God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. – Psalm 53:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 28, 2013): Psalm 53

One my fears for our society is that we have become very proficient at arguing what it is that we think we are required to do to survive in our culture. A number of years ago I had a discussion with a friend over the subject of lying (one of the Bible’s Big Ten rules says this is something that we are not supposed to do.) But the argument that was being made in the discussion was that often we have no choice. There are times when we have to say things that are not true if we are to survive in our society. Since that time I have heard the same argument used to argue in favor of a number of immoral behaviors – it is the argument of pragmaticism, this is something that we simply have to do.

And that is precisely the attitude that the Psalmist is trying to take a stand against. The question that is presented in this passage is this – does anyone chase after God and his desires more than they chase after the pragmatic things of life. But there is some confusion over the intended audience of the Psalm. Translators have taken the psalm to be directed at the sons of men, literally “the sons of Adam,” but an equally viable translation of this verse would be that it should be intended for “the sons of Edom” (the original manuscripts did not use vowels.) And the probability that this passage is intended for “the sons of Edom” is increased by the position of this Psalm in the Psalter - following right behind Psalm 52 remembering the sin of Doeg the Edomite.

Doeg was known for the killing of the priests of Nob at the instruction of King Saul. Saul was upset that the priests in Nob had hidden or provided a safe place of refuge for David as he fled from a king that wanted nothing more at that moment than David dead. In his anger, Saul had ordered the destruction of the priests and Doeg had carried out the order. Doeg’s defense was that he had just been doing as the king had ordered him to do. For Doeg, the killing of the priests was simply the pragmatic thing to do. But God’s question in the Psalm is - is there anyone on earth that is seeking what God wants; does anyone really seek God.

It is still a pertinent question. Wars of the past century have questioned when it is that an order from a superior should or should not be followed, and while the answer to that question may not always be clear, there is always a moral element to the answer. And part of what we understand is that if we are seeking after God, the innocent can never be sacrificed (and an argument can be made that killing in any form is against the desires of the God of this Universe.) But the question remains – is there anyone left on the earth that is willing to ignore what is pragmatic, and simply seek after God?

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 55

Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. – Psalm 41:9

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 27, 2013): Psalm 41

I love the Arthurian legend. I purposefully watch T.V. shows and movies, I read books that desire to somehow relate to the legend. Somehow this story which is set in England 1600 years ago has the ability to step in and identify with my life. And the Arthurian legend provides us with many bad guys and lines of conflict, but the one that I feel the most is the conflict that exists between King Arthur and Guinevere. Depending on the version of the tale you are involved in, the conflict between Arthur and Guinevere arises because of a natural love between Guinevere and Lancelot, or maybe a misunderstanding between Arthur and his queen, or because of a spell that has been placed on Guinevere by Morgana or another enemy of Arthur – but the reason does not really matter. The problem is that no matter what the reason is, there is no conflict that cut deeper than the betrayal of someone by another person that is close to them.

This passage has been seen as Messianic and being a prophecy of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot – in fact Jesus actually quotes this verse at the last supper (John 13:18) – but if this is a Messianic Psalm (meaning a Psalm that alludes to the time of the coming of the Messiah), it is Messianic only on the rebound. As Jesus quotes this Psalm, he is saying that he experientially understood the pain that David felt – he knew the pain that David knew.

As David writes these words, there is absolutely no intention inside of him to speak of the things that would come – this is not about the future. David is speaking of his own past. Specifically, David is remembering the time that his close adviser Ahithophel, the counselor who regularly ate at the king’s table and shared the king’s food and drank of the king’s wine – had betrayed him by supporting Absalom in his son’s rebellion against him. And that was a new kind of pain for David. Not only did the son rebel against the father, but the king’s friend and confidante had joined in the rebellion. And so it is with great pain that David writes these words.

However, we have to acknowledge that the story of Jesus and Judas has many parallels with the story of David and Ahithophel. In both stories the betrayal happens at the hands of a friend – at the hands of one that had shared bread with the one to be betrayed. Both Ahithophel and Judas were known as the trusted ones (Ahithophel was the trusted advisor while Judas was the treasurer for the apostles.) Both joined with forces that were rising against the one that they counseled, both realized the error of their ways at the end of the story – and both men ended their own lives by hanging themselves. But the fact that the betrayer ended their own lives and died at their own hands did not alleviate the pain – in a crazy messed up way it actually heightened it. But all of this is just one more example of how closely Jesus understands our pain.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 53

Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay. – Psalm 40:17

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 26, 2013): Psalm 40

Tony Campolo tells a story (and I have to be honest that I love Tony’s stories) about an offering that was taken in a church service. He tells the story of flying into Philadelphia on the red eye and arriving at 8:30 in the morning.  He was met at the airport by his secretary, who broke the news to him that he had a speaking engagement at 10:00 that very morning.  She said, “I don’t know how we missed this one.  Somewhere along the line the notices of this engagement fell through the cracks.  I wanted to be here to meet you because you need to be taken directly to the church.  It’s one of those World Day of Prayer services and you are supposed to deliver a missionary message.

Tony says when he took his place behind the pulpit he wasn’t thinking too clearly and he was too tired to be anyplace other than bed.  Consequently, he did not react as he should have reacted when the lady who was leading the meeting announced to those gathered that she had a prayer request from a missionary in Venezuela.  She described a wonderful doctor who had given her life to serving the poor in Caracas.  This missionary doctor was asking for five thousand dollars to put an addition onto her medical dispensary.  The addition was desperately needed because with her present facilities she wasn’t able to handle all of the sick and infirm who came her way. The leader of the group then asked, “Dr. Campolo, would you lead us in prayer that the Lord might provide five thousand dollars that is needed by our sister in Venezuela?”

Before Tony could catch himself he said, “No.  But what I will do is put all of the money I am carrying on me and put it on the altar.  And I’m going to ask everyone else here to do the same.  No need to write out cheques!  We’ll only accept cash!  After we’ve all put the cash we’re carrying on the altar, we’ll count it. And then I will ask God to make up the difference.” Tony says it was a good day to pull this off, because he was only carrying $2.25.  The leader smiled at him and said “We’ve all gotten the point haven’t we?”

Tony responded “No!  I don’t think we have.  My $2.25 is on the altar.  Now it is your turn!”

The leader was somewhat taken back by his aggressive request, but opened her wallet and pulled out $110 and slapped it down on top of Tony’s meager offering.  Then Tony said “We’re on our way!  $112.25.  Now it’s your turn!” He pointed to a woman who was sitting on the front pew over to his right.  She looked around and smiled a bit.  Then she got up and put her cash on top of the other money.  Then he got the next woman to do it.  And then the next and then the next.  It took him 25 minutes to take up the offering one by one, woman after woman came and placed their money on the altar.  When they had finished taking turns laying their money on the altar, they counted it.  They had taken in more than eight thousand dollars.  Even then, Tony knew he hadn’t gotten it all.  He could see women squirreling money away and then placing a meager offering on the altar and giving him a dirty look.

Tony says there wasn’t any time left to preach and he really didn’t think anyone in the room wanted to hear anything he had to say anyway, so he simply addressed the congregation. “The audacity of asking God for five thousand dollars, when He has already provided us with eight thousand dollars.  We should not be asking God to supply our needs.  He already has!

The truth is that our sense of being rich or poor is really poorly developed. It is actually based not on how much we have, but on the margin that we have available to us. And often when we say we are poor, we are actually saying that our need has gone beyond what we have. That is the situation that David found himself in. It was not that he did not have anything; God had actually supplied David with more than he needed. In fact God had given to David more than he had given any other person in David’s society – but in this moment, David felt that his need was more that his supply. And because of his lack of margin, he needed God to move. But his claim that he was poor and needy was probably not real. Like us, David had come to a place where he was beginning to realize how much what God had supplied to him that he had squandered.

I agree with Tony. We want to claim that we are poor and needy, but that is not quite true. For most of us our need has risen higher than our supply, not because our supply is not enough, but because we have squandered that gift that God has given us. We should not be asking God to supply our needs.  The truth is this - He already has!

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 41

Personal Note: To Emilina - Grandpa really wishes that he could be with you today, but I will definitely be there for your party this weekend. Happy First Birthday. I love you!

I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.” – Psalm 39:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 25, 2013): Psalm 39

“Loose Lips Might Sink Ships” was an American propaganda campaign during the Second World War. The propaganda campaign was waged by the Seagram Distillers Corporation and it was one of several similar campaigns waged by Allied countries. In Britain, the campaign was called “Keep Mum” while in Sweden the campaign was called “en svensk tiger” which warned of the danger of unguarded conversation around foreign people. The idea behind all three campaigns was that we may know things that we do not realize we know – and in times of war, there are ears all around us that are willing to listen to our secrets. For the United States, the fact that the campaign was carried out by a purveyor of alcoholic beverages carries some significance – the message seems to be that a person needed to be careful even when they were relaxing with a drink – a time that they might also be most vulnerable to telling secrets. Be careful how you drink, because what you say accidently while sitting at the bar nursing your beverage can have consequences that will carry far beyond the place where you are sitting.

There is a bit of controversy about what David meant as he wrote this Psalm. Early translations have translated the word “machcowm” to bridle, but the word muzzle that is used here is a better translation because it is not direction that is needed (as a bridle would indicate) but rather the silence that comes from the use of a muzzle. But it is not that the words indicate a doubt in the goodness of God that needed to remain hidden from the unbeliever. Rather, the passage is more about David’s pride. David seems to be sorting out the events of his life. And the temptation that we all face in these moments is to lean back on all of our life’s successes and let pride run free. It would be the pride of another king, Hezekiah, a descendant of David, that would a few generations later usher in the Babylonian Captivity. But David’s words stand as a warning to all those that would follow as to the results of that kind of pride. Pride is dangerous because it gives information to those that do not have our best interest in mind – information that they can use to hurt us. So David in Psalm 39 basically just originates the campaign that would be picked up by Seagram’s three millennia later – Loose Lips Might Sink Ships.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 40

For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me – Psalm 38:17

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 24, 2013): Psalm 38

I am convinced that we carry more pain around with us then we are ready to admit. And part of the problem is the individualistic message that we have received from our culture. We are taught that what it is to be an adult in our world means the ability to make our own way through the world – to not stand in need of anyone. As a boy, my culture has sent me messages like “big boys don’t cry” and about the expectation that the world has that we are to “be strong.” We look with great favor on the “self made man” that made his own way in the world. These images are continually reinforced until we begin to believe that this is who we are supposed to be – that this is the model of success. But I think that the model is a lie.

All of this results in us becoming more and more willing to cover up our pain. We know it is there, but if we can push it down deep enough – if we can cover the pain up with layers of other stuff – maybe then we can be independent and successful. Maybe then we can fulfill the models that we think we are supposed to be fulfilling. So when David writes that he is about to fall because his pain is always with him – we understand that. Sometimes we think we are the only ones in the whole world that really understand that.

But if we have really grown up, maybe it is time to leave behind the Junior High horror story behind us in which everyone else leads charmed lives and we are the only ones really in pain. There is a level of pain in each of our existences – we suffer with physical pain and mental pain and emotional pain. And, yes, some of us suffer more, but pain is also simply a part of the human existence. And our pain has no impact on our value no matter what the world might say to us.

And one of the most proactive ways of dealing with pain is to talk about it with each other. We need to recognize the pain in each other. Sometimes, simply mentioning it to other people can release the hold pain has on our lives. This is not an “I am in more pain than you” conversation (can we admit that just gets annoying?) But it is a conversation in which we recognize the pain and the value in the people all around us. When we believe that all of the pain belongs only to us, often the pain seems unbearable. But when we understand the pain that others are also suffering, we come to a better (and easier) understanding of life.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 39

Note: The VantagePoint Community Church (Edmonton) message "Father Forgive Them" from the series "Blood Sweat and Tears" is now available on the VantagePoint website - you can find it here.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. – Psalm 37:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 23, 2013): Psalm 37

I admit that I want to characterize myself as an impatient person. I mean, I know I hate waiting for things. I am the guy that gets a little annoyed because he has to wait in the special orders parking spot at McDonalds because they have run out of French Fries. (Since when is an order of French Fries a special order item.) And then I get to watch all of the cars behind me drive past me and my question is – you mean, none of these people ordered French Fries?

I want to characterize myself as impatient, but I am also the guy who feels incredible pleasure in the wait for Christmas or Birthdays. I think the reason is that I have, over the course of my life, realized that the anticipation of the special moments in my life, and the lives of the ones that I love, is incredibly more pleasurable then the letdown after the event is over. And the event itself is nothing more than a brief blip on the days of my life. And so armed with that information, all in a sudden I realize that I have the potential of being a very patient man – even though I think it is against the nature of my being.

I think David was, by nature, an impatient man. All the way through his life he wanted things now and sometimes the impatience of his nature meant that he rushed into things without really thinking about how things should be done. It was the problem with the census that he had ordered, but that God had forbidden. It was impatience that was the problem when he first wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem. It was even impatience (and lust) that was at the heart of his sin with Bathsheba. What David wanted he wanted now! And for someone that was characterized by that kind of impatience, watching others do evil and succeed was a very hard thing to put up with. So David writes here what is against his nature. His message is this– I get that it is hard to watch the evil succeed, but recognize that the evil is only temporary, but what God does will be forever, and we are to live in incredible anticipation of that moment of incredible good.

I think maybe this whole principle is characterized by David’s waiting for the building of the Temple of God. It was something that David wanted more than anything else, but it was also something that David knew he would never see. And so all David could do was wait and anticipate a building he would never see except in his mind. So while he waited, he made plans for the Temple. I can imagine David spending time dreaming late into the night about the Temple. And then going and waking Solomon and saying – when you build the temple you have to do this (and Solomon probably replied – but Dad, I am only eight). But in that moment David truly understood what it meant to live in the anticipation of the good that God was going to do.      

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 38

See how the evildoers lie fallen — thrown down, not able to rise! – Psalm 36:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 22, 2013): Psalm 36

It seems to be the question of every action movie – so much so that we hardly think anything about it. It comes right after the big battle between the protagonist and the antagonist – between the hero and villain. In that moment when the hero finally wins, usually at that moment when the hero could have just as easily lost, and the villain falls, the question is simply - is the bad guy really dead – because we all know that bad guys are really hard to kill. And it is a little amazing how often that we think that the villain is dead, and he rises to fight once more.

Apparently it is an ancient fear – maybe one that is built into the very fabric of our being. It has been the themes of the ghost stories we have told around the campfires for generations; the fear behind all of the ancient horror’s. It is the army that cannot be killed. But David sees a different vision. In his vision the evil ones lie down and they never get up again. And it is not just a vision a future that might be, in David’s eyes, it has already happened.

And it has. One of the most beautiful visions of the cross is that it is the final battle, and the enemy’s most crushing defeat. It was at that moment when victory for the enemy should have been close at hand, but instead the almost unthinkable happened. From the cross, the moment of our defeat became the moment of our victory. Satan was defeated, and with David we see the moment that Satan will lie down and he will never rise from again. It is a moment that we see as if it has already happened – it is a certainty that it will happen.

Lent continues, our march toward the cross and the Friday that we call “Good.” And it is good because it is there that the enemy is defeated – and our enemy will never rise again.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 37

Vindicate me in your righteousness, O LORD my God; do not let them gloat over me. – Psalms 35:24

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 21, 2013): Psalm 35

When I was very young I was required to write a poem as an assignment for an English class (or as it was called then – a Language Arts Class.) And I remember the poem only because of the mistake I made at the last line. I had planned to end the poem with the question – Is there life after death? – but in the writing up of the final draft I reversed the question. The question that I ended up asking in my poem was - Is there death after life? And I still remember the day that the poems were handed back and my teacher wanted to talk to me. And at that moment I still did not realize what it was that I had done. So she called me up to the front of the class and wanted to have a discussion about the last line of my poem. My problem was that, at this point in time, I still did not know what the last line was – and so I was quite unprepared for discussion.

I think I was in grade four when I wrote the poem, and even then I knew that the end of the poem that had happened by accident was much better than the one I had planned. And I have to admit that several times over the past forty plus years I have had that conversation, in my mind, with the teacher that I was unprepared for on that day when I was called up to the teacher’s desk.

I also have a better recognition that sometimes I do not even know the true meaning of the words that I say. And as I read this Psalm I get the feeling that David is also writing about something of which he does not really comprehend the meaning. All the way through the Psalm he seems to be struggling to make the case for why God should choose him against the other – why God should bless him and curse his enemy. But finally he arrives at this line – Vindicate me in your righteousness. The cry is this – God, let your righteousness be the rule by upon which I am judged. God I am sure that I match your measure of righteousness closer than my enemy does. And he is right, even though I think David has missed the reason why. And what he missed was that God had laid his righteousness on top of him – and that was the only reason why God would see him as pure.

We desire Christianity to be a religion or spiritual system – but both of those put the onus on us to act properly – to be holy in our own accord and according to our own practices and traditions. But that is really an unrealistic expectation. We will never really measure up. Instead, God gives to us his own righteousness. He lays righteousness of Christ on our lives. In love he not only judges us according to his own righteous standards, but like David, he gives us his righteousness to make sure that we really do measure up.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 36

Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth. – Psalm 31:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 20, 2013): Psalm 31

Christianity has a tendency to become very dualist in nature. What I mean by that is we sometimes separate the body and soul so much that we almost begin to believe the heresy that the body really does not matter – it is only the soul that counts. But that belief is totally missing in the biblical story. Absolutely nowhere does it say that all that counts is your soul – your body is part of you – and it is important.

So we come to Psalm 31 (and as Christians these words have special significance because they are the final words spoken by Jesus before his death) and what we hear is the idea that no matter what happens to the body – at least the spirit will be safe. But that misses the significance of the passage. The word translated spirit here is “ruwach” which is translated as soul in other place – and it is also the word used to describe the Holy Spirit – but at its most basic level it simply means breath. So this verse could be translated “Into your hands I commit my breath.” Breathing is one of the most basic functions of the body, and we know that the body can no longer function when the breath is gone. And as much as that is a great illustration of what happens when our spirit leaves us, but breath is as much about keeping the body healthy as it is a description of the spirit.

Neither David nor Jesus intended to elevate the spirit above the body. But there is a significant difference between these words quoted by David and the words quoted by Jesus. For David, he was committing his breath to God in hopes that his body would continue to live in this world. The meaning of Ruwach in this Psalm is really that David intends to commit everything he is to God – body, soul and mind. For Jesus, he commits his breath to God knowing that he is about to die – that the moments for his body in this world are swiftly counting down to zero. But, either way, both David and Jesus were asking God to keep them safe – all the parts of them - soul, mind and body.

Jesus use of these words has made them memorable. Countless saints have used these very words when they were departing life. But the intent of the words is always a petition to God to keep all of us safe, because in a very real way our soul, mind and body are all very intimately connected. And God’s requirement of all of us is that we commit all that we are to him.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 35

Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts. – Psalm 28:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 19, 2013): Psalm 28 & 29

A few years ago I was in serious conflict with someone inside my church. From my side, I totally understood why he was mad at me and why we were in conflict. What I really could not figure out was how to fix it. And for a guy, that is a hard moment to arrive at – we want to feel like we can fix anything. We tried a few things, even spent some time with a third party to try to resolve the conflict. But none of the efforts worked. And so we would come together almost every weekend and pleasantly welcome each other, but inside of me I knew that it was all fake – what he wanted more than anything was to be able to come to the church and not have to see me, and he was working as hard as he could toward that end.

It probably came to a bit of a head at a family gathering that we held in the church. By this time I had actually left the church, but there was this one last family function that we had booked at the church long before I knew that I was leaving. And as we started the gathering, I looked up and there he was with a small group of his supporters. And, inside of me, all that I wanted to do was cry out at him – what are we doing? You do not have to be here – so why are you. Do you want to work this out between us – or is there some other reason. I just do not understand.

David seemed to have the same concern for some of those who had gathered around him. After the rebellion of his son and the civil war that had ensued brought on by that rebellion, David had moved back into Jerusalem. But he had no idea who it was that had actively moved against him, and who it was that were simply victims of circumstance. And David’s reaction was simply that he would not take any action against anyone, he would wipe the slate clean for every person in Jerusalem, but that action would not remove the hate that some of them held for their king. David just had no idea who they were. And these people would make a cordial greeting when they met him, literally they would come to him with the word shalom on their lips (and shalom means peace), but there was no peace in their hearts.

One of the realities when you are in that kind of situation is that you are in danger of becoming just like them. There is a danger that we will mirror our opponent and that we will speak the word shalom but not really want peace for the other person. David’s prayer here is that God would guard his heart so that he would not fall into that trap. When he greeted people with the word Shalom, he wanted to be able to say that I really do want you peace, no matter what it is that you really wish for me.

And that is my prayer as well. May a true shalom fill you and your life – today, and everyday.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 31

My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the LORD. – Psalm 26:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 18, 2013): Psalm 26 & 27

Dr. M. Scott Peck begins his bestselling book entitled “The Road Less Travelled” with this stark statement – Life is difficult. It is probably one of the most dramatic understatements of literature. As much as we may want it to be different, maybe even have spent a life of pretending that it is different, our reality is that “life is difficult.” Every day we are usually reminded at least once of the difficulty of life – maybe it is in a difficult conversation, or a conflict with someone important to us, or a problem or a stress that just does not seem to want to go away. Our expectations are often that life would be easy if we could just do things right – but life is not designed that way, and often Easy Street is usually just another dead end. Peck goes on to stress the difficulty of life, but he also says that once we realize that difficulty, life actually does get easier – once we recognize life’s essential character, we actually become better equipped to deal with the stresses that life is going to throw at us.

David carries his plea to God. The reality behind the words is that life, even for a king, has been difficult. I really think that David has tried to live up to everything that he lists in this passage, but sometimes the living has been hard. He has fallen, but he has also raised himself to his feet again. At times, David had wondered if he would really make it, or would his enemies win out in the end. Yet he has pushed on.

But in this moment David says that his feet are on level ground. They are words that, for David, symbolize comfort and safety. He is sure that, in spite of the difficulty of life, God will answer his petition – he will be vindicated in the presence of his enemies - and in the end, when he falls for the final time, God will be the one that will reach down and lift him up one last time. For David, this has to be more than just a private realization – this was something that needs to be lifted up in the public assemblies of his God.

Life is difficult. And I think that Dr. Peck is right, once we realize how hard life really is, or more precisely once we become honest enough with ourselves to recognize the difficulty of life, it really does get easier. And it is in that moment that we can stand with David on the level plain, secure in the fact that our God comes to vindicate us – and more importantly to redeem us.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 28 & 29

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. – Psalm 25:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 17, 2013): Psalm 25

I recently took a graduate level course in “Christian Education.” It was a hybrid course where the actual instruction for the course was completed in a single week of lectures, but the course work was spread out over the next couple of months. The course was taught by a youngish looking woman. At one point during the course, the instructor admitted that in the past when she had taught the course her right to teach had been challenged. It was not that she lacked the education to teach, or even experience in field – she is currently spending time in Christian Education in a local church. The complaint was that she could not teach because she looked young and because she was woman.

I admit that I was surprised by the comment. I thought that we had gotten past that. There are so many people that we come in contact with that are capable of teaching us something that it seems that to discount people on the basis of age, sex or race seems absurd. All that I want to know about my teacher is that they have something to teach me and know more than I do. It is that knowledge – and only that knowledge - that gives them the right to teach.

So if we are looking for someone to teach us right living, it would follow that it needs to be someone who knows more about right living than we do – and someone who is practicing what they know. Part of the problem that the Christian church has experienced over the past few decades is that we have thought that we were the ones with that authority. But we were horribly wrong and those who really believed the lie have more often than not crashed and burned. Our reality is that none of us have the qualifications to teach moral behavior (which admittedly does not hold out much promise for the Ethics course I am planning to take in a few months.) We are really just fellow students on a journey: learning together every step of the way.

David understood that. In his experience it was only God that was upright and just – and therefore it could only be God that could be responsible for his – and our – moral education.       

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 26 & 27

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? – Psalm 24:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 16, 2013): Psalm 24

We walk a tightrope in contemporary culture in regard to our self-esteem and ego. On the one hand I think that we need to be consistently reminded of who we are. We are the created ones of God, the adopted sons and daughters of the King and co-heirs with Christ. Jesus himself taught us that God was not just Father – he was Abba – Daddy. And in that name of God we find a strong emotional connection.

But there is also a danger in that kind of a connection with God. Sometimes I wonder if the God who is 

Abba loses some of his essential otherness. I wonder if we forget that while we are the sons and daughters, we are also the ones that have continually in the past thrown away that relationship. While it is true that we are co-heirs with Christ, by our own actions we are also the spoiled children of the King.

Specifically, I wonder if we would really even ask the question that the Psalmist asks? Or, if maybe in our role as spoiled children we would simply expect to ascend the hill. One of the T.V. shows that I currently enjoy watching is the show “Blue Bloods” about a family all of whom are involved in law enforcement. A recent episode dealt partially with a father who wanted to protect his spoiled daughter, but who eventually came to the realization that the best thing he could do for his spoiled child was to let her face the consequences of her actions.

Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? My truth is that I know that I am disqualified. All that I am is a spoiled son of the living God who is still struggling to come to terms with everything my heavenly Dad requires of me. That does not mean that the Father does not love me – I know that he does. But my reality is that the only way I can ascend the hill of the Lord is because Jesus takes me there – that is the consequence of my sin and the knowledge that Jesus is the only one that, because of the strength of his character, has the right to ascend that hill.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 25

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? – Psalm 22:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 15, 2013): Psalm 22

We all go through the “dark nights” of the soul and they are not the fun times of our lives. The problem with our “dark nights” is that our pain is increased to the point where the pain is all we see – and all we feel. During my dark nights I have felt very alone even when that was not really true. But the pain eclipsed the friends and family that had gathered around me to help. I may not have been alone – but I felt that I was.

David writes these words, “My God why have you forsaken me.” And for generations we have read these words and wondered what they meant. Did God really forsake David? And the reality is that we know the story. We know the way that David had sinned and yet God had never left him. In the depths of his sin, God prodded his child – he was with David convicting him of sin and bringing him back to himself. God never left David, but in the midst of the “dark nights” that David had experienced – especially at the death of some of his children – it may be that David pain was so great that he was simply unable to feel God’s presence.

As Christians, David’s words carry an extra meaning because they were quoted by Jesus - and not just quoted, but these words were spoken by Jesus during his ordeal on the cross. The words have become part of the last words corpus of Christ. And ever since Jesus quoted the words from Psalm 22, Christians have discussed the reasons why. For some, Jesus was just quoting a Messianic prophecy. By saying the words, he was reminding everyone who heard his voice of all of the prophecies that had been fulfilled. But a more popular reason was that for a moment, Jesus took physically all of the sin in the world on his shoulders. At that moment, Jesus sin was so great that his Father had no choice but to turn his back on that sin – and on his son. God had actually forsaken Jesus.

It is the more popular response, but I admit that it does not make sense to me. The question that I struggle with is why would a God who had a plan to defeat sin turn his back on his own son at the moment that the plan had become a reality? Why would a God that had worked so hard to convict David and others, including us, of our sin – who loves us in spite of our sin, leave his own son at this crucial moment.

For me, maybe at better explanation is that if Jesus was really fully human, than at this moment he would have been full of pain – he would be experiencing a dark night of the soul. And at that moment, God could have been standing right beside his son – embracing him like he maybe he never had before, but Jesus could not feel the embrace through his pain. And in that, he was no different than any one of us. We are not abandoned in our “dark nights” – our pain just keeps us from feeling the Father’s presence.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 24

Note: The VantagePoint Community Church (Edmonton) Sermon "Be Rich" from the series "Little is Much" is now available on the VantagePoint Website. You can find it here.

He asked you for life, and you gave it to him — length of days, for ever and ever. - Psalm 21:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 14, 2013): Psalm 20 & 21

Welcome to St. Valentine’s Day - the day that we set aside each year to the idea of love. It is the day that we get to tell the people that are important in our life (and not just our lovers) how critically we need them. And while St. Valentine’s Day has become a day set aside for hyperbole and exaggeration, I do not think that our critical need for each other is an exaggeration. To phrase it in the form of a book title “We Really Do Need Each Other.” God has built us for community and placed us, from the very beginning of our lives, in community – and we cannot exist without it. So, on this day, we recognize the lover in our life, but traditionally we also pay homage to the community in which we exist. We give our “Valentines” to those around us because that community is so important to us.

David’s life is drawing to a close, and he starts to reflect on his own life. And speaking in the third person, he reflects on the important things. And in this passage, the important thing is life. So we read that the king asked for life, and that God answered the request. But we realize that we never actually ask for physical life – it might be more accurate to say that we have life thrust upon us. But that is not really what David is talking about. What is true is that in the midst of David’s failure’s God continued to give the gift of life to him. In those moments where it would have been proper for God to demand David’s life end, instead his response was forgiveness and the continuation of the gift.  And for that, David was thankful. But the gift of life went beyond just David’s physical life. God, at David’s repeated request (especially in the Psalms), also gave life to a community and a nation. So this Psalm was in some way David’s Valentine to a nation as he thanked God for the community that God had graced him with.

And then he follows up his thanks for life with the idea that there will be no end to his days. But as the reader considers this passage, we realize that David’s days were swiftly drawing to a very real end. But David possibly saw three things as he wrote these words. The first was that even though his days on earth were growing short, this was not all that life had to offer. There was something else, even if it was something that David did not quite understand. Secondly, even though David would die, the community that God had given him would continue. In fact, in the midst of overwhelming obstacles in the history of the Jewish community, it is a community that still exists today. And third, it is an allusion to the coming of the Messiah, a king of David’s line that would reign forever and ever, until the end of time itself.

David’s “Valentine” reveals how precious the community was to him. He was compelled to let them know. May you also let your community know how important they are to you – not just on this day, but through all the days of your life!

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 22

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. – Psalm 19:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 13, 2013): Psalm 19

Back when I was a kid I drove an old Ford Fairlaine. It was a great car. And I had a secret weapon – something that every guy wants in the car that he drives. If someone was following me that I did not like, all I had to do was step on the gas and this blue smoke would pour out of the exhaust pipe and I soon would not be able to see them anymore – and they would not see me. It gave a new meaning to phrase “eat my dust.” This was the car that if I had the opportunity to drive it for more than an hour, I would have to pullover at a service station and refill the oil in the engine. I used to joke to people that when I pulled into a service station I had them fill the oil and check the gas. A while later I finally got a different car. But I have to admit that for the first little while I had this irresistible urge to pull over and check the oil even with my new vehicle. My Ford had trained me well that to drive a car meant frequently checking the oil.   

I have been challenged recently on the idea that my words are the basis for my faith, but my actions reveal the level of my trust. The idea is that my faith can, initially, be largely an intellectual exercise; it is the discovery of what it is that I believe in. But a real faith will eventually journey toward trust. We may start out saying that we have faith in something, but the natural movement is actually always away from faith and into trust. This happens when our actions naturally starts to follow our beliefs and our faith. The reality in our life is that we need both faith and trust – faith in the things that we are discovering about God, but we recognize that a true faith will move into trust.

David sums up this Psalm with these words - May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight – and what he is saying is - God I am placing my faith (the words of my mouth) and my trust (the meditation or action of my heart) in you. And then he describes why in the next few words – because you are my Redeemer. The word is ga’al and it describes the action of God to actively buy us back from the things to which we have given ourselves. David is saying, I recognize your activity in my life – you have redeemed me from all of the things that held my faith and trust during this life. And so I will place my faith (words) and my trust (actions) to you. Ultimately, this is the image that, as Christians, we have of Jesus. He is our Redeemer – the one who has bought us back - and so he is the one in whom we have faith – and in whom that faith is slowly changing into trust.

Slowly, I placed my faith in my new car and finally my trust – which for me meant that I ignored my oil maybe a little too much. But that might be a different story.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 20 & 21

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. – Psalm 17:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 12, 2013): Psalm 17

How much does culture impact what the Bible says? That is the argument that rages over the new translations that have been released in the past few years. It was a major issue over the release of Eugene Peterson’s “The Message” which purported itself to be a translation written in the language of the street. So some would argue that it is better leave the modern translations behind and go back to the King James Version which they consider a purer translation. So, I know that I am a bit weird, but sometimes as I look at a phrase in the Bible and I wonder – is that really what they said or have we interpreted it to mean something that may not be far off of what the writer intended, but not exactly what the writer said. And that is what happened as I read this passage, specifically, I started to wonder if David really used the phrase “the apple of your eye.”

The first thing I did was go back to the King James Version (because it is a purer version – and yes, that was sarcasm) and see what it said in this passage. And it says, surprisingly, “the apple of your eye.” My next stop was to search out the etymology of the phrase, and I found out that the phrase was used in the 8^th century, but with not quite the same meaning that we would give it today, it was used by Shakespeare with a meaning closer to what we would give it to day, and it was used in several places in the Bible. So my next step was to see how this passage reads in the original Hebrew. And the original Hebrew uses the word pupil and emphasizes the feminine. So this verse might be more literally translated as “Keep me at the center of your vision like a lover; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” And I admit that I kind of like that.

So where did the phrase “apple of your eye come from?” I think it was Shakespeare. In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Shakespeare writes this –

Flower of this purple dye,

Hit with Cupid’s archery,

When his love he doth espy,

Sink in apple of his eye.

Let her shine as gloriously

As the Venus of the sky.

When thou wakest, if she be by,

Beg of her for remedy.

Shakespeare in his great genius connects the center of the vision (the pupil) to a female lover and he phrased that connection as “the apple of the eye.”  And the English translation of the Bible reflected that thought – and culture had impacted the phrasing of the Bible. The Kings James Version was never intended to be a lofty version of the Bible. It was “The Message” for the seventeenth century. And it does not really matter whether you prefer being “the apple of God’s eye” or “the center of God’s vision like a lover” – either way we understand what David was saying – God, keep me in a place where I am important to you.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 19

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. – Psalm 16:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 11, 2013): Psalm 15 & 16

Sometimes I struggle with thoughts about the future. I admit that sometimes I wonder if I am really making a difference – or should I be doing something else or maybe even be somewhere else. I think it is a universal fight. We all wrestle against the temptation to wonder if this is the place where we are supposed to be. It is such a common experience that we even have a saying for it – we say that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Those people that cause you problems in the place where you are now would not be present at the other place. The set of problems that you are struggling through in the place where you are now would not be present somewhere else.

A few weeks ago Perry Noble (Newspring Church) preached about an early experience that he had in his ministry. He talked about his first experience as a paid staff person at a church. And he could not wait for that first church meeting, because it was going to be great. What else could it be when a group of loving Christian people get together to talk about the Church of Jesus Christ. But there was one group that was there that he was not expecting. And they blew up the meeting. So Perry, after a period of time, accepted another position at a different church. And he looked forward to the new experience because he knew that this one group of people that were wrecking the first church would not be allowed at the second church. But after he took the position he realized that their cousins were already there. And so he decided to start Newspring, a place where these people would not attend. But then they showed up at Newspring too. And he called these people the Angry Birds. But Perry’s reality was that he thought they would not be at the next place, but they were. I have watched friends jump from job to job because the next job would be different – it would be better. But it never is. And I have watched people jump from church to church because it will better over there – but that is never true either.

David says, God I understand that you have assigned me to this place in life. A lot of commentators seem to focus on the good things in the king’s life, but I think David is talking about the negatives things as well. This place, with all of the good and all of the bad – and even the presence of the angry birds – is good because it is the place that God has placed me and this is where he has assigned a purpose just for me.

I am here for a purpose, and so are you. Now we need to go in confidence and fulfill that purpose.      

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 17

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. – Psalm 14:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 10, 2013): Psalm 13 & 14

Richard Dawkins postulates that just because altruism exists, that fact alone does not point to God. And I would agree with him. For Dawkins, the idea is that just as anything that is beneficial for the survival of the person is passed on through the generations using the genetic structure of individual, so things that are beneficial for a society is also passed on through the generations through a structure called a meme. Now, to be honest, Dawkins idea of a meme has never really been accepted by the scientific community, but the idea remains that things that are beneficial to the community are somehow passed on through the community.

Dawkins argument is directly against the ancient understanding of the good things that exist within our social structures. The ancient understanding is this – the altruistic things of life come from some version of God. Maybe he is a national God that is concerned only about the welfare of a single nation. Under this understanding, it is only the nation that is under the influence of God that has the potential to be good. This is the understanding behind the demonizing of other societies. This effect is pronounced during times of war. The enemy is always seen as the ones without the influence of God.

David believed in a national God, but also in a universal God. When he was confronted with the idea of altruism, he would have pointed at God. People do good only because God exists. So he calls the one who says that “there is no God” a fool. And the meaning of the word is not somebody who is a simpleton or one that is stupid. It is also not a jokester. The meaning of the word is one who is morally immature or one who has been morally perverted and because of the perversion their minds can no longer conceive of God.

Morality, in its most basic form, is the simple act of being able see the other. If you cannot see them, then you cannot be concerned about them or be active in helping them. And while Richard Dawkins would like to be able to assert that seeing the other is the result of a socially beneficial meme acting on society, as Christians we have another name for that meme – he is “I am that I am.” David’s message for us is not that a lack of a belief in God is the product of knowledge, education, intelligence, or discernment of any kind. Atheism is the essence of ingratitude, injustice, pride, hatred and selfishness – it is a refusal to see the other – the one who is outside of us - both the ones we live and the One who created each one of us.     

There may be other reasons for why altruism exists, but for me, God would seem to be the most obvious one. And David would agree.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 15 & 16

For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. – Psalm 11:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 9, 2013): Psalm 11 & 12

There is something about the shadows that cause shivers to go through our beings. It is the basis for all of the ghost stories that we tell around the campfire – and the basis of some of the most persistent problems of childhood, the ever present boogie man living in the closet or under the bed, any place where shadows lurk. It is the shadows that scare us – it always has been.

And the fear never really goes away. When we grow older it becomes a fear of dark nights and dark alleys, because you never really know what is that is lurking in those shadows. A few years ago I was working out at a gym and I was on the cross trainer with two girls using the machines beside me. The two of them were talking - one of them was telling a story about an unpleasant experience with a guy that had surprised her from – yeah, the shadows. She is describing this guy and finally she looks for someone in the gym close to the size of her nemesis. Finally she looks at me and then back at her girl friend and just motions in my direction and just says the words – “he was bigger than him.” I wanted to tell her that I was not all that dangerous, but I was not sure that it would have been all that helpful.

David pictures his enemies as being ready to attack from the shadows – their weapons were already in their hands and ready to be fired. And the problem is that weapons that are fired from the shadows cannot be defended against – because we never really see the attack coming. Every person that gossips or accuses us from a distance is doing nothing more than shooting at us from the shadows. It was an experience that we – and David – know all too well.

But David also knows that it is not the voices in the shadows that define him – it can never be the unknown enemy firing from a distance that gives him his identity. That role belongs only to his God – and our identity belongs only to our God.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 13 & 14

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. – Psalm 9:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 8, 2013): Psalm 9 & 10

Special Note: There is evidence that originally Psalm 9 and 10 were one Psalm because when we combine these two psalms we find that each verse starts with a different letter of the Hebrew Alphabet.

My name is Garry. Garry is a variant of Gary and most people seem to want to spell my name with only one “r” – but that is not me. My name has two “r’s.” The name Garry was almost unknown at the beginning of the twentieth century, but over the next couple of decades the name became increasingly more popular, probably peaking somewhere during the depression years, and then the name went into a slow decline. It never reached the obscurity that the name enjoyed in the last years of the nineteenth century or early years of the twentieth century, but it was not as popular as it had been during the depression years (and just as a side note, the name has never cracked the list of the Top 100 names in any year.) What the name means is spear bearer. In ancient times the spear bearers were the ones that stood on a ridge and threw their spears into the enemy line. Spear bearers were next to useless in close fighting, they needed distance. But as long as they understood their role, they were essential.

Having said all of that, I am not sure that anyone who walks up to me and says “Hi, Garry” has any of that in mind. It is just my name. But in the past the name was important because it described who we were. Even today, in some religions, there is a name change that happens at the moment that a person enters into the faith. And sometimes you will hear the people of faith have distain for their “birth name,” describing it as their “slave name.” The name that they received at birth no longer describes who it is that they are in faith.

David’s assertion is that those who know the name of God will be able to trust in God. But David’s reality was that God had been given many names, but every name was given to him by someone who had experienced him. The name that God had given for himself was “I am that I am” and the intent of this name was simply to say that I exist – I am really here. But as people experienced the God who exists, they have also named him. Among other things he is “Jehovah - Shammah” – the God who is present – but he is also “El-Roi” – the strong one who sees me (I have to admit that this is one of my favorite names of God.)

David writes if you know God’s name, you can trust him – because the truth is that the names we know for God have been given to him by us. He has told us that “I am that I am” – I am real and I exist – and then as we have experienced that reality, we have renamed him. And through his names, we know him as the God who connects with our existence.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 11 & 12

Note: The VantagePoint Community Church (Edmonton) message "Inherited Traits" from the series "Little is Much" is now available on the VantagePoint Website. You can find it here.

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. – Psalm 8:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 7, 2013): Psalm 8

We like to know our position in society. Recently I was in a leadership meeting and we were discussing the flow of information – and community – through the organization. And our first attempt was a traditional pyramid structure that started with a leadership and then spread out to the leadership team and the committed people and then to the fringe of the organization and finally to the community whom we serve. But that word “serve” caused us problems. So we inverted the triangle. Now the leader was at the bottom and the people that we served were positioned at the top. But the diagram still did not seem to be quite right. So we discarded the triangle for a circle; one that flowed out like ripples fleeing from the stone’s entry into the pond. It was better, but maybe still not quite right.

So maybe it is not surprising that have traditionally struggled with this passage.  It has been translated that we were created a little lower than the angels, although the New International Version softens the translation by calling them the “heavenly beings.” But the word at the heart of the controversy is that the word that is translated “angels” in the King James Version or “heavenly beings” in the New International Version (actually the latest edition of the New International Version reverts back to the word “angel” for this verse.) It is the word “'elohiym” - a word that could be translated either an angel or a dweller of heaven, but the problem would seem to be that in practice it never is. By far the most common translation of “'elohiym” in the Bible  is “God.”

The reality is that it would seem that we were created a little lower than God – we truly are his sons and daughters. But we rebelled. We fell from the place that we had been created for – and now we are simply trying to find our way back. What is hard for us to understand is that God, through Christ, has already restored us. The only battle that is really left for us is the one that is inside our own minds. We need to believe that we were created sons and daughters of the living God and co-heirs with Christ, and that because of Christ – we really have been restored to that exalted position.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 9 & 10

He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment. – Psalm 7:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 6, 2013): Psalm 7

I practice responses. I know how stupid that is, but it seems to happen almost automatically. If I know that I am having a meeting with someone, and especially if I am anticipating a stressful meeting, then I rehearse what it is that I am expecting them to say and how it is that I want to respond. But I have to admit that I do not remember a meeting that went exactly according to plan. In fact, I can remember meetings where the person that I was with did not bring up their expected objection, but I had practiced the meeting for so long that I brought it up – and then immediately kicked myself for doing it. But I know that the reason I brought it up was because I had already practiced the meeting and I wanted a chance to give my response. So practice ended up being detrimental to my actions.

I love the imagery used in this Psalm, although I think I would reorder the list. To me, it makes more sense to say that “He who conceives trouble is pregnant with evil and gives birth to disillusionment.” (I think that conception should come before the pregnancy.) But I understand the premise because it has been a reality in my life. I know the times that I have practiced for trouble (the conception), but the result has never been what I thought it would be. The result was, at least on some level - evil. The conception of trouble has led me down paths that I really had no intention of going down – paths that were not good which is essentially the definition of evil. And the result has been that I was the one who ended up being disillusioned because my expectations - the ones that I thought was going to be the outcome when I practiced the situation – were never being met.

So David gives us this concrete advice, if you do not want to be disillusioned, stop conceiving of trouble. And the message that I hear is that I need to stop expecting trouble – stop practicing for those moments when I think that trouble is going to come. Because when I conceive of trouble, I invite evil into my life. When I practice for situations that have not yet happened, I am travelling down a path that I would rather not go down. But because I have conceived and practiced it, I am actually increasing my chances of having to really confront that trouble – often because I am the one that opens the door to it – and the result will be evil. And evil will destroy all of the things that I have hoped for and the expectations that I have for myself and for the church of which I am a part – I will be disillusioned.

So I need to work at not practicing, but that is hard because it has happened so often that it has become a habit. But sometimes habits just need to be broken. Go and break them.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 8

The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer. – Psalm 6:9

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 5, 2013): Psalm 6

I went to the dentist last week. It was one of those marathon sessions where I had a checkup with the dentist for the first half hour and then for the next ninety minutes I was in the dental hygienists chair (yeah, ninety minutes, I realize that I am special.) Just so you know, I have no further dental work needed – I knew you might be concerned. But heading into the appointment I knew two things - because I have experience with dentists. The first thing I knew was that I have a dentist appointment. It had been on my calendar at home for the last six months. This appointment was not a surprise. But the second thing I knew was that I will be in pain. I do not need a drill in the dentist’s hand to experience pain in the dentist’s chair. Just sitting there with my mouth open for two hours is painful – so when you add those sharp probing instruments, the result cannot be anything else other than a level of pain. And this is why I LOVE dentist’s appointments (and yes, that was sarcasm.)

There is a tense change in this psalm of David. David announces that God has heard his cry for mercy. God is all about grace. The Bible lists things that will come between us and God – sin comes between us and God, pride comes between us and God, a lack of forgiveness for others comes between us and God – and the list goes on and on. And a lot of the things that were on the list were in David’s life – and they are in ours. But David new that God was a God of mercy and a God of grace. And so David’s first move was to call out to God for mercy and God delivered – he removed all of things that were separating David from God.

So, because God had heard David’s cry for mercy and God’s grace had removed all of the things that separated David from God, God could now hear (and accept) David’s prayer. A better translation of this next phrase might be to say that God will receive or will accept my prayer. The change in tense is from what God has done (past) to what God will do (future) because of what he has done. God’s grace has transformed things to the point where David’s prayers could now be heard.

And this is situation changing. We all fall short of God’s expectations of us – all of us. No one stands not in need of God’s grace. And as Christians, that is something that we need to remember whenever we look at those around us. But God’s grace is based on something that God has already done – and because of what God has already done, God hears my prayers – and he hears your prayers. He also hears the prayers of that person in your life that never seems to give God and the things of God much thought. God’s acceptance of our prayer is not based on what we have done, but rather on what God has done. David knew this because he had already experienced God’s grace and God’s mercy in his life.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 7