Stepping in the Light

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I Corinthians 2:14

When you hear a sound, you use your sense of hearing to determine exactly what it is that you are hearing. In your mind, you are comparing the sound with millions of stored examples of sounds, sorting through categories and subcategories until an example seems to be a reasonable match. All of this takes place in a very short amount of time, but it is happening nonetheless. If the source of the sound is beyond your field of vision, you must rely solely on your sense of hearing to make a final determination. If you were to lose your hearing, you would no longer be able to engage in this process. A person who cannot hear cannot differentiate between sounds because the sense of hearing is required in order to participate in the process. Before we are saved, we are without spiritual discernment. A lost person cannot understand the things of God because he does not have the Spirit of God living inside him to help him. To an unsaved person, much of what Christians choose to do seems silly. Why would you say words out loud to someone that you cannot see? If your prayers aren’t answered immediately every time, how do you know that what you claim are answered prayers aren’t just coincidences? It may be frustrating to talk with someone who asks these kinds of questions, but be patient. What they need is Jesus Christ.

“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100:1-5

The one hundredth psalm is a shining example of a psalm of praise. This is a song in a Jewish songbook, but the people from every land are instructed to make a joyful noise before God. We are commanded to come before Him with singing. This includes everyone, regardless of our ability to sing well. The charge is to make a joyful noise. We can all do that (as long as we are joyful). We are reminded that God is our creator and we are his people. We are commanded to enter into His gates. This is a reference to the temple in Jerusalem. It is true that you can praise God anywhere on earth, but this psalm instructs us to gather in His house and sing His praises. This psalm gives us three specific things to praise God about. 1) He is good. 2) His mercy is everlasting. 3) His truth endures to all generations. God is good because of His character. He is a merciful God and He never changes, so His mercy is everlasting. The third item of praise involves us. God’s truth will always endure, but He has given us the responsibility to share it with the next generation. God uses our praise to Him to perpetuate His truth.

“Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.” Romans 16:25-27

The closing paragraph of Paul’s letter to the church at Rome could be summarized in one simple, but powerful exclamation: to God be the Glory! Paul’s desire was for them to be established in the doctrines of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he declares as he begins his final statement that God has the power to do just that. Paul refers to the preaching of Jesus Christ as the revealing of a mystery contained in the Old Testament. Many of the prophecies concerning the Messiah were obscure before Jesus came and were not understood clearly until after Jesus rose from the dead. Paul asserts that the mystery of Christ has now been made manifest (made clear) by the commandment of God and that it is now being made known to all nations, so that they might believe the gospel and be saved. Paul was saying that he wanted people to be saved and become established in their faith to the point where they could share it with others. He was saying that this was taking place through the power of God and that all of the glory should go to God. Are you giving God the glory in your life today?

“The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.” Psalm 94:11-15

The word chastenest (to chastise) means to correct, instruct, punish, reform, reprove, or teach. It can be used to refer both to physical punishment and to oral instruction. We often think of this kind of correction in a negative sense, but the psalmist is telling us that it is a blessing to experience the chastening hand of God. He says that it will give us rest from adversity. The Lord corrects us in order to make us better. He doesn’t do it in anger; He does it because He loves us. Hebrews 12:6 says, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Verse 15 in the passage above says that “judgment shall return unto righteousness; and all the upright in heart shall follow it.” In other words, the result of God’s chastening (or judgment) is that it will return or restore us to righteousness. God chastens every one of His children; but the ones who are upright in heart are the ones who will benefit the most because they will follow His instruction. How do you respond to God’s correction? Does it make you better, or bitter? God wants it to return us to righteousness.

“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.” Psalm 92:1-5

The Bible tells us that we are made in the image of God. We not only have physical bodies, but we also have minds with which we are able to think, plan, and understand. When we talk with another person or read something that someone has written, we quickly get a sense of the way they think and interact with others, and we make subconscious judgments about their intelligence. Some of us naturally think more deeply than others. When we see an impressive building, our minds are drawn to the architect who created the design and the builders who brought it to life. We think of the mental effort that was required to create, plan, raise funds, acquire materials, organize, supervise, and execute until the building was completed. When we think this way, we are measuring the depth of thought that was required of the people involved. When the psalmist considered God’s works, he was overwhelmed with the depth of God’s thoughts. Try to imagine how much God knows that we do not know. This exercise can increase our desire to know and follow God’s plan for our lives.

“For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Psalm 90:9-12

The title above Psalm 90 says, “A Prayer of Moses the man of God.” Moses prayed that God would teach us to number our days. The word number here gives the sense of weighing out an article of trade. When you put gasoline in your car, there is a meter that measures the number of gallons pumped and the total amount of the sale. We rely on the meter to tell us the amount of gas that we bought and the amount of money that we owe. In contrast, when you pass a water fountain, you may drink until you are no longer thirsty. The water is provided as a courtesy with hopes that it will cause you to be more comfortable. The water fountain cost far more than the amount of water you drink. There is no meter and there is no charge. But gasoline is much more costly. We measure it. We are careful how we spend it. Most of us don’t just get in the car and drive around when we don’t need to go anywhere because gasoline is expensive. Time is the most precious commodity that we have. How sad when we waste it on frivolous things! Your days are precious, so learn to spend them wisely.

“For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:10-11

We must read this passage carefully. It does not say that God will not withhold anything from us that we think is good for us; it says that God will not withhold anything that He knows is good. The Lord knows what we need. He knows what will help us and what will hurt us. Sometimes we need a trial or difficulty to strengthen us. Sometimes we need to lay aside something that we enjoy because it is hindering us from accomplishing God’s will in our lives. Understanding this principle can be a comforting thing for the child of God because it enables us to trust God and allow Him to work on our behalf. Everything will not always go as we have planned, but we can rest in knowing that God is working all things together for our good. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” (Romans 8:28). We do not always see how God’s plan is working for our good, but if we can accept by faith that God will never withhold anything from us that He knows to be good for us, then we will know that He is working all things together for our good, and we can trust Him to do what is best for us. Do you believe that God has your best interests at heart? He wants you to know that He does.

“Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” Romans 11:22

Many people wish to contrive their own definition of God. Rather than look in the Bible to see what God has told us about Himself, they just like to think about what they would prefer God’s nature and character to be. Sometimes they use scripture to identify the characteristics they wish to emphasize and simply ignore all of the others. It is common for people to single out the love of God and paint a picture of God as a benevolent grandfather sitting on a cloud and stroking a long white beard, never being unhappy with His people or correcting them for things that they do wrong. If God were truly as they imagine Him to be, there would be no need to obey His commands or adjust your style of living to meet His demands. Paul warns us not to get a one-sided viewpoint of God. He instructs us to see both the goodness and the severity of God. He does love us, and He is benevolent; but He is also righteous, holy, and just. God judges our iniquity and chastens us for our sin. Our Heavenly Father takes a balanced approach to His children. He loves us and cares for us, but He also demands obedience and expects us to live righteously. The more we study the Bible, the more accurate our understanding of God becomes. The more completely we comprehend His nature, the closer we can come to pleasing Him with our lives.

“Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” Psalm 80:19

At any given time, any group of people will display a prevailing attitude. That attitude may not necessarily be representative of every person in the group, but it will represent the group in general. In the sense of civic interactions, this is true of nations, states, cities, and people groups. In the spiritual realm, this is true of all Christians in general, a particular church, a Sunday school class, a youth group, or a family. Asaph, the writer of this psalm, is asking for God to change the prevailing attitude of the nation of Israel. Much like the prayers of Nehemiah and Daniel, it is likely that Asaph was a very spiritual person whose heart was in tune with God. He had observed the apathy and carnality that had become prominent among his people, and he was asking the Lord to do something about it. As always, the answer is for us to turn to God. If there is going to be a change in a family, a church, a neighborhood, a city, or a nation; it generally begins with one person who becomes burdened enough to turn to God and begin asking that God would turn others to Himself as well. There is nothing wrong with any group of people that could not be remedied by a majority of that group turning to God. If the spirituality of your family, your neighborhood, and your city depended upon you; how spiritual would they be? Since God is looking for someone to be the first one to turn to Him, it really does depend on each one of us. Are you willing to pray, “Turn us again”?

“Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.” Psalm 77:7-12

The Israelites had a rich treasure of miraculous interventions which the Lord God made on their behalf. He chastened Pharaoh with the plagues of Egypt. He parted the Red Sea, and His people walked across on dry ground. He fed them with manna in the wilderness and brought forth water from the rock. He stopped the Jordan River so that the people walked across a dry riverbed. He knocked down the walls of Jericho and drove out the Canaanites before His people in one battle after another. The list of God’s great works on behalf of His people goes on and on. It seems that the writer of this psalm was experiencing some sort of infirmity. His suffering was so intense that he found his faith beginning to waver. In his hour of despair, he made a choice. He said, “I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High,” and, “I will meditate also of all thy work.” When life becomes difficult, it is easy to be overwhelmed with the circumstances. But the darkest hour is the very time that we need to remember the good things that God has done for us and share those victories with others.