Kyle and Larry Discuss Psalm 103

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Pastor Larry and Pastor Kyle discuss Psalm 103 with an eye towards learning to pray the Psalm.

Devotional on Psalm 32:5

By Kyle Newcomer

I acknowledged my sin to you, 
and I did not cover my iniquity; 
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” 
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Psalm 32:5 (ESV)

Admitting we’ve failed has to be one of the most unnatural things we can do. We try all kinds of ways to hide our sin. We may even lie to ourselves and try to convince ourselves we’ve done nothing wrong. We are great at justifying our sin; not so great at admitting it. Maybe you’re like me and one of your strategies for dealing with problems is just to ignore them in hopes that they go away. That’s a really foolish approach for any problem, but especially sin. But again, we’ll try almost anything to avoid coming face to face with sin, won’t we? Somewhere deep down we’re convinced that the good life is one in which you never have to say you’re sorry, where your pride goes untouched. What’s your reason for trying to cover up your sin?

In Psalm 32 David points out a different path. He begins by saying, “Blessed is the one… whose sin is covered.” But as verse 5 makes clear, this sin is not covered by a cover up. In verses 3-4 he says, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away… For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” This image strikes close to home for anyone enduring a Houston summer. When we try to ignore our sin or explain it away, we waste away, we wither like grass under the blazing sun. A sure way to shrivel up spiritually is to spend all your energy covering up your sin. This is all the more true when the Lord brings hard consequences in our lives as the result of our sin. Can you see any ways right now that the Lord’s hand is heavy upon you? What sin is he calling you to address. Certainly not all suffering is a result of sin or a judgment of God. But sometimes we can see clearly the way our sin has led to our present situation. In those times especially, David is pointing us to the path of life.

David leads the way for us. It’s like he’s standing on the other side of the river and saying, “Jump on in. You’ll make it through. Confess your sin. The Lord will forgive you. He will preserve you.” (See verse 6) Confession of sin is an act of faith. It requires us to trust that God is not only righteous, but also merciful. Repenting of sin and resting in God’s grace is the path to joy. The Psalm winds up like this:

Many are the sorrows of the wicked, 
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. 
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, 
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Psalm 32:10–11 (ESV)

The unrepentant wicked have sorrows only. The righteous aren’t free from sorrow, but in the midst of them we can know that the steadfast love of the Lord surrounds. We can shout for joy because the Lord does not count our iniquity against us. One way we can fight sin together is to remind each other of this. Don’t believe the lies your pride is telling. There is no life to be found in covering up your sin. Acknowledge it before God. Drag it out into the light, and know the grace of forgiveness. Look to the Lord as your hiding place when you’re troubled by sin. His steadfast love will surround you.

Prayer
O Merciful Father, you are the God who knows us inside and out. You know our secret thoughts and desires. You know that all that we say and do. How foolish it is when we try to hide our sin from you. And it is all the more foolish because you offer forgiveness to those who repent of sin and trust in Christ. Help us to call on you while you may be found. Help us to be convinced that if we trust in you, the waters of judgment will not overwhelm us. Teach us that the path of joy and salvation lies in repentance and faith in Christ. Amen.

Hymn
His Mercy is More

Devotional on Psalm 65:2-4

This morning’s devotional comes from Psalm 65:2-4

2 O you who hear prayer, 
to you shall all flesh come. 
3 When iniquities prevail against me, 
you atone for our transgressions. 
4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, 
to dwell in your courts! 
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, 
the holiness of your temple!

I think every Christian goes through stages where we don’t feel like there is any purpose to prayer. We say things like, “I feel like my prayers are bouncing off the ceiling.” Prayer just seems pointless. God seems far away. If you’re experiencing a time like that right now, or if you want to prepare for when the next one comes, verse 2 is like a foothold for your faith. David addresses God by this description, “you who hear prayer.” That’s who God is. Whatever it is you feel today, who God is doesn’t change with your feelings. He is always “he who hears prayer.” This is food for our faith.

The fact that God hears prayer is all the more astonishing when David brings sin into the picture in verse 3. Notice that first line, “When iniquities prevail against me.” David isn’t taking sin lightly. He sees himself as being overwhelmed or defeated by sin. If we ever think that we have sinned too much for God to forgive us, these words offer hope. God’s grace is for people who are overwhelmed by sin, whose sins prevail against them. And the second half of verse 3 tells us how this can be. God atones for our transgression. Being reconciled to God is totally dependent on God’s atoning work.

David only ever experienced the atoning or reconciling work God through the Old Covenant sacrificial system. But even so, he doesn’t attribute atonement to the blood of bulls or goats. He confesses that it is God himself who makes it possible for sinners to be reconciled to God. God makes the atonement. David spoke better than he knew. In the sacrificial death of Christ Jesus, God atones for our transgression once and for all. Our iniquities will not defeat us if we have faith in the one who conquered sin and death. Though we are sinners, we are united to God by faith in Jesus.

Verse 4 extols the blessed state of those who are reconciled to God. And it is interesting how this brings us back to where we started. The blessing of being reconciled to God by his atoning work is that the forgiven sinner gets to be in God’s presence. David uses royal imagery, feasting imagery, and then sacred imagery “the holiness of your temple.” Blessed are those who enjoy access to God’s royal throne room, who will feast at God’s table, and who can dwell in his holy presence. The great blessing of the gospel is that God gives us himself. We enjoy fellowship with God because our sins have been covered by the blood of the Lamb. God hears us. Through the cross God becomes for us, “you who hear prayer.”

Because Christ is the perfect and sufficient sacrifice for sin, nothing can remove us from God’s presence. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. God will always and be for his people, “He who hears us.”

Prayer

O you who hear prayer, we praise you and thank you because you have come near to us in Christ. You have shown us your grace by covering our sin in the righteousness of Christ. You sought us out and brought is into your family. We confess that in hard and anxious times, we doubt your power and presence. Sometimes we go back to living as if we are far off from you. Please disrupt our comfort with sinful habits. Please stop us when we wander away. And remind us of the blessing of life in your throne room, of feasting at your table. Grow our desire for a holy life in your temple as we live for the sake of Christ’s holy name. Amen.

Devotional on Psalm 34:17-18

Today I want us to spend a few minutes meditating on Psalm 34:17-18:

17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears 

          and delivers them out of all their troubles. 

18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted 

          and saves the crushed in spirit.

I mentioned in a sermon a few months back that this Psalm is full of different descriptions of the Lord's salvation and the kind of people the Lord saves. It's encouraging to go look at all of those. But in these two verses we see two main descriptions of salvation and those who are saved. I've bolded the salvation words and underlined the descriptions of those the Lord saves:

1) the Lord hears and delivers the righteous.

2) the Lord is near to and saves the brokenhearted and the crushed in spirit

First, think about these descriptions of those the Lord saves: At first glance, the fact that the Lord saves "the righteous" isn't good news. None of us fall in that category, so can any of us be saved? But then when you see that the Lord also saves the brokenhearted and crushed and spirit, the prospects begin to brighten. The very last verse of the Psalm says this:

The Lord redeems the life of his servants; 

none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

(Psalm 34:22 (ESV))

All of these descriptions expand our definition of who the righteous are. They are those who realize that the only refuge for sinners is God himself. At least part of what has broken their hearts and crushed their spirits is a realization of their own guilt of sin. They are those who submit to God as his servants, who find their refuge in him. 

And these verses expand our definition of who the crushed in spirit are. Suffering alone doesn't save anyone. Being sad about sin doesn't save anyone. Salvation comes to those who repent and believe. Those who are saved are the brokenhearted who fear the Lord (see verses 8-9).

The picture we get of those who are saved is that they have come to see their sin and hate it. It grieves them, not because it wounds their pride, but because it is against their good God. They have come to see the Lord as the only refuge for sinners. Those who avoid condemnation are the crushed in spirit who seek refuge in the Lord. They can be called righteous because the Lord doesn't condemn them. And because they are saved by their good God, they now fear him by seeking peace.

These verses also expand our understanding of what salvation is. To be saved is to be heard by God. Instead of being exiled enemies of the Lord, he draws near to us. Salvation and Deliverance are power words. And knowing the power of sin, we need a powerful salvation. But the Savior is pictured as gentle and compassionate. He draws near. He hears our cries for help when we're in deep trouble.

Does "crushed in spirit" describe you this morning? We've felt like that in our home this last week. We're trying to sort through the news about how school will start next month for our kids. We're dealing with sick kids. We're dealing with sinning kids. And too often my response to these stresses is a sinful one, which only compounds the trouble. The question I face, and maybe you're facing today, is this: will I look to the Lord for refuge? In the middle of soul-crushing experiences, will we look and see how Christ has come near to save us? Will we take comfort and joy in the supernatural reality that Jesus, enthroned in heaven, hears our cry? Or will we settle for some fleeting pleasure of sin? Will we "taste and see that the Lord is good" (v 8), and "seek peace," or will we be ruled by our own desires and pride?

This is the battle with sin that we face every day. Pray for me that I will see the goodness of finding refuge in Christ today. I will be praying for you.

Prayer
O God our Refuge,
We come to you today because there is no salvation or lasting comfort apart from you. You are the only one who is powerful enough to deliver us out of the troubles we get ourselves into. You are the only one who can save us from our sin. And we come to you because you are the gentle Savior. You have drawn near to us in your Son, Jesus Christ. He paid the price of our sin, so that those who trust in you are not condemned. You hear us when we cry to you.
We ask you to help us lose our taste for the ways of pride. Help us turn away from speaking caustic or false words to those around us. And help us to taste and see that you are good.
In the name of Jesus who is the bread of life we pray. Amen.

Hymn
Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I07ujatGDBo&t=2s

Psalm 27:4 Devotional

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A devotional on Psalm 27:4 by Geo Haines for Christ Our Savior Baptist Church

Devotional on Psalm 27:2-3

by Geo Haines

Devotional on Psalm 91

by Kyle Newcomer

A century ago a pastor in Washington, D.C. named Francis Grimké shared his reflections on the Spanish Flu epidemic that had swept through the country and closed down public gatherings, including churches. You can read his reflections here, or you can listen to a reading of the sermon in this podcast episode. At one point in the sermon Pastor Grimké quoted these words from Psalm 91:1-7

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

And then he said this: 

Here there seems to be the promise of immunity in the midst of plagues and pestilences. What this means I do not know. How far we may expect immunity under such circumstances, I do not know. These words cannot mean that all good people will escape, and that only the bad will be smitten: for, as a matter of fact, we know that during every epidemic some very good people are smitten, and some, not very good people, escape. And, therefore, I say, I do not know what is meant by the promise contained in this Ninety-first Psalm. It refers to those who “dwell in the secret place of the Most High.” But who are they? How shall we know them? How shall we discriminate between them and all others? It won’t do to say, all who are smitten are excluded, or that all who escape are included, because we know that such is not the case. It is one of those inscrutable things that we cannot explain; we know the fact and that is all. The ultimate explanation must be found in the sovereign will of God. It must be because He wills it. 

I appreciate the way Grimké does not try to answer this question, but points us to the soverign will of God. In a time like this, our collective ignorance is exposed. We have our smartest minds working on the problem of the coronavirus. We have virologist, public health experts, economists, manufacturers, doctors, and nurses working their hardest. In God’s mercy, we pray that they will arrive at solutions and remedies to all the problems this crisis presents. But as of now, we see clearly how much we don’t know. Now more than ever, we sense how much our lives rest in the sovereign will of God. His ways are not our ways.

As Pastor Grimké points out, we don’t know why this disease strikes some and spares others. It can be hard to know what to make of promises like the ones we find in Psalm 91. The Coronavirus doesn’t discriminate based on religious faith. There are saints who have passed into eternity because of this disease. It is not left to us to know why some survive and some are taken. It must be because God wills it.
But as keenly as we feel this mystery ourselves today, I think the person who most experienced it was Jesus himself. If anyone should have been able to lay claim to a life free from suffering, it should have been him. The second half of the Psalm dives even deeper into the mystery of Christ's suffering.
 

8 You will only look with your eyes  and see the recompense of the wicked. 

9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— 

the Most High, who is my refuge— 

10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. 

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 

12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. 

13 You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. 

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. 

15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Do you recognize the words of verses 11 and 12? They are words that Satan quoted to Jesus when he was tempting Jesus to throw himself off the top of the temple. Satan was tempting Christ to put God to the test, to prove that God would protect him. Jesus resists the temptation, only to be presented with another temptation: this time Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, if only he will bow down and worship Satan. These two temptations are related. The first temptation would provide a kind of immediate validation for Jesus. If he leaped from the tower and the angels preserved him, it would have been like getting to experience resurrection without death. The second temptation would have provided immediate glory for Jesus. He would enjoy universal rule and reign, but again, without having to die and endure the wrath of God against sin. Glorification without humiliation. There is no doubt that, as the Son of God, Jesus was glorious and he deserved to live a pain-free life. As a man he was sinless and perfectly devoted to God. He is the only person who ever lived who perfectly fits the description of verse 14: “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name” Jesus is the only human who ever perfectly loved God. He is the one who had perfect knowledge of God’s name. He deserved protection from God.

But the Son of God knew that he had taken on flesh for a specific purpose: to die in the place of sinners. And so again we confront Pastor Grimké's mystery. Why are some righteous smitten while some wicked are spared? Jesus is the perfectly holy one, and yet he was stricken, smitten and afflicted, as the hymn says. He was God's beloved Son, yet treated as if he were excluded from God's family. What a mystery, that God saves through the death of the Son of God! He triumphed through the grave. “I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.” Our Lord’s honor comes after his trouble, his glorification after his humiliation.

As we find ourselves in times of trouble, we may very well want to lay claim to the promises of Psalm 91, and we should. We should trust that “with long life [he] will satisfy [us] and show [us his] salvation.” But we claim these promises knowing mystery of the gospel, that our sinless Savior was not spared from suffering. We follow the path of the crucified and risen Christ. We may succumb to a plague or some other illness. We will face trouble, just like Jesus did. But just as God did not abandon Christ to the grave, he will be with us in our trouble, even through death. But the ultimate pestilence and plague that our sin deserves, the plague of God’s final condemnation for sin, that we will never face because Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross. Our hope in the midst of this epidemic is not in a name-it-and-claim-it kind of prosperity theology. Our sure and certain hope is that God loves us for Christ's sake. Because we belong to him, all things must work together for our salvation, and we are assured of eternal life.

Hymn: He Will Hold Me Fast

Prayer: 

O Most High God, you are our refuge and our fortress. When we abide in you and your words, there is peace and safety. Not the fleeting peace of earthly riches and good health for today. Those things come and go. But because we belong to you, nothing can separate us from your love. You cover us with your wings. As the world mocks us, help us to cling to your wisdom. When the devil lies to us, bind your truth to our hearts. When our desires draw us away from you, help us fight to gaze at your grace and use our gifts to serve others. We rejoice that Christ is our righteousness. Because Christ held fast to you in love, you will hold us fast. Because he suffered for our sake, you satisfy us with long life. We call to you now in Christ name, and know you will answer us. Amen.

Devotional on Psalm 60

by Jeff Berkhouse

This audio message was posted in our Sermons feed.

Devotional on Psalm 27:1

by Geo Haines

Mr. Rogers and Psalm 90

by Kyle Newcomer

The other night Lindsay and I watched the Tom Hanks biopic about Mr. Rogers, and there was a line in the movie that grabbed my attention. In the story, Fred Rogers goes to visit a dying man and his family. The scene has everyone gathered around the dying man's bed, when someone makes an allusion to his coming death. The room goes awkwardly silent. Mr. Rogers senses the discomfort and says, "You know, death is something many of us are uncomfortable speaking about, but to die is to be human. And anything human is mentionable, and anything mentionable is manageable. Anything mentionable is manageable". (From a bit of Googling, it appears this is not exactly what the real life Mr. Rogers said.)

There is a sense in which Mr. Rogers agrees with Moses in Psalm 90. That Psalm is all about the brevity of human life, and in verse 12, Moses writes, "Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom." It's foolish to ignore death. We can't euphemize it away. It is wise to number our days. Movie Mr. Rogers is right to recognize that death is part of the human experience. We shouldn't be afraid to talk about it.

But the second part of the quote is where things go wrong. "Anything mentionable is manageable." No matter how frankly we discuss death, we can't finally manage it. And Moses helps us see the reason why death is unmanageable. Look at this section in the middle of the Psalm:

For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed.

You have set our iniquities before you our secret sins in the light of your presence.

For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty;

yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?

(Psalm 90:7–11(ESV))

Moses ties our death and the brevity of life to the reality of sin and the reality of God's righteous anger against sin. The path of wisdom isn't to mention death or manage death. The path of wisdom requires us to see why death exists. Death is ultimately the result of sin and God's wrath. We can't manage death because we are powerless against sin. Wisdom in the face of death isn't a death management strategy. When we see the brevity of this life and the reality of our sin against God, wisdom leads us to repentance. This is the "heart of wisdom"And wisdom also leads us to look to God as our hope in the face of death. Moses begins this Psalm by praising God as our refuge and dwelling place. He ends it by praying for God's pity, for God's steadfast love. 

Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants!

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.

Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us;

yes, establish the work of our hands!

(Psalm 90:13–17(ESV))

God doesn't help us manage our death. In the death and resurrection of Christ, God has overcome sin and death. Moses is able to ask God to "Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil." Somehow, however dimly, even in the face of death, he can see a reversal. In the face of this vanishing life, Moses believes God can establish the work of our hands. He believes there is a sure foundation for hope in the grace of God.

We face circumstances today that we can't manage. Only the Lord knows the scope of the epidemic and economic disruption we are enduring right now. It may very well be that this epidemic brings death closer to us and our neighbors than we have grown used to. But Christians can see in Psalm 90 a reason for hope. That hope is not that we can somehow "manage" death. It is completely beyond management. But God in his mercy has made a way for us to have hope in the face of sin and death because Christ has conquered it on the cross.

Prayer

Father, use the trial our world is going through to help us number our days. Help us see that you are righteous God and that our sin is offensive in your sight. This life will soon fly away and we will come before your judgment seat. In the name of Christ, we pray for your grace and pity. Our hope in the face of death is that he paid for our sin on the cross, and rose again from the dead. Show us mercy, and thereby make us glad. We pray that we will live in these troubled days as those who are satisfied in your steadfast love. Establish the work of our hands as we serve and worship you. In the name Jesus, who conquered death, we pray. Amen.

Hymn

The Hymn "Our God Our Help in Ages Past" is based on Psalm 90. Sing it with your family today.