Psalm 35 - The Anatomy of Justice

When I was young I never thought that God wanted to hear my problems. I never believed that my pains and my aches were any of his concern, that He had much better things to do. I thought that maybe God was too busy for me and that's why he gave me parents. Fortunately, I was wrong as we'll see. 1 Peter 5:7 says that we are free to "cast our cares" upon God, frankly becasue he cares. In second grade, I remember having a bully who was four grades ahead of me and a lifetime of growing beyond me in size - he was huge. Anyway, I remember when my five foot mama heard about this during our car ride home - she was furious and drove me straight back to school to take care of business. She confronted the boy that was actually probably bigger than she was, but the young man quaked in fear. I don't even know what she said, but the boy never bothered me ever again - simple, swift justice. Now, you might be thinking - Chris, you just told me that God wants to deal with my frustrtations and my worries so why doesn't God take care of my "bullies" in life like your mom took care of yours? Great question. Although God is a just God, His timing is specific - allowing people like you and me to have a chance to understand his love in Christ Jesus. God is just, but God is also love. Because its frustrating anc confusing at times, today we get to study the anatomy of God's justice - Psalms 35



Verses 1-9 King David seems to spend a lot of time in the Pslams talking about his enemies and his afflictions - which seems weird as the Psalms is generally looked at as a book of praise songs. Anyway, this section of the chapter is devoted to David voicing his concerns and his desire for revenge, but he wrote it in a poetic pslam - weird. David is probably one of the few men to ever walk the Earth that understood our first postulate in the anatomy of God's justice - "God is no slack concerning his promises" (2 Peter 3:9). I could recite that verse over and over, but I think my heart is set on a scope of instant justice. In a world with microwaves, airplanes, text messaging, and all the other modern ammenities, it's easy to become impatient with God. When something crummy happens, we wonder why God doesn't just get to business. When a jerk shoves us into a locker at school, we wonder why God doesn't consume Him with righteous flames. When someone cuts me off on the freeway, I always with that I had the ability to pop their tires with a simple prayer, but such is not the case. One of the biggest problems with our understanding of God is that he is not on the same time scale that we are in. When we consider God's work to be too late or too early, He acts precisely when He means to. When God makes a promise to avenge us and to judge the wicked, he will follow through (Rev.). In verse 9, after pleading his case, David is joyful as he truly understands God's timing in regards to justice. The first important aspect of God's form of justice (backed by an infinite amount of wisdom) is that it is timed precisely perfectly.

Verses 9-21 Even though nothing has happened in regards to finding justice, David says that he will rejoice in God. One of the major concepts I struggle with personally is the idea that bad people get away with what they do. Sure, they pay the consequences of their actions, but most of the time, in my humble opinion, they reap a far less "punishment" than they deserve. Even more so, there are people in the world who prosper off of their evil - how is that fair? How can God let this happen? In the Old Testament, there is a book named after a prophet named Habakkuk. In this book are the complaints are a very disgruntled man. As Habakkuk looks at the world, he cries out for God's justice to sweep throughout the world so that all the evil men would die. In Habakkuk's opinion, God was being trampled on. He was being disrespected. King David shows us an interesting aspect about God's seemingly "delayed" punishment for evil. Galatians 6:7 tells us that God is not mocked. That means in God knows what is happening and he has a plan. The verse continues to say that a man will reap what he sows - both physically and eternally. Hebrews 10:29-30 tells us that those who trample on the name of Jesus Christ will be trampled on in return. King David is able to rejoice in the understanding that God has already won. There is no one like our God - no one that can match his power. So why should he wait? Why shouldn't he just show us his victory now by taking out evil once and for all? Well ... that is because God's love is unmatched as well.

Verses 22-28 At the end of all things, we know that evil will not stand. There will come a day where all in the world that is wrong and spiritually numbing will be washed away; that there will come a day when Jesus Christ returns to claim his bride (the church) and destroy all those who tried to corrupt her. Deuteronomy 32:35 (as well as Hebrews 10:30 & Revelation 12:19) tells us that vengeance is God's and not ours. King David was a man filled with joy - known for music, his outbursts in dance, and his life of praise. David understood that it was not his job to take care of his troubles - that he was not in charge of keeping evil in check. What a relief - to know that God is in control. Know that God is in control with good reason. If I were in charge of destroying evil ... a lot of people would be dead ... including people who need to hear the love story of Jesus Christ. Reading the second part of 2 Peter 3:9, it becomes clear that God's primary objective is not too kill all that is evil, but to weed out even the smallest portion of good that exists in mankind. God's wish is that all would come to know the redemption He has provided in His son as a sacrifice. Why does it seem like God is taking a lifetime to do business? Why does it seems sometimes like He's turning a blind eye to the evil that plagues this world? It's because he's giving our lost brothers and sisters a chance to come back home. The anatomy of God's justice is preceded by the potency of His love.


- Chris

Psalm 34 - Surviving Finals Week

Well, it's been quite a while, but I'm glad we got back into this when we did. This week [or next week], as some of you might know, is finals week. We all know how stressful finals can be, how boring studying is, and how frightening it is awaiting the outcome of our grades. On the other hand, the title of this weeks Psalm, at least in my Bible, is "Happiness of Those Who Trust in God." No matter what aspect of life you look at, the stress that amounts to it can never be compared to the peace that we have found in Jesus Christ. This week, we look at a few things that king David did to make sure that he stayed focused on God rather than the worries of this world. Psalm 34




Verses 1-3 One of my least favorite parts of finals week is hearing the complaints that come out of peoples mouths. I know that I am just a guilty, but every year, without fail, there are always people wandering the campus ranting about how they are going to "fail" their classes. I love king David ... he is way too awesome sometimes. The first step, in my humble opinion, to finding peace in Christ is to recognize that His praise always deserves to be on your lips. Think of what God has done for you - the list is, not surprisingly, endless. Now think on the other hand, what God asks from you. I'm so glad that our God is not a God that demands perfection. On the contrary, God is more concerned with the effort you put forth. Knowing that none would ever attain perfection, Paul constantly talked about "the race" in the New Testament. God knows that all of his sheep are failures ... sounds kinda sad right? WRONG! God adores His sheep. He is jealous for His sheep. God knows what you are capable of and fully understands your capability. It really is marvelous. 1 Peter 5:7 says to cast all of your cares upon Him for He cares for you. Your complaints are not to be shouted from the rooftops - rather your worries are to go to God. Now that he has taken the words right out of our mouths, all that is left is praise. First lesson of the week - get rid of all your worthless mumbo-jumbo and lift up the Lord in praise and adoration. How much better would this world be if Christians as a whole stopped talking of their personal sorrows and began speaking the wonders of our maker. Let the praise of the Lord always be on your lips.

Verse 8 I think often, when it comes to the youth, there is this feeling that God is for old people. That you can only be a real Christian later in life when your married, have kids that have kids (grandkids), and you're roughly 3-4 years away from dying. This is not so. I think this thought process comes from this problem that youth are not "tasting" the fruits of the Lord. Growing up, there were foods that I did not want to eat, but my friends or parents insisted - "It's good." Today, cheesecake is my favorite desert thanks to my dad ... just saying. I urge you to do the same thing - taste and see that the Lord is good. Maybe the previous paragraph was a little difficult to swallow. Maybe there have been times in your life that your thinking about that seem to be much more than God can deal with. I promise you - taste and see that the Lord is good. Let his praise be on your lips - see what that does. Get up early and read your Bible - see how your day changes. Lesson number two - taste and see that God truly is who he says he is. Find the peace in Him that he promises.


Verses 13-16 Lastly, and I'll be quick on this one, is to stray from evil. At the beginning, we talked about the "negative nancy" people that always like to complain and grumble. Let me be the first to tell you that God's children are not grumblers. Keep your tongue from evil - whether its inappropriate words, or more so, grumbling and complaining. Why? Why does it matter? God's eyes are fixed on the righteous - those who are praising him. Lesson 3 - "Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it!"


The end.
- Christopher

God's Power > Any Other

I was part of my school's baseball program for six years. Every year, the boys and I would get a new jersey (at least "new" to us) or some article of clothing that had a particular verse written on it - Zechariah 4:6. Even though I was a part of the program for quite a long time, I never took the time to look up the verse. Around my junior year in High School, I picked up a Bible and read this verse:

"Not by power, nor by might,
but by my spirit, says the Lord."

What an encouraging verse right? I mean, it doesn't matter what you encounter in this world - at school, at home, with friends ... God is bigger. God is stronger. Around the same time in High School, I adopted Romans 8:31-39 as my favorite passage in the Bible, it starts:

"What then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us?"

If you take these two scripture references and put them together, you in essence get the message presented in Psalm 33. As young Christians, we need to have the mentality that God is unmatched in every aspect of our lives. Whatever it is that has you weighed down, bring it to God and lay it as His feet. God is on your side - He refuses to surrender to the pains and struggles you face in life. Don't believe me? Let's check out Psalm 33




Verses 4-5 I think it's easy to come to the realization that God is unlike any other. Aside from his power, the words to desribe his nature are beyond comparison. These two verses give us a little insight into who God is - faithful, unfailing, true, and righteous. God is faithful - he always pulls through. The word tells us that God makes all things work together for our good. I have enough problems trying to find matching socks in the morning, but God seems to have my life in his mighty hands - he will not let me down, and he will not let me go [speaking of course from personal experience]. God's love never fails. As Jesus hung on a cross, bearing the sin of the entire world - there was only one thing on his mind - forgiveness. God's thoughts towards you are more abundant than the sand on the sea shore - the cross is no exception to that, for He died on an individual basis - for you, for me - knowingly. God is true. Try to find a book like the Bible - flawless, perfect, God-breathed (2 Tim). The perfection and intricacy of the word is just a mild reflection of who God is. These are simply a few of the words that we use in the English dictionary to describe our God, who truly is unlike any other.

Verses 6-9 Obviously, this next section talks about creation. By God's very word, the entirety of the universe was poured out in the orderly fashion He saw fit (see Genesis). I like this so very much. No matter where you look, creation is of the most complex pictures we see of our God. David says that even the stars are a result of his mighty breath. Our God is power. I wish that I could make things happen just by saying a command. I cannot, unfortunately, but my mighty God can. Our God is big. David uses the analogy that our God is able to store the oceans in a jar - just like you're able to fill your cup with water from a faucet. God spoke, and it happened. Period. Now think - if our God is big enough to create all that we see, is he not powerful enough to take care of you? Yeah ... He is.

Verses 10-11 This part is so cool. From the beginning of time, man has had the audacity to stand against a might God. These verses tell us that nothing can stand up against God - it's a hands-down victory for our might God. Daniel painted a wonderful picture of a statue made out of all sorts of metals and clay - this statue was smashed by none other that the rock, Jesus Christ. What does this mean for us? Well first and foremost, it means that there is nothing on this Earth that is comparable to our God. Secondly, it means that we should continually check our hearts to see where we stand. Are we grouping our selves with God - letting him govern our lives and dictate our daily paths OR our we settling for less. Are we choosing the easy way out? Are we serving another master? If we are, we're going to get smashed too - we're going to fail. On the other hand, God is infinite - His reign and power are without limit (awesome)!

Verse 12 David says that the man who places his trust in God is a blessed man indeed. Think about your life. What are you holding onto? What is your protection? What or who are you serving? If you're not finding safety in the arms of our almighty God, than you truly are missing out on the profound mystery described in this chapter.

Our God is Big
Our God is Strong
Our God is Power
Our God is Unmatched

-Chris

Movie Night!!!!

Details:
- Friday Night 6:00pm - 10:30pm
- Pizza and Drinks Provided
- If you have the chance, please bring a snack to share :)

God of Sinners

Looking for a job, it is almost impossible to get hired with a felony on your record. If you have been stained with the swift justice of America, you will have a difficult time getting back on your feet. Such is the nature of wrong - such is the nature of sin. You can look left and right, up and down, but no one wants to hire a criminal - no one wants to trust a man or woman who has been labelled a liar, cheater, thief, or murderer. Now, time for some heavy words - you are a spiritual felon. Matthew 5 says that you don't actually have to be commit a crime to be labelled a criminal. For example, Jesus says that he who hates is guilty of the same judgement as a murder - they are labelled the same way. You a spiritually unwanted - you are untrustworthy and deserving of nothing but swift justice of a mighty God. Well, why doesn't He just get it over with? Our God is just, but he is also merciful and full of grace - God wants sinners - not sinful people, but ones who have been stained with title of 'spiritual criminal.' How do I know this? He sent his only begotten Son to hang on a cross and bleed to death so that he could welcome me into His forgiveness. The God that wants to call sinners His own ... leaves me speechless. Psalm 32



Verses 1-5 I remember when I was in first grade - beanie babies were hot stuff - so I decided to steal two off of my teachers desk. The guilt of my sin weighed so heavily on me, I couldn't even play with my newly acquired best friends (the stuffed animals), so I threw them under my bed and refused to play with them. I found the toys later on in life and thought to myself how stupid I was - how foolish the decision I made looked, gazing back in the past. Guilt is serious business - it's painful and dangerous - it eats away at you. So it's no surprise to us when David says, "blessed be the forgiven." Basically, how lucky we are to have a God who is faithful and just to forgive us of all of our mistakes - no matter how big or how small. But there is a catch right? We have to be honest - we have to show Him our "criminal record" and make ourselves vulnerable in His presence. A convicted felon could finish his sentence in jail, falsify his records, and get a job, right? He could lie about who he was and where he came from ... but he would never break free of reality - He would not be restored or cleared of his conscience, of who he really was. Even if you want to dodge God and pretend to be "holy," He knows what's going on. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God's eagle eyes penetrate to the heart. David is right, the only way to be freed of your guilt is to ask for God's forgiveness (faithful as the morning - 1 John 1:9). But this is cool right. So many religious systems are governed by conviction - you have to earn you forgiveness right? You have to do so many hail mary's and confess to the Pope, right? WRONG. God's forgiveness is eternal - it's fulfilling and beyond measure. Ephesians says that we have been saved through grace and nothing else (not even works) ... but that God chose to want a relationship with sinners - with us.

Verses 6-11 [Side-track] If you have never heard the cry of a donkey and seen tears fall from its beautiful face, then you have not experience true sadness [end side-track]. I love what David says here - don't be stubborn. People are so angry at God when it comes to sin ... why? PRIDE. Nobody likes to answer for their mistakes. Nobody likes to be told their wrong. Nobody likes to humble themselves before an almighty God ... it's not easy and it's not comfortable. The world is stubborn, are you? If so, you're missing out. David continues to say that the sins of the world are numerous, but God's love is so much greater. God's ability to forgive is so much further beyond anything we could possibly add up to in sin. Have you been forgiven or do you still have guilt? Are you rejoicing in Christ or are you throwing yourself a pity party? God always wants the sinner, but for some reason the sinner doesn't always want God.

Just some stuff to think about
- Chris

Back and Forth and Back and Forth

When I was younger, my little brothers were younger too. Make sense? Anyway I remember when my little brother went through this "yes/no" phase. My mom would ask if he would like something to eat; he would say yes. When my mom brought out the food, he would change his mind and say no. When the food was gone ... he was back to "yes, I want food." The cycle never ended ... until my mom gave up his little "yes/no" game. Just so you know, this wasn't just with food - it was with everything ... my little brother lived his life under the strict policy of the "yes/no" game. When I read the Psalm this week, it reminded me a little of the yes/no game. You'll notice that king David goes back and forth on his focus - First, it's on God, then his enemies, then back to God, and again back to his enemies. What's the chapter about? ... Well ... both. Psalm 31



Verses 1-5 So we start out pretty basic right? David is just talking about God the way he normally does. God is our strong tower, He is our fortress, and our defense. So many times in life when we face a difficult situation, we tend to dwell on the thing going wrong in life. As you'll see, David is dealing with a few issues himself, but the first thing He does - goes to God. Why do you think he would do that? It goes back to the principle of the three little pigs right? Do you want to build a shelter out of wood? out of straw? No, you need to make a shelter out of bricks; sooner or later the wolves of this world will come huffing and puffing on your shelter - will it stand? 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 gives us this same picture. You can choose to build your life on the hay, straw, and bricks of this world but these aren't the materials the "wise master builder" should be using. "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." David has chosen a mighty fortress - an unshakable shelter to keep him from harm. David commits his life to the hands of a strong God [strong's an understatement really ... no words can describe God's might]. Anyway, he chooses God as a shelter ... here's why ...

Verses 6-13 At the beginning we see a little bit of this "God/enemies" game David seems to be playing in this chapter, but here's a list of some of David's troubles: he's depressed (9-10), He's fallen prey to sin (10), he has enemies who hate him (11), his neighbor's can no longer stand him (11), people have forgotten him (12), he has been let down, people are trying to KILL HIM (13). If you thought you had a lot going on ... think about David's list. Even so, you might read this and think, "man, this David dude is a complainer." Well ... what is he doing? He's taking all of his problems and all of his frustrations to the God he knows will take care of it - casting all his cares upon God because he has faith in the fact the God loves him (1 Peter 5:7). That's a man of God. That's the King David I have come to know and love. Just a quick check for ourselves - how often do you we lay our problems out before the king of kings? ... probably not very often right? So we've gone from God to enemies ... back to God

Verses 14-16 I like this. After complaining about his problems, the first thing David asks God is for God to make His face shine through in every situation in life. We're never too quick to hand over our problems to God, let alone, surrender our emotions to His will. From David, we could all learn just a little bit more what it means to be trusting of God - to give Him not only our problems but also allowing Him to handle the situation for us. "Let your face shine upon me" should be the basis of our prayer - that God would shine through us in every situation or choice we make in life. Just a quick note: Matthew 5:14 calls us the light of the world and a city on a hill. The thing most people forget is that when the people of this world look at you, they ought not be impressed with you, but with how God works in and through every situation of your life. How'd you become the light of the world? By God's grace, His love, and his never-ending mercy. Back to the bad guys ...

Verses 17-18 David continues here to talk about his enemies. He cries out for justice - for his enemies to be buried by a righteous God. Is that okay? Absolutely. Our God is a just God - he knows His right and wrongs - no way about it. He knows the way he has asked us to live our lives and holds us all to it. I think this section flies back up two paragraphs - David here is giving God the situation. Rather than being the 5-year old boy who says "I'm gonna kill him," David expresses his feelings honestly to God and trusts that God will do what is best. David was honest in prayer ... not afraid to express how he felt - something we could all learn to do just a little bit better.

Verses 19-24 If you see anything you want to add here, then go ahead - there is a lot of good stuff, but we've made our point ... which is: We go to God first to be our shelter - before we go anywhere else. We share our problems and our struggles with Him honestly/truthfully ... why? He cares. Lastly, we ask that He shine through in our lives in every way possible - even in tough situations that you might feel you want to face alone.


Have a great week guys!
- Chris

Faithfulness and the Morning

One of my favorite songs on my current playlist is Beautiful by Phil Wickham. In the song he sings:

I see your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside your eyes

There's something special about a sunrise. Every morning as the sun rises, you can watch the light chase the darkness across the sky - it's new, it's refreshing, it comes without fail. So, it's true, God's eyes are filled with grace, faithfulness, and unfailing love. I remember one year when I was in Costa Rica in a hotel room dubbed "the unicorn palace" - no air conditioning, hundreds of mosquitoes. On the other hand, this room was also roughly 200 feet from the Caribbean Ocean. Every morning when I woke up, I got to watch the sun rise over the water - a simply breathtaking way to start the day. The morning is such a beautiful picture of God's grace and mercy - "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning" [Lamentations 2:22-23 (ESV)]. Without fail, God will forgive (just as the sun is faithful to rise). This week, we feature a verse that says "joy comes with the morning." Have you found joy in forgiveness? Is God's mercy something that you are excited/joyful about? Or did you forget just how beautiful it is?



Verses 1-3 I like to call sections in the Bible like this, the "you have's" ... All David does here is say, "God you have [fill in the blank with something wonderful]." Think about it though, what does this speak of? What does this tell us about our God? He is faithful. Unlike pretty much everything else, he pulls through for us ... all the time. The last 29 chapters of Psalms are riddled with David's praise, but also his petitions and requests to God - here, in chapter 30, they are answered. Maybe you don't feel the same way ... maybe you feel like you and God just don't have a "you have [fill in the blank]" type of relationship. I pose this question: Have you asked? Have you made your request known to God? Have you given him 29 chapters of your life so that he can faithfully answer in the 30th? James 4:2 says, "you do not have, because you do not ask." You can't expect an answer if you don't ask. You can't expect provision if you do not ask (granted, God surprises us from time to time, right?). In Psalm 3 (27 weeks ago), we talked about a word "selah." We can almost replace that word in the Bible with "stop and think." I encourage you to stop and think. To meditate on God's word daily (even if it's just for a little bit). I would ask you to consider a time of prayer where you give God you day and make you requests know to Him. In Jesus' model prayer, He even says to ask: "give us this day our daily bread." Make your desires known to God and He will faithfully answer - more faithfully than the morning sunrise.

Verses 4-5 I like how verse 5 reads. I really like it. Think about before you dedicated your life to Christ - before you "purposed in your heart" as the book of Daniel would say, God seemed convicting - God seemed angry. I think that people who struggle to accept God are intimidated by the fact that their standing on the opposite side of the battle field facing God. God hates sin, and that's scary. On the other hand, He loves us. Think about the times you have fallen into a period of sin - you felt convicted, you felt like you were fighting against God ... detached, maybe even scared. David says here, God's anger is but for a moment ... why? It only takes a moment for person to step from sin and to walk into his mercy, grace, and forgiveness. It's easy not easy to step out of sin, but the reward is the Father's favor of a lifetime. Forgiveness - it brings joy like the morning - faithfully, on time, without fail. This whole section is a highlight. David is so enamored by God's faithfulness that he can only describe the feeling by pointing to creation - to the morning ... to the sunrise (see last week). What do we do about this? (v4) Sing praise, give thanks, and remember/never forget how good God is to us.

Verses 6-12 Just read this for yourself. It's kind of off our topic for this week , but there is still some very excellent stuff in here. Favorite: "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing" (v 11). If you think something is really cool, post on it in the comment section :)


It's so easy to overlook a sunrise ...
Don't make the same mistake with God's faithfulness.

-Chris