Compassion

“Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.” (Psalm 119:77)

The most common attribute mentioned in the Gospels of the Lord Jesus is His compassion. We often read that he was moved with compassion. Compassion for the weak, the lost, the hurting was a driving force in His ministry. We often think of compassion of a mother for her children.

The Psalmist recognizes the compassion of God the Father as he spent time in God’s Word. He delighted in what the Word of God revealed about the Father.
If you were to ask someone today the difference between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New they would tell you that the God of the Old was a God of wrath while the God of the New is a God of love and compassion. The Psalmist did not see that distinction. To him the God he worshipped was a God of compassion. If we would take off our blinders and read the Old Testament we would see the compassion of God there as we see it in Christ Jesus.

Permanent

“May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.” (Psalm 119:76)

We used to live in Thunder Bay which is on the Precambrian Shield. The Precambrian Shield is the largest rock in the world. Often in the summer we would drive out to Sibley Peninsula and drive across to the Thunder Bay Lookout. The Thunder Bay Lookout is located on the North side of the peninsula and extends out over the cliff down to Lake Superior far below. From the lookout you can see all of Thunder Bay harbor, the bay and the city. It is a spectacular place to see Lake Superior. The lookout is anchored in the Precambrian Shield so as any as can fit on the lookout landing can stand there without fear of falling.

Just as the lookout is unfailing so is God’s love and even more so. Rock can be worn away by the constant dripping of water but God’s love will never change. He is the same today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow.

My Favorite Books Part 5

Here is a continuation of my list of favorite books. I am currently reading Radical but I now it belongs on the list.

34. Randy Alcorn - Heaven
35. David Platt - Radical
36. Ken Sande - The Peace Maker
37. David Wells - No Place for Truth
38. Gary Gilley - This Little Church went to Market

Still more to come.

I Know

“I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.” (Psalm 119:75)

I worked with a man who seemed to know everything. He would walk into a conversation and immediately take over. He was an authority on almost every topic.

Knowledge is important but when Paul prays for the church he doesn’t pray that they will have knowledge about everything but that they would grow in their knowledge of the Lord. Is it your desire to grow in the knowledge of the Lord? If we want to know something or someone we have to spend time with that topic or person. To grow in the knowledge of the Lord we must spend time with Him and His Word.

Hope in Your Word.

“May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.” (Psalm 119:74)

What is your hope? For many people hope is like blind faith. They hope things will turn out well but they are not sure. However, for a Christian hope is security in knowing that the One who we put our hope in is faithful and He will do what He has promised.

This is the kind of hope that the Psalmist had. His hope was in the written word of God. God had said it and he believed it. The author of Hebrews tells us that hope is the anchor of our souls. What do you hang onto when things are going rough? Do you cling to the promises of God?

Your Hands

“Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.” (Psalm 119:73)

Does God have hands? We don’t know but that is the only way we can describe God. We have to use human terms. We form things with our hands, God spoke and things came into being. Regardless whether God formed us with His hands or with His voice He made us and we are His. Because He made us we should want to know more about the One Who made us. The only way we can truly know Him is through His word. His word shows us His character and His plans for us.

Jeremiah tells about the potter who took clay and formed it into the vessel that he wanted. When the vessel was flawed he broke it down and reformed it. Paul tells us that we are jars of clay. We are jars of clay formed by the hands of the Potter. He can make us to be whatever He wants us to be. We have no right to question the Potter but to do what He has formed us to do. His Word teaches us that. Our part is to be students of the Word and obey His commands.

Precious

“The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.” (Psalm 119:72)

What do we consider precious? Is it our possessions or our talents? Is it something that we have obtained ourselves?

The Bible talks about many precious things:

Psalm 116:15 tells us that the death of a saint is precious in the sight of the Lord.
Proverbs 8:11 tells us that wisdom is precious. That is why Solomon asked for wisdom rather than riches or fame.
Isaiah 26:16 tells us that there is a precious cornerstone. The cornerstone of our faith is our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:4 tells us that we have great and precious promises.
1 Peter 1:19 reminds us that the blood of Christ is precious.
1 Peter 2:7 reminds us that Jesus Christ is precious to us who believe.

What do you consider precious? Those things that will pass away or those things that will last for eternity?

Good to be Afflicted

“It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” (Psalm 119:71)

The disciples were caught in a frightening storm on the Sea of Galilee. Now most of the disciples were fishermen and they knew storms this one was different. They were frightened.

Now the disciples were not out in the boat because of disobedience. The Lord had sent them away. If they were in the will of God then why were they being afflicted?
Little did they know that they were safer in the boat in the storm than they would have been on dry land with the people? They wanted to make Jesus king because they had been fed by Him. Jesus knew their motives and He did not want the disciples to fall into the same trap.

Finally, they saw Jesus coming to them on the water. The thing that was bringing affliction into their lives was the very thing that brought them Jesus to save them. Could it be that our afflictions are bring Jesus to us?

My Favorite Books Part 4

Continuing my list of favorite books:

28. Mack Stiles - Marks of the Messenger
29. Jerry Bridges - Pursuit of Holiness
30. Jerry Bridges - Practice of Godliness
31. Lee Stroble - A Case for Creation
32. Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart - How to Read the Bible for all its Worth
33. John White - Daring to Draw Near

Continues later. Please add your list.

Callous

“Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law.” (Psalm 119:70)
When I was working on construction my hands became calloused. First they formed blisters because I was not use to that kind of work but the blisters went away and my hands became calloused. They were hardened so I could handle the tools without any fear of getting blisters again.
Now a callous can be a good thing but when our hearts become hardened or calloused that is anything but a good thing. After I quit working on construction my hands soon lost their hardness but if our hearts become calloused then we need the work of God to change our hearts. Ezekiel said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26).
To avoid getting a heart that is calloused or unfeeling is to spend time in the Word of God.

Lies

“Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart.” (Psalm 119:69)
What do you do when someone tells lies about you? Do you fight back or do you leave it with the Lord? When the Psalmist was a victim of lies he turned to the Word of God.
Satan is called the father of lies. When one person lies about another they are doing the work of Satan. It is a terrible thing when someone lies about you but when it is someone in the church then it hurts even more. People lie to protect themselves but they forget that Scripture says that all liars have a place reserved for them in the lake of fire.
In the early days of the United States the Baptists in Kentucky had a problem. Should they tell the natives the truth when they came looking for their families which were hidden or tell the truth. The church became divided in lying Baptists and non-lying Baptists. That is not what is meant here. The lies were not to protect the Psalmist’s family but rather to slander another person. The first can be questioned as whether or not one should do it but the second is a sin against the Holy God.

God is Good

“You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.” (Psalm 119:68)

A few years ago it was common for a worship leader in church to say, “God is good” and the response from the congregation was, “all the time.” Then it would be reversed and the leader would say, “All the time” to which the congregation would respond, “God is good”.

People question God’s goodness when they see evil and bad things in the world. The common question is, “If God is good then why did this happen?” Or you would hear someone testify to how they were protected in a situation and add the phrase, “God is good.” Sometimes I want to jump and yell, “Even if you were not protected, God is good.” It is so true that God is good all the time.

We need to remember that God is not good because of what He has done but rather He does good things because He is good.

Afflicted

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.” (Psalm 119:67)

I have a friend who I asked to write a prayer for a study booklet I was making. Her prayer was about faith. Since that time she has discovered that she had breast cancer. When she first learned that she had cancer she turned to her prayer and prayed it again and again. Her cancer has not left her but her faith has grown. Has her affliction helped her faith to grow? Yes! Could faith grow without affliction? Yes! However, we are too often comfortable and we not only take our health for granted but we do the same with our faith in God.

We need to remind ourselves that it is not affliction that makes our faith grow but the Lord Jesus Christ. He is much more than an example; He is our Saviour. He suffered affliction for us so that we could be saved. Does He care about our afflictions? Yes! However, He cares more about our salvation. Our affliction should lead us to the Word of God and the Word should lead us to Christ.

My Favorite Books Part 3

Here are some of my current favorite books. Please feel free to make suggestions.

18. The Reason for God - Timothy Keller
19. The Prodigal God - Timothy Keller
20. Knowing God - J. I. Packer
21. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God - J. I. Packer
22. What is the Gospel? - Gilbert
23. What's so Amazing About Grace? - Philip Yancey
24. The Jesus I Never Knew - Philip Yancey
25. Your God is too Safe - Mark Buchanan
26. The Trellis and the Vine - Colin Marshall and Tony Payne
27. The Call - Os Guinness

More to follow.

Good Judgment

“Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands.” (Psalm 119:66)

I have seen may intelligent people make very poor judgments. I have often joked that I wish I could sell “stupid insurance” to cover the stupid things that we do from time to time. I am sure that we have all wished we had insurance to cover our seemingly stupid mistakes.

The Psalmist knew that knowledge and good judgment does not necessarily come from common sense. We need more than common sense if we are to make good judgments; we need the leading of God’s Word. God’s Word does not tell us what to do in every situation but as we are students of the Word and trust and believe the Word then when we make decisions we will do so in light of what brings glory to God.

When Jesus went back to His Father He told His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit Who would teach them all things. The Holy Spirit does that through the Word of God.

My Favorite Books Part 2

Yesterday I listed some books from those who have gone to glory. Today I would like to list a few books from those that I have heard this past year.

9. Don Carson - The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God
10. Don Carson - Scandalous
11. Don Carson - Memours of an Ordinary Pastor
12. R. C. Sproule - The Holiness of God.
14. C. J. Mahaney - The Cross Centred Life
15. Mark Dever - 9 Marks of a Healthy Church.
16. Arnold Cook - Historical Drift.
17. John Piper - Let the Nations be Glad

Next I would like to list some of my current favourite authors.

Do Good

“Do good to your servant according to your word, O LORD.” (Psalm 119:65)

When the Psalmist wrote these words the only Scripture he had was the Law of Moses. Many people today see the Law as being repressive but the Psalmist saw the Law as the goodness of God to His people. The Law was not given to oppress the people but to free them.

Today we have traffic laws that are not to be oppressive but freeing. Without the law we would be like the people in the time of the Judges who did what was right in their own eyes. We lived in Manila for a year and driving in that city was an adventure at best and terrifying the rest of the time. Traffic laws were ignored. Drivers did not stop for red lights or drive in their own lanes. Buses would pass on curves and hills without any regard for what might be coming the other way. Driving in a country that has laws at are obeyed, most of the time, gives you a sense of security. Laws are given for our own good.

When the Law said that we must be truthful then we could have the security that our neighbour would not lie about us in front of the judge. That was the goodness of the Law.

My Favorite Books Part 1

I would like to list what I think are the 50 books that have effected me the most. In the first listing I want to list those writers who are no longer alive.
These books are in no particular order. Plese feel free to add any to my list.
1. Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest
2. C. S. Lewis - Mere Christianity
3. C. S. Lewis - The Screwtape Letters
4. A. W. Tozer - The Pursuit of God
5. A. W. Tozer - The Knowledge of the Holy
6. L. E. Maxwell - Born Crucified
7. Roy Hession - The Calvary Road
8. Brother Lawrence - The Practice of the Presence of God.

Next will be those that I have heard over the past year.

Teach Me 2

“The earth is filled with your love, O LORD; teach me your decrees.” (Psalm 119:64)

When Jesus met with His disciples the last time before His crucifixion He told them that when He departed He would send another comforter who would teach them all things. Jesus was telling His disciples that the Holy Spirit would not only bring them comfort but He would also teach them His words.

The Psalmist also knew this. He knew that because the earth was a demonstration of the love of God that he could ask the Lord to be his teacher. To truly understand the love of God we must understand His Word. We can recite John 3:16 about God loving the world but do we understand that love? We need the Holy Spirit to teach us what that means in the life of a believer. Just two verses later Jesus reminds His disciples that though God loved the world He would judge those who would not believe.

Friend

“I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts.” (Psalm 119:63)
Who are your friends? As a parent you should be concerned about who your child’s friends are. Friendships shape the character. We cannot make our children be friends with the right people but we can make it much easier for them to choose proper friends.
The Bible has a great deal to say about friends. David, who wrote many of the Psalms, had a good friend in Jonathan. Jonathan was interested in obeying the commands of God and his friendship with David made it much easier for David to follow God’s Laws just as David’s friendship with Jonathan helped Jonathan to obey.
The writer of Proverbs reminds us that we have a friend that is closer than a brother. That friend is Jesus. Jesus told His disciples that “You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:14. Now we cannot command our friends to do what we command them but Jesus can. Does our friendship with Him depend upon our obedience? Yes it does. He told us to obey and then He gives us the will and the strength to obey.

Midnight

“At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.” (Psalm 119:62)

What do we do when we cannot sleep? Some people read, some people watch television while others count sheep. Someone has said that instead of counting sheep you should talk to the shepherd.

Many times people have been awaken in the night with a strong compulsion to pray for someone only later to find that the person who they were praying for was going through a time of trial or testing at that time.

However, we do not always have that unction to pray for someone in particular but we should have a desire to talk to our heavenly Father. We always have something to be thankful for or something to praise Him for. We may be thankful for our warm bed even though we could not sleep.

When we first came to Manila I would wake up in the night with knot in my stomach wondering why I had brought my wife and daughter to such a strange country so far from where I was comfortable. However, I also found it was a time to talk to God and He confirmed to me that it was He who had brought us here.

Take time when you cannot sleep to talk to the Good Shepherd.

Bind

“Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your law.” (Psalm 119:61)

This past year we have being living in the Philippines and we have been reminded of Martin Burnham who less than a year ago was martyred for his faith. Martin and his wife Gracia were held captives by the Abu Sayif rebels in southern Philippines for over a year and in the end Gracia was released and Martin was martyred.

Each night Martin’s captures tied him to a tree and each night he thanked them and prayed for them. He maintained a loving attitude even when he was mistreated. Though they could bind his body they could not bind his spirit and his spirit was free to worship his God.

This is a picture of what the Psalmist was writing about in this verse. Do we have the attitude of the Psalmist and of Martin Burnham?

Hasten

“I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.” (Psalm 119:60)

When our children were small we would give them instructions such as cleaning their room or washing the dishes. If they said yes but then delayed in doing what they were asked we told them that it is the same as being disobedient. Delayed obedience is disobedience.

Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not the things I command.” Obedience is more than verbal assent, it is immediate action.

The Psalmist understood this truth and he said that he would not delay to be obedient to God’s command.

Abraham understood this principle. When God told him to offer his only son as a sacrifice he didn’t take time to debate with God. He immediately took up his son and went to the mountain of sacrifice.

Saul didn’t understand this principle and when he was told to slay all the enemies he kept some of the sheep which he said he would use as a sacrifice. The words of Samuel’s response have been a message to all generations. He said that obedience is better than sacrifice. God desires that we are obedient. Remember delayed obedience is disobedience.

Turned

“I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.” (Psalm 119:59)

Many times we do not know right from wrong until we open the Word of God and apply the principles we find there to our own lives. The world has its own sense of values which are often in conflict with God’s values. We need to filter all that we hear from the world through the Word of God. Only then will we have a proper sense of values.

2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that the Word of God is profitable to us for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

Teaching tells us what is right. There are many places in Scripture that gives us standards of right and wrong; the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount are two examples. However, we often find ourselves falling short of the ideal.

Rebuking tells us what is not right in our lives. The Word of God is like a mirror which reflects back to us our short comings and failures. We read the Ten Commandments and know we have not lived up to God’s standard.

Correcting tells us how to make it right. That is why we must consider the teachings of the Word of God and turn back or repent of our failures. Jesus tells the Ephesian church in Revelation 2 that they need to remember how things were when they first loved the Lord, repent of their sins and return again to do what is right.

Finally training tells us how to keep things right. When we have failed, God’s word calls us to turn back to Him, to look into His Word and do what He has commanded.

When we consider our ways we realize that we have missed the mark and we need to get our eyes on the mark which is revealed through the statutes of God.

What Are You Looking For?

“I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.” (Psalm 119:58)

What is the desire of your heart? If we desire something then we will work toward obtaining the object of our desire. We will plan and scheme, we will dream and work until that object is ours.

Jesus said that if we would seek then we would find. We cannot find the desires of our heart if we are just drifters and not seekers. There are some people who are drifters and they take whatever comes along.

However, that is how some people approach their relationship with God. They take the attitude of a drifter and not that of a seeker. A drifter never will be satisfied because he has no idea what he is looking for. He may claim that he desires a closer walk with God but he does nothing to obtain it. A drifter never fulfills his desires because he has not taken time to determine what those desires are.

What is it that we are to seek? Some search for fame, some for money, and some for happiness. In Proverbs we are told to seek wisdom as one would seek silver or a hidden treasure. A hidden treasure will not be found without seeking it out. Wisdom in Proverbs is personified in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is Him that we are to seek. It is Him that we are to desire.

Jesus gives us a promise in Matthew that will find what we seek. God is gracious and if we desire Him He will keep His promise to us.

What are you looking for?

My Portion

“You are my portion, O Lord. I have promised to obey your words.” (Psalm 119:57)

The portion was a part of a gift or an inheritance that a person was to receive such as a gift from a father to his children or an inheritance from an estate.

In 1 Samuel 1:5 Elkanah gave a portion of meat to his two wives, Peninnah and Hannah and to Peninnah’s children. However, to Hannah who was childless he gave a double portion to show his love for her.

In 2 Kings 2:9 Elijah was about to be taken up into heaven and Elisha asked that he might receive a double portion of the blessing that was upon Elijah.

David did not ask for an earthly portion, whether it was an inheritance from his father or from the spoils of war. Instead he saw that the Lord was his portion.

Some people today teach a prosperity theology. They say that God will bless us financially if we obey Him. This contradicts Scripture and the teaching of our Lord. When we read the chapter in Hebrews that describes the heroes of our faith we read about those who died not having received the blessing. However, God says that the world was not worthy of them.

Our portion is not an earthly portion or blessing that we may receive as an inheritance from our earthly father but rather our portion is the Lord. When the Lord is our portion we have no other need.

There is, however, a condition attached to the portion and that is we must obey. David knew that the Lord would be his portion because he had promised to obey the Word of the Lord.

My Practice

“This has been my practice: I obey your precepts.” (Psalm 119:56)

What is your practice? Is it exercising, running, or walking every day? Do you eat certain foods? Do you practice a musical instrument or a sport? We practice what is important to us. Brother Lawrence practiced the presence of God. He did his household chores as if they were for God. He saw God in everything.

We do not keep the Law of God naturally, we need to know it and practice it. Christ is our example but He is more than our example. He kept the Law perfectly and it is only when we realize that even with all our practice we cannot do that. He did it for us. Does that mean we don’t have to keep on obeying? In Paul’s words, “God forbid.” We do need to practice knowing that Jesus is living out through us.

In the Night time

“In the night I remember your name, O LORD, and I will keep your law.” (Psalm 110:55)
In the night could mean literally in the nighttime. When we wake up in the nighttime what occupies our thoughts. As someone said one time that instead of counting sheep we should talk to the Shepherd.
However, the night may refer to the night of our soul. When we are facing distress, despair, or discouragement what do our thoughts turn to? We need to remember that it is in these times that our God hears us even when it seems that our prayers go no farther than the ceiling. Look at the Psalms and see the number of Psalms that are songs of lament. Notice that they are not only Scripture but they are in Scripture. However, even more important than this is that we remember Jesus. He went through the turmoil of His soul for us.

Theme of my song

“Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge.” (Psalm 119:54)
Christianity is a singing religion. Everywhere you go you can join in the songs of the faith. I have sung the great hymns of faith with the Chinese, the Filipinos, the Cree as well as many others. Though I didn’t know the words in their language I knew the words in English.
Much of our singing is from Scripture. Many of the themes of these songs come from the great themes of Scripture. We sing salvation songs, praise songs to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We sing songs of thankfulness, prayers for mercy and even songs of lament.
Last Sunday I heard a preacher ask the question, “So what can miserable Christians pray (sing)? The Psalms are full of laments that were sung my miserable Christians such as Psalm 88. I want to comment on this further in a later post.
Just as we pray God’s words back to Him we should sing His songs back to Him. It is interesting that Zephaniah tells us that God sings (c.f. Zephaniah 3:17). Have you ever wondered what His voice would be like, what words He would sing to us? I am sure He would sing salvation songs about the work done by His Son Jesus on the cross.

What do you want to be?

I have just finished reading Mack Stiles book, Marks of the Messenger. This is a must read. Mack talks about sharing the Gospel but he begins by warning us not to peddle the Gospel, not to add or subtract form the Gospel and not to assume the Gospel. He then talks about living the implications of the Gospel. He tells us to understand the Gospel and social change, conversion and the fear factor. He warns us again not to mistake the world's love for God's love and he talks about the importance of the church. This was a wonderful surprise when I read it and I would recommend it to everyone. The style is easy reading and the chapters are a great length for one-a-day.