Becoming a Man

Psalm 27

“Be manly. Be made strong; wait for the LORD!” —Psalm 27:14

This is a pep talk David gave to himself. (The verbs are singular.)

Paul paraphrases this text, putting a precise spin on the words: "Be manly, be made strong; Let all that you do be done in love" (1 Corinthians 16:13, 14). 

If you were to ask me why I'm a follower of Jesus I'd be hard-pressed to name all the reasons, but one resides right here: I follow Jesus because I want to become a man.

Clap me on the back and say, "Be a man," and I will square my shoulders and try to man up, for no one has to tell me what it means to be a man. Men are "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent," to pull up the old Boy Scout Code. They are “physically strong, mentally alert and morally straight.” 

Paul adds another trait: Men are loving, which, as it turns out, is the greatest show of strength and the most important attribute of all (Cf. 1 Corinthians 13).

I know what I ought to be and I want to do better, but I need help. That's where God comes in. “Let your heart be strengthened (passive voice); wait for the Lord.” I must ask him to make me into the man I want to be. This is my prayer, all through the day.

“Waiting,” however, implies delay. It takes time to become a man—indeed, a lifetime. I'm still waiting to get there.

David Roper

12.16.19

God, My Judge

Psalm 26

“God be my judge..."—Psalm 26:1a

When challenged, David refused to justify himself and appealed to a higher court: “God, (you) be my judge!"

This is the secret of independence from the opinions of others as Paul learned through the criticism he endured: “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God" (1Corinthians 4:3–5.).

Any assessment of ourselves is as irrelevant as that of our friends and foes. "It is the Lord that judges." Any other judgment is presumptuous (final judgment is a job for God) and premature ("before the time".) 

It's good to ask God for a check-up now and then—"Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind" (26:2)—but I must not spend time rummaging around in my soul. I must rather ask God to judge me. If I'm off course he will let me know. Satan fills us with vague thoughts of wrong-doing, and free-floating guilt; God's judgments are unequivocally clear.

In the meantime I can forget about myself and the opinions of others and get on with the business of following Jesus. 

What a relief that is! 

David Roper

Exposure

Psalm 25

"For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great" (Psalm 25:11).

These are the words of a man whose eyes were "ever on the Lord" (25:15). Yet, he was aware of "great" guilt, a nexus that, at first, surprises us. It must be that the more we see of God the more we see ourselves. 

I think of days past when my father plowed fields that had never been cultivated. On the first pass the plowshare would expose large, previously unnoticed rocks that he hauled away. Then, he would plow the field again, and then again, to further break up the soil. With each pass the plow turned up other, smaller rocks that he cast aside. 

Growth in grace is a similar process: When we first begin to follow Jesus, "big" sins, mostly sins of the flesh, occupy our thoughts. But as the years pass by us and God's word passes through us, other sins rise to the surface.  

Sins of the spirit once thought to be mere peccadilloes—pride, prejudice, self-pity, pettiness, spite, self-accommodating indulgence and the like—are revealed as the ruinous attitudes and actions that they are. God reveals each sin so that he can, in due time, cast it aside. 

Humbling exposure, though painful, is good for the soul. It's one of the ways by which He "instructs sinners in the way" (25;8). There is no other way to grow. 

I asked the Lord that I might grow

In faith and love and every grace, 

Might more of His salvation know, 

And seek more earnestly His face. 

‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray, 

And He, I trust, has answered prayer, 

But it has been in such a way 

As almost drove me to despair. 

I hoped that in some favored hour 

At once He’d answer my request 

And, by His love’s constraining pow’r, 

Subdue my sins and give me rest. 

Instead of this, He made me feel 

The hidden evils of my heart 

And let the angry pow’rs of hell 

Assault my soul in ev’ry part. 

Yea, more with His own hand He seemed 

Intent to aggravate my woe, 

Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, 

Humbled my heart and laid me low. 

“Lord, why is this,” I trembling cried; 

“Wilt Thou pursue Thy worm to death?” 

“’Tis in this way,” the Lord replied, 

“I answer prayer for grace and faith.” 

“These inward trials I employ 

From self and pride to set thee free 

And break thy schemes of earthly joy 

That thou may’st find thy all in Me.” —John Newman

David Roper

All Things Great and Small

Psalm 24

The earth is the Lord's and all that fills it…” —Psalm 24:1

Everything belongs to God. It’s his because he made it, redeems it  and maintains it (24:1,2).  

It follows then, since we’re God’s children, that the earth  is ours as well. As confirmation, Paul writes: "All things are yours whether...the world or life or death or the present or the future" (1 Corinthians 3:22). In another place he argues that even food that’s been offered to pagan idols is ours to enjoy: “Eat whatever is sold in the meat market," and then he quotes this psalm (24) for support: "for 'the earth is the Lord's, and all that fills it”  (1Corinthians 10:25).

To be sure, we can exploit and ruin what God has made. We can use creation in the wrong way or harm someone in our use of it, but in and of itself, creation is part of the good that God created. Paul put the principle simply: “Everything created by God is good and nothing is to be refused…” (1 Timothy 4:4).

There was only one forbidden tree in the garden and that for good reason: It was toxic. He has given us every other "tree" to enjoy. God invented pleasure, fun, joy and laughter for His children and for their delight.

So go for it! Live large! "Rejoice in your youth, and let your heart cheer you...remove vexation from your heart" (Ecclesiastes 11:9, 10). (Why are young men and women always bummed out?) Find delight in all that God has created.

But in your delight, “Remember Your Creator" (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Don't forget the God who loves you. Stay close to Him. He's where all the goodness comes from.

David Roper

Today and Tomorrow

Psalm 23

"Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my present life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord in all the days that stretch beyond ("through stretched out days"). —Psalm 23:6

Heaven is home. It’s not that heaven is somewhat like home. It is home. Our earthly homes are signs or reflections of home, primitive symbols of warmth, love, togetherness, and familiarity. The ultimate reality is our Father’s house where eternal love awaits us; where we’re gathered in, included. "Home is the place where, when you go there, they have to take you in,” Robert Frost said.

I read about Odysseus, the Flying Dutchman, Frodo, and E.T., and I too want to go home, to that place where we will cease “to break our wings against the faultiness of things,” where everything works out for good.

So many things go wrong here; nothing will go wrong there. Nothing will go missing; nothing will go up in smoke; nothing will go down the drain. Heaven is God’s answer to Murphy’s Law

There's always been a bit of homesickness in me, a longing for that elusive "something more." Now I know it's a hankering for the Father's house and my eternal home. 

Home from my wayward wanderings, 

Home from the cold foreign clime, 

Home, to the arms of my Father.

Where I am His and He is mine. —Oswald Chambers

In the meantime, while we wait for that day, God's goodness and love will follow us, guarding us from our worst instincts, cleaning up the messes we leave behind, giving us faith, hope and love for the journey. He has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you"; Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord.

"Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow!" Who could ask for anything more?

David Roper

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