The Help That God provides

Psalm 22

 

Hasten to help Me; save Me from the sword (death) ...

You answered Me. —Psalm 22:20,21

 

David. in this poem. describes Jesus' crucifixion with startling precision a thousand years before the Cross. But more startling is his cry, "Save me,” and this assurance: “(God) answered me." Yet Jesus suffered and died on the cross. 

 

The author of Hebrews repeats this odd juxtaposition: "(Jesus) in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death...was heard because of His godly fear (Hebrews 5:7).  Jesus “was heard," yet He suffered and died on the cross.

 

Does God hear us when we call for help? Of  course he does, but the help he provides is not always deliverance from trouble. 

 

Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea,
But it doesn't mean He will.

Sometimes He holds us close,
And lets the wind and waves go wild;
Sometimes He calms the storm,
And at other times His child. —Scott Krippayne

 

God’s help may come in the form of grace to pass through the trial with calm repose, a rest that tranquilizers, relaxation techniques, positive thinking, and mystical forms of contemplation cannot duplicate. Jesus called it, “my peace,” an inexplicable peace that defies rational explanation (Philippians 4:7).

 

The wisest of men and women have always known that we grow wise by passing through stress and trouble: God "delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity” (Job. 36:15). He delivers us from foolishness by trouble if we take advantage of it, or, as the author of Hebrews would say, if we're "trained by it" (Hebrews 12:11).

 

And what is our part in this regimen? Mary’s “Fiat” ("Let it be").

 

In acceptance lieth peace,

O my heart be still;

Let thy restless worries cease

And accept His will.

Though this test be not thy choice,

It is His—therefore rejoice. 

 

In His plan there cannot be

Aught to make thee sad:

If this is His choice for thee,

Take it and be glad.

Make from it some lovely thing

To the glory of thy King.

 

Cease from sighs and murmuring,

Sing His loving grace,

This thing means thy furthering

To a wealthy place.

From thy fears He'll give release:

In  acceptance lieth peace.  —Hannah Hunnard 

 

David Roper

Thanksgiving Thoughts: 11.28.19

Picture This

I’ve seen them. You’ve seen them. Those pictures in magazines, on television ads and possibly in the Hallmark movies. The perfect family sitting around the perfectly appointed table which is groaning with all the perfect food anyone could imagine. This is Thanksgiving! Or so we are told...and sold.

As I’ve pondered my own expectations of Thanksgiving some thoughts come to mind. These are truths I want to remember. This is how, by God’s grace and enabling, I want to picture Thanksgiving.

What’s Essential—
Jesus is as clear on this today as He was when He spoke kindly to Martha, His good friend and hostess. “Only one thing is necessary...that you sit at My feet and learn of Me.”

The pressure of time will always make me face my priorities. As I make time to look to Him, to listen to Him, He will show and tell me how to respond this Thanksgiving—in traffic, in the kitchen, when X – (the unexpected) - happens, when the help isn’t there, when disappointments loom.

It’s essential that I prepare my heart and soul in His presence, depending on Him to work in and through me for His good pleasure and for my good. I can then carry in my heart His words and His ways. I can practice His presence in any situation.


Who’s Coming— 
 Each person I encounter at a gathering is made in the image of God, no exceptions.

 Each person I encounter is close to me by God’s grace for a purpose in my life and for a purpose in his or her life. No exceptions.

Jesus is the unseen guest at every table. He said, “I will be with you every day, even unto the end of the age.”  He looks at each one with gentle eyes and a welcoming heart. No exceptions.


What’s The Seating Arrangement—
 Jesus has told me where to sit. He says to “take the lower seat.”

So why do I mind if someone gives it to me, either at the table, in conversation or in attitude?  I will always have a table companion because when I take the lower way, it’s His way too. My soul can silently converse with Him in a crowded room or when I am all alone. Or feel all alone. This I want to picture and remember.


What’s The Menu—
The traditional thanksgiving menu goes way back.

In the time of Moses “all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.”

Paul, pictures this meal in more detail when he reminds the Corinthians that “The Lord Jesus, in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way He took the cup also...saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

This spiritual meal is available to all, no matter what other fare is before us on Thanksgiving Day.  Again and again I may eat and drink of the spiritual supply God has provided by the sacrifice of His son. Jesus says, “Come!”

And no matter if this Thanksgiving Day provides all I have longed for in family, the meal and the trimmings, or conversely if I have what I don’t want or want what I don’t have, my spiritual food and drink today is a foretaste of the feast I will enjoy forever in God’s Kingdom.  Because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

Remembering the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, is the ultimate reason for me to give thanks on Thanksgiving Day and every day.

Gratefully in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Carolyn Roper

The Secret of a Happy Home

Psalm 128

Blessed (Happy) is the man who fears the Lord,

who walks in his ways!

You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;

you shall be blessed (happy), and it shall be well with you.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; 

your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed (happy)

who fears the Lord —Psalm 128:1-4

A happy home, made happy by the "fear of the Lord." 

“The fear of the Lord" is not craven fear, but “a love that fears to grieve.” In practical terms it means that we listen to God and take him seriously. As the parallel line suggests, we “walk in His ways." 

"Walking in God's ways," means that we listen to what God has to say and heed the voice that says to us, "This is the way.”

What a marvelous simplification: “The fear of the Lord.” The secret of a happy home.

David Roper

11.28.19

True Truth

Psalm 19

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).

I hear the stars singing about their maker:

In Reason’s Ear they all rejoice, 

and utter forth a glorious voice;  

Forever singing, as they shine,  

"The Hand that made us is Divine."  —Joseph Addison 

Creation reveals the beauty and deity of God and his artistry, but, being fallen, sends mixed messages: Nature can be beautiful and benevolent, but it’s also "red in tooth and claw.” Thus the environment is incomplete and incongruent. To know God fully I must listen to what he has to say.

Thus the psalmist leads us to consider God’s actual words: They are perfect, pure, right, clean and true, or, as we would say, true truth—an objective, eternal standard. The Hebrew word for truth is emeth, a noun formed from a verb that means “to be firm” and emphasizes reliability and permanence. 

Emeth is that which does not change. It is found in the writings of the apostles and prophets of the Old and New Testament and fully in Jesus who said of himself, “I am truth” (John ).

In our day the idea of absolute, eternal truth is anathema to the politically correct, who, like Pontius Pilot keep asking the same, cynical question: “What is truth?—while he stands right in front of them. 

Where should the unknown treasures of the truth

Lie, but there whence the truth comes out the most—In the Son of man, folded in love and ruth (compassion) —George MacDonald

David Roper

11.26.19 

God's Delight

Psalm 18

"He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delights in me" (Psalm 18:19).

I remember Saturday mornings, sprawled on the floor with our boys, watching a grainy, black and white, RCA television set,  and singing the Mouse Club song along with the Mouseketeers:

Now it's time to say goodbye

To all our company.

M-I-C (See you real soon),

K-E-Y (Why? Because we like you);

M-O-U-S-E.

The song gets in your head. I used to sing it all through the day and I sang it again this morning when I read this psalm. 

Why does God like me? Well, because He likes me and for no other reason. It's not that I'm young and vigorous, strong and able, rich and famous, smart and clever, or tall, dark and handsome—which is a very good thing because I'm not, have never been, and will never be any of those things. God likes me because I am... me. 

What’s more, God’s delight precedes my being! Before I could do anything good or bad He liked me—no, he loved me. What are the chances now, based on my current behavior, that He will remove his affection? "It is not love that alters when it alteration finds."

God loves me freely—though at what cost to himself only the cross will reveal. And what does He ask of me? To say, "I love You too.”

I think of an old poem:

Isn’t it odd

That a being like God

Who sees the façade

Still loves the clod

He made out of sod?

Now isn’t that odd?

Odd indeed.

David Roper

Satisfaction

Psalm 17

Arise, O LORD. Deliver me...

from men of the world whose portion is in this life.

You fill their belly with treasure;

they are satisfied with children,

And they leave their abundance to their infants.

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;

when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

—Psalm 17:13-15

David considers secular man (“men of the world”) whose portion is “in this life.” They have all they want. They are "satisfied." Here again is the old question: Why do the ungodly prosper in this life?

Well... that's exactly the point: Their portion is “in this life.” and when they die they leave it all to their heirs. (As Chuck Swindoll points out, you never see a U-Haul behind a hearse.) 

"As for me," David says, "I shall behold your face in righteousness—a man fully formed ('like him!'). When I awake (from death) I shall be satisfied with your likeness." 

The men of this world accumulate this world’s goods but they will leave them behind. As for me, I have God’s love and I will have it forever! 

Oh God of love; an unfathomed sea;

Who would not give himself to Thee? —John Wesley

David Roper

11.17.19

God, My Good

Psalm 16

“I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you…’” (Psalm 16:2).

This is the integrated life: All faculties united to one end—knowing and loving God, our highest good. This is the answer to David’s prayer: “Unite my heart to worship You" (Psalm 86:11). 

David said to the Lord: "You the portion of my inheritance and my cup. You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance"(16:5,6).

Israel's priests possessed no land, but were given God as their inheritance (Numbers 18:20). So David's “portion” and mine is God himself, our true homeland. "The eternal God is my dwelling place." Indeed, "the (boundary) lines have fallen to me in pleasant places."

God "holds" my portion. No one can snatch it out of my Father's hands. Nothing belongs to me here; anything can be taken away. But I have God and his love forever.

And finally, when my life's work is over, He "will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will he let his loved one see corruption” (16:10). For Gods children, the "path of life" leads to Heaven, our eternal home where we will enjoy his love forever. Indeed, "in his presence there is fullness of joy; at his right hand are pleasures forevermore" (16:11)

For thee I delightfully employ

what e'er thy bounteous grace hath given;

and run my course with even joy,

and closely walk with thee to heaven. —Charles Wesley

David Roper