My Refuge

My soul finds rest in God alone;
      my salvation comes from him.

Psalm 62:1 (NIV)

OK, I haven't blogged in about a week. I've still been doing my daily reading, but my routine has been a little off this week and I haven't blogged. Perhaps today, I'm getting back in the habit.

Psalm 62 is a favorite of mine. Back in 1996 there was an afternoon where I sat down with my Bible open and my guitar. By the time the afternoon was over, I had written three songs. One of them, "You Are My Refuge" was inspired by Psalm 62.

You Are My Refuge

© 1996 Kevin Lee Brock

My soul finds rest in You alone
My salvation comes from You
You alone are my Rock
You are my fortress, I will not be shaken

I will trust in You forevermore
I will pour my heart out to You
You are my refuge

Waiting

I waited patiently for the LORD;
      he turned to me and heard my cry.

Psalm 40:1 (NIV)

As I was reading this morning, I could almost hear the gentle bassline of U2's "40" in my head. Far better, I suppose, to hear that song since it's based on this Psalm than to hear Tom Petty's "The Waiting" in my head. Waiting is hard sometimes (OK, now I'm starting to hear Mr. Petty). Waiting can be a lot of things:

• passive - just sitting around waiting for something to happen
• active - getting the house cleaned while waiting for guests to arrive
• fearful - just wait until your father gets home
• hopeful - waiting for Jesus to return
• patient - as we read here in Psalm 40
• impatient - like my cat when she's waiting to be fed in the morning
• without unknown expectations - waiting for the iPhone to come to Verizon
• with known expectations - waiting until COB on a Friday knowing that the weekend is nigh

David is actively, hopefully, patiently waiting with known expectations for the Lord. David knows the Lord will hear him and will answer his prayer. And He does. God has been paying attention and is actively listening to David's prayer. Forget about everyday and one more yard. This is how I want to wait.

A little abundance

Better is the little that the righteous has
      than the abundance of many wicked.

Psalm 37:16 (ESV)

David sounds like Solomon here. This quote here could have easily been in Proverbs. It's better to righteous than to be rich. I know this to be true - I've got an abundance of stuff to prove it. ;-)

Seriously, God cares more about what's in your heart than how much stuff is in your home. With all of the stuff in my home, maybe I need to be concerned with my heart too. What does all of the stuff say about my heart? Has my stuff become my idol? Do I need to clean house and clean my heart? Are decluttering and repentence interrelated? Get the heart in order and then get the house in order?

For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
      but the LORD upholds the righteous.

Psalm 37:17 (ESV)

Together

Glorify the LORD with me;
      let us exalt his name together.

Psalm 34:3 (NIV)

I will glorify the LORD. I will exalt His Name. Nope, that's not what it says here. Not that it's bad to say that. But here David has a few key words to remember: "with me," "let us," and "together." Though having a personal praise and worship time is a great thing, we should not forget to worship God with others. It says in Hebrews 10:25 "Let us not give up meeting together..." If it's Sunday morning and you just don't feel like going to church, don't reach for the TV remote, reach for the car keys. Don't focus on what's going on in your life - focus on who God is. Together with your brothers, sisters, family, and friends glorify the Lord and exalt His name!

Unfailing Love

Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him

Psalm 33:1 (NIV)

As I was reading this morning, Psalm 33 sounded familiar. Of course, I've read it many a time (at least once a year), but this was different. Oh, yeah I thought to myself. I wrote a song based on this years ago. So here it is (at least the lyrics, I don't have it posted online anywhere that I recall). As for how it sounds, I always thought it sounded like Triumph from the early 80s (although I could never sing like Rik Emmett.

Unfailing Love

Your Word is right, Your Word is true
You are faithful in all You do
You love righteousness and justice
The earth is full of Your unfailing love

Chorus:
I will sing to You Lord
It is fitting to give You praise
I will praise You with this instrument
I will sing of Your unfailing love

By Your Word, You made the heavens
The stars by the breath of Your mouth
For You spoke and it came to be
You commanded and it was

Repeat Chorus

Bridge:
You look down from Your heaven
And see all those who live on earth
Your eyes are on those who fear You
Whose hope is Your unfailing love

For You, oh Lord, are my hope
In You will my heart rejoice
May Your unfailing love rest on me
As I put my hope in You

Repeat Chorus

What is He due?

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

Psalm 29:2 (ESV)

The Lord is due glory. To what are you giving glory? We should worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. What is masking His holiness in your life that is keeping you from worshipping Him? Anything that distracts you from worshipping God as He should be is an idol. Are you glorifying idols and not worshipping God? Does your family come before God? Your job? Your possessions? The thing you just added to your Amazon wishlist? Give glory to God alone. He alone is worthy of your worship and praise!

To See His Face

One thing I ask of the LORD,
      this is what I seek:
      that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
      all the days of my life,
      to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
      and to seek him in his temple.

Psalm 27:4 (NIV)

A busy morning today and I never got around to blogging. I was up early to spend some time in the Word (as usual) and to get myself ready to head up to church for rehearsal and to play in the worship band today. Both of my sons wanted to go along with me so I had to keep them on task in getting ready. I had a wonderful time at church today: the Word was preached, the worship singing was good (and the band pretty good), a few families that we're friends with celebrated a family member's baptism today. All in all, a good day with God's people. Oh, to have more days like this!

Still Waters

¹The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²He makes me lie down in green pastures.
      He leads me beside still waters.
³He restores my soul.
      He leads me in paths of righteousness
      for his name’s sake.

Psalm 23:1-3 (ESV)

As the crow flies, I live about 30 or so miles South of where a 3.6 magnitude earthquake shook the Washington, DC area yesterday morning. I was already awake and in the kitchen and heard the dishes rattle. Several folks I work with, who live within a mile or two of the epicenter, were awakened by the earthquake. The Lord is my shepherd; It wasn't much of an earthquake really although locals who aren't much used to earthquakes were a little shaken up by it. I shall not want. Some people thought a tree had fallen in their yard. He makes me lie down in green pastures. Some people thought it was thunder from a typical Washington area summer thunderstorm. He leads me beside still waters. It was over pretty quickly. He restores my soul. There were no injuries or property damage directly attributable to the earthquake. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. All-in-all, yesterday was just a typical summer day except the heat and humidity wasn't the primary topic of conversation.

For what it's worth, my wife and kids slept through it ;-)

Words and Thoughts

¹³Keep your servant also from willful sins;
      may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless,
      innocent of great transgression.
¹⁴May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
      be pleasing in your sight,
      O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:13-14 (NIV)

Psalm 19 is one of my favorites. From the description of how the heavens proclaim God's glory to ode to God's Law to the humble prayer at the end. This prayer is the desire of my heart and I couldn't express it any better than David did.

The Lord Lives!

The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation

Psalm 18:46 (ESV)

In Psalm 18, David is praising God for delivering him. God is alive and vividly so (no sleepily so as I am at the moment). God is his refuge. God is his salvation. God is to be exalted above all else. Our circumstances may change but God does not. Regardless of our circumstances, what David proclaims about God is always true. So, tired or not, I will exalt the God of my salvation!

Burning For You

¹⁸Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. ¹⁹A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.

Acts 19:18-19 (NIV)

Paul was in Ephesus and many people were coming to faith in Christ. They weren't just simple "Ok, I'm a Christian. Now what?" conversions. No, the people were renouncing their old lives. Confessing the evil that they used to do. Taking the tangible signs of their old lives and burning them. Think about those books they burned. A drachma was about a days wages. Based on the 2008 average salary (as reported on the Social Security Admistration website) that translates to over 5.6 million dollars! Can you imagine a group of people coming to faith in Christ and destroying 5.6 million dollars worth of stuff just because it was an evil influence in the sinful life they used to lead? Honestly, comfortable materialistic American that I am, I can't imagine it. Why not? Why should such a radical conversion seem so strange to me? What from my sinful life would I be willing - and even eager - to burn to show the difference Christ has made in my life?

Has Anything Changed?

Everyone lies to his neighbor;
      their flattering lips speak with deception.

Psalm 12:2 (NIV)

David is lamenting to God in Psalm 12. As I read verse 2, I thought about how much that sounds like the world today. Read the newspaper or watch the news. Read some of the news/political/gossip sites on the internet. How much of it is about people being deceptive? How much of it is people saying "you need to be tolerant" while they are really thinking "I don't like what you think and I hate you because of it"? Too much if you ask me. I take comfort in what David took comfort in.

And the words of the LORD are flawless,
      like silver refined in a furnace of clay,
      purified seven times.

Psalm 12:6 (NIV)

Excellent!

O LORD, our Lord,
      how majestic is your name in all the earth!
      You have set your glory
      above the heavens.

Psalm 8:1 (NIV)

Jehovah, our Sovereign Ruler! Your excellence and beauty are over all the earth! In this Psalm, David is effusive in his praise for his heavenly Father. He should be. I struggle to find words to praise my heavenly Father. It's good that it's OK to take what is said about Him in His Word and use it to praise Him. How excellent is He!

A Great Way To Start The Day

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
      in the morning I lay my requests before you
      and wait in expectation.

Psalm 5:3 (NIV)

How do you start the day? Like David, do you start the day in prayer? Do you make your requests known to God? Do you wait expectantly for His answer? You can. How do you start your day?

A Gentle Rain

¹ Blessed is the man
      who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
      or stand in the way of sinners
      or sit in the seat of mockers.
² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
      and on his law he meditates day and night.
³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
      which yields its fruit in season
      and whose leaf does not wither.
      Whatever he does prospers.

Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)

I'll admit it: my lawn doesn't look that good. We haven't gotten much rain this summer and my lawn has gone into defensive mode and most of it has turned brown. The one patch where we put sod down has been watered daily in hope that it will root and look good in a while. Parts of that patch of lawn look OK, others not so much. But today, I don't need to run the sprinkler. It's raining. It's been a gentle rain for a while, but now it's picked up and it's pretty heavy.

Psalm 1 tells us that the man who delights in the word of God is like a tree planted by a stream. That tree has a daily supply of the water it needs to live. You don't have to run the sprinkler to keep it nourished.

I am thankful that I've had the discipline to read God's Word daily. It's an indispensible part of my morning. I know it's made a difference in how I live my life. Hopefully, my lawn is the better for it.

Seeing God

⁵ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. ⁶ Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

Job 42:5-6

At the end of his ordeal, Job finds himself a changed man. He has seen God and he has seen his own unrighteousness which leads him to repentence. Truly seeing God should always lead us to repent of our sin. It's a shame that we spend so much of our lives just hearing about God and not truly seeing God. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord... I want to see You... to see You high and lifted up...

I should just shut up

"I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.

Job 40:4 (NIV)

God has given Job a chance to state his case. Job wisely humbles himself. He recognizes how unworthy he is to approach God. He realizes that he's said too much and that he should never opened his mouth to accuse God in the first place. I can relate. How many times have I said "did I say that out loud?" or "ok, I'm just going to shut up now" or even "me and my big mouth." When God is disciplining me, the only words out of my mouth should be "Yes, Lord." Like Isaiah, I cry "Woe to me... I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips..." (Isaiah 6:5a) Fortunately, what the seraph did for Isaiah temporarily when he touched his lips with the coal, Jesus has done permanently for me when he died on the cross. "your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." (Isaiah 6:7b) Because of Jesus, I can approach God. But it shouldn't be me speaking because Jesus is advocating on my behalf. I'll just shut up and let Him do the talking.

Oh Yes, God Speaks!

Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:

Job 38:1 (NIV)

God is finally answering Job and it's not in a still, small voice. God is answering Job out of a storm - a tempest, a whirlwind. It wasn't just a little summer storm. The Weather Channel was probably there covering the story. The National Weather Service had probably issued a severe thunderstorm warning and perhaps even a tornado watch. And God was speaking through it. Do you suppose God had Job's attention? I know with a storm like this, I'd be heading for cover. God's voice speaking through it would probably stop me in my tracks. In verse 3 God tells Job to "Brace yourself like a man." In other words hold on tight. If I'm in Job's shoes, God has my complete attention. Now, I have never heard God speak through a storm like Job did here, but I read His word every day. He speaks to me daily. Do I brace for His word like He tells Job to brace himself? I should. His word is powerful. Forget thunderstorms, there should be a divine storm warning every time I open my Bible. Brace yourself. God is speaking!

God Speaks

For God does speak—now one way, now another— though man may not perceive it.

Job 33:14 (NIV)

What was that you said? I've uttered that phrase more than once. Probably a few times everyday. I probably wasn't paying attention to whoever was speaking to me. Maybe the TV was too loud. Maybe I was too involved in something on Facebook. Maybe I was tired and drifting off. Maybe I was driving and paying attention to traffic. There's many reasons why I may not have been listening to someone who was speaking to me. God speaks to us. He speaks in different ways. Sometimes, like He demonstrated to Elijah, it's in a still, small voice. Do we even notice? Are there things in our lives that are distracting us from hearing the voice of God? Are we even listening? I probably should be...

Times of plenty, times of lack

For what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high?

Job 31:2 (NIV)

Job still recognizes God as the Almighty and provider. Even in his loss, he doesn't sit around thinking about what was lost that he earned for himself. He recognizes that all he has and all he will leave comes from God. Perhaps it's my arrogance or my level of comfort that makes me think Wow, I just got a raise. Let me go out and reward myself with a new guitar. I need to constantly remember that all that I have doesn't come because I've got a great job, but it has come because God has provided it for me. In my times of plenty and in my times of lack, all that I have has come from God. And... it is good.

Why You Dirty Little Rat

With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt.
      He grips me by the collar of my coat.

Job 30:18 (NLT)

I have a picture in my mind of a black and white film noir gangster movie. The heavy has the little guy grabbing his shirt collar and lifting him into the air and saying "you dirty little rat." That's how Job sees God handling him. God may be lifting Job up, but I think it's more for Job's protection. "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

Wisdom and Understanding

And he said to man,
      'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
      and to shun evil is understanding.' "

Job 28:28 (NIV)

Who needs wisdom and understanding? Job did. I do. The fear of the Lord = wisdom. Do I fear the Lord? Do I have proper respect for Him? Do I hold Him in awe? Shun Evil = Understanding. Do I shun evil? Or do I let it slide when I see evil on TV? Or on the internet? Or in the newspaper? Or in my life? Do I need wisdom and understanding? Yes, I do. Fear the Lord. Shun evil. OK.

How Faint The Whisper

And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
      how faint the whisper we hear of him!
      Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"

Job 26:14 (NIV)

Wow. This verse paints such a beautiful word picture. To me, it's a vivid reminder that we can only grasp a fraction of God's greatness. Though I've seen God work in mighty ways - it's only a small part of all that He has done. Though I've heard Him speak to me - it's only a faint whisper and small part of what He's said. Though I recognize His power - I cannot fully grasp the complete awesomeness of His power. Though I only see the fringe of His works, I want to see more. Though I only hear the faint whisper, I want to listen and hear more. Though I only hear the thunder of His power, bring on the storm!

Doing What He Pleases

But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?
He does whatever he pleases.

Job 23:13

Despite all of his grumblings, Job still recognizes God's sovereignty. He may not be very happy about it, but he still recognizes it. Whatever God wants to do, He does. We need to remember this. We cannot remember this without also remembering His character - His good, holy, just character. We know that this same God that does what He pleases also is the same God as in Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."