I have to share this today because it’s really quite amazing. Skip Moen did a post today about how the heavens declare the glory of God and talks about the meaning of the word declare. It’s really awesome! But there’s an attachment that he links to our of his article that is amazing. So, click on over to read his post, and then look at the first link which will open up a pdf comparing earth to the known universe. It’s amazing. Then, if you want, you can read my comments on the post (below): Great post! The attachment with the stars, galaxy, and universe information was insane! Sadly, I didn’t know a lot of it, but it’s amazing how much we know… and how little we know, too. I can’t fathom how someone could map out our solar system and universe as much as it has been and still think it all happened randomly by chance. I don’t know the timeline of creation and where the dinosaurs fit in, but really, do I have to? I’m continually amazed at the intricacy of what He created and how each tiny little piece fits so perfectly into the tapestry. I mean, God could have just created our planet and solar system and it could have worked just fine. But He didn’t. He made it so much more complex and so much more majestic, and oh so much more immense… No wonder David says that the heavens are proof of His majesty and glory. They practically shout, “Hey! I’m not an accident!” And if the stars, so beautiful, cold, and lifeless, were placed with care and precision, how much more so are we created and placed in the perfect kairos moment for God to know, love, and use.
Psalm 21:3-7 For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head. He asked life of You, You gave it to him, Length of days forever and ever. His glory is great through Your salvation, Splendor and majesty You place upon him. For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence. For the king trusts in the LORD, And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken. The Mountain This bit of the psalm is structured like a mountain. It rises to its apex and then falls to its conclusion. The most important part is the middle. A-B-C-B-A. That also means that the 1st and 5th lines are parallel, as are the 2nd and 4th. So, here we start: For You meet him with blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head. = For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken. Do you see it? Remember two things: the Hebrew word for lovingkindness actually means reliable and faithful, and in the Hebrew worldview a person looks backwards to remember instead of forward in anticipation. So, in the past God has met him with blessings and has made him (in this case) king. Therefore, the king knows he can trust the LORD because He is reliable and faithful. His blessings in the past mirror current blessings and those yet to come. Look back and remember. (Aside: did you know that that’s what Adam’s role was? It was to be the remembering one. But that’s a different story.) Next: He asked life of You, You gave it to him, Length of days forever and ever. = For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence. Here we have the theme of eternity echoed in both lines. Life and blessing forever. Also, though, it’s noted that this joy and blessing comes in the presence of God. The apex: His glory is great through Your salvation, Splendor and majesty You place upon him. The highlight of this section is God and the things He gives. The king’s (and our) glory is only because of what God has given him. His ability to rule, his power as king, is placed on Him; It’s not earned or taken. Interestingly, it’s a bit like our view of redemption. It’s not earned, it’s given. David, of course, didn’t know anything about Yeshua or the cross. Both those things came long after he was dead. But, he knew a lot of about the salvation of the Lord in battle – reinforcement when the battle is most dire. He continually remembers and acknowledges that he is only great and glorious because God has made him so. Blessings and Joyfulness One last thing, when I was checking out the Hebrew text of this next verse, I found something really neat. Here’s how it reads in Hebrew: For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence. = You put blessings blessings! on him forever; Rejoice, Rejoice! in mirth (exuberant gladness, pleasure) before Your face. I can almost see David jumping up and down and celebrating the greatness of God, and how excited he was overflowing with thankfulness and joy. The repetition of words is for emphasis since Hebrew doesn’t have punctuation. I also prefer the word mirth over gladness because I tend to think of gladness as a rather solemn form of happiness, whereas mirth or pleasure is much more demonstrative and excitable. Anyway, finding the double repetition here made me smile because it emphasized for me David’s possible emotion as he wrote this song.
Psalm 63:2-6 (2) Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. (3) Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. (4) So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. (5) My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. (6) When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, In Hebrew it’s got that ABCBA format: Sseeing God’s holiness and remembering and thinking about him are parallel. His goodness is better than life and it satisfies his body with fullness causing joy – these two parts are parallel. And the centerpiece is that I will bless Him as long as I live, lifting my hands in His name. Cool! Here are a couple of notes about the translation. (2) Thus I perceive/behold Your apartness/sacredness, see Your strength/might and glory. (3) Because Your faithfulness/goodness is better than life my lips praise You. (4) So I praise You while living; I lift up my hands to Your name. (5) My whole being is satisfied/full with choisest abundance and the fatness of blessing. My mouth praises praises with a joyful shout from my lips. (6) When I cause to remember You on my bed/couch, I muse/meditate in the night watch. Some thoughts: I praise God each day I’m alive because I can see how sacred and apart He is, how strong and glorious He is, and because He is so faithful and good. I love that the word “halah” which means praise also means to make a fool or or act like a madman! Maybe that’s why David danced so wildly when he returned the ark to Israel and his wife scorned him because he was acting like a fool… Perhaps worship is not a sedate and composed act. Maybe it requires that I give up my dignity to lift my hands and be joyful, unafraid of looking a little silly. I also love verse 5. When I looked at the Hebrew that verse got so much fuller (haha!). Maybe I missed something that indicated that I’m wrong, but in Hebrew it seems to be talking about fullness of abundance and blessing. And it’s not just good stuff, it’s the choicest of the abundance and the fatness of blessing. It’s like the cup that is filled and running over. Every bit of my being is full with His goodness, and my response is to burst forth with praise and to think about Him and truly see Him in each day. The word remember in verse 6 isn’t like “Oh, I just remembered something!” It’s deliberate, a causing myself to remember. Maybe I leave myself notes to think about the things He’s done, or maybe I can choose to read His word before bed. Remember, in the Hebrew world, the day starts in the evening. So, in the case of this verse, David is starting His day by remembering the things God has done for him and thinking about God. The first part of his day is spent with God. Maybe I wasn’t so crazy when I had my quiet time at night! Application: Be deliberate in remembering what God has done and who He is. Be uninhibited in praise. Be satisfied and satiated by the abundance and blessing He has given me.
Leviticus 9:24 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people, … The glory of the LORD appeared to all people…. after that a fire consumed all the offerings, the people cried out and then fell down. Can you imagine what that must have been like? I’ve been to services where it seemed like God’s hand was heavy upon the congregation and He seemed to really be speaking to peoples’ hearts. I’ve been hugged by my Abba. Even a small touch by His hand is overwhelming. I can’t begin to fathom how incredibly amazing seeing the glory of God must have been. I probably would have shouted and fallen on my face, too! But I wondered, the glory of the LORD appeared to the people after they had obeyed God’s words and offered the appropriate (lots) of sacrifices. How often do we miss seeing God’s glory because we don’t obey Him the way we need to? I was listening to a sermon about tithing (from a Hebrew perspective) and the rabbi teaching said something interesting. In the early days after the Messiah came Gentiles who believed converted to Judaism after giving up their idols. We don’t do that any more and have mostly lost our Jewish roots. I think that’s sad because there’s a great heritage there with so much symbolism and knowledge. In our ignorance, do we unintentionally limit how useful we are to God’s purposes? Do we limit the times when we could see His glory because we miss out on fully obeying Him?
2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 Each time he said, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I both like this verse and dislike it. I like it because it shows God’s strength and how He compensates for my weakness. I like to know that my weakness serves a purpose and allows His power and grace to shine through. I like that His favor is enough to get me through. I don’t know if I could say, like Paul, that I am content with my weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. It’s hard to be content in those situations. I don’t know that he’s saying we have to be content, but knowing that they are used by God and for God’s good should help me to be content. Here’s my thought. You always hear that the Bible says we must be content in all things. I don’t know if it says that somewhere else, but it doesn’t actually say that here. It’s just Paul saying that he has learned to be content. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it’s not a good thing. If my troubles allow God to work good into my life than I should be thankful that they count for something and aren’t just random chance. That would certainly be discouraging. But since they serve a purpose, I can find solace and comfort and learn to push through. I also like how he states that in his weakness, he is strong. He is weak because he’s human and frail and still in a fallen body. But he’s strong because God works through Him, using his weakness to mold him to His purposes. Through Paul’s weakness, God accomplished amazing things and touched the lives of hundreds (if not thousands) of people. I like that. It’s nice to know that even though I am not perfect and even though I struggle through life right now and even though things don’t always seem to go my way, God is strong and is glorified through my weaknesses because it gives Him the opportunity to do awesome things. And that’s pretty cool.
My boys decided 4am was a good time to wake up and that 5am was the perfect time to insist upon getting out of bed. So, they got to watch Veggie Tales for a while to keep them from being so noisy they wake the entire house. This morning we watched “Esther.” I love how Veggies handle the ousting of Vashti – she refuses to make the king a sandwich. But watching it, I started thinking that God had a plan for her, too. We always hear about Esther, God’s plan that made her queen, and how she saved the Israelites from annihilation. But what about Vashti, the queen she replaced? Did God have a plan for her, too? If so, why was it so harsh? Yes. God loved Vashti, and He had a plan for her life. I don’t know whether she was good and kind or if she was manipulative and mean. My guess is that she was typical of most of the people in the court. She probably worshiped whatever god they all worshiped, and she probably didn’t know or care about God’s people. And God’s plan for her included being ousted as queen because she refused to honor a command that would humiliate her and was just plain wrong. She did the right thing and was deposed. I’d like to think that whatever happened after that, God took care of her. But, maybe because she didn’t believe in Him, He couldn’t (kind of like when we want to do things our way and refuse to let God have control). Whatever her history and whatever her future, God knew that if His people were to be rescued He needed someone who cared about them in a position of (relative) power. It’s kind of like Judas. God knew the plan for his life, too. And Paul later says that it’s God’s right to make some jars for noble purposes (like Esther) and some for ignoble purposes (like Vashti and Judas). Whatever the reasons, God is God. He has a plan that ultimately will bring Him glory. And since it’s not about me or us and our glory or happiness (though He does care about that, too), but it’s about whatever accomplishes His plans and brings the most people to Him and brings Him the honor He so greatly deserves, whatever He does is good (even if it doesn’t seem very good to us because we’re on the short side of the stick). Strange the things a cartoon will make you wonder about. Yeah Veggie Tales!