Month: December 2019

“My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, for people who are wicked and deceitful have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause.In return for my friendship they accuse me,but I am a man of prayer. They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship.” Psalm 109:1-5

“But you, O Sovereign LORD, deal well with me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.” Psalm 109:21,22

“With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them.” Psalm 109:30,31

Psalm 109 is about a man who is under attack from rather unscrupulous persons. They care little for the truth, but care greatly about hurting others. They are untrustworthy and deceitful. They do not care about the hurt they are inflicting or about the consequences of their action. Throughout this Psalm the writer David calls for God to bring the hammer down on his enemies. Whereas some psalms are soothing, such as Psalm 23 and others are comforting like Psalm 91, Psalm 109 is very troubling to most because it is perhaps the strongest imprecatory Psalm that David wrote. The word imprecatory means to call down destruction on someone and much of Psalm 109 does exactly that.

Most of us have had the experience of being the recipient of terrible treatment from someone.  We have been slandered, had our character besmirched, and even had those who have tried to ruin our reputation.  If that has not happened to you that is great, but unfortunately it is not unreasonable to think it could happen.  There are some pretty unjust people populating this world.  Well, if we have even had some of these unjust things happen to us, we can identify with David.

Notice that these people are wholly unjustified in these attacks. David says they do this without a cause and we take him to be an honest man. He sees absolutely no reason for their accusations. They are afflicting him, upsetting him, and attacking him without cause. That very well may have been the case, but what should he do in response?  The writers in the old testament and even a few times in the new, vent themselves to God about their enemies and call for some pretty awful punishment for them. Should we call down curses on our enemies like that (as though we haven’t once in awhile already)?

I think David gives us a pretty good formula for dealing with these kinds of problems. First of all,  David commits the whole matter to the Lord in prayer.  In the first five verse he outlines his problems.  It is not as though God does not know them already, but by David verbalizing them, he can do a truth check on his own feelings.  Is this really what is going on?  Are these things really unjust?  Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? This is really important to do.  Why?  Because in verbalizing our woes, we may realize that our emotion is unfounded or maybe we are in the wrong or that our accusers need mercy.  By talking to God about it, we can decide on step two in the process.

If we decide that we should handle things differently, then we do.  Maybe instead of bringing wrath down upon our accusers, we should pray mercy for them.  Maybe we should confront them.  Maybe we should forgive them.  Whatever it is that we should do- we should do.  In the verses above, David has decided that he wants the hammer dropped down on his enemies.  By the way, with all his flaws, David was a man after God’s own heart.  If we call for God to deal out appropriate discipline to others, we better be disciplined in our own walk first.  Remember, we are all beggars just pointing other beggars to food. We better not be a kettle calling the pot black (old saying, but a goody).  If we are going to wish punishment on others, we better be sure we don’t deserve it ourselves.  Someone once said that if we point our finger at someone else , three of our fingers are pointing back  at us.

In verses 1-5 David commits the cause to God.  “But you, O Sovereign LORD, deal well with me for your name’s sake.”  He understands that the lord has said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay.” in both the Old and New Testaments.  (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19).  He says that vengeance is His! We shouldn’t try it; leave it up to God and don’t try to ‘get even,’ because if we do, we will only make matters worse. We will end up damaging others and creating all kinds of difficulties both for us and for them. The Lord is the  only one who has the wisdom to adequately to handle these kinds of a problems.  David recognizes that and commits the cause to God.

But David also understands that God’s name is involved in all this. When God’s people are being persecuted, then God is also being persecuted. After David thoroughly checks the situation and decides he is not being petty and checks his own heart to make sure he is not outside God’s will, he then calls on God to defend God’s name. When Paul was Saul and was converted on the road to Damascus, Jesus identified Himself by saying “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”  Saul was persecuting the Christians, but when he was persecuting them, he was also persecuting the Lord. God is involved in His people’s tribulations. David understands this, commits the whole cause to God and says, “God, you deal with it. It is Your problem. Your name is involved; you handle it on my behalf for Your name’s sake.”  That is also what we should do.

We should ask God to keep us from striking back when we have been falsely accused.  If we ride into town, guns blazing, there will probably be a lot collateral damage. If God rides into town guns blazing, He will only hit what should be hit.  We must ask Him to help us commit the cause to Him, trusting that He knows how to work these things out.  We might tell God what we think should be done, but in the end we need to turn the whole thing over to Him.  He will do, what He will do, in His own time and in His own way.  And it will be right and good in such a way that our feeble minds could have never done it as well.

While the prayers of David were severe, his personal actions toward his enemies were often gracious and kind.  David talked about Saul a lot in his prayers (Saul was out to get David).  Even though David cried out for God’s justice, David still extended mercy to Saul.  David refused to take personal revenge, even when he had the opportunity. When he had the chance to kill Saul, he cut off a piece of his robe instead (1 Sam. 24:1-8) and later he was conscience-stricken for the spirit which had prompted even this small this act (v. 5). David may have prayed fiercely, but his actions were absolutely gracious and kind.

We need to do the same as David. At the end of his prayer he shows the right attitude, the right reaction, and the right way to handle this kind of a situation.  Tell God what we think and step away.  If God decides correction is necessary, let Him handle it.  If He thinks mercy is necessary, let Him show it.  If He thinks we should be part of it, Let Him reveal it.  This kind of thing is way above our pay grade.  Let God take care of it.  There used to be a very popular TV show in the very old days.  It was called “Father Knows Best.”  I have to believe when it comes to the handling of our accusers, our “Father knows best.”  If He knows best; let Him do best!

”For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9

These verses are two of my favorites, and you have probably figured this out,  since I have written about them quite a few times.  Well, they came to mind recently when I was talking to someone I knew while shopping for camping stuff.  Boy, did she get worked up about the condition of the country.  I remember specifically one thing that she said a couple of times.  She said, “People today want something for nothing.  They don’t feel like they need to work for anything.  They think they are entitled to everything.”

As I made my escape I thought to myself, “I couldn’t get a word in edgewise,”  (that very seldom happens, so I thought I would mention it), but right after that thought, I thought to myself that there is one situation when many people do just the opposite of what she is saying.  A time when they refuse a free gift and instead think they must work for it.  That is when it comes to their salvation.  Isn’t that funny?  Not funny ha-ha.  Funny strange.  I think that the lady I was speaking to was correct that many people believe that their everyday needs should be met for free.  I think that sentiment  is probably worse than ever and is just a sign of the times.

We have all heard the phrase “entitlement society” before, but the truth of the matter is when it comes to salvation we are the “unentitlement society.”  We are “unentitled” to salvation and it needs to be free, because we can never earn it.  Even if it only cost a tiny bit of what was worth, we could not afford it.  Even if our “worthiness” was added into the equation, we could not afford it.  Even if all our good works were counted toward the payment, we could not afford it.  No matter what, we could not afford it; yet, ironically, no matter what, many will not accept the gift of salvation without trying to pay for it.

In America, especially, there is a strange dichotomy.  Although many may want “freebies” they are also told  that working hard will give them more “good” things in life and that doing nothing will bring more “bad” things in life. They hear the message, but are left to decide how to use it.  Some sit and wait to receive things on the backs of others and others work hard and carry the load for themselves and others.  The burden of salvation is only carried on the back of one Man.  The cults and “isms” and even some “non-believers” all have the same mantra.  “If I do enough, maybe I will be accepted into eternity by god.”  Right now we have some zealots that believe they can “kill” their way into heaven.  What we all must understand is that we can’t work our way into heaven with good deeds, bad deeds, or any deeds.  Yes, indeed, there is only one deed that can pay the price for our salvation and that deed took place on a wooden cross over 2,000 years ago.

This will come a shock to many but the lines, “He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you’re awake.  He knows if you’ve been bad or good.  So be good for goodness sake,” is not about God’s plan for salvation.  It is important to understand the grace of God so that we can experience it, and also so we can share Jesus accurately with non-Christians. There are two things to keep in mind when we are sharing Jesus with others.  One, we can never be good enough to earn salvation and we can never be bad enough to be ineligible for salvation.  This salvation is based on God’s grace and we can only receive it, “lest we should boast.”

So in conclusion (yes, I can reach a conclusion) , we can never be good enough for salvation. The book of James (2:10-11) tells us if we break any one of God’s laws that we are guilty of breaking all of them and Jesus said in Matthew 5:27 that even if we only think sin, we are guilty of sin.  We cannot be perfect, yet God’s righteousness demands perfection. Since we are in the middle of baseball, let me put it this way.  We have to hit 1000% to get into heaven.  We can’t.  But there is designated hitter that will go to the plate for us who does hit 1000%.  Even if we hit .300 or .500 or .700, we will always fall short unless we use this designated hitter. Let’s encourage others to step out of the batter’s box and accept Substitute who has never failed.

There is a saying that says, “Nothing in life is free,” and what that means is that somewhere somebody has paid for it.  That is true.  And in the case of salvation it has been bought and paid for at great cost.  What a shame if it is not accepted.   The greatest thing that we can do is not try to earn salvation, but to say, “I give up. Christ, You do it.”  That is what Ephesians is telling us.  The bases are loaded.  It’s the bottom of the ninth.  We are behind.  No one should allow pride to keep them in the batter’s box.  Here is a guarantee- we will all strike out.  Only Jesus who has already come through, will come through.  Go back to the dugout and watch Him do His thing, then come out and enjoy the win.

“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” – Ecclesiastes 11:4

I have long wanted to write a novel. I started my first one when I was in college and am on chapter thirteen of my current one (been on chapter 13 for a long time now). I kid Elaine because she has started quite a few crocheting projects. Most of them remain the size of doilies. (maybe they are doilies, but I don’t think so). Sometimes people make bucket lists to try to do certain things they wish they had done earlier in their lives and often times they are things that they have always put off until tomorrow.

The dictionary defines procrastination as, “to delay or put off something until a later date, especially intentionally or habitually.” Many people make jokes about procrastination and I have made my share as well, but scripture tells us that it really isn’t any laughing matter. The above verse warns us that if we wait for “perfect conditions” to perform our tasks, we’ll never accomplish anything. There is a saying, “Hard work is often the easy work you do not do at the proper time” and that is so often true. Very few jobs that we put off get smaller, easier, or better. I often put off cleaning up the garage and I can tell you that no matter how long I wait, it is never better that I waited!

When we put things off, we put additional stress on ourselves about that task. Soon it seems as though the task is controlling us. It can reach the point of bondage and can even paralyze us. It is never far enough from our thoughts to truly escape it. We would think putting something off would put it behind us, but it is actually in front of us and we see it everywhere we go. Procrastination never simplifies our lives, but instead replaces our joy and peace with dread. Putting something off until tomorrow is like putting a piece of tape over the oil light on our dashboard- it doesn’t take away the problem, it just makes things worse in the long run.

A farm boy accidentally overturned his wagonload of corn in the road. The former who lived nearby came to investigate. “Hey, Willis,” he called out, “forget your troubles for a spell and come on in and have dinner with us. Then I’ll help you get the wagon up.”

“That’s mighty nice of you,” Willis answered, “But I don’t think Pa would like me to.”

“Aw, come on, son!” the farmer insisted.

“Well, okay,” the boy finally agreed. “But Pa won’t like it.”

After a hearty dinner, Willis thanked his host. “I feel a lot better now, but I just know Pa is going to be real upset.”

“Don’t be foolish!” exclaimed the neighbor.

“By the way, where is he?”

“Under the wagon.”

Richard L. Evans once said, “The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it” and as quickly as life passes, starting tasks at the end might not leave enough time to do them.

The best way to face a task we dread is to focus on the end result. How many times have we finally done something and said, “This is great. Why didn’t I do this sooner?” Probably almost every time we finally do a task! A good way to get started is to enlist God’s help. Second Timothy 1:7 reads “For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness but of power, love, and self-discipline.” God wants us to do things as they need to be done. We like to think that our procrastination affects only us, but that is far from true. Seldom does our inaction affect just us and even a minutes thought will remind us of that. Hardly anything that affects us, affects only us.

God will reward our diligence in not setting aside things, especially spiritual things. Proverbs 13:4 says, “The desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” In Proverbs (3:27-28) we are told, “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow’ – when you now have it with you.” That is a pretty clear statement about procrastination. God doesn’t want us putting off doing good to others. When it comes to mind to call someone, send them a card, or visit them, we need to be quick to respond. Our timely response can make a world of difference in someone else’s life. When we do the things we should do, when we should do them, we will feel the satisfaction we should feel, when we should feel it. What a shame to have to regret putting something off that we should have done earlier and because of that delay, delay the good feelings of getting it done. Accomplishing a task is a blessing in itself, so procrastinating is putting off our blessings to a later time, and why would we ever do that?

George Burns often told the story about how he wanted to insure his singing voice and he took a tape of his best song into the insurance company. The insurance agent listened to the tape, looked at him and said, “Mr. Burns, you should have come to us before you had the accident.” Some people kid that we should never do today what we can put off until tomorrow, but unfortunately that never quite works out for our benefit. I think this little poem illustrates most of our feelings.

Procrastination is my sin, it brings me naught but sorrow.
I know that I should stop it, in fact, I will…tomorrow.

Small tasks that we put off might not be too injurious, but spiritual ones can be. Let’s not put off those things we should do for God, thinking the task will get easier. If we want to read through the Bible, have a better prayer life, start witnessing more, today is a better day to start because tomorrow never comes until it is today. For me, I want to do more things for God and also get past chapter thirteen today. That would be a novel idea.