusion of the evening Classis meeting, the assembled group sang #85 from the blue Psalter Hymnal: "God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength," a versification of Psalm 46.]

A ready scribe

"Monday, Monday," sang the Mamas and The Papas, "so good to me. Monday mornin' it was all I hoped it would be."

Monday morning is the time I assess my work for the week and try to figure out how I will get the most crucial of it accomplished.

This morning I was thankful to count only 14 project sticky notes (down from a high of 24 and 21 last time I counted). Although I don't include personal projects in my sticky note count, I really should add the sticky note proclaiming, "TAXES," as number 15 since we are now only one month from the due date for that annual misery and our tax preparer would probably appreciate receiving our information this week.

Even if I count 15 projects, it is an encouraging reduction from 21 projects and reinforces my positive attitude after reading verse one of Psalm 45:

My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

My heart does overflow with the pleasing theme of God's sovereignty and goodness. He is the king to whom I address my verses (as well as my prose). The movements of my fingers on the keyboard are my pen strokes.

This blog is called "Ascribelog" because it is the log of a scribe and because its purpose is to ascribe glory to God. Because I think of myself as a scribe, the first verse of Psalm 45 seemed meaningful to me.

The Psalm is called "A Love Song" and sings the praises of a mighty king who rides victoriously, not for the cause of truth, justice, and the American way, but for "the cause of truth, meekness, and righteousness" (4). The arrows of this eternal king are "sharp in the heart of the king's enemies" and the "peoples fall" under him (5).

He is more than a fierce and mighty military leader. He is a glad and pleasing person. He has been anointed with "the oil of gladness" and his robes are "fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia." He is a great architect and musician who lives in "ivory palaces" and rejoices in "stringed instruments" (7-8). And his queen stands beside him in the "gold of Ophir" (9).

Now we begin to see why Psalm 45 is called "A Love Song." The Psalmist obviously loves his king, and the king loves his queen. The Psalmist addresses the queen, encouraging her to forget her people and bow to the king (10-11). The "all glorious" princess in many-colored "robes interwoven with gold," followed by an impressive retinue, enters the palace of the king with "joy and gladness" (13-15). Her sons will become princes in "all the earth" and their name will be remembered to all generations (16-17).

The pageantry of a beautiful bride entering the palace of a wealthy king pictures for us the majesty and beauty of Christ's church entering the palace of the eternal King. Christ's love for his church is the ultimate love story upon which all love songs written about true love are based.

The Mamas and The Papas bemoaned "Monday mornin'" because it "couldn't guarantee that Monday evenin' you would still be here with me."

Monday morning is good to me and Monday evening will still be good to me, because I (and all believers) have the sure guarantee that Christ the King will be here with his church on earth and will one day bring us into his perfect palace. There we will sing the eternal Love Song at the marriage supper of the Lamb:

Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride had made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure (Rev. 19:6b-8a).

May your Monday morning be good to you. May your heart overflow with a pleasing theme as you address your verses or your work to the King. May your tongue, your hands, and your heart be like the pen of a ready scribe.

Psalm 40 speaks to me

I am amazed at how God's Word spoke directly to me this morning.

Regular readers will know that I've been slowly working through the Psalms. This morning I nearly skipped reading the next Psalm. I have four writing projects that must be completed by tomorrow evening; it would be better if they were completed today, but I have a meeting this afternoon for which I still have hours of preparation. I didn't feel that I really had time for devotions or blogging this morning.

But I read Psalm 40. This is the Psalm that begins:

I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure (ESV, 1-2).

Whenever I read these words, I feel that they apply specifically to me. I've been in the pit of depression and the miry bog of anxiety. God has drawn me up from the pit and out of the bog. He's set my feet upon Christ, the solid rock, and made my steps secure.

I've also been in work situations that were miserable. But God provided amazing opportunities for me to write.

He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD (3).

I don't know how effective my work is in God's kingdom, but he knows. He can use even my feeble words to work in hearts.

Blessed in the man who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after a lie! (v.4).

It doesn't matter if I ever hold a book with my name on the cover. Thinking of that as fulfillment is turning toward pride and going after a lie.

You have multipled, O LORD my God,
your wondrous deed and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told (5).

The stories I need to write proclaim God's wondrous work, which is more than I can tell.

Sacrifice and offering you have not desired,
but you have given me an open ear (6a).

God doesn't desire that I write in an obligatory "works righteous" mode. He has given me an ear that is open to hearing and recording people's personal stories.

I was feeling more and more as if this Psalm was written thousands of years ago for my particular benefit this morning, when I read:

Then I said, "Behold I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart" (8).

All I have ever wanted to do was write for the Lord.

God has given me many opportunities to do that.

I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O LORD.
I have not hidden your deliverance
within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness
and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love
and your faithfulness
from the great congregation (9-10).

Two recently published stories were about rescues after the Haitian earthquake: widely read stories of God's great deliverance. One of the stories I need to write is a follow-up.

By this time in my reading of Psalm 40, I had undergone a transformation. Instead of feeling as if my pressing deadlines were strangling me, I felt as if my loving Father was wrapping his arms around me.

As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness
will ever preserve me! (11).

I felt encouraged that God would provide just what I needed for this day. Somehow the preparations will be made. Somehow the meeting will accomplish its aims. Somehow the stories will be written.

The Psalmist then cries for help and asks that those who seek his destruction will be throughly thwarted (13-15). He concludes his prayer with words that need no comment from me:

But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, "Great is the LORD!"
As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God! (16-17).

Carpe Diem!

With 19 project notes currently strung above my monitor, this morning's devotions from Psalm 39 seem particularly apt.

These project notes are not mere reminders. They are not personal projects (like [shudder] TAXES). They are sticky notes about separate work projects that hang (very nearly literally) over my head.

This morning I woke, filled with determination to work hard toward removing at least one of those notes. In God's providence, I read Psalm 39 for my morning devotions.

The Psalm is a great reminder that we have been given a limited number of days on earth. We must make every hour of every day count for the Lord.

O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
Behold, you have made may days
a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing
before you.
Surely all mankind stands as
a mere breath! (ESV, 4-5).

The Psalmist asks:

And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you (7).

Waiting on the Lord is a continuing motif through the Psalms. David reminds us that we wait on the Lord with hope.

While we work for the Lord and wait on Him, we need to be aware of our sins and repent from them.

Deliver my from all my transgressions (8a).

If we fail to repent, we can expect God's heavy hand of discipline:

Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
When you discipline a man
with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth
what is dear to him;
surely all mankind is a mere breath! (10-11).

When we repent, we can expect God's mercy. But we must not delay in recognizing and repenting of our sin while we work and wait. Our hearts must break over the sin in our lives.

Hear my prayer, O LORD,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you,
a guest, like all my fathers.
Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more! (12-13).

Today is the day to recognize our sins. Today is the day to repent from it. When God's hand of discipline weighs on us, we must cry to him for deliverance and peace. We are on this earth for such a short time. We are only passing through, sojourners on a upward path toward the celestial city. Time is short: Seize the day!

Dwelling in the Land

How beautifully this morning's sun shone into our home, glowing in amber patches on the refrigerator, a living-room chair, and even the front door!

Perhaps it struck me so much because I had just read Psalm 37, whose beginning includes these encouraging verses:

Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday (ESV, 3-6).

The amber glow of the early sun, peeking above a coral cloud bank, brought new meaning to the image of righteousness as light.

Psalm 37 is a study in contrasts between believers and unbelievers. Over and over it contrasts the worldly success of the ungodly with the eternal blessing of the godly; the transitory character of the unrighteous with the eternal security of the righteous. It's a great Psalm to read when you feel the forces of evil are tap dancing on your head.

God continually assures us in this Psalm that we will inherit the land. Our hope is not only for a magnificent mansion with glimmering windows and shimmering towers in heaven, but it is also for deer leaping on hills and trees spreading in forests of a new earth.

Reading Psalm 37 this morning, I was also struck by its three injunctions to "wait on the Lord." Waiting is one of the hardest life lessons to learn, but God expects us to learn patience and contentment while waiting for him to act or for his will to be revealed.

Waiting on the Lord doesn't mean we should sit back and be lazy. We need to press on in working toward the coming of his kingdom, but we don't work as if our efforts can earn even a tiny element of our salvation. Our work never gains salvation or improves our status; it wells from our hearts as an offering of gratitude for his free gift of eternal security.

The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him (39-40).

May each of you trust in the Lord and do good; may you dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness; may you delight yourself in the Lord, and may God grant you the desires of your heart.

Just as the morning light glows in our home this morning, I pray that you are committing your ways to the Lord and he is acting to shine forth your righteousness and justice. May each of you come to a new awareness that salvation is from the Lord alone; he is our stronghold, our helper, and our deliverer.

Take refuge in him!

Drinking from God's river of delights

The Psalms contain much comfort and encouragement. Today I wanted to share these gems from Psalm 36:

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge
in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink
from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life:
in your light do we see light (7-9).

May each of you feel the peace and safety found under God's wings. May you feast on the abundance of his house. May you drink from the river of his delights. May you find the only fountain of life that truly give eternal life. And may you truly see the illumination of God's light.