A Prayer for the Church Today

I think Psalm 74 could be a prayer prayed by the Church today.  In Psalm 74, Israel's enemy is running rampant.  The Sanctuary is being desecrated.  The places where God is worshipped are being destroyed.  And God sits silent.  There are no miracles, no sudden turn of fortunes that stop the enemy's progress.  Instead, Israel is subdued.  The worship of God is threatened.  The nation is left to wonder what has happened to the Mighty God they read of in the Scriptures of their people?

We in the church today could ask many of the same questions.  As faith is torn part by the idolatries of secular culture and material greed, we could ask where is our Mighty God?  What has happened to the miracles of the Bible?  Has our God been rendered domesticated and powerless by the heresies of the age?  The answer of course is no.  God is at work in mighty ways.  Sometimes he works in other corners of the globe where it is hard for us to notice.  Other times He works ways almost imperceptibly seen until they produce a dramatic result.  God is at work, but we need to pray for His work to be seen in our churches.  We need to pray for Him to breakthrough in our communities in dramatic ways.  We need to pray the prayer of verses 22-23: "Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
remember how fools mock you all day long.  Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries, the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually" (NIV).

Israel prayed the prayer of Psalm 74 because they noticed God was missing and knew they needed His presence.  Somehow we in the church today seem not even to sense that God is often absent.

Once again, I thought I would provide a link to a musical meditation on the Psalms.  I think the following is hauntingly beautiful and gives Psalm 63 an emotional immediacy that is not found in just reading the words.

When the Mets Lose

When I was a six year old in 1973, my New York Mets made it to the World Series.  I was so excited!  Going into game 7, I just knew that my Mets were going to beat the highly favored A's.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen.  The A's won Game 7 and the series.  I was devastated.  I couldn't understand why the "bad guys" had won.

Seeing the bad guys win is not just a dilemma that we face when we are six.  In Psalm 62, David sees the bad guys winning.  He is opposed by people who have no fear of God.  And the unrighteous are close to overwhelming him.  In such a situation, you and I might be anxious, but David is not.  He has a remarkable faith which finds its ultimate expression at the end of the Psalm.  In verses 11-12, David writes: "One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.  Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done" (NIV, 1984).  Even though the bad guys are winning, David does not despair.  He continues to affirm his faith in God's character, believing that God is both strong and loving.  The current success of the wicked does not indicate God's impotence or God's lack of concern.  While things may seem desperate now, in the end all will be made right.  

Sometimes it can seem like we as Christians are struggling, while those who don't trust God are having a good time, enjoying the fruits of disobedience and selfishness.  Still, we should not get discouraged.  God remains strong and loving.  In the end, He will set all things right.   

Facing Armies of Trouble

Psalm 60 begins with words that tell us that it was written at the time of one of Israel's greatest victories.  Looking backwards, the triumph seems assured.  Looking forward, from David's perspective, there was grave doubt.  The Arameans were no small fighting force.  The Edomites had 12,000 to fight Joab- a huge number in those days.  And it wasn't just the quality of the enemy that put the whole project in doubt.  It was also Israel's recent history.  In verses 1-3 and in verse 10, David makes it very clear that these battles came at a tough time for both the armies and the nation.  Anticipating these battles, David knew he was in for no easy time.  In Psalm 60, David beseeches God for help.  He asks the Lord to intervene on behalf of Israel against her enemies.

Like David, our lives often present us with daunting prospects, enemies too large and too numerous to be slain by us.  Typically, we don't face pagan armies.  But we do face problems in our homes, our relationships, our health, our jobs for which there are no easy answers.  Like David, we need to pray.  We need to invoke God's help on our behalf.

There are three reasons that David felt free to invoke God's help in his time of need:

     1. He knew he was doing God's will.  David wasn't just fighting because that is what kings were supposed to do.  He was fighting to settle the full boundaries of the Promised Land as God had instructed the people of Israel to do when they first came to the country God had given them.  Too often, we pray for God to bless our will not His.  But when we are doing what He desires, then we can seek His power and strength.

     2. He trusted in God's love.  In verse 5, David prays, "Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered" (NIV, 1984).  David knew God loved Israel as God's covenant people so he prayed boldly.  We as Christians know that we are loved as God's covenant people because of Jesus.  We can invoke His help in all our struggles.

     3.  He had God's promise.  In verses 6-8, David recalls what God has said in His Word.  He remembers that God had promised the land of other nations to Israel.  Thus, he is bold in the fight.  God has also given us great promises in His Word.  Like David, we should cling to those in times of trouble. 

When we face great enemies, we should not be discouraged.  Instead, we should pray.  We should stay in God's will through obedience.  We should find comfort in His love.  We should hold to God's promises.

Election Protection

A lot of very good people that I know are almost becoming overwrought as the election approaches.  They have a great anxiety about the election's outcome that seems to suggest that there will be an apocalyptic scenario if their candidate doesn't win.  For many of my friends, the accuracy of Mayan forecast of doom for this December seems to hinge on whether Obama or Romney gets the victory.  While my friends have no consensus on which candidate they prefer, they do have consensus in believing if their candidate loses it will be an unmitigated disaster for our nation.

Psalm 47 speaks to our election fears.  It reminds us that there really is only one King in the end and that all of the nations and leaders belong to Him.  Don't misunderstand me.  I'm not trying to suggest that presidential elections aren't important.  But I think the significance that we give them has to be qualified.  If Romney wins or if Obama wins, the King will still be on His throne.  I find that a most comforting thought.   

Another Musical Meditation

As I read Psalm 46 this morning, I was reminded of this song by Steven Curtis Chapman.  May it remind us to be still and know that He is God.

 

I am impressed as I read David's words in Psalm 35.  In Psalm 35, David prays a prayer of vengeance against his enemies.  As we mentioned last week, this was a very "un-kingly" thing to do.  In David's day, kings didn't pray for vengeance.  They enacted vengeance themselves.  Perhaps they might pray for their god to bless them as they hacked their rivals to bits.  Generally speaking though, it was kings who fought their own battles.   

Again, David is very different here.  Rather than enacting his own revenge, David calls on God to be his vindicator and protector.  As I thought about David's words in this Psalm, I realized that they really are very Messianic.  David's prayer reflects the attitude that his most famous descendant would take some 2,000 years later.  Jesus was much like David.  Jesus commanded an angelic army, but when evil men sought to nail Him to a cross Jesus offered no resistance.  Rather than fighting back, He entrusted Himself to God. 

We need to learn from David and most especially from Jesus.  Rather than fighting our own battles, we have to trust God to bring justice in the end.  Paul puts it well in Romans 12:17-21: "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.'  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (NIV, 1984).

 

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As I read Psalm 36 (our other Psalm for the day), I was reminded of this song by Third Day:

 

 

The old saying tells us that "confession is good for the soul."  In Psalm 32, David gives that saying a hearty Amen.  In verses 3-4, David talks about the agony he felt when he tried to cover his sins.  He felt like a person sick with a wasting illness or like a person wandering without water in the desert.  Guilt is a horrible thing, but in confession David found relief.

Of course the important point here is that David's confession was to the Lord.  The Bible does instruct us to confess our sins to one another.  But our primary responsibility in confession is to confess to God.  David outlines the benefits of such confession: confessions helps us to be delivered from the consequences of our sins (verses 6-7) and confession opens us up to the Lord's guidance and teaching so that our sins are not repeated (verses 8-10). 

Confession to God is often different than the confession we give to one another.  When we confess to others, we are typically revealing sins that might have gone undetected.  We are revealing wrongs that might never have been known.  God of course knows all of our sins.  When we confess to God, we are really stating that we agree with His definition of our behavior.  We are admitting that our acts are rebellious, breaking the commands of God. 

Confession to the Lord is the key to joy ("blessedness" as David calls it here).  Through confession we are released from guilt and we experience all of the blessing that God has to offer in Jesus. 

As I read the Psalms, I am reminded of song after song that has been written on the basis of these ancient Hebrew hymns.  Somehow I think the songs are better commentary than any I could offer.  The Psalms were meant to be sung.  They really weren't intended to be exegeted and known by the mind.  They were first to speak to the heart and the mind through their poetry and music.  Today, as I read the final verses of Psalm 30 I was reminded of the classic song by Steve Green released some 20 odd years ago.  Perhaps the music is a little dated, but the joy is never out of style.

Steve Green "Mourning into Dancing"