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

 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. 

Day 1: Kure Beach

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.

 

Day 41

               A prayer for preparation Saturday. Lord, I confess that I am in the valley, the valley of physical issues, the valley of mental distress, the valley of questioning and doubt. I am looking forward to a better day and time when the troubles of this world will not even be a memory. Thank You for Your victory over sin and death that lifted You out of the valley of both the cross and the tomb. What was that Saturday like for You Lord? How did you battle Satan and his demons in his own ground in Hell? Did You rest in Your Father’s arms awaiting His life-giving breath to revive You back to life? More than any questions I have for You, I give You praise for enduring Saturday, the day between the cross and the resurrection. Amen.