I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living(Psalm 27:13).
Someday, it will all be perfect.
Someday, our Lord will return for us, and creation will be made right.
But
He is at work today, too.
Here
Now
Keep your eyes open, Beloved. See him at work in your Today.
You don’t want to miss out.
Happy Thursday, Beloved.
Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence (Psalm 27:12).
You have an enemy.
As it happens, he is The Enemy.
Your enemy wants you to fail,
to fall.
He lies about you
and to you.
He wants to separate you from the One who loves you.
But guess what?
He won’t.
He can’t.
Because your life, your soul, your self, is safe in the hands of Almighty God
and
He isn’t giving you up.
Not now
Not ever
You can bank on that, Beloved.
Happy Wednesday
Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors (Psalm 27:11).
Sounds a little mercenary, if you ask me.
Sounds like David wants to follow God in order to avoid getting smacked by the bad guys, not just because he loves God.
Does that bother you?
Beloved, I wish all my motives were pure. I wish I went to work solely for the joy of teaching children and helping them to grow strong and wise and capable.
But I also go for the paycheck.
I wish I obeyed traffic laws simply because it is the right and safe and good thing to do.
But I also want to avoid a ticket.
I wish I had accepted Christ only because of his goodness and love and mercy.
But, yeah, escaping eternal death was in the mix, too.
This world is a minefield. You need help navigating it if you want to avoid a spiritual boom. So, yes, we follow Christ in part because it gets us through the day with body and soul intact. But we also follow him because he is worth following. He is the One worthy of our life, our soul, our all.
The only One.
Our motives are mixed, Beloved. They always will be, as long as we’re in this world and in this flesh. But that’s OK. He knows, and he loves, and he waits for the day when we will be purely, wholly, completely his.
Me too.
Happy Tuesday, Beloved.
How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore (Psalm 133).
When I was little, my mom used to sing to me at bedtime. One of my favorites went like this:
Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
In today’s climate, some will consider that song wildly inappropriate. “Red children? Yellow? How racist!” Others will ask, “What about brown children? Why are they left out?” None of those questions ever came into my little-kid brain. All I heard was that Jesus loved us all; all children were precious to him.
Today we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. The best way to do that? Dwell together in unity, brothers and sisters of the One who loves us all.
The oil is entirely optional.
Happy Monday, Beloved
Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me (Psalm 27:10).
You know, I just can’t imagine my mom turning me away. I can’t conceive of a situation in which I would have gone to her, lost and desperate for help, to hear her say “Meh. I don’t think so.” For one thing, she never in her life said, “Meh.” For another, she loved me. I was her son, to whom she devoted much of her life. There’s no way I can picture my mother turning her back on me and leaving me in the cold.
But she would before God would.
My friend, his love for you, his commitment to you, goes beyond anything you can dream of.
And you know, maybe you can imagine the above scenario. Perhaps it is your rotten lot to have parents who have forsaken you, in small ways or big. This world and its people are broken, after all. These things happen.
This verse is for you as well, Beloved. Though every other relationship in your life should falter, though every other person proves to be a dandruff-ridden louse, you can know that the Lord of Everything has got your back. He will never abandon you, never forsake you, never fail to take you into his arms and heart.
How could he?
He is God
and
you are his Beloved.
Happy Friday
Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior (Psalm 27:9).
Because I know what I deserve.
I deserve, frankly, to be rejected, forsaken, turned away. I have done nothing, no thing, that would earn me the right to call on God for help. On the contrary, I have done eversomuch to earn God’s rejection.
But…he loves me.
I know, right?
He loves me, and he has been there for me in the past, and he calls me to call on him and he promises to be faithful.
And I do.
And he is.
And Hallelujah!
Happy Thursday, Beloved.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek (Psalm 27:8).
It’s simple, really.
Your heart knows.
Be careful, Beloved. I don’t think David is talking about his emotions when he talks about his heart. We all know that trusting and following our emotions can bring on a whole world of pain and embarrassment and regret.
I mean, I remember a time when…
never mind.
But the heart is deeper than that. You’ve gotta get past the emotions that throw you around like the proverbial storm-tossed ship. You have to move beyond all the turmoil to get to the still place, the quiet place, the place where life becomes very simple indeed:
Know God.
Seek his face.
Remember who he is.
In this Psalm, David was under attack, and there was no simple way to fight back. His response, and his advice to us today…
seek his face.
Shall we?
Happy Wednesday, Beloved.
Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me (Psalm 27:7).
You know what I like about David?
He’s human.
I mean, look at him. He just finished declaring that Almighty God will–not may, but will–keep David safe and enable him to stand tall over his enemies.
Yesterday David was shouting and singing.
Today he whispers, “Oh, please, Father, be there.”
That is so utterly, wholly, completely human.
So…me.
God rejoices in our strength, Beloved.
He rejoices in our weakness.
He rejoices every time our hearts turn to him.
So turn your heart to Him today, this moment, right now. Whether in triumph or tragedy or temptation or fear or frustration or failure turn to him and let him hold you up.
It’s the only way to bring glory to God
and peace to your heart.
Happy Tuesday, Beloved.
Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord (Psalm 27:6).
Sing
Sing a song
Sing out loud
Sing out…
Sorry.
Are you feeling all ‘70s, now?
Sorry again.
You know, there’s wisdom in that little ditty from the land of bell-bottoms and grooviosity. That Sesame Street advice is spot-on.
Sing your song.
Don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear, just sing…
God has saved you from unimaginable yuck, my friend, and he’s just getting started. Sing his praises today, loud and long, in any combination of keys you can manage. He’s worth it, ya?
Happy Monday, Beloved.
For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock (Psalm 27:5).
Trouble’s coming.
I don’t know when
or where
or how
but I know it’s coming.
Because, you know…life.
I also know this–
You are safe.
He–the Lord of the Universe, Maker of Time and Space and Stuff–he’s got you.
David tells us that God will keep us safe in his dwelling, his tabernacle. Basically his house. And that image makes sense. If I want to protect something or someone, I can bring them into my home where there are doors to lock and alarms to set. In the New Testament, Paul goes one better. Paul tells the Colossians that our lives are hidden in God himself.
Not in his home.
In Him.
Frankly, I don’t understand how any of this really works.
But I’ll take it.
Beloved, I hope that today is not your day of trouble. I wish you a day of sunshine and puppies and chocolate.
But if trouble comes…
You are safe.
Happy Friday, Beloved.