Psalm 36:
When I was a little boy I was lucky enough to grow up in an area that had a creek running through it. I loved to play in the creek! Just to be clear, when I say play in the creek - I mean play IN the creek. The creek bed was made of black clay, which was perfect for squishing between my fingers, for making mud balls, mud pies, mud anything I could imagine! I would pull up a bunch of clay mud and roll around in my hands or pat into a shape. You could make clay pots with stuff - it was cool! I had SO much fun!! But when I walked home I started to realize how dirty I was... not the first few hundred times... but after a while I started tying the mud on my clothes to my parents response. I didn't think it mattered because I was having SO MUCH FUN!!
When we live our lives in sin, we tend to focus on the fun we're having and not at all on the mud we're covering ourselves in. Those that have not yet come to the Lord are sometimes easy to spot by their "mud." I don't mean this in a judging way, I just mean that we don't know what we don't know. When we come to Christ, we see all things differently. We've had the blinders removed from our eyes. We begin to look at life through our "eternal goggles" instead of our "fun goggles." It causes us to make changes in our lives and in the way we respond to certain actions.
David is saying that sinners have no fear of God because they do not know Him. The plans and ideas that are cooked up in their heads are deeply rooted in a sinful heart. God is not consulted and therefore God is not in their actions. They cannot see how wicked they truly are because they haven't a benchmark to compare against. It's when they find the perfect benchmark, and see how far off they are, that's when two things happen. First, they understand the magnitude of Jesus' gift of cancelling our sins by dying on the cross and second, they want to do better because of the magnitude of the gift that was given to us.
Accept Jesus' gift today and allow Him to come into your heart. Pray a simple prayer that will forever change you.
"Lord, I am a sinner. I have tried to do life my way and I have failed. The more I try the farther behind I fall. I need help, Lord. I need your help, Lord. Please, I'm begging you, come into my heart. I want you to be my Lord and Savior from this day forward. Please show me the way."
If you have prayed this prayer, will you just send me a message so I can pray with you.
Psalm 37:
I've never been a big fan of award shows such as The Grammys, The Emmys, The Oscars, etc... These shows idolize people and usually people that shouldn't even be viewed as a role model. Society puts them on a pedestal and the "stars" begin to think and act like they're something special. Our children learn to envy their lifestyles and mimic their actions. Then when they do something stupid (and they always do something stupid - yes - Miley Cyrus - I mean you too) we wonder why our kids are doing these same stupid things.
David is saying that we need to find our pleasures in the Lord. We need to commit ourselves to His ways. The Bible has all the answers to our problems in the book. We just need to make ourselves knowledgeable in His word. I know many people can recite the words to numerous pop culture songs, but how many can recite the word of God. Shouldn't that be more important than some new song created by a self-centered, self-absorbed, under-dressed, child of God?
David is reminding us that society will always be upside down with regard to the spiritual world, but that's okay. It's still better to have God, and nothing else, than it is to have everything in this world and not have God. God is all that matters.
Psalm 38:
David is not saying to God, "Don't punish me." Instead he is saying "Don't punish me while you're angry." David is away that he has sinned and he is asking for mercy. God has to punish his children in order to bring them back to Him. When we repent our sins, God promises to forgive us. He delivers us from sin's eternal consequences, although he does not promise to undo sin's earthly consequences. Our sins may have caused regrets that will remain with us throughout our lives.
David is again praying to God about his loved ones and family members and the way they treat him. He longs for their companionship but realizes the vast differences between the way they live their lives and the way he lives his life. All the while, his enemies are constantly trying to capture and kill him. He remains silent to their threats, however, just as Jesus was silent toward the threats made of Him. There is no need to lash out in revenge for we trust in God to protect our reputation. Our defense couldn't be in better hands.
Psalm 39:
David reminds us that our time on earth is extremely short but eternity lasts forever. Our reward is in eternity not in the things of this world. Do not allow the very minute items to cause us to sin. Complaining is a sin - one that I need to devote more attention to. It's very easy for all of us to get caught up in the complaining sessions that go on during every day of our lives. We must not partake in these sessions because it causes us to sin. For more information on the brevity of life, consult Ecclesiastes. (maybe that should be the next session)
David speaks of being exhausted from the blows from God's hand. Obviously, this is a picture of how he was feeling as he was being punished for his sins. God wasn't actually beating him. It may have been David's view of punishment as he submitted himself to his powerful and loving Father.
Psalm 40:
Okay, how many of us like to wait? I have a hard time coming up with anything that I would like to wait for. God responds to our requests on His timeline. Most times our blessing cannot be received unless we go through a period of waiting. Sometimes we need to go through a period of cleansing or a period of sacrifice.
In David's time, they would use animal sacrifices to cleanse themselves but even these sacrifices were useless if not performed for the right reasons. We may not sacrifice animals today, but we still have our rituals. A ritual is something that you do because that's the way we've always done it. Here's a fine example. Do you say a prayer before your meals? If so, is it always the same prayer? How is it said? With meaning? Or is it a race to see he can say it the fastest. I remember, as a family we started saying a blessing before our meals and I made a push to slow it down and say it with feeling. It was the same prayer my in-laws said before their meals as well. When the kids were older and a little more aware of what was going, I remember a Thanksgiving meal where we all sat down to say "the blessing" and it was over before I finished the first sentence. My wife and kids all looked at me with horror as they suddenly realized that this had absolutely no meaning to people who were saying it. We had a discussion about it later to reemphasize the importance of saying a meaningful, non-ritualistic prayer that speaks from the heart.
Some people consider getting up and going to church as something they must do. They go, not because they want to praise God, but because they need to feel better about themselves or to check a box on their to-do list. God knows whats on our hearts. If your heart isn't in then there's no reason to do it. Anything can become a ritual if it's not done for the right reasons: even tithing or taking communion. God is looking for us to praise Him from joy within our hearts for the gifts He has given us. Not because we HAVE to but because we WANT to.
God's faithfulness is perfect. His love is absolute and His promises are irrevocable. He loves us in spite of our constant sinning. He keeps ALL of His promises to us, even when we break our promises to Him. For that, I am forever grateful!
The Shepherd
Psalms 41-45
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