Look in the Mirror! - Ecclesiastes 7:20-22

"Indeed there is not a righteous man on earth

who continually does good and who never sins.

Also, do not take seriously all words which are spoken,

lest you hear your servant cursing you.

For you also have realized that you likewise

have many times cursed others."

(Ecclesiastes 7:20-22)

All right - here is the official Word spanking of the day. Get ready and brace your bums 'cause Solomon is about to go to meddling and well he needs to!!

He begins with the reminder that we are all sinners. "Indeed there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins." Paul tells us the same thing "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Truly there are no perfect people.

That is an important caveat as we wait for the "whooping" that is coming. It is crucial that we realize that "those whom we deal with are not incarnate angels but sinful sons and daughters of Adam." We are all imperfectly in this life together. We all blow it. We all sin and sin severely. Let it sink in - believe it to be true about others and know it to be true about yourself!

OK -with that said, here it comes...

Solomon goes on to talk about the things we say about one another. He tells us to not take seriously every word we hear about ourselves and to remember how often our own lips have been unlovingly loose and rashly ridiculous.

Matthew Henry puts it like this:

"If we be truly angry with ourselves, as we ought to be, for backbiting and censuring others, we shall be the less angry with others for backbiting and censuring us."

OUCH!! That hurt and I won't be sitting down the rest of the day!! I certainly won't be opening my mouth for the rest of the day!!

Friends, let us show patient mercy towards one another. Let us be quick to allow love to cover a multitude of sins. Let us forgive as we have been forgiven. And let us always be mindful of our own shortcomings before pouncing on someone elses.

Humbled,

Lori

Extreme Excessivity - Ecclesiastes 7:16-18

"Do not be excessively righteous,

and do not be overly wise.

Why should you ruin yourself?

Do not be excessively wicked,

and do not be a fool.

Why should you die before your time?

It is good that you grasp one thing,

and also not let go of the other;

for the one who fears God

comes forth with both of them."

(Ecclesiastes 7:16-18)

Man, we tend to do extremes - and we tend to do them with excess. I know for me it is often "all or nothing". If I am going to serve Christ then - whammo - I'm tossing all my eggs in the basket and I'm going to serve full throttle - until I serve myself slap dab into the middle of burn out! If I'm going to bail on Christ then I'm going to do it with much gusto and shake my fist in His merciful face with all the arrogant chutzpa I can muster! I have always been a person of extreme excessivity so these particular verses are a needed balance for my wavering scales.

Upon first glance I had to pause and wonder at what Solomon could possibly mean when he wrote "do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise." Aren't righteousness and wisdom things we are to seek after and strive for? Don't we want more and more of them? Yes, of course, but the overarching theme of these verses is on balance - the BALANCED Christian life.

"Do not be EXCESSIVELY righteous...."

We have all run into the radically ridiculous Christian. The one who is so far in his extremeness that he becomes absolutely unuseful in his attempts to be used. Throughout history the extremely religious have been around. There have always been those who have sought self-denial and self-mortification as an outward form of excessive righteousness. There were the docetic stylites who so wanted to know God and so wanted to get away from their own flesh that they built huge pillars upon which to live. Up on these pillars they would deny themselves and show the seriousness of their faith. The godliest of the group were the ones with the tallest towers and the fewest neighbors. Christianity has seen its share of self-denying monasticism and extreme reclusivity. Even today we find those who seek to live in communes and congregate in holy huddles - avoiding any contact with culture to extreme levels. Self-righteous separatism is certainly one example of excessive righteousness that needs to be avoided.

However, that type of excessive "righteousness" is not what cuts at my own core this morning. No, I am convicted by another form of extreme excessivity - the excessive "righteousness" that is manifested in a critical spirit. I can be "excessively righteous" and "overly wise" in setting my opinions about Christ and His holy doctrines as the benchmark of holiness for everyone else. I can be a "righteous" jerk and this morning I am convicted that a critical spirit is not a truly righteous spirit at all. It is a fault-finding, self-glorifying counterfeit and it needs to die.

We are not to be excessively "righteous" nor excessively wicked. Bottom line we are wicked - even our attempts at excessive righteousness show our tendancy towards wicked pride. Oh how we need the wisdom and the grace that is given in Christ to strike the balance. Oh how we need to take hold and "grasp" the gracious wisdom that is found in Him.

Henry wrote:

"Wisdom will direct us in the way between the two extremes and will keep us always in the way of duty. Take hold of this wisdom not to run thyself into either snare. Take hold of the bridle by which thy headstrong passions must be held in, and having taken hold, keep hold."

Oh Lord my God - please keep me from extreme excessivity by keeping me grounded, balanced, and united to You!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Consider - Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

"Consider the work of God,

for who is able to straighten what He has bent?

In the day of prosperity be happy,

but in the day of adversity consider -

God has made the one as well as the other."

(Ecclesiastes 7:13-14)

"Consider!"

I'm not sure we ever pause to "consider" enough in these busy days of life. To consider means to stop and to be still and to strive to think God's thoughts after Him instead of wallowing in our own ways and whims.

How often in the days of our lives do we truly stop and meditate on revealed truth rather than running headfirst into felt need? How often do we "consider the work of God"?

Here Solomon challenges us to pause and do just that- particularly regarding the ways of our days.

Two absolute antitheses are laid out here in verses 13 and 14 - the day of prosperity and the day of adversity. No two days could be more diverse yet, clearly, both are said to be the work of God. "He has made the one as well as the other."

How often we love to declare His hand in our triumphs. How rarely we exalt His name in our sorrows. Yet we need to praise His name in both! We need to consider that He has made the one as well as the other and perhaps in the midst of that consideration we would cease from being such whinny little self-centered cry babies (making note to self!!) regarding our current circumstances.

Henry writes:

"To silence our complaints concerning cross events, let us consider the hand of God in them and not open our mouths against that which He is doing. Consider that EVERY act of God is good and wise and that there is an admirable beauty and harmony in His works and that all will appear at last to have been for the best."

What does this day hold for you? Is it a day of prosperity? Then rejoice! Is it a day of adversity? Then consider God's hand in it and rejoice anyway!

Considering the work of God,

Lori

Lessons From the Land of Oppression - Ecclesiastes 7

"For oppression makes a wise man mad,

and a bribe corrupts the heart.

The end of a matter is better than its beginning;

patience of spirit is better

than haughtiness of spirit.

Do not be eager in your heart to be angry,

for anger resides in the bosom of fools.

Do not say, 'Why is it that the former days were

better than these?'

For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this."

(Ecclesiastes 7:7-10)

Oppression! It comes to us in many forms and with many facets. At times in this life we have all been oppressed - all of us - in one way or another.

On some occasions it may have been an actual physical oppression by an actual physical oppressor. In my own life there have been several times like that - painful times - deeply oppressive times.

However, more often than not my personal oppressions have been in the emotional and spiritual realm. Not only avowed enemies but even loved friends and family have oppressed me by their words and absent actions and the lingering weight of heartache has been - well- oppressive!

I have oppressed myself from time to time by lingering too long in stubborn sin and being oppressed as I sat in my own idolatrously formulated seat of scofffers. God, in His wisdom, has even on at least one occasion seen fit to seemingly abandon me to be buffetted by an unseen enemy who's oppressive talons have at times been almost overwhelming and utterly - yes, oppressive.

Oppression comes in many shapes and sizes yet its wearying effects are the same and ultimately God's design in it is the same. That's what Solomon seems to be addressing in these four verses. His words have encouraged my currently oppressed heart this day!

First, Solomon gives us an honest picture of just how exhausting oppression can be upon the one oppressed. "For oppression makes a wise man mad."

Prolonged oppression can make us act as we normally would not! If you have ever spent an extended period in the center of oppressive suffering you understand this. As the days drag on you feel a bit like mad king Nebuchadnezzar who in his period of emotional and spiritual oppression headed out to munch on the grass that grew upon the distant hills! Madness accompanied this wise king's oppression and it often accompanies our own!

Sometimes, by grace,we begin strong on the anvil of affliction. By grace, we begin with Job crying out victoriously - "though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him." By grace, we don't listen when we are told to "curse God and die" but respond with similar sanctified speech as did this suffering saint who went before us: "shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adveristy?"

But...then...

Somewhere along the way we stop responding "by grace" and begin responding "by self". Even righteous Job fell victim. He who had lost everything and yet in response honestly proclaimed "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord" is found (in chapters 29-31) wishing for the "good ol' days", wallowing in a pity part, accusing God, and just being flat out ticked off regarding his circumstances. His oppression led to a bit of worn out madness. Aren't you glad that the saints of scripture are real?! You are not alone, the madness of oppression is "common to man" (1 Corinthians 10:13).

We often begin strong and somewhere along the road of extended suffering we end up weak. That is Solomon's reminder to us in verse 7: "for oppression makes a wise man mad."

Matthew Henry encouraged my heart greatly with his thoughts on this verse. He writes:

"If a wise man be much long oppressed, he is apt to speak and act unlike himself and to break out in complaints against both God and man. We should therefore make a great allowance to those that are abused and long suffering. We know not what we would do if it were our own case."

Good words. Good reminder. This is not an excuse for our sin but a reminder to be gracious with others in their sin just as God is gracious with us in ours! How I pray that God will grant me the grace to be patient with the oppressed and that others will be mercifully patient with me.

Secondly, Solomon exhorts us to wait patiently upon the Lord's ultimate purpose in our oppression and upon His "right on time" deliverance from our oppression. "The end of a matter is better than its beginning; patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of heart."

OK - agreed - this is NOT an easy thing for we are NOT a patient people! We see in a mirror dimly and we want to see through a window clearly! We want the microwave version of sanctification. We want the Staples "easy" button in the midst of the slow-roast of life! We want what we want NOW - right now - post haste! And we are haughty and arrogant in our demands for God to act when and how we desire Him to! We need to stop! We need to cease striving and know that He is God and we need to take our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ!

While we may not know exactly what God is purposing in our pain we do know - by the declaration of His word - that He is purposing something! Nothing comes into our lives by chance but by sovereign ordination. Our times are in His hands - all of our times! Our paths are carved in perfect faithfulness - even the crooked ones. He is causing all things and causing them to work together for our good and for His glory (Romans 8:28). The end of the matter will be better than the beginning because the all-wise and righteous God is the keeper of the flame of refining fire. He will heat it up just hot enough - yet no hotter - as is perfectly necessary to bring us forth as purified, precious, and valuable gold! Therefore, wait patiently - by grace. Submit to His will in your oppression - by grace. Anticipate the certain deliverance of your King - by grace.

"Those who wait for the Lord, will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get weary, they will walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

Third, Solomon reminds us that we will not do any of this perfectly!! "Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools."

He has already given us one honest assessment regarding the affects that prolonged oppression can have on a wise sinner's soul (vs 7). Here I believe it is alluded to once again.

You know, we are sinners - all of us (Romans 3:23). God is well aware of that - that is why Christ came! He is well acquainted with our frame and knows that we are but dust. We are all prone to wander and apt to stumble. We blow it - repeatedly. There is only One who is perfect - and it is not me!

We get angry. We lose our cool. We blow and spew like Mt. Vesuvius. It happens. It is a fact. So what do we do about it?

Solomon, being like us, encourages us to not be eager in our anger nor to let it reside in our hearts. Anger is going to rise up in the heart of oppressed sinners but how will we respond?

This morning I was greatly encouraged by these verses because honestly I do get angry far too often and yet I hate it about myself and find myself seeking and striving to have my anger ejected from my life. Like Paul in Romans 7 - I do the very thing I hate and hate the very thing I do!

I believe that the Romans 7 struggle is exactly what Solomon is getting at here in Ecclesiastes 7. We are not to eagerly seek after the angry flipping of our lid nor are we to make a special guest room in our hearts where it can come and stay and settle down and be made comfortable. No, we are to hate it and to want to be rid of it - and as true Christians we do hate it even though in paradoxical fashion we coddle it more regularly than we'd care to admit. Oh wretched sinners and transgressing adulterors that we are who shall save us from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!!

Quoting Henry again: "Though anger may come into the bosom of a wise man and pass through as a wayfaring stranger, it resides only in the bosom of fools."

Gracious Lord - help me to hate this all to frequent passer by and grant me the strength to evict him from my doorstep each time he knocks!

Finally, Solomon points us to be content in the moment that God has ordained. "Do not say, 'Why is it that the former days were better than these?' For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this."

Job said it - "Oh that I were as in months gone by" and we say it too - "Man, those were the good ol' days!"

Yet may I ask, is there truly ever any better day than the day God has ordained for us this day?

"This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!" Beloved, do we believe the psalmist on this one and are we living accordingly?

Turning one final time to Mr. Henry:

"We must make the best of what is and not assume that the former days were better days. We are so much a stranger to times past and such an incompetant judge even of times present that we cannot expect a satisfactory answer to our inquiry. It is folly to cry up the goodness of former times so as to derogate from the mercy of God to us in our present times."

Selah!

How foolishly, stubbornly, and self-absorbedly we (I) reflect upon the providence of God in our discontent and complaining states - as if He were acting in an unjust or unkind fashion!! ! How arrogantly do we (I) act as if we know what is best when in reality we don't know squat!! Oh, Lord our Lord help us to trust ourselves to the wisdom of holy omniscience that we would cease striving and know that you are God!

Yes - oppression hurts - sometimes like hell itself. However, equally YES, God is in our oppression with sanctifying purpose and with an already determined and right on time escape plan. "'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus - oh for grace to trust Him more!!"

The end will be better than the beginning. Therefore, let us wait on the deliverance of the King of Glory and with Job let us recognize the folly of our grumbling and complaining and say:

"Behold, I am insignificant: what can I reply to Thee? I cover my mouth with my hand. I know that Thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted. Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes."

God let Job rant and rave and rail for a moment in his oppression. Then God spoke and then Job shut up. We would be wise to do the same knowing that the same God who ordered Job's oppression restored Job in that oppression and "increased all that Job had twofold". Friends, let us wait patiently and humbly upon our God to do the same for us in just the right way and at just the right moment.

Waiting,

Lori

Sustaining Grace - Psalm 119 (part 14)

"Sustain me according to Thy word,

that I may live;

and do not let me be ashamed of my hope.

Uphold me that I may be safe,

that I may have regard for Thy statutes continually."

(Psalm 119:116-117)

Throughout this wonderful psalm, David has prayed quite a few two-word prayers - each serving as a reminder to us that it is not the number of words but the heart behind them. David understands his need and knows that he doesn't "need" a lot of words to express it.

Here is a short list of those needy two-worders:

"revive me"

"strengthen me"

"teach me"

"establish me"

"help me"

"save me"

Verses 116-117 give us two more of these two-word pleas:

"sustain me"

"uphold me".

This morning I direct you to Matthew Henry's thoughts on these verses. He writes:

"David prays for sustaining grace - "sustain me" and "uphold me." He sees himself not only unable to go on in his duty by any strength of his own, but in danger of falling into sin unless he was prevented by divine grace.

"We stand no longer than God hold us and go no further than He carries us. Those that hope in God's word may be sure that the word will not fail them, and therefore their hope will not make them ashamed."

My prayer this day echoes David's. I need sustaining and upholding grace. I will find it as I meditate on the truths of the Scripture and as I am filled with the Holy Spirit who works in us through the Scripture.

I say that I will find it there because it profoundly strikes me that all of these two-word prayers have one remarkable thing in common - the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

"revive me according to Thy word"

"strengthen me according to Thy word"

"teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes"

"establish me in Thy word"

"all Thy commandments are faithful, help me"

"save me, for I have sought Thy precepts"

"sustain me according to Thy word"

"uphold me that I may have regard for Thy statutes continually"

Wow!

Do you need reviving and strengthening? Do you need to be taught? Do you need to be established and helped and saved in and from the storms of life? Do you need sustaining and upholding grace to keep going? I surely do and therefore I need the word.

I think I'll go spend a little more time in it and I pray that you will too!

Sustained by His grace according to His word,

Lori

A Time for Everything / A Purpose in Everything - Ecclesiastes 3

"There is an appointed time for everything.

And there is a time for every event under heaven.

A time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to tear down, and a time to build up.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones;

a time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing.

A time to search, and a time to give up as lost;

a time to keep, and a time to throw away.

A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together;

a time to be silent, and a time to speak.

A time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace....

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

He has also set eternity in their heart....

I know that everything God does will remain forever;

there is nothing to add to it

and there is nothing to take from it,

for God has so worked that men should fear Him."

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 - selected verses)

The Byrds sang these words from Ecclesiastes well. "To everything - turn, turn turn, there is a season - turn, turn turn, and a time for every purpose under heaven." Things change and shift and swing pendulumatically in this life. We are born, we die. Things are built, things are destroyed. Day becomes night. Summer turns to winter. Turn, turn, turn.

These words are familiar to the redeemed and to the rebel alike. They are poetic and they are poignant. They teach us that there is indeed a time for everything - for everything! However, the broader context teaches us that there is also a purpose for everything.

That purposefulness is what got my attention this morning. Here's what struck me:

First, God is sovereign in this world of changes. "There is an appointed time for everything." (vs 1)

Our times - even our changing times - are in His hands. He is "working all things according to the counsel of His will" and "His sovereignty rules over all." The turnings of life are not random but regulated and they are regulated by the all-wise hand of the holy One who does all things well! "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" The answer is a resounding "yes"!

Things in this life are mutable, but the God of this life is immutable. So is His promise to work "all things together for the good of those who love Him and are the called according to His purposes." Let us, therefore, not be shaken by the shifting sands of time but let us be secured by the steadfast Rock of Ages!

Second, God is working wonderfully here in the middle of life's changes. "He has made everything beautiful in its time." (vs 11)

Our God is orchestrating this magnificent symphony of life with absolute perfection and with glorious harmony. It is beautiful even if it appears filled with dissonance and discord.

We need to remind ourselves of where we are in the grand scheme of things. We are not living at the beginning of the masterpiece of creation where the shear awe of the dawning of day causes us to go "Wow!! What an incredible plan!" We are also not living at the end of creation where all of the pieces are nicely tied up and the crowning acts of providence are laid out in valiant victory. No, we are living slap dab in the middle of it all. We know that the ball is rolling because we are rolling with it and we know it is heading to some spot, but as of yet we can't quite tangibly take hold of its ultimate destination. So at times, while living here in "middle earth", we find ourselves wondering if there really is a rhyme or reason to the continual turning of the sphere of existence. Is someone really conducting the concert of life or are we all just doing our own thing and making a mess of the music along the way?

Oh, there is a Conductor and there is an Artist. And He is directing and designing with the utmost of perfection and purpose.

While changes often seem meaningless and their shadowy outlines often appear sketchy they are all part of the perfect plan of the Grand Architect. "While the picture is being drawn we see not the beauty, but when the artist has given it its finishing strokes, then all appears very good" (Matthew Henry).

We are living on the back side of the Persian rug. Here we see the knots - but the knots are that which form the most detailed beauty in the whole tapestry. There we shall step and behold the other side - the finished work - the masterpiece! At that hour we will all stand amazed at the perfect wisdom of our perfect God in every part of His perfect providence. "He has made everything beautiful in its time."

Third, God has so ordered the constant ebb and flow of life under the sun that it should make us long for the constant security of life beyond the sun. "He has also set eternity in their hearts." (vs 11).

I remember years ago reading through C.S. Lewis' book "Mere Christianity" and being grabbed by his idea that the very fact that nothing in this life ever truly satisfies is in and of itself a testimony of the fact that we were made for someplace else - someplace better - someplace other - someplace eternally satisfying. That is exactly what Solomon is talking about. This is not our home. We are "aliens and strangers" who are merely tabernacling on our way to the true land of our habitation - heaven. Aren't you yearning for something more? Is it not because you were made for something more? All of creation is groaning and anxiously longing for the consummation of the ages. (Romans 8:18-25). I know I am!

Finally, God's ordained decrees are perfectly purposed! "I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take away from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him." (vs 14).

This is what blew me away this morning. There is a time for everything. There are changes in everything. There is longing for more in everything. There is a God-ordained purpose in everything!

God is eternal and so are the works He has done. God is perfect and so are the plans He has performed. There is not one single mistake in any of His ways. There is nothing missing nor anything to excess.

Listen to Mr. Henry's words on this very thing:

"We must be satisfied in the disposals of divine providence, both as to personal and public concerns. Let all be as God wills, for no matter how it crosses our designs and interests, God's will is His wisdom and that counsel needs not to be altered. If we could see it all together in one view we should see it so perfect that nothing could be added to it for there is no deficiency in it, nor should anything be taken from it, for there is nothing in it that is unnecessary or that can be spared."

Do you get that? Do I get that? There is nothing - NOTHING in our lives that has happened without Divine purpose. NOTHING that has come our way nor anything that has been removed from our path that has not happened in perfect faithfulness and omniscient wisdom. All has been done with holy purpose!

Are you overwhelmed by the turns of your life? Oh, my friend don't be. God has sovereignly ordained every single step of your life here in "middle earth". He has sovereignly ordained every single step and every single detail that we might not be satisfied here with the temporary but that we might hunger and thirst for the eternal and He has done it all with perfect purpose.

Life changes - God's character, God's promises, God's perfect plan does not. Rest in the immutable. Rest in the Beautiful. Rest in the Eternal. Rest in the reverent fear of God which is the beginning of all true and lasting wisdom under the sun. Rest my friends - rest!

Turning with purpose in the hands of my Potter,

Lori

What Are You Thinking About? - Psalm 119 (part 13)

"Oh how I love Thy law!

It is my meditation all the day.

Thy commandments make me wiser

than my enemies,

for they are ever mine."

(Psalm 119:97-98)

David loves God's law and that love is shown to be more than just momentarily emoted romanticism by the fact that David thinks on God's law. The law of God is his meditation ALL the day. God's commandments are EVER his.

What about us? If we say that we love the Word can we back up our lip service by our thought service?

What are you and I thinking on all the day? What is ever in our minds? What are we carrying around in our heads and in our hearts as we go about life? The answer to those questions just might give us an honest clue as to just how much we love the Law.

Longing to love the law more.

Lori

Lasting Position & Limitless Perfection - Psalm 119 (part 12)

"I am Thine, save me;

for I have sought Thy precepts.

The wicked wait for me to destroy me;

I shall diligently consider Thy testimonies.

I have seen a limit to all perfection;

Thy commandment is exceedingly broad."

(Psalm 119:94-96)

I came close to skipping over jotting down any notes on these particular verses and then -"WHAM" - all of a sudden it hit me. Tagged on to the end of the "Lamedh" section of Psalm 119, right after the reminder of the settled nature of God's Word and the settling effects it has on the life of God's servant we find these three verses.

What first grabbed my attention was the covenantal language. "I am Thine...." David has done alot of crying out to God in this long Psalm. And why? Because God is his Daddy! God has entered into a relationship with David - a relationship signed and sealed in blood. Friends, through the Lord Jesus Christ, God has done so with us as well. "I am Thine!" I am God's by blood bought purchase. In view of that precious relationship I can cry out to my Father in my time of need. "Father - I belong to you, I am your child - help me!" We are, by covenant, placed in a position of lasting love - and it is an irrevocably precious place!

Earlier we saw David praying the simplest of prayers "help me." Here we see it again, "save me." Folks, you don't have to pray long to your Daddy just pray honest to Him!! "I am Thine, save me!"

The wicked lay in wait seeking to destroy the servant king. BUT David was God's and he was determined to trust himself to his Father's care. Are we doing the same? Are we in a familial relationship with the God of the universe through His Son's sacrifice on our behalf? And if so, are we resting in God to save us?

David honestly complains about the malice of his enemies but he also truthfully comforts himself in the word of God. May we do the same.

The second thing that got my attention is found in verse 96. David writes: "I have seen a limit to all perfection; Thy commandment is exceedingly broad." Honestly, I didn't get it at first and even more honestly I might not have gotten it at all had I not stopped to pull out Matthew Henry. Here are his thoughts:

"David's testimony is 'I have seen an end of all perfection.' Poor perfection which one sees an end of! Yet such are ALL those things in this world which pass for perfections. David, in his time, had seen Goliath, the strongest, overcome; Asahel, the swiftest, overtaken; Ahithophel, the wisest, befooled; Absalom, the fairest, deformed; and, in short, he had seen an end of perfection, all perfection. The glory of man is but as the flower of the grass. But God's commandment is broad, exceedingly broad."

Elsewhere David reminds us that "the law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul." In this Psalm he continues to drive that truth home. How I pray we are all riding and resting in the vehicle with him!

There is a limit to the things in this world - even to the best things - but there is no limit to the things of God. His word is eternal. His love is from everlasting to everlasting. His grace knows no bounds. His mercy knows no end. He and His Word are the purest of perfection!

Are you looking for perfection? Are you fighting and failing in your attempts to achieve perfection? There is only One who is perfect and His perfection is imputed to you by grace through faith in Christ's perfectly finished work on Calvary's cross. On that hill, His pure and perfect work was the means of perfecting your imperfection! Flee to Him with the eyes of faith fixed on what He has done and with the tears of repentance causing you to cease trying to do it on your own. By salvific adoption, your lasting position in Christ has granted you the precious privilege of being saved by His limitless perfection.

Thankful for the exceedingly broad mercies of my perfect God,

Lori

A Settled Law Leading To a Settled Life - Psalm 119 (part 11)

"Forever, O LORD, Thy word is settled in the heaven.

Thy faithfulness continues throughout all generations;

Thou didst establish the earth, and it stands.

They stand this day according to Thine ordinances,

for all things are Thy servants.

If Thy law had not been my delight,

then I would have perished in my affliction.

I will never forget Thy precepts,

for by them Thou hast revived me."

(Ps 119:89-93)

God's Word, which Psalm 119 tells us much about, is said to be "settled". It is unmoving, steadfast, unshakeable, certain, secure, and solid. It doesn't change with the seasons or alter with the tide. It is a firm foundation! We can count on the word of God and because of its settled nature it is the ONLY safe place upon which to build our lives. More on that in a minute.

Why is the law of the LORD such a trustworthy thing? Because of the One who is the Author of it. It is the Word of GOD and as such it is a reflection of the Holy and Righteous Judge of all the earth. It is His Word. 2 Timothy tells us that it is the very breath of the Living God and David in this Psalm reminds us that this God's "faithfulness continues throughout all generations." We can trust what He has said and what He has said is recorded for us on the pages of the Bible.

This settled law has many, many practical benefits for our life - benefits for the good times and for the bad times of our life. Here our attention is, once again, drawn to the grand and glorious blessing that the word is to us in the trials of life.

"David was in affliction and was ready to perish in his affliction" (Henry) but the law of His all-wise and sovereign God was the preserving delight that kept him from sinking in the floodwaters of sorrow. "If Thy law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction."

In the law of God, David found the promises of God and they were indeed a firm foundation in the midst of crumbling circumstances. I am reminded of Rippon's great hymn "How Firm a Foundation."

"How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word! What more can He say than to you He has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

'Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed; for I am your God, and will still give you aid; I'll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call you to go, the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow: for I will be with you, your troubles to bless, and sanctify to you your deepest distress.

When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie, my grace, all-sufficient, shall be your supply; the flame shall not hurt you; I only design your dross to consume and your gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes; that soul though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never no never, no never forsake.'"

That well known hymn is a great summary of this well known Psalm. We have a firm foundation which is laid out for us in God's excellent Word. Are we leaning upon, fleeing to, and resting in that settled Law? Are we trusting the promises of that word in the deep waters and fiery trials? If not we need to. With David we need to delight in this gloriously settled Word of God.

That is the very thing our Lord Jesus was pointing us to at the end of the sermon on the mount. He proclaims to all who will listen:

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock."

A life built on the settled and firm foundation of the Rock of God's Word is secure - no matter what storms assail it. There is no hurricane so intense that it can cause this home to tumble. We need to remember that and we need to build our lives upon it. The sand shifts and the house built upon that sandy soil will topple. David knew these things to be true and therefore David delighted in the firm foundation that was carved deep into the statutes of God.

David went through alot of testing trials. He had ample opportunity to test and try whether or not these things were true. Much had happened to him - many things that I am certain he would have liked to forget in his life. However, there was one thing he was determined to remember and never forget - the precepts of God. "I will never forget Thy precepts." And why? Because David knew that "by them Thou hast revived me."

Dear friends, are you need of reviving mercies in the afflictions of life? I surely am. With David, in the grace of Christ, may we flee to the settled Law that we might live a settled life, may we build upon it, delight in it, and never forget it.

In His glorious grace,

Lori

A Two-Word Comprehensive Prayer - Psalm 119 (part 10)

"My soul languishes for Thy salvation;

I wait eagerly for Thy word.

My eyes fail with longing for Thy word,

while I say, 'When wilt Thou comfort me?'

Though I have become like a wineskin

in the smoke, yet, I do not

forget Thy statutes.

How many are the days of Thy servant?

When wilt Thou execute judgment

on those who persecute me?

The arrogant have dug pits for me,

men who are not in accord with Thy law.

All Thy commandments are faithful;

they have persecuted me with a lie;

help me!

They almost destroyed me on earth,

but as for me, I did not forsake Thy precepts.

Revive me according to Thy lovingkindness,

so that I may keep the testimony of Thy mouth."

(Psalm 119:81-88)

I have read through Psalm 119 on numerous occasions. I have always known that it was a Psalm about the glories of God's Word. This year I have been astonished at how often it is also a Psalm about suffering and about how God's Word is a balm, an anchor, and a reviving influence in the midst of suffering. Perhaps the theme has hit me because it is the place where I have found myself over the course of the past 12 months - suffering yet remarkably revived time and time again by the Word of God.

If you take a moment to glance back over the verses already covered in this Psalm you'll see the power of the word in helping us be victorious in the midst of our suffering struggles to overcome sin (verses 9-11), spiritual deadness (vs 25), weeping grief (vs 28), comfortless affliction (vs 50), derision (vs 51-52), and further affliction (vs 67-71). We'll run across even more examples of all of these things in the verses to come.

The resounding theme, however, is that in the midst of the languishing of the soul, the failing eyes of faith, and the doubting moments of "God, where are You and when will You come to comfort me?" the Word of God remains an anchor and a firm foundation.

David compares himself to a dried up wineskin. His sorrows had caused him to feel as though he had wasted away to the point of dried up uselessness. His affliction was great yet in the midst of it he had not forgotten God's statutes (vs 83). We would do well to remember those steadfast statutes and not forget their firm promises ourselves.

David's persecutors are on his heels yet he reminds himself that "Thy commandments are faithful." Recognizing the faithfulness of the Word of God which points us to the God of the Word what is it that David specifically prays?

Well, surprisingly it is not an eloquent prayer. It is not a well-worded prayer. It is not the verbose musings that we might expect from this gifted psalmist. David is quite often a man of many words. Here he is a man of only two - "Help me!"

We would do well to pray with this simplistic earnestness more often. We don't have to impress God with a multiplicity of words. We don't have to wax eloquently in order to inform Him of what our need is - He already knows. We don't have to verbally twist His arm or manipulate His mercy with our linguistic craftiness. We simply need to ask for help.

"God, help me!" is an excellent and comprehensive prayer. It expresses our great need and shows our absolute and utter dependance upon Him rather than upon ourselves. His word says He will help us so let us take Him at His word and ask Him, trust Him, and wait expectantly for Him.

Seeking His help and trusting that He will provide it,

Lori

Fashioned By a Righteous & Faithfully Afflicting God (Ps 119 part 9)

"Thy hands made me and fashioned me;

give me understanding,

that I may learn Thy commandments.

May those who fear Thee see me and be glad,

because I wait for Thy word.

I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are righteous,

and that in faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me,

according to Thy word to Thy servant.

May Thy compassion come to me that I may live,

for Thy law is my delight."

(Ps 119:73-78)

I must admit that I found some providential humor in verse 73 popping up immediately after the post entitled "I Am No Accident." Here David simply girds that truth up a bit more when he states "Thy hands made me an fashioned me." Friends, whoever you are and whatever you've faced you truly are a creation of the great Creator - the one who knit you together in your mother's womb and declares that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Hear the truth of your Father - the One who cannot lie!

This section of Psalm 119 begins with the acknowlegment that we are fashioned by God. Recognizing that God is the creator of his life, David cries out asking that God also be the enlightener of his mind. The One who formed the brain is the One who can formulate the brain's understanding. Here is a good and well framed prayer. "Lord, you've made me, make me to understand Your word that I might understan You more!"

In praying for a greater understanding of God's Word we will most assuredly find ourselves growing in our understanding of the Author of the word. In these five verses David speaks of God not only as the fashioning Creator but also as the righteous Judge, the faithful Afflictor, the comforting God of lovingkindness, and the compassionate life Sustainer. I think His prayer was being answered. David is becoming well-acquainted with the One whom all of the commandments point to.

Verses 75-77 particularly drew me in this moring. David declares that he knows that all of God's judgments are righteous. As Catherine Winkworth transcribed, "Whate'er my God ordains is right!" God will ALWAYS do the right thing. He will always orchestrate the proper path. "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Yes, He will. May we continually be enabled, by grace, to take our eyes off of our circumstances and place them upon the righteous Designer of our circumstances.

That is exactly what David does here. "I know, O LORD, that Thy judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me." Pause, my beloved friends. Pause and meditate on that truth. Christian, whatever you are facing - WHATEVER it is - has come to you in the faithfulness of the righteous God of the universe. In the economy of the covenant it is meant not for your harm but for your good.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

"And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive." - Genesis 50:20

Fix your eyes not upon the "thing" but upon the God behind, before, beside, and slap dab in the midle of the "thing." As you do that you will find that His lovingkindness will comfort you and His compassion will sustain you. "O may lovingkindness comfort me, according to Thy word to Thy servant. May Thy compassion come to me that I may live, for Thy law is my delight."

Matthew Henry, commenting on this particular prayer of David writes:

"Those that own the justice of God in their afflictions may, in faith, and with humble boldness, be earnest for the mercy of God, and the tokens and fruit of that mercy in their afflictions. David prays for God's merciful kindness and tender mercies. 'Let them come to me,' that is the evidence and effects of them, 'let them work my relief and my deliverance. That will comfort me when nothing else will; that will comfort me whatever else grieves me."

Friends, are we comforted in our afflictions by the knowledge of the justice and mercy of our God to His servants. If not perhaps we all need to fall upon our knees, with David, and beg the God who formed our being to formulate our understanding.

"Whate'er my God ordains is right; His holy will abideth; I will be still whate'er He doth and follow where He guideth. He is my God; though dark my road, He holds me that I shall not fall; wherefore to Him I leave it all.

Whate'er my God ordains is right; He never will deceive me; He leads me by the proper path; I know He will not leave me. I take content what He has sent; His hand can turn my griefs away, and patiently I wait His day.

Whate'er my God ordains is right; though now this cup in drinking, may bitter seem to my faint heart, I take it all unshrinking. My God is true, each morn anew sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart, and pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whate'er my God ordains is right: here shall my stand be taken; though sorrow, need, or death be mine, yet I am not forsaken. My Father's care is round me there; He holds me that I shall not fall; and so to Him I leave it all."

Samuel Rodigast, 1675 / transcribed by Catherine Winkworth, 1863

Gazing upon the Author,

Lori

I Am Not a Mistake - The Best Birthday Note I Ever Recieved

This blog will be a little different from most of my posts. I'm not sharing with you from my quiet time - I'm sharing with you from my life. I hope you'll indulge me, this day. I posted this on my Face Book page a couple of days ago and decided to add it here on my blog. How I hope that it will encourage you regarding the grace, mercy, providence, and sacrificial love of God to His children.


I don't know how many of you know my story. It is one that I didn't know fully until about 12 years ago - and one that in many ways I will not know FULLY fully until I reach my eternal home. You see, I'm adopted. I've known that as a fact for as long as I can remember. It has never been a big deal, it has simply been a reality. My adoptive parents never hid it from me and they held it forth as a good thing. They repeatedly told me that I was chosen by them.

Now, I have to admit that the "chosen" mantra with which I grew up is not quite as precious to me as it once was. Five years ago my adoptive parents "chose" to end our relationship just as they had "chosen" to begin it 35 years earlier. They recanted on their adoption promise and left me re-orphaned in the dust. No reason was given other than that they just didn't want anything else to do with me. That kind of hurt (OK, understatement) and it ended up putting a whole new twist on the fleshed out, rubber meeting the road definition of love and trust for me. But, I digress...

12 years ago - many years before Mom and Dad bailed - Phillip and I set out to find a little bit of info on my genetic heritage. It was simply out of curiosity and simply out of desire to say "thanks" if that was possible. We ordered the official South Carolina records regarding my adoption. South Carolina is a "closed" and non-identifying state regarding adoption so the 25 page packet we received read something like this.

"_________________, biological mother of __________ ____________, was born on _________ _______ in _________ county. She attended __________ Institute in ___________ where she recieved a degree in sacred music."

TONS of helpful information there! :)

My incredibly wise husband realized that this particular document had been typed on an old 1968ish brand typewriter. "So what?" you may ask. "So everything!" I reply.

An old typewriter means that all of the spaces on the entire document were the same size and therefore we were able to determine exactly how many letters each and every single word in that document contained. My mother's first name had 7 letters. Her last name had 4. The town where she grew up had 9 and the college she attended had 7. We were beginning an amazing investigative journey. We were going to find out, Lord willing, how I came to be.

Long and amazing story made short and slightly less dramatic - we finally determined that there were 2 states mentioned within the document. South Carolina (my home state) and a second seven letter state where my mother had attended school and had worked for a number of years. In God's providence that other state still had the last letter partially remaining on our Xeroxed copy. That letter was an "a" and we now had it nailed down to Indiana, Alabama, Georgia, or Florida. Now, what to do with that information?!

Well, I decided to contact DSS and see if my case worker could help in anyway at all. I asked her if she could tell me the other state's name.

"No, against protocol."

"Sure", I said, "no problem. May I ask you another question?"

"By all means and I'll help if I can."

"This other state, could you get grits there?"

She laughed (perhaps at my utter audacity) and then told me "yes." BOOM!! We'd narrowed it down from 4 to 3 - it was a Southern state!!

"Thanks so much for your help, may I ask you one other question?"

"Please do, Lori."

"OK, in this other state - would my biological mom have been more likely to eat peaches, hang out on the beaches, or listen to civil rights speeches?"

With muffled phone etiquette I managed to hear her utter in the midst of her guffawing "hang out on the beaches..." and then she says "Lori, I don't know that I should answer that!"

I let her off the hook but she had already graciously and cryptically answered my question through her stealthish "hang out on the beaches" laughter. I owe her a big thank you because she sent me to Florida - the land of beaches and the possible key to locating the woman who granted me life!!

From there I headed to my trusty State Farm Atlas to track down a Florida town with the same number of letters as the town where her college was located. Found it - knew it might be a possibility because only a year before we had met a good friend (who is also a FB friend) who had attended a college in this very community - providence! Though the name of his 1990's college had changed slightly from the name of her 1950's institute I knew there was a possibility that they were one and the same and that I might just be on my way to a major break in this mystery.

I picked up the phone, called the college alumni office and asked them a few questions about female students majoring in sacred music who were from South Carolina during the years she would have been there. During the time she would have attended, there were only 5 women. Two of them had a South Carolina home town. One of them fit perfectly into every single typed blank on that document. Friends, we had her - name, birthdate, home town, place of employment after graduation, and even married name. Everything fit exactly.

I ended up contacting an adoption investigator whom I had attempted to use eariler - only to find out that adption investigators are VERY expensive and therefore were NOT an option for the Sealy family!! When she found out all that we had uncovered on our own she volunteered to pull up the remaining info for us for free - a phone number drawn off of a driver's license. There was one catch, however - my mom did not have a driver's license BUT her father did. Suddenly I found myself in a bit of a dilema. I had my biological grandfather's home phone number. But stop and think with me, it is not like I can call up and say "Hey grandpa - you don't know me but I am your long lost granddaughter. The one that you may not have even known you had. Could you tell me how to get in touch with mom?!" Wouldn't have been prudent!!

What to do? I wanted to be honest but not foolish. So, after a lot of prayer, I picked up the phone and called "grandaddy".

A kind and ancient sounding voice answered the phone - like a voice I should have known but never got the chance to. I told him I was trying to track down his daughter. "Oh sure sweetheart here's her phone number and street address. She lives in Florida now." OK - that was just a bit too easy! (Sidenote - my biological grandfather died 2 months later. I am so thankful for God's providence in having us seek out this information when we did. It was within 60 days of being an impossibility)

So...here I am...29 years after my birth....holding my biological mom's name, address and phone number in my hands. Talk about surreal!!

I called Phillip at work. "You're not going to believe this... I've got her... now what do I do?" "CALL HER!!" "OK, I think I will - gulp!!"

Just so you know - I wasn't planning on simply blurting out "Hey Mom!! Remember me - you gave me up for adoption 29 years ago and I decided to look you up. How's life been treating you!" Bad move - wasn't going to make it!!

I HAD planned to make sure that she was alone and was able to speak openly, freely and in privacy. I had planned to give a cautious and patient prelude to the BIG KAPOWEY! As a matter of fact I had 3 pages of notes written out in front of me as a help and guide.

"Hello, Mrs. _______. My name is Lori Sealy and I'm calling you from Montgomery, Alabama. Do you have a moment to talk? This is a rather private and confidential subject matter. Are you originally from _____________________, SC and did you attend ________________________ Institute in _____________ Florida?"

I was ready to slowly prepare her for the inevitable bomb blast from the distant past.

RING! RING! "Hello this is ___________ ___________."

I momentarily froze - this could be my biological mom's voice - the source of my own voice. Time stood still.

"Uh, hi. My name is Lori Sealy and I'm calling you from Montgomery, Alabama. Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Oh, I'm sorry not right now I'm teaching a piano lesson could you call back on Monday?"

"Uh, yes ma'am, certainly. Talk to you on Monday!" CLICK!

Wait a minute - MONDAY?!?!?! This was Friday----that means I have a whole weekend to wait!! You've GOT to be kidding me! Nope - no joking on that one - just the facts - the long over the course of 2 and 1/2 day facts!!

Monday came - it took a long, LONG time to get there - and I called again.

RING! RING! "Hello this is ___________ _________."

"Um, yes, Mrs. _____________, this is Lori Sealy calling again."

"Oh yes - is your name Heather?!"

Folks - I just about fell out of my chair. On my original birth certificate was the original birth name of "Heather." It was the name given to me by my biological mother.

Yep - I had found her! I had found her!!

"Well, I suppose my name is sort of Heather. That is the name that my birth mom gave to me."

"Oh sweet child - I am who you are looking for!!!"

WOW!!

I couldn't get a word out. She had more questions.

"Lori, do you play piano?"

"Why yes ma'am I do. I've been playing since I was 5. I was a music major and I write songs now."

"Lori, are you a Christian?"

"Oh, yes ma'am. It was quite a journey for me to arrive in the land of the redeemed, but yes ma'am Christ has saved me from my sins and I am His and He is mine."

"Lori, you wouldn't know this, but when you were born I asked the nurse if I could hold you for just 5 minutes before they took you away. While I held you I stroked your fingers and asked my God to do two things - to let you play the piano and to save you at a young age."

Friends - God heard my mother's prayer!

I also found out from her a little bit of how God - in frowning providence- orchestrated my arrival into this world. My mom had been married and divorced and then found herself in an adulterous affair with a married man - a married man who had 6 children. He took her to have an abortion. There was NO way he was going to have another child - particularly not THIS way. He drove her to the clinic. They went inside, signed the register, and sat down in the waiting room. They sat there for 30 minutes she told me. Then, as she waited, a Sunday School lesson on the 10 commandments - a lesson from decades ago - a lesson she just "happened" to sit in on because she was with her Aunt and Uncle that particular weekend - and they just "happened" to take her to church - a thing her parents never did - that one Sunday School lesson just "happened" to come to her mind.

"Thou shalt not kill."

She told me it was like a lightning bolt struck her and she turned to my biological father and said "No way can I do this. I will find some way to bring this child to term." And she did. She spent 9 months living in a one room hunting cabin outside of Sumter, South Carolina - alone, scared, ashamed, guilty, wanting to die but not about to die because she was going to see that I did NOT die! And I didn't, by grace. She brought me to term and she graciously and sacrificially gave me up for adoption.

So, why am I telling you any of this. Well...here's why. Today I went to my mail box and there was a letter from this precious lady - who is still alone - no family - no husband - no children - ALONE! She gave everything up for me! And this is what I read:

"Lori,

God made you on purpose. You're not an afterthought, you're not on earth 'just because,' and you're not a random act of His creativity. You were given His 100% stamp of approval from head to toe before you were born - and the moment you were born He beamed with joy. I did too! Happy Birthday, Lori!"

We swap letters and pictures fairly regularly and every now and then we swap a phone call, but we have never met. This past Christmas I called her and got her answering machine. I told her that Phillip and I would love to come down and meet her face to face if she was up to it. I never heard back from her - not until today. Her note continued...

"Lori, I loved your call. As much as I would love to see you, I have become mostly blind and crippled so now is not the time. God is helping me to keep working for Him! It's a miracle. He is ever present with you and with me. Blessings from Him to you and Phillip and Joshua and Elizabeth. I love you. In Jesus name, ________"

Friends, I am blown away. Just yesterday I told my dear husband - "You know, I think I may have lost another Mom. _______________ has not called or written back since I mentioned us going down to meet her." My heart was sad.

This day,my heart was made glad and God reminded me - through the dear lady who suffered so much that I might even be here - that I am not here by accident but by Divine appointment and foreordination. He allowed a painfully crooked path to be the course by which Lori Sealy would enter the world - but He allowed it nonetheless - and He allowed it in His perfect wisdom and faithfulness (Isaiah 25:1).

My best birthday note ever ended with a reference to Psalm 139:13 -16 which says:

"For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book they were all written, all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them."

My friends - that's my story and in some ways it is all of your stories too. You have been knit and fashioned to be in this world at this time by the Sovereign and Wise and Holy and Righteous and Merciful hands of the Creator God. It is in Him that you and I "live and move and have our being." It is He "who made us and not we ourselves." It is He who has ordered our steps even though we think we have planned our ways. It is for His glory that we are here - whether we want to admit it or not - that is our purpose and it is only in fullfilling that purpose that we will ever truly find peace and contentment and true love and real joy in this life.

Dear ones - Lori Sealy has walked through many a dark valley. I have lived as an atheistic God-hater and have been subdued by sovereign mercy. I have lived as a selfish liar and manipulator in order to gain my own way and have been brought to my knees and re-created as a truth teller. I have spent many a year as a proud and stubborn woman seeking my own self-protection from any further heartache and have been humbled by the Savior who sought not His own comfort but my comfort.

He gave His all for me - sacrificed everything for me - and He did it knowing everything about me. Knowing everything I'd ever done and thought and felt, knowing everything I would ever do and think and feel, He loved me anyway. He loved me enough to take my sins upon Himself and to place His righteousness upon me. He didn't have to, but He did! I did nothing to deserve it, but He gave Himself anyway! "Amazing love, how can it be? That Thou my God shouldst die for me!" More than amazing yet more true than anything else in all of the world!!!! This is the truest of all truths and the loveliest of all loves. This is the ultimate sacrifice - much, much greater than my mom's sacrifice for me is Christ's sacrifice for me!

"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried.... He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him." (Isaiah 53:4-6)

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus, who , although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant,being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:5-11)

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

Do you know this One who has given you your physical life? Do you know this One who is the author not only of life in this momentary world but of life everlasting? Do you know this NEW and greater spiritual life that He gives by grace through faith in His finished redemptive work on your behalf?

I have been an orphan. I have been adopted. I have had my physical adoption nullified and have been physically re-orphaned in this fallen world. I have this day been reminded by the very one who suffered for me as a human life giver that I am here by Divine appointment and that my adoption in Christ has been eternally secured by the ONE who suffered for me as the everlasting life Giver.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16).

I have been reminded that my spiritual adoption is NOTHING like my earthly adoption by my adoptive parents.

"For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me up." (Ps 27:10)

No, I have in Christ "recieved a spirit of adoption as sons by which I cry out, Abba! Father! The Spirit Himself bears witness that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs with God and fellow heirs with Christ." (Romans 8:15-17)

"He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is IMPERISHABLE and UNDEFILED and will NOT fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith...." (1 Peter 1:3-5)

The Lord Jesus Christ has suffered for me as the greatest lifegiver and He who cannot lie has sworn to me that "the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable." He swears it to you as well.

How I pray that you know this One - this life giving, life preserving, life enhancing One. You were made by Him and you were made for Him. Flee to Him in faith and repentance. It matters not who you are or where you've been (I am a testimony to that marvelous mercy). Come to the Giver of life that you might find rest and the true and rich and steadfast meaning of life.

Thanks, mom for the reminder that I am no accident but that I have been made with a purpose. Thanks for your sacrifice which was a means to that purposeful end and thanks for praying that I would know His sacrfice and therefore reach that end, by grace!!

Humbled,
Lori

The Before and After of Affliction - Psalm 119 (part 8)

"Before I was afflicted I went astray,

but now I keep Thy Word.

Thou art good and doest good;

teach me Thy statutes.

The arrogant have forged a lie against me;

with all my heart I will observe Thy precepts.

Their heart is covered with fat,

but I delight in Thy law.

It is good for me that I was afflicted,

that I may learn Thy statutes.

The law of Thy mouth is better to me

than thousands of gold and silver pieces."

(Psalm 119:67-72)

In the first two verses of the "Teth" section of Psalm 119 David has reminded us of the good dealings of God with His people - no matter how things may look - and of our need for Biblical discernment regarding that fact. We are so easily led by the whims of this world, by the circumstances of life, and by the fickleness of our feelings. We need to be led by truth - and God's Word is truth.

These next six verses are a great picture of how things are not always as they "feel" to us. David is once again talking about affliction and here he instructs us on its before and after. I can say it no better than Matthew Henry does in his commentary. His words were poignant and I shall simply direct you to them this day.

"David tells first of the temptations of a prosperous condition. '"Before I was afflicted" or while I lived in peace and plenty, and knew no sorrow, "I went astray" from God and my duty.' Prosperity is the unhappy occasion of much iniquity; it makes people conceited of themselves, indulgent of the flesh, forgetful of God, in
love with the world, and deaf to the reproaches of the word.

"Second, David tells of the benefits of an afflicted state: 'Now I have kept Thy word, and so have been recovered from my wanderings.' God often makes use of afflictions as a means to reduce those to Himself who have wandered from Him. The prodigal's distress brought him to Himself first and then to his father."

David has spoken of the good benefit of affliction and that goodness is derived from the goodness of God. He who is good is the Fount from which the beneficial working of hard things flows. "Thou art good and doest good."

The particular affliction that David is addressing in this section of Psalm 119 has to do with the proud and lying tongues of his enemies. "The arrogant have forged a lie against me." They have slandered and scorned him and have sought to destroy his good name. Yet, how does David respond? He responds with trust in the good God who does good and who has always dealt well with him. He will not treat them as they treat him but will seek, by grace, to love his enemies and pray for those who persecute him. Repeatedly David was granted opportunities to pour out vengeance on his enemies - particularly King Saul - but he would not. He would let God's word be His standard. "With all my heart I will observe Thy precepts." That's a lesson we would all do well to learn.

David didn't seek to desecrate those who dogged him and he also didn't give in to the temptation of envying the wicked's seeming prosperity. He considered them to have a "heart covered with fat." Again I turn to Henry:

"The proud are at ease; they are full of the world, and the wealth and the pleasures of it; and this makes them secure and stupid; they are past feeling. They roll themselves in the pleasures of sense. I would not change conditions with them. I delight in Thy law and build my security upon the promises of God's Word. The children of God, who are acquainted with spiritual pleasures, need not envy the children of this world their carnal pleasures."

Let us not delight in the ways of the wicked but in the way of the Word and let us not despise the affliction God has alotted. Beloved, "it is good for me that I was afflicted that I may learn Thy statutes." Have you experienced the blessings that flow after affliction? Trust Him and you will. Once you have you will be able, with David, to rejoice that the Word of God which was learned in the school of affliction has become more precious to you than "thousands of gold and silver pieces."

Thankful for having learned a little bit about the after,

Lori

He Has Dealt Well. He Will Grant Wisdom.- Psalm 119 (part 7)

"Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant,

O LORD, according to Thy word.

Teach me good discernment and knowledge,

for I believe in Thy commandments."

(Psalm 119:65-66)

God has been good to His people. He has not treated us as our sins deserve. He has shown us much mercy and grace and lovingkindness. As the Puritans once said - "Anything this side of hell is pure grace." Christ has spared us from the one thing we truly deserve so everything else is icing on the cake - pure grace icing!

David knows this full well and he therefore begins this section of Psalm 119 with an acknowledgment of God's good dealings with him. "Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant, O LORD, according to Thy word." I can't help but think of the words of the sons of Korah that are found in Psalm 84 : "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." God withholds NO good thing from His children and if He has directed something in your path - even if at the moment the "thing" seems hard and bad - please trust that He has brought it about to serve ultimately as a good thing for you.

God has planned all of our ways in perfect faithfulness (Isaiah 25:1) even the ways that seem crooked and bumpy and difficult to travel upon. God knows how to make the rough ways smooth and He will do so in His perfect timing for He is working all things together for the good of those who love Him and are the called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).

Mr. Henry writes: "However God has dealt with us we must own that He has dealt with us better than we deserve, and He has dealt with us in love and with design to work for our good."

David, who has faced so much, trusts that God has dealt well with Him. He trusts that it is so because the Word declares it to be so - "Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant, O LORD, according to Thy Word." The Word of God is the standard by which David will determine what is true. He will not base his belief on his feelings or his circumstances but will let the Law and the Testimonies of His God to be the lens through which he views his life.

Recognizing what the Word declares and believing it to be true, David understandably pleads with God to teach Him to know this Word. "Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in Thy commandments."

God has dealt well with Him. He has given Him a new heart and an eternal hope. Knowing that God has granted these immeasurable and imperishable gifts He now pleads with His Father to grant Him a mind to understand and make good use of the commandments. This prayer of David parallels perfectly with James chapter 1. There, James the bond-servant of Christ marvelously echoes David's plea.

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Whatever we encounter - even trials - have a good and perfect and sanctifying result. (Sounds like verse 65, "Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant." ) In whatever perfecting path God has placed us on we have need to pray for wisdom to make the right use of it. We need God to teach us good discernment and knowledge. We need Him to do so and He will do so for He loves to give generously and without reproach those things that are necessary.

Friends do you recognize just how wonderfully well He has dealt with you? Do you recognize that the Scriptures declare His all-wise and all-good sovereignty in whatever path you are traveling? Are you begging Him to help you increase in your discernment and knowledge and faith? It is a good prayer may we be diligent in uttering it.

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Utterly Derided / Abundantly Comforted - Psalm 119 (part 6)

"Remember the word to Thy servant,

in which Thou hast made me hope.

This is my comfort in my affliction,

that Thy word has revived me.

The arrogant utterly deride me,

Yet I do not turn aside from Thy law.

I have remembered Thine ordinances

from of old, O LORD,

and comforted myself."

(Psalm 119:50-52)

David was all too familiar with derision, false accusation and slander. He had taken a good tongue lashing in his time. He had experienced first hand what it was like to be railed against by foes - both familiar and unfamiliar foes. David had been dogged by strangers and by those who were incredibly close to him - friends and family. Even his own son had sought to destroy him with words and with deeds.

Recognize just how much David owns what he is writing. Here is a brother who has been wounded repeatedly by the darts of derision. We would do well to listen to his prayer in regards to it and to heed his advice.

The singing king begins his prayer with a request that God would hear him and not forget the gracious and merciful promises of His Word. David, the servant of God, needs hope so he turns to Israel's TRUE King, the God of hope. "Remember Thy word to Thy servant, in which Thou hast made me hope." In His trying times David turns to God and pleads the promises. God has promised to be a God to him, with him, and for him. He had promised to never leave nor forsake Him. He had promised that the righteous would never be shaken. David, in his distress, is simply taking God's own Words and preparing them as a prayerful suit before the great Judge of all the earth. "This is what You have said, O God, please do what you have promised that You will."

That is a good prayer pattern for us as well. Are we using the Word of God as the compass for our requests? I'm reminded of John Newton's old hymn:

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare; Jesus loves to answer prayer;

He Himself has bid Thee pray, therefore will not say thee nay;

therefore will not say thee nay.

Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring;

for His grace and power are such, none can ever ask too much;

none can ever ask too much.

Let us turn to the God who cannot lie in our times of trouble and let us turn to His word as the stencil of prayer. He will remember His word to us. Let us find great hope in that.

David did find hope in that. In verse 50 he records "this is my comfort in my affliction, that Thy word has revived me." David had, many times, been on the brink of demise but the Word of God quickened him. The law and testimonies truly were his delight and as he meditated on them day and night he found hope and comfort rising within. Is the Word of God a comfort to you in your affliction? Are you turning to it as a resurrecting force when you are "dead in sin" and "dead to duty"? The law of God brings life. Flee to the fount of vitality!

Verses 50-51 continue the train of thought. "The arrogant utterly deride me, yet I do not turn aside from Thy law. I have remembered Thine ordinances from of old, O LORD, and comfort myself."

David has prayed for God to remember what He has promised. He has reminded himself of the life-giving power of the Word. Now he is being honest about the insults of his enemines but in the midst of that acknowledgement he still affirms the anchor that the Law of God is to him. His enemies may seek to destroy him. They may laugh and hiss and scorn and rage but David will not turn from the firm foundation that is laid for his faith in God's excellent Word! What about us? In the great gales of persecution, in the midst of being made a mockery, in the times when we are about to be embarrassed by our enemies are we able to say with David "the arrogant utterly deride me, yet I do not turn aside from Thy law."

Please note that David is being UTTERLY derided by the arrogant. This is no juvenile "nanny nanny boo boo" type of insult. This is serious. This is hard. These are overwhelming words that have feet to them. But David will not recant.

Matthew Henry says: "Those can bear but little for Christ that cannot bear a hard word for Him." O Lord, help us to bear a little for you knowing that you bore all for us!!

How did David keep from turning aside? He turned even more fully TOWARD that which his enemies sought to tear him from. They wanted to make him forget. He set his sites on remembering all the more! "I have remembered Thine ordinances from of old, O LORD, and comfort myself." When others would have you look away from the Law and the Testimonies that is the time to gaze all the more intensely upon it. Lock in. Load up.

Are you utterly derided this day? Know that through God's word and according to God's promise you are abundantly comforted. Turn not to to the armies of the arrogant turn to the armor of the Almighty!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

Established to Revere -Psalm 119 (part 5)

"Teach me, O LORD, the way of Thy statutes,

and I shall observe it to the end.

Give me understanding,

that I may observe Thy law,

and keep it with all my heart.

Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments,

for I delight in it.

Incline my heart to Thy testimonies,

and not to dishonest gain.

Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity,

and revive me in Thy ways.

Establish Thy word to Thy servant,

as that which produces reverence for Thee."

(Psalm 119:33-38)

The theme throughout Psalm 119 is in regards to the Word of God. Here in the longest chapter of the Bible (176 verses) we are granted the privilege of watching David's meditations and earnest prayers regardingthe holy Scriptures. In verses 33-38 we find another prayer. Once again it is quite instructive. These points are heavily drawn from Matthew Henry's commentary this morning.

David begins by pleading with God to teach Him. "Teach me, O LORD, the way of Thy satutes, and I shall observe it to the end." What better teacher is there? There is none that teaches as He does. Job understood the excellency of this great Educator. In this midst of his affliction he states, "Behold, God is exalted in His power. Who is a teacher like Him?" May we, with David, cry out to the Giver of the law to be the Instructor of the law that we might be conformed to the law.

Secondly, David asks God to shine light upon his understanding. "Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law, and keep it with all my heart." If we are to obey we must understand. I can't do that which makes no sense to me. How we need to beg of God to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. May He grant us understanding that we might keep and observe with a whole herat.

Thirdly, David "prays for God to bow his will and quicken the active powers of his soul that he might do his duty" (Henry). "Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments." David knows his proneness to wandering. Therefore he pleads with God to "make" him walk. I'm with you Dave! I need a King to subdue my stubborn will and am thankful for the Shepherd's crook which repeatedly has pulled me back on the proper path when I have strayed!

Fourthly, David pleads with God to not only make him do the right thing but to make him desirous of doing the right thing. "Incline my heart to Thy testimonies and not to dishonest gain." Let us not be only willing but wanting.

Fifthly, "David prays for restraining grace." "Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, and revive me in Thy ways." Henry writes:

"The honors, pleasures, and profits of the world are the vanities which draw multitudes away from the paths of religion and godliness. The eye, when fastened on these, infects the ear with the love of them and so is alienated from divine things. We ought to pray that God by His providence would keep vanity out of our sight and would keep us from being enamored by the sight of it."

Henry states elsewhere that "those who would have the love of God rooted in them must get the love of the world rooted out of them."

Lord, turn me from it or I will run straight to it!

All of these things are important prayer pictures. We need God to teach us, to grant us understanding, to bow our will to His own, to turn our hearts to His ways, and to keep our eyes from vanity. All these things we need and the result of all these things is not merely that we would be more righteous but that He would be more revered. "Establish Thy word to Thy servant, as that which produces reverence for Thee."

The chief end of all of this is that He would be glorified. Make me love your Word, Lord ,that I might love You!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

A Stranger With Open Eyes-Psalm 119 (part 4)

"Deal bountifully with Thy servant,

that I may live and keep Thy word.

Open my eyes, that I may behold

wonderful things from Thy law.

I am a stranger in the earth;

do not hide Thy commandments from me.

My soul is crushed with longing

after Thy ordinances at all times."

(Psalm 119:17-20)

"Deal bountifully with your servant." Here is another prayer of David. It is a request for God to deal liberally and largely with him. And the specific focus of this prayer is that God would overflow the banks of his life with an ability to walk in the Word. "Deal bountifully with Thy servant that I may live and keep Thy word."

If an inventory were taken of our requests would bountiful blessing that leads to devoted duty be in the top ten? Would it even make it to the top hundred?

As David seeks God's abundant favor regarding his keeping of the statutes of the Lord it is evident that he recognizes that it is God who must grant him all ability. Clearly he understands his condition, particularly if he is left to himself. He understands "there is none who understands" (Ps 14). He humbly accepts with Paul that "the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so" (Rom 8:7) and that "a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolish to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised" (1 Cor 2:14).

David is aware of his utter inability and for that reason he begs of God to do that which only God can do - open the eyes of a spiritually blind man! "Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Thy law."

Henry writes: "We are blind to the things of God by nature, til His grace causes the scales to fall from our eyes. And the more God opens our eyes the more wonders we see in the Word of God."

The great shepherd king of old Israel gives us a great model of prayer for our every approaching of the Word of God: Open my eyes Lord, I cannot understand your Word apart from the illumining power of Your Spirit. Grant me that I may take in, absorb, and be changed by the wonderful things of Your law!!

David recognizes his need for God to bountifully deal with him in order for him to walk in His holy ways. He understands that he cannot do it himself but must have God work in him. He also sees the reason that he needs the lights turned on. David is a stranger in the earth. A blind man who is at home may be able to get around just fine in the walls of his own abode. He knows where the coffee table is. He can find his way to the couch. In his home he is safe. In my home he might just fall down a flight of stairs and severly bonk his head!

David is a stranger in this land and Christians, so are we. We need God to open our eyes so that we don't stumble in this fallen foreign field that is our current home. We need the map open to us, not hidden from us. "I am a stranger in the earth; do not hide Thy commandments from me."

Turning to Mr. Henry once again:

"David confesses himself a stranger in the earth. Heaven is our home and the world is but our inn. David was a man that knew much of the world and was well known in it. Yet he calls himself a stranger. As a stranger he needs a guide, a guard, a companion, a comforter. Let us have God's commandments always in view, for they will be all this to us. They will be all that a poor stranger can desire."

Oh that God would deal bountifully with blind strangers such as ourselves. And oh that we would long much more that He would so do! David longed. He literally ached to know God's truth more and more. "My soul is crushed with longing after Thine ordinances at all times." Do we?

Praying to ache a bit more,

Lori