The Scorecards

A series on the Psalms - the voice of emotions
When you’re feeling worshipful.
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 99 

[Life is filled with emotions… anger and love; fear and courage; anxiety and peace. The Book of Psalms is also filled with emotions. They help us to validate our feelings and understand ourselves better; to grow in our faith and our relationship with Jesus; to understand the character of our Lord and how He works in our life.]

  

Recently I’ve been going through storage boxes from our basement to discover what we’ve been saving for decades. Growing up, baseball was my favorite pastime. So, it’s not surprising that one of the boxes was full of baseball magazines and other baseball memorabilia from the 60’s.

 

Included in this box were two scorecards, in pristine condition, from a double header that my Dad and I attended in 1969. It was the Cincinnati Reds versus the San Francisco Giants. The lineups were like a Hall of Fame All Star game.

 

They included Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Bobby Bonds, and the immortal Willie Mays. These players were the heroes of many young boys growing up in the 60’s. We put them on a pedestal and worshipped them as if they were a god.

 

The psalmist draws a word picture of the Lord as King… a hero if you will.

 

¹ The Lord is king!
    Let the nations tremble!
He sits on his throne between the cherubim.
    Let the whole earth quake!
² The Lord sits in majesty in Jerusalem,
    exalted above all the nations.      NLT

 

The Lord is a hero who is just and fair.

 

⁴ Mighty King, lover of justice,
    you have established fairness.
You have acted with justice
    and righteousness throughout Israel.            NLT

 

He’s a hero who faithfully stood by his people.

 

⁷ He spoke to Israel from the pillar of cloud,
    and they followed the laws and decrees he gave them.      NLT

 

He’s a hero who freely forgave.

 

⁸ O Lord our God, you answered them.
    You were a forgiving God to them,
    but you punished them when they went wrong.      NLT

 

Like my childhood heroes on the scorecards, the proper response to this hero - the holy Lord who is King - is to worship him. He is just, fair, faithful and forgiving. He is the Living God who is worthy of our worship.

 

⁹ Exalt the Lord our God
    and worship at his holy mountain,
    for the Lord our God is holy.                 NIV

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

The Lesson of the Funnel Cake

A series on the Psalms - the voice of emotions
When you’re impatiently waiting.
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 40 

[Life is filled with emotions… anger and love; fear and courage; anxiety and peace. The Book of Psalms is also filled with emotions. They help us to validate our feelings and understand ourselves better; to grow in our faith and our relationship with Jesus; to understand the character of our Lord and how He works in our life.]

  

Recently my wife and I went to the Corn Festival in Millersport, Ohio. We started this tradition in 2001 with our daughter and son-in-law, and have continued it with the addition of our three grandchildren. The highlight is always eating the sweet corn, but this year we had a funnel cake for dessert.

 

The one I bought was fresh out of the hot cooking oil. In fact, it was almost too hot to carry on the paper plate. But with powdered sugar liberally sprinkled over it and the aroma of freshly fried dough, I couldn’t wait for it to cool down. As a result, I burned the roof of my mouth.

 

It’s hard to be patient sometimes. However, David did it. He waited for God and was rewarded.

 

¹ I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
    and he turned to me and heard my cry.
² He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
    out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
    and steadied me as I walked along.    NLT

 

Through David’s experience, he learned that the Lord doesn’t desire outward acts of piety, but an inward change of heart.

 

⁸ I take joy in doing your will, my God,
    for your instructions are written on my heart.”       NLT

 

In her blog, Ruth Clemence wrote about how the Lord uses waiting in our life.

 

We spend a lot of our time waiting. Waiting in line. Waiting for news. Waiting for a response. Waiting for a promotion. Waiting for the next season of life. God is at work in our waiting.

 

We might not see any changes in these times of waiting, particularly through times of difficulty and periods of personal growth, but there is a plan and purpose in all of it.

 

God can see things that need to be ironed out in our hearts and our lives that would only remain creased and messy if it wasn’t for the refining times of waiting.

 

Like the funnel cake, sometimes when you don’t wait in life, you get burned. But the Lord is faithful. He won’t burn you. He gives you His unfailing love. He is worth the waiting.

 

¹⁶ But may all who search for you

    be filled with joy and gladness in you.

May those who love your salvation

    repeatedly shout, “The Lord is great!”           NLT

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

“Skin for Skin”

A series on the Psalms - the voice of emotions
When you’re feeling angry.
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 13 

[Life is filled with emotions… anger and love; fear and courage; anxiety and peace. The Book of Psalms is also filled with emotions. They help us to validate our feelings and understand ourselves better; to grow in our faith and our relationship with Jesus; to understand the character of our Lord and how He works in our life.]

 

When I was young, I had an anger problem. One time I got so angry that I punched the wall in my bedroom and put a hole in it. No idea why. But I’m pretty sure that I was angrier after punching the wall.

 

Of all the people in the Bible, Job had the best excuse for being angry; especially being angry at God. In Job 2, God and Satan were discussing Job’s faith. God bragged about his faithfulness.

 

⁴ Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. ⁵ But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!”        NLT

 

Psalm 13 is mostly about David venting his deep-seated anger towards God.

 

¹ How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?              NIV

 

Each time he repeats his question of “How long”, you can feel his frustration and anger building. You can feel the “depth of David’s distress”. You can feel his disappointment and doubt in the Lord.

 

We’ve all had similar experiences. It could have been from an illness; a still born baby; an accident; the death of a loved one; or any one of many other life circumstances. And, just like David, these experiences are very painful with an understandable reaction of being angry towards God.

 

But David changed. He made a one hundred eighty degree turn. Not just in terms of his attitude, but also in terms of his faith in the Lord.

 

The Life Application Bible explains David’s change like this:

 

“David expressed his feelings to God and found strength. By the end of his prayer, he was able to express hope and trust in God. Prayer is one way we can express our feelings and talk our problems out with God. He helps us have the right perspective, leading to peace.”

 

Here’s how David finished his prayer.

 

⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.       NIV

 

“Skin for skin”, Satan said to the Lord. He predicted that a person would reject God when they felt betrayed by Him. Job didn’t. David didn’t. What about you?

 

^8a Come near to God and he will come near to you.      NIV    James 4  

¹³ If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. NLT Jeremiah 29

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

You’ve Got This

A series on the Psalms - the voice of emotions
When you’re feeling worried or anxious.
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 37 

[Life is filled with emotions… anger and love; fear and courage; anxiety and peace. The Book of Psalms is also filled with emotions. They help us to validate our feelings and understand ourselves better; to grow in our faith and our relationship with Jesus; to understand the character of our Lord and how He works in our life.]

  

My two oldest grandchildren have played soccer since they were four years old. When they first started, you could have called it “amoeba” soccer. That’s because players from both teams bunched together in a tight group, like an amoeba, and ran from one end of the field to the other chasing the soccer ball. It’s pretty humorous.

 

As the players got older and more competitive, the parents would yell words of encouragement to their son or daughter. One of the things that they sometimes would say is, “You’ve got this”! It’s intended to give their child confidence to face any adversity that comes their way. Certainly, it’s not bad wisdom.

 

But in this psalm, David does the exact opposite. Instead of saying, “You’ve got this”, he says, “God’s got this”.

 

²³ The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
    He delights in every detail of their lives.
²⁴ Though they stumble, they will never fall,
    for the Lord holds them by the hand. NLT

 

³⁹ The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;
    he is their stronghold in 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.        NIV

 

The people of Israel, experienced more than their share of worry and anxiety. After all, God led Israel out of slavery into the Promised Land. But the land was already occupied, so the Israelites needed to drive the people out by force! David also experienced extreme anxiety as he constantly fled for his life from Saul.

 

I made a list of the things that can cause me to feel anxious or to worry. Maybe you can identify with some of them.

 

Finances. Change. Circumstances that are out of my control. Health concerns. Relationships. Unmet expectations. Pressure from the outside or within. Insecurities. Feeling threatened. Conflict.

 

In Psalm 37, David wrote eight times either “inherit the land” or “dwell in the land”. For the people of Israel, the land was their salvation from slavery. But for us, it can be a metaphor for dwelling in the presence of the Lord, trusting in Him and entering into His salvation.

 

³ Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.         NIV

 

When we do this, we’ll discover that all those things that we worry about and feel anxious about, can melt away. Not because “You’ve got this”. But because the Lord does.

 

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.      NIV                 Philippians 4                                      

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Rock the World!

A series on the Psalms - the voice of emotions
When you’re feeling thankful.
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 66

[Life is filled with emotions… anger and love; fear and courage; anxiety and peace. The Book of Psalms is also filled with emotions. They help us to validate our feelings and understand ourselves better; to grow in our faith and our relationship with Jesus; to understand the character of our Lord and how He works in our life.]

 

For the past fourteen years, my wife and I have bought season tickets for Michigan State football. This means that we made the 400+ miles round trip, six or seven times per year. No doubt this qualifies us as rabid MSU fans.

 

But there’s nothing else like sitting in Spartan Stadium for the first game of the season. With 75,000 screaming fans, and the Spartan Marching Band playing the fight song, the team would run out of the tunnel right below our seats. We could feel the heat from the pyrotechnics of smoke and fire. The stadium rocked!

 

This feeling of euphoria, reminds me of the following verses of Psalm 66. See if you agree. But, if you would forgive me, replace the word ‘God’ with ‘Spartans’ (or your favorite team) as you read them.

 

¹ Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth!
²     Sing about the glory of his name!
    Tell the world how glorious he is.
³ Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
    Your enemies cringe before your mighty power.
⁴ Everything on earth will worship you;
    they will sing your praises,
    shouting your name in glorious songs.”         NLT

 

Of course, the psalmist had something more heavenly, more ethereal in mind. First, he reflected on how the Lord saved the people of Israel from the Egyptians by opening the waters of the Red Sea.

 

Then, he described how God tested them and purified them like silver. How God used adversity to bring them back to Him. And eventually, how the Lord brought them to “a place of great abundance”.

 

It’s from the psalmist perspective of thankfulness that he responded. He went to the Temple to fulfill his sacred vows to worship the Lord; to bring the best that he had to offer as a sacrifice to the One who had done so much for him.

 

¹⁵ That is why I am sacrificing burnt offerings to you—
    the best of my rams as a pleasing aroma,
    and a sacrifice of bulls and male goats.          NLT

 

The psalmist begins and ends his psalm with the theme of unadulterated praise for God that flows from a thankful heart.

 

¹ Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth!

²⁰ Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer
    or withdraw his unfailing love from me.        NLT

 

Can we do anything less than this? Let’s go rock the world!

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com