Devotion for Psalm 46

This Psalm encourages us to trust in God no matter our circumstances and give Him glory for both what He has done and what He will do. It was said that when Martin Luther heard any discouraging news, he would say, ‘Come let us sing the forty-sixth psalm. What is the song you lift up to the Lord when you get bad news? (Love Lifted Me was playing in the background even while I was typing out this lesson, my favorite up lifting song. It is my testimony, only God’s love could lift me out of my sin and selfishness both in the past and as I live now.) We all need a go to song to remind us of the power of our great God!

Background: This was written by the Sons of Korah. Does anyone know who these three guys are? (Exodus 6:24 tells us the names of Korah’s sons were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph.) They were the three children that listened to Moses and stepped away from their father’s tent, Korah, and were not swallowed up when the earth opened up to quell the revolt against Moses. They went on to write many of the Psalm because of God’s provision and their willingness to follow Moses and God’s leading. The prophet Samuel comes from this lineage.

The song also notes that it is an Alamoth. What do you think might mean? Scholars seem to think that this is a song to be sung by soprano voices. Songs were typically led by men, a small choir, made up of trained voices ages 30-50. However, many times the Psalm encouraged the congregation to participate along with the choir leadership.  The fact that the song is an Alamoth, a soprano led song, is unusual. Why do you think it was written for women? As we read and study this scripture, I imagine somewhere around His throne there is a group of Old Testament women believers singing this song even as we all wait for the trump to usher Christ back to earth to call his family home.

 

Read v1-3

Verse 1 is a very familiar verse and yet it contains a great deal of good news. The fact that we can claim God as our own and he sees us as such because of Christ is remarkable. A Holy God is a shelter and refuge for unholy people because of Christ’s sacrifice. A now and forever near-by present help. How do we forget to call on our burden bearing God?

Verses 2-3 What can we count on because of the writer’s statement in verse 1?  NO FEAR! The writers go to extremes to make a point: It is our duty and privilege to be fearless. What does it mean to be fearless for God look like? Can you really deal with the Earth melting and all of this reality coming to an end? Though the earth shakes and all appears to be crumbling God remains on His throne, constant, unshakable, and in control.

Read v4-6

These verses contrast with the shaking earth and foaming waters. What does God’s dwelling place look like? He leads me by the still waters. Why do we need to refresh ourselves by God’s waters? We like the woman at the well are thirsty for His soul satisfying waters. We can return and refresh again and again without running out of water. We tend to drown ourselves in the uproar of politics, news and gossip, full of dirt and grit, which will never fill us.

Read v 7

A declarative statement that is still just as true as it was then. The Lord God Jehovah was, is and will always be our fortress. Why did the writer choose fortress as an image for our faith?

Read v 8-10

The writer has us recall God’s sovereignty and power over all things. Why do people feel that the world is beyond God’s control? What bows and shields does God need to shatter in your own life? Our dependency on God is solely based on the absolute truth that nothing in our lives is beyond His redemptive help and control. Sure, we can willing oppose His will but He can even take those actions, and turn them into good things for us and for His glory. His ability to make all things new is matchless. Verse 10 is one of my favorites “Be still and know that I am God”. When was the last time you were really still before Him? God’s personal mission statement follows “I will be exalted”. We many times think it is about us, salvation, grace and love. But I really believe it is and forever will be about Him, His Son and the Holy Spirit. If you don’t think that, Heaven might not be a uncomfortable place to spend eternity.

Read v 11

The writers repeat v7. Why?

 Play Crabb Family “Through the Fire Again”.

 Thoughts on Psalm 32

Tonight our Life Group will look at Psalm 32 and how we can apply it to our lives. It is a Psalm written by David. Many scholars think that it was written to be used in worship for the Day of Atonement, the current day Yom Kippur in the Jewish calendar. This was consider one of the highest days in the Jewish year since the high priest enter the Holy of Holies to make an atoning sacrifice for all the people. The main points made by the Psalm are confession, repentance, and forgiveness. The first two require us to willingly humble ourselves. This is difficult since pride, the cornerstone of all sin, is deeply imbedded in our DNA. The last key concept, forgiveness, is one of the many ways God manifests His love and mercy. As much as we drag our feet to confess and repent, he, like the father of the prodigal son, runs to us when we face our sin and turn from it. How appropriate that this Psalm is associated with the Day of Atonement. It also points us toward Christ, the Holy One whose death tore the inner curtain of the Holy of Holies signifying the birth of a new covenant through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. He willingly took on our sin and its consequence, death, on a criminal's cross meant for you and I. He accomplished what we couldn't: victory over both of man's perpetual problems. Slain for the beginning, Christ's sacrifice and the resulting forgiveness, will last forever!

 Day 3 Reflections at Kure Beach

Rain. I knew that it would eventually would come. I can't remember any week long beach without at least one day of rain. I don't mind the rain since it forces me inward, pausing my pursuits of outdoor hedonistic activities. The splash and drip on the deck beckons me to stretch out and snooze. I may yield to that primal call but it is still early in the day and I will try to fend off slumber until after lunch. A nap too early could thwart a really worthwhile one in the afternoon. Tomorrow means hitting the road and a return to normalcy, whatever that means in this season of retirement. All of us huddled in the house are content to slug around, intent on low stress actions,  Our minds are want to linger here in the drizzle and the pooling puddles of rainwater. However, hours away the burdens of home wait lurking in the shadow of the future.  

 Day 2 Reflections at Kure Beach

Just down the road from our house is Fort Fisher and the Armed Forces Recreation Area, a place that holds precious memories for me. The spring after my mother passed, Dad rented a house, (the Lazy Lime, Megan called it) and we gathered for a short family vacation. It was definitely different without Mom, but her jovial presence still made itself felt as we spent time with our loved ones. Time, that most precious commodity, was shared, not it memorable adventures or actions but in short, small installments of life. The long weekend passed to quickly but it culminated with the most wonderful  Easter morning I can recall. We went to the local beach to take in the sunrise and a near by church had set up a cross on the beach as centerpiece for their sunrise services. God meet us there! The rising sun warmed us as we reflected on God's goodness and his assurance that Mom was with Him, worshipping a manner we will never be able to understand on this side of glory. Jane captured the moment with a picture of the cross backdropped by the rising sun. It hangs in our house as a beautiful reminder that though we all must endure storms, God promises await those that remain faithful in spite of our moments of doubt and fear. 

 

Kure Beach Day 1

            Early morning at the beach usually is ushered in by a stillness that marks the place and time peculiar to this setting. This familiar placid scene offers a break for my soul. My usual constraints dissipate against the gleaming ocean that periodically manifest long, rolling waves. The low rumble of their break is the background sound that the spring birds tweet their melodies against. The occasional rumble of cars and trucks remind me that this second-floor vantage point is temporal for me, miles away from my ridge top homeplace. My eyes relish the obscured sun, the haze of grey clouds wisped and streaked against the blotched out azure sky. It is a privilege to return to the where land, sky and water meet, blended by our creator into an expanse of shimmering light, color and an infinite backdrop where the sky and water become one.  

 

                                                                            Spring's Ballet

Remnants from winter's dying winds blow viciously yet almost still at times. The gentle tinkling of my wife's wind chimes signal that there is still life in these northern blows as well as the barely green trees that gently sway when the wind dies. The skimpily dressed harbingers of spring increase their ballet to the tune of the chimes when assaulted by the wind, continuing to shake their new found dress in hopeful anticipation of being more fully clothed before summer's relentless heat stills the days and oppresses my tired weary body. I hide in the confines of my home, spoiled by the early warm temperatures that have encouraged the trees to reveal their pale green grandeur. I long to be outside in the elements, tending the ground, being a helpful catalyst for the renewal that is revealing itself each morning. The howling of the wind and the unpleasant chill offer no encouragement for my aspirations. I will write, reflect, plan and fill my time with other less noble pursuits. Besides, I must shepherd my energies wisely, since my wife and I have the privilege to ride herd on our three granddaughters this afternoon. Perhaps they will favor us with a ballet of their own!

 

Day 42

               Easter Sunday. As morning gilds the skies, my heart awakening cries, may Jesus Christ be praised! Lord, the words of this old hymn are so applicable today. Somedays the morning sun shines bright and enlightens the whole world. Other mornings, clouds hang low and block the sun as rain or snow litter the sky. Either way, the sun rises and Jesus Christ is worthy of praise. What did that first morning out of the tomb look like to You, Jesus? Was there a great sense of relief and satisfaction knowing that You had fulfilled Your Father’s charge of saving mankind from their sin? You stepped out of death and sin into Your glorified body, never to be tainted again! He is risen, indeed! Amen.