psalm – Smallchelle

Fall Faith

Posted on October 1, 20161 Comment

Fall is beautiful. We have scenes in our minds of leaves turning the color of amber and sunlight then being gently cradled by the breeze as they waft down and wait to be raked into delightful piles for children to jump in.

Fall is actually rather violent. Trees literally cut off their own leaves in the fall in order to survive winter. By the time the rain and the wind are knocking leaves down the tree is well and truly done with them.

The trees stand naked through the winter, sad sentinels of loss. Metabolism slows and it may appear that nothing is happening, but under the surface prep work is being done for the Spring. The tree stores up energy and nutrients, holding its breath, waiting to burst forth with new growth when the time is right.

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.
The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
when he delights in his way;
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord upholds his hand.
Psalm 37:3-6, 23-24

Does the tree spend fall desperately try to hang on to those leaves? Does the tree spend winter worrying if the new leaves are coming? Does it bemoan its own nakedness? Does it wait anxiously? Of course not. It’s a tree. But in the Fall seasons of our lives we do all these things and more. We forget that there is a season for everything.

I’m recognizing a change of season in my own life right now. The Lord is showing me the leaves that I must cut off. He is inviting me into a time of quiet, slow metabolism. He is asking me to get soul naked and take a good look at my hard bark. He is also promising me new leaves and fruit in the spring.

“Chelle,“ you say, “you’re speaking in riddles! What are you talking about girl?”

I’m talking about this blog and my calling to share God’s word and encouragement with you my friends. This past year on the blog has been an amazing journey of faith for me. It’s been abundant fruit. It’s been Summer faith. It’s been God showing me that I can be disciplined. That I can (by a miracle of the Holy Spirit) get up early every morning and write. That I can hear his voice every day.

But now it’s time for Fall faith. It’s time to slow down. Time to let go. To cut it off. The blog will still be here, like the pile of leaves for the kids to play in. I may still post every now and then throughout the Fall and Winter, but my energy has to move away from the leaves you see here.

I’ll be spending Fall and Winter just studying and writing. I have plans, Lord willing, to launch some new things in the Spring. If I try to keep up posting here too I will be spread too thin and none if it will be done well.

Some of you are subscribed to my Blog Newsletter. Thank you so much! You have no idea what that has meant to me. I really do appreciate it. I plan to still send monthly emails with updates on my progress and possibly even previews of what I’m working on. If you don’t receive my newsletter yet I invite you to subscribe. My mailing list will be the first to know about the new things I’m working on.

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!
I have fled to you for refuge.
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
on level ground!
Psalm 143:8-10

Are you coming into a “Fall” season in your life? Does it feel like life is falling apart around you? Are you having to let go of something you love? I just want to encourage you that it is all part of the work God is doing in your life. Take the quiet season, with your branches stripped bare, and sink your roots deep into the word while you reach your arms to heaven in praise and worship Him. Trust that he is working in you now for fruit in a future season.

I had a Friend

Posted on August 27, 20162 Comments

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God…”

I had a friend. She was a believer. We first met at a women’s retreat and were instant kindred spirits. She was a little bit younger than me but we had similar pasts that the Lord had delivered us from. We had both been into drugs and had children as teens out of wedlock. The Lord had rescued us both from so much. She lived in another state so she would fly out every other year just to come to retreat. We had maybe 4 or 5 retreats together. In between we would seldom talk but when we did we’d spend hours on the phone catching up on life. And at retreat it was like we’d never been apart, picking up our friendship right where we’d left off.

One year at retreat that bit of Psalm 46 was our theme. It was so powerful. God embraced us both in a very tender way that weekend.

As time went on my friend was drawn away into desperate sin that ended with her death. I can’t tell you the horror of that day. The soul crushing I experienced in the moment I found out she was gone. I felt like I was imploding, like all the air had been sucked from my lungs and I’d never breathe again. And when all the tears had been wept, and all the why’s had been asked, and all the whole world seemed upside down, God bid me to come, crawl into his lap and “be still.”

I can’t ever read Psalm 46 without thinking about my friend. I miss her dearly. I still see her mom every year at Women’s retreat. The one we were at together the year after my friend died was the hardest. She spent long hours telling me all that had happened the night her daughter died. We wept all over again. And then I spent long hours encouraging her with scripture upon scripture, lots of hugs and rivers of tears.

I believe my friend is in heaven, not because she was good, or somehow deserved it, but because God is good. I believe her faith, however tenuous, was real faith. I believe in the perseverance of the saints. I believe in eternal life. I believe God rescued my friend from a fate worse than death. I believe he saved her from herself, first in life, then in death.

The night before I found out she died, maybe even the moment of her death, I was at a Worship Night at our church. I was on my knees, crying, singing, “Light a fire down in my soul, that I can’t contain, that I can’t control, I want more of you God! I want more of you!” I remember it so vividly, and I think it was because of the emotional turmoil of the next few days. I held on desperately to that soul naked feeling that only comes from worshiping God. Knowing that it could as easily have been me and that but for the grace of God there go I.

She was in her early 30’s. She left behind a husband and three children. They grow more beautiful every day. My friends mom sends me pictures occasionally and I pray for them all often. She has been helping a lot with the kids and has that special relationship with them that only Grandparents get to have. Maybe even closer, stronger. They all lost someone so special. But God is with them. Carrying them through, giving them strength.

Someday I’ll see my friend again, in the hot tub at the giant women’s retreat in Heaven. And we’ll worship together and cry together, and then our Jesus will wipe away all our tears with his nail scarred hands. The hands that paid the price for all her sins and mine. And yours too my friend.

We really do need each other. No one was meant to grieve alone. No one is meant to suffer alone. We must fight against the enemy in the way we build Gospel relationships. He’s like a roaring lion that picks off the stragglers. The weak. The lonely. The proud who think they don’t need anyone else. I urge you desperately to get in relationship. You might not be able to know all the women at your church, but you can get to know one or two others.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Life is short and hard but also fun and a great adventure. I hope this has encouraged you. It was hard for me to write, I still miss my friend very much. I went poking through old pictures this week just to see her smiling again. I spent some quiet time with God praying for her family. And I spent some time praying about how I can be a better friend. If we are friends (and this includes family) I want to thank you for that. Let’s have lunch, or get coffee, or hang out with our kids… Let’s take the time before it eventually takes us.

Full Grown Youth

Posted on June 25, 2016Leave a comment

This week I asked my boys if they were a fruit tree what kind of fruit tree would they be? “Dragonfruit!” said my 13 (almost 14) year old, and “Banana!” said my 10 year old. Exotic kids. And surprising answers that matched them perfectly. One unique, different, unusual, and the other practical, helpful and consistent.

The children are moving up in the world. This week the older boy got “promoted” from 8th grade to “Freshman!” The younger boy finished 4th grade and has one year left of Elementary School. Where have my babies gone? I spent a lot of time this week praying for my boys and the future God has for them. Not just that they would be good and obedient, though some days my prayers are like that. But rather that they would know and trust Him the way I do. Scratch that… I pray that they would know and trust Him better than I do.

May our sons in their youth
be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars
cut for the structure of a palace;
Psalm 144:12

I came across this little set of verses in the Psalms one day a month or so ago and it really struck a chord with me. What a bold prayer. It gave me a little heart check. It made me stop and ask myself “what do I pray for my kids?” As a worried mom I often just white knuckle my way with prayers like “let them be good, and not screw up their lives and not get on drugs and not find porn on the internet and not have sex till they’re married.” (No pressure kids…)

This Psalm gives us a hint of what God wants for our children and what he desires us to pray for them. In many places the bible speaks highly of the faith of children. Our kids can be mature believers in Christ but it’s the same process we go through. Growing like plants, which we’ll look at today, and cut into shape like pillars, which we’ll learn about in the next post.

It takes three things to bring a seedling to fruit bearing maturity. Roots in the water, leaves in the light and air, and pruning. So many verses compare believers to plants. Let’s look at a couple of them in light of our kids.

Roots in the Water – The Word

Scripture compares itself to water. It washes us, quenches our thirst, nourishes us. God provided miracle water for the children of Israel in the desert then Jesus offered himself to us as living water. We are baptised in water as an outward symbol of faith in Jesus.

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
Psalm 1:1-3

Science tells us the human body is up to 75% water and when we don’t drink enough we dehydrate. If the dehydration is bad enough our body systems start shutting down and eventually we die. It is the most necessary element for life.

Our children depend on us for physical food and water, which we happily provide for them a few times every day. We are called as parents to minister to our children’s spiritual needs as well. We must be nourishing our children with the water of the word every day. For little ones this could be simply reading a small story out of an illustrated children’s bible. When our kids were little our favorite was “The Jesus Storybook Bible” by Sally Lloyd-Jones.

Now that my kids are older my 13 year old reads the bible to me and our 10 year old during our morning drive to school. We’ve read through and memorized a few different Psalms and we’re currently reading the Gospel of John. Just a few verses a day is enough to open up amazing discussions about the Gospel, who God is and what he has done for us. It helps us tie scripture to our daily lives and activities. This is how we root our kids in the Gospel for a lifetime of loving God and loving others.

Of course we haven’t always done this perfectly. We work full time and have a lot of things going on like I’m sure you all do. When kids are very little it’s hard to make the bible a priority. I remember days as a young mom when I was lucky to get a shower and a hot meal, much less a few minutes in the word. If this is your season with very little kids and babies give yourself some grace. The Holy Spirit knows your heart. Throw on some praise music. Pray for small opportunities to work the word into your lives and then be ready to pounce when you see one.

Leaves in the Sun and Air – Prayer

We don’t just listen to God. He loves us so much he actually listens to us. The leaves of trees don’t only take in sunlight but they breathe like we do. They filter out carbon dioxide and release life giving oxygen into the atmosphere. Prayer is like breathing with God. In the same way Jesus taught his disciples to pray, and the disciples taught the churches to pray, we ought to be teaching our children to pray.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

Modeling this kind of daily prayer with our kids teaches them about their relationship with God. Kids can rejoice in our savior. Kids can show gratitude for God’s many blessings. Kids grow in compassion by asking God to help hurting people. Kids can trust God to take care of them. Kids can have the peace of God guard their hearts (emotions) and minds (thoughts).

Pruning – Hardship

I hate to see my kids sick or suffering. And if someone is messing with them… look out! But in reality, if we want to see the fruit of the Spirit in our kids lives we have to help them understand hardship and how we handle it.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit… I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15: 1, 2, 5, 7-11

The truth is, life isn’t fair. I believe our job is to protect our youngest ones from harm and suffering, but as they grow we must teach them how to obey the rules for their own good. We don’t let our kids play in the street or eat ice cream for every meal. We don’t make a baby change his own diaper, but we eventually teach him to clean up after himself.

This submission to pruning is something we model to our kids. When you are seeking God’s will in prayer invite your kids into it. If they are old enough to pray they are old enough to help us pray for God’s wisdom in our lives as parents. They will see how we seek the Lord in our own hard times for guidance, wisdom, patience and provision. As they see God answering prayer in our lives they will connect with God in powerful ways. They understand more than we give them credit for.

I hope this has encouraged you to pray bold new prayers for your kids. Next time we’ll look at the second half of the verse and learn what it means to be a corner pillar cut for a palace.

Spiritual Metabolism

Posted on November 6, 2015Leave a comment

I read a Bible verse a few nights ago that got me thinking about the difference between muscle and fat.

Psalm 119:70

“their (the insolent) heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law.”

Most of the time the heart is used symbolically. The heart, while muscle, is also considered the seat of our emotions. Fat, on the other hand, does fat feel sorrow or pain or joy? I can’t flex my fat like I flex my bicep.

The heart is a muscle. It’s the central pump that sends oxygenated blood throughout the body. So many intricate parts in the system. If one thing goes wrong the dysfunction can cause numerous problems and even death.

This all got me thinking about metabolism. Merriam-webster.com defines it as the sum of the processes in the buildup and destruction of protoplasm; specifically : the chemical changes in living cells by which energy is provided for vital processes and activities and new material is assimilated.

How can we relate this to ourselves spiritually? How does spiritual metabolism help us assimilate gospel truth and prevent our hearts from becoming “unfeeling like fat?”

Spiritual Metabolism

‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Matt 4:4 & Deut 8:3

To keep our bodily metabolism functioning well we must have food, water, and exercise. Likewise, our spiritual metabolism runs on the word of God, prayer, community worship and service. Nutritional input, energy output.

The word of God and prayer are like food and water. We need to take them into our spirits like our bodies take in food, on a regular daily basis, multiple times a day. Sometimes we treat Sunday church like going out to an “all-you-can-eat.” We don’t feed ourselves often enough and are so hungry when we get there that we gorge ourselves. And just like at the buffet we guilt ourselves. We wish we were in the word and fellowship more often but we are so discouraged we don’t know how to make the healthy choice necessary for optimum spiritual metabolism.

Spiritual Junk Food vs. Spiritual Health Food

We all know the difference. Junk food = pre packaged, easy, trans- fat, sugar filled, sometimes even fake food. Fast food, super size fries, burgers, sodas and shakes. It has the appearance of food but lacks any real nutritional substance. Just enough to keep the body working, but over time performance and health suffers. Health food = lean meats and vegetables, complex carbs, healthy fats, an “occasional treat.” Reasonable portion sizes. Likewise, over time performance and ability increase.

“You are what you eat,”… spiritually. The junk that should just be the occasional treat ends up consuming much of our day. T.V., social media, video games, entertainment. We are consumers. But all these things are spiritually empty calories. We let our appetites instead of the Holy Spirit guide us. I am stirred by what Paul wrote to the Philippians,

“For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” Phil 3:19

Spiritual Fat vs. Spiritual Muscle

Activity builds endurance. We walk our dogs, we go to the gym, our children have recess and p.e. classes, and play sports. In order to build a muscle you must train it, over and over again, to do the work you require of it. We can train our minds in scripture and prayer, and train our eyes to see with faith rather than fear.

Daily time in the word, prayer and worship will make us examples to our friends, families and communities of what a committed disciple of Christ looks like. If we go to church once a week for 20 years but still eat the world every day what little spiritual muscle we have will be swallowed up by spare tires of unbelief and muffin tops of apathy. Would you join a gym where the before and after pics look exactly the same?

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16

Spiritual Lethargy vs. Spiritual Activity

My goal here is encouragement, not to guilt or shame. There is a better way. I want you to have a real, healthy, spiritually active lifestyle. Making changes is hard, but if you make small changes daily they will add up over time. Again, it’s the “training” model. No one can bench press 300# their first try. They would be crushed.

In the photo above I have 65# over my head. That took me a year. My first day I struggled to get a pvc pipe overhead. I’m not asking you to lift 300# today. But if you are willing to submit to daily spiritual training then someday you will lift that and more. Spiritually, this means daily time in God’s word, prayer and worship as well as a regular exercise of kindness, generosity, and self control. The Apostle Paul explained it like this,

“Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” 1 Cor 9:25-27

Training Starts Today

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the LORD of hosts.” Zech 4:6

Our works don’t earn grace, but God’s grace in our lives gives us a desire to live with hearts that delight in God’s word and not as insolent people with unfeeling hearts. Don’t “wait till monday” to start eating your spiritual food and doing your spiritual activity. The Holy Spirit is whispering to you today. He is your helper. He is your trainer. Like your bodily metabolism converts food into energy, the Holy Spirit takes the gospel into your heart and converts it into the good works God has already prepared for you.

Thanks for reading! Comment and share if you’ve been encouraged.

Psalm 107 Part 6 – There is no God Like our GOD

Posted on October 30, 2015Leave a comment

I have loved going through Psalm 107 and using the truths within it to share my testimony of how God has been working in my life. The Lord has taken me from teenage desperation to learning the daily practice of trusting Him for my spiritual and practical needs. The conclusion of this Psalm offers continued hope to the children of God and a warning to the wicked who oppress His people.

In this passage there are so many threads of thought but I want to focus in on the water. One of my original purposes in starting this blog a couple years ago was to learn about all the wells in Scripture. While this isn’t a specific well, it is referring to water as one of our general provisions from God, a necessity for life and fruitfulness.

Psalm 107:33-43

He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants.
He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield.
By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish.
When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
but he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks.
The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth.
Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

I believe that here in verses 33 and 34 it is a reference to Egypt. God plagued the land of Egypt by turning the Nile to blood. The Egyptians falsely worshiped the Nile as their giver of life and fruitfulness and God demonstrated that life and fruitfulness are really in his hands. God also turned the Red sea into dry ground to rescue his people from the evil and oppression of their slavery in Egypt then used it to bury their oppressors and stop the attack for good.

Flesh vs. Spirit

Psalm 107:35-38

He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield.
By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish.

Here again is God’s deliverance of his chosen people from the oppression of Egypt. He provided water in the wilderness for them, leading them to the oasis, and later bringing water from a rock, which was a picture of Christ. Then God gave them the land he promised by his covenant, a land for them to dwell in, make a home, and be his people so he could be their God. Where there is water there is a fruitful yield. Scripture refers to itself as water, but also to the Holy Spirit as water. If we want fruitful spiritual lives we must be regularly in the word and walking by the spirit and not the flesh. Paul wrote to the Galatians on this.

Galatians 5:16-26

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

One of the miraculous things about the word of God is that it is living water. The word of God doesn’t just give us information about God and Jesus. When it is poured over our hardened, dry hearts it actually transforms us, makes us new. It takes what is dead and makes it alive! Instead of fruit to the flesh we begin to produce fruit of the spirit. We don’t accomplish this by trying harder, but rather by daily sinking our roots deep into the gospel.

Suffering

Psalm107:39-42

When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
but he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks.
The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth.

This Psalm mentions three reasons for suffering in the lives of God’s people, oppression, evil and sorrow. These things diminish us by subtracting from us joy and happiness. They bring us low by crushing our hopes and dreams. The contempt of God is poured out on the evil and wicked.

Oppression

Oppression, refers to physical suffering at the hands of evil rulers and spiritual suffering at the hands of spiritual dark forces, also known as spiritual warfare. These causes are largely out of our control, though some pagan and occultic practices can invite spiritual oppression into our lives. One advantage we have as new testament believers is what Paul describes in Ephesians 6 as spiritual armor. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of gospel peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit and all prayer. If you’ve never studied the spiritual armor in Ephesians 6 I encourage you to pick up a bible study on it. You will be so blessed to learn that God doesn’t save us to leave us defenseless, but rather He equips us for battle with His gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Evil

Evil affects all of mankind. It began at the Garden with Eve’s selfish desire to be like God, to be made all wise, to know good and evil. In the beginning, Adam and Eve only knew good. Having their eyes opened to evil set mankind on a track of death and destruction that is still running it’s course today. Evil rulers, men of war conquering and snuffing out whole races or religions, enslavement of whole people groups, criminals who murder, steal and rape, the sex trafficking industry and the porn industry that fuels it. The really discouraging thing to me is that these are still current issues. Mankind would like to think he is educated and enlightened, but we all feed the system. One thing we cannot do, despite the discouragement, is blame God for the evil in people’s hearts. When we ask the question, “If God is love then why is there evil in the world?” we are asking the wrong question. The question we need ask is, “If I am evil, why does God love me?”

Romans 5:8 is our gospel answer:

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Sorrow

Sorrow paints a picture in my head of Atreyu trudging through the Swamp of Sadness in the Neverending Story, all hope lost as the Nothing ravaged his world. Feelings of failure, grey skies in every direction with no hope that the sun will ever shine again. Loved ones have died, sickness abounds, friends have backstabbed us, we had hopes and dreams of what our lives would look like and we’ve failed to accomplish those things. Daily pain clouds every moment. We fail and hurt the people we love most. We try our hardest and it just isn’t good enough. I include myself in these struggles. But scripture promises joy beyond and even in our sorrows.

Psalm 30:5

For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

Ironically there can be no rescue without affliction. God can’t meet our needs if we have no needs. Water means nothing if there is no thirst. Without death there can be no resurrection.

Contempt

Here is God’s warning to those who would oppress his people and refuse his grace. The wrath of God is poured out, just like the spirit of God. To those who believe that Jesus died to cover their sins and that he took on himself the wrath of God in our place, they will never know or feel the desolation of the contempt of God. God is love, but that love requires him to be a righteous judge. The prideful who stand in front of him and say, ‘I don’t need your grace’ will not have the righteous life, death for sin and resurrection glory of Christ covering their sins when the contempt of God is poured over them. Instead of water to refresh and wash them clean it will be like acid melting them away down to the bone. The gospel tells us not only are we saved from our own sin, but also from the very justified wrath of God.

Romans 5:9

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Friends this is why we must be about the business of proclaiming the gospel every chance we get! It’s like handing people a “wrath of God hazmat suit.” We can’t save ourselves, we must be covered by the righteousness that Christ gives us.

A Call to Community

Psalm 107:43

Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

This whole psalm uses the language of community and family. While God loves you and me personally and saves you and me individually, we are the children of God together! I hope you are plugged into a church body and even part of something like a community group or home bible study. We need each other’s encouragement and constant reminders of the hope we have in the Gospel. It’s also where we get equipped and encouraged to share the good news of this gospel. We are at our spiritual weakest when we are isolated from God’s people. Together let us consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

Psalm 107 has shown us that God finds the lost wanderers, delivers the captives, rescues the prisoners, feeds the hungry, gives water to the thirsty, heals with his word, stills the storm, shepherds his people and leads them home. Let’s rejoice and remind ourselves and our children daily of the steadfast love of the LORD!

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Psalm 107 Part 1 – The Redeemed of the Lord Say So!

Posted on November 4, 20141 Comment

psalm 107:1-3

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.

This is the beginning of the psalm that opens Book 5 of the Psalms. Did you know there were five books of Psalms? Me neither… until I read this one. The ESV Study Bible notes that Psalms may have been divided as an imitation of the five books of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures). The last Psalm in each of the five books ends with a doxology (an exclamation of praise to God,) and the last, Psalm 150, is the doxological conclusion of Book 5 and the entire Book of Psalms.

Psalm 107 is poetry, written in it’s own repetitive sections. The first three verses here introduce us to the Lord who is good. He loves, redeems and gathers people. Then there are 4 sections that begin with the word “Some” in reference to types of people. The last section holds a warning for the wicked and encouragement for the needy. Each section is a story of rescue and redemption. It is a beautiful call to thank and praise God as He rescues us from a variety of “trouble.”

all encompassing

The compass directions in verse 3 foreshadow what is to come. If you look at a map of the Middle East in ancient times we see what is located in those directions. Verse 4 says “Some wandered in desert wastes…” To the east we see a vast expanse of desert, where a man named Abram was called out of Ur to a land he didn’t know. Verse 10 describes “Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons…” To the west we see Egypt, a dark time of captivity for Gods people. Verse 17 tells us “Some were fools through their sinful ways…” and north is the lands of Cannan, desperate idolatry and opposition to God’s people. Verse 23 says “Some went down to the sea in ships…” And to the south we indeed see the sea, a source of commerce. Each section is filled with calamity but in the center of each “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” The means of deliverance are explained and then the end of each sections repeats “Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men.”

The testimony of god’s children

In a series of posts we’ll walk through the implications of each of these and how we can see the wondrous works of God in our lives and have a deep thankfulness for his love toward us. We’ll see people snared by circumstances beyond their control, as well as trouble they brought on themselves. They will cry out to God and He will deliver them. This Psalm has been deeply encouraging to me as I look back at the course of my own life. I will be sharing some of the darkest times in my own past, how I went my own way, found myself trapped, cried out to the Lord, and how He delivered me, rescued me, and redeemed me, even at my lowest, worst and most broken. Not because I deserved it, but because He is a good God full of compassion and mercy. And I am thankful to the LORD! I will share the testimony of my past wreckage, not to glorify it, but in order to glorify the God who saved me from it. I hope to make myself small and to show you how big and glorious He is.

are you the redeemed of the lord?

If you are then let’s give thanks to him, out loud right now, “Thank You God!”
If you are not, then why not? Look at your life and ask God to open your eyes to his wondrous works on your behalf. When did he rescue you from trouble? He is not an angry judgmental old man waiting for you to fail so he can punish you. He is good, and his steadfast love endures forever!

Thanks for reading. I would love to read your comments below.