Category: Daily Devotionals

Psalm 84

On our first touring caravan holiday with the children in France we arrived in the Loire Valley feeling very intrepid. We were off to explore the chateaus of France and so on the first day we decided to walk to the nearest one. As we crested a small rise there was a spectacular vision of Chambord, perhaps the largest of the Loire chateaus. It’s setting, elegance and scale took my breath away. I stood and stared. Psalm 84 invokes that image in my mind. The Psalm is a celebration of pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship at the temple set upon Mount Zion. It is a song of delight at being a welcome guest in the home of the Lord. For the psalmist no wickedness or pleasure of the world can compare with being in his presence, in his home. ‘How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God …. Blessed are those who dwell in your house ever singing your praise.’ ^vv1-2,4

The temple structure dominated the landscape, it was a justifiable tribute to Almighty God, built to strike awe in the ancient heart. But it wasn’t the architecture that primarily excited ancient pilgrims, it was that here they were in the presence of the Lord of Hosts. It thrilled them and filled them with joy. When joyful, the most natural thing to do was to sing, not a solitary song but songs sung as a community, the people’s choir. Everybody and everything was welcome, even the lowly sparrow. ^v3

Here was a place where one could find refreshment and new strength ^v5 no matter how worn down one might have become. The journey was worthwhile. There is no known valley of Baca but the word Baca is also the name of a tree that grows in arid areas. The image of the Valley of Baca ^v6-7 is one of arid places becoming a fertile place where nature flourishes and strength returns because of springs of water. (Frequently a simile for the Holy Spirit.)

The psalmist then picks up repeated themes. It is in the presence of the Lord that prayers are heard. ^v8 His presence is the pilgrims shield. However, the psalm at this point takes on prophetic notes as it pleads with God to look upon his anointed. In context almost certainly the king but also with the coming of Jesus it pertains to him.

The temple is a place where the pilgrim wishes to remain, however lowly the position. ^v10 Why? Because being in the presence of the Lord is both a place of blessing and protection, accessed by faith alone. ‘For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you.’ ^vv11-12

For the Christian Jesus is that temple set on Mount Zion. Time in his presence brings joy, safety and blessing. He is the anointed one but he is also the one who anoints us with the Holy Spirit. He is the one to whom we can address our prayers. Praise comes naturally from our mouths as individuals but is a special blessing when we can praise him together as his family. He is the object of our pilgrimage. Blessing comes in response to faith.

Do we know the joy of being in the presence of God or do we just know about it?

Do we miss out on the pleasure of worshiping together with other disciples of Christ or do we treasure the times we can praise him together?

Better is One Day

Psalm 83

They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. They say, come, “let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”

(Psalm 83:4-5)

Psalm 83 was written when God’s people were a nation state. Jesus redefined God’s people to be the church or the disciples of Christ. The psalmist describes a country surrounded by enemy states of one accord in their determination to overcome Israel so that they are not even a memory. ^v4  In doing so he names nations who not only geographically surround Israel but historically span the time from Joshua to the invasion of the northern kingdom by Assyria. ^{vv 5-11} Antagonism towards Israel did not mean that they were not at various times at war with each other.

The psalm’s geopolitical imagery mirrors the contemporary situation of the modern church. Where the enemies of Christianity are numerous. Whilst divided in their own goals and motivations they share a common objective of destroying the influence and even existence of Christianity. Atheist secular forces are frequently not passive. In western civilization they often attack Christianity with the claim that it is not intellectually credible. Atheist states such as North Korea and China see Christianity as a threat to their authoritarian control. Other authoritarian states think that Christianity’s  teaching, that every human is made in the image of God and is precious in his sight, threatens their oppression of their own people. There are theocracies especially in the middle east and sub-Saharan Africa who enshrine in law that conversion to Christianity is illegal and punishable by imprisonment or death. Religious based militias and state forces impose their faith through violence and drive alternative people groups from their land causing mass migration which has led many thousands across the world to live in refugee camps for generations. (Overall in 2020 there are 79.2 million displaced persons and 26 million refugees, Doctors Without Borders.)

The opening prayer of the psalmist then of, ‘O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!’ ^v1 remains highly relevant. There is much that the modern church can do in practical terms in the face of this level of opposition. In the West the intellectual opposition can be answered in as intellectually credible a manner as those who argue against the faith. The Church could be much more active in equipping its members to do so. The church could also improve its capacity to advocate for persecuted Christians at an international level and in local settings as well as supporting local churches in persecuted settings. There are excellent organizations working in this field including the Bible Society, Barnabas Aid and Open Doors. I recommend looking at the 2021 Open Doors World Watch list, just published, that maps and ranks countries by Christian persecution levels. ( https://www.opendoorsuk.org/ )

However, practical activity, without prayer and the working presence of the Holy Spirit, is worthless. Psalm 83 demonstrates prayer that is a lamenting cry from the persecuted, pleading with God to intervene. It is also a prayer for God’s holy power to overcome the oppressors. However, it is also an insightful prayer that by the grace of God his salvation is for his enemies as well, if they recognize he is the Most High. ^v18 Humbly the Christian needs to own up that s/he has also been an enemy of God through her/his sin. S/He is now called to pray for their enemies, that they will repent and turn to God for forgiveness. “God’s desire is not to punish for punishment’s sake but to redeem.” (NIV Study Bible 2015) Following Jesus, all Christians are called to live loving sacrificial lives.

Be still my soul – Kari Jobe

Psalm 82

When we know there is an injustice, what do we do? When we vote, in whose interests do we exercise that power? When we buy what we consume, do we care about who benefits? Is doing nothing a neutral act? Have we got to the age where we say my time has gone it is up to others now? Do we favour those who will benefit us over others in greater need?

Papua New Guinea is a highly tribal country, nobody actually knows exactly how many tribes, but it is estimated there are around 850 tribal languages, in a country with a population of 8.5 million. It has a complicated preferential voting system. Each voter has 3 votes which they place in preferred order. It is common for each constituency to have 50 or more candidates standing and only one can be elected. Bribery is common place. I asked a woman how did she work out who to vote for? Her reply was, ‘In PNG you always give your first vote to the person from your tribe because they will make sure the most government money will be spent on your tribe. Then you give your second vote to the person who you think will do a good job.’ Partiality is culturally built into the election process and partiality is the outcome as those elected heavily favour their own. You may not consider it is much different in your own country or even in the church.

The Christian is not separated from the world in the sense of having no responsibility. Psalm 82 is a powerful condemnation of participating in injustice. God is not neutral, he is on the side of the weak and powerless, the poor and oppressed and he expects action to be taken. These are his words to those in responsibility, ‘How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.’ ^vv2-4

Commentators argue about who is meant by ‘gods.’ ^v1 God is placing himself in judgement over them, whether they are the gods of neighbouring nations, spiritual principalities and powers as mentioned by Paul or Israel’s own judges and kings. Jesus himself however when quoting the passage used it to mean the people of Israel. ^{John 10.31-39} In verse 6 the psalmist enlarges on ‘gods’  as ‘sons of the most high’, a term used in Exodus to describe the nation of Israel. It is reasonable to take from the psalm that all who act unjustly will be judged by God, including his own people.

If God is so clear about his justice what excuse is there for his people to be silent over injustice? Inactivity or passivity clears the way for injustice to thrive. It is easy to look back at missed opportunities to act justly. It takes greater discernment and courage to raise one’s voice over contemporary issues, especially when it occurs close to home within the church. It is however clear in a way that it probably wasn’t to the first hearers of this psalm that God’s concern is a global concern. The concluding verse is a jolt to any navel gazing, obsessing introspection by the people of God. ‘Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all nations.’

Is there an injustice that we are ignoring?

What action have we taken to rescue the weak and the needy; to deliver them from the hand of the wicked?

Who is on the Lord’s side?

Psalm 81

I had a conversation with someone recently as to whether an old grievance had been healed. It can be hard to restore relationships and even when that has been done there is always the question can it be on the same terms. Memories remain, embarrassment prevents fully open communication and pretending things didn’t actually happen doesn’t work either. We can never be totally sure we know what the other person is thinking and feeling. These same barriers come into play when we know we have grieved God.

It is possible that the pattern of relationship between God’s people and God, spread over hundreds of years, can be worked out in microcosm in our own lives. Psalm 81 is a prophetic hymn calling the people back to covenant faithfulness by recalling the history of God’s relationship with them. It is a harvest hymn to be sung at the feast of Trumpets and the Booths. It therefore opens with verses of musical praise recalling the promises and blessings received through Jacob and Joseph. ^vv1-4  It resembles the first flush of passion and thrill of knowing the Lord when one becomes a Christian.

The verses recalling escape from slavery by God’s strong hand and then provision in the wilderness years emphasizes how God heard their voice and they heard his. ^vv4-7 Just as God heard them when they were suffering so he understands our need when we are burdened down with sin and live separated from God. As God said to Moses, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ ^{Exodus 3.7-8} This reflects our own experience of salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection. The parallels in the Exodus account are multitudinous.

However, the people of God although in covenant relationship did not remain faithful. They broke the opening commandments and replaced God in their hearts with other desires. ^vv8-9 Therefore the psalmist quotes the words of God before the ten commandments to remind them of how their covenant relationship was formed, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’ ^{v10 and Exodus 20.2}  Many of us have had a time when we drifted off from our relationship with him, replacing him with other things, passions and relationships. This period for many can last for decades. I spoke to one man who before attending a Christianity Explored Course told me he had made a commitment to Christ when a university student and done nothing about it since, he was now in his 50s and felt the need to find his relationship with God again.

God though did not give up on his people despite hundreds of years of wayward discipleship. Instead his words were, ‘Oh, that my people would listen to me, and Israel would walk in my ways! ^v14 God was still calling them back. He still wanted to bless them with good things expressed as feeding them with the finest of wheat and with honey. ^v18 He wanted to satisfy their souls. The man I mentioned above turned again to the Lord and his relationship with him was restored.

It isn’t too late. God is patient and gracious beyond human imagining. If we have walked away from our relationship with him and replaced him with “foreign gods” ^v9 there is a way back if we turn back to him. He is waiting to bless us with eternally good things. He is able to restore our relationship with him even though we may be embarrassed, awkward, sure we don’t deserve it, unable to forget and not forgiving ourselves. It is because God had done all that is necessary through Jesus’ sacrifice. We are simply told to turn and ask. It is so simple, we are to come as a child. ^{Mathew 18.3} He knows. There is no point in pretending.

No longer slaves

^{Psalm 80}

How long, Lord God Almighty will your anger smoulder against the prayers of your people?
You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
You have made us an object of derision to our neighbours, and our enemies mock us.

Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. ^{Psalm 80.4-7}

A drinking bowl full of tears sums up many people’s experience over the last nine months. It could be a simile for the nation’s current condition. How do we handle grief in whatever form it comes? It is one of the most fundamental questions of human life. My eyes were opened to the pervasiveness of grief when a disability adviser came to speak to me about the needs of a child with severe brittle bone disease, who was wheelchair bound and had regularly broken bones for her whole life and would continue to do so. The adviser herself had a progressive condition that meant that she steadily lost function in her body and senses. She explained how every time she lost function she went through the full grief process for the loss of that ability. Loss causes grief and does not only occur following death. There are many forms of loss that have debilitating even life changing impacts.

I remember a colleague who was lively, successful in her career and physically well. She experienced a relationship breakup, the grief for the loss of her relationship brought on a severe mental illness that nearly took her life. I am pleased to say that following a long period of treatment and recuperation she not only recovered, she got her career successfully back on track and found a new permanent relationship, she also returned to her faith in Christ in a much deeper way from which she had drifted in adulthood.

Why these anecdotes? It is to illustrate how pervasive grief frequently is and also how much a relationship with the Lord, our Shepherd, is the healing balm we need. ^v1 Those of us who have grieved know how much we need to be restored. This is not to minimise the loss whether or not we are responsible, it is to find salvation within the loss.

The psalmist is grieving the loss of relationship the people of God are experiencing in addition to the suffering inflicted by Gentile nations. He knows the only salvation for his people is not to be found in their own power, it comes from the ‘Shepherd of Israel.’ Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth.’ ^v1 He has a deep longing to see the face of God. ^v3 He repeats this desire as a prayer to God in verse 7. In his grief he shows how we should act in ours, to seek the face of God.

In the second half of the psalm he invokes an image used elsewhere in the Old Testament of Israel as a vine. Jesus himself used this image where he spoke of God’s discipline as pruning the vine so that the branches of the vine will bear fruit when it is grafted in to the main vine, or God himself. ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.’ ^{John 15.5} Unfruitful branches are consigned to the fire.

Whether or not grief is a result of the Lord’s discipline have we sought his face, that we may be saved? ^v7

Shine Jesus Shine.