A Song for the Climb- Devotion 15

PSALM 133

Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.

Our last Psalm delved into thoughts of keeping passion is spite of routine. I think it is important to see this Psalm in light of this context as well. We are deep into a journey and the end is near. What keeps us fresh and energetic?

I think NEWNESS is as important in this Psalm as UNITY. We see both of these in this short but important song.

The image of oil running from the head of Aaron has multiple applications. This was the annointing oil that set apart the priests for their ministry. Imagine the newness and excitement of the occasion commemorating the start of such an endeavor- smiles and energy, hope and anticipation of what lay ahead!

The oil softened and, as the sun beamed down, warmed the recipient. Having oil was symbolic of grand provision, using it was a mark of great celebration!

The same metaphor applies to the 'dew of Hermon'. On this high mountain peak, the dew was pervasive and fresh. I imagine again, sun beams, shining through the wispy smoke of dew clouds. It is a fresh new day! Everything is alive and the anticipation of what lay ahead is electric!

So what could kindle and refresh us in such a way that we have the excitement and energy of newness so late in the journey? It is the youthful energy that comes from RICH RELATIONSHIPS!

"How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity!"

I just finished my 21st year as a high school football coach and I already yearn for the beginning of year 22. What has sustained my passion to continue to draw it up and dig in yet again? It is the people I get to labor with.

There is no better time as a coach than right after a fun win. Good food and big laughter. Smiles and high fives, hugs and fist pumps. But it is also built upon the experience of hurts and losses. We suffer together and we need one another to muster the courage to get up and try again.

Is it easy to 'dwell together in unity'? And the obvious answer is NO! Our default mode as humans is to dwell by ourselves and we divide more easily than join together. We splinter and become frayed more readily than we mend and stand as one.

I wanted to list some key components about what it takes to find a healthy unity among men:

DEEP GOSPEL AWARENESS AND APPLICATION: It took the gospel going deep into my heart before I found a heart to love and forgive others. It starts with a true understanding of my depravity. If I hold a high view of myself, it is easy to count shortcomings of others against them.

But the gospel constantly represents three important realities: my desperate sin, God's gracious gift, and the recognition that since God has forgiven me, I should forgive others.

BEARING WITH: I had a call from a coach years ago who was working with our younger grades. I listened for about 20 minutes as he listed all the things that frustrated him about a coach he was working with. It was an impressive list! These two were not alike and it was a textbook definition of 'personality clash'.

The hardest part of the call was that there was no easy solution. It was too critical in the timing of a season to slash and re-arrange who coached where. These two were going to have to be together. Was there any way to reach the 'dwell in unity' threshold?

The only hope was that both of these men knew the Lord.

So I asked this coach to meet with me and set out a plan of action:

Step 1- Scripture and Prayer. I asked this coach to spend one week meditating on Colossians 3:- especially the 13th verse.

1If then you have been raised with Christ, seek cthe things that are above, where Christ is, dseated at the right hand of God. 2 eSet your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For fyou have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ gwho is your1 life happears, then you also will appear with him iin glory.
5 jPut to death therefore kwhat is earthly in you:2 lsexual immorality, impurity, mpassion, evil desire, and covetousness, nwhich is idolatry. 6 oOn account of these the wrath of God is coming.3 7 pIn these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now qyou must put them all away:ranger, wrath, malice, sslander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 tDo not lie to one another, seeing that uyou have put off vthe old self4 with its practices 10 and whave put on xthe new self, ywhich is being renewed in knowledge zafter the image of aits creator. 11 bHere there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,5 free; but Christ is call, and in all.
12 dPut on then, as eGod's chosen ones, holy and beloved, fcompassionate hearts, gkindness, hhumility, meekness, and patience, 13 hbearing with one another and, iif one has a complaint against another, gforgiving each other; gas the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on jlove, which kbinds everything together in lperfect harmony. 15 And let mthe peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called nin one body. And obe thankful. 16 Let pthe word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,qsinging psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, rwith thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And swhatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, tgiving thanks to God the Father through him.

I also asked that he pray for this other coach and his family everyday.

Step 2- I asked this coach to list good qualities of this other coach. It wasn't easy, but he eventually found a nice list: organized, humble, good temperament.

Step 3- This next step was important, and hard. The two needed to have a conversation. I felt like it was important for me to NOT be in that conversation to begin with. But did tell this coach that he needed to use me as a peacemaker IF the initial conversation went poorly.

I suggested he open up the conversation this way: "We are going to be working together in stressful situations, so I feel like we need to talk about strategies to help us be as unified as we can be. So let us talk about our strengths and weaknesses and imagine what the chemistry of that dynamic may look like".

I got a call the next week and the meeting was a huge success. The biggest key was that this coach was willing to roll up his sleeves and make an effort. I praised him for that and the two had a nice season together. They were not going to be 'best buds' but they could be unified. Unity is not unanimity.

PULL IN THE QUILLS: I was once told that porcupines can sleep together because they pull in their quills. Part of dwelling together in unity is a conscious decision to not be offensive. We don't have to push those buttons that create dissension.

ALL I CAN CONTROL IS ME: Often, our desire to dwell together in unity is a contingency plan. I will get along if he.........________. No- it does not work that way. We have to decide that we will do right REGARDLESS if the other person notices or tries. I think a key to this is to see this as service to the Lord. HE SEES! Give yourself to acts of unity and don't give up, even if it doesn't seem to be working.

THE IMPOSSIBLE FORGIVE: Two stories that will forever have impact on my life deal with P.O.W.s in WWII who endured brutal treatment by the Japanese. Both Ernest Gordon and Louis Zamperini drew upon their Christian faith and found forgiveness toward their torturers.

I was told that the father of Jim Elliot went to the jungles of Equador to forgive the indians who had murdered his son.

And yet, as I write this, I still find myself fighting to forgive others who have wronged me. It is hard to pray for them. It is easy to harbor angry thoughts.

But it is so important to do right in this case. Forgiveness ultimately protects my heart from the destruction that bitterness can cause.

My willingness to forgive is fruit that I have rightly embraced the truth of the gospel. To fight forgiveness means that I don't appreciate what Jesus did for me. That is why Jesus so clearly states in Matthew 6:15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

The beauty of this Psalm is that if we make these virtues a habit and a trend- we will find a youthful vigor in life as we draw energy from the community of believers who dwell together in unity.

Lord, give us a renewed effort to find such harmony!

A Song for the Climb- Devotion 14

PSALM 132

Remember, O Lord, in David's favor,
all the hardships he endured,  how he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, “I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,  I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,  until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.  

“Let us go to his dwelling place;
let us worship at his footstool!” Arise, O Lord, and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.  Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your saints shout for joy.  For the sake of your servant David,
do not turn away the face of your anointed one. The Lord swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back.

“One of the sons of your body
I will set on your throne.  If your sons keep my covenant
and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever
shall sit on your throne.” For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his dwelling place: “This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell,  for I have desired it.  I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.  Her priests I will clothe with salvation,
and her saints will shout for joy.  There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.  His enemies I will clothe with shame,
but on him his crown will shine.”

The pilgrims who made the journey to Jerusalem did it on more than one occasion every year. Some made it for every festival, thus creating a pattern of duty and delight. I liken it a little bit like those who travel on Saturdays in the fall to tailgate and keep going to basketball and baseball games as well. It is quite a commitment of time, energy, and finances for those types of fans.

At some point, it all becomes routine. You know the road, you know how to pack, you know the resting places- it is old and new at the same time.

The first time you do it, there is a level of anxiety. But after a while, you can do it in your sleep.

The perplexity of normalization though is a trend toward monotony. When you were unsure and it was new- you were filled with the adrenaline of adventure. Now that you know the road, and the routine doesn't create the same excitement. What a tough predicament! You want to accomplish and experience, but doing the routine over and over creates ritualism, fatigue, and boredom.

This Psalm probes the solution to this quandary. How can I capture David's passion? What gave him the driving resolution to pursue the return of the Ark and the building of the Temple is such a way that the fire never died?

Here are a few important points of note:

Passion is not about activity- it is the power of personal relationships: Yes, we go on the same road- but the variety in the experience is the people we intimately share it with. Even if it is the same people, people are variations within themselves.

Go ahead and run with the routine, embrace day to day discipline: If we keep up the pace, we will run into 'freshenings' and the slow addition of time builds stability and endurance. Most of the godly men in Scripture walked in obedience even though their face to face with encounter had ended 20 years previous. Some people chase the wind, others wait and know that it will come back to them if they are patient.

The power of the promise resides in God, not in men: This Psalm is Solomon's tribute to the ultimate fountain of blessing- David's passion meeting God's promise in providential perfection of space, time, and history. In the end, it was God who held the power to do as He had already promised. The Davidic Covenant was secure in God's promise- the beauty of it was that it shone brilliant in David's passionate response! God already knew it was going to be His Son who would pay the penalty of the broken covenant. He alone had taken on the terms of the contract (or bond in blood, sovereignly sealed as O. Palmer Robertson called it), He alone was to bear its penalty. Even David fell short in his ability to fulfill his promise. He broke God's law and was not allowed to build the temple.

Realize that it is never clean or easy: I think that idealists and perfectionists are always facing sad circumstances. A word that rises out of the page is 'resting place'- a longing that we have, but one that will never become an ultimate reality until the new Jerusalem is established.

But we can find rest in this realm if we are willing to see it and wait for it.

I love the parallel perspective:

No sleep for David- he had a life long passionate pursuit.
No rest for men- weighed down by the persistent patterns in life

Prayers/Desire in vs 9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your saints shout for joy.

Promise/Hope is vs 16 Her priests I will clothe with salvation,
and her saints will shout for joy.

Ultimately- This is ALL ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD HIMSELF
Yes, God is omni-present- but this Psalm is WHY the journey and WHY the ark and WHY the temple- it all represents a meeting of man and his Creator.

The Psalm is asking for God to GO to Jerusalem, a cry to "Meet us there in provision and peace" and so we climb because "Where He is, we want to be as well". It is the ultimate culmination of life itself.

In God there is the union of accomplishment AND relationship, passion and steady purpose, a hope that will never be in vain.

Until then, it is the tension of the NOW AND NOT YET. Faith and not sight.

AND IT IS ALL FULFILLED IN THE LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD:

Christ is always present in The Davidic Covenant:

vs. 6- Reference to Bethlehem (Ephrathah)
vs. 7- Footstool is reference to Christ as King
vs. 10- Anointed one in the line of David
vs. 12- a son of David will sit on the throne forever
vs. 17- the horn of David
vs. 18- the lamp for the Anointed One
vs. 19- enemies subdued by the King of Glory


Can we stay on this journey without wearing down or wearing out or pulled into distractions?
Can we focus on the prize and not get lost in the journey?
Can we take time to enjoy the journey?
When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?

Summing it up: This Psalm is a cry to God to continue His kingdom based on His covenant promise keeping in the past, the evidence of His blessing in the present, and His covenant promise and reward in the future.

"Psalm 132 develops a strong sense of continuity with the past and a surging sense of exploration into the future. It is the kind of thing we sing to stay normal without becoming dull, to walk upright in the middle of the road without getting stuck in a long rut of mediocrity. Its words prod us to reach into the future without losing touch with the daily reality. Its rhythms stimulate us to new adventures in the Spirit without making us lunatics. For Christian living demands that we keep our feet on the ground; it also asks us to make a leap of faith. A Christian who stays put is no better than a statue. A person who leaps about constantly is under suspicion of being not a man but a jumping jack. What we require is obedience—the strength to stand and the willingness to leap, and the sense to know when to do which. Which is exactly what we get when an accurate memory of God’s ways is combined with a lively hope in his promises."- Eugene Peterson

So, I keep asking the Lord- HELP! Don't let me lose my passion for you. Keep me walking on that steady climb with joy and endurance! Don't let me get bogged down in empty ritual or routine- keep blowing that wind of renewal and power to obey. And thank-you for the grace to recover when I fail.

"Lord, the feelings are not the same. I guess I'm older. I guess I've changed. And how I wish it had been explained, that as you're growing, you must remember- that nothing lasts, except the grace of God, by which I stand- and Jesus, my whole life would surely fall away- except the grace, by which I'm saved." Hear Keith Green sing it below:

A Song for the Climb- Devotion 13

PSALM 131

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me. 

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lordfrom this time forth and forevermore.

The power of this simple little Psalm has hit me right between the eyes for years. I always seem to stumble upon it at just the right time....providentially.

As we climb, our egos grow.

Two hard circumstances to handle in life is long term defeat AND long term success. Remember that losers lean we had at the beginning of the journey- cast out, beat down, and discouraged depression?

Then we start to make our way out and up and before you know it we are loud and proud.

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem celebrating Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. It captures so much of this as he observes all of the revelry. He prophetically titled the poem: Recessional

G0D of our fathers, known of old, 

Lord of our far-flung battle-line, Beneath whose awful Hand we hold 

Dominion over palm and pine

Lord God of Hosts be with us yet,

 Lest we forget - lest we forget!

 The tumult and the shouting dies;

The Captains and the Kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe, 
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word
Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!

Kipling knew the human heart! Here was Great Britain whose kingdom spread from 'palm to pine', making a reference to a famous quip during that day- "The sun never sets on the British empire"- a reference to the wide expanse of lands and people under her dominion.

Kipling also knew the danger- POWER/VICTORY unleashes 'wild tongues, drunk with power'.

And the only hope fo remedy or antidote? Never forget God, the source of our protection and provision.

The ancient sacrifice: An humble and contrite heart.

I see Psalm 131 as a break in the action. THe people look down and say WOW- look at what we have done! Look how far we have climbed!

And a wise man in the crowd says.... "Be still and bow before the King. Recognize Him and humble yourself in His sight."

And we also know the formula:

Humble ourselves and God will lift us up.
Don't humble ourselves and He will take us down.

Psalms 25:9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. 

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 

Mark 1:7 (John the Baptist) And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  

Psalms 18:27 For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. 

Psalms 149: 4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.  

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. 

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 

2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 

James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 

I Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

The biggest problem is that we KNOW this- but will FAIL this over and over. When our pride gets the stuffin' knocked out, it is OK to humbly come back to Him. And he does not break a bruised reed.

Here are a few 'tips' to help keep us out of the cycle of 'Puffed UP and POPPED'

• ACKNOWLEDGE GOD IN ALL YOUR SUCCESS- Not in a flippant way, He is NOT an expedient. He refuses to be one.

• DON'T BOAST- Be confident without bragging. The wild tongue must be bridled by sober words.

I Corinthians 1:31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
 Proverbs 27:1 'Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.'

• SCRIPTURE, PRAYER, WORSHIP: Practice the disciplines of the Christian life.

• SERVE: Go and do things for others, say thank-you, give a cup of water in Jesus' name 

FINALLY- It is a beautiful picture in this Psalm... a little child resting in his mother's arms. When we are humble, we are at peace. Fully satisfied in our God.  He is all I need!

A Song for the Climb- Devotion 12

PSALM 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

There was an old Steve Camp song that began, "Looks like the boy's in trouble again, living much to close to the edge of sin."

No matter how hard our intentions, no matter how surely we say we have learned our lesson- we often find ourselves sliding back on our climb up.

My own experience is sanctification seems like 1 step forward, 2 steps back, 3 steps forward, 1 step back, 1 step forward, 3 steps back- and it can grow exceedingly frustrating and demoralizing.

Remember where we started this climb? Way back in Psalm 120.... 11 Devotions ago. And it seems like we can't shake the shadow of sin. I have been anemically trying to walk with Jesus for over 30 years and I still find those times where I have simply blown it.

But the beauty of this Psalm is hope in the midst of despair!

If God counted sin.....  who would pass? NO ONE
But with God there is forgiveness.

So we wait and we hope- eager to see the break of dawn.

Dr Mosbacker relayed an amazing quote by Dostoevsky in a faculty devotion:

“I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all
the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a ‘painful’
pitiful mirage….that in the world's finale, at the moment of eternal harmony,
something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for
the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of
humanity, for all the blood that they've shed; that it will make it not only
possible to forgive but to justify all that has happened.” 

My question is- how do we keep waiting and hoping when it seems the relentless attack of the enemy is raging or we are constantly floundering?

All of these things are easy to say and impossible to do. But here are some tools that do help me hold on when all hell seems to be breaking loose and I am in a free fall.

#1 Returning over and over and over to the gospel of grace- Notice the words here in the Psalm: mercy, forgiveness, steadfast love, redemption- these words are rooted in the story of God's redeeming love and His offer of forgiveness based on the sacrifice of His son. I don't know how people live life without knowing this message. Our salvation is a gift- it cannot be earned- it is not deserved. It is not an excuse to fail- but I am free to fail and free to begin again and again.

#2 Reading God's Word- The Psalms have become my camping ground when I am in a downward spiral. Here is real/raw human emotion. But God is also here.

#3 Serve, support, and encourage others- I know of no better healing balm than to help others when you are hurting. Something about sharing in the suffering of others and staying positive is supernatural. A lot of times it helps me to walk around and say meaningful words of encouragement to others. I love sharing the gospel to those who are weighed down by life. The last few weeks I have been able to pray for others just over the phone and hearing them being lifted up helps!

#4 Cling to your family- My wife and children are solid and sturdy supports in the storms of life.

#5 Worship- Going into God's house and worshiping the Lord is always a hope and help.

But none of this alleviates the fact that it is a wearying process to hang on as we wait for help. Hope is sometimes hard, but it never pays off for us to give up.

Dr. Mosbacker also relayed this from Pastor Rick Warren:

"People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a Nutshell, life is
preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, And God wants us to be
with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body--But not
the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend
trillions of years in eternity.  This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.
God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.  We were
made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make
sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of
one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.  The reason for this is that
God is more interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life
happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life.
The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, With
my wife, Kay, getting cancer, I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go
through a dark time, Then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't
believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a
railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in
your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that
needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is
always something good you can thank God for.  You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my
problem, my issues, my pain."
But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and
onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of
people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very
difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry
of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to
people. 
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?  Am I
going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism?  Or am I going
to be driven by God's purposes?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't
get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better.
God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I
am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
In:
Happy moments,
Difficult moments,
Quiet moments,
Painful moments,
Every moment, THANK GOD. "

I hope this devotion today will keep you walking upward and onward in your journey with, to, and for the Lord.