Burunche’s Blog

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.

The Blessed State of the Righteous
“Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.

Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man deals graciously and lends; he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.

He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established;
he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies. He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be exalted with honor.

The wicked will see it and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked shall perish.”

“Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.” We are entering a new year, but your reaction might be “So what! 2023 was brutal, and I’m not looking forward to anything better in 2024.” If you think like this, you are already blighting your future, as well as that of your family. Do you want to be blessed? Do you want your descendants to be mighty, to be blessed, and to be wealthy and righteous forever? Then praise the Lord and fear Him, delighting greatly in His commandments.

“Fine,” you say, “but what does that stuff mean anyway? Praising the Lord means that we thank Him for everything in our lives, the good and the bad. When we thank God for the bad stuff, we release it to Him so He can turn it around and redeem it.

Years ago, there was an American cartoonist named Al Capp who created a character who ran around with a rain cloud over his head because nothing but disasters happened to him. Sometimes we might feel a lot like that little guy. Praising God helps lift us out of the doldrums and frees us up to see God’s goodness around us.

What does it mean to fear the Lord? Here the term fear actually means to respect God and to revere Him. How can we delight ourselves in God’s commandments? First, we must study God’s Word; we can’t enjoy something that we don’t know. God’s commandments have been given to guide us and to keep us from messing up. The more we learn about God’s commandments, the more we appreciate them and the wiser they prove to be.

“Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man deals graciously and lends; he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.” The more we study God’s Word and learn about it, the more guidance we will have for our lives and the more peace we will enjoy. God will help us to deal graciously and generously so that those around us will remember us gratefully.

“He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established;
he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies. He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be exalted with honor.” When we are trusting God and studying His Word, we have no need to fear, for God will establish us. As we give to the poor, God will bless us with more abundance so that we can do even more. But we must start by sharing whatever we have.

“The wicked will see it and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked shall perish.” We don’t have to worry about dealing with the wicked. God knows human hearts and God is perfectly capable of handling any amount of wickedness. No matter how successful a tyrant might appear, eventually God will deal with him.

APPLICATION: As we enter this new year, we face choices. Will we continue to be depressed and negative, or will we move into the new year and trust God? We can bless or blight ourselves and our families by our outlook. This is the time to choose to trust God, to study His Word, and to give God first place in our lives. After all, what do we have to lose?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to love You, to study Your Word, and to seek Your guidance. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Praise to God for His Faithfulness and Justice

“Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them. His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever.
 He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and full of compassion. He has given food to those who fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His covenant. He has declared to His people the power of His works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.

The works of His hands are verity and justice; all His precepts are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.”

“The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them. His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever.” As we near the end of 2023, we should look back to see if we have learned anything or gained anything from this year. How have we spent our time this year? If God has called us to some type of work, have we worked as if God were our boss or have we given things a lick and a promise? Have we learned everything we can about our work, or have we been coasting, assuming we know enough to get by?

How have we spent our free time? Do our leisure activities honor God? Have we shared time with family and loved ones, or have we ignored them as we have run off to watch sports, play golf, or zone out in front of a computer or TV? Have we learned anything this year? And the biggest question of all, have we grown closer to God or has our love for God grown colder?

“He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.” Do we take time to remember God’s wonderful works, or do we rush by, ignoring them? Every person we meet is one of God’s creatures, but many times, we take them for granted, refusing to acknowledge what miracles they are.

“The works of His hands are verity and justice; all His precepts are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” These days, the international news is full of dissension and strife. If we only focus on news broadcasts about corrupt leaders and wars, we can quickly become depressed. The antidote to bad news is to study God’s Word and His creation, for His works are true and just.

“He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name.” Terrorists believe that covenants are made to be broken and those who keep their words are fools. But God is a covenant-keeping God and He continues to redeem and save.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.”  Many times, we think wisdom lies in classes and academic degrees. But knowledge that fails to consider God as its Source consists of facts but lacks wisdom. When the ancient Romans were giving triumphs, parades for conquering rulers, there was always one man designated to accompany the ruler, whispering in his ear, “Remember, Caesar, thou too art mortal.”

APPLICATION: When the famous Greek philosopher Socrates was on trial for alleged impiety and the corrupting of youth, he stated that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” For Socrates, it was not sufficient merely to accept a dictum because some authority declared it to be true; people needed to scrutinize their beliefs to know the foundations. Socrates paid with his life for teaching Greek youth to question the decision-making of authorities.

As we think about this year, we need to ask ourselves if we are dragging garbage into 2024. Are we dragging offenses, hurts, griefs, wrong beliefs, and an overall sense of failure into a bright new year? Which of us will buy a shiny new vehicle, only to install the dirty worn-out floor mats from our old car in it? Will we gather up all the discarded napkins, crumpled potato chip bags, pizza crusts, and other rubbish from our old car to dump it into our new one? Of course not!

Let’s ask God to show us the things we need to leave behind in 2023. But be ready for God to reveal some of your pet griefs and misbeliefs you have been carrying in your heart as things you must get rid of. God is always ready to clean us up; we are the ones who obstruct the process by refusing to let go of our cherished hurts and prejudices.

When we fear God, that does not mean we spend our days trembling in terror, but that we honor Him and revere Him and listen for His leading. God may use circumstances or people, but one thing of which we can be sure: God will never contradict His Word.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to see the junk we have been dragging around. Help us to get rid of all of it so that we enter 2024 with clean hearts and minds. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Announcement of the Messiah’s Reign

A Psalm of David.

“The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!

Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.

The Lord has sworn and will not relent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath.

He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries. He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; therefore He shall lift up the head.”

“The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!” When reading the psalms, we might forget that David served as a prophet as well as being a king and a priest. This psalm bears out David’s role as a prophet. We certainly understand that “the Lord” refers to the Lord God Almighty. But who is “my Lord?” Here David is referring to the coming Messiah. You might say, “Oh, David is simply referring to himself.” No. David was a flawed man, but he never made the mistake of worshiping himself. The rest of the psalm describes the reign of Messiah   as prophet, priest, and king.

1. “The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!”  Zion refers to Jerusalem, and Messiah will reign over the whole earth from Zion. Messiah will be all-powerful and all-conquering, ruling in the midst of His enemies because His enemies will be powerless in the face of his power.
2. “Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power…” All those who love God will gladly flock to Messiah and submit themselves to His rule.
3. “in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.” Messiah will be eternal and ageless, with the strength and beauty of the most handsome young man you have ever seen.
4.  “The Lord has sworn and will not relent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Who was Melchizedek? Melchizedek was a mystery man, the King of Salem and a priest of the One True Living God to whom Abraham paid tributes after rescuing his nephew Lot and other citizens of Sodom in battle. Melchizedek met Abraham, bringing out bread and wine and blessing Abraham. Abraham responded by giving Melchizedek a tithe of all his spoils. (Genesis 14:18-20) Melchizedek was not a Jew, and he lived long before God established the Levitical order of priests, so he was not a priest due to any hereditary order. Melchizedek was a priest because God called him, and the Messiah has a similar calling.
5. “The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath.”  Again, this refers to the Messiah. When Messiah comes, He will deal with all evil rulers.
6. “He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries. He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; therefore He shall lift up the head.” Only Messiah can judge among the nations and carry out all the activities described in these verses. The reference to dead bodies may foreshadow Armageddon. “Lifting up the head” refers to the joy the Messiah will experience when he comes to His kingdom.  

APPLICATION: Why should we care about a coming Messiah? The Messiah will be prophet, priest, and king over all the nations of the earth, not just over Israel. No matter where we live, we will come under the rule of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. What will you do about Jesus? Will you believe in Him or not? The time to believe is now; none of us is promised tomorrow.

As we enter the new year, let us enter with new hearts as well, hearts enlightened by God’s love, that love that sent Jesus, God’s Son, to be born as a baby, live as a man, and die an undeserved death for the sins of the whole world.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, we bless You and praise You for sending Your Son Jesus to be born as a baby, to live as a sinless man, and to die for our sins. Thank You that if we believe in Jesus, we will have eternal life with You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Plea for Judgment of False Accusers

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

“Do not keep silent, O God of my praise! For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me; they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause. In return for my love they are my accusers, but I give myself to prayer. Thus they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

Set a wicked man over him, and let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; let them seek their bread also from their desolate places. Let the creditor seize all that he has, and let strangers plunder his labor. Let there be none to extend mercy to him, nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off, and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be continually before the Lord, that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth; because he did not remember to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.

As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; as he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him. as he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, so let it enter his body like water, and like oil into his bones. Let it be to him like the garment which covers him, and for a belt with which he girds himself continually.

Let this be the Lord’s reward to my accusers, and to those who speak evil against my person. But You, O God the Lord, deal with me for Your name’s sake; because Your mercy is good, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens;
I am shaken off like a locust. My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness. I also have become a reproach to them; when they look at me, they shake their heads. Help me, O Lord my God!

Oh, save me according to Your mercy, that they may know that this is Your hand—that You, Lord, have done it! Let them curse, but You bless; when they arise, let them be ashamed, but let Your servant rejoice. Let my accusers be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle. I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yes, I will praise Him among the multitude. For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those who condemn him.”

“Do not keep silent, O God of my praise! For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me; they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause. In return for my love they are my accusers, but I give myself to prayer. Thus they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.”

Most of us would agree that King David was one of the heroes of the faith, albeit with flaws. But if you think a walk of faith consists of floating around on a pink cloud, think again! We can’t be sure at whom this psalm is directed, but David is absolutely furious! Someone David trusted and loved has wickedly betrayed him and now is fighting him and spreading lies about him. David spends the rest of the psalm begging God to avenge him in vivid details, employing eloquence and imagination. You might almost feel sorry for the object of David’s wrath.

“Set a wicked man over him, and let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; let them seek their bread also from their desolate places. Let the creditor seize all that he has, and let strangers plunder his labor. Let there be none to extend mercy to him, nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off, and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.” David not only curses his aggressor but also the man’s entire family. Worst of all, David begs God to blot out the family’s name. Family names and inheritances were so important in Israel that daughters could inherit from their fathers to preserve a heritage, provided they married within their tribe. David goes on to beg God to remember the sins of his accusers parents, that their memories may also be cut off.

“As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; as he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him. as he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, so let it enter his body like water, and like oil into his bones. Let it be to him like the garment which covers him, and for a belt with which he girds himself continually.” Obviously, this man has gone all over Jerusalem cursing David, but curses are dangerous things; they can easily turn back on those who utter them. One of the laws of the Kingdom of God is that the measure you give out is the measure you will receive. The curses you have uttered against others will return to plague you as well.

“Oh, save me according to Your mercy, that they may know that this is Your hand—that You, Lord, have done it! …I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yes, I will praise Him among the multitude. For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those who condemn him.” David ends the psalm by begging God to save him and bless him and to humble all his accusers and to vindicate him.

APPLICATION: WHOOF! We don’t know David’s target for this psalm, but we can almost feel sorry for the objects of David’s wrath. Assuming God answered every one of David’s petitions, entire families were blotted out. While this might seem harsh, it’s likely these men were not merely trying to undermine David but to obliterate him and his family completely.

Assume a position of leadership and at some point you will become a target of envy, jealousy, and plots. Shakespeare once wrote “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” Remain in leadership and you will certainly be able to identify with David’s sentiments in this psalm. During the years when I headed our hospital, I could easily sympathize with David. Blessedly, there were many times when God insulated me so that I failed to realize those playing a double game. Those times when I recognized some staff were two-faced, I simply asked God to deal with them and went on caring for sick people.

You might ask, “Are we ever justified in cursing our enemies as David is doing here?” Good question. Short answer: No, not if you remain vengeful. This psalm teaches us that even heroes of the faith can become angry and bitter. What saves David from being trapped in his bitterness are his final requests: “Oh, save me according to Your mercy, that they may know that this is Your hand—that You, Lord, have done it! …I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yes, I will praise Him among the multitude.” David moves on from anger and bitterness to release his accusers to the Lord for the Lord to deal with them.

You only have so much energy. If you waste your energy in bitterness and plotting vengeance, it will pervade your entire life and blight it. We are about to enter a new year. How much emotional baggage are you hauling? Do you really want to drag the hurts and offenses from 2023 into 2024? Let’s pray!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, many of us are dragging so much emotional baggage we can scarcely move. Help us to drop those griefs and hurts at Your cross and leave them for You to handle. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Assurance of God’s Victory over Enemies

A Song. A Psalm of David.

“O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your mercy is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and Your glory above all the earth; that Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and hear me.

God has spoken in His holiness: “I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth. Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver. Moab is My washpot; over Edom I will cast My shoe; over Philistia I will triumph.”

Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom?  Is it not You, O God, who cast us off? and You, O God, who did not go out with our armies? Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless. Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies.”

“O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn.”

This is another one of David’s psalms, even though an earlier psalm claimed to be his last one. Obviously, David did not compile the psalms. “I will awaken the dawn.” As I am writing this, my husband is watching an American football game, and the fans are making LOTS of noise. David is promising to make so much noise that he will cause dawn to come early. Why is David so enthusiastic?

“I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your mercy is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and Your glory above all the earth; that Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and hear me.” David is praising God but in addition, he is begging God for deliverance.

“God has spoken in His holiness: “I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth. Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver. Moab is My washpot; over Edom I will cast My shoe; over Philistia I will triumph.” David is reminding God of His previous promises.

“Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom?  Is it not You, O God, who cast us off? and You, O God, who did not go out with our armies? Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless. Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies.” Evidently, David feels as if God has withdrawn His protection, allowing David’s armies to be defeated. Why would God withdraw protection that He has already promised? Perhaps some of David’s men have committed a major sin. Perhaps David has failed to follow God’s instructions. David remains confident that God will come through when he asks.

APPLICATION: Does a setback mean that God has abandoned you? Can we trust God to fulfill His promises of protection? On the one hand, David is praising God; on the other, he’s querying God as to the reasons for a recent defeat and begging God for deliverance.

God allows setbacks for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes we have plunged ahead without seeking God’s guidance. Sometimes we have failed to heed signs warning us of imminent disaster. Many times, we feel that the problem at hand is one we can tackle using our own common sense, forgetting that God is the One who knows all ends from their beginnings. And sometimes God allows small problems because He has a bigger object in mind.

Typhoid is a bacterial illness that you can get repeatedly, even if you have been vaccinated. When I get typhoid, I feel so weak that all I can do is to stay home and rest. As the only doctor in a remote rural hospital, my bouts of typhoid have allowed me to have the reason I need to rest; otherwise, people just assume that I am the Energizer bunny and that I can keep going indefinitely.   

Sometimes God blesses us with poverty to keep us from making foolish mistakes. In the early 1960’s in the Middle West, many farmers spent enormous sums of money to purchase blue fiberglass silos for storing silage to feed beef cattle. Within two decades, most of the cattle were now being fed in huge lots further west while feed lots in our area were empty; meanwhile, these families were still paying off the bank loans they had taken. Some of these families lost their farms when land prices suddenly dropped by 50% overnight because they had used their land as security for those loans. One time I was discussing this phenomenon with my dad, a lifelong farmer. I asked Dad how he had been smart enough not to go in for one of these silos. Dad looked at me funny and then said, “Well, it was simple. We didn’t have the money for the down payment.” That temporary poverty protected my family from later losing their land.

Are you facing a setback? Are you entering the New Year wondering if God really cares about you? Rejoice! God cares and God is still looking out for you. But remember that sometimes God uses setbacks to protect you. David ends this psalm by saying, “Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless. Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies.” God doesn’t play favorites, and He can help you just as he did King David. Hold on and trust!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us feel stressed out and exhausted. Help us to rest in You, trusting that You will bring us through all our problems and that You have a perfect solution for them. Thank You for using our setbacks to protect and guide us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

 Thanksgiving to the Lord for His Great Works of Deliverance

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city for a dwelling place. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.

Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons—because they rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the Most High, therefore He brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two.

Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.

Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, and praise Him in the company of the elders.

He turns rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; a fruitful land  into barrenness, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it. He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into watersprings. There He makes the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place, and sow fields and plant vineyards, that they may yield a fruitful harvest. He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; and He does not let their cattle decrease. When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow, He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way; yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock. The righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth. Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.”  

Face it, folks, we don’t deserve God’s love, His mercy, or His grace. But God remains loving, merciful, and gracious. This psalm describes four different groups of people in dire straits whom God delivers. The first group is refugees. Considering the number of disasters with displaced people in the world, this psalm is amazingly applicable to current events. It is God’s will for people to dwell in safety and for longing souls to be satisfied. If there are refugee crises, it’s because those whom God has assigned to help are refusing to do so. People become refugees because those who should be protecting them in their own countries or in surrounding countries are attacking them or mishandling their governments or refusing to follow God’s will in a myriad of different ways.

Hamas has attacked Israel, and the Israelis are defending themselves from a group bent on wiping them out. Russia has been attacking Ukraine, a country that was living peaceably next to it, because Russian leaders want to dominate all those around them. In Sudan, Christians are dying due to a government bent on wiping out Christianity in their country. People are fleeing Venezuela because the government has destroyed the economy. God cares for refugees wherever they are.

The second group in need of God’s grace and mercy is prisoners, especially those chained in darkness. No prison is enjoyable, but some prisons are far worse than others, being actual dungeons where prisoners languish in darkness. Here the psalmist affirms that God breaks gates of bronze and cuts bars of iron, two of the strongest metals known at the time this psalm was written. The meaning is clear: God can deliver people from any prison, no matter how strong.

The third group appears to be those suffering from diseases they may have brought on themselves by abusing food, nicotine, or other drugs. Again, God demonstrates that He is the ultimate Healer with power over every sickness and infirmity.

The fourth group is those who travel, particularly on the seas. Air travel didn’t exist at the time the psalmist was writing, but it doesn’t matter. Whether a storm is on the sea or in the air, God is still the Master of the winds and the waves and nothing is too difficult for Him. Airplane crashes make big news, but there are the miraculous landings when people’s lives are saved, such as the landing of a huge airplane in the Hudson River several years ago.   

Finally, the psalmist describes the miraculous works of God. “He turns rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; a fruitful land  into barrenness, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it. He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into watersprings. There He makes the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place, and sow fields and plant vineyards, that they may yield a fruitful harvest. He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; and He does not let their cattle decrease. When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow, He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way; yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock. The righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth. Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.”  

APPLICATION: If each of us thinks about it, we can quickly identify times when God has delivered us from our own foolishness or from attack. God has done so much for each one of us, but are we grateful? What good is a gift if we refuse to be grateful for it? We can claim that we are entitled to God’s goodness, His mercy and grace; however, what is the basis for our sense of entitlement? The Bible tells us that all our righteousness is as filthy rags. We have nothing to commend us apart from God’s mercy and grace.

We have just celebrated Christmas. When people gave you Christmas presents, did you reject any of them or did you gladly open them and thank the giver? How many of us can remember what we received for Christmas last year? If you are so excited about gifts you won’t remember, why can’t you receive God’s gift of eternal life and praise Him for it? God’s gift will last forever while all those other gifts will fall apart.

Let’s pray.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we praise You for sending Your Son Jesus Christ to be born as a baby, to live as a sinless man, and to die for our sins so that those of us who will believe will gain eternal life in

Every holiday season, we are inundated with fruitcake jokes and cartoons, dissing fruitcake, and complaining about how terrible it is, how inedible, etc. One cartoon recently suggested that fruit cake could substitute for cement overshoes when gangsters were about to drown their victims. Well, those naysayers never tasted my mom’s fruitcakes!

Each November, Mom and I would begin fruitcake preparations. We made two distinctly different kinds of fruitcake, a light one from a recipe in a Betty Crocker cookbook, and a dark molasses-laced fruitcake. The light fruitcake was studded with candied citrus peel, pecans, and candied cherries while the dark fruitcake included fruit juice or apple sauce to moisten the dough and featured walnuts and raisins. We would bake the light fruitcake in an angel food cake pan, giving a shape very similar to that on the left while the dark fruitcake would be baked in a regular bread loaf pan, giving the shape on the right. Whether light or dark, the fruitcakes would be anointed with rum flavoring, or even-gasp!-real rum, wrapped in cheese cloth, and allowed to age for several weeks. (Our household was generally alcohol-free apart from rum for fruitcakes and the communion wine at the local Lutheran church, but the alcohol evaporated. We were not contributing to the delinquency of anybody.) The result was food for angels-light cake that would melt in your mouth and rejoice your heart- and it made its appearance during our family Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations.

In those days, many people baked fruitcakes. The local grocery stores stocked all the necessary ingredients and finding them was simple. Piles of the proper ingredients would appear during the last week of October.

When Mom died in 1980, my brother Rus took over the fruitcake baking duties, featuring mostly dark fruitcake. Sadly, Rus died in 2021 just before the Christmas season started. Although I was an accomplished baker, nine years of surgery residency left little time or inclination to bake fruitcake. Now I live in a country where candied fruit and pecans are unavailable, and raisins and walnuts are hideously expensive, even when available. Occasionally, we have found small fruitcakes on offer at specialty stores in the bigger cities, but they are no match for Mom’s or Rus’s.

What made those fruitcakes so good? There’s no doubt that Mom, Rus, and I were all excellent bakers, but one of the ingredients unavailable in any store was the love we put into each bowl of batter. Creating fruitcakes was a way of celebrating the Christmas season and the love our family shared. Each time we anointed the fruitcakes, we were adding love to them. Little wonder then, that when the fruitcakes made their appearance, they were consumed down to the last crumb.

Baking things at home is complicated, messy, and now, also expensive, but well worth it. No matter how delicious a bakery confection is, the one thing it will always lack is the love and care you put into your own baking. Perhaps fruitcake will never become your specialty, but find something you do enjoy making. While you are creating food for your family, you are also making memories that will last a lifetime. And even if the results of your efforts are less than perfect, the love will still be there.

Joy in Forgiveness of Israel’s Sins

“Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can declare all His praise?

Blessed are those who keep justice, and he who does righteousness at all times! Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation, that I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance.

We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, but rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea. Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake, that He might make His mighty power known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up; so He led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. The waters covered their enemies; there was not one of them left. Then they believed His words; they sang His praise.

They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
and tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul. When they envied Moses in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord, the earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, and covered the faction of Abiram. A fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.

They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molded image. Thus they changed their glory into the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, awesome things by the Red Sea. Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.

Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His word, but complained in their tents, and did not heed the voice of the Lord. Therefore He raised His hand in an oath against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness, to overthrow their descendants among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.

They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices made to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, and the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stopped. And that was accounted to him for righteousness to all generations forevermore.

They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses on account of them; because they rebelled against His Spirit, so that he spoke rashly with his lips. They did not destroy the peoples, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them, but they mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works; they served their idols, which became a snare to them.

They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled by their own works, and played the harlot by their own deeds. Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people, so that He abhorred His own inheritance. And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles, and those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.

Many times He delivered them; but they rebelled in their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless He regarded their affliction, when He heard their cry; and for their sake He remembered His covenant, and relented according to the multitude of His mercies. He also made them to be pitied by all those who carried them away captive.

Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the Gentiles, to give thanks to Your holy name, to triumph in Your praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord!”

“Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can declare all His praise?” “Oh good!” we think. “Another nice praise psalm. How lovely!” But wait, for very shortly this psalm is going to take a turn into darkness. Evidently, this psalm was written after both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah had been carried off into exile and before King Cyrus put out the call for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. Why do I say this? Look at the last few verses:

“Many times He delivered them; but they rebelled in their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless He regarded their affliction, when He heard their cry; and for their sake He remembered His covenant, and relented according to the multitude of His mercies. He also made them to be pitied by all those who carried them away captive. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the Gentiles, to give thanks to Your holy name, to triumph in Your praise.”

We don’t know whether this psalmist is sitting in Assyria or in Babylon, but he obviously is not in Israel. This writer begins by describing God’s wonderful mercies to the Israelites as they have repeatedly reverted to full-bore idolatry, suffering the consequences. Now the Israelites are languishing in exile, and the psalmist is begging God to deliver them again. The psalmist is trusting that God will forgive and deliver as He has in the past.

APPLICATION: Christmas is all about God’s forgiveness and God’s redeeming love. If God were not infinitely loving, infinitely kind, and infinitely merciful, none of us would still be here. God is holy, dwelling in unapproachable light while we are sinful, continually messing up. While we might not burn our children as offerings to Molech or engage in ritual prostitution, our thoughts and our acts still condemn us. Sin requires a blood sacrifice as payment; however, only the blood of a perfect sinless man can possibly make a one-time payment for human sin. At Christmas we celebrate God’s incredible gift of Jesus Christ, born both human and divine and destined to become the ultimate blood sacrifice. But there’s a catch: we must believe that Jesus has come, that He has died, and that He has risen from the dead, conquering death and the grave.

One Bible teacher wanted to demonstrate God’s gift to his students, so he brought in doughnuts and began distributing them to his students. Each time the teacher was about to give out a doughnut, one student who was an excellent athlete had to perform ten pushups to pay for the doughnut. The students themselves were not allowed to do their own pushups. Some students refused the doughnuts, thinking they were sparing their friend; however, the one student performed the pushups anyway. The message was clear: Jesus paid the price for our sins but we have a choice to accept or reject His work on our behalf.

God offers each of us His best Gift-the Gift of eternal life. Will you accept or reject it?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, let everyone who reads these words choose to accept Your Gift. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.