Love me Tender

The Lord is…  A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 103

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20103&version=NIV;NLT

 

How much does the Lord love you?

 

This past week my grandson lost his first tooth. He wiggled it right out of his mouth as Nonna, (the name my wife is called by the grandkids), was bringing him to our house for dinner. He could barely contain his excitement. In fact, he hardly ate anything because he couldn’t wait to tell his parents.

 

When we got him home, his Mom had scarcely opened the door when he shouted, “I lost my tooth Mommy”! Without missing a beat, and with just as much excitement, she shouted, “That is so great Buddy”, and wrapped her arms around him. It was a tender moment of a Mom loving her son.

 

In this Psalm, David wrote about all the things the sovereign Lord had done for him personally, as well as for Israel as a nation. But the main focus of the psalm is the eternal love of the Lord. It gives context and meaning to all that He does.

 

¹⁷ But Lord, your endless love stretches
from one eternity to the other,
unbroken and unrelenting toward those who fear you
and those who bow face down in awe before you.
Your faithfulness to keep every gracious promise you’ve made
passes from parents, to children, to grandchildren, and beyond.     TPT

 

Because my grandson is five years old, and because this was his first tooth to come out, he thought the tooth fairy should leave him a $5 bill. Of course, the tooth isn’t worth $5; but the tender love that his mother showed him was priceless. The Lord loves us in the same way.

 

¹³ The same way a loving father feels toward his children—
that’s but a sample of your tender feelings toward us,
your beloved children, who live in awe of you.             TPT

 

Let us respond to the tender love of our Heavenly Father in the same way that David began and ended this psalm.

 

¹ Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.               NLT

 

 

 

 

 

Campaign Promises

The Lord is…  A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 101

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20101&version=NIV;TPT

 

The Democrats are in full swing to determine who will be their presidential candidate for 2020. So far there have been two primaries, nine debates and eighteen dropouts. Candidates are already making campaign promises of what they will, and will not do if elected.

 During my drive home from work on President’s Day, I was listening to the talk radio station. The topic of conversation was, “Who is your all-time favorite President”.

 

 

At dinner my wife and I shared who we would pick. Independent of each other, we both chose Jimmy Carter; because of his integrity.

 

Psalm 101 is the pledge of a king to reign righteously. It is attributed to David as the author; possibly in anticipation of the Ark of the Covenant being brought to Jerusalem. It reads as if he is saying, “If elected king, I promise to…”

 

However, if you know anything about David, you realize that many of the promises that he made in this psalm, he didn’t keep. He was far from living a blameless life; far from being a king of integrity. But he does give us some clues on how to live blamelessly.

 

² I’m trying my best to walk in the way of integrity,
especially in my own home.
But I need your help!
I’m wondering, Lord, when will you appear?   

⁶ My innermost circle will only be those
whom I know are pure and godly.
They will be the only ones I allow to minister to me.              TPT

 

In these verses, David suggests that we should start at home; that we need the help of mature Christian friends; but mostly, that we need God’s help. Otherwise, we will fail time and time again when trying to do the right thing.

 

Campaign promises are easy to make; but easier to break. Living with integrity is a slippery goal. Just look at David. But because Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead, we have hope. We have hope to live a blameless life through Christ; we have hope to live with integrity.

 

¹ I will sing of your love and justice, Lord.
    I will praise you with songs.     NLT

 

 

Let Him Sit in Your Chair

The Lord is…  A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 93

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2093&version=NIV;TPT

 

The throne… this is a picture of my living room chair. It’s the chair that I always sit in when watching TV; when friends or family come over; when opening Christmas presents. It’s really not a throne, and of course, I’m not a king; but you get the idea. However, I’m pretty sure that every house has a throne; king or not.

 

David was intimately familiar with thrones and kings. He was God’s anointed king of Israel. The people of Israel wanted a person to be king instead of God so that they could fit in with all the other nations around them.

 

In Psalm 93, David wrote the following.

¹ Look! Yahweh now reigns as King!
He has covered himself with majesty and strength,
wearing them as his splendor garments.
Regal power surrounds him as he sits securely on his throne.
He’s in charge of it all, the entire world,
and he knows what he’s doing!    TPT

 

God is King and He sits on His throne. During David’s reign, the Temple was where the presence of God could be found. But when Jesus came, the spiritual order of things was turned upside down. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this change.

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?   NIV

If you as a believer and follower of Christ are God’s temple, then it follows that He is sitting on the throne of your temple; the throne of your life. But the truth of the human condition is that we desire to sit on our own throne more than giving it up to another. After all, like my living room chair, it is MY chair.

 

Who is this God that would desire, ask and even demand to sit on our throne? He is immovable, undefeatable, unstoppable, unending, unchanging, unshakable; He is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Savior of sinners; He is relentless, never giving up, never saying no, never doubting; He is the King… So let Him sit in your chair.

 

² Lord, you have reigned as King from the very beginning of time.
Eternity is your home.       TPT

 

 

 

 

 

A Force to be Reckoned With

God with you - A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 91

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2091&version=NIV;NLT

 

Patrick Mahomes is the 24 year old quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs who played in Super Bowl LIV. For the first 3 ½ quarters, the San Francisco 49ers defense dominated Mahomes and his high powered offense. Following his second interception, Mahomes was quoted to have said to a teammate, “You’ve got to believe brother. It’s going to happen man, I can feel it.”

 

When the Mahomes led offense returned to the field, they were down by 10 points with 6:13 left in the game. At that point, Mahomes willed his team to victory by scoring three touchdowns. Even in the face of desperate odds, Mahomes’ confidence proved to be a force to be reckoned with.

 

The author of Psalm 91 wrote of a confidence that is also a force to be reckoned with.

 

⁹ If you make the Lord your refuge,
    if you make the Most High your shelter,
¹⁰ no evil will conquer you;
    no plague will come near your home.

¹¹ For he will order his angels
    to protect you wherever you go.
¹² They will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. NLT

 

A refuge doesn’t have to be just a safe place. It can be the thing that you trust in the most when the chips are down. That could be your career; your family; your possessions; your achievements. The problem with human nature is that we try to make everything else other than the Lord Almighty our “refuge”.

 

You most likely will never win a Super Bowl, but you may find your refuge through the promises of God. And that refuge will give you the confidence to face trials and temptations.

 

¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
    I will protect those who trust in my name.
¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer;
    I will be with them in trouble.
    I will rescue and honor them.
¹⁶ I will reward them with a long life
    and give them my salvation.”               NLT

 

So the question that you need to ask yourself is, “Who, or what, is your refuge?”

 

² This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him.  NLT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dice Baseball

God with you - A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 89

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2089&version=NIV;NLT

 

When I was an adolescent, my best friend and I created a baseball game that you played with dice. In addition to the game itself, we created a league with six teams that competed for an all-star game and World Series.

 

It was great fun. I spent hours upon hours playing the games and tracking the statistics for all of the players. I became quite proficient at adding columns of at bats, hits and RBI’s.

 

After the first season, my friend lost interest but I continued to play all the games for all the teams for several years. I also created a dice basketball game, complete with teams, and played all of those games.

 

Some might say it was a waste of time; but in reality it helped incubate my desire and develop the skills that lead to my twenty five years of running basketball leagues and tournaments in urban youth ministry.

 

God had a plan with that silly, time wasting dice baseball game. Not only did He have a plan, but He loved me enough to foster the desire and ability to put that plan into place. He was faithful to His promise of working in my life.

 

The author of Psalm 89 had a similar view of the Lord God Almighty. In this psalm he wrote about God’s eternal covenant with David; about the promises made and kept; about God’s love and faithfulness, even in an unfaithful world.

 

³³ But I will never stop loving him
    nor fail to keep my promise to him.     NLT

 

When I remember back to that young boy, sitting on the living room floor rolling dice and keeping track of hits and outs; I am reminded of God’s love, faithfulness and plan. As God watched the same boy, He may have had this promise from Jeremiah 29 in mind for me.

 

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.           NIV

 

God’s Covenant didn’t end with David. It continued through Jesus, and still continues through followers of Christ today. How do you see God’s faithfulness in your life? What promise has He fulfilled for you?