Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me

"But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD: you cover him with favor as with a shield." Psalm 5:11-12

Oh, what a place to be!! Taking refuge in God, being protected by God, and being "shielded" by His favor! This is where you will find faithful Christians. Now, that's not to say that faithful Christians will never suffer. They (we) certainly do suffer. But there is relief with the Lord. There is rest with the Lord. And that is a promise, my friends.

Rock of Ages
by Augustus Toplady

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

What do you think?

"For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you." Psalm 5:9-10

Should this be our prayer today? In this part of the Psalm, David again describes the evildoers. Then he makes a request to God to "cast them out." The assumption is made that these evildoers will not repent or seek forgiveness. Christians should assume that God can save anyone...even those who seem unforgivable to us. God can soften the heart of the hardest person you know. Remember how Christ himself responded to those who persecuted Him. He did not retaliate. Also keep in mind scripture such as these:

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Matthew 5:44

"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" Romans 12:19

I don't believe that God wishes for us to desire bad things to happen to anyone, even our worst enemies, or even in private prayer. God desires for us to witness to everyone and hate no one. This can be difficult, especially when people are directly criticizing God, or your Christianity or beliefs. But we should desire for these people to become like-minded and to love God as much as we do. Asking that they be cast out will not help that happen.

Now, I'm not saying that David is sinning here by praying for the destruction of his enemies. David lived under the law and Christ had not yet come to save sinners. In the OT, there are several prayers for the destruction of the enemies of God's people. And God responds. I doubt He would respond so positively to prayers made sinfully.

All the Way My Savior Leads Me

"But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me." Psalm 5:7-8

Remember in the last few verses, David spoke about the things that God hates (evil, liars, etc). Here in verse 7 he contrasts that with the things God loves. Note the word "But." The "but's" of the bible are wonderful aren't they! Many times they speak to or about believers.

"For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. BUT now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law..." Romans 3:20-21a

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, BUT the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." Romans 8:26

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, BUT the Lord delivers him out of them all." Psalm 34:19

Here in Psalm 5, David is saying "LORD, you hate evil, BUT you LOVE your people and because of that love, I can worship and trust you." Then David asks for the Lord's guidance. Evil is all around and people will do what they can to distract believer's from doing God's work. Here David asks for the Lord to guide him and make His way straight (or obvious and easy) to him. He needs this help "because of my enemies."

Our prayer should be that God will guide us day to day. That He will show us His path and His will. We need this guidance because we are easily distracted by the things of this world, by other people, and even by those who claim to be friends in Him. This should be our prayer every morning when we first wake! And then it should be our prayer again and again through the day.

All the Way my Savior Leads Me
by Fanny Crosby

All the way my Savior leads me;
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well;
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me,
Cheers each winding path I tread;
Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living Bread.
Though my weary steps may falter,
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see;
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see.

All the way my Savior leads me
O the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages—
Jesus led me all the way;
This my song through endless ages—
Jesus led me all the way.

Who Needs the News Anyway??

"For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man." Psalm 5:4-6

Here David praises God for loving what is right and hating what is evil. Tonight I've also been reading a portion of Genesis. I read Genesis 4-7 to be exact and this portion of scripture tells us about the descendants of Adam and Eve down to Noah. It also tells us about the flood...well, the first part at least. So in my bible study tonight, I'm left with two portions of scripture (Genesis 6:9 - 7, and Psalm 5:4-6) which speak of our Lord's view of evil. In Genesis, God is so upset by the evil of man that He sends a flood to destroy all of man and creatures and living things with the exception of who and what He tells Noah to take onto the ark. In Psalm 5 we see that God hates evildoers, destroys those who speak lies, and that evil may not "dwell" with Him.

Look around yourself today, brothers and sisters, and be glad that God promised not to send a flood like in Genesis ever again. Evil abounds but God prevails. But not only that. There is hope for even the worst of evildoers if they only repent and look to Christ.

I don't watch the news much anymore. Its very depressing and it reminds me constantly of the crazy people that are out there. I suppose I like to lock myself into my little happy world and pretend that it can't touch me, but I know that is not necessarily true. So, sometimes I find myself being paranoid (or, shall I say, cautious). :) But I'm happy in the knowledge that Christ paid the ultimate price for my sins and, that, no matter what happens, God's will will be done. When I'm being paranoid, I look to God and am comforted. But I still don't watch the news. :)

Thank God for Answers to Prayer

"Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch." Psalm 5:1-3

Here is another Psalm of David written at a time when he was faced by "bloodthirsty and deceitful" persecutors. We're not told exactly when David wrote this Psalm, however, just in this opening portion of the Psalm we see how David cries out anxiously and expectantly. He has an urgent prayer, but he also expects that it will be answered. He trusts in God to help him.

Now, let's get into some translation notes. The ESV renders a portion of verse 3 as "in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you..." Most other translations say something more like "in the morning I will direct [it or my prayer] to you..." The ESV study notes say that the Hebrew here is difficult. It could be translated either way but the ESV translates it as it does because of two facts: the psalmist is writing this in the morning and in verse 7 he mentions entering the Lord's house and bowing down toward the Lord's holy temple. I'm not sure which translation is correct or even if it matters. Prayer can be sacrificial. Fasting and prayer go hand in hand. Also, we should sacrifice our own pride in prayer. We should sacrifice our time to pray. We should sacrifice our own sinful desires to pray. When faced with a temptation, we should pray.

Finally, in verse 3, after mentioning this prayer or sacrifice, David says that he will "watch," or "look up," or "wait in expectation." After we pray, we should be watchful for answers to our prayers. It is prudent to pray when faced with decisions (big or small) in life. We need Christ's direction in our lives. We want to live within His will and, therefore, we should ask what that is. When you are watchful for an answer to prayer and open to what God puts in front of you, it will make these decisions much easier.

I remember last year I was considering an opportunity to go back to work part time. I was only going to be working 10 hours a week but most of that was going to have to be at the office and not at home with Alex. This wasn't the ideal situation that I was looking for, but it would provide us with a little more money and my sister would be able to watch Alex for me while I was at the office. This would have even provided her with some additional pay (which would have been very helpful at the time for her as well). It seemed like everything was pointing toward me returning to work. Peter and I prayed about it and talked about it and had pretty much come to the decision that I would do it. The night before I was going to give my employer word of my decision, I had an OVERWHELMING feeling that I should NOT do this. I looked at Peter and simply said "I don't want to do it" and he said "Then don't...we'll be fine, Jenny." So, the next day, instead of calling in and starting a new 10 hr a week job, I called in and told them that I would be sending a letter of resignation that afternoon. That's what I did and I can't say that I have regretted that decision once.

Throw out the sleeping pills!

"There are many who say, 'Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!' You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound." Psalm 4:6-7

And, my FAVORITE verse...

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you ALONE, O LORD, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8 (emphasis added by me)

In his commentary on verse 8, J Vernon McGee says, "My friend, do you need a sleeping pill at night? Have you ever tried Psalm 4? It is lots better than any brand of sleeping pill you have used." Here is one place I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. McGee. Although I have never taken sleeping pills, I have had many nights when I wished I could turn off my brain and go to sleep. When its worry that is keeping me awake, this verse always lulls me to sleep. It tells me, "are you having some hard times?? I'm sorry about that...why aren't you trusting in the Lord??" All of the sudden, my body relaxes and sleep comes. *SIGH*

I decided today that at the rate I'm going, it will take me at least 18 months to finish the book of Psalms during my bible study time. So, since I'd really like to get into more of the bible, in addition to the in-depth study of a few verses, I'm also going to try a reading plan. I don't intend to read through the bible in a year, but I'm going to use one of those plans and just mark off the passages as I read them. I think I'm going to go with a chronological reading. However, if you think another plan is better, let me know!!

Yes, sometimes it snows in North Alabama!

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" Psalm 8:3-4





Rarely, but it does happen. :) I woke up Sunday morning at 7:00 AM to get started cooking for lunch at church (I was taking sweet and sour chicken and had a whole lot of chicken to fry...bleh...the house smelled like grease for the rest of the day)....Anyway, I walked into the kitchen all bleary eyed and started getting things out for cooking. I happened to glance toward the window and did a double-take. Huge flakes of snow were coming down like crazy. And there was actually some snow sticking to the ground!! This is a very rare occurrence here in North Alabama. Granted, the sidewalks and streets were clear and by 11:30 all of the snow had disappeared...but for a short little while on Sunday morning, we were in a winter wonderland. I guess I can take my Christmas door hanging down now that winter is over. :-)