my frame

April has not failed to be a busy month for me. Between school work, work, internship, and preaching the month has been fairly non-stop.

This morning I had the privilege of preaching through Psalm 103. And while I loved the entire psalm, verse fourteen struck a large chord for me. It is stated in the context of the compassionate love of the Lord towards His children.

For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

Prior to studying the passage, I always found this verse brutally honest. It seemed like God was pointing His finger at me saying "dust."

Thankfully, it is actually a great source of comfort.

God knows our frame because He built it. He remembers we are dust because it is what He formed us from.

Therefore, God deals with us according to our nature. He knows our frame and make-up is weak. He knows it is broken. He knows what it can and cannot handle.

April reminded me of my frame. But more importantly, it reminded me of my Father's compassion. It proved that He does in fact know who and what I am. It proved the faithfulness of His steadfast love.

Bless the Lord, o my soul

like that Muppet in the trashcan

This past Sunday I preached through Psalm 6.

It is a psalm of lament from the mouth/pen of David. Whatever the reason, David has found himself in the deepest of pits surrounded by anguish and despair. It is an honestly depressing psalm from a physically and spiritually broken man.

Over the course of last week, my prayer life was exposed by Psalm 6. While I am not currently facing what David is facing, I am still called to cry out to God nonetheless. I quickly found out that this is not my default position. I will cry out to everything and anything, but God is often sought at the end. David makes it painstakingly clear that the Lord is who He seeks first and all the way through what circumstance he was facing.

And so I tied this into some of the application points of my sermon on Sunday. I had wrestled over the course of the week as the Spirit used the Word to rebuke me. Then after delivering the sermon I figured I had learned my lesson and was ready to move on to the next one.

Wrong.

So far this week, I have been rather cranky. I have my reasons, none of which are justifiable. And what have I been doing with my crankiness? Have I been laying it before the Lord who hears me as David did? Have I been putting what God taught me last week into practice?

Nope.

Instead, I have whined and complained both internally and externally. Sadly, I have not been the most pleasant of persons to those around me. I have neglected the One who is standing ready to listen even to a whiny and ungrateful child like myself.

Psalm 6 is a lament, but it also teaches us to bring to the Lord all of our requests, burdens, sins, and emotions. And crankiness is included in that mix. In less than a week, I have quickly forgotten this blessing.

Thankfully, God is patient and gracious when dealing with grouches like me. He daily invites me to come and commune with Him.

blessed by being hated?

Yesterday, I stumbled across a familiar passage which I often pass through far too quickly. It is found in the gospel of Luke. It is (likely) Luke's shorter account of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew. The passage which jumped out at me was included in the section commonly referred to as the "beatitudes."

Blessed are you, when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. Luke 6:22-23

Today's political and cultural climates do not look too fondly on the followers of Jesus. In fact, many of very little nice things to say about us. 

Some of what people say is warranted. Our practice does not always coincide with our theology. We are worse than what we believe. And for that, we should be repentant and thank God that His Spirit works in spite of us.

Some of what people say is unwarranted, and rather nasty. It is said in anger. It is insulting. It is extremely unflattering and more often outright lies.

And sadly, we are far too quick to respond in the exact opposite manner Jesus exemplified and commanded. We do not rejoice or "leap for joy." We get angry. We fight back with "righteous nastiness." We play dirty alongside of those who ridicule us.

If we are being faithful to the gospel (and all of Scripture for that matter), we will rub up against our culture. The two do not uphold and value the same things. The two serve two completely different masters. The two are headed in two different directions.

We should be aiming to redeem our culture through the transforming power of the gospel, while recognizing it will not and cannot be received with the influence of the Holy Spirit. This should drive us to pray. Pray that the Holy Spirit will move in the hearts of the people who create, engage, and value our culture as it is currently. Pray that we can respond with joy knowing this is our calling to follow in the footsteps of our Savior.

For it was He who endured the greatest ridicule and hatred in order to bring us back to God.

answers

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. ~Acts 12:5

I can relate to Peter.

No, I have never been in prison.

The context of this verse is when Peter is arrested, and the church responds by praying. As a result, God sends an angel to walk Peter out the front door and back into the company of the believers.

It points to answered prayer.

I say I can relate to Peter because over the past month I have seen prayers answered. And while these prayers were mine, I have been slowly finding out they were also the prayers of God's people.

As I have had opportunity to share with brothers and sisters, many of them have responded by praising God for answering their prayers.

Unbeknownst to me, people have been praying my prayers, both those I shared and those I did not.

I have found this a wonderful encouragement. It's a testament to the blessing of being a part of the body of Christ. This makes answers to those prayers a joyful occasional for all. It gives everyone a reason to praise the Lord.

April's prayer

Crazy busy would be an adequate description for the month begun today. In God's providence, I am co-preaching a 4-week series on prayer this month. Prayer will be my lifeline and source of strength. Hopefully, I will be preaching through what I have already put into practice. Prayer will be my necessity.

And in that vein, I pray a prayer from the Valley of Vision entitled, "Voyage," as my prayer for the month ahead (emphasis mine).

O Lord of the oceans, my little bark sails on a restless sea, grant that Jesus may sit at the helm and steer me safely; 

suffer no adverse currents to divert my heavenward course; 

let not my faith be wrecked amid storms and shoals; 

bring me to harbor with flying pennants, hull unbreached, cargo unspoiled.

I ask great things, expect great things, shall receive great things.

I venture on thee wholly, fully, my wind, sunshine, anchor, defence.

The voyage is long, the waves high, the storms pitiless, but my helm is held steady, thy Word secures me safe passage, thy grace wafts me onward, my haven is guaranteed.

This day will bring me nearer home, grant me holy consistency in every transaction, my peace flowing as a running tide, my righteousness as every chasing wave.

Help me to live circumspectly, with skill to convert every care into prayer, halo my path with gentleness and love, smooth every asperity of temper; 

let me not forget how easy it is to occasion grief; may I strive to bind up every wound, and pour oil on all troubled waters.

May the world this day be happier and better because I live.

Let my mast before me be the Saviour's cross, and every oncoming wave the fountain in his side.

Help me, protect me in the moving sea until I reach the shore of unceasing praise.