Psalm 42

       My soul thirsts for God! In this psalm, the psalmist is speaking of thirsting for God. Then the psalmist gives us the context. He isn’t so blessed and so happy with life, that he has been too busy to make time for God and that is why he thirsts. No, it isn’t that life is so good that he is missing God. His food night and day are tears. Others looking in see how awful his life is and the only thing they can ask is where is your God. His life is so miserable, so terrible, as he cries day and night, and it seems like God has forsaken him altogether, that this distance from and lack of God is driving his thirst. Life has hit rock bottom and he knows what is missing is his relationship with God.
      Now the part that really got me as I read this psalm again, was verse 4. I have read this psalm many times, and normally my mind goes to deer hunting right away. However, this time as I focused on this content of why his soul thirsts, verse 4 stuck out. I want you to think about one of those times in your life, where you truly thought you were at rock bottom, tears were your food, and it seemed like God was nowhere to be found. Or even if you knew God was there with you, you felt like you had no real connection to Him. Ok, now in that moment, did you reminisce on past times when your faith seemed so much stronger, when your relationship with God seemed so much more vibrant? As you are wallowing in sadness, loneliness, and despair, your mind wandered back to a childhood memory of a full church on Christmas Eve with everyone singing those favorite Christmas hymns so loud you had chills. Or you remembered your favorite Easer when the lilies seemed extra white somehow, the alleluias rang louder, and the joy of thinking about Christ rising from the dead was overwhelming. Or maybe you remembered just an average Sunday morning service where the people singing, the sermon hitting a cord with you, and the overall worship just left such a memorable impression you can’t forget it. Looking back at those joyous, ecstatic, heartwarming memories of your faith life then, can make you ask yourself the same thing the psalmist asks in verse 5, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?”
       In the moment of your sadness, your loneliness, and your despair, those memories of unforgettable worship services of the past can make you question if you really believe any more. The stark contrast between these two moments in your life can cause you to doubt your faith is even still alive within you. However, remembering those worship services can also lift your spirit. It can remind you that you do believe and you do have a faith that has burned in your soul before, so why are you so doom and gloom now soul? It can put things in perspective for you, and as you remember how strong your faith was back then, can strengthen your faith to not doubt, but trust. You can end up telling yourself in full confidence, “Hope in God.” Hey, that’s what the psalmist does. He is in utter distraught, he remembers the times he used to praise the Lord in full joy, and he realizes, why am I so down and blue. I wasn’t praising an idol, I wasn’t praising a worthless item, I was pouring out my soul to the God of my salvation. And even though life is in a rough place right now, I don’t need to doubt. God hasn’t given up on me. He isn’t far from me. Stop doubting, stop pouting, and hope in God. For I will again praise God because he will carry me through this rough patch. Even if my earthly life were to end because of this hardship, I will praise Him again because He is my salvation. I am saved in Him, He is my God, and I will hope in Him as I know I will praise Him always.
      So, when you find yourself in those tough times, and you remember the glorious past of your rich and thriving faith life, don’t let it cause you to doubt. Instead, let it remind you to hope in God. Let it be your reminder that you will praise God again because no matter what happens He is your salvation. When your soul thirsts, and you remember how you used to pour your soul out to Him, let your reviving drink that replenishes your soul be your hope and trust in God. For He is your salvation. His Son’s death and resurrection is your salvation. Praise be to Him. Amen.

Psalm 65

Psalm 65 – Due to Him
      When you have to pay dues for something, you want to know exactly what you are paying for. None of us would be very happy with getting a bill in the mail for an amount that we owe without any explanation of what it is for or why we owe it. In fact, for most of us, the phone call would happen very quickly if we did receive a bill without any explanation.
      Well in Psalm 65, the psalmist tells us that praise is due to God. This is what we as His people owe Him. Our praise. However, the psalmist doesn’t just hand us this bill without any explanation. No, actually he uses the next 12 verses to very clearly lay out exactly why God is due our praise.
      Forgiveness, dwelling in His presence, the goodness of His house and holiness of His temple, righteousness, hope, creation, joy, water, provisions, and care, and this is just the very quick cliff’s note version of what the psalmist is telling us. For everything God has done for us, everything He continues to do for us, and just because of who He is as our God and the creator of our universe, He is most definitely due our praise.
       We were actually just discussing this in our Bible study on prayer the other night, that Luther writes in several places that our praise is the ONLY thing we can give God. He owns every physical thing already, we can’t do good works without Him, so there is nothing at all that we can actually give to God other than our praises. And as the psalmist reminds us in this psalm, God is absolutely, positively, most definitely due our praises. He created the world we live in, He gave His people the promise of a Savior to atone for their sin, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to be that Savior who died on the cross for the sin of the world, and He called you and me into that salvation giving us our eternal life in Him. We owe Him more than we can ever imagine. He is due our praises. So, take some time today to give God a few of the million praises He is due. Praise Father, Son, and Spirit, one God now and forever, Amen!

Psalm 97 - Light Show!

Best Light show around!
      In college I had a friend who did the light shows for all of the drama department shows. He could do some amazing things with just lights. Then you go to professional concerts and see the cool things they do with their light shows. And sadly enough, I’ve lived in Minnesota long enough now to comfortably use the Vikings as an example. In the Vikings new stadium, when they scored the first official touchdown in the new place, they turned off all the lights and had purple and yellow LED’s flashing on the roof. It was quite impressive and I was only watching it on TV.
      Light shows can fascinate us. However, the coolest light shows are still those of the universe. From shooting stars, to the northern lights, to lightning storms, our universe has some pretty epic light shows itself. Have you ever seen one of those really bad storms in the middle of the night? One where the lightning is so constant and so bright, it seems like it is day light out even in the pitch black of the storm. Living in the woods of the northland, I can tell you it is dark at night. Even when there is moon light, the trees block so much of it, it is still pitch black out on a clear night. On a cloudy night, good luck seeing your hand in front of your face. (Truthfully I love this part of my property). So image how dark it can be with thick, black thunderheads rolling in overhead. And yet, somehow the amount of lightning strikes can make you think it is high noon in a western movie where the sun is so bright you can see the single bead of sweat rolling down their cheeks of the two cowboys squinting their eyes at each other. While this can be terrifying because those storms normally come with winds and damage, it is impressive none the less to see that kind of “light show” right in front of you.
       Now listen to verse 4 of Psalm 97. This psalm is so interesting because it is describing the reign of God and it is terrifying and awe-inspiring all at once. Verse 4 in particular, talks about the lightnings of God lighting up the world. And you know, it is brighter and more impressive than even the fiercest storm anyone has ever witnessed in this world. That intense storm you thought of during the previous paragraph doesn’t even begin to compare to how bright the world is as non-stop lightning strikes go out from the presence of God to bring His light into the darkness of this world. The very next line even says, the earth sees and trembles. It’s the feeling of being so scared you couldn’t possibly look if you wanted to, and yet being so intrigued you can’t take your eyes off of it.
      Even though we haven’t seen this amazing light show of the lightnings of God lighting up the whole world, we have seen the most impressive light show God has to offer. Instead of lightning bolts, this terrifying and awe-inspiring light show consisted of a baby born in the manger with a star shining bright above. It consisted of a bloody man being hoisted high up on a hill for all to see even as the sky grew black. It consisted of a sunrise revealing folded clothes in a tomb. The light show of the world that should make us so scared we couldn’t look even if we wanted to and yet at the same time so intrigued we can’t take our eyes off of it, isn’t a storm or lightning or a star or the sun, but rather the Son as he was born in the flesh only to be killed on the cross. It is the Son as He stood alive outside His own tomb and as He ascended into Heaven. This light of the world as He calls Himself, truly is the reign of God. And it is just as terrifying and awe-inspiring as anything we could ever experience. It is terrifying because the wrath of God for our sin was so serious it covered the light of the world in darkness. It caused the Father to be so angry He couldn’t even look at the light of the world as He hung on the cross darkened by our sin. And yet it is so awe-inspiring because it is the forgiveness of those sins and He is the light that the darkness could not overcome. He is the light of the world as He reveals God’s love and salvation to all of creation. He is the reign of God as He sits on His throne, living and active, in control of all darkness. He is the most impressive light show we will ever see as His life, death, and resurrection is what allows us to see our eternal life right in front of us.
       So lightning is still awesome. I hope to still see more northern lights living up here. However, the greatest light show that terrifies me and yet I hope I never take my eyes off of is Jesus Christ, the light of the world and the very reign of God that the earth sees and trembles. Rejoice in the Lord, and give thanks to His holy name! Amen.

Psalm 134 - Come whenever you can to bless the Lord

Psalm 134:1

“Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord.”

If you aren’t aware of my process for these psalm devotions, I read a psalm and the first thing that jumps out at me or really hits me it what I ramble on about for about 700 words and hope it’s actually worth reading through a second time. As I read Psalm 134, the thing that hit me was the phrase “who stand by night in the house of the Lord”. It struck me as odd. Who stands in the hose of the Lord at night? Night is a time for sleeping, laying down, at the very least sitting and relaxing. So who stands at night? And especially in the house of the Lord? So I took another sip of coffee to help my brain really turn on for this morning, and tried to think what this phrase could possibly mean. Then it didn’t take very long to realize this actually makes a ton of sense.

Why would you go to the house of the Lord, for the Israelites returning from the exile (since this is a psalm of accent), the house of the Lord would be the temple. For us, the house of the Lord would be church. Now for the Israelites, I believe they would go to the house of the Lord at night for two reasons. {Disclaimer this is just my own thoughts – no actual proof}. One, because when you live in an extremely hot climate, night time was the cool time of the day to gather together indoors. Two, because you work all day so then you head to the temple during the evening after work. This is when it struck me and I really felt quite silly. I spend several evenings a week at church into the late hours of the night. Why? Because that’s when people are free from work and other responsibilities. We have Bible studies, small groups, council and other board meetings, and even worship services (advent and Lent) in the evening. People come to the church at night because they have been at work all day and evenings work best to gather at the house of the Lord. I see this every week, and yet it took me far too long to realize this phrase of standing in the house of the Lord by night isn’t that strange at all.

So who is the psalmist talking to in this psalm? You! And me! And everyone who is going through real life. Pretty much anyone who isn’t a monk who hides in seclusion, praying seven times a day and reading scripture non-stop. In my mind, this psalmist is speaking directly to the average Joe, the basic believer who has a real life, who has to work for a living, who has a family and kids, who understands time is limited and goes by quickly, and yet still makes time to come stand in the house of God by night. The people who have a million things going on in their life, but still dedicate an hour or more to come to church other than Sunday morning. For all the busy parents who get their kids fed and in bed and then one of them slips out to make the evening Bible study or meeting. For all the hard working people who come straight from work to make our supper and Advent services. For all the young adults working two jobs but still make praise band practice once a week. The psalmist is calling all believers, to come! Come, bless the Lord. Even if you have to do it in the wee hours of the night, still come lift up your hands to the holy place. Find that time, no matter when it is, to come gather together as His people and bless His name. And as you do so, may the Lord bless you! I could be wrong with all of this, but to me this psalm makes perfect sense as I live and see Christians striving to give time to God, no matter when that time might be. And like the psalmist, I pray that God may bless them as they do so.

Psalm 64 - God the Pulling Guard

As I first read this psalm, particularly verse 3, I noticed a word play that I wondered if it was an intentional pun. When David talks about the wicked “whetting” their tongue, is of course the idea of using a whetting stone to sharpen their tongue like a sword. However, it also made me think of a phrase we used to say in football, “Lick/Wet your chops”. So this is why I wondered if this was an intentional pun of whetting you tongue or wetting your tongue.

In football, we mostly used this phrase for pulling guards. In our eight-man formation, on certain plays our offensive end would leave the defensive end unblocked. Now a defensive end’s whole job is to get across the line, into the backfield, and disrupt the play as much as possible (while still containing the outside for you football-savvy people). Most plays his job is hindered by the offensive end blocking him. However, on these certain plays when he is left unblocked, he can freely come across the line and has a perfectly clear line of sight at the backfield. This is where our coach would say, “he’s just wetting his chops” thinking about the big play he is about to make. Basically, that end is so excited for the free chance to light somebody up, he starts salivating thinking about it. However, little does he know, this is intentional and that the pulling guard is headed straight down the line for him. The pulling guard coming down the line, is usually unseen by the defensive end who is giving his full attention to the backfield. So the guard gets a free shot at full speed to take that end off his feet and completely out of the play.

This is why this psalm and word pun made me think of this right away. David is talking about how the wicked are getting everything ready for the attack, they are laying traps and have everything ready just like that defensive end thinks everything is set up perfect for him to make the big tackle for a loss. However, David talks about God shooting the enemy with arrows suddenly, much like the pulling guard taking that end out of the play without the end even knowing what happened. This probably makes much more sense if you have played football and know what this really looks like in real life.

Regardless though, we all can understand the point. Our enemies watch us, they get their tongues good and sharp ready to tear us down, belittle us, attack us, and lay traps for us to fall into. But we aren’t as defenseless as we seem. The backfield isn’t threatened by that charging defensive end because they know what he doesn’t, that they are protected by that pulling guard. We aren’t threatened by the wicked looking to attack us, because we aren’t as defenseless as we seem. We know that the wicked doesn’t, that the “pulling guard” of our God is headed straight at them, shooting them with arrows, wounding them suddenly, taking them out of the play altogether. We have the protection of the one true God of the whole universe. And unlike a human lineman who sometimes forgets to pull, or is too slow on his execution to get to the end, God never misses, He never fails, He is always there to protect us from the attack of the wicked. Then once God has protected us from our enemies, all of mankind will fear our protector. They will use their “sharp” tongues to spread the word of how we were saved by God instead of for future attacks.

And what will we do? We will use our sharp tongues to rejoice in the Lord. We can take refuge in Him, trust Him, and know we are perfectly safe in Him. With that kind of confidence in our protector, we can truly rejoice and exult!!

Ecclesiastes 3

Ecclesiastes 3:9-10 "What gain has the worker from his toil?  I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with."

      Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  I know it has been quite a while since I have posted on here.  Life just seems to fly by.  Between owning a house, work, and helping people with their projects, I have been on the go non-stop lately.  I am trying to get all the projects around my place done before the snow flies.  I got a small shed moved and my wood stacked inside, yard cleaned up from summer stuff, chicken coop fixed up for winter, and garage semi organized.  However, I still need to cut down a giant tree in my front yard, insulate and sheet the garage, then really organize the garage, get my tractor going and moved home, and clean the pine needles out of the yard again.  Plus I am trying to get out to the bow stand whenever life lets me.  I have been out a few times and have even seen some deer, but haven't gotten any shots yet.
    Work is going good, but is definitely busy.  I have my same two small group Bible studies from last year started back up again, am teaching new member classes, started a men's Bible study, am helping with college ministry, planning monthly events for my young adult group, on top of preaching, helping with youth, etc.  I love how active our church is and how there is stuff going on all the time, but it definitely takes time to keep up.
     Then lately I have been trying to help a few friends accomplish their projects as well.  I went with my friend Jeff to finish siding his shack out in the woods.  This last weekend I helped a family from church shingle their house.  I stripped the whole thing Friday and then we spent Saturday, Sunday afternoon, and Monday afternoon laying the new shingles. We finally got it done last night.  Everyone was giving me a hard time because I did fall off the roof while working.  For those of you who don't know, I have a history of falling off roofs and ladders.  I landed on my rear end (softest landing I could hope for), bounced, and got right back up.  I have small bruise on my cheek but other than that have not had any pain or side effects.  My angels were definitely with me.  My senior pastor told me one more strike of getting hurt or going to the hospital and I am done.  Had kind of a rough streak here lately.  However, other than stiff and sore legs just from the physical demands of roofing, I feel great and am ready for the next job.  Speaking of next job, we have to redo one of the sheds at church, but that will all be done from the ground.
     It is easy to get so busy with life that we forget why we are even doing it or the point of it all.  In Ecclesiastes the question is what does the laborer gain from his labor?  It is easy to question is all of the work worth it?  However, the very next line is talking about the work God has given to us.  God gives us all work to do.  Now we can't lose sight of the big picture of our salvation or family or other truly important things, but working hard to accomplish what needs to be done is necessary too.  So work hard, be productive, cross off those projects from yours or friends' to-do lists, but don't forget to make time every day for your relationship with God, your relationship with family, and your sabbath rest for both the rest of your mind and body.  I hope that makes sense!  God bless you all.