2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Yesterday, I gave you some of the historical background of PS 68, Israel’s National Song of Triumph. You will remember that it often recalls the journey of the Ark of the Covenant from where it had been captured by the Philistines back into Jewish hands, including a three month stop-over at the home of the priest, Obed-Edom, following the death of his son, Uzzah, who had irreverently touched it. King David’s wife, Michal-the daughter of the former king, Saul, was disgusted by the dancing, music, and song of David’s celebratory worship as he led the procession bringing the Ark back to its resting place in Jerusalem. She misunderstood her husband’s expression of profound faith, which angered God enough to cause Him to deny her any children. As promised, today we will look more closely at PS 68: 1-6, the introductory hymn to this magnificent psalm. “God rises up and scatters His enemies. Those who hate Him run away in defeat. As smoke is blown away, so He drives them off; as wax melts in front of the fire, so do the wicked perish in God’s presence. But the righteous are glad and rejoice in His presence; they are happy and shout for joy. Sing to God, sing praises to His name; prepare a way for Him Who rides on the clouds. His name is the Lord-be glad in His presence! God, Who lives in His sacred Temple, cares for orphans and protects widows. He gives the lonely a home to live in and leads prisoners out into happy freedom, but rebels will have to live in a desolate land.”
In looking at the words of PS 68: 1-3, we can see a remarkable resemblance to the words Moses spoke when the people on their way to the Promised Land were commanded to follow the Ark through the desert. You will remember that God gave off a pillar of smoke during the day and one of fire at night, visible manifestations signaling them when to move, where to go, and when to stop and camp for the night. These signals were in God’s time, forcing the people to depend on Him for direction and to put their focus on Him. That is the same desire God has for us today. NU 10: 35-36, “Whenever the Covenant Box started out, Moses would say, ‘Arise, Lord; scatter your enemies and put to flight those who hate you!’ And whenever it stopped, he would say, ‘Return, Lord, to the thousands of families of Israel.’” It strikes me as odd that mankind is so resistant to taking God at His word. There are so many individual citations and stories in the Bible that demonstrate God’s willingness to protect those who are faithful from their enemies. That surely applies to the nasty war that is going on in Israel as I write this message between the Palestinians, bent on taking Jerusalem to be their capital, and the Israelis, equally bent on preventing that. It is quite significant that this is happening on Yom Kippur, the highest of the Jewish High Holy Days and the Day of Atonement. Time and time again throughout Israel’s history, we have seen God moving into action and bringing her victory against seemingly impossible odds. We are reminded by the Savior in MT 19: 26, MK 10: 27, and LK 18: 27, “This is impossible for a man, but for God everything is possible.”
IS 40: 3 echoes PS 68: 4 with a message that needs to be in our minds today. “A voice cries out, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a road for the Lord! Clear the way in the desert for our God!’ “ Isaiah’s message refers to the voice of Elijah and prophesies that short, valiant, and crucial ministry of Christ’s first cousin, John the Baptist. It refers to calling our attention to preparing a way for His teachings in our hearts, the blessing of the salvation God offers us through His atonement on the cross, and for that time when we will hear the last trumpet (shofar) and He calls us to a meeting with Him in the clouds [I THESS 4: 16-17]. To clear the path for His coming, we must clear a way in the desert of sin in our lives right now. Look at how the words of PS 62: 10-11 demonstrate the consistency of God’s message as it applies to Israel today and to all believers spiritually. “People of Jerusalem, go out of the city and build a road for your returning people! Prepare a highway; clear it of stones! Put up a signal so that the nations can know that the Lord is announcing to all the earth: ‘Tell the people of Jerusalem that the Lord is coming to save you, bringing with Him the people He has rescued.’ “
PS 68: 5 recalls the commandment God gave through Moses in LV 19: 6 and again in LV 23: 22 that the “corners and gleanings” of one’s field should be left in place after the first harvest to feed widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor in general. LV 23: 22, “When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left; leave them for poor people and foreigners. The Lord is your God.” It is because this commandment was obeyed by Boas that the widow, Ruth, came to his field. That lead to the royal line of David being continued, leading to the birth of our Savior. How clearly this reveals the compassion God has for His children!
People who make a lifestyle out of sin are truly lonely and miserable. They are prisoners to the sway of the adversary. We are incredibly blessed that Christ’s death on the cross bought us out of the marketplace of slavery to sin! JN 8: 31-32, “So Christ said to those who believed in Him, ‘If you obey My teaching, You are really My disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ “ Take the time to reread MT 5: 3-12 from the Sermon on the Mount. It is such an eloquent statement of what a believer who persists in his faith can experience for eternity. It gives us a superior contrast to the desolation to our lives that sin brings, how sin makes a desert of our lives leading to spiritual destruction. Thanks to our Lord Jesus, we don’t have to exist that way and feel the hopelessness, pain, and despair that the lake of fire and sulfur brings.
PRAYER: O Lord, being on Earth does involve being surrounded by enemies. It is a fact that the values of the world are those of the adversary. However, You are loyal and true; You equip us to fight these enemies and to be victorious over them, as long as we demonstrate courage and endurance in our faith. We can rejoice in Your presence and experience it through trusting and obeying You. Today and always, we offer praise to Your name and that of the Son. You surround us with Your love, and for that, we offer You our heartfelt thanks. You protect us and offer hope even to the poorest of us through faith. For that, we glorify and honor You. We eagerly await that meeting in the clouds in preparation for the greatest wedding feast ever known, that Day when Christ and His church shall be wed. We acknowledge that none of this would be open to us had it not been for the sacrifice You made for us of Your Son on the cross. For that, we offer You our eternal worship. Because of Your love for us as believers, we need never feel abandoned or lonely. Instead, we have been released eternally from the prison of lies in which the adversary attempts to place us. For that, we offer You our trust and obedience. Because of You, we need never know the desolation of spiritual destruction. For that, we offer You our eternal and humble adoration. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at PS 68: 7-10, which deals with the Ark moving from Sinai through the wilderness (7-8) and the first part of the entrance and conquest of the land of Canaan (9-10). I can’t imagine not spending some time each day with the Scriptures. It offers the spiritual nourishment I need to face the temporal challenges of each day of my life. Without it, I don’t feel equipped to deal with them. Do you feel the same way? Know that God loves you and so do Peter and I.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn