Week Twenty-One - Wrong Way

Tom and I have been traveling a lot lately and have been reminded to use caution when we drive because we are no longer on the English proper side of the road; we are on the American right side!

That makes turning corners challenging, and I have noticed the Wrong Way sign on the interstate many times. Thankfully, we haven't turned down that way!

Psalm 36 was my reading today, and it came with a huge Wrong Way sign. Verse four reads, "He setteth himself in a way that is not good."

David has been describing the man who chooses to go his own way. This man (or woman) ignores God. They flatter themselves, thinking they know best, and hate begins filling their hearts. Then, what is in the heart comes out of the mouth, and all wisdom fails. They find themselves thinking about how they can get even, how they can give someone a piece of their mind, or make a point, not for good or to resolve a problem, but to hurt the other person as they have been hurt. They grow full of pride and attack anyone who tries to point them back to the way of God. They have set themselves on a way that is not good. 

And there they sit, stewing in their hate and regret, but too proud to kneel and ask forgiveness of God, seek resolution, or admit their own sin and wrongdoing.

Until they turn around, they are driving their lives the wrong way, and a collision is bound to happen.

The right way is also described in the psalm. It is full of God's great mercy, abundant provision, light, and lovingkindness.

Here is the interesting thing. We all travel the path of life together, and we see how each of us manages our lives. The choices we make determine the outcome. God says there are two paths to follow: the broad way or the narrow way. The paths are also described as light and darkness, as evil or good, and as truth or deceit. One leads to joy and life, the other to hatred and death. We know which path we are on by the fruit of our lives.

Sadly, those going the wrong way hate those going the right way. Maybe they are envious or confused about how to direct their lives. Maybe their hurts and life choices keep them prideful and unable to change their path. Or maybe no one has shared the light of the gospel with them.

Oh, let that not ever be said. When you meet someone whose life is set in a way that is not good, take time to lovingly speak truth to them. Don't let them ever say no one cared enough to speak up. 

David's closing prayer was, "Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me” (vs 11). Stay on the right path! Yet, reach out in love and concern for those going the wrong way.

Week Twenty - Chariot Prayers

Psalm 20 is a song that takes the form of a prayer for God to answer and deliver in times of trouble. Filled with hope and assurance, in full reliance on God, the psalmist uses positive words like send, remember, accept, grant, and fulfill as he prays to God. Notice that the prayer has not yet been answered. There appears to still be a problem, but the emphasis of the prayer is on anticipating the answer.

Verse 2, send help and give strength.
Verse 3, remember and accept my worship.
Verse 4, grant and fulfill my requests.

These three verses give us a basic outline. Tell God what you need, keep praising and worshiping, and leave the answer to Him.

Words like rejoice, save, rise, and stand reveal the psalmist's heart. Though his prayer remains unanswered, his chosen outlook is one of rejoicing, faith, and anticipated victory.

Verse 5, we will rejoice, fly our banner, and watch God fulfill our petitions.
Verse 6, the Lord saves by His saving strength alone.
Verse 8, we are risen, and stand upright.

All these words show his expectation because he has remembered the name of the Lord and placed his petitions before Him.

These are prayers of faith.

Chariot prayers are different. 

Chariot prayers seek solutions rather than looking to God and give God instructions instead of seeking His hand. They are not requests but demands coming from a heart desiring control or perceived power. Sometimes we are guilty of praying as if everything is hopeless, like God doesn't hear or see, much less remember, grant, or fulfill. We get bogged down in the problem and forget the strength of God's hand.

When we pray like that, we are placing our trust in chariots of our own figuring or in the expectation that our problems will be solved by ourselves or by man, that if we pray hard enough or long enough, we will find a way through.

Chariot prayers are bound to fail, but when we remember God, He will fulfill all our petitions (verse 5), and we will rise and stand (verse 8), for only God can save. These are prayers of faith.

So, consider, are your prayers hitched to a chariot or to the name of the Lord our God? (verse 7)

Week Nineteen - Hold Your Tongue

Psalm 17:3 holds this phrase, "I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress." This is a goal David set for himself. Recognizing that God is busy proving him, visiting him in the night, and trying him, he knows what is in his heart will pour out of his mouth, so he sets a guard, a purpose that no sinful word will escape.

To not allow sinful things to rise in our language, we must be purposeful in keeping our hearts clean by allowing the Lord to do with us just as He did with David, to prove, visit, and try us. This is not a process we relish.

To prove us, God places us in situations where our integrity is challenged and our weaknesses exposed. Oh, how uncomfortable this feels. We are faced with a choice: tell the truth or lie, cheat or be honest, give or withhold. All of these little challenges add up and affect our hearts. When we fail, we feel the Holy Spirit's conviction. Often, we choke back His conviction and move on, but what we fail to recognize is that this indiscretion has planted a seed in our hearts. It has proven our lack of integrity.

For God to visit us in the night is to hear His still, small voice calling us to prayer, speaking words of wisdom to our confused hearts, pointing us in His direction in decisions, and calling us to trust Him more fully. When God visits us in the night, there are few distractions. We hear His voice more clearly, and sometimes we may even argue with Him. The better question is, are we listening? Do we notice Him visiting us in the night? Are we practicing what He is teaching?

And when God tries us, He places difficulties before us that challenge and increase our faith. Each trial contains a lesson that reveals more of His character and deepens our relationship if we pay attention and yield by faith.

With all this activity, God is working on our hearts, cleansing, strengthening, and preparing them for our future.

David's words teach us one more truth: we must live with purpose. Our hearts are fickle and tainted, often damaged by what we experience, the thoughts we entertain, and what we hear and see, so we must purposefully choose to control what goes in and what comes out.

"I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress."

How could my mouth transgress?

I can speak too quickly about things that ignite an emotional response.
I can speak too much about things I don't know enough about.
I can speak with pride about what I do understand.
I can speak harshly when my patience runs thin.
I can speak from a heart of jealousy and envy.
I can speak from anger.
I can judge and slay others with hurtful words.

Our mouth is a powerful weapon, injurious, and deceitful, and it reveals what is in our hearts.
How much better for us to purposely hold our tongue than to loose it like an unruly sword.

Week Eighteen - Weights, Wants, and Woes

This past week, we were in a Mission Conference in northern Illinois. The gracious lady we stayed with invited us to join her for morning devotions.

As she read the devotional, three words popped out at me - weights, wants, and woes. The writer, Tim Green, was focusing on Colossians 3:10 and the benefits of the new man, saying, "Spiritually, when an individual new-born Christian is directed or informed that they have become a new creature in Christ Jesus and the weights, wants, and woes of the past have or are dissipating and disappearing, one recognizes the 'new man' they have become."

How many of us fail to understand the change and power available to us as new creatures in Christ? No longer can the weights, wants, and woes of this life have dominion over us unless we allow them. I found myself meditating on this fact for the rest of the day. 

And even singing, "Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be weary and long for heaven and home? When Jesus is my portion, my constant friend is He. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."

Then, as the Lord often does, He brought me face-to-face with Scripture, deepening my thoughts and understanding.

I was reading Psalm 13. This short chapter is full of woe for the first four verses, then full of renewed hope for the final two. Where the Psalmist initially cries out, posing questions and calling out to God in despair, his resolve returns to truth in the considered actions of 'I will' and 'I shall'.

Psalm 13:5-6a reads, "But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord."

How important it is for us to recognize that though the weights, wants, and woes of life try to trample us down, we can return in full faith to a God who sees and hears; a God who lifts us up.

How can we stay down, when He is so near?

Trust, rejoicing, and singing are David's remedies for his woeful questions. And, he closes with a beautiful answer of why, "because He hath dealt bountifully with me" ( vs 6).

So today, if life feels heavy, if the weights, wants, and woes of this world have you bogged down, grab hold of the I will and I shall and choose to trust, rejoice, and sing. Count those blessings and you will no doubt find that God has also dealt bountifully with you, and no weight, want, or woe can outstrip His grace and love.

Week Seventeen - He's Just a Man

This year, I'm doing something different for my Bible reading and devotional time. I'm reading one chapter each morning, creating a short synopsis, and then a short meditation. My goal is to do the entire Bible and then publish it in sections. We will see how that works out. But in the meantime, I'm really enjoying taking time to read only one chapter and think it through instead of trying to read five full chapters each day. Slowing down means I'm gaining more.

Today, I was in Psalm 9. It starts out with two words sprinkled throughout the Psalm, I will.  I will praise thee. I will be glad and rejoice. I will sing praise, and I will rejoice in thy salvation. The I wills of Scripture indicate a concerted choice to focus on God rather than on the problems around. I have found this to be such a good practice for faith and mental health. It is a great way to obey the Lord and take every thought captive.

When trouble comes knocking, I can open the door to fret and fear, or I can choose to praise. And even if trouble enters the room, songs of faith can rise from my heart as I wait upon the Lord and listen carefully for His instruction. I don't have to succumb to pits of despair when praise can lift my heart!

The Psalm continues with a discussion of enemies: how God has rebuked and destroyed them, removing their name forever and ever. It reads like David is speaking directly to his enemies, telling them of their doom and God's greatness. He also seems to be speaking directly to God: how God has not forsaken those who seek Him, does not forget the cry of the humble, and will execute judgment on those who oppose His children.

I liked David's final summations. Verse 17 reads, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." Verse 20, "Put them in fear, O Lord; that the nations may know themselves to be but men."

How apt this Psalm is for today. Fear tends to rise in our hearts with the thought of war and enemies. Fear due to anticipated attacks, not knowing what will happen, and sometimes, a lack of faith. 

There is no Bible promise that war will not come, but there is the promise of God's intervention and protection for those who trust Him. He is our shield and buckler. He is the God of victory. War is but a tool in His hand. We need to fear, but trust. Psalm 9:10 says, "And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee." 

We can't put our trust in politicians or nations. We can't trust our emotions and fears. All of these things are volatile. Only God is consistent and purposeful in fulfilling His will, and that is where we must place our trust. In Him - Him alone, no matter what the future holds.

The enemy, David says, is just a man, subject to God, though he refuses to recognize God. He will stand before God for judgment, as will we. 

So let's choose praise to arise by faith in our hearts and through our lips. Praise lifts God high, gives us strength and increased faith, and is a witness of God's greatness that the old enemy cannot stand to be around. 

We have much to rejoice over, so choose praise. God is stronger than our enemy.

Psalm 10:1-2, "I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.  And verse 14, That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation."

I will. Will you?

Week Sixteen - Perplexed

Esther 3:15 reads, "the city Shushan was perplexed." Haman has just convinced the king to send out an order (the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be rescinded) for the annihilation of all Jews. There had been no Jewish uprising against the king. The Jews were assimilated into Persian society, and the only thorn in the flesh was Haman's hatred toward Mordecai, who would not bow to him.

Haman's need for vengeance went far beyond a personal conflict, and his action left the city bewildered as to why this was happening.

Pride and vengeance produce evil; evil that loses all sense of reality and common sense. It reaches out without regard for who is in the crosshairs, concerned only with nailing its point to the wall and eliminating anything or anyone that restricts or inhibits its continued pride and evil desires.

Taking time to judge our motives, especially when it comes to pride, is important. And God knows we need to take stock. James 3:13-18 is a great place to start. 

The passage could be paraphrased as such.  

So you think you are right? You think you are wise? Then show your wisdom by how you live. If you have bitterness, jealousy, and anger in your heart, you need to recognize that this is not from God. It is earthly, self-motivated, and influenced by the enemy. You'll know it is wrong because it produces confusion and evil. But wisdom from God is entirely different. It is pure, peaceful, gentle, welcoming, merciful, and is shown in good works. It creates peace.

When we focus on revenge or getting our way, we are not using Godly wisdom. We are not producing peace. And when we act in irrational ways, we confuse or perplex those around us. 

You see, we are often good at hiding our true motives. But God sees right through us. God saw right through Haman, and his attempt at annihilation backfired big time. That law of sowing and reaping is eternal and consistent in every era.

So today, before you strike out in vengeance, take time to think about your motives. Are they earthly? Are they self-motivated, self-serving, or self-promoting? Are they spurred on by evil intentions and thoughts? The result reveals the motivation. Bad wisdom produces confusion and leaves our family and friends perplexed. Good wisdom produces peace.

What are you producing?

On a Side Note: We may be feeling perplexed by our current world situation, wondering what is happening, why, and what the outcome will be. But let's remember Esther's instruction - fast and pray. There is a God in heaven, and He is not perplexed. He knows exactly every moment of man, the intent of the heart, and how He uses men to accomplish His will. God showed Himself able to save in the Persian Empire during the time of Esther. He is no less able to save in our time. Don't let perplexity become your normal state. Let it be one of faith and courage in the face of evil. You can trust the Lord!

Week Fifteen - Praying for Results

Today, I completed my reading of Job. In this final chapter, Job humbly responds to God's claim of supremacy. With an utterly broken heart, he recognizes God's authority and wisdom, saying, "I know that thou cast do everything and that no thought can be withholden from thee. (vs. 2), "Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (vs 6). 

Then, his so-called friends become the focus of God's attention. They had attacked Job's integrity and painted God as merciless. Now, God requires their repentance and a burnt offering. To make His point further, He also requires a prayer from Job. This is the only thing God will accept, saying, "ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job" (vs 8).

Vindication is there for Job. Not that he was seeking it, but God gave it anyway. Job's trial is over. 

As I meditated on the situation, prayer took on a more pointed light. Only when we place ourselves humbly under God's authority and mercy can we ever expect an answer to prayer, and only then are we positioned to pray for others. Three things came to my attention.

1. We must pray with humility, not pride. We are not better than each other. Whether we are praying for a friend or a foe, we must remember that we have equal access, equal value, and equal accountability before the Lord. We are all on level ground. Pride tells us, as it did Job's friends, that our opinion is best, that our evaluation of the situation holds sway, and that we should be heard. But when we pray with humility, our words are fewer, and our hearts humbly weep as we recognize our own humanity.

2. We must pray, asking for God's will, not trying to tell Him what to do. Oh, how good we are at telling God what we think should be done, how we expect Him to answer, and what outcome will be to our benefit. Our prayers sound like commands and instructions instead of requests. God doesn't need our opinion. He works all things according to the purpose of His own will, not ours. And how thankful we should be for that truth, because if everything were done according to our will, things would be in a huge mess!

3. Prayer done in humble obedience opens the windows of heaven. Verse 10 reads, "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before." Job's obedience was key to the release of his trial. Job didn't seek vengeance; he humbly prayed that God would accept the sacrifice of his friends and grant them forgiveness. He had no ulterior motive. Note: he prayed in obedience before he received the blessing. Isn't that further food for thought?

If you are expecting results from prayer, consider these three things, and then ask yourself these questions.

Am I praying from pride, looking for vindication or elevation? Do I pray humbly and with a heart of repentance? Can I rest in God's will and not demand my own? Do I pray a list of instructions to God? Am I expecting Him to answer according to my desires? Do my prayers qualify as obedient? Does God answer my prayers with blessings? Am I thankful and obedient before I receive the answer to my prayer, or discontent, whiny, and complaining? Do I pray in faith and leave the rest to God?

When we are praying for results, these thoughts matter.