365 Reflections

Psalm 125:1–2 (ESV)  Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore. What a wonderful word picture of those who trust in the Lord. There are some pretty important mountains surrounding Jerusalem.  Mount Golgotha. The Mount of Olives. Mount Sinai (which we don't really know where but in the land). This is what you do when you spend time in the Word... you remember what He's done and Whose you are... When we come to the Word of God we are reminded of these mountains but more importantly, we are reminded of what they represent. Each mountain was the scene of a dramatic moment in redemptive history. The giving of the Law, the dying of our Savior, the Teaching of Christ and His return at the mount of olives! This is why we come to the Word of God, to remember we like that great city of God, now in grace surrounde

In the Psalm of Ascents, David declares: Psalm 124:1–5 (ESV) If it had not been the Lord who was on our side— let Israel now say— 2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, 3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; 4 then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; 5 then over us would have gone the raging waters. Psalm 124 is the response of God's faithful help in response to the cry of Psalm 123. They are meant to be read together. The Psalmist called out to God in Psalm 123 and then responds with praise in Psalm 124. How fitting and how often forgotten. We need to learn how to move from PRAYER to PRAISE. We usually call out to God when we need help. That's in our nature. We go back to church, we make deals with the Almighty, we pray, we get serious in our devotion, we seek the face of God.  Then the battle ends in victory. And yet how often we nev

How do you see God? Too many Americans see God as life-assistant, helpful friend who gives us a leg up when we are down. Too many Christians want a God who's there "for them" in their hard times, a safety net for when I fail in my plans. The Psalmist lifts his eyes to God in an entirely different way: Psalm 123:1–2 (ESV) To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! 2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us. The Psalmist sees God as the master of his life. He is facing the taunt of his enemies and turning to God his Lord as the one from whom he needs mercy. Psalm 123:3–4 (ESV)   Have mercy upon us, O Lord , have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. 4 Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud. Seeing God i

Psalm 122:1 (ESV) I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” Are you glad to come to God's house? You should be. For the writer of Psalm 122, there was no better place for he and fellow pilgrims to be than in the house of the Lord. Imagine being a Jewish pilgrim. You wander through the desert plains of Palestine most of the year. But three times a year (and some times a few more) you go to the house of God for a festival where everyone from your big national family comes to worship and celebrate the presence of God together. What a beautiful thing. Psalm 122:3–4 (ESV)   Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together, 4 to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord , as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord . For Israel, coming to Jerusalem and the Temple was like Christmas or Easter dinner with family. They were one people AND one nation tied together in a sweet community of fellowship with God. Some of

Psalm 121:1–4 (NLT) I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? 2 My help comes from the Lord , who made heaven and earth! 3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. 4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. Psalm 121 is a source of incredible comfort. The Psalmist going to Jerusalem to a worship celebration is reminded that their God is not some god of the hills or some god of the sun or moon. He's the God who made all of it and owns all of it and is over all of it. Yet He is the God who WATCHES out for you. Six times in 7 verses the words, "keep watch" appear as the consistent activity of God over His people. When you are devoted to God, remember He's devoted to you.  The protective care of God is something I have witnessed for much of my life. I was once driving too fast in hazardous conditions on the highway. My car hydroplaned with several cars around it, spun around and th

The book of the Psalms takes a major turn in Psalm 120. They are now what we call the Songs of Ascent from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134. The title of each Psalm suggests that these songs were sung as the pilgrims were making their way back up to Jerusalem for annual feasts. With that in mind, the scriptures open to us in regards to what is being said in Psalm 120. Psalm 120:1 (NKJV)   In my distress I cried to the Lord , And He heard me. This section of Psalms opens with a man in distress who is desperate for the Lord. This is where all ascent happens in Christ, with a broken and contrite spirit. I cannot tell you the number of times the broken places of my life have been the best places in my life. Sometimes it's the only way God can speak to us - that we get to the low lands of life and look for His sweet restoration.  Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in Spirit... (and) those who mourn." I also love the Psalmists faith. "He heard me." The Psalm is just

The end of the longest Psalm is this verse: Psalm 119:176  (ESV)   I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. Sounds strange coming from someone who has been writing for 175 verses about how much he loves God's law, trusts in God's law and desires to obey God's law. After all, shouldn't he consider himself a found sheep on the right path? This introduces the apparent paradox in any who come to God in faith. The ever present reality that apart from God we can do nothing. Isaiah was a great prophet. Yet he wrote, "We all like sheep have gone astray" (Isaiah 53:6). Paul was a powerful Apostle yet "beat his body" (1 Cor. 9:27) to stay strong in the Lord and referred to himself as "least of the Apostles" (1 Corinthians 15:9), "worst of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:16) and a "wretched man" (Roman 7:24). We are the people who walk with a limp. We cannot do it apart from th

Psalm 119:148 (ESV)   My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. Of the 20 times the Hebrew Word for meditate shows up in the Bible, 8 of those times appear in Psalm 119. There is no doubt that when you are discouraged and downcast, the answer is always God's Word. And this is intuitive to our culture. I was having a conversation the other day about a popular TV show where one of the characters in this very gruesome post-apocalyptic world keeps turning to the Bible on occasion. Somewhere in Hollywood there is a writer that still wrestles with the reality that the Bible has the answers 2000 years later to the hardest parts of our lives. Biblical meditation is not emptying your mind but filling your mind with God's Word to such a decree that it causes you to start living differently. It's meaning in the Hebrew is to  “go over a matter in one’s mind” or "to rehearse" it. Meditation is not just reading, but re-r

Psalm 119:96 (NLT) Even perfection has its limits, but your commands have no limit. This is a profound verse. The Psalmist picks up the Theme of Ecclesiastes here to plainly state: no matter how far in life you get, without God's Truth, you're empty. Even perfection has it's limits. Wow. How many celebrities do we have to see kill themselves before we realize the truth of this statement? How many more suicides of those who seem to have made it? We have a celebrity in the Bible who tried everything. His name was Solomon. He tried to appease every appetite of his heart and concluded it was all vanity. The system of this world sells us on what will "make us happier, better, more secure." And we chase like everyone else. And no matter how far we get, we are trained by a constant barrage of commercialization that something else will make our lives better.  Paul said,  1 Timothy 6:6 (NLT)  true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. To be &q