Psalm 65

Man has his own sense of order, timing, and priorities. God calls us to worship.

Praise is due to God in His heavenly Zion. It shall be given to Him. His people, the payment of Christ's vow to the Father on the cross, will bring all their everything to Him forever.

The Lord has purchased us through the atoning blood of Jesus. He who chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world is now drawing us homeward in our affections. We will be well satisfied there.

The Lord has displayed His signs all over the earth. He is the God of our salvation, who hears us when we call to Him. Through His Son He has become not only the hope of Israel, but the hope of all the ends of the earth.

He who established the mountains and who stills the waters and the threatening tumult of his enemies makes Himself known. His Word has gone out with signs and wonders everywhere. What more is left now for this tired globe, tottering under the weight of sin and misery?

It is time for God to reign, not only in the heights of heaven, but with grace and peace over all the earth. Then will the river of God from on high renew all things.

What will it be like in that day?

Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard... Yet we have this testimony given in this psalm and so many other Old Testament passages of a land of blessing, a well-watered country, where the earth will give forth the fruitfulness for which it was made.

Think of it... The hills and valleys of a renewed creation will shout and sing for joy to the glory of the Lord!

Since this is our sure hope, it is our first joy (and obvious duty) not to fill our bodies with intoxicants, but to fill our hearts every day with the Holy Spirit, and to worship the Most High God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 64

 “Help!”

This is the cry of the worshiper. This is my cry. Can you relate to that?

It's just reality. We need help from Almighty God. Jesus knew this. He said, “In this world you will have tribulation.” He also added these great words: “Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.”

A cry for help does not necessarily mean that a person is exaggerating the danger that he faces. Think of how accurately Jesus could have sung this psalm as a petition to God. There were enemies who wanted to kill Him. The cross is not a myth. The way that Jesus died and the association of His death with the name of Pilate are matters of historical record even outside the Bible, not just as obscure facts, but as a matter of central importance to large groups of people in the first century that rulers were trying to silence or control.

He knew what was coming. The petition to be kept from dread of the enemy makes perfect sense in His case and in yours. You not only need the Lord's protection from enemies seen and unseen. You especially need to walk in faith today, and not in dread. You can ask the Lord to protect you from dread.

Jesus did face secret plots. He did hear the taunts of a wicked mob. Why did God allow this to happen? The Scriptures tell us that the suffering of the Messiah was part of the plan of God for our salvation.

The problem of the inward evil of mankind is deep. Only the Lord knew what remedy was necessary for people to have peace with Him. This remedy was what the coming of the Son of God was all about.

It is time now for everyone to ponder the great works of salvation that God has accomplished. A day of divine judgment is coming. Either we embrace the gift of Christ's death for us, or we stand before God to face the penalty that our rebellion deserves.

There is no good reason to ignore the Savior of the world. Association with His Name may mean hardship or death at the hands of enemies, but ignoring His gift brings eternal tribulation.

“Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult!” Those who take refuge in Him find joy now. He knows how to comfort and protect His people. He hears their cries for help. He takes away their dread of man and their fear of death.

2 Timothy 3:4 - treacherous

 “Treacherous”

(2 Timothy 3:4, January 1, 2011)

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,

4 treacherous, ...

treacherous,

When Stephen spoke in Acts 7:51-53 against the leaders in Israel, He called them treacherous. “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” The betrayal of entrapment is part of the horrible evil of treachery. It is an inside job, accomplished by a friend who waits for the right moment, and then abuses a relationship of trust.

Judas, the man of treachery

Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, is the prime biblical example of this evil behavior. In Luke 6:16 this disciple of Jesus is described with this word, here translated with the noun “traitor,” “Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.” His kiss of Jesus at the arrest of the Messiah will stand forever as a supreme act of treachery, a secret “handing over” of the Son of God to those who were determined to put Him out of the way.

A culture of treachery

What is striking about the apostle's use of this word in 2 Timothy 3, is that he is not merely describing the work of one bad individual. He says that in the last days, the New Testament era, people will be treacherous. We rightly despise traitors. What would a culture of treachery look like? We do not need to use much imagination. Missionary Don Richardson describes his work among the Sawi people of Iryan Jaya, where this attribute was valued. When Richardson was able to communicate the gospel story to this tribe, they celebrated openly when they heard what Judas did. They could not relate immediately to Jesus. Judas was their hero.

A world of treachery

What if the whole world cheered when people were treacherous toward God and his people? In the last days, as the message of Christ is going forth throughout every tribe and tongue and nation, people will be treacherous. Sad. Traitors will look for opportunities to do what traitors do, even within the church.

The Lord, the faithful One

Jesus is the polar opposite of every vice that can be imagined. If all the earth is treacherous, Jesus of Nazareth is nothing but faithful. The treacherous man is the one who secretly receives 30 pieces of silver. The faithful One is publicly exposed on a cross as a vile object for our sake. How do you communicate that to people who love Judas? God leaves a witness everywhere. Richardson found a way. Jesus was the “Peace Child” who alone can end the most deadly war. A majority of the tribe was converted by the word of the ultimate Peace Child, and treachery lost its demonic grip on many lives.

Psalm 63

Godless religion brings death. The more serious a practitioner a man is of the theology, liturgy, and laws of godless religion, the more eager he is to fill his mind and mouth with murderous hatred. We live in the era of Immanuel, God with us. Every one who thinks that he has God, but who does not have the Son, has no life. It is time to walk further away from godless religion, and to be filled with the Spirit of God and of His Son, Jesus Christ.

People who are filled with the Son of God and the Holy Spirit will be full of gentleness. Religionists that are only full of theology, liturgy, and laws will soon be filled with hatred and will breath murderous threats against others.

The true worshiper of God says, “My soul thirsts for You.” He wants God. In worship he finds the power and glory of the Lord. In the praise of God he finds the steadfast love of the Lord, His covenant faithfulness, and is moved to more heartfelt and vibrant worship. Finding God, he knows that he has the supreme Good that will last forever. He lifts His hands to heaven, as a child lifts up his arms to the father or mother in whom he fully trusts.

The child of God knows then that the Lord will watch over him. He knows that heaven is real, and that the future of bounty and blessing that he has with his god is secure. Even now he begins to taste heaven's fruit in his soul and life. Even when he is by himself, even in the middle of the night, he remembers God, he thinks about God, because his soul clings to the God who is with him. He has the everlasting protection of the Almighty, and he sings for joy.

Yet just as Jesus faced the murderous hatred of those who were dedicated only to theology, liturgy, and law, but who rejected the Son of God and were devoid of the Spirit of gentleness, even today the lover of God may feel the hatred of others who have only idea constructs that lead to death. They sought to destroy the Holy One of God. Yet through His death on the cross, our life has been established. He is risen indeed, and we are full of life and love when we are full of Him.

Those who have only threats and murder in their service of God will one day face their own last day. Herod, Pilate, and Caiaphas all died. But Jesus lives. And all who truly rejoice in the Father and the Son live forever in Jesus in a place where the mouths of all the proud abusers and false religionists no longer trouble the Lord's beloved people.

Today if you hear His voice do not harden your heart. Today is a good day to move away from death by asking God for the Son of His life to live within you.

Psalm 62

We live in a troubled world where one unexpected word can change everything and one unpleasant encounter can destroy the peace that was taken for granted between close friends and brothers. Where is security in this world of bad news?

God speaks to us from a place of certainty and gives us security in Him as His gift. There is no other Rock for my soul. He is the reason that we can wait. We wait for Him. We expect His goodness and His salvation. This is the way that we learn how to have a more settled heart though we live in such a changeable world.

The perfect sovereignty of a good God who is committed to our eternal well-being does not make all of our enemies vanish instantly. Jesus was surrounded by foes who were against Him. Many of the Lord's servants prior to the cross and many after the resurrection have faced the most troubling attacks. Even when they felt that they had no strength left, trouble continued, even from false friends. Yet God was still their sure hope.

Something different was happening in the case of Jesus. His purpose in facing suffering was ultimately to take the judgment of God due against us for our sin. Yet even then, he committed Himself to His Father. He said, “Into Thy hands I commit my spirit.”

We need to trust in God at all times, together with all who call upon the Name of the Lord. Are you alone? Are enemies trying to devour you? Wait for the Lord. Trust in Him.

While you wait for deliverance, talk to the Lord. He hears. Pour out your heart to Him.

Do not entrust yourself to the wicked rich or to the mob that claims to be on your side. If they are compared to the Almighty, they are nothing. They will not help you through the day of your greatest need. They cannot bring their own souls to heaven. They surely cannot take you there. Jesus can.

God has power. God has steadfast love. He will render to every man according to His works. But now, through the life and death of Jesus, and through faith in His Name, we have been credited with the perfect righteousness of Christ. This is good news from heaven, and it is perfectly certain.

Psalm 61

Followers of the Lord will cry out to Him. It is as simple as that.

We may wander for a season, but the seed of life is still there, and eventually we can't stand all the madness of death that seems to define us. And so we cry out to the Lord. And He hears us. He listens to our prayer.

We could be so far away from His Jerusalem, and yet He will hear. We could have only the last breath of strength in us. Our weak soul, He still knows.

And He will lead you to Himself, to the Rock that is higher than you.

This One God has already delivered His people from the greatest enemies that were ever arrayed against us. Sin, death, hell, the demands of His holy law... These were all coming hard against us. We did not stand a chance. But Christ has conquered them with His righteousness and blood. The Lamb of God has rescued us.

Now He has established a New Jerusalem above where we can dwell with Him forever. No enemy can harm us there.

The Lord has heard the vow of Christ, to bring to God the praise of the nations. He will do it.

You have made your solemn promise in Him, to believe in Him, and to follow His voice. You have called upon the Name of the Lord. You are coming to Him even now.

Worship the King of kings! His heritage in heaven has become your inheritance. May the King live forever. He certainly will. “Jesus lives and so shall I. Death, thy sting is gone forever.”

The steadfast love and the faithfulness of the Lord God that watched over His own dear Son watches over all those who are sons of God in Him. This is the love of God for you. This is your security and safety today as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

This is why you worship. This is why we sing.

Psalm 60

It is a challenge to hear stories of abundance and joy when you are lonely or facing severe difficulties. If this is your story today, you do not need to pretend that everything is alright. Bring your honest lament before God. He hears the cries of the afflicted.

“O God, you have rejected us.” These are the sincere words of a troubled Israelite. They sound improper to the religious ear. But then what can we say about the cry of the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah 49:4, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing.” Or who can forget His words from the cross (quoted from Psalm 22): “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

The truth is sometimes complex. God has not utterly rejected His Israel. Yet who knows what to say to the deeply troubled people of the Lord when it would appear that all is lost? In all situations we want to keep talking to God and we want the conversation to be honest.

God does use His enemies to discipline His beloved children. Yet the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Therefore we have courage to add to our lament this good request: “Oh, restore us!”

When the whole land or even a solitary life is shaken, we can only turn to the One who said in Haggai 2:6, “Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.” We recall the next verse as well, “And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.” If the Lord has made the land to quake, He can also repair its breaches.

God has set up a banner in Jesus Christ to those who are suffering. He understands what it is to be alone, to be in pain, to be without clothing or shelter, to be hungry and thirsty, to grieve, and to wonder how long it will all last. He did all this, and was also without sin. The suffering servants of God can flea to the One great Suffering Servant. You will not find Him today as a baby laying in a feeding trough, though it is so good to celebrate His birth. He is not on a cross, though there is glory in that for those who have eyes to see what He accomplished there. His body is not dead in a borrowed grave anymore. Today, as foretold in Isaiah 11:10, “His resting place shall be glorious.” These words have been fulfilled. He who suffered far more than we have, inhabits the highest glories of heaven, and He also dwells in the praises of His people. He will hear you when you cry to Him. He is able to sympathize with all who suffer. His beloved ones will be delivered soon. He will answer us and will give salvation by His mighty right hand.

In days of old, He fulfilled His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, giving them the land of Canaan. Now He has gone way beyond this as He foretold so long ago in Isaiah 49:6. “"It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

God has done this by the Jewish Messiah. It is time for His people to find Him again. Imagine... The Law and the Prophets were right! The Suffering Servant has come and won an eternal victory for His suffering servants. Isn't it obvious by now that the Jewish prophets that foretold this worldwide victory of the Servant of the Lord were correct? Why should the Jews be left out of this celebration, when Egyptians and Iraqis are finding life in Him? It is time to take “Yes” for an answer. The Lord's suffering children will see Him who was pierced for us, and they will find Him who has loved us with an everlasting love.

He has not utterly rejected us. Sometimes it just feels that way, but the facts do not bear out that conclusion as God's last word to us. He will keep His covenant love forever. His cross is an undeniable badge of His determination to fulfill every promise made to His people in His Word. He who has defeated sin and death will bring you help against every formidable foe. Even now, He will bring you a little hope, and will revive your wounded soul. Trust in Him. He will heal. He will bless.

Psalm 59

What can explain the evil that insists on entrapping another person with the purpose of killing him? Yet the first two brothers that were born, Cain and Abel, instruct us, one with his life and another with his death, that this deep evil is possible.

After sin entered the world through Adam, there have been many dangerous enemies among men, and we have needed men to protect us. But this story of enemies and protection goes beyond the history of mankind, and required a solution more mysterious than hiring a well-armed night watchman.

Someone existed before the first man was created who was ready to sow weeds in God's garden. Jesus calls him an enemy. He came to steal and to kill and to destroy. We need help from the One who defeated this ancient enemy through His own death. God disarmed the fallen angelic rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in His Son. All human allies of these enemies and their larger human associations of corrupt and oppressive governments have been put on notice through the resurrection of Jesus Christ that a new order of powerful righteousness is coming and is even already among us.

God's people have anticipated that ultimate victory from heaven for many centuries. They cried out to Him when the powers of darkness swirled all about them. At times He intervened through a protector who provided a way out in this life. At other times he rescued His children by bringing them out of this life into His arms of eternal safety, even through the agency of murderous men and angels.

The great salvation that Jesus won for us, that victory that secured our presence in a world without evil, did not come by the avoidance of death, but by the willingness of God to enter into this creation and to save many through one death.

What was it like for Christ to suffer for us. The psalms give us a glimpse of what He was up against. Those who suffer at the hands of evil and injustice taste some of His experience personally.

Fierce men stood against Him. They stirred up trouble against Him. They come out at night like a pack of wild dogs. They imagined that no one could stop them in their hatred and lies. But there is a God who hears.

Who is this God? He is the God of creation who made all things out of nothing. He is the God of salvation, who came to save by becoming God with us in Bethlehem. He is the Son of God who died on a cross, and the Spirit of God who was poured out on the young church at Pentecost.

He, by His power, created worlds, and brought new life to stony hearts. He is the God of heavenly hosts and the Lord of His chosen nation, Israel. He laughs at nations that imagine themselves more real and powerful than the only I-AM. He rules over His people to the ends of the earth.

He has strength enough to keep His servants and to destroy their adversaries forever. He has steadfast love for us which shall never be taken away. He is our refuge in the day of our distress.

Whether we commit our souls to Him today with our final breath, or whether He pushes our adversaries away from us that we might continue to serve Him here below for another day we cannot say. He is God, and the length of His servants' lives is in His hands. We know that it is far better to go to be with Him, but often we are persuaded that He has more for us to do before He calls us home.

In our distress He may seem to be sleeping, but He does not sleep. We cry out to Him asking Him to wake up because we do not know what to say, and we need a Savior to act right now if we are to stand for Him on the earth in the morning. Therefore His holy ones have always cried out to Him, and He hears their cries.

He heard the cries of Jesus. Through His death, not only have evil men and angels been defeated, but the people of God have been saved. His resurrection is our assurance that our Lord will be our Help forever in the land of the living.

Deuteronomy 9

Who can stand before the sons of Anak? They were big, frightening people, and some of them were still in the land of Canaan at the time of the conquest. They stood as living examples of the multitudes of adversaries that stand against the purposes of God even today.

God had given the land of Canaan to Israel. But the Anakim stood in the way of the accomplishment of that purpose.

God had an eternal purpose to bring back a reunited heaven and earth, full of his people who would be perfectly directed by the Holy Spirit, not out of compulsion, but by the perfect renewal of their wills. But sin, death, and hell stood in the way, enemies that were far bigger than the Anakim.

Only the Lord could give Canaan to the Israelites. Only God could secure the new heavens and earth for the people of the Messiah.

The Lord wanted the Israelites to know for certain that their deliverance did not spring from their own perfect righteousness. It was grounded in the Lord's own covenant faithfulness, and had more to do with the unrighteousness of the Canaanites than with any assessment of merit that could be awarded to the descendants of Jacob. That was a humbling message that needed to be repeated many times throughout the pages of the Law and the Prophets.

The Israelites were not a shining example of what the inhabitants of heaven would look like. They were stubborn. They would not hear and obey the voice of the Lord. Their persistent unrighteousness would eventually lead to their exile.

Were the nations of the Gentiles any better? Not at all. Both Jew and Gentile needed a truly righteous Substitute. Through faith in His Name we have life and peace and a righteousness that is not our own.

The record of the church has revealed our own stubborn hearts. If our hope was in our own righteousness apart from Jesus Christ it would be groundless. But our hope is in the righteousness of Christ.

As with the history of the Jews from Egypt to the plains of Moab and beyond, the history of the church is weighed down with example after example of our misguided zeal, our petty squabbles, and our prideful resistance to the ways of the Lord. Yet God has determined to preserve a people in Christ from both the Jews and the Gentiles.

The episode of the golden calf was a reminder to the descendants of Jacob of their own failure to keep God's Law. As soon as the Law was inscribed on tablets of stone by the finger of God, Israel was already worshiping an idol.

At that time the Lord used the intercession of Moses, their mediator, to save them, and to continue in His commitment to them. How many times has our Mediator, Jesus Christ, interceded for us? His blood, the blood of the eternal covenant which was shed on the cross, still speaks a saving word for us before the throne of the Almighty.

The Israelites also rebelled against the Lord at Massah in the wilderness. They would not believe Him or obey Him.

Our record of faith and righteousness is not good in this day of testing. We should yield all of our failures of faithlessness up to the Lord. We should lay our sins again today on Jesus, just as the Old Testament priests laid their hands on goats year by year on the Day of Atonement confessing the sins of Israel. But there is eternal healing for all the people in the blood of the Lamb of God.

Our unrighteousness, our unbelief, and our willful rejection of the ways of God stood against us. These enemies within were formidable foes. But Christ was able to fell these sons of Anak in our hearts. One day we will have no more traces in us of the old man of the flesh, though still today we feel that death within. Yet the life of Christ is in us, and He will win the battle.

Deuteronomy 8

God had promised Israel the blessings of a virtual heaven on earth if the nation would obey His voice. While the Lord had revealed Himself as merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, this did not mean that He would be satisfied with partial obedience. “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.”

God led Israel through the wilderness for these many years, providing daily bread from heaven. But man does not live by bread alone. The nation needed to pay close attention to the voice of the Lord, hearing and obeying every Word that came from the mouth of God.

For Israel to ignore the voice of the Lord would be to forget God. The Lord warned His people about this danger, a danger that they would particularly face in any future days of prosperity. It would be very tempting for God's people to come to this incorrect conclusion: “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.”

The consequences of this national sin would be dire: “If you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

This voice of God in the Law of Moses came with a promise of blessing for obedience, but also with a solemn warning of curse for disobedience. How could any nation of sinful and weak people keep the whole Law of God in this fallen world?

There could be no doubt that Israel would need a Redeemer. This Savior did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. He kept the whole Law of God, even the eternal covenant between the Father and the Son that commanded the obedience and love of the cross.

This Savior had such a full obedience to His Father, that He had the power of an indestructible life. He rose from the dead, and He lives forever to intercede for us.

We now have a better word than the Law, better for us because the Law can only bring life to the one who wholly obeys all the commandments. We have the word of the gospel that Christ died for the ungodly. We have the healing word from the lips of Jesus Christ, who brings the dead to life.

Deuteronomy 7

The Lord, the God of Israel, was bringing His people into the land, the land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants forever. By His command they were to take possession of it.

But there were people already living in that land. God promised to clear away many nations before the Israelites, nations that were were more numerous and more powerful than them.

God would give these nations over to Israel, and Israel would defeat them. When this took place, Israel was to devote them to complete destruction. This was the judgment of God upon these peoples, and Israel was His agent to bring about what He had determined to do.

We may not like this. Yet we should acknowledge that God is the Lord Almighty. He raises up kingdoms and shatters them. He brings desolations upon the earth, and He will bring peace, exalting His holy Name all over the world. See Psalm 46:8-11. His command to destroy these nations was an expression of His much more extensive power over all of life and death. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Who can stand against Him. He is the Lord. He has a purpose in His mercies and His judgments. He will glorify His Name throughout the earth.

God was setting up the land and the nation of Immanuel, God with us. From Israel would come the Messiah.

Israel was to be a distinct people, following the Law of God. They could not have a mixed system of faith and life with the people groups in Canaan. They were to sweep them away from this small land in preparation for the coming of the One Answer for all the nations of the earth. Israel was to kill now, but Israel's divine Messiah would one day be killed in this land, not just for Israel, but for the world.

The conquest is more than many can take, though it is only a small portion of the judgment of God against mankind for sin. Many also reject the message of the cross, where the Innocent Christ dies for the guilty. Both conquest and cross would come not by popular demand, but according to the eternal purpose of Almighty God, who is is determined to bring peace on earth. Yet before heaven and earth are together in permanent grace and holiness, there will be a day of judgment for mankind.

Israel could not just blend into the world of the Canaanites, intermarrying, bowing down to their idols, following their religious and moral customs. The people of the world's Messiah were to be holy to the Lord, His chosen people.

Israel was not chosen because they were great. They would be great because they were chosen. The love and covenant faithfulness of God always comes first. He brings blessing, even to a thousand generations. But would Israel obey Him?

Christ came as the One obedient Israel. Thousands of generations are blessed in Him. Those who violate His commandments merit his hatred and the destruction that is expressed in the conquest. But on the cross the Son of God faced the judgment of conquest for His people from every tribe and tongue and nation. To walk away from Christ and the cross is to lose all rational basis for eternal blessing from the Almighty. Christ is the one atoning sacrifice for us.

If Israel would obey the Lord, they would have blessing in the land. But if they coveted the silver and gold on Canaanite idols they would be ensnared in the destruction that has come upon the earth.

God would bring about the conquest for Israel. They did not need to fear the peoples of Canaan. But they did need to fear the Lord, and to follow His commandments.

The Lord does not come to us to learn what is right. He is the Almighty One. There is no one good but Him. The conquest of Canaan, the destruction of the Canaanites, the eradication of Canaanite religion; these were all to be accomplished through His direction. Yet salvation for the earth would not come from this conquest. Many generations later, Jesus would die for us. The message of His death and resurrection has become good news all over the world.

Psalm 58

The Almighty One has given mankind a god-like responsibility to judge and to rule. Some are granted special positions of authority to be used for the good purposes of the one God who created the heavens and the earth. The Lord calls such human judges “gods” in this psalm.

Yet these “gods” are not the ultimate God. They themselves will face judgment.

Over the many centuries of human existence rulers and officials have come and gone. So many have oppressed the weak for their own purposes. Is there no answer from God on high? Does He exist? Does He see this wickedness? Will there be a day when powerful oppressors are judged by God?

We have forgotten even the names of thousands of petty officials who used their places of service to serve themselves and to pursue unrighteousness. God has not forgotten. He will judge.

Some powerful rulers have pretended to bring heaven on earth, at least for those who will be in league with them. Yet they spread violence upon the earth, pursuing their own agenda of hate. The Lord will judge them.

We might suppose that such wicked rulers were once innocent babies who only took a wrong turn. This is a mistake. The wicked ruler was wicked from birth. He eventually learned the technique of lying, but the will to lie in order to gain his own desire was there before he knew how to lie. From the beginning he would not follow the voice of God.

Eventually the wicked man grew in subtlety of mind and in power of arm or persuasion of mind and tongue. Once he secured his position of authority and removed those who threatened his power, he began to express his own wicked plans, and to press them forward with the agreement of trusted associates who had unquestioning loyalty toward the great voice. But if any “friend” looked at him the wrong way, told a joke at his expense, or simply made a convenient example to others of why they should all fear the despotic ruler, it was off to the gulag with such a man.

Where can mankind turn when they are under the thumb of such a monster who insists that he is a comrade, but who controls others as a god, yet is not good? There is a real God who will judge justly. The fortress of the wicked might seem insurmountable, but like all mankind, he too will face his Maker. On that day he will tremble.

Yet how have I fared with the power I have been given? Have I been easily captivated by dark unseen powers that whispered in my own ear, “You will not surely die.” When I was in the position of a god, as one created in His image, and charged with dominion, have I been good?

Jesus was called good by men, but even He said to them the secret that unlocks the true story of my great need: “There is none good but one, that is, God.”

I must find my goodness in Him. I must hear the voice of the one truly righteous Ruler. Pilate had the words “King of the Jews” written above the cross of Christ. The only truly good man, was the Son of God who came to die for me.

If I am counted as among the righteous, that can only be the goodness of God applied to my record. In myself, the sad record of abuse of power can be found. In Christ there was not one rebel thought, word, or action against the Law of His Father. He was full of goodness and love. He lived out His kingship during His brief days on earth in the fullness of holy love. Let me be found in Him.

To stand all on my own and to be judged as a god would be certain eternal death. I will gladly take my place with those who hear the voice of the Son of God and live.

Lord, let me never abuse the weak. Let me follow the Son of God.

2 Timothy 3:3 - not loving good

“The Lover”

(2 Timothy 3:3, December 11, 2011)

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ...

not loving good,

Jesus spoke of the generation at the end of the Old Testament era as a “wicked generation.” When a society is facing moral decline and insists on being separate from God and His ways, that society will begin to fall apart. This may be the case in a particular place when the decline is just a regional or national development. But eventually the time will come for the entire New Testament era to be over. Throughout the labor pains of this era, there will be problems with people, even inside the church. But when the entire structure of international society is falling apart, shouldn't we expect to see an intensification of difficulties? Abnormal developments are associated with societal disintegration. What will it be like just before the return of the Lord? Sane people should love what is good, but when everything is falling apart, people will not love what is good.

What is good? Jesus said that only God is good. Surely God must be the ultimate judge of what is good. In the ten commandments we have a statement of His moral law, but if ten categories are two many to think about, how about two? Love God with your whole being, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the good way. But what will a society do when the love of God is seen as a moral evil, and when the language of sacrificial living for another comes into conflict with a perceived higher duty to self? What if the church, which worships God through the Christ who led us in the way of self-denial, becomes so confused, that self-denial no longer even seems right?

The Lord, the premier lover of good

Jesus loved the good. He loved His Father with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength. He also loved His neighbor. In fact, He was willing to give up His life for those who would be counted as the children of God. His life and death were a fulfillment of the Law of love.

How can the Lord love me?

But I have not been good. How can the Lord love me? What does He see in me?

While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Christ is the Lover of the church.

We are called now to follow Him. We, of course, are called to do what should come naturally, to love what is good. This may be increasingly difficult in a world that rejects this concept.

But we must go beyond this, we must love when goodness seems to be evaporating away from our marriages, our families, our churches, and our communities. We must remain committed to serve those who may be very confused about loving God and neighbor. We must serve others out of reverence for the One who died for unlovely me.

Deuteronomy 6

Israel did not choose the nature of the arrangement that the nation had with God. The Lord gave the Law through Moses, and He commanded that His people obey in order to keep right standing with Him in the land.

But many years prior to the giving of the Law, God gave Abraham the Promise. The Law did not annul the promise of God. That promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The Law of Moses could not bring life because of Israel's sin. The voice of Christ, calling into being what once was not alone brings life. This miracle of life could only come from the Voice of God. We who hear, need to believe, and to follow. This is a very different arrangement than “do and live.”

Israel had the Law, but they also had the Promise. And from Israel, the Christ would come. He would speak, and the dead would receive life.

The Law was never a mere outward system of ceremonial observance. The one God commanded the complete obedience of His people, the fullness of love for Him. This is what the Messiah accomplished.

God is One, but the One God is complex, without sacrificing His oneness. This complexity allowed for God to be with God, and for God to come from God to satisfy the demands of God on our behalf. Without this complexity, there could be no salvation. Without the Son of God coming, we would be left with a do and live system, which can only yield death for those who lack perfect obedience; death for Israel under Moses, death for any generations that would follow, and for any others who would bind themselves to the God of Jacob through the Law.

The commitment to obey perfectly may sound possible if we do not understand the fullness of love that God requires and if we have not yet faced the depth of testing that would reveal our faults. For those who have been caught in the accommodation of idolatry, the just anger against us for our sin is an insurmountable obstacle. We need a Savior to come. We need to hear His voice, a voice that is something more than the Law of Moses.

The Lord demonstrated our failure to win right standing through Law more than once. Beginning with Adam's fall, we have had repeated opportunities to walk before God and to be blameless. Until Jesus, came and worked out the fullness of love on the cross, no man was found who passed the Lord's many tests.

We need the Redeemer who rescued Israel out of bondage to come for us and to save us. Over many centuries, the inability of the Lord's beloved people to remain with Him based on a do and live covenant was amply displayed. The gift of Jesus Christ takes us beyond the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, beyond the golden calf, beyond the failure of Moses himself to enter the promised land, and beyond generation after generation of idolatry and disobedience. His powerful saving voice of obedience is our only secure hope.

Deuteronomy 5

Israel was to hear the Law, and then to do the commandments of God and live. We have found the commandment to do and live to be death for us because of our sin.

This does not mean that we can replace “do and live” with “do what you want.” Licentiousness will not be freedom for us, but a slavery worse than the bondage of Egypt was for the Israelites.

We need to hear the voice of the Son of God calling us to a new resurrection life. Hearing His voice, we come to life, and we follow Him. If we follow Him by the gift of the Holy Spirit, we will have the fruit of the Spirit in increasing measure, and there is no law against the fruit of the Spirit. This is how we will “do.” If we dedicate ourselves to “do and live” we will die. If we dedicate ourselves to “do what you want” we will be just like a crooked and perverse generation, and we will die with Adam's world. But if we hear the voice of Jesus that raised Lazarus from the grave, then we will live, and even do, by the work of the Spirit who teaches us to follow Christ, and to keep the law of love.

Knowing this, we use the law, not as a way to life, but to hear of our need for the voice of Christ. Our Redeemer loved and kept the Law for us. He alone accomplished the “do and live” paradigm for uour sake. Now we hear Him and rise from the grave of hopelessness, sin, and death.

He heard the Law of His Father, even all the way to the cross. He knew His Father's will to deliver us from bondage, and He accomplished that will with the fullness of love and the Holy Spirit. He knew and obeyed the One God.

Idols had no hold on Him. He knew His Father, and heaven was His home.

He loved the Name of the Almighty, though those who claimed to be law-keepers dishonored His Name, the Name of the Messiah. He kept the Name in His heart in the perfection of the best filial obedience.

He made a way for us to eternal Sabbath rest, and became for us Sabbath. When the law was first given in Exodus 20, remembering the Sabbath was grounded in God's work of creation, where He rested on the seventh day. In the second giving of the Commandments in this chapter, that rest is grounded on God's mighty work of redemption and the mercy that we need toward those who are still enslaved. Christ has worked out our redemption, and now we are free. We begin our weekly life with His Word to us that calls us to rest in His resurrection, and our work proceeds every week from the power of His redemption and calling.

He obeyed His earthly parents, but much more than this, He heard the voice of His Father from heaven. He said what His Father told Him to say. He did what His Father told Him to do.

He was far from murder. He had the words of life.

He kept Himself from all adultery. He died for His bride, the church, composed of Jew and Gentile. His cross was the fullness of a husband's faithfulness and love.

He did not steal. He gave instead. He who had the riches of heaven, for our sake, became poor, that in Him we might have an eternal inheritance.

He gave a true witness with His life. In everything that He said and did, He was and is the true Word. Speak to us today, O Lord!

He did not covet. The devil tested Him, but He would not believe the tempting lie.

We have violated every commandment, in thought, word, and action. But Christ has obeyed for us, and then He died to pay our debt, and even to carry our sorrows.

Now we hear His voice and live. We do not come to Mount Sinai any more, that frightening place where we lost all hope in ourselves. We come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the company of myriads of angels, to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Our inheritance is safe in heaven, and with Jesus, we shall inherit the earth.

Deuteronomy 4

God had given His people through Moses the written Word at Sinai in the form of ten commandments. As they were preparing to enter the promised land, Moses instructed them to keep the commandments of God.

This was the way that life under the Law would work: Do them and live. Do the commandments and take possession of the land. Do them and keep the land. Don't add to them. Don't take away from them. Do them and live. This turned out to be a burden that neither we nor our fathers could bear.

At Peor, Moses reminded Israel, they had not done the Law. Their disobedience brought death.

This must not be the way in the land. The people needed to keep their souls diligently. They needed to teach their children the ten commandments; how they came from God, and how frightening it was when the Lord gave the Law to Israel.

The account of disobedience in the wilderness, the failure of idolatry at Horeb, must never again be committed. They must not worship the stars, They must remember their deliverance by God from Egypt and do the Law. They must not forget the Lord's covenant. Their God, the God who loved them with a holy jealousy, was a consuming fire.

Yet the same God who was a consuming fire, was and is a God of mercy. Even if they faced exile, even if the few that remained in the land worshiped Gods of wood, they could still remember the Lord, and call out to Him in their desperation. They could seek Him and find Him if they searched for Him with all their heart and soul. How much more should you be assured that Jesus, who died for your sins, will hear you when you cry out to him with hatred of your sin and a sincere devotion.

It is time, even now, to return to the Lord your God, and to obey His voice.

We have a God who speaks. We have a God who delivers His people from bondage. We have a God who is more powerful than our enemies.

Who is against you today? Even your own flesh, which is a very stubborn and powerful adversary to your soul, is not able to withstand the power of the Spirit of the living God. That Spirit is continually being poured out upon the church by the exalted Son of God in our day. We have a Helper who has the power of victory over sin and death. We have a new way to follow the Lord, for God has provided for us an everlasting city of refuge in His Son Jesus Christ who is in us.

Do this and live will never work for us without the cross-bought gift of the Holy Spirit. Do and live has now become live and do. By the mercies of God we live, and by the Spirit of God we follow the Lord.

2 Timothy 3:3 - brutal

“The Last Days and Better News than Brutality”

(2 Timothy 3:3, December 11, 2011)

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, ...

brutal,

The Lord has given all of us human society, and especially relationships of obedience and love within family and governmental structures. These gifts are for our good, providing us with some social limitations to aid in resisting our worst impulses.

But in the last days people will be brutal, fierce, and very difficult to restrain. This will be shown forth not only as individuals resist the moderating influences of God's gift of oversight, but even in the social structures themselves. Not only will individuals be brutal, but brutality will be readily identified in many families and among many nations.

Even churches can become places where people employ speech and actions that are course and abusive. This should not be, but we are warned in this passage that the first coming of the Messiah will not immediately bring the fullness of heaven upon the earth.

Like John the Baptist, we may express some surprise at the result of the coming of our King. “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect another.” But the signs of Messiah and the kingdom were displayed before the people. Jesus is Lord, but during this age, the just must live by faith. Too often, even in the church, people will be brutal.

The Lord's kindness and severity

This is not the way of the Lord, who tells us to follow Him through this wilderness into the promised land of heaven. Jesus is not brutal.

But it is fair to acknowledge that Jesus was unwilling to be tamed by false doctrine and brutal leaders who demanded His obedience. He did confront abusive and immoral spiritual authorities without compromise.

It is also a fact that His coming again as Judge will not be tame. But in Him, the requirements of God's holiness and mercy meet, and a life and death are offered up to the Father.

Kiss the Son, and His wrath will turn. See Psalm 2. And consider Romans 11:22 where the apostle warns Christian Gentiles, “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.”

If we will bow before the King of the Church, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, we will not increase in brutality. We will be gentled. Yet we will also see that the way of God has a severity to it that must be acknowledged and respected.

We do acknowledge brutality, even within the church, and we mourn. But the story of His coming has given us the better news of perfect love. Come soon, Lord Jesus!

Deuteronomy 3

The victories east of the Jordan River may have helped the Israelites in their faith. The Lord knows our weakness.

In Deuteronomy 2, Moses speaks to the people concerning the land of Sihon. We see human reasons why the events took place that led to Israel gaining his land. But the Lord will not allow His people to stop at horizontal explanations. Above all the affairs of nations, the Lord is God.

That story continues now with a second king, Og of Bashan. The Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites.” Each victory and gift from God should remind us of His power and faithfulness and spur us on to the next.

The conquest generation gained this taste of divine provision through battle even before they entered Canaan. The justice of God against the nations had begun. Our mission began in such a different way, with the power of suffering love and the death of the cross. Even today that worldwide mission of the church continues in the way that Jesus led. We do not go forth to kill, but to suffer and die for the Name. This could only be a victorious plan by the power of God, but the Lord is just as committed to win through the cross today as he was in a very different age to bring a much smaller victory through the conquest of Canaan. We are east of the Jordan, our entrance into heaven, yet the Lord is giving us the Land even now.

Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had already experienced the power of conquest and the victory of the Lord. The battle for Canaan itself was still to come for all the tribes, but the people of these two and a half tribes were finding peace in their inheritance.

We die daily. We offer up our bodies as living sacrifices in the Name of Christ, but we also rise again to newness of life in the joy of the Holy Spirit. We have our inheritance already, even on this side of the Jordan, for we are seated with Christ in heavenly realms.

These early experiences of conquest had a point that Moses pressed upon Joshua: “Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.” This is still a good lesson for us. We battle not against flesh and blood, though we do want to mortify our own flesh, the sinful nature that insists that the cross and the resurrection is the wrong way for us. But this way of Christ is the way of true power. It is the way that our Redeemer leads His church.

Moses was eager for the later stages of true conquest in the land of Canaan. He wanted to stay below to be with Israel in victory, but the Lord would not listen to him. He did allow Moses to see the land from afar.

We live and die according to God's decree. When the time comes for our earthly labors to end, God takes us to higher ground, and we can view the story of the victory of the Lamb from a more beneficial vantage point. We can trust Him with the timing of our release, and with the future beyond our earthly days.

Deuteronomy 2

God was giving the land of Canaan to His people, the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all those who were adopted into their number. He commanded them to take that land by conquest.

That did not mean that He was giving them every land. The land of Seir belonged to the descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother. The lands of Moab and Ammon belonged to the descendants of Lot, Abraham's nephew.

The hand of the Lord governs the affairs of peoples and nations.

God had spoken concerning Israel in the wilderness. He had blessed them for forty years with great provision. Moses said to them, “You have lacked nothing.” But he also said concerning the Passover generation that, “the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.”

But now the time had come for Israel to move into their possession, the land of Canaan. This was not their idea. It was the plan and gift of God. He would put the dread and fear of them upon all peoples.

Even before they came to Canaan, the Lord gave to Israel the land of Sihon. Sihon defied Israel and Israel's God and would not let them pass by unharmed on their way to Canaan. His territory became part of the Lord's gift to His people.

The God of Israel is the God of all creation and providence. Kingdoms rise and fall according to His command.

His sovereignty over Canaan should not surprise us. He is sovereign over all lands on the face of the earth. He gives them to whomever He pleases.

But there was something different going on in the Lord's gift of Canaan to Israel. The Lord would establish there the seed of a kingdom that would go far beyond the borders of any nation. This would be His kingdom, and it would extend over all the earth.

Israel would first move forward by conquest, but this conquest would be very limited. It was not to include Edom and Moab, at least not in the days of Moses.

But in the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a new king and kingdom would be announced to the world. The methods of its expansion would be very different. It would move forward not by killing but by dying. Yet it would be a kingdom of life.

Not only would the method of kingdom expansion be different, the extent of that kingdom would go far beyond the borders of Canaan and the territories east of the Jordan. The message of dying love and eternal life would press forward to all the peoples of the earth. The conquest of God's love would conquer the hearts and lives of people everywhere. This new kingdom would never end.

Deuteronomy 1

The book of Deuteronomy was a final sermon series by Moses to Israel as the people of God prepared to enter the promised land according to God's command. He began by reminding Israel about the failure of their parents to believe God and to take the land. That unbelief lead to the death of the Passover generation. Their children now listened to the words of Moses.

That failure of unbelief that led to forty years in the wilderness was first a failure of leadership. God had provided leaders to help Moses in bearing the burden of the congregation. But the men who had a duty to speak for God before the congregation had followed in the direction of fear rather than faith.

The unbelief was also a failure to speak the truth by the spies who were sent into the land. They combined the facts of the good land with unbelief rather than faith, and passed on a bad report to the people.

But in speaking to the conquest generation at the opening of Deuteronomy, Moses only mentioned the leaders and the spies. He charged the present congregation, the children of the Passover generation, with the unbelief of their parents. “You would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.” The present congregation bore a weight of sin that their parents had paid for with their lives.

The congregation of the people of Israel was an entity chosen by God with continuity and community in His eyes that went beyond any one generation. There was guilt upon Israel because of the unbelief of the fathers at Horeb, and there were lessons for the people to learn as they prepared now to go where their fathers were unwilling to go.

Trust in the Lord. Your parents did not. You must. Believe the word of the Lord. Follow the \Fire and the Cloud.

The unbelief of the Passover generation had devastating consequences for Israel. None of them were able to enter except for Caleb and Joshua. Even Moses would not be allowed to go. This was the power of the discipline of God and the lesson of congregational unbelief and guilt. Unbelief brought mission failure, wandering, and death. Even when Israel heard the word of the Lord against them back in that day, and determined to change their mind and go into the land, it was too late. They only added to their rebellion and to the death of the people by trying to do what God had now prohibited. And the Passover generation wept.

The unbelief of Israel was a fact to be considered. Would the history of the covenant people be an endless repetition of this failure? There would be higher points and lower points in the life of the congregation over the centuries, but the Lord would accomplish His own purposes.

We now see more clearly what was hidden in shadows when Moses spoke to the conquest generation. We see beyond the tears of Israel. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. See Romans 11:29. God's full plan for Israel would be accomplished through the provision of a Messiah.

The Messiah would trust and obey, and the true congregation would hear His voice and follow Him.. Jesus would carry their sins and their sorrows as their divinely appointed Substitute. They would have more than Canaan. The meek would inherit the earth. They would gain the Kingdom as gift won by the King who died for them on the cross.

2 Timothy 3:3 - without self-control

“The Last Days and Self-Control”

(2 Timothy 3:3, December 4, 2011)

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, ...

without self-control,

In the “last days.” people will be without self-control. That is a gravely serious condition. People without self control bring much trouble upon themselves and others. They may be utterly committed to keeping laws, but they do not seem to have power from above to walk according to the Lord's ways. Help us, O Lord!

The author of this letter, the Apostle Paul, acknowledged in another place the challenge that he had in wanting one thing with his mind and doing another with his body. He expressed this as a struggle between the flesh and the mind.

Enter Christ's powerful gift to the church, the Holy Spirit! The Spirit is able to aid us in the fight for self-control.

Not only that, Paul says this in Romans 8: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Just prior to these words, Paul writes, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

There is an ongoing struggle, but we should not be “without self-control.” We have the Holy Spirit. Send Him to us now in power, O Lord!

The Lord's self-control

God has delivered us through Jesus Christ. However, the ongoing struggle is real. We are thankful for the struggle, since sin no longer has dominion over us. Yet we also look to the day when sin will have no presence in us at all.

Until then we fight the good fight in the strength of the Redeemer who had perfect self-control for our sake, even in the face of the cross. He is able to help us.

Psalm 57

There are certain very basic facts of worship that are worth our regular consideration.

1. We are sinners.
2. God is holy and just.
3. We need His mercy for life and salvation.
4. He loves us.

We should add one more:
5. We need to yield to Him today.

The person who is willing to yield to the God of Jacob will find that the Lord's ears are open to his cries for mercy. The Lord will be his refuge.

This world is under His curse. Here we meet serious storms of destruction. But our souls find safety and wholeness under the shadow of His protection.

This great God has a good purpose. I have been caught up in that purpose, which means that He has a purpose for me. He will send help from the place of greatest power, His throne in heaven, and He will save me. Though men and angels would want to bring about my utter destruction, the Lord will put to shame the adversary who seems to have his foot on my neck.

Who is the adversary of God's people in their suffering and oppression? No matter who or what is against me today, any force or being in all of creation cannot separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus my Lord. God will send His covenant-keeping love and faithfulness to me today. If He gave His Son to atone for my sins, surely His purpose is to give me all things. Though He may seem to delay, He will not be stopped.

This is not to minimize the dangers of life in this world. Think of the powerful adversaries our Lord faced when He came to work our salvation. Think of those who desire the destruction of Israel and the church in every century. But God's glory is above the heavens, and He will be exalted over all the earth.

Pharisee, Sadducee, Herodian, the devil, a false friend... they were all conspiring to kill Jesus of Nazareth. But God brought about a fulfillment of the Scriptures and the defeat of death itself in the cross of Christ.

This is worthy of my consideration as I face the trials He has lovingly ordained for me today. Therefore, I will praise Him now.

Won't you praise Him with me? My soul has been too sleepy. My arms have been drooping for too long. Come and worship the Lord with me.

The sky is beginning to show the light and glory of the sun rising in the east. But the God who saved me is above the highest heavens. He rules over the earth. He is worthy of our thanksgiving and praise.