shaped by scripture

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 

Psalm 19:7

This truth has been a defining conviction of my life. Even as an elementary school child an overarching belief that God's Word is the source of life and truth has governed my thinking. We used to sing the last section of the nineteenth Psalm in Christian school and church. It has served as a governing philosophy around which I have ordered much of my internal structure. It is what drives me to open the Bible in the early morning dark stillness and let God's truth enlighten and revive me.

I have not always responded well to what God has shown me. I have even been in a recent season of struggle over it. That is always the challenge. God wants to change me in the renewing work of His thoughts refining my mind. But to allow this is not a passive exercise. By faith I must put God's Word into action. There is still self and sin at ruinous waste in me. Simple laziness can destroy my obedience to God's Word.

It is one thing to hear the truth, to read scripture and think about it. It is another thing altogether to obey it. The first thing can be done in just a few minutes. But living it by obedience takes all the rest of my life. And there are no excuses, only sins, that keep me from the transforming obedience to the Word of God.

Lord,

Your power and wisdom are known in Your Word. Forgive me for not living them to real change within me. I am grateful that Your Spirit convicts me to do what Your Word says. Help me to both love and to live Your Law!

Amen

fortress rock

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 

Psalm 18:2

There is a lot of imagery in this short verse. There is a reason why these words about God's amazing protection gush forth from David. The Psalm begins with this description of David and why he wrote it: "...who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD rescued him from the hand of his enemies and from the hand of Saul..."

David had been an outlaw fugitive running and hiding in the Judean desert. He knew how to hide in a rock. And that is the imagery that pours from him in this psalm. He saw God's protection in all of the desert experiences of his life.

The words pour out the beauty of the bleak desert landscape. God is a rock, a fortress, and a stronghold. God shields David and delivers him. God is the salvation that comes at the blowing of the ram's horn. God was David's protective delivering army. And David felt secure in the stronghold of God's salvation.

Yet when you read the accounts of David in the desert, there are moments where it seems he will fall. And David does not always look first to God. There was a mercy and grace extended in the desert when David miserably tried to save himself by his own wits. God often kept David safe in spite of all of David's mistakes. You can get the context of all this by reading the history of it in 1 Samuel chapters 19 through 31. These were hard times by all definitions. But God was a good God. And that is a comfort to us all. In all times God is good. In hard times we trust Him all the more. He is our Rock.. our fortress of protection when we are running in the desert.

Satisfied: a heart centered on God

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. 

Psalm 17:15

The passion of David's heart was the presence of God. He longed to be with God, to know His presence, to serve The Lord and to worship Him in righteousness. It was the driving desire of his heart. David simply wanted to awaken to each new day satisfied in God alone.

The affections of the human heart are filled with competing desires. It is only when we really look at God and get a glimpse of His glory that perspective can come on these other desires. When our affections are centered upon God, all those other desires begin to wane in significance. The heart that is close to God will have no other loyalties than Him. Those other desires are ordered first around God and His kingdom. It is what Jesus meant when He advised His disciples to seek first God's kingdom and righteousness and everything else will be added to that.

This kind of driving passion is not easy to either obtain or maintain. It means fixing my eyes on Jesus. It means following the old sage advice: "anchor your heart on God and spend each day shortening the chain". At times my ship drifts further from that anchor. It requires conscious effort, holy fellowship with other believers, obedience to the holy scriptures, the convicting work of God's Holy Spirit and most of all the sanctifying work of God to achieve a heart that desires God above all else.

Boundary Lines

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 

Psalm 16:6

I look all across

the landscape of life

and I stand amazed

at what I find

God has given good

to me at every turn

and all that I should

do is praise Him in return

The inheritance in Christ

is mine now and forever

and that duty that is mine

is to stay faithul in each endeavor

I see all around me

a pleasant, healthy land

as eternity stretches before me

I take the bounty from God's hand

I don't deserve it

it is all mercy and grace

I am a sinner who

fall before my Savior's face

The beautiful things I know

are what God gave

and the story I now must show

is how He came to save

personal character + social commitments = community change

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 

Psalm 15:1

These pressing questions are meant to define what a personal commitment to God looks like in a life. The rest of the Psalm (consisting of four short verses) explains this. I see two main characteristics in the answer to these questions.

First, things are defined by personal character (15:1). In verse two we are shown three commitments in heart character: 1) walking blamelessly, 2) doing right, and 3) speaking truth from the heart. The point is not any kind of externalism. The righteous person does these things because of a deep personal commitment. The character flows from the deepest part of the heart.

Secondly, the person who can sojourn with God has visible social commitments demonstrated in righteousness. He does not slander. He does not do wrong to neighbors. He does not turn on friends and loved ones (Psalm 15:3). He despises evil but honors those who love God. When he makes a commitment, he will go the distance at cost to himself (Psalm 15:4). He does not seek personal gain in helping others. It is never about the money. He is not able to be bought (Psalm 15:5).

The person whose heart is changed by God will show that change in the lives of the people he knows. The world is a better place when God's people are in it. Neighborhoods are better. Communities connect. Relationships flourish. Cities thrive. Loving God brings civility and stability. This means that the gospel and the powerful heart change that it brings is essential to social stability and change.

What God is looking for

The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 

Psalm 14:2

Peering down from glorious throne

the LORD looks down

to earth below

He scans the world

looking for someone

looking for anyone

who looks for Him

Searching through the hearts of man

the LORD seeks people

who understand

He is looking

and wanting someone

wanting anyone

to look back at Him

God's penetrating gaze

examing all the ways

of people all our days

looking for heads upraised

to seek Him

Jesus left heaven on high

to come down

to earth to die

God loves the world

dying for everyone

saving anyone

who comes to Him

chasing a silent God

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 

Psalm 13:1

I can't figure God out. There... I said it. It is impossible for me to predict what God will do in any specific situation. His ways are a mystery to me most of the time. And I have spent my life studying Him. I have devoted myself to reading the Bible and trying to understand God in it. I have spent a considerable investment of time and money on a theological education and continue in it as a life pursuit. And God is mostly beyond my grasp.

That is not a bad thing,

In fact, it is a good thing.

It isn't easy to find God silent when I cry out to Him for any kind of answer. But it is part of what makes Him God. The way that I see it, if I knew God only as the caterer to my every whim, He would probably then be a construct of my own imagination, like some sort of genie in a children's tale. And that would be just a form of self-deluded wishful thinking.

Instead, having a God Who may be silent, a God Who really works on His scale and not mine drives me to a passionate pursuit of Him. He is a good God, but like Aslan in the Narnia books, He is not tame. Wild things are often hidden. I have to chase Him down in His wildness and at times when I finally catch a glimpse of Him, I tremble at what I see. I submit in awe at those times when God has been silent to me... and then I am aware of Him.

I appreciate that Isreal worshiped God with questions such as "How long, O Lord?", "Will You forget me forever?" "How long will You hide Your face?" Those experiential pains are in the hymnal of the Bible for a reason. They are meant to lead us to the worship of the God Who we chase with passion in His silence.