June 7–Psalm 70-74

“Even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation”(71:18).

In January, 2019, Holly and I retired from 45 years in the pastorate. We moved to a new city and a new chapter of life.

Almost immediately, opportunities came to serve as an interim Pastor. A church in Austin. Then, for two years, in our home-church in Plano. Surprises, both! Opportunities to continue to serve.

Retirement, I have discovered, brings a temptation to self-centeredness. The cultural narrative, “Relax! Travel! See your grandkids! You earned this,” has been louder than I expected. The still, small voice of the Spirit, however, has steadily called both Holly and me to continued service. Circumstances of our lives change. The central story does not. “The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.” With each new assignment we have discovered joy!

In Psalm 71, the Psalmist (unnamed) prays an inspiring prayer. He references a life-long friendship with God which began even before he was born. See v. 5 and 6. Now, as a senior adult, he prays for God’s help as he continues to serve. He desires to give his testimony to a new generation. He doesn’t fear that young ears will dismiss him as irrelevant and old fashioned. He is confident that what God taught him will be a powerful blessing to his young friends and is determined and grateful to give his testimony.

Some months before retirement, I began to call this chapter “3 T” (the third third of life). For those who live to be ninety, these thirty years are a significant part of the story. True, even for those who don’t live to be ninety! If every season of life belongs equally to God, then I must be diligent in my search for Him and His will. Even in 3T.

“Grow old with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life for which the first was made” (Robert Browning). I wonder how completely I have embraced Browning’s insight. Do I believe, “the BEST is YET to be?” Eternity, yes! But this life, these years just ahead of me? Do you, dear friend?

“We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified” (Martin Luther).

June 6–Psalm 66-69

“God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us–Selah. That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations” (Psalm 67:1-2).

Audacity is a noun referring to the quality of being fearless, daring, or bold. It is the opposite of timidity or shyness.

The Lord calls His followers to live audacious lives, to pray audacious prayers. He calls us to embrace ambitions and goals on a scale impossible without His presence and help. Great things! “Greater works than these will you do because I go to the Father” (John 14:12).

Psalm 67 is a fearless and bold prayer. It is a request for God’s blessing on His people, but only as it factors into a larger dream, a dream that all nations would know of God and His salvation! All nations! All peoples! A huge hope. Not safe or small or manageable. “God blesses us that all the ends of the earth may fear Him” (v. 7). The audacious goal of heaven is “that the WORLD may know”. See Matthew 28 for the words of Christ.

Believers do well to remember. When He helps us, it is not an end in itself. He is, at that moment reaching out to others! He is using us, involving us, in a plan that spans the globe and all generations. For God so loved the world! Unchanged goal!

In Matthew 25, Jesus says that the judgement at the end of time will largely be based on things not done. Duties ignored. It will be less about immorality than non-participation in the purposes of the kingdom. It is a warning to those who want to follow Him, but only as it equates to a safe and happy life. The call of Christ is to something larger. Something audacious!

Friend, do you pray Psalm 67? Will you? Have received the Spirit and dethroned self? Will you see your blessings as part of a much larger purpose? Will you take the audacious goal of God into your heart?

‘Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter”(D. L. Moody).

“It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make you a light to the nations so that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).

June 5–Psalm 59-65

“O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water”(Psalm 63:1).

Humans are thirsty for God. At times, barely aware of it. In other moments, desperately conscious of our need. Without God, life is dry. Dead.

It is an analogy used often by our Lord and the Scripture. “I am the water that you have been searching for all of your life,” Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4. Psalm 1 says that a man who loves God’s word will be like a tree planted by waters. Green. Fresh. Fruitful.

In Psalm 63, in a moment of actual physical dryness (the wilderness of Judah as he fled from Saul), David confessed the same reality. “My real thirst is for You!” he cried out to God.

Life easily and quickly gets dry, doesn’t it? Illness. Stress. Anxiety. Depression. Gradually a deep awareness dawns on the heart. This world is not enough! We need GOD! Not freedoms or entertainment or job or even safety. Our true thirst is for the Creator, His nearness, His approval, a real and right relationship with Him.

“All my life I had a longing for a drink from some cool spring, that I hoped would quench the burning of the thirst I felt within. Hallelujah! I have found Him whom my soul so long has craved! Jesus satisfies my longings; through His blood I now am saved”(Clara Tear Williams).

“If I find within myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world” (C. S. Lewis).

Are you thirsty, my friend? Do you realize that He made you for Himself and that nothing will ever satisfy you but Him? Recognizing your need, will you seek Him?

June 4–Psalm 52-58

“The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance. . .and men will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God who judges on earth”(58:10-11).

We who hunger for justice must also, logically, hunger for judgement. Just as we depend on court systems to render fair verdicts and sentences, so we trust God to judge the thoughts and actions of humans. Not only trust Him to do so, we actively desire it! Rightly, we cry out for Him to reward some and punish others. See the woman’s prayer in the Jesus parable (Luke 18).

When David prays for God’s vengeance on the wicked (Psalm 58), he does so with words that are disturbing to Christians. “Shatter their teeth” (v. 6). “The righteous will REJOICE when he sees the vengeance” (v. 10).

We must read these words with caution. “Father, forgive them,” Jesus prayed over His enemies and must, therefore, be our starting place, too. Mercy is God’s preference and I must ever be aware of my tendency to presume my own righteousness and assume the evil intent of others. Only God can balance both grace and justice. I must leave the task to Him.

Even so, true love is not opposed to judgement, nor denies the need for it. God’s love and God’s judgement are not mutually exclusive. Without some care, we will take sides with the world against God, Himself. We will unconsciously, begin to believe it wrong or unjust for even God to judge. No, says the Scripture! Judgement is a necessary part of God’s holiness and government. When judgement comes, the believer must affirm that it is right and good.

When God says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” the believer receives this promise as proof that the universe is essentially moral, and ultimately accountable.

“The absence of anger, especially that sort of anger which we would call indignation, can, in my opinion, be a most alarming symptom”(C. S. Lewis).

Friend, do you believe in a God SO holy that He rightfully demands it of His whole creation? Do you believe He judges evil? Do you REJOICE in this attribute as part of His pure and righteous nature and trust Him to do it with absolute justice and fairness?

June 3–Psalm 46-51

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea. . .There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. . .God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved”(46:1-2, 4-5).

Psalm 46 paints a sadly familiar picture. Life in chaos. Crashing waves. Roaring ocean. Mountains crumbling under the relentless attack, slipping into the sea. Foundational things, essential things, dissolving away.

Into this anxious moment, Psalm 46 speaks an encouraging Spiritual truth. God is our refuge (defensive resource, a place to hide) AND our strength (dynamic resource, inner power helping us to think and act with courage). Life may be falling apart (changing at a destabilizing pace), but God isn’t! He is constant. Reliable. Calm. Strong.

In vs. 4-7, the writer reports the existence of a parallel world. A peaceful and beautiful city with a river flowing through it. Tranquil. Strong. Not Jerusalem (no river there), rather a symbolic picture of Heaven. Present reality, not fantasy! This calm, certain place exists now! God is “in the midst of her.” He is her provision and protection. The people in this blessed city live unafraid. “A city whose builder and maker is God,” says Hebrews 11.

Two applications are urged on us by this profound psalm. 1) WE WILL NOT FEAR. See v. 2. Both a decision and a discipline, when we fix our eyes on invisible realities, courage comes. 2) WE MUST CEASE STRIVING! God commands us to stop all self-sponsored efforts to find assurance. See v. 10. As we calm our anxious hearts and abandon all strategies rising from fear, we hear again (heed, receive) the promises of a faithful God. “I will be exalted,” He says with confident strength. Chaos is no match for our victorious God! Order and beauty are inevitable outcomes. When our hearts are fixed on this truth, deep confidence comes.

“When the world around me crumbles and it’s hard to understand, I will run to you, my shelter, I am safe within your hands”(Lauren Daigle, lyrics by Condrey and Darnell).

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you. . .you’ll be a Man, my son” (Rudyard Kipling).

Strange paradox. As I fix my eyes on an invisible world I find courage to live in the visible one.

Calm in chaos. God is. I can be, too.

June 2–Psalm 41-45

“You are my King, O God; command victories for Jacob. Through You we will push back our adversaries; through your name we will trample down those who rise up against us”(44:4-5).

It is a confidence we need to regain. As we follow Christ, we are to pray for VICTORY, to expect it. Discouragement is cancer of the soul. “I have overcome the world,” said Jesus. We are to believe it, pray it.

Assertiveness is scarce in this present hour. The moral relativism of the age shames believers who expect (or even desire) victory. Assertiveness of any kind is dismissed as moral arrogance.

The Scripture, however, does not share this uncertainty. Moral clarity is not pride. Facing Goliath, young David felt no need to propose that “everyone is right”. He was certain the victory of God was good. The highest good!

An ever-present conflict boils in our world. “The kings of the earth take their stand against the Lord and His Christ” (Psalm 2). Proud men resist the authority and glory of God. Does God ignore such rebellion? Should He?

Friedrich Nietzsche famously warned, “be careful when you fight the dragon, that you do not become a dragon.” Jesus also understood the danger of swords and anger and assertive power. Even so, a believer needs to humbly hold a confidence in victory. The dragon must be fought. And defeated. Faith includes a humble certainty of the coming victory of God. The defeat of His enemies is not something for which the Righteous One apologizes, nor needs to.

Friend, do you rejoice in an assertive God? Do you agree that He is right to oppose and judge those who deny Him? Are you glad when truth prevails and God is honored?

“The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. . . to this end, we pray for you always” (2 Timothy 1:7-11).

“Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20, KJV).

June 1—Psalm 37-40

‘The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way; when he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand”(37:23-24).

As believers, we are “interns of the invisible”. Disciples. Learners. Material people, being trained to walk in the Spirit.

Sometimes, in our training, we make mistakes. Sadly, old habits of thought and deed reassert themselves. The world and the flesh and the devil are constantly near. When we listen to the false counsel of these enemies, we stumble.

Trial and error is part of the Christ-curriculum. God could change it, but He doesn’t. He allows carefully monitored temptations to come. When we trip and fall, He is near to teach us. Even in our stumbling, grace is sufficient. Failure is not God’s plan. Growth is.

In Luke 22, Jesus says the same to Peter. “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat (a mysteriously Job-like prediction), but I have prayed for you (the Lord’s stays near us in our immaturity, interceding for us) that your faith fail not (the key factor in failure-recovery is faith. Our task, even in failure, is to look to God for the forgiveness and grace to begin again) and when you are turned again, strengthen your brothers”(31-32). Please note, it is through this trial that Jesus intends to change Peter. He does not prevent the difficulty. Christ uses it to teach him.

David knew the same spiritual truth. The stubborn love of God does not let go. Even when we trip, He holds our hand to prevent full disaster, then pulls us back up onto the road for the journey to continue.

Friend, do you love this great and loyal Teacher? Are you grateful for His tender mercies toward you? Will you rejoice today in His faithfulness that far exceeds any human love? Will you take His kindness deep into your heart? Will you repent and continue to grow in Christ-likeness?

“In school, you are taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you are given a test and it teaches you a lesson” (Tom Bodett).

“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”(Romans 2:4).

June 1—Psalm 37-40

‘The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way; when he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand”(37:23-24).

As believers, we are “interns of the invisible”. Disciples. Learners. Material people, being trained to walk in the Spirit.

Sometimes, in our training, we make mistakes. Sadly, old habits of thought and deed reassert themselves. The world and the flesh and the devil are constantly near. When we listen to the false counsel of these enemies, we stumble.

Trial and error is part of the Christ-curriculum. God could change it, but He doesn’t. He allows carefully monitored temptations to come. When we trip and fall, He is near to teach us. Even in our stumbling, grace is sufficient. Failure is not God’s plan. Growth is.

In Luke 22, Jesus says the same to Peter. “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat (a mysteriously Job-like prediction), but I have prayed for you (the Lord’s stays near us in our immaturity, interceding for us) that your faith fail not (the key factor in failure-recovery is faith. Our task, even in failure, is to look to God for the forgiveness and grace to begin again) and when you are turned again, strengthen your brothers”(31-32). Please note, it is through this trial that Jesus intends to change Peter. He does not prevent the difficulty. Christ uses it to teach him.

David knew the same spiritual truth. The stubborn love of God does not let go, even we trip. He holds our hand to prevent full disaster, then pulls us back up onto the road for the journey to continue.

Friend, do you love this great and loyal Teacher? Are you grateful for His tender mercies toward you? Will you rejoice today in His faithfulness that far exceeds any human love? Will you take His kindness deep into your heart? Will you repent and continue to grow in Christ-likeness?

“In school, you are taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you are given a test and it teaches you a lesson” (Tom Bodett).

“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”(Romans 2:4).

May 31–Psalm 32-36

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. . .the humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together”(34:1-3).

Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” His prayer began with praise. The eyes of Christ were lifted up! The person who knows God will SEE His greatness and SPEAK it.

Witness is related to praise. Those who praise God (vertical communication) learn easily to tell others (horizontal communication) of God. Witness is simply our invitation for others to come and JOIN us in praise to God. Integrity here! Unless we praise, why should anyone listen to our testimony?

Psalm 34 was written after the events of 1 Samuel 21. David was in a dark place. Discouraged. Weary. Making poor decisions. In this time of great distress, David recovered enough to, “seek the Lord.” Doing so, he found guidance and deliverance.

Profoundly moved by God’s faithfulness to an undeserving son, He tells the story in a song and invites others who are “humble” (broken, defeated, needing God’s help) to hear and join the song.

Dear reader, are you discovering the power of praise? Do you know the inner renewal that comes from lifting your eyes to God’s greatness? Are you finding boldness to invite others to come and join the song? When my eyes are on me, my lips are silent. When my eyes are on God, praise rises from deep within.

“O Lord my God, when I, in awesome wonder, Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made; I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed; Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee; How great Thou art! How great Thou art!” (Carl Boberg).

“The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in God which made David dance” (C. S. Lewis).

May 30–Psalm 26-31

“Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. . .do not turn your face from me. Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord”(27:7,9,14).

There are two moods in Psalm 27. Likely, you have known both of them in your own life.

In v 1-6, David is confident and joyful. “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” he sings in v. 1. He feels secure in Christ and grateful for the privilege to “behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple”(27:4).

In v 7, the mood shifts. Dramatically. Without warning, David is caught (again) in a moment of struggle and fear. “Hear me!” he cries to the Lord. “Don’t hide your face from me.” What was easy and comfortable yesterday, is now a discouraging struggle. Been there?

I’m grateful for David’s honest report (in a single psalm we see how quickly these moods cycle, even for him). I am encouraged by his prayer in v. 11. Use my struggles, Lord! Teach me about you! Do not deliver me to my enemies, and don’t let me miss the lessons contained in my difficulties!

In Hebrews 11:5, the bible warns us against “fainting” under the Lord’s discipline. It translates a word that means, “to let go, to grow weary, to give up”. In some ways quitting is the greatest danger of all. If I retreat when things are hard, if I allow my fickle heart to long for Egypt, I will never fully understand God’s love. Endurance is required.

In v. 14, David gives himself (and us) some powerful advice. WAIT for the Lord! Don’t panic! Wait! Be strong! Don’t complain or whine! Learn the skills of perseverance! Let your heart take courage! You don’t have to create the courage, just take what is available from the Spirit when it comes. “Those who wait on the Lord will gain new strength.”

“Keep me true, Lord Jesus, keep me true. Keep me true, Lord Jesus, keep me true. There’s a race that must be run, there’s a victory to be won. Every hour, by Thy power, keep me true”(Gospel song, anonymous).