After yesterday's post about David in the desert, I started thinking about other people in the Scriptures who spent time in the desert and experienced temptation there. The Hebrew people with their 40 years in the Sinai came to mind, of course. They were tempted. Their response was to grumble and complain which led to them succumbing to the temptation. Grumbling and complaining typified that people's time in the desert. David, however, during his time in the desert, praised God and used that praise to overcome the temptation to question God's presence in his life. Praise typified David as much as grumbling and complaining typified the Hebrew people in the desert. Jesus spent time in the desert also. He too was tempted. He overcame Satan by citing Scripture. The Word of God quoted the word of God. From these examples, how do we best overcome temptation? Grumbling and complaining don't work. Let's praise God and learn the Scriptures. These are two proven methods for people who want to be overcomers and progress in the spiritual life.
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The Psalms are full of images to suit our moods. We can be in green fields one day and barren lands the next. Psalm 63 is thought to have been written when David was hiding from his enemies in the Desert of Judah. What gets David through this time of danger in the desert is remembering the strength of God. He recalls God's power and glory, his love and help. In the midst of lack he experiences God's presence as the richest of foods and praises the Lord with dry, cracked lips. With lifted hands he sings to God though his tongue is parched and swollen. What a testimony this prayer is. Even though he is on the run, David praises God for his deliverance and victory over his enemies. He looks toward the future when all who swear by God's name will praise him. In the worst of situations, with death all around him, with no one to help him, he trusts in God, believes in God, praises God. David hangs on and triumphs. O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So much is conveyed in 7 short verses. This Psalm was written to be sung. It looks like the chorus was May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May they praise you because you rule with justice, because you make known your ways of salvation throughtout the world, because the land yields an abundant harvest and we are blest. Is the psalmist considering just the current times and the grain harvest or is he/she looking forward to the end times and the final harvest of souls? Are the people urged to praise God for a past harvest, the current one, or the great harvest to come? Or is it an if . . . then situation? If the people praise God, then God will bless them and the land will yield its harvest. If the people praise God, then all the ends of the earth will fear him (v7). Any one of those interpretations is possible. Why don't we pray the Psalm and see where God leads us. Recently I was talking with a woman who has a long-term illness. She was telling me she is tired of the illness, tired of being sick, and fed up with the medicine, the treatment and the limitations. I asked her, "Have you told God how you feel?" "Can I do that?" she asked. "You're already thinking it, aren't you?" She laughed. Why is it that we think (1) We can't talk to God about anything and everything and (2) He doesn't know what we're thinking? God wants to talk to us about whatever is on our minds - even if it is just the weather. Jesus will sit and have a chat with us or take a walk with us. He is always available. The Psalmist says: You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. What an awesome thing it is to have the Almighty know us that well. And there is nowhere we can run or hide to get away from him. You hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. . . Where can I flee from your presence? He's not too busy. He's not far away. Call him. Psalm 51 is the obvious choice for prayer today, Ash Wednesday. It is King David's prayer of repentance after the prophet Nathan faced him with the fact of his adultery. David truly was crushed when he realized what he had done (let the bones you have crushed rejoice). But I find it curious that he says he has only sinned against God (against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight). Hasn't he sinned against Bathsheba and her husband Uriah? Because of David's position, Bathsheba had no option to refuse him. When she conceives David's child, David hatches a plan to have Uriah sleep with his wife so that Uriah would think the child was his. His plan failed and so he had Uriah killed in battle instead. David's sin kept multiplying, and it is a sordid tale even today. Although David repented and God forgave him, he still suffered the consequences of his sins. God told David, again through Nathan, that the son conceived in adultery would die. Though David fasted and wept and pleaded with God, God's mind was not changed. The child died (2 Samuel 11 - 12). So what is the key to understanding this Psalm, the story of David and relating them to our Lenten practice? Although God is merciful and forgiving, slow to anger and rich in mercy, it is better not to sin in the first place. It is from sin that we should fast. Two things remind me of crowns today - the Pope giving two weeks notice yesterday and President Obama giving the State of the Union address this evening. So I have chosen Psalm 2 for the reflection. "The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. . . . The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. . . . I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." It is a reminder that no matter what earthly king, president or pope sits in office, Christ the King is still in charge. Popes and presidents answer to God, the most high, the almighty. In Christ is our security. "Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling." One of the common themes in the Psalms is of singing. So I think singing praises must be very important to God. But often people at church say, "I can't sing." My response to that is "God gave you that voice. He must be happy with it." Psalm 33 is one of those happy Psalms about singing joyfully to God because he made us and he made the universe. Furthermore he is dependable, faithful and true to those who put their trust in him. He loves righteousness and justice. He keeps watch over those who fear him. So while we wait in hope for the Lord, we sing (even if it is a joyful noise) and we pray, "May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you." No comment this evening - just Psalm 134 itself.
Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who minister by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord. May the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion. In today's short Psalm for a short month, the theme is that the Lord is our light and our refuge. He is our stronghold against evil people, enemies, an entire army or even war. Therefore we have no one to fear for the Lord himself will hide us in his own home and raise us up over everyone that comes against us. God as our refuge is a frequent image in the Psalms. The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Ps 9:9 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horns of my salvation, my stronghold. Ps 18:2 Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. Ps 36:7 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Ps 46:1 I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. Ps 91:2 Since God is our refuge, he can make a way or be the way when we see no way through or no way out. Though everyone else abandons us, he will not. Of that we can be confident. We have probably all had times when we felt like everyone was against us, we were being persecuted, life was worse than unfair. And if things didn't change soon, we didn't know what we would do. Unfortunately, many people feel that way today. They have lost their job, defaulted on the mortgage, run out of unemployment benefits. What to do now? Prayer changes things. Sometimes it just changes us, but that is better than nothing. When we cry out to God in our misery, circumstances are not necessarily better by the time we finish praying. We don't magically have a new job, the mortgage lender doesn't call and announce a refinancing opportunity, money doesn't fall to the floor in front of us. But, even so, we feel better. God has heard us. God has listened. God has identified with us and brought us some measure of comfort. How he does that I don't know, but he has saved me more than once. When we cry out, "No one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life," he responds, "I am concerned for you. I am your refuge; I care for your life." He sets us free from our prison of despair (verse 7) and lifts up our head and our spirits. If you are in this state today, cry out to God. He will not fail you. |
AliceI started this website and blog on May 1, 2012. I am a Catholic who has been in ministry for many years. I first developed what I would call a close relationship with Jesus in the early 1970s. Ever since then I have been praying with people for healing and other needs. It is because I have seen so many of these prayers answered that I am so bold as to offer to pray for you individually through this website and phone line. Archives
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