Today’s enthronement Psalm is a simple song that extols the greatness of God and His authority over the world.

As an exercise today, really try to think like a person who lived up to 3,000 years ago. Living at that time, when you thought of what was powerful in your world, what would most come to mind?

In the realm of human dynamics and interactions, you would think of kings and powerful nations and empires.

In our day, apart from the security details and secret service that precedes and surrounds every step that a president takes, there would be nothing to distinguish him from anyone else in a crowd of people. (I don’t mean to make any reference here to Obama specifically.) He is not dressed or clothed in any fashion that would particularly catch the eye.

This would not be so in ancient times. There was no mistaking who the king was, even from a significant distance. He was clothed with the finest attire that would be very distinctive.

The strongest empires were those that lasted a significant period of time. Weaker empires and nations had a continual sort of battle that went on between rival factions—preventing centralization of power and authority. The great nations and empires were dynasties.

And so in this 93^rd Psalm, God is spoken of as a great sovereign who is clothed in something beyond this world – in majesty and strength. And it is this way forever.

Back into your sandals – what would you think of as the ultimate natural power on the planet, the least tamable element? You might think of wind and storms, or perhaps earthquakes or floods; but all of these more or less come and go. The least conquerable and vast power on the planet really is the ocean. Its voice and power are heard in the thundering sound of angry waves.

But God is mightier than the seas.

His power, authority, and truth (statutes) are from eternity to eternity.

As I write this, I do so on the day of a large funeral in which I participated as one of a number of speakers. A couple of the others talked about the brevity of life – speaking of the “dash” … you know, that symbol between the year someone is born and the year they die. Our lives are a simple dash.

It really is small by comparison. So why do we so often focus all of our energies on maximizing a “dash” when we compare it to being properly aligned with the eternity that is to follow.

The oft unspoken, but presumed theme and application of the enthronement / praise Psalms is that such greatness solicits and even requires our alignment with it – with God. The Lord is not going to align with us and our small, personal ideas about what is best. We need to get in step with him, and the good news is that doing so leads us to success and satisfaction in life.

Psalm 93

1 The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength; indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
2 Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity.

3 The seas have lifted up, Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
4 Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea—the Lord on high is mighty.

5 Your statutes, Lord, stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days.

This week we will be looking at “Enthronement Psalms” – which are Praise Psalms that include royalty / kingdom sort of language and tone. Next week we move on to a different category of Enthronement Psalms that look at the Davidic king – fulfilled in Christ. These are also called Messianic Psalms.

Notice the superscription of this Psalm: For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. So this was a song to be used in the corporate worship of the community of Israel.

Most of you have heard of my educational background in music. It was before the launch of the contemporary churchmusic movement and thus was a largely classical-oriented education in choral and orchestral sacred music.

A part of me wishes that would have never changed. But in any event, so much of that era of music still rings through my ears in the juke-box of the mind. I don’t know how many people are like me in the following respect (I know I’m not alone): there is ALWAYS a song playing in the background in my brain.

Whatever the song is at any given time, it was likely triggered by some thought or event. And now for the next several days I can tell you that a whole series of choral pieces from 40 years ago are ringing through my head from a simple reading of this Psalm 47 today. And you can see why it would be such a great text for praising God as the Sovereign King over it all.

A favorite of those varied songs I’m hearing is one that began with the words from verse 8 today, repeated several times with long sustained tones supported by the bass strings section of the orchestra: “God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.”  The final word “throne” is sustained with a crescendo, when suddenly the total mood changes into fast-moving and joyful notes of the beginning verse, “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.”

Let me ask this: Why should God’s people (be it in Israel at the time of the psalm’s writing, or in America in 2014) clap their hands and find joy in the knowledge that God is the great king over all the earth and all the nations? As I write this devotional on Sunday evening, 8/17/14, here are some headlines from wire news sources:

Iraq Kurdish Forces Launch Ground Offensive

Is the World Doing Enough to Stop ISIS Atrocities?

Netanyahu Warns Hamas on Rockets

Four Reasons to Worry about Pakistan’s Latest Political Crisis

Ukraine Forces Enter Rebel-Held City

Do you have any solutions for these problems that plague the world? The world is a mess; it has always been a mess. Nations and empires that hated Israel surrounded them in the era of the united kingdom under David and Solomon … and even more in the divided kingdom of Israel and Judah – Assyria, Egypt, Media, Persia, Babylon and a host of smaller national entities. And it remains the same today as Israel is massively outnumbered and under assault.

The same is true for Christians and democracies around the world. What will be the final geo-political outcome of the international war of Islamic extremists? How revived is Russia and Communist / Socialist ideologies such as we see happening in Crimea and the Ukraine? When will China peak in power and what does that mean for the rest of the world? Will there be an economic collapse in Western Europe? And how does the USA fit into all these crises?

So, is there any comfort or perspective to be had in the biblical truth that God reigns over the nations? Is it comforting to know that the bombastic and pompous dictators and political tyrants in the world are nothing more to God, and no more powerful, than a series of mice rushing about in a closed plastic maze?

I’m pretty much bottom-line glad about that! I’m pleased that the God who loved me enough to send Christ and effectually call me to Himself through his efficacious grace is the one who holds all the trump cards. Yep, I’ll clap for that.

1 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.

2 For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth.
3 He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet.
4 He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.

8 God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted.

Today is the final of our readings and discussions about the category of Psalms under the title of “imprecatory.” Again, an “imprecation” is not a word we have likely used in general conversation this week. By definition it means “an offensive word or phrase that people say when they are angry.”

So an imprecatory Psalm involves the verbalized passions of a writer (often David) who has been effectively righteous and living for God, but who has suffered unjustly, and there does not seem to be a ready remedy. And hence they are calling out to God to bring down a just judgment upon the head of the offender(s).

Are you able to enter into the feeling of these writers? If not, let me see if the following helps you get into their sandals just a bit …

All you have to do right now is look at the international news. Check out this group of terrorists called ISIS and look into some of their behaviors. Google search “ISIS atrocities” or “Sinjar, Iraq.” I cannot even bring myself to type out the words as to what is occurring there to minority Muslim and Christian groups. Executions, beheadings, crucifixions … including women and children … heads being put on display on posts, etc. That is happening right there, right now as I write this and as you see it posted here on August 15, 2014.

How does that make you feel?  Imagine this was happening to your family and countrymen. What would you want to see done in terms of a just retribution upon those who had committed such atrocities? Would you wish upon them the same experience they have inflicted on others? If you put that into a statement, you would be making an “imprecation.” And in tha context, you would likely also put it into a prayer to the Lord to ask why this is being allowed… seeking and promoting that God would act in just judgment.

Our Psalm today is from a very different era than most we have read heretofore. It is from some 400 years after the time of David, when many from Israel have been taken from the area of Palestine and into captivity to Babylon. They experienced ISIS-like atrocities from the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar.

The Psalm pictures some Jews sitting along the river there – a beautiful spot, only a couple hundred miles from where the ISIS events spoken above are happening – and reflecting upon their homeland and Jerusalem. Their captors are taunting them to sing a song of joy, which they cannot do in their unpleasant circumstances.

Psalm 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

The writer and his associates cry out to God, asserting their loyal hearts for Zion and home, mentioning also the despicable Edomites (descendants of Esau) and their complicit role in what had befallen them.

7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!”

You may remember from our previous “Uncharted” series on the Minor Prophets that we wrote about the little book of Obadiah – who prophesied against Edom, and you can reference that HERE.

From that devotional in January, I wrote: “Obadiah prophesied (accurately as it would turn out) that Edom would not stand up for Judah when the time of destruction of Jerusalem came at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. Not only did they not defend their former relatives, they participated in a variety of ways in assisting the decimation of God’s people… even gloating over it.”

And then in the final two verses of Psalm 137, the author turns to strong words of imprecation.

8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Wow, those are harsh words! Among the most blunt in all of Scripture. If you go to any site (of which there are many) by skeptics who mock the Bible as ridiculous and assert their view of the silliness of believing in the myth or fairytale of a loving God, you will see this verse included.

Certain nations and peoples were so constituently evil that God did desire and promote their total elimination, including the children who would be the next generations. Israel failed to obey God at several junctures in this regard, and they would pay a terrible price for it later. These were people who had completely rejected God and who were entirely given over to evil pursuits.

A part of me was ready to set out and write about what a different millennia this was and to put these harsh words in that context. But, again, referencing current events, the more things change, the more they remain the same. Sin and evil doesn’t change that much, but neither does God’s grace – open to those who will believe and trust in the one true God, be they from Babylon in 600 BC, or from ISIS in 2014.

Our Jack Russell Terrier hates rabbits. To her, a rabbit is the bane of animal life on this planet. To see it is to want to kill it. It must die! When she sees one in our yard, she claws and yelps at the door to be let out to go get it. So it is great fun to pump her up a little bit before opening the door with a “go sic ‘em” instigation. I’m not sure she has ever actually caught one, but running and chasing it is 99% of the fun.

Yes Dave Hadigian, I realize this is a Baylor U. slogan!

A lot of folks look at the Imprecatory Psalms as writers who are encouraging God to “go sic ‘em!”  And there is some truth to that. The desire of these writers is to see God execute righteous judgment on those who have been evil.

That seems very cold and not in keeping with the concept of divine love. But who would want a God who just loved and loved and never judged or brought retribution upon those who have committed evil deeds? A loving God would display that love through judgment on wrong-doers.

For example, what would you think of our government and country if we never investigated and sought to bring to justice the parties responsible for the 9/11 attacks? Would you have supported our leadership saying something like, “Well, let’s just love them more and not do anything to make them any angrier at us. Let’s send them some more international aid.”

We can see in this Psalm a sort of two-sided problem on the matter of judgment. From a national standpoint, the nation of Israel was being pounded in the days of this writer … by nations surrounding Israel who were committing atrocities and waging war as well against the God of Israel. The writer desired to see God intervene and prove and glorify Himself as the one true God.

But God didn’t seem to be showing up very quickly, and this was unsettling and confusing for the writer. And so, the Psalmist here is speculating that God is angry at the nation of Israel and is thus not defending his own people. As you read the Psalm, it would help to put verses five and eight together. The writer is asking how long will God continue in his anger at his own people – who had broken the terms of their covenant with God, and were thus experiencing his wrath.

As parents, we have all had those occasions where we made a conscious decision to not rescue our children from a problem in their lives, but rather, for their own good and learning, we allowed them to experience the consequences.

The problem in this Psalm is not a lot different than in the book of Habakkuk … when the prophet found out that God was going to use the evil Babylonians to judge his own people. This confused the prophet who simply asked (in so many words), “Why are you using them for judgment? We may be bad, but they’re far worse! How can you use the bully on the block to judge and beat up your own children?”

Whether it be then or now, it is appropriate and proper for a loving God to exhibit love by judging those who are opposed to truth and the building of God’s kingdom. And it is appropriate for us to speak to God about our perceptions of the prevalence of evil in our world and in our lives.

Yet at the same time, we should always remember that we have him to talk to and to trust in confidently because we have been, in spite of our sinful rebellion against him, a people who have been forgiven and redeemed through the blood of Christ. We did not earn it; we did not deserve it. We only even know about it because of his grace and work; we were not looking for it and are not to be credited because we were smart to accept a great deal. It was all of grace.

Even in difficult times, we must pray in trust that God is faithful and true … that he will ultimately judge evil. And in the meantime, we should grow in trust and come to know Him more, learning lessons that are often only learned in the crucible of life’s experiences.

Psalm 79

A psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
3 They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors, of scorn and derision to those around us.

5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name; 7 for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.

8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need.
9 Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you; with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.

Quite a few years ago there was a controversy that hit the national news about how a very prominent leader of a large evangelical organization said that a particular non-Christian religious group should not have its leaders called upon for public prayers, because God did not “hear” those prayers. His point was that their efforts were worthless, because they did not believe in Jesus. The remark made such a stir that even President Reagan was asked to render his opinion on it.

Another evangelical leader put the whole thing into a better context, asking what was meant by “hear.”  If it meant to say if God knew what was said, then yes, he did hear it. But if what was meant was if God acknowledged those prayers as from his own people, then no, they were not “heard” in the same way of being honored.

God hears everything, for he is omniscient. And the Psalm writer today talks about his own desire that God would “hear” his cry – meaning that God would acknowledge it. But he also writes in reference to saying that he knows God hears (is knowledgeable) about what the writer’s evil enemies say and do. Therefore, the Psalmist is certain that God will rightly see the entire situation and honor and bless him in the midst of his distress.

A central question that surrounds the odd and difficult category of the Imprecatory Psalms that we are looking at all this week is this: Why does God allow injustice to so often prevail in an unpunished state?

If God never allowed injustice or anything that is wrong or evil, well, we wouldn’t have a world to live in anymore. Of course, there is going to be a final day of reckoning, and there will be a new heaven and new earth that is devoid of injustice. It ain’t right now, however.

We will all experience periods of life where injustice makes us a victim to some extent. And like in this Psalm, it may well come through the hands of someone with whom we had a very close relationship at one time – maybe even in the family of faith. Untruths, half-truths, non-contextualized things may be said against us, and we then find ourselves in a very precarious position.

And in general, it may just seem that evil and godless people around us appear to prosper, while God’s people are harmed and distressed. But remember, Jesus said that in this world we would have tribulation.

The pain of being a victim of injustice that surrounds and afflicts us may make us want to do what the writer here pictures – become a dove and fly away to some remote hiding place. But we can’t run from it; we must do what David did – cry out to God and trust him, knowing that he will ultimately deliver us.

There were three points I made in Sunday’s message about the apparent prevailing nature of injustice:

1. We are surprised by it and it seems so wrong, but we often fail to realize what a total mess sin has made of this world and our lives in it.
2. Even in a fallen world, there is a general principle at work that truth rises to the surface and evil leads to destruction and bad results (see the final verse in today’s Ps. 55).
3. God does ultimately judge all evil, so injustice only prevails in a temporary sense.

God does see and hear and know everything; and we can trust him, even in the midst of seasons where injustice abounds around us and we experience its pain.

Psalm 55

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David.

1 Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; 2 hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught 3 because of what my enemy is saying, because of the threats of the wicked; for they bring down suffering on me and assail me in their anger.

4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5 Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
7 I would flee far away and stay in the desert; 8 I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”

9 Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words, for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it.
11 Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets.

12 If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide.
13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.

15 Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the realm of the dead, for evil finds lodging among them.

16 As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me.
17 Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.
18 He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.
19 God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change—he will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God.

20 My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.
21 His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.

22 Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay; the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.

Today we pick up with another Psalm credited to David, and with it we see again (as we’ll see much of this week) that it is a song about looking to God during a time of life shrouded in great distress. And as with most of these Psalms, we don’t know exactly what the historical situation was; it could have been one of dozens of terribly difficult circumstances in David’s life.

Throughout this summer study through the book of Psalms, we have been talking about the different categorizations of the songs in God’s Playlist: praise Psalms, wisdom Psalms, worship Psalms, etc. And like today, some may fit within a couple of categories.

Psalm 35 is both a lament Psalm and an imprecatory Psalm. We have studied laments already this summer, and I’ll go into greater discussion on the full meaning of imprecatory Psalms as the week progresses. Briefly, it involves a calling down of righteous judgment upon those who are evil and stand opposed to the writer, and by association against God.

It makes sense that both of these elements be together, for the writer will lament about the problem and its associated injustice, while also calling upon God for action against the oppressor.

I am sure it is impossible that any person reading this devotional has escaped some season of life where it would seem that God surely is waiting a terribly long time to answer an obvious problem or injustice. In the midst of the sorrows and challenges of this world, God welcomes us to call to him in our distress and trust him for answers and relief. Yet he works on a different time table than we do, and his purposes are higher and greater than our own. God even allows us to suffer in order that we may gain values we would never otherwise learn.

It is natural for us to envy people who are “at the top.” It would seem that to live at the top of life’s food chain would be totally awesome – to be in a position of comfort, wealth, power, or privilege. This would appear to present a life free of common worries and human anxieties.

But David was at the top for portions of his life. He was the king, the chosen one of God … even being called a man after God’s own heart. Of biblical characters, perhaps only his son Solomon had a more externally blessed life. These are guys who possessed everything.

But a problem with being at the top and “walking the point” through life is that you are a target of the plots of jealous, envious, and otherwise evil people. Surely David must have had times where he thought, “this king thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

There is no successful independence from God; we are all dependent – even the King of Israel who was especially loved and blessed by God. So don’t fight it. Trust him. Bring him your troubles and difficulties. Continue walking with him through the dark times and the pain. For a day always comes when, if you’ve been faithful, you will see God’s vindication in your life, and you will be able to sing his praise.

Psalm 35

Of David.

1 Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take up shield and armor; arise and come to my aid.
3 Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to me, “I am your salvation.”

4 May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay.
5 May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away; 6 may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

7 Since they hid their net for me without cause and without cause dug a pit for me, 8 may ruin overtake them by surprise—may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in his salvation.
10 My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like you, Lord?  You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.”

11 Ruthless witnesses come forward; they question me on things I know nothing about.
12 They repay me evil for good and leave me like one bereaved.
13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me unanswered, 14 I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother.
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee; assailants gathered against me without my knowledge. They slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked; they gnashed their teeth at me.

17 How long, Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among the throngs I will praise you.
19 Do not let those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; do not let those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye.
20 They do not speak peaceably, but devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land.
21 They sneer at me and say, “Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we have seen it.”

22 Lord, you have seen this; do not be silent. Do not be far from me, Lord.
23 Awake, and rise to my defense! Contend for me, my God and Lord.
24 Vindicate me in your righteousness, Lord my God; do not let them gloat over me.
25 Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!” or say, “We have swallowed him up.”

26 May all who gloat over my distress be put to shame and confusion; may all who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and disgrace.
27 May those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, “The Lord be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant.”

28 My tongue will proclaim your righteousness, your praises all day long.

Any of us who have gone on a vacation with our children remember the most famous travel question of them all:  “Are we there yet?”

One of my favorite scenes in all of filmmaking is from the Shrek 2 movie when Donkey says to Shrek, “Are we there yet?” … “Are we there yet?” … “Are we there yet?”

To which Shrek responds, “The Kingdom of Far, Far Away is far, far away!”

And Donkey moans, “I’m just so darned bored; there’s no in-flight movie or nothing!”

Finally, Donkey’s “pop, pop, pop (sounds)” leads Shrek to yell “DONKEY, can you just stop being yourself?”

Vacation and travel is supposed to be a fun time for a family – an adventure. Sometimes it is, but sometimes it creates new stresses not seen at home. Everyone is living together in a packed hotel room, or, as in the case of some of my own family’s epic vacation disasters, in a tent.

Living in a tent is not always the greatest of fun—in my humble opinion. My family of origin didn’t go camping; we had the good sense of living in a vacation house or hotel. Diana’s family camped … a lot … even for an entire summer one time – touring the whole USA. So when I married Diana, I knew some camping was part of the deal; we even did it on our honeymoon … bet y’all can’t top that!

Well, we camped a lot with our boys as they grew up. No, it was not always awful, but, there were more than a couple of epic trials, especially with the weather. But it was cheap, and that was the driving motivation for doing it.

So, eight years ago we were in a tent at Yellowstone … in June. And it was so cold that there was ice on the inside of the tent walls. Nobody could sleep … in June! About 3:00 in the morning, I looked at Diana through the darkness and said, “Diana, I have something to confess to you that I’ve kept a secret from you for all of these 30 years that I’ve known you. And I want to tell you what it is … I HATE CAMPING; I’VE ALWAYS HATED CAMPING, and I only ever tolerated it because I love you. But this is the end. NO MORE CAMPING!”

Notice that our short three-verse Psalm for today has the following superscription (and remember that these words are divinely inspired, just like the verses) …

Psalm 133

A song of ascents. Of David.

Again, a Psalm of ascent was one that was sung by Jewish pilgrims at the time of the three festivals in Jerusalem when thousands of people flocked to the city for the holy days. There was no place to house them all in town . They were encamped around the hillsides ascending to Jerusalem by the thousands, living in all sorts of make-shift shelters.

Do you suppose there was some need for them to be reminded about unity? Verse one says:

1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

These festivals were a time in the calendar for the whole nation to gather together as one people … one family … which they were – all of them descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

There are two illustrations given as to what this should be like.

The first illustration is about the oil poured over the head of Aaron, the High Priest …

2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.

This verse looks back to an event described in Exodus 30 …

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus, 24 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil. 25 Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil. 

30 “Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. 31 Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come.

So this was a very special and expensive anointing that spoke of the unique relationship of God to his people, and of his people to one another.

The second illustration is about Mount Hermon …

3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

Much of Palestine is a rather arid and dry land. Mount Herman in the north is the source of moisture for four tributaries that create the Jordan River. Life flows down from Mount Herman with the heavy dews that give vitality for the entire region.

Likewise, life and vitality comes from the unity of God’s people with one another.

In the 1970s, I fell in love twice. Yes, once was with my life-long camping partner mentioned above. The other time was with the institution and family known as the Church of Jesus Christ. My local church family meant so much to me through my high school and college years; I was so blessed by so many people who cared for me and encouraged me in untold ways. They were my family, more than my family was my family. I was never tempted by the allurement of the world and the partying culture of my public high school. I had a family of friends in a youth ministry that was different and so much healthier in every way.

And so, I knew my life was going to be invested in the local church. More times than not, it has been a great blessing. Where it has not been is related to the very theme of this little Psalm. Unity makes for rich experiences; disunity makes for extreme pain and disappointment.

When we come together on Sunday, we are like pilgrims who are all a part of the same family. We have come from our homes to spend time together in our worship of the Lord – the patriarch of our family. His sacrifices for us are so great, that, when you think about it, it is really silly that we not spend our time together in harmony and unity.

Jesus cares about this; he prayed for it in his final intercessory prayer in John 17. We should care about it also.

One does not much think of Solomon when pondering the writers of the Psalms. But here is a psalm of Solomon that has the sound and feel of the book of Ecclesiastes—a late-in-life reflection upon wise living.

Though Psalm 127 is only five verses in length, it talks about the big categories of all our lives: laboring for our daily needs, living in family life, and sleeping! That pretty much sums it up.

The point is this: God is nearby in everything that we do. All of life is dependent upon his blessing.

Psalm 127

A song of ascents. Of Solomon.

1 Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t sleep well when I’m worried about something. Often it relates to church and church people and circumstances. For some reason, it will often hit me out of the blue about 3:00 in the morning that I have not seen someone in a while, and I begin to worry about them and what troubling thing might be oppressing them and taking them away from the church family. It is the dark side of being a shepherd. And I need to pause and settle myself in trusting God, because honestly there is nothing I can do about it in the wee hours of the morning.

Laboring and working in our own strength does not accomplish anything. Our need is to trust God for today and tomorrow.

There is a book called “Sleeping with Bread” by Dennis, Sheila and Matthew Linn. During the bombing raids of World War 2, thousands of children were orphaned and left to starve. Many were placed in refugee camps where they received food and good care. But many of these children who had lost so much could not sleep at night. They feared waking up to find themselves once again homeless and without food. Nothing seemed to reassure them. Finally, someone hit upon the idea of giving each child a piece of bread to hold at bedtime. Holding their bread, these children could finally sleep in peace. All through the night, the bread reminded them, “Today I ate and I will eat again tomorrow. All is well.”

We have the bread of God’s Word and the promise of his presence. As we hold it in our hearts and minds, we are fed by the peace it gives that God is near in every circumstance. Our labors and worries are futile apart from God’s blessing and our daily trust in him.

3 Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.

When I moved back East from my grad school years in Dallas (1983), my oldest son was a week short of his first birthday. We bought land within sight of the elementary school in the country township where I had grown up and began to build a house. My father-in-law and I did most of the work. It was a large house for a little family of three. My church people wondered why we wanted a place so big (2500 square feet, with four bedrooms). But then Benjamin was born the week we moved in, and 17 months later Aaron came along … three kids in 3.5 years. Two more came later – all boys, as you know. People stopped asking about the size of the house and began to ask about the size of the food budget.

Family is a blessing from God. In ancient culture, sons were a great blessing because of protection from enemies. There was the support that came along with it in civil proceedings. If I lived in those days and had a land dispute to be adjudicated at the city gate, there was an advantage I would have by showing up with five big boys surrounding me.

The point is this: God is necessary in all things of life for them to have blessing and value. Otherwise it is much in vain. The funny thing is that Solomon was something of a disaster at all of these elements of life. He depended upon riches and labor and the pleasures of a thousand wives, etc. But he had learned that all was in vain unless God was with it and blessing it.

It makes sense for us to listen to the wisest and most materially-blessed man of all time say that we need God’s blessing on anything to make it truly soul satisfying. But it is our nature to seek to hang onto it ourselves, to try to make it all work out in our own power and wisdom. It is our “family dysfunction” to attempt to make it happen ourselves, when rather we should see that trust in God, along with reasonable responsibility for the simple task immediately at hand, is what we need to find success for our labors and our lives.

Today’s Psalm 112 comes to me personally as both a thankful reflection upon the past and a life challenge for the purpose driving the remaining days of my life. It is the difference between living to gain, versus living to give. It is the difference between an absorbed focus upon self, or a determination to look to the needs of others.

My several readings of this Psalm brought back to my mind a flood of varied songs and biblical life maxims I heard from the earliest days of my childhood. The old hymn “Trust and Obey” went through the jukebox of my mind.

“But we never can prove the delights of His love until all on the altar we lay; for the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows, are for them who will trust and obey.”

And going back farther than that, to the earliest of childhood songs called “Jesus and Others and You – Joy” … where the words included: “J” is for Jesus for He has first place, “O” is for others you meet face to face, “Y” is for you, in whatever you do, Put yourself third and spell JOY.”

Trite, yes. But true? Yes, indeed.

Do you want to have success in life? Put God first by knowing, honoring and obeying his Word. Then make your life focus away from merely yourself and upon impacting the rising generations of your family and others – promoting the stuff of eternal value, and you cannot lose.

When I think back to the Christian people that I have known in family and churches over the years, the finest folks who come to mind have the common denominator of seeing their resources as God’s possession to be used in a wise stewardship as a blessing to others and the building of His kingdom, not their own. Often however, these folk’s own kingdoms were built along the way, and their families prospered also in generations of faith, service, and dependence upon God.

Tri-State is my second church as a Lead Pastor. Though very, very different in style of ministry, and people composition and history, both have adopted the same basic purpose statement: to love God, serve one another, and reach the world. TSF has added the valuable component of talking about generations … handing down the blessing of God’s truth to those coming along.

The reason this formula works is because of this timeless truth: Trust. When we really trust God, we are obeying; we are seeing all we have as from him; we are not fearing anything because we know it has all gone past God before whatever it is has gotten to us. Even the bad stuff of life we look to see how God will prosper for good in the lives of others, and likely by consequence in our own life as well.

It is timeless truth: we gain by giving, our “self” finds joy in focus upon others, and peace comes from every circumstance seen as in the hands of a faithful God and Father. That is a life of a legacy that can be passed along.

Psalm 112

1 Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.

2 Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.
4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
5 Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.

6 Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.
7 They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
9 They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.

10 The wicked will see and be vexed, they will gnash their teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.