Burunche’s Blog

ז ZAYIN

“Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope.  This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life. The proud have me in great derision, yet I do not turn aside from Your law.  I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord, and have comforted myself.

Indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked, who forsake Your law. Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. I remember Your name in the night, O Lord, and I keep Your law. This has become mine, because I kept Your precepts.”

ח HETH

“You are my portion, O Lord; I have said that I would keep Your words. I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; be merciful to me according to Your word. I thought about my ways, and turned my feet to Your testimonies. I made haste, and did not delay to keep Your commandments.

The cords of the wicked have bound me, but I have not forgotten Your law. At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, because of Your righteous judgments. I am a companion of all who fear You, and of those who keep Your precepts. The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy; teach me Your statutes.”

“Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope.  This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life. The proud have me in great derision, yet I do not turn aside from Your law.  I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord, and have comforted myself.” What affliction is attacking this writer? It appears that “the proud” are mocking him, perhaps because he is virtuous and they are not. If this man is humble and unassuming, those qualities alone might make him a target. But all this scorn has no effect on the writer because he is trusting in God, and God’s word has given him life. The writer knows that his critics are wrong and have no basis for their criticism; meanwhile, he is comforting himself with God’s word.

“Indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked, who forsake Your law. Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. I remember Your name in the night, O Lord, and I keep Your law. This has become mine, because I kept Your precepts.” There is no such thing as second-hand faith. God has no grandchildren, only children. We must trust God ourselves; we cannot claim that our parents or grandparents trusted God and therefore we are saved by their faith. Faith is an individual matter. Unless God’s statutes become our personal songs during our pilgrimage, they are useless to us. Can’t sleep? Get up and read your Bible. Night times are excellent times for prayer because we are no longer distracted as we are during the day.

“You are my portion, O Lord; I have said that I would keep Your words. I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; be merciful to me according to Your word. I thought about my ways, and turned my feet to Your testimonies. I made haste, and did not delay to keep Your commandments.” Partial obedience is no obedience. If we have covenanted with God to keep His words, we must do it promptly. Jesus told his disciples a parable about a man who asked both of his sons to do something. The first son made extravagant promises but never acted on them. The second son initially refused but later changed his mind and obeyed. Jesus’ point was that the son who obeyed did far better, even though he argued a bit at first. (Matthew 21:28-32) Some scholars feel that the first son represents the religious leaders of Israel who rejected John the Baptist’s teaching while the second son represents the prostitutes and tax collectors who flocked to hear John and who repented under his ministry.

If we beg God to favor us, we must follow His commandments, think about our ways, and direct our steps into God’s ways. No amount of wishing will accomplish anything. To resolve something is to make up your mind to do it. Most New Year’s resolutions fail because they are not resolutions but wishes, and wishy-washy wishes at best. (Try saying “wishy washy wishes rapidly ten times and see what happens!)

“The cords of the wicked have bound me, but I have not forgotten Your law. At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, because of Your righteous judgments. I am a companion of all who fear You, and of those who keep Your precepts. The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy; teach me Your statutes.”

While the psalmist might not be literally tied up, he has been bound up by the criticism and slander of the wicked. Even if the psalmist has to get up at midnight to pray, he will persist in doing so.

Sometimes when we take a stand for righteousness, we feel completely alone. We expect an attack at any minute. But no matter how bad things appear, God always has a remnant of people who love Him and worship Him. Fred Rogers tells the story of how his mother helped neutralize frightening situations for him by urging him to always look for the helpers, the people who were working to alleviate the situation. Even though the helpers may be very few, they are always present.

APPLICATION: Perhaps today you feel very much like the psalmist in these verses. You have taken over a difficult situation and now find yourself under fire for decisions taken before you came into office. Perhaps your predecessors made terrible administrative blunders, leaving the mess for you to straighten out. At such times, you long for some quick and lasting solution. In Greek mythology, Hercules cleaned out the Augean stables choked with years of manure by diverting a stream through the stables, flushing out the manure.

Generally, God allows us to struggle through months or even years of conflict to strengthen and enlighten us. It’s sad but true that most of us are slow learners; the more painful a spiritual lesson is, the longer it takes for us to get it through our thick skulls. At such times, the Psalms can be of enormous help. Here in Psalm 119, the writer is reaching his hand down through the centuries, grasping ours and saying, “Hold on! The struggle is worth it! You WILL make it!” This phenomenon is part of what is meant by the phrase “The communion of the saints.” Those who have gone before us have left spiritual legacies that we can continue to enjoy and learn from.

Today, read back through these verses and find one that speaks to you. Put it on your cell phone or write it somewhere where you can see it and then memorize it. That verse is God’s special gift to you for today. Don’t miss it!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we bless You and praise You for Your Word and for all those involved in writing it throughout the ages. Help us to treasure You Word and to memorize it. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.  

ה  HE.

“Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding that I may obey Your law, and follow it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of Your commandments, for there I find delight.

Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word. Establish Your word to Your servant, to produce reverence for You. Turn away the disgrace I dread, for Your judgments are good. How I long for Your precepts! Revive me in Your righteousness.”

ו VAU.

“May Your loving devotion come to me, O LORD, Your salvation, according to Your promise. Then I can answer him who taunts, for I trust in Your word. Never take Your word of truth from my mouth, for I hope in Your judgments. I will always obey Your law, forever and ever. And I will walk in freedom, for I have sought Your precepts.

I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed. I delight in Your commandments because I love them. I lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love, and I meditate on Your statutes.”

“Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding that I may obey Your law, and follow it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of Your commandments, for there I find delight.”  We might read this statement and say, “Huh?” There are many things that give us delight-friends, family, hobbies, sports, good food. But how many of us even think about God’s commandments, let alone delight in them?  And yet, many of the things that give us delight are evanescent, fleeting. Recently, one major college football team had 30 of its highly-compensated players sit out a major bowl game because they were eyeing professional careers and didn’t want to get injured, disappointing all the loyal fans who had been supporting them. God’s word is more solid and reliable than anything else.

“Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word. Establish Your word to Your servant, to produce reverence for You. Turn away the disgrace I dread, for Your judgments are good. How I long for Your precepts! Revive me in Your righteousness.”  The psalmist has no illusions; he fully realizes that he might be easily misled and wind up pursuing something worthless. The requests in this section are heart-felt, the pleas of someone who knows that without God, he will wind up in disgrace for following worthless things.  

“May Your loving devotion come to me, O LORD, Your salvation, according to Your promise. Then I can answer him who taunts, for I trust in Your word. Never take Your word of truth from my mouth, for I hope in Your judgments. I will always obey Your law, forever and ever. And I will walk in freedom, for I have sought Your precepts.”  We don’t know when the writer of this psalm is living; however, it is obvious that the society around him is deteriorating rapidly. Righteous people are being taunted and abused. Ironically, the idol worshipers are the aggressors in this situation. No wonder that the psalmist is begging God to deliver him and give him the right words at the right time. The psalmist also realizes that God allows him to walk in freedom while his tormentors cannot.

“I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed. I delight in Your commandments because I love them. I lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love, and I meditate on Your statutes.” We don’t know the kings to whom the psalmist is referring, but this writer must have sufficient status to be admitted to a royal court as an advisor. Perhaps the writer is one of the high priests or scribes. This man promises to be faithful to God in the presence of rulers; would we do as much? Are we willing to testify to our faith, or are we chameleons, assuming protective coloration that depends on the situation in which we find ourselves?

APPLICATION: At one point in my surgical training I was the Pediatric Surgery Fellow for a famous cancer center in New York City. I came off a farm in the Middle West and my home town had a smaller population than the apartment building in which we were living. I had completed my general surgery training in a community hospital-based program in West Virginia, a far cry from the big-name programs from which many of my fellow trainees were coming. I could have attempted to hide my humble origins; however, I felt no need to do so. I believed that God had led me to this program and that God loved me and was there for me; therefore, I had no need to pretend to be something I was not. God gave me favor in that situation; my boss announced at the annual banquet that I was the best-loved pediatric surgery fellow they had ever had.   

I do not tell this story to boast, but to affirm that God is the One who can lift us up when we will diligently study His Word and keep His commandments. Reading Psalm 119, you might feel that the psalmist repeats himself a great deal; however, this is a writer who has seen it all, a man well-acquainted with the intrigue of royal courts and the disgrace of idolatry. If the writer appears to repeat himself, it is because he knows that only God can keep him from falling into the same spiritual traps as those around him.

I began writing these Bible studies more than two years ago and wound up working my way through the entire Bible. I am nearing completion, with only part of Psalms and the Book of Proverbs left. Before beginning these efforts, I had read the Bible through innumerable times. I thought I knew the Bible fairly well and loved it as well as I could. But the efforts of writing these Bible studies have given me a new appreciation for God’s Word and it is more precious to me now than it ever was before.  

The Bible is different from every other book because no matter how many times you read it, you will always gain something fresh and new. Verses you might have memorized years ago may suddenly spring to life in a new way. The more you read the Bible, the more it opens up to you. The Bible is like Dr. Who’s TARDIS ship for traveling in time and space, (TARDIS-Time and Relative Dimension in Space)-it’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, give us a hunger for Your Word, a passion to study it, and the will to memorize it so that it will remain with us forever. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

גGIMEL.

“Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word. Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law. I am a stranger on the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me.

My soul is consumed with longing for Your judgments at all times. You rebuke the arrogant—the cursed who stray from Your commandments. Remove my scorn and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies.

Though rulers sit and slander me, Your servant meditates on Your statutes. Your testimonies are indeed my delight; they are my counselors.”

ד DALETH.

“My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to Your word. I recounted my ways, and You answered me; teach me Your statutes. Make clear to me the way of Your precepts; then I will meditate on Your wonders. My soul melts with sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word. Remove me from the path of deceit and graciously grant me Your law.

I have chosen the way of truth; I have set Your ordinances before me. I cling to Your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame. I run in the path of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.”

“Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word. Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law. I am a stranger on the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me.” Face it, folks, if God in His mercy refuses to deal bountifully with us, we are toast. But if we are going to beg God for mercy, we must keep our part of the bargain; we must study God’s law and His commandments.

“My soul is consumed with longing for Your judgments at all times.” What actually consumes our souls? Do we really care about God’s judgements? If we have a passion for the pure and holy, the answer is yes.   

“You rebuke the arrogant—the cursed who stray from Your commandments. Remove my scorn and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies. Though rulers sit and slander me, Your servant meditates on Your statutes. Your testimonies are indeed my delight; they are my counselors.”  God knows human hearts, and God knows those who are arrogant and those who slander others, no matter how they might try to present themselves as virtuous. The more we read God’s word and think about its meanings, the more knowledge and peace we will gain. That peace will allow us to make wise decisions.

““My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to Your word. I recounted my ways, and You answered me; teach me Your statutes. Make clear to me the way of Your precepts; then I will meditate on Your wonders. My soul melts with sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word. Remove me from the path of deceit and graciously grant me Your law.” God’s wisdom gives us guidance, comfort, hope, and encouragement.  

“I have chosen the way of truth; I have set Your ordinances before me. I cling to Your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame. I run in the path of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.” Trust God and sooner or later, you may find yourself stepping out in faith, hoping that you won’t wind up with a disaster.

APPLICATION: In these verses, the psalmist expresses both his faith and his uncertainty. In the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, there’s a scene where the hero is faced with crossing a seemingly bottomless chasm. Only a narrow invisible bridge will allow the hero to cross safely. The hero sprinkles a handful of sand onto the path and then steps out, hoping that the bridge will hold him and that he will make it safely to the other side.

Sometimes, trusting God and following His commandments feels a great deal like the scene in that movie. We want to trust God, but ultimately we must step out, hoping and praying that He will bring us safely through to the other side. When we left for Ghana in December 1992, we faced an uncertain situation. Would the community accept us? Would we be able to function in a situation with no electricity or running water? Would I be able to do surgery in a small health center where I had only two trained assistants and a few workers who had been trained on the job? We had family and friends who advised us that this move was a terrible idea and we were likely to fail. But God had given us the conviction that He was leading us and that He would help us.

Not only did we face several challenges, but one year after coming to that small village, we found ourselves during a tribal conflict. But God continued to provide people and equipment. Today that small health center has become a 112-bed district hospital with 250 workers. Today, we continue to expand our services, offering 24/7 care in Ob/Gyn, General Surgery, Eye, Dental, Pediatrics, and General Medicine.

Today, we continue to be guided by God’s Word and to study it. Our daily prayer remains “Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.“ Pray that prayer and then allow God’s Holy Spirit to guide you as you study His Word. The results are well worth it.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, open our eyes that we may see wonderful things from Your law. Help us to study Your law, memorize Your law, and use Your law as our guide. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus.  Amen.

Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet

א ALEPH.

“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of the LORD. Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, and seek Him with all their heart. They do no iniquity; they walk in His ways. You have ordained Your precepts, that we should keep them diligently.

Oh, that my ways were committed to keeping Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed when I consider all Your commandments. I will praise You with an upright heart when I learn Your righteous judgments. I will keep Your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.”

ב  BETH.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me stray from Your commandments. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes.

With my lips I proclaim all the judgments of Your mouth.  I rejoice in the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.”

We are beginning the study of the longest psalm, Psalm 119. This psalm is packed with wisdom and encouragement; however, it’s best to take it in smaller bits. Many authorities divide this psalm into sections using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet as the headings.

“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of the LORD. Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, and seek Him with all their heart. They do no iniquity; they walk in His ways. You have ordained Your precepts, that we should keep them diligently.” Many of us long for super-heroes, men and women who are stronger, more powerful, and more virtuous than those of us who are normal people. Here the psalmist is describing those who walk in the Law of the Lord, keeping His testimonies and seeking Him with all their heart. The great thing is that any one of us can become a superhero or heroine of faith if we are willing to follow God’s ways.

We take on the appearance of whatever we worship. When we worship the One True Living God who is all-holy and all-righteous, we will take on God’s character. God has given us His precepts so that we will be able to keep them and serve Him.

“Oh, that my ways were committed to keeping Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed when I consider all Your commandments. I will praise You with an upright heart when I learn Your righteous judgments. I will keep Your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.” How many of us have repeatedly made New Year’s resolutions, only to abandon them within a few weeks? Here the psalmist is longing for a righteous heart and begging God not to forsake him.

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me stray from Your commandments. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes.” These days, purity is not generally admired. Many people feel there’s nothing wrong with wearing T-shirts or getting tattoos bearing images of skeletons, skulls, or other symbols of death and destruction. But what kind of spirits are these people invoking by their choice of these symbols? It’s a sad mistake to assume that anything is spiritually neutral; there is no such thing as neutrality in the spirit world. We are either serving God or Satan, no matter how much we might choose to believe otherwise.    

“With my lips I proclaim all the judgments of Your mouth.  I rejoice in the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.” There is a saying in the information technology business: “Garbage in, garbage out.” A computer can only give out the information someone puts into it. Bad information will lead to bad results. When we meditate on God’s word and memorize those verses that are most meaningful to us, we are re-programming our minds and hearts.

APPLICATION: Expose yourself to too much social media and too many news broadcasts, and you can become seriously and permanently depressed. The longer you consider war, refugee crises, racial upheaval, and counter-culture tensions, the lower your spirits are going to be. God’s word is the antidote to all that negativity.

God’s word heals and purifies. God’s word can transform and encourage. There is no limit to the power of God’s word apart from our willingness to study it.

Each moment we are investing in our futures. Either we are growing closer to God or we are moving further away from Him. This psalm tells us, “I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”  Conversely, if we refuse to hide God’s word in our hearts, then we WILL sin against God because we are following our own way. Choose carefully, for you are choosing for eternity. There’s a lovely Anglican children’s hymn that speaks to these verses:

“I Sing A Song Of The Saints Of God, Patient And Brave And True,
Who Toiled And Fought And Lived And Died For The Lord They Loved And Knew.
And One Was A Doctor, And One Was A Queen, And One Was A Shepherdess On The Green:
They Were All Of Them Saints Of God, And I Mean, God Helping, To Be One Too.

They Loved Their Lord So Dear, So Dear, And God’s Love Made Them Strong;
And They Followed The Right, For Jesus’ Sake, The Whole Of Their Good Lives Long.
And One Was A Soldier, And One Was A Priest, And One Was Slain By A Fierce Wild Beast:
And There’s Not Any Reason, No, Not The Least, Why I Shouldn’t Be One Too.

They Lived Not Only In Ages Past; There Are Hundreds Of Thousands Still;
The World Is Bright With The Joyous Saints Who Love To Do Jesus’ Will.
You Can Meet Them In School, Or In Lanes, Or At Sea, In Church, Or In Trains, Or In Shops, Or At Tea;
For The Saints Of God Are Just Folk Like Me, And I Mean To Be One Too.  (Lesbia Scott, 1929)

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to hide Your word in our hearts and help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious name of King Jesus. Amen.

Praise to God for His Everlasting Mercy

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let Israel now say, “His mercy endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron now say, “His mercy endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord now say, “His mercy endures forever.”

I called on the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is for me among those who help me; therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. All nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I will destroy  them.  They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They surrounded me like bees; they were quenched like a fire of thorns; for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

You pushed me violently, that I might fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has chastened me severely, but He has not given me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, and I will praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord, through which the righteous shall enter. I will praise You, for You have answered me, and have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief  cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, and He has given us light; bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”  We are starting 2024, a year in which many countries will hold elections for national leaders. During the holidays, there’s already been a lot of political rhetoric that has served mostly to embarrass the potential candidates. The longer this process goes on and the more verbiage we endure, the more cynical become. In the midst of shifting values, God remains good and His mercy and love continue to endure forever.

“I called on the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is for me among those who help me; therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.” Move into leadership and you automatically find yourself with a large target on your back. There will be no end of critics ready to tear you down in any manner possible. To be effective, you must be sure that the Lord is on your side, but remember Abraham Lincoln, who said, “Sir, I am not so concerned as to whether or not the Lord is on our side, but I am quite concerned that we are on the Lord’s side.” If you want God’s help, make sure you are behaving in a godly fashion.

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. All nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I will destroy  them.” Even when we rely on good people, they can still fail us because people have severe limitations, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Just look at the arguments political candidates are already bringing forth; do you really want to trust yourself to any of these people? Even if you find a leader whom you think you can trust, that leader can fall sick, suffer an accident, and die suddenly. If you have emotionally invested everything in one person, what happens the day he/she dies?           

“The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has chastened me severely, but He has not given me over to death.” None of us is perfect, and sometimes God must discipline us; however, God forgives us when we repent and takes us into new opportunities to serve Him.

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief  cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”  God views events and people quite differently than we do. We see someone struggling and think they are failures; meanwhile, God sees someone who is about to succeed. Far better for us to trust God than to trust ourselves.

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, and He has given us light; bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.” God is the Light-giver. John 1:4-5 tells us, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” God has given us life and light; however, we must dedicate ourselves to His service and not change our minds. Binding the sacrifice to the horns of the altar insures that the sacrifice won’t be removed if someone changes his/her mind.

“You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” This verse is self-explanatory. God is the One most deserving of our praise, for His goodness and mercy and love are everlasting.

APPLICATION: As I am writing this, my husband has been watching a series of American college football games played among the top teams in the country. The supporters of these teams go all out, painting their faces and other parts of their bodies, wearing special team shirts and hats, and waving banners and signs. But the teams these people are supporting will change personnel and even coaches in a few years; meanwhile, God never changes. Will we praise God as enthusiastically as we do our favorite athletic team?

PRAYER:  Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to praise You and worship You as enthusiastically as we do our favorite teams. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Let All Peoples Praise the Lord

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! (All you nations)
Laud Him, all you peoples!
For His merciful kindness is great toward us,
And the truth of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord!” (New King James Version)

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“Praise God, everybody!
Applaud God, all people!
His love has taken over our lives;
God’s faithful ways are eternal.
    Hallelujah!” (The Message)

Back in the days before interstate highways or motorways, people used to describe very small towns as “so small that if you blink, you’ll miss it.” This phrase indicated the town was so small that you could be through it before you even realized there was a town, no matter how attractive it might be. This psalm is like one of those small towns; you can practically go through it without ever noticing what a gem of a psalm it is.

“Praise God, everybody! Applaud God, all people!” There is no people group on the face of the earth that does not owe its existence to God. If we are alive, we should be praising God for our lives. As long as we have life, we have the hope of something better happening.

“For His merciful kindness is great toward us…” “His love has taken over our lives” These two translations supplement each other. God has given us everything we have, no matter how much we want to vaunt ourselves that we are self-made. Our lives hang on a thread. Only this morning I have read prayer requests for a man who has suddenly developed a series of aneurysms affecting various blood vessels in his brain. Two other friends are undergoing stent procedures to open arteries to their hearts. If you have awakened this morning and everything in your body works, or mostly works, praise God!

“And the truth of the Lord endures forever.” “God’s faithful ways are eternal.” God’s ways are true, righteous, just, and faithful. God never fails. Politicians may orate and national leaders may prevaricate, but God remains true to His own nature.

“Praise the Lord!” “Hallelujah!”  

APPLICATION: How can we praise God? History is full of wonderful examples in art, and music, and literature, but praise can be very simple. Years ago while living in New York City, we were training for a marathon. Each Sunday morning, we would run three times around the perimeter of Central Park, followed by a 3-mile loop around the lower end of the park. That last 3 miles could be brutal. I found I could grind it out if I just kept chanting “Praise you, Jesus! Praise you, Jesus!” as I ran. Since then there have been many times when I have faced difficult situations, and I have found myself repeating that same chant.  

The Bible tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. (Psalm 22:3) When we are worshiping God, there is no room for worry because our focus is all in the other direction. As we enter this new year, many of us are anxious about a number of things-work, school, finances, relationships, international crises, and upcoming elections. If you are looking for things to worry about, you can always find something. But conversely, if you look for things about which to praise God, you will find those things as well.

Praise or worry-which will it be? Praise heals and soothes our bodies, minds, and spirits. Worry leads to peptic ulcer disease, heart attacks, high blood pressure, strokes, and other related problems. Several years ago, there was a song that advised, “Praise the Lord! He can work through those who praise Him. Praise the Lord, for our God inhabits praise. Praise the Lord, for the chains that seem to bind you serve only to remind you that they fall powerless behind you when you praise Him!”

Now is the time to shrug off those chains of worry, kick them into a corner, and praise God. God will either change you, giving you strength to endure your situation, or He might change your situation, or He might change both you and your situation.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are worried about any number of things. Help us to use those worries as prayer points so that You can transform us as well as our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death

“I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!”

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I believed, therefore I spoke, “I am greatly afflicted.” I said in my haste, “All men are liars.”

What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.

O Lord, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!”

“I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!” We don’t know who wrote this psalm or what he went through, but it’s obvious that this writer has suffered a great deal. At some point, the writer was so distressed that he expected to die at any moment and could only beg God for help. Miraculously, God answered, and now the psalmist is thanking God.

 “Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I believed, therefore I spoke, “I am greatly afflicted.” I said in my haste, “All men are liars.” Suffering can cause us to become bitter and cynical. Too much suffering can leave us feeling that we are at the bottom of a deep pit so deep we can’t even see a way out. In such circumstances, we rapidly lose perspective until someone gives us a hand and helps us out of the pit.

“What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” While the psalmist was hurting, he made extravagant promises to God; now it’s time to act on those promises. But even if the psalmist had died, he asserts that God would have cared for him even in his death.

“O Lord, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!” It’s possible that the psalmist’s plight was common knowledge; now that he has been delivered, he needs to be as public with his gratitude as he was with his suffering.

APPLICATION: I love this particular psalm for a number of its verses, but particularly for the verse “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” My late mother and I had a very close emotional bond to the point that if something bad was happening to one of us, the other could sense it. In early 1980, I was in surgery residency in Charleston, WV, 700 miles away from my family; yet, I kept feeling that something terrible was going on. Little wonder then, that when one of my brothers and his wife called in mid-March describing my mother’s physical deterioration, I was in despair. I prayed all that night, and in the morning, I knew three things: I knew my mother had cancer, I knew she was going to die soon, but I also knew that somehow God was in this.

I called and made an appointment for Mom at my former medical school clinic and then I called Mom and informed her she was going. When the doctors saw Mom, they realized she was very sick and admitted her immediately for tests. Those were the days when patients remained in the hospital during testing. Nine days later, part of Mom’s right lung collapsed on the same day when they detected small cell lung cancer from her bone marrow.

That afternoon, I had gone to a dentist’s appointment and was entering my apartment when the phone began ringing. Dad was calling me to inform me the situation was deteriorating. I quickly made reservations to fly to Atlanta and on to Chicago and then called my brother in Athens, Georgia. My brother and his wife were just entering their home; because I was desperate, I let the phone continue to ring long enough for them to pick up and God allowed the phone to ring longer than it would have normally. We made plans to meet in Atlanta and to fly to Chicago.

My sister-in-law was from a Chicago suburb, and her parents met us at O’Hare Airport with a car stocked with coffee and sandwiches. We drove straight through from Chicago to Iowa City, where we stayed in the same motel as my dad and my brother and his wife. The following day, we all visited Mom in the hospital, but we couldn’t understand why she kept telling us she loved us. Mom sensed something we did not. By the day after that, Mom lapsed into coma, dying four days later without ever waking up again. Later we learned that Mom’s cancer had been making its own steroids, depressing her immune system and allowing her to develop brain abscesses from two different fungi commonly found on farms. Mom died quickly because of the brain abscesses. Mom entered the hospital on March 18^th and died on April 3^rd . We buried her on Easter Sunday.

There were so many ways this story could have gone very wrong. There were no cell phones in those days, and I might have missed Dad’s call or my brother might have missed my call. We might not have gotten plane reservations quickly or on the same flight. We don’t understand why Mom had to die at that time; however, we remain grateful to God for allowing us to see her while she was conscious.  And there is one more part to the story, a part I can scarcely write about without weeping, even now.

I was with Mom the night she was dying. I was singing to Mom and telling her I loved her yet again. Suddenly, I had a vivid mental picture. I could see Mom walking away from me accompanied by a tall figure in a white robe, and her hair was the length and color it had been when she was young. In the distance, I could see a stream and beyond that stream, a lush valley surrounded by tall mountains. The air smelled and felt like a fragrant day in late May or early June when roses were blooming. Coming across the meadow toward the stream was Jesus. Jesus gathered the skirts of his robe up to wade across the stream, then he embraced my mother, and at that point, she took her last breath on earth.

A few months later, I described that scene to a Sunday School class in Charleston, WV. As I was completing my description, one lady began hopping up and down in excitement. “That’s exactly what I saw the night my husband died!” this lady exclaimed. Both this lady and I felt validated that we had not been making things up to comfort ourselves, but did we see reality? I believe that God in His infinite mercy allowed us to see something we could apprehend and that the reality was too wonderful for us to grasp. God communicated to both of us in vivid mental pictures how much He values the death of His saints.

Think about it: if you were a parent and your kids had been serving in the military for a long time, you would be thrilled when they finally returned and you knew you would never be separated from them again. You would never have to depend on long distance phone calls or the internet to talk with your kids. God longs for fellowship with us, but communications can be faulty or sporadic at best. For God, the death of one of His saints means His child is coming home to be with Him forever.

Each of us will die someday, but what happens after that? The Bible assures us that if we believe in God, if we trust Him, and if we serve Him, we will be with Him in heaven forever, not because we deserve it but because He is loving and gracious and merciful. The only reason we will not have to pay for our sins is because Jesus has already shed his blood on the cross at Calvary for our sins. But we must believe that Jesus has made that blood sacrifice for us.

God knows our hearts better than we do. Today is the only day we have; why not confess that we are sinners, accepting that blood sacrifice, and assuring a place in heaven forever?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we are sinners and nothing we can do will pay for our sins. Thank You for sending Jesus to die for our sins. We accept that blood sacrifice and we promise to trust You and to serve You for the rest of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

To Your Name Be the Glory

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your loving devotion, because of Your faithfulness. Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel; they have feet, but cannot walk.

They cannot even clear their throats. Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.

O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield. You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield.

The LORD is mindful of us; He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron; He will bless those who fear the LORD—small and great alike.

May the LORD give you increase, both you and your children. May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind. It is not the dead who praise the LORD, nor any who descend into silence. But it is we who will bless the LORD, both now and forevermore. Hallelujah!”

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your loving devotion, because of Your faithfulness. Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” It’s amazing. We’re more than willing to tell people about our favorite athletic teams and  their exploits, our favorite programs that we binge watch, and other obsessions, but we become speechless when we should be telling people about the God whom we serve. And yet look at what God is doing. God continues to demonstrate His loving devotion and His faithfulness, two qualities no athletic team can match.

“Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel; they have feet, but cannot walk.

They cannot even clear their throats. Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.”  In some parts of the world, there are enormous idols covered with gold and adorned with precious jewels; yet, these idols are powerless. But there is a fundamental principal of worship: we come to resemble whatever it is that we worship. This means that the longer we worship inanimate objects, the more our hearts and minds deaden.

“O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield. You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield. The LORD is mindful of us; He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron; He will bless those who fear the LORD—small and great alike.”  Why does the psalmist urge the house of Aaron to trust in the Lord apart from the house of Israel? The priests, the religious leaders, come from the house of Aaron. If the religious leaders fail to trust the Lord, the common people certainly will not do so either. We understand what it means for God to be our help, but what does it mean for God to be our shield? Shields protect those behind them. Why will God protect His people? “He is mindful of them, and He will bless all those who fear Him, “both small and great alike.”

APPLICATION: We are entering a new year after a year filled with war, senseless attacks by random gunmen, economic upheavals, and refugee crises. There is nothing to indicate that these problems will magically disappear. How can we affirm our faith in God’s greatness and protection in the face of all these problems?

We live in a fallen sinful world, one in which Satan is very active. Satan is behind all the evil that has beset mankind. But if Satan had not been opposed by a holy God, the human race would long since have disappeared. God is still on the throne and He still rules the universe. But people also have free will and can freely choose to do good or evil. Those who worship evil become increasingly evil while those who worship a righteous God will increasingly resemble God.

Each of us constantly faces choices, for good or evil. As we enter 2024, we face the same challenge that Joshua threw down to the Israelites. “ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) Will we serve the One True Living God or something less? Choose wisely.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow hard after You, not only in 2024 but throughout our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Power of God in His Deliverance of Israel

“When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah became His sanctuary, and Israel His dominion. The sea saw it and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs.

What ails you, O sea, that you fled? O Jordan, that you turned back? O mountains, that you skipped like rams? O little hills, like lambs?

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, Who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters.”

This is such a short psalm and yet such an important one. There’s a saying that if you want  food prices, it’s good if you don’t do it with your mouth full. As a new year begins, we need to look back and reflect on all the great things God has done for us in 2023. And the first lesson we need to learn for the new year is “No Kvetching!”

“Kvetch” is a Yiddish term meaning to complain continually in a nagging tone of voice. Somebody who is kvetchy is a pain in the ear, one of those people whose complaints are as irritating as the screechy sound of fingernails on a chalk board. What do we have to kvetch about?

“You want me to expect great things!” you cry. “What do you mean? 2023 was brutal and I’m glad to be through with it!” Fine. Understood. But, you are still alive to complain. Each day, I care for people with strokes and other problems who are permanently disabled. Many of these people are grateful to God that they are still alive. If your body is working properly and particularly if you are healthy, you need to thank God.

Next, let’s talk about our families. “Don’t get me started!” you respond. “My kids are messing up all over the place and every time they come home, they have another piercing or another tattoo.” Again, tattoos and piercings might not be your thing and you might cringe at some of these things, particularly at the designs of some of the tattoos. But praise God, your kids are alive and they are still coming home. Welcome those kids and be grateful that they are still healthy. There are some parents whose children have disappeared for years, while other parents grieve because children have disowned them, leaving unhealed holes in their hearts. Other parents have celebrated Christmas by placing wreaths on their children’s graves.

We follow two families on Facebook who both have little boys with enormous medical problems. These poor kids sometimes endure several health  crises a week; yet, these families continue to love them and to care for their other healthy children as well. When we consider the emotional wringers these families go through, the problems we face appear miniscule by comparison.

“But I hate my job!” you complain. If you have a job, be grateful. The COVID pandemic wiped out huge numbers of small businesses and tourism-based businesses. There are many people who would love to have any kind of job, including the one about which you are complaining. Yes, there are many jobs that are difficult, nasty, or unpleasant. And some bosses are tyrants and bullies. Ask yourself if God has called you to be in your current position. Perhaps you have been called specifically to pray for your boss and your coworkers. Perhaps God is trying to teach you something. And perhaps God is using this job to prepare you for something better.

One lesson this psalm should teach us is to praise God in the middle of our messes. NO KVETCHING ALLOWED!  God is still a Redeemer and He can transform us and our problems, if we will allow Him. The first step in allowing God to transform us is to praise and thank Him for our current situation. As we praise Him where we are, we free ourselves to be moved. As long as we are unwilling to thank God for our current situation, we aren’t going to be any more appreciative if God moves us someplace else. The cliché “Bloom where you’re planted” still holds true.

2024 can be a wonderful year if we will only allow God to lead us. But we can’t be led when we are looking backwards, complaining, and dragging emotional baggage into the new year. Don’t start kvetching. Let’s pray.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, 2023 was a very tough year for many of us. Please help us to drop our baggage from last year into Your hands, the only safe place for it, and to allow You to guide us into a bright future. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Majesty and Condescension of God
“Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord’s name is to be praised.

The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, Who dwells on high, Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?

He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes—with the princes of His people. He grants the barren woman a home, like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!”

“Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord’s name is to be praised.” The phrase “Praise the Lord!” has become such a cliché that we don’t stop to think about it. If we don’t praise God, whom else is there who is truly worthy of praise? God is perfect, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-understanding, and all-powerful. No leader of any stature, international or otherwise, can compare with God. While we might consider praising religious leaders or academic leaders, or leaders in business, sooner or later, every one of these people will prove fallible and some of them downright corrupt and vicious.

“The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, Who dwells on high, Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?”

Even when viewed from the moon, planet earth looks pretty small. But when we consider all the galaxies in the universe, earth amounts to only a tiny speck. No matter how powerful or magnificent or charismatic a human leader is, God far excels that leader in every category. For God, who dwells outside of space and time to concern Himself with us, He must truly humble Himself. But God is also the Lord of space, including not only outer space, but spatial dimensions. God can shrink Himself without sacrificing any of His glory or majesty. God can also be omnipresent, present at all times and all places, due to this same power. This is why Jesus could be born as a baby, even though He was the Son of God. One of the many miraculous things about God is that He DOES concern Himself, because He loves us and wants fellowship with us, even though we don’t deserve it.

“He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes—with the princes of His people. He grants the barren woman a home, like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!” God always has the most vulnerable groups on His heart. God can take those who are so poor and needy that they have nowhere to sit apart from rubbish heaps and promote them to the level of princes. Barren women have always suffered stigmatization for their lack of children and the shame that somehow their bodies have proven inadequate. Furthermore, barren women are likely to suffer in their old age because they have no children to care for them. God cares for all these groups and wants them to feel safe, loved, and cared for.

APPLICATION: This psalm is particularly meaningful for me because I am a barren woman. Why I have never become pregnant, I don’t know; however, I realize that if I had borne children of my own, I could never have done some of the things God has called me to do.

My surgical training was time and labor-intensive, but it has paled in comparison to our work in remote hospitals in Northern Ghana. For much of my career, I have been the only doctor for more than 100,000 patients in rural areas with terrible roads and grinding poverty. At one point, we were in the midst of a tribal conflict. In situations where I have been on duty 24/7 for months and sometimes years, I would never have been able to properly mother a child. I am a perfectionist and the stress between attempting to be a good mother and a good doctor would have torn me apart. But nonetheless, I still have children.

God has placed me in the lives of many young people whose loving parents were unable to gain an education. In such settings, these parents can only offer limited advice; meanwhile, I have been through high school, university, medical school, residency, and a Master’s degree program. I am a member of several professional organizations. I have worked in a large variety of facilities, both in the U.S. and in Ghana. I can offer advice based on these experiences. I always emphasize that I am not taking the place of anybody’s parents and that these young people should honor their parents for the sacrifices those people have made to help their children attain a certain status. But after I establish that fact, I can give advice with the authority of someone who has paid the price in hard work and study.

Sometimes the people to whom we are closest are not blood relatives but those God has placed in our paths. The important thing is that everyone needs parents and friends; nobody outgrows the need for those who can support and encourage us. Perhaps you find yourself far away from your immediate family. Look around you! Ask God to show you those people whom He wants you to befriend. The beating Heart of the universe is God’s Heart, a Heart of love. May God help us, so that we will be channels of His love, His goodness, and His grace!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, show us the people around us whom You are calling us to serve with Your love. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.