Acnowledge God's Desire

Proverbs 3:5–8 (NKJV) ⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. ⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.  ⁸It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

Solomon’s challenge here is to “Trust in the Lord”. This trust is characterized by total commitment in the phrase “with all your heart.”  When I am trusting God I am not reliant on my own wisdom, I don’t “lean on my own understanding.”  Rather, I become fully reliant on God “acknowledging Him” and choosing to do what is pleasing to God.  Our own pride causes us to “be wise in our own eyes.”  Yet, when I “fear the Lord” I will quit my sinful ways and turn to following His plan for my life.  Solomon here is calling for us to live in absolute obedience and surrender in every area of our lives.  Then we experience the “straight paths” or “directed Paths” which are in opposition to the crooked ways of the wicked or perverse.

I cannot try to live my life half for my own desires and half trusting in the Lord.  I have to get the same attitude as the psalmist in Psalm 119:113 (ESV) “¹¹³I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.”   Christ challenged us with this in Matthew 6:24 (ESV) “²⁴“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”  And then again in Mark 12:30 (ESV) “³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

The wise person is characterized by continuous contemplation of God and a ready observance of his will, not only in the great issues of life but also in day-to-day routine. No matter is too small for God’s attention. To paraphrase one commentator, it is self-idolatry to think we can carry on even the most ordinary matters without his counsel.^[1]

The final challenge in these verses is to “Fear the Lord and depart from evil.”  To revere the Lord and avoid evil gives us a second contrast between our human wisdom and God’s wisdom.  Unfortunately, when many people seek counsel they go and find counselors who will tell them what they want to hear.  It is rare to find individuals who will seek out counsel based upon the principles of God’s Word.

But for those who will be follow God’s desire and fear Him they are promised: God’s direction, health, and strength.  How many miss out on these blessing because they will not be obedient?

 May your life be one that is characterized as “Trusting in the Lord!”

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/user/churchoflittleton  FW # 58

---

^[1] Jim Newheiser, Opening Up Proverbs (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2008), 61.

Confidence in the Lord Psalm 25

Psalm 25:1–3 (ESV)

¹To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

²O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.

³Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Psalm 25 shows us David in the midst of distress and then what he was doing to keep that distress from becoming despair.

-      David avoids having his distress become despair by putting his confidence in the Lord, Being committed to the Lord, By choosing to have integrity by confessing sin, and he chose to know the fear of the Lord.

In verse one David says, “To You O Lord I lift my soul” vs. 1  He is showing direct confidence and reliance on God.  He continues, “ O my God, I trust in You.”   This word trust is defined as “ to rely on , put confidence in , to believe in a person or object to the point of reliance upon.”^[1]

David then says, “Let me not be ashamed”  He was not concerned with simply David’s shame  but shame for trusting in the Lord – God’s name was at stake.  If God did not rescue him His Name would not receive glory.

In verse five David is putting his life on the line with God as he says, “You are the God of my salvation” vs. 5   He was trusting God for salvation.

“My eyes are ever toward the Lord”, was David’s statement in verse 15.  He would not let them wander he was to anything else it was the Lord that had his confidence.

This theme is continued in verse 20 where he says, “Keep My Soul and Deliver me for … I trust in you.”  And in verse 21 where he states, “I Wait for You.” 

I have met and listened to many people who will not put their confidence in the Lord.. they continue to speak of their problem looking to hear the answers they want to hear.  If they look long enough they will find the people to say what they want to hear and thereby miss the truth of God’s Word and miss having confidence in the Lord.

I hope today that as you face distress that you will place your confidence in the Lord.

 

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/churchoflittleton  .

---

^[1] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament), electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

The Harvest Will Come

Galatians 6:9 “Be not weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.”

In our local farming community we have gotten to watch the harvest the past several weeks and though it is almost over now we can learn some things from it.

Just imagine with me a farmer who last spring said he was too tired to prepare the field or that it was just too much work to plant the corn or beans.  He would not have had anything to do the last few weeks.  There wouldn’t be a crop and therefore no harvest and no income.  To most this is simply not fathomable.

Likewise, as we go through life we are presented with the opportunity to follow the Spirit of God as he leads us to minister in other’s lives.  Often it may be difficult, trying, or seemingly impossible to maintain what God has called us to do.  Yet, we must look to the harvest.  If our growing weary and giving up on what God has called us to do we will miss out on the blessing he has for us and God will miss out on the glory He should receive for our faithfulness and the harvest that is accomplished.

God promises a harvest for those who persevere through the trials that they face as they strive to do good in the face of difficulty.

The farmer has to work through or around the storms that come.  He has to work through the dry spells.  He has to fight the weeds that will steal the water and nutrients from the crop.  Any of these things may be discouraging but together they could really hinder the spirit of the farmer as he strives to produce a quality crop.

Similarly, we will face the storms of life at times when our spirits seem to dry out.  The incursion of many things will try to steal the influence of the Spirit and the ministry of the Word of God in our lives.  We have to seek the Lord as a deer pants for the water (Psalm 27:1) and trust in Him for strength and support that we may persevere and with His help experience the harvest that God has both promised and planned.

Confidence in the Lord Psalm 5:1-3In

In Psalm 5 verses 1-3   David says, ^“1Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation. ²Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. ³My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.”  

David put his confidence in the Lord.  What is your confidence in?  What do your actions reveal that your confidence is in?  Are you putting your confidence in men?  Your spouse?  Many put their confidence in themselves.  Others put their confidence in money and still more put their confidence in the government.

In this passage David reveals his confidence in three ways.  The first way is that His confidence is seen in his repetition.  Verse one says, “Give ear to my words”.  He was asking God to listen.   In verse one he repeated the idea saying, “Consider my meditation” .  The term here is sighing not the term we have previously looked at for meditation.  David’s troubles may have kept him from even being able to put words to his prayers.  The second verse begins by saying, “Give heed to the voice of my cry.”  In these three ways David was pleading with God.  John Calvin said this revealed his perseverance in prayer.  He didn’t just pray once and quit.  It was a day by day occurrence.

The second way that David’s confidence in the Lord is seen is through his statement, “My voice shall you hear”.   There are two sides to this statement.  The obvious is that David would be talking because it was his voice.  He was confident to take his request to God.  The other one is that God would here.  He was confident that God would listen to his prayer.

The third way that David’s confidence is seen is in his expectancy.  His statement, “I will look up” reveals that he was looking to God expecting Him to answer.  Do we expect God to answer us when we bring requests.  My mind goes to the early church when they were praying for Peter’s release from jail and when he showed up at the door they were too surprised to let him in.  We too should pray with confidence. 

I hope that today you are placing your confidence in the Lord as you take your requests to him on a daily basis.

The video format of this is available at www.youtube.com/churchoflittleton

First Word # 8 Ps. 143:5

Psalm 143:5 (NKJV)

⁵I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands.

If you take the time to look up and read Psalm 143:1-4 you will see that the context of this verse is that David has been going through some very difficult times under attack from the enemy.  He says in verse 3, “The enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in darkness, like those who have long been dead.  Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is distressed.

The repeated attacks of the enemy was overwhelming David and he is pleading with God to help deliver him from these attacks.  His confidence came when he began to remember the days of old.

What were these days of old?  For David they may have been when he was delivered from the bear and the lion.  It was these memories that gave him confidence when he was preparing to fight Goliath.  The memory of God delivering not only Goliath, but all the battles with the Philistines that God had helped provide the victory over may have been what these “days of old were”. 

It is also possible that the “days of old” were the memories of God’s deliverance for the people of Israel.  All of the plagues while they were in Egypt that prompted Pharaoh to release them, the delivery as they were trapped at the Red Sea and God used Moses to part the waters so that they were able to walk through on dry ground. 

The works that he had meditated upon may have been God’s deliverance of the Promised Land to the Israelites through not only the battles, but also through the use of insects and wild animals to move the Canaanites from their land. 

David’s musing on the work of God’s hands gave him confidence to continue to trust in God.

Though he was discouraged and was pleading with God to answer his prayers, he was still asking God to give him direction to know how to walk.  David wanted to live in a way that was pleasing to God in spite of the discouragements that he was facing. 

As we face difficulties do we give up on God and give up on living for Him?  Do we begin to follow our feelings rather than walk in obedience?  We need to reflect upon God the “days of old” and we need to remember that He is trustworthy.

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/churchoflittleton  

The Perfecting Storm of a Sovereign King

I have been preaching verse by verse through Matthew since last Christmas.  Last week found us in Matthew 14 and part of the passage dealt with the fact that Jesus commanded his disciples to go into a boat at night and head out to sea.  They ended up in the midst of a storm.  I quoted Warren Wiersbe and noted that sometimes God uses “Storms of Correction” and other times God uses “Storms of Perfection”.  As the disciples had faced a storm to bring them growth in their relationship with Christ, Jonah had faced a storm to bring him to obedience to God. To many who knew the events of the past week they might have said we had a “week from Hell.”  Yet, knowing that we serve a SOVEREIGN GOD we know that He lead us through just what He had planned.

As SOVEREIGN OVER ALL, we knew going to court (to maintain guardianship of three children we have cared for two years) that ultimately it was not the judge who would render judgment.  For as Solomon said the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord (Prov. 21:1) surely the ruling of a judge is only allowed by His Sovereign direction.

As SOVEREIGN PROVIDER, he knew our car would break down and it would have to be left in town for repairs.  He knew a friend would be in town to provide us a ride home.  He knew and directed someone to notice and drop enough for the repair bill on my desk.  He knew the battery would go dead in our other vehicle on the same day and provided someone who came and took it off the charger while I was gone and had it replaced. (Ps 23:1)

As SOVEREIGN PERFECTOR, we know that he does everything in the lives of those who have repented and trusted Christ as Savior to “conform them to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29)

A SOVEREIGN PEACE is provided by the Prince of Peace, not only peace with God because of Christ’s righteousness at salvation, but the “peace of God that surpasses all understanding.”  (Phil. 4:7)

Through His SOVEREIGN PROMISE, we know “all things work together for good to those who love God to those who have been called according to His purpose.”  (Rom. 8:28-29)

As SOVEREIGN PROTECTOR, we entrust to Him the safety of the children as they return to their birth mother.  (Psalm 18:2)

So although we may not immediately see or understand what God is doing, we can be THANKFUL that we serve a SOVEREIGN KING who is LORD OF ALL and we can and will TRUST in Him as He fulfills his SOVEREIGN PLAN.  (Prov. 16:9; 19:21) 

** This article was originally written last October.