Cornerstonekaty

Psalm 103

Psalm 102

What do you do with your pain? We find lots of wrong ways to deal with it. We moan and wallow in self-pity. We get angry with God. We criticize others and blame them. We try to pull others into our pain with us. These may help bring a form of relief. But it is not permanent relief. It is only an illusion. The psalmist teaches us to pray through our pain. Verse 17 explains why.

he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer. (Psalm 102:17)

God regards the prayer of the destitute. Take your pain to God.

The New Testament instructs us more specifically,

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7)

The Psalms show us how to do this in the midst of real despair. They coach us and prepare us for such moments.

Psalm 101

These are the resolutions David, the man after God’s own heart, makes before the Lord as he accepts the responsibility for his house that God has given him. At the heart of the psalm and his resolutions, we find verse 2.

       I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;

If we are to prepare our home, we must prepare our heart. That’s where it must begin. 

This psalm is likely written with David’s kingship in mind. Possibly written as a precursor to bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the City of David, David resolves before the Lord to walk in integrity in his kingdom. This job that David has for the kingdom, you have for your home. So you must attend to your heart so that you can attend to your home.

As we go through this psalm we find a list of resolutions that David makes. We can break these resolutions into two kinds. David makes resolutions that have to do with what goes into his heart and resolutions that have to do with what comes out.

Psalm 100

Psalm 100

This psalm is a classic call to worship. It is the prototype for coming together as we do each Lord’s day. Did you hear it?

Make a joyful noise to the LORD…
Serve the Lord with gladness
Come into his presence with singing

It sets the stage for our time together. It reminds me of that old Kool and the Gang song,

Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate)

There's a party goin' on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times, and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you

Maybe you don’t remember such a song, but in my high school days, it was played at every dance. It’s such a catchy tune and beat that you can’t help but move your feet and smile. Psalm 100 is such an invitation.

But there is a key difference. Kool and the Gang had nothing specific to celebrate. Psalm 100 does. It is a celebration of our covenant God. That may not mean much to you, so let me unpack it for you. In essence, it is only because we have a covenant God that we have real hope in this world.

Psalm 99

The Lord is Holy! That is the theme of this psalm. We see it proclaimed 3 times: at the end of verses 3, 5, and 9. Does that mean something to you? We hear the term “holy” often enough going to worship, or as a student of the Bible. And it ought to move us in a profound way. Unfortunately, I don’t think it does—at least not to the degree it ought to. And the reasons are plentiful.

One, our world doesn’t treat God with much respect. His name is trampled in everyday conversation, reduced to a common curse word. Two, it is shrouded in mystery. That is not a bad thing. The holiness of God will always be shrouded in mystery to some degree simply because it is unfathomable. But that doesn’t mean we should just ignore it. I think that’s what often happens.

But if we’re willing to pry into this mystery, we will find it is both terrifying and wonderful all at the same time. God’s holiness moves us to trembling exaltation. In fact, that is good litmus test to know whether or not you have met with the Lord. Do you tremble when you consider his presence? Do you exalt him when you find his favor?

When I look around at the state of the many who consider themselves Christians, I suspect there is little trembling and exalting going on. Why do I say that? Because people like to maintain a casual relationship with God. You cannot have a casual relationship with a God who is holy.

What does it mean to be holy? Holy is a hard word to define. When a thing is holy, it is set apart to God. When referring to God, it means wholly other. So, what does it mean to enter the presence of the Holy God? Trembling exaltation.

Psalm 98

Think of watching your favorite football team make a surprise touchdown at a critical moment in the game. The crowd erupts in shouts of elation. It's a joyful noise that can't be silenced. The psalmist’s invitation to the people to sing and make a joyful noise is an invitation to consider and enter into the reality of the greatness of God’s salvation. I am convinced this is why singing is such an important element of worship. 

So, what is so great about this salvation?

It heals everything. It reaches everywhere.

Matthew 9:35-10:1

One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is the story of four lepers outside the gates of Samaria, the capital of the Northern kingdom of Israel. It is not often that they take center stage in a story. Lepers were people with a skin disease that made them unclean and thus put outside the camp. At the time the story takes place, Samaria is under siege. The Syrian army from the North has taken their place around the city, letting nothing in or out. Inside the walls of the city, the people begin to run out of food. And while they are free within the city, the descreasing supply grows more and more expensive. It grows so expensive, that a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver. Just to put that in perspective, a donkey was a work animal, not food. It was unclean according to Levitical laws to eat. Things are so bad that they are forced to eat work animals, and, as if that isn’t bad enough, they are down to the most inedible of parts—the head! 80 shekels is not small amount, either. It’s about 2 pounds of silver. As if this isn’t bad enough, they are selling dove’s dung for food. It is possible this was a phrase used to describe some terrible food, but it is also possible that it was literal dung, scavenged for undigested seeds. In other words, they are desperate. This is confirmed in that some have resorted to canabalism, eating their babies.

It is in the midst of such terrible conditions, with the most extreme sources of food are being sold for impossible sums that Elisha the prophet gives a prophecy.

But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord, Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” (2 Kings 7:1)

These are real foods, staples for the Israelite kitchen, and Elisha is saying they will be available tomorrow! Not only available, but cheap! It is news that sounds absurd given the present circumstances. It is too good to be true.

Does it happen? It does! How could this be? God caused the Syrian army to hear the sound of a great army of chariots and horses in the dark of night coming their way and it terrifies them so severely that they leave without gathering any of their tents or gear or supplies.

This is the stage for the 4 lepers. They too are starving as they sit at the gate of the city and have decided that their only hope is to seek food from the Syrian army. Their hunger has overcome their fear.

“Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.”

It is a last resort. But when they reach the Syrian camp, they find it empty of people but full of food and riches. They ate and drank and carried off silver and gold and clothing to hide for themselves. They go from famine to feasting, and from being the poorest of the poor to wealthy!

It is such a great parallel to the gospel. The one who puts his trust in Christ often does so because he recognizes that he is otherwise utterly lost. No other pursuit in life has fulfilled him and he finds himself empty and intuitively knows that he deserves to be treated like these lepers when it comes to their position in the camp-outsiders; unclean. And when that desperation finally drives him to Christ, he finds he has gone from a famine to feast for the soul. For that is the power of the gospel at work in a person’s spirit. He goes from spiritually poor, even bankrupt, to spiritually wealthy. It is news that seems utterly too good to be true! And yet it is. Paul describes this in

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:3)

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? (James 2:5)

It is a glorious moment when the gospel becomes real in your life. The gospel changes you.

James 5:13-20

Colossians 2:6-15

Ephesians 4:17-32