Psalms 18-19: The Heavens Declare

The heavens declare the glory of God;
   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
   where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
   their words to the ends of the world. - Ps 19:1-4 NIV

God is not hidden.  Though man may try to ignore him, he is not hidden.  He is seen in the vast expanse of the skies.  He is seen in the crashing waves of the ocean.  He is seen in the majestic sweep of the mountains, the depths of the great canyons and, where I live, he is seen in the endless sweep of the prairie.  He is even seen in the masses of humanity that populate and swirl through the great cities of our generation and he is seen in the wandering pilgrim in the most remote place on earth.

God is all around.  We can choose to accept or ignore him, but he is all around. 

2010 Post - Psalms 18-19:  You're My Rock

Psalms 12-17: Apart From God There is No Good Thing

I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
   apart from you I have no good thing.”
As for the saints who are in the land,
   they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows of those will increase
   who run after other gods. - Ps 16 2-4 NIV

As David said to the Lord, 'Apart from you I have no good thing.'  There is nothing, nothing that any amount of money can buy, nothing that we can beg, borrow, or steal that has any worth apart from God.  The whole world seems caught up with acquiring or protecting what they want or already have, but it's chasing the wind. Nothing will give us the satisfaction that our heart craves.  Nothing will fill the empty places.  Nothing will make us more loveable or beautiful.  In the end, we're all perfection addicts, seeking the next face lift and instead becoming more and more repulsive to ourselves and others. We may look to the world like we have it all, but if we're running after any other god, in the long run, only our sorrows will increase.  Apart from God there is no good thing. 

2010 Post- Psalms 12-17:  Lord Help for the Godly Are No More

Psalms 5-11: What Is Man?

When I consider your heavens,
   the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
   which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
   human beings that you care for them? - Ps. 8:3-4 NIV

It's easy to say these words, but do we really get it?  In the minds of most of us, we are the center of the universe.  Or if we're being very magnanimous, we may allow room for those that we love, our family and friends, to also reside in that center.  But God, he's off to the side somewhere, but he certainly is not the center.

Contrast that with how God feels.  For God, who doesn't need an of us, the fact that he would hear our feeble praise and prayers is amazing.   What is man that he is mindful of us?

2010 Post - Psalms 5-11:  In the Lord I Take Refuge

Psalms 1-4: Who Will Bring Prosperity

Many, LORD, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?”
   Let the light of your face shine on us.
Fill my heart with joy
   when their grain and new wine abound.
In peace I will lie down and sleep,
   for you alone, LORD,
   make me dwell in safety. - Ps. 4:6-8 NIV

It's beginning already, all the talk and discussion of who the 2012 presidential Republican candidates for president will be.  The media and pundits are asking the same question as asked in David's time.  "Who will bring us prosperity?"  If recent history is any lesson, we should know by now that prosperity, peace, whatever we are seeking cannot be provided by some politician, no matter how visionary and articulate they are. 

They may give us what we think we want, but they cannot give us what we need.  Never.  It has always been, and will ever be, only the Lord God that can provide what our hearts need.  It is only he that can give us peace.  All we can ask is that the light of his face shine on us.

2010 Post - Psalms 1-4:  Taking Stock

Job 38-41: What Was the Question?

Finally, Job is able to hear God.  But what he hears are not the answers he has been seeking.  Instead, he gets questions from God, the first of which is
“Who is this that darkens my counsel
   with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man;
   I will question you,
   and you shall answer me.
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
   Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
   Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
   or who laid its cornerstone—
while the morning stars sang together
   and all the angels shouted for joy?- Job 38:2-7 NIV

Most of the time, we think God is our size, someone we can demand answers of and command to appear.  He isn't.  He is the creator of the universe, the one who dreamed up this crazy, wonderful world that is our temporary home.  He's the owner, we're merely travelers here and he owes us no explanation.  Job finally gets it.  "I spoke of things I did not understand," he said, "therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."  If the Lord ever answered our cries for him to 'show us your glory', we would have the same reaction.  We don't have the answers, how dare we ask the questions.

2010 Post - Job 38-39:  Out of the Storm    

2010 Post - Job 40-42:  My Eyes Have Seen

Job 36-37: In His Hands

Elihu, the youngest of those gathering around Job to console him, sees things from a different perspective than Job's other so called friends. 
I get my knowledge from afar;
   I will ascribe justice to my Maker.
Be assured that my words are not false;
   one perfect in knowledge is with you.
“God is mighty, but does not despise men;    he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.  - Job 36:3-5 NIV

'God is mighty, but he does not despise men', Elihu says.
But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering;
   he speaks to them in their affliction.
“He is wooing you from the jaws of distress    to a spacious place free from restriction,  - Job 36:15-16 NIV

 So that all men he has made may know his work,
   he stops every man from his labor
The animals take cover;
   they remain in their dens.
The tempest comes out from its chamber,
   the cold from the driving winds.
The breath of God produces ice,
   and the broad waters become frozen.
He loads the clouds with moisture;
   he scatters his lightning through them.
At his direction they swirl around
   over the face of the whole earth
   to do whatever he commands them. - Job 36:8-12 NIV

Contrary to what it often looks like, God does not despise men but is instead wooing them from the jaws of distress, so that all men he has made may know his work.  There is no other explanation.  The knowledge of science may increase, but they will never be able to explain the why of what they usually term "nature".  They may be able to read the signs and predict with some accuracy the approach of violent storms.  But they cannot create the conditions or stop them from happening.  After all these centuries, the whole of life is still in his hands.

2010 Post - Job 36-37:  The Right Perspective

Job 32-35: Blessed Be the Name of the Lord

In light of the events of the past few days in Joplin and other parts of the Midwest, some of the discussions between Job and his friends seem frivolous.  Like much of our worship today, there is a little too much "I" this and "I" in their conversations to really address the scope of the issue.

Job has lost everything, his house, his car, his church, his hospital, his school, all of his children, everything but his wife, and his friends have been trying to convince him that he must have done something wrong to deserve that.

How would the citizens of Joplin respond to those words of encouragement?  It's easy to be the accuser when you still have everything that you consider most precious.  It's a different story when you look out at the devastation that surrounds you.  The only response one can have is that which Job uttered when a messenger told him that,:
 " And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee."
   Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
    And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.   - Job 1:19-21 KJV

We all start with nothing and end with nothing.  Everything we have in between is a blessing from the Lord.  God gives and takes away.  He gives good things and sometimes he takes away those very same good things.  But in every circumstance, the declaration of our heart should be like Job's.  'Blessed be the name of the Lord.'

2010 Post - Job 32-35: Wise Beyond Years