The LORD says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” – Psalm 110:1

Today’s  Scripture Reading (March 14, 2013): Psalm 110

In the late seventies and early eighties there was a serious belief by social scientists that the future was going to present us with a significant decrease in the work week and a corresponding increase in leisure time. The reasoning was that with all of the technological advances that were being made, the hours needed for actual work would be significantly less. It was a prophecy that was only partially fulfilled – and one of the reasons was that the predictors seemed to forget that fewer hours would also mean less money. Instead of an increase in leisure time, the actual result of the decrease in working hours was that people began to need to work multiple jobs to earn the money necessary to live – and a corresponding decrease in the leisure time available to the individual.  

One of the problems with art of forecasting the future is that the future never really makes sense until it becomes the past. So it is with this in mind that this passage has received a lot of attention within the Christian Church. David speaks of his “lord” (adown) sitting down at the right hand of his “Lord” (Yehovah). The language would seem to indicate that his lord (often used to indicate a human master) would sit down at the right hand of his “Lord” (or God) - two very different words to indicate two very different people. For the Christian reading this Psalm, this was a clear indication of the Messiah – the one who would be a descendant or son of David and the one who was fully human and fully God.

For the Christian, it also does not hurt this application of the Psalm that Jesus himself identified with this passage. In response to the skepticism of the Pharisees, Jesus himself quoted this verse asking how David could address his son by saying that he was his lord – his human master. The question is how could a son be elevated above the father? It was a question that according to the Matthew (Matthew 22:41-46) was met with silence.

But if the question is whether or not David fully understood what it was that he was writing, the answer has to be no. Prophecy does not work that way. In this Psalm David acts as both a prophet and a poet. As a prophet he writes under the influence of the Holy Spirit things that are beyond both his understanding and his experience. As a poet he uses powerful imagery to describe what it is that Holy Spirit is telling him. The result is this powerful Messianic image that would only be fully understood after the ministry of Jesus Christ. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 138

Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy; let an accuser stand at his right hand. – Psalm 109:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 13, 2013): Psalm 109

A few years ago I went with a friend who was being tried in a local court. It was not a major trial, but a rather minor matter that was being tried by a judge alone - along with a number of other complaints against other people. We were instructed to be at the courthouse for the afternoon session, but my friend ended up being the last person on the afternoon docket, so it was closer to five o’clock before he was called to stand before the judge. I admit that I was a bit concerned before he was tried because I had noticed two things during the afternoon session. The first was that there were a number of people that were being accused of what I considered to be worse crimes than my friend – and they were getting fairly light sentences. Specifically I remember one man that was found guilty of being drunk and while he was drunk he tried to accost his girlfriend, he broke the window that led into his girlfriend’s mother’s bedroom – with a baby sleeping beneath the window – and when the police showed up, he tried to beat up two officers. And when the judge handed down the verdict he was sentenced to six weekends in prison; weekends so that he could continue to work. So I was encouraged that maybe my friend would be let off with a light sentence. But the second thing that I noticed was that the sentences were getting harder the later the afternoon went. It was like right after lunch, the judge was open to anything, but the hungrier he got – the angrier he became.

This psalm opens up with a court scene. James Burton Coffman entitles this Psalm “The Most Terrible Psalm in the Whole Psalter” and repeatedly scholars have made assertions that this passage is entirely descriptive, and not prescriptive. And what that means is that there are certain passages in the Bible that simply describe what happened – and these passages are never intended to tell us that this is the way that we should live. One of the things that I like about the Bible is that it never pulls it punches. The characters of the Bible are presented with all of their good and all of their bad. In this case, David is seen wrapped up in all of his bitterness about the people that do not like him. What this psalm is not saying is that we should all be as bitter David was – it was simply the way that David felt at this point in time.

So David prays to God for two things. The first was that his enemy would be brought before an evil judge (or maybe one that is hungry late in the afternoon.) But the intent is that his enemies should be brought before a judge that would give to them the maximum penalty. And the second petition that David makes is that the one that stands at their right hand in the court – the place where the defender would normally stand – that this person would be one that is going to bring more accusations, rather than a defense, before the judge – literally, that the defender would be like Satan.

In the New Testament, Jesus would turn this teaching upside down as he taught us to love those that persecute us, but the Bible is not naive. It recognizes that the reverse teaching of Jesus is often easier, and even men like David seem to be vulnerable to fall into its trap.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 110

Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? – Psalm 108:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 12, 2013): Psalm 108

I remember standing outside my Junior High School (or Middle School) and watching the cars pass in front of me. Sir John A. MacDonald Junior High School sits on a fairly busy corner of a large city, so part of what I was doing was watching the cars go by. I was probably about twelve years of age and I wanted more than anything to be the one behind the wheel of one of the vehicles that I was watching pass in front of me. I could not wait until the day came when I would be able to drive – but I was also not confident that I had the ability to keep the car within the lines painted on the road. As a twelve year old, it seemed to me to be an impossible task (but one that I could not wait to try.) Two short years later, with my Dad sitting beside me and my brand new learner’s permit in my wallet, I had the opportunity to try to drive a car. And it did not seem to take long before I felt like I was a master at the job of keeping the car between the painted lines. What was impossible, had quickly become possible.

I play the guitar (or at least I try to.) And I have to admit that there are songs that I have given up trying to play because they are just too hard (or I might even say – impossible.) Yet, I also know that every once in a while I have tried to play songs that I once thought were impossible for me to play – and I realized that I could play the song. Something happened in my guitar playing abilities so that the impossible once again became the possible.

David asks God’s question in this Psalm. The question is this – who is it that is willing to go into Edom and enter into the fortified city. Edom was an enemy of Israel, so entering into the country all by itself was an act of war. And there is no doubt about the city that David was talking about. It was Petra. Petra was a city built among the rocks in the country of Edom – just across the border from Israel. Edom was not content to allow Israel to exist as a nation – but to attack Edom you had to attack Petra – and that was impossible. So the real question that God was asking Israel was this – who is it among you that is willing to attempt the impossible for me. I think it is probable that as David wrote down God’s question that his own memory returned to a day decades earlier when a young boy walked out against a giant named Goliath to meet him in battle. It was an impossible task, and yet David did not even consider not attempting it. If God was with him, there was no way that he could fail.

Will you attempt the impossible for me is a question that God continues to ask. The truth is that while Petra eventually fell and became a historic footnote, in every day of our lives there seems to be something that God wants us to do that seems impossible. And the message that we need to hear is that we cannot allow ourselves to be defined by the things that we consider to be impossible – because with effort even the impossible can fall before us – and the God who sets the impossible in front of us has always been known in history as the God of the Impossible. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 109

Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. – Psalm 103:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 11, 2013): Psalm 103

There is a soundtrack to my life. I am not sure if everybody’s life is like that, but there are songs that take me back to a particular period in my life. And sometimes, when I am confronted with an idea or a circumstance, it is a song that comes rushing back to me. So, whenever I read Psalm 103 it is an old Andrae Crouch song that I start to sing. I think the reason is that I grew up in what we would call a traditional church. I have always been wired towards music (I grew up in a very musical family) and so my favorite part of the church service was the singing of the songs. But the music in my church was old. And so I liked some it and tolerated other parts of it (but all of the music trumped the sermon.) In the hymnal that we used, there were a few newer pieces (and newer is a relative word) and a couple of those songs were written by Andrae Crouch. So it was a great day when the worship music included one of those songs. One of the newer Crouch songs was called “Bless the Lord” and it quotes Psalm 103:1 in the King James Version language – “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”

But bless is kind of a weird word (the NIV’s “praise” is a bit easier to understand) when it comes to our response to God. When God blesses us, he adds something substantial to our lives. But that is not what happens when we bless God. When God receives our blessing, there is nothing that is added to God. All that our blessing does is recognize the absolute richness that is available in God. Our blessing of God recognizes the incredible wealth that exists in the person of God. David writes that his praise arises from the deepest part of his soul – we might call it the core of his being. What that meant was that no matter what was happening in the external parts of his life and whatever was being said about God, deep down David knew exactly who God was. And when we are able to bless or praise God from the deepest parts of our lives, there is a confidence that exudes out of us automatically.

Perry Noble (Newspring Church) makes this observation, sometimes Christians just look mad. They are judgmental and critical in nature – and none of them looking like they are having any fun. In fact, sometimes it seems that they walk out of church grouchier than they were when they went in. And he is absolutely right – but I would assert that no Christian that lives a life like that (and I have to admit that there are a lot of them) has learned to praise or bless God from the inmost part of his being. Recognizing who God is would seem to preclude the idea of a grouchy Christian.

More recently, Matt Redman has written a song that is also based on Psalm 103. He calls his song “10,000 Reasons” and he says the song is the biggest understatement of life. When we understand how great and good that God is – how can we not praise him? And there are many more reasons than just the 10,000 mentioned in the song. And Matt is right. When we understand God in the core of our being – praise becomes our automatic response and a naturally critical group of people are filled with an unspeakable joy. It is the natural response that comes from blessing God in the deepest part of your soul.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 108

Personal Note: Happy Birthday to my Dad – who I know loves both Andrae Crouch’s “Bless the Lord” and Matt Redman’s “10,000 Reasons.” I hope you have a great day! 

I will be careful to lead a blameless life — when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart. – Psalm 101:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 10, 2013): Psalm 101

I find that I continually have to admit my struggle with the mystical. More than anything, I want to be logical and prepared for the things that this life is going to confront me with – and yet I am also constantly reminded that God often chooses not to work that way. There is something about our spiritual lives that comes from outside of us – something that we have no control over. Maybe that is the reason why the pastors who are responsible for growing huge ministries often seem to have no idea why or how the ministry grew. It just seemed to happen. The truth of our spiritual lives is that there is no way that we can force God to move. God moves when – and where – he decides to move. And sometimes all we can do is wait for God to move in our lives.

David writes that he “will be careful to lead a blameless life.” But then he follows up that statement with a question – “when will you come?” There are those that would like to use this verse to argue for an early date to the writing of the Psalm. The argument is that the Psalm was written during the time that David was waiting for the Ark of the Covenant to be moved into Jerusalem – an event that happened early in David’s time as king. But I think a better explanation might be that the two statements should be connected – because that is the reality that we know. We want to be careful to lead a blameless life. We never want to do the stupid things that we do. And yet – we do them. We commit the crime. And all of this was something that David was very acquainted with.

David knew that the act of leading a life that was blameless was impossible in his own strength. He had tried – and failed. The only hope David had for being blameless was for God to show up. And so David was waiting for God to come - his prayer was that God would come and make him blameless – make him holy (set apart for a purpose.)

It is the spiritual mystery that we all live in the midst of. We want to be good, but the reality is that we experientially understand Jesus comment that no one is good except the Father. And if we want to be blameless, that level of good is only possible if we invite God to show up in our lives.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 103

Note: The VantagePoint (Edmonton) sermon "You With Me" from the series "Blood, Sweat and Tears" is available on the VantagePoint website. You can find it here.

Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God ... Psalm 86:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 9, 2013): Psalm 86

I watched “Hart’s War” a little while back. The movie is set in World War II and stars Bruce Willis (I admit that I love to watch his movies) and Colin Farrell. But I also have to admit that I cannot watch the movie without thinking about Jonathan Brandis – whose name appears in the credits, but whose scenes were cut from the movie. Jonathan Brandis was another actor that I liked to watch do anything. Brandis committed suicide on November 11, 2003 (he was officially declared dead the next day.) Jonathan’s friends have said that he was depressed over the way that his career was progressing, and having his scenes removed from “Hart’s War,” a movie that he had hoped would be a comeback opportunity for him, was the last straw. Brandis seemed to believe that his life was without purpose, and so he hung himself. He was twenty-seven years old.

David asks God to guard his life because he was faithful. The word that is translated “faithful” is “chaciyd.” Some versions have translated this word as “godly,” but the King James Version uses the word “holy.” And if we can separate the religiosity away from this very religious word, I think I prefer the use of “holy” in this passage. Godly and faithful both have an element of something that I have done in them, but I can never be holy unless God does something in my life. And all that holy really means is that God has made me different and set me aside for a purpose. I may not always understand my purpose, but I am confident that it is there.

To live this life we need purpose. In fact, we cannot survive without it. It is the thing that keeps getting us out of bed in the morning. It is the sense that there is still something that I have to do – a task that I still need to complete. And it is something that I believe very strongly. If you are breathing as you read this, God has a purpose for you – a reason for you to be here. And he is the one that is making you holy – setting you aside for that purpose. It is something that we all need an understanding of.

Jonathan Brandis is missed by his friends, family, and fans. But the saddest part is that somehow he lost sight of the incredible purpose that his life held. It is a cautionary tale that we all need to take heed of – we need to recognize our own personal purpose and the purposes of those who live out their lives close to us. We need to continually remind each other that god has made us holy; that we have all been set aside for a very special purpose.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 101

This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse. – Psalm 72:20

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 8, 2013): Psalm 72

Most of us share a common dream. It is that our kids will succeed in areas that we find important, but in ways where we could never be successful. We want our kids to have a better life than we did. I desire for my kids – and now my grandchildren – all of the successes that I was never able to achieve. But for the first time in generations, that dream is in doubt. As much as I want them to have a better life, the reality is that they might have to work harder just to achieve the same things that I have achieved in life.

A number of years ago I was sitting in a small group Bible study on the book of Revelation and the discussion quickly turned to the authorship of the book (and yes, I realize that this seems to be a severe change in topic from the first paragraph – but hang with me.) Now, authorship of some of the books of the Bible can be an open question, but generally the question over the authorship of Revelation hovers around the question of which John wrote it. But on this night someone had decided to suggest that the book was written by Paul. The problem with the suggestion was that there is absolutely no evidence of Pauline authorship. And you have to ignore the opening of the book which in that day would often tell us who wrote the book (or who someone wants us to think wrote the book.) In the case of the book of Revelation, this opening is found in the fourth verse of the first chapter - John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia.

Psalm 72 offers us a similar problem. The ascription of the Psalm would seem to point towards Solomon as the author of the Psalm, but the final line of the Psalm seems to indicate that the author was not Solomon, but rather his father, David.

When we read Psalm 71 and 72 together, we get a very significant prayer. The first part of the prayer deals with the concerns of David as his life draws to a close, but the second part of the prayer turns to his concern over his son – the one who would be king. Psalm 72 is essentially David’s prayer of concern over his son. 

And these two psalms, taken together, form the prayers of David, the son of Jesse.

If this is true, then the ascription in Psalm 72 should be read as a change in the course of the prayer. Part one was about David, and although Solomon was part of what David had in mind even as he prayed those words, part two begins to reflect the reality of what David is hoping for in the reign of his son. In his son, David is hoping for all of the things that he could not be and all of the accomplishments that he could not fulfill – that God would allow those things to be fulfilled in the reign of Solomon, the beloved son of King David.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 86