The Word Is Not Imprisoned

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1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us.
2 You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair its breaches, for it totters.
3 You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.
4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah
5 That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer us! – Psalm 60:1-5

What stands out to you? Ask yourself, “How do I respond to the Lord?”

If he rejected me…
If he broke my defenses…
If he was angry with me…
If he causes an earthquake…

Let me ask it like this. What if similar things happen in your marriage relationship? What if you made your spouse angry? What would do? Or rather, what should you do?

If you love your spouse then you will do what is necessary to repair and remain in the relationship with your spouse.

The same is true with the Lord. If you love the Lord then you will plead with him like this psalm does.

…oh, restore us!
…repair its breaches!

And verse 5…wow…such bold faith!

I think we struggle to think of God as a person in whom we love and have a covenant relationship with. I would encourage you to approach his throne of grace boldly in Jesus’s Name! He’s your access. He is your yes and amen!

This is how you abuse authority:

7 And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds,
8 that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.” – 1 Samuel 22:7-8

What follows this abuse is the disclosure of Doeg the Edomite about David’s visit to Ahimelech. Psalm 52 ascribes to Doeg, a mighty man, to have boasted in evil with his tongue, devised destruction with his tongue, and spoke falsehood with his tongue. The tongue is like a sharp razor!

Psalm 52 seems to imply that Doeg trusted in the abundance of riches rather God. Saul seemed to have implied that he would give fields and vineyards and make anyone commander of thousands (status) in exchange for information about David.

This is how how it will end for Doeg: But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah – Psalm 52:5

The abuse of authority…the love of money and status and O deceitful tongue leads to destruction not to a “green olive tree in the house of God.” (Ps 52:8)

Psalm 50 ends like this:

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” – Psalm 50:23

When you say “thank you” to the Lord what are you acknowledging?

(Psalm 50 answers this question as well as many other places)

We need to be reminded of what’s at the root of thanksgiving. There’s a danger of saying it without thinking and setting our minds on why we are giving thanks.

In addition, as this Psalm points out, “to you who forget God,” it’s possible to stop thinking about the Lord and that might have come from forgetting why you give thanks and eventually those empty words result in an empty heart.

This reveals itself in this psalm by hating discipline, turning one’s back on God’s word, and several OBVIOUS sins and acceptance of other’s sins without regard for the Lord.

And here’s the thing…all the while…don’t miss this…telling “my statues” and taking “my covenant in your mouth.”

In other words, one can say with their mouth (mindless repetition) the word of God while “letting your mouth loose in evil.”

Let’s pray this: “May our God come and not keep silence.” Better that we judge and be judged NOW than later. The Lord is merciful to those who bend low before him and lay bare our drift into empty words of thanksgiving.

I bet when he forgives you/us again you/we will finds plenty of heartfelt reasons to give thanks!

Following the first half of Psalm 37, is the obvious promise of preservation of God’s people. Also repeated, it says that the wicked will be cut off (in other words, NOT preserved). Their path leads to destruction.

After commanding that the righteous trust the Lord no matter what happens or how prosperous the wicked are NOW, the second half repeatedly assures the righteous that (and here’s the point of contact for us):

23 The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way;
24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand. – Psalm 37:23-24

There are pitfalls in the path but the Lord holds your hand. If the Lord holds your hand then you will not fall in the pit. This psalm doesn’t answer the questions: why the pitfalls? If you, Lord, have established my steps then why are there holes in the path?

What it does say is that no matter what befalls you, He will not forsake you but he is gracious to you. “They are preserved forever” (28).

It also warns that the wicked will pass away and be no more. Though… “I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found.” – Psalm 37:35-36

This tree has the appearance of luxurious prosperity but its end is eternally fatal. But that is not so for one who walks with the Lord.

39 The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him. – Psalm 37:39-40

He’s got you! Trust and wait! He will help you.

Fret (3x) not yourself because of evildoers – Psalm 37:1

When wrongdoers do wrong but prosper and by contrast you do right and do not prosper NOW, it’s easy to join the wrongdoers by fretting and fretting tends only to evil.

But the Lord calls us to respond differently. Trust, do good, delight in the Lord, commit your way to the Lord, trust (repeated), rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.

The wrongdoers will wither quickly.

The humble *will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

It will be worth the wait. Do not trade in a vapor of prosperity for eternity.

The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; – Psalm 37:18

In Psalm 31, David has taken refuge in Yahweh. He asked the Lord that he never be ashamed of his need to take refuge in Him. David cannot deliver himself, rescue himself, he isn’t strong, and he needs to be led and guided. Those are things the world is unwilling to admit.

Yet, even though David takes refuge in Yahweh, his enemies are allowed to set a net secretly for David AND catch him! Indeed, was the Lord not leading him? But David’s certainty is that Yahweh will pull him out of the net!

As the Psalm continues, though David takes refuge IN the Lord he is IN distress and pleads for grace. People flee from him in the street because his enemies have made him a reproach. He is slandered and forgotten. Terror is on every side!

Do not believe for one second that those who trust in the Lord are excluded from affliction and troubles of the soul. It’s a lie!

Yet, it is temporary! In your alarm you may feel, think and say, “I am cut off from before the Lord” but dear godly ones, He has heard your voice and cries.

Hear how the Psalm ends:

Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart *take courage, all you who *wait for the LORD! – Psalm 31:23-24

Psalm 30 begins with David saying he will lift (extol) the Name of the Lord because Yahweh had lifted him up. So, the rest of the Psalm is the extolling of Yahweh.

It’s first personal (singular “I”) then moves to corporate commands to join him in praising Yahweh. Then it moves back to personal with David extolling the Name!

I think we should follow this pattern. We might often say let’s live our lives for God’s glory but never flesh that out. How do we live for his glory? It must move past the obvious fact of the matter to actually doing something.

While David extolled the Name of the Lord in this Psalm, he greatly encouraged me…brought me into his own story and praise. Can you not relate when he says, “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” – Psalm 30:5

Why is this so encouraging? Because for people like us, His anger should be more than a moment. Ponder that word and image! His anger is only for a moment!

Now, hear the contrast…His grace for a lifetime! Compare the duration of a moment and a lifetime! Yeah! That’s marvelous! One day the darkness will give way to eternal light! Dear saints of the Lord, joy comes with the morning…mornings that are full of new mercies! And Yahweh will turn our *mourning into dancing!

Sing praise to Yahweh, you His godly ones!

I read Psalm 27, this morning. Commenting on verses 7-12, Kidner writes, “David gets back to the ‘one thing’ he has set his heart on (4a), and holds on to the fact that the first move, after all, has come from God. *He will not ask for our love (8a) and then withhold his own (9a).”

This *statement jolted me! I’m not sure entirely why. It’s so simple. I guess it reveals in me how I view myself as unloveable. I too easily forget that His heart isn’t fickle like mine. Indeed, He has steadfast love! He is the Initiator!

When you fear, what is the one thing you want?

You can’t fight darkness (evil) with darkness. It must be with light (God! and truth). Just remember what is true of your enemies, “they have stumbled and fell” (past tense!)

2 O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame – Psalm 25:2-3

We need various images of what trusting the Lord looks like. In this psalm, trusting is waiting. David’s issue is that his enemies are making his trust in the Lord look shameful. Yet, the Lord does not answer but for reasons unknown to David, God delays. Nevertheless, David trusts/waits. He is certain that in the end his trust/waiting will not bring shame upon himself or the Lord in whom he trusts.

Do you trust the Lord? If trust is defined in terms of waiting are you waiting on the Lord?

Kidner defines waiting: “to wait is to accept his time and therefore his wisdom.”

From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who *wait for him. – Isaiah 64:4

Be content! The Lord knows what he is doing!