Psalm 17

Psalm 17
Prayer with Confidence in Final Salvation, a Prayer of David

Summary: this psalm is a prayer of David, a righteousness man making a just plea to God. He prays that God will uphold him, and keep him safe. He also remembers that ultimately, he will be in heaven with God in the end. This is a pray for safety and success, while knowing that ultimately in the end David will be in heaven, safe and in a new body with Christ.

Its like watching a movie; I always get caught up in the movie and find myself hoping and wishing that everything will turn out all right, but then I remember, it’s a movie. The main character is in a mess of trouble, but you know that somehow everything is going to work out and somehow by the end of the 90 minute movie, everything will be in its place and everyone will live happily ever after.


I think it is almost the same case in this psalm. Let me explain. Verse one: 'Hear a just cause o Lord, attend to my cry.' David is praying that the Lord will hear his cry and protect him. Verse five: 'Uphold my steps in Your paths, that my footsteps my not slip.' He prays that God will guide his choices and paths to safe places. He goes on the pray that God will show his lovingkindness (m-w: tender and benevolent affection) and save those who trust in the Lord. Verse seven: 'O You save those who trust in You, from those who rise up against them.' He prays that God will keep him from those who oppress him and from his enemies. But then he remembers that his enemies store up treasures on earth, but when they die, they have to give all their possessions away. And David remembers God’s promise to His believers, that he will be rewarded in heaven. Verse fifteen: 'As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.' As Christians, our happily ever after is waking up, seeing our Creator, our loving Father for the first time, living in an eternal kingdom with the Creator of the universe, which is far better than 'happily ever after' on TV.

This Psalm reminds me of a song that is all about how we as Christians should live, with the final goal in mind, a heavenly home, a heavenly family. The song is Heavenlies, by Evan Wickham. Check out the lyrics, it's a pretty cool song. But my favorite part is the chorus, I'm living for the heavenlies. Which is kinda what David says at the very end of his psalm, 'I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness', which means David is looking forward to that moment when we are with God and can see Him face to face. It is so awesome that in trial and pain and suffering we can remember that we are living for something more than this world, we are living for a heavenly Father whose love is perfect beyond measure and stores up heavenly treasures for us.

No matter what troubles or trails we face today, we can have the same attitude that David had, God will triumph in the end! And because we are on God’s side, so will we!

Psalm 16 - In Tune

Sometimes we forget about the importance of the being in tune with God - or why we even need to be in the first place. That's what this weeks Psalm is all about.
Psalm 16!


Verses 1-3 - David is a pretty awesome dude. I was thinking about how many distractions we can have in our lives, how many things can make it difficult to fit God into our schedule. It's remarkable how David (who probably had even more than we do) still managed to keep his focus on God. I mean, it's so easy to lose focus in our walks - so easy to get caught up with school, sports, girlfriends, boyfriends, video games, and all the Facebook/cell-phone nonsense that's out there. No, David never had a Facebook, but the first three verses just describe how David lived his life, which helps us understand why he was so in tune with, and focused on, God. In verses 1-2, He looks to God to "preserve" him and to be the "goodness" in his life. David had a wonderful concept of a few verses that was written well beyond his time (Romans 3:9-23). Apart from God, we are not safe from sin, and apart from Him, we can truly do no good. That's what David says here. He knows that he's a sinner, and he knows that he isn't worthy of God. David, a king amongst the greatest kings to ever live, made himself humble before God ... why? Moving back a bit, think of all the stories of the Old Testament - Moses and the Israelites walked through a parted Red Sea, Joshua took the promise land against all odds, Gideon killed thousands with 300 men, David killed Goliath, Samson killed thousands of Philistines (as did Shamgar) and so on. Further down the road, we read about how Jesus' death on the cross shook the earth and tore the vail in the temple - sin once and for all lost its hold on God's people. David saw this - he saw that God had both power to "preserve" and protect - both physically and spiritually.

Verses 4-10 David kind of lays out a warning here. He says that if anyone is to choose a god other than the true and living God, they drink to their own sorrow. If you put anything before God, David promises you an empty life. On that short note, David continues on to talk about the inheritance he has in God - the guidance, the love, the joy, and the relationship he has found in the Father. He says again in verse 8, he has chosen always to set the Lord before himself. Because God is on his side, he will not be moved (Romans 8:31). It's pretty much a list of more reasons to consider God a priority in our lives - which so many of us forget to do sometimes.

Verse 11 We close with a powerful statement here. Jesus came to this Earth and he proclaimed to be the way, the truth, and the LIFE. The choice we make between God and this world is not trivial in the least. To choose anything but Christ is to choose death - literally what David is saying here. David lays it our pretty simply. On the left hand side, we have a world filled with lies and sorrow - with empty promises and pain. But on the right hand side we have a God who gives endless joy and blessings forevermore.

Why Tune-In? When you read the chapter, you might think to yourself why we would even consider the idea of being in tune with God. Basically, the last few weeks have been a struggle for myself. With tests and projects coming to a close, as well as a new job starting up, I have had difficulty in keeping time open for time with God. Because of this, I have been miserable and stressed out to the max. It's important in the Christian life to rely on God not only for spiritual matters but also matters of every day life. It says in 1 peter - "cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you." If you're not in tune with God - if you're living life to the beat of your own drum, you're in for a world of hurt. The picture above makes absolutely no sense, but the idea I get out of this week is pretty sweet. If life was a radio, are you tuned into God's station ... or something else?

Have fun with finals!
-Chris

It's Not An Option ... Go

If God were my Chiropractor

I remember when I was little, I was a lot shorter than most of my friends. Whenever I went to the doctor to be measured, I would stand as tall as I could possibly stand - I would stretch my back, hold my chin up high, and hope to add a few inches to my height just so I could brag the next day to my friends. Needless to say, it didn't really work. Anyway, we ought to have the same attitude spiritually. Simply, we should want to grow closer and closer to God - to stand up as tall as we can, just for Him. The questions we want to look at today - Are you striving and giving your best to God? Are you reading your Bible? Are you praying daily? Are you standing up tall spiritually, or are you slouching over? ... and ... If God were your Chiropractor, what would he have to say about your spiritual posture?



Verses 1-2 David opens up by asking the question "who can abide in God's tabernacle?" ... or more simply put, who are the people that deserve to dwell in His presence? David goes on to answer his own question - he says - the people who's works are righteous, who's words are true, aaannndd who stand upright.As Christians, we are called to a life in communion with the Father. The Bible tells us, apart from God, we can do no good. Later in the New Testament, James talks about how genuine faith moves us to action - how our love for Christ brings about a loving actions towards others. Is your faith moving you to action? Are you showing love to the world through the gospel message? Are you living a life that the Bible would classify as righteous? That's what David is talking about. If you want to dwell in God's presence and want to taste the joy and happiness that He has to offer, the Bible makes it clear that we are to adopt an upright lifestyle. I like how David puts it - he describes the Christian walk in terms of posture. Think of it this way. If God was your Chiropractor, would he say that you have good spiritual posture, or would he say that you slouch too much?


Verses 3-5 The picture above is taken from an instructional manual on how to properly operate a vacuum. Basically - apparently the only thing you shouldn't do while vacuuming is lean over. It's a very cool picture of sin. If our spiritual life was described by the picture above, David's instructions to you would be to never lean over for anything. If there is a shiny quarter on the ground, just leave it. If the backpack seems a little heavy - ask for help ... just don't bend over. Literally this is the case for verses 3-5. Things that will ruin your spiritual posture are as follows: backbiting, cheating, lying, fighting, caring to much about your reputation, make false promises. Obviously, the list of sins that you could possibly commit is much larger than that, but to live a righteous life, we have to steer clear from any of these things. Remember why we do it in the first place - to grow closer to God, to stand in his presence, to be called "good and faithful" servants. David says at the end, that if you steer clear from all of these things - you will never be moved. If you want to be a successful young Christian (or maybe you just want to start working on you spiritual posture), start here - read your Bible, pray, and steer clear from the things you know are wrong. The burden on your back may get heavy sometimes, but God promises to never give us something that we can't handle.

The Chiropractor: This week, think about your spiritual stature. If you find yourself to be slouching, I would encourage you to talk to one of the leaders. If your standing up straight but your growth has come to a stand-still, I would also encourage you to talk to one of the leaders about what's slowing you down. No matter where you're at, it's always a good idea, to read the word and to pray - that's a given right? Well then ... are you doin' it?


Have a good week!
-Chris

Psalm 14; Living under the Microscope

That little guy in his business suit up there in this week's picture sort of makes me laugh. He's trying to be all professional and whatnot, but he's super uncomfortable with that giant magnifying glass over him. Maybe it's because he's about to burst into flame, but most likely it's because he doesn't like to be that closely observed. I guess if you think about it, he's a lot like our modern celebrities. I'm sure many of you guys remember Britney Spears' "meltdown," as the news called it, where she shaved her head and whatnot, followed by the famous "Leave Britney Alone" video on youtube. It's kind of funny at first, but then again, you can't help but feel bad for celebrities like her. Constant newscasters and photographers everywhere you go. Crazy Jr. High fans (just kidding :P). As a celeb, the world's eyes are on you 24/7, and they leave absolutely no privacy for you. Celebrities literally live their lives under the microscope, but they aren't the only ones!

Verse 1
To the world, Christianity is foolish. Each one rejects God for their own reason, but the resulting attitude is almost always the same; negative feelings towards christians. When people learn that we are christian, often times they begin to watch our actions to see if we hold up to what we say we are. It is unfortunate, but in this way, we are also sentenced to a life under the microscope. And, since we are all imperfect sinners, we inevitably mess up, and that's when Christianity gets judgements placed upon it, similar to the one we see here in verse 1. "See, look, they don't do what they say they believe in: they messed up. That means that Christianity is a sham." Sadly that is too often what goes through unbelievers' minds, and it leads to bitterness and hardened hearts. It is an event that I see happening around me in my own life, and every time it breaks my heart. It is a foolish and immature action on the part of the unbeliever, but you can't say it isn't fair, I suppose. We are indeed failing to meet our own proclaimed way of life. However, the wondrous fact about our relationship with God is that, through Jesus' death and resurrection, we are made perfect and un-stained. He views each and every one of His children as spotless, and that is the all-important fact that the world overlooks in their judgement.

Verses 2-4
Upon reading this part of the Psalm, my heart is put at peace. Why, you may ask? It is pointing out the depravity of sin, after all, but the grace that I see in this situation is that God is constantly looking for all who may believe! He never deserts us believers, and constantly protects us, but he doesn't stop there! For all of our friends who aren't saved, for all of humanity, He maintains a passionate desire for a relationship. There is always hope for even the hardest of hearts, because He will never give up on them. They may attack God's children, nit-pick aspects of us through their microscopes, or turn a cold shoulder all together upon us and give us over as "outsiders," but through all that, God seeks after their hearts. If He is so crazy about unbelievers, how much more does He go wild over those who have a relationship with Him? Amazingly enough, through all this, though, there are still many who "devour believers as men eat bread;" We will always be inspected by those outside of Christianity, but that is not something to be afraid of! How many more opportunities to set an example as believers will we have, the more they turn up the magnification!

Verses5-7
No matter what the world throws our way, God is always our support! Evildoers may try to bring you down, and they come in many forms. Even a friend having a rough day can sometimes feel like taking it out on you, but these verses tell us that God is always right there with us! He is where we truly draw our strength from. To quote one of my favorite songs at the moment "When you're weak, Love is strong" (Hold On - Phil Wickham). In times of scrutiny or attack, God's love never fails. All we need to do is move our self out of the way, and lean upon His strength so He can work through us. This sort of trusting relationship is exactly the type that comes as a result of "praying without ceasing," to tie back to last week's Psalm. The works that God can do through us are truly amazing, and He will use even the least of us if only we are willing to let Him do so.

Passing Inspection:
One of the scariest things that you can face is opening yourself up for public inspection. Whether you find yourself on stage for a school play, or talking with a best friend about someone you like, you will most likely be sweating bullets. I know that I am extremely self conscious in situations like that, and I'm willing to bet you guys understand what I mean from your own experiences. As Christians though, we always live under the microscope. Non-believers are always going to be there to inspect our Christian attitudes and actions on a daily basis. Thankfully, though, our Father is with us every step of the way, and is always willing to lend us His strength. With Him, we can pass our inspection; He loves using regular people like you and me as examples to those around us, because the best argument for Christianity can often be the believer who shows love to his friend when he needs it most.

My challenge to you guys this week - Set an example through your life that reflects a Christ-like attitude, but don't forget to rely on the Lord's strength to do so.

-Matt

Pray Without Ceasing

This weeks Psalm is short and sweet - Psalm 13



I'm guessing from the title and the picture, you have already figured out that we're talking about prayer today. For young ones like you, prayer is a silly thing - not that it's funny, but for so many junior highers, prayer is very very difficult. I'm sure you can remember a time in Amped, where we asked if someone would like to pray for the group ... and no one wanted to. I know it's a little different, but that's what I'm talking about. Prayer shouldn't be something we are afraid of, prayer isn't something that has to be super formal, and most definitely, prayer isn't something we should be doing just at church. For a group of people that can't seem to keep there mouth shut elsewhere, sometimes I wonder why it's so difficult for young people to talk to God. Don't get me wrong, I fall into the same boat some times, but i'd encourage you (especially this week) to give prayer a shot - take some time aside and pray ... just pray.

Verses 1-4 If you've already read the six verses for this week, you might be a little confused about why we're talking about prayer. Let me explain: David was a man of prayer - a prayer warrior if you will. No matter what it was, he took his worries, his concerns, his frustrations to God (always accompanied with praise of course). He starts the chapter with questions to God - why is this happening? what's the deal? Over the last couple of weeks, we've seen that the Christians place in this world is one of an outcast. For the sake of Biblical example - we are the lepers of this world. If the devil were to have his way, he would have us all disappear. He knows that he cannot take our hearts, so he'd rather just not have us here. Since we are here, he will do his best to humiliate us - to make us ineffective for Christ. David lived in a world that is very much similar to the one we live in today. Just because there was no X-box, iPhone, or Facebook does not mean that there were no worries or troubling thoughts that came to this righteous man's mind. So what does he do? David humbles himself and he prays, "God enlighten my eyes." If you truly are having a tough time in your life right now, the only place David would recommend you go is to the Father. God will not always make clear what his intentions are, but He will most certainly remind you of who He is - He will give you peace and comfort. One of the most powerful verses I have memorized is this - cast ALL of your cares upon him, for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7). No matter what it is ... whether a cry of anger or one of brokenness ... the Father just wants to talk with you.

Verses 5-6 The photo above seems to be a bit upside down if you ask me. In this chapter, David starts with grieving, not with praise. Regardless, this man who began his prayer with frustrations, ends his petition proclaiming the majesty of God. If you take me up on this weeks challenge, you'll find that the Father always has a way of changing tears into a smile. If you go to Him with a burden, you will see that He will gladly take it away. David gives us a beautiful picture here - His body may be suffering, but his soul is always rejoicing. I think this is what the "sleep of death" from verse 3 is talking about. If you are not communicating with the Father, how can your soul rejoice? If you read your Bible just to get it off your daily checklist, how is your spirit to be joyful? Without an adoration for the Father, a Bible verse is simply words on a page. Without prayer, the Christian walk is dead. Just as human contact is essential for life, the spirit needs to be in communication with the Father. Just as we need food to live, we need to word to feed the spirit.

Unlimited Minutes If God had a cell-phone, I could promise you that he would have unlimited minutes (and unlimited lines). God is always open to speak with you - when you're falling asleep at night, when you wake up in the morning, when you just had a fight with your parents, when your friend just stabbed you in the back, when things are just not going your way ... when trial and tribulation come knocking at your door - the Father is eagerly anticipating a call from you ... that is the power of prayer.


I encourage you this week - pray without ceasing ... easier said than done.
-Chris

Flattering Lips

A few weeks ago, I was reading Luke to prepare for our Sunday study when I stumbled across a few verses that have always been a bit troubling to me. Jesus, in a crowd of people, claims that he comes to bring division amongst the people - that he doesn't come to join the kingdom, but to establish one of his own. He continues later to say that anyone who doesn't hate his own parents in comparison to how much they love Him is not fit for his kingdom. Today, we're talking about a little something that David likes to call "flattering lips." Jesus didn't speak to flatter people with words for their "itching ears" (2 Tim 4:3), but rather, he came to speak about reality and truth. Sometimes in life, preaching the gospel message is not very appealing - especially when the ultimatum is "repent, or you'll go to hell" (granted, we preach this with love). As odd as it seems, our job as Christians is not to make people happy, but to show them where to find happiness in the Father. HERE --- Psalm 12

Verses 1-2 Just as in David's time, I believe that the followers of God are disappearing - not in a sense that they are actually gone, but more like they are dressed in disguise. These believers David is talking about have spent so much time in the world, that they live, act, speak, and look just like the rest of the world. I think about the church as a whole today - about how many people walk through the front doors on Sunday morning only to leave an hour later unchanged, unaffected. This is the "double-heart" we see in verse 2. I like to think of it this way: If we were to characterize the way we lived our lives by hats, we should ideally only have to wear one. Unfortunately, as David says, some people like to wear more than one hat. They go to church, and put on the "Jesus" hat, but when they leave and go out into the world, they take the "Jesus" hat off as soon as it is an inconvenience. Instead, they put on the "dirty jokes" hat, the "swearing" hat, the "alcohol" hat, the "drug" hat ... I'm sure you catch my drift. Why would this happen? Why would people want to change their hat so often in life? Well, quite frankly ... people want to be flattering. Sometimes, people are not too fond of the "Jesus" hat. I'll tell you this ... that people wearing the "drug" hats and the "dirty jokes" hats don't like it when people stroll in proudly wearing Jesus. Does that mean we change? Does that mean we should change our live styles based on the occasion? ... I'm sure you can answer that yourself. Sometimes, being the Christian at school is not the most flattering thing to be ... but that's no reason to go in disguise.

Verses 3-5 This kind of gets a little brutal - "the Lord will cut off flattering lips." David brings in this new element of pride ... Some people are too prideful to share Jesus - they feel that they cannot live a life for Christ because the cost of their reputation is simply too much ... If that's you ... I tell you it's not where you want to be. We read shortly after that God even has authority over people who think that no one "can tell them what to do." People are afraid to share Jesus because it makes them vulnerable, but the Lord rises up and says "Don't worry, I'll show you what safety you need." ... If you want to share Jesus, not only will He speak through you (Luke 12:12), but he will protect you as he has promised.

Verses 6-8 This last section is pretty clear. Why do we share the word of God? Why does it even matter? It's simply because the word of God is pure - it doesn't need flattering lips, it doesn't need pride ... it's simply the truth. David even mentions this fact that it has been purified seven times - it's perfected. God's word is true, it's pure, and it is most definitely perfect. David says at the end ... wickedness with prowl about the earth, but the won't stop God from upholding His Word.


God will always uphold his word. He will always stand behind it. In John 1:1 we read, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." God's word, God's good news, is simply Jesus. Are you willing to cut off your own "flattering" lips for the sake of Christ? Are you willing to put on the "Jesus" hat and never take it off? ... Just think about it.

-Chris