Milo

GOD THE GLORIOUS
Psalms 107–112

“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let Your glory be over all the earth” (Ps. 108:5).

Book V begins here. The first six psalms focus on the glories of who God is and what He has done.

Overview
Six psalms lead us to praise the Lord as God of Rescue (Ps. 107), God of Victory (Ps. 108), God of Vindication (Ps. 109), God of Messiah’s Triumph (Ps. 110), God of Wonders (Ps. 111), and God of the Good Man (Ps. 112).

Understanding the Text
Psalm 107: God of Rescue. The goodness of God is revealed through His rescue of the redeemed from four symbolic perils: destitution, imprisonment, sickness, and storm.

“Let the redeemed of the LORD say this” Ps. 107:1–3. The four perils that follow symbolize the actual experience of Judah during the Captivity. A generation recently restored to the Jews’ ancient homeland could identify with each situation, and realize afresh the wonder of God’s redemption.

“Some wandered in desert wastelands” Ps. 107:4–9. The hungry, thirsty, and homeless of Judah cried to the Lord. God redeemed, and with unfailing love led them to a city where they could settle.
The pattern seen here is followed in each portrait of redemption. Calamity leaves God’s people in desperate straits. They cry to God. He rescues them. Each calamity and rescue enriches our understanding of redemption, that we might praise God.

“Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, prisoners” Ps. 107:10–16. They cried to the Lord, and with unfailing love He cut through the bars of iron.

“Some became fools through their rebellious ways” Ps.107:17–22. When they cried to the Lord, with unfailing love He healed their sickness and rescued them from the very brink of death.

“Others went out on the sea in ships” Ps. 107:23–32. In great peril from terrible storms they cried to the Lord. With unfailing love He calmed the storm and led them to their desired haven.

“Whoever is wise, let him heed” Ps. 107:33–43. The psalm concludes with a vision of God creating a fertile land from the wilderness in which the people might dwell. They rebelled and experienced oppression, but “He lifted the needy out of their affliction.”
What does the psalm say to you and me? While the psalm draws on physical perils for its imagery, it symbolized that spiritual peril in which all human beings find themselves. Our God is a God of Rescue, for He redeems us from every danger. Freshly aware of the meaning of redemption, we too “give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever” (v. 1).

Psalm 108: God of Victory. David rejoiced, for he was confident that “with God we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies.”

“My heart is steadfast” Ps. 108:1–5. David began this psalm, which is a prayer for help against Israel’s enemies, with an expression of total confidence in the Lord. David’s very petition was worship, for he knew that “great is Your love” and “Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”
What a reminder for us. Our requests too are to be made in complete confidence. Beginning each time of prayer with praise for who God is will help give us the steadfast heart from which David speaks here.

“God has spoken” Ps. 108:6–9. God has promised the victory that David now claimed. To toss the sandal represented Israel’s domination of a humbled and submissive Moab.
David, even before the battle, so relied on the covenant commitment of God to be with Israel’s armies, that he spoke as if the victories were already won. Has God made promises to us? If so, the answer to our prayer is as sure as if it were already given.

“With God we will gain the victory” Ps. 108:10–13. Underline each “will” of verse 13 in your Bible. And remember to pray with David—like confidence in God.

Psalm 109: God of Vindication. God will vindicate the righteous and punish their accusers.

“Wicked and deceitful men” Ps. 109:1–31. Jesus tells us to pray for those who mistreat us and do good to our enemies. How does a psalm like this one, in which David pleaded with God to punish the wicked who oppressed him, fit with Jesus’ contrasting emphasis?
We can hardly dismiss the imprecatory psalms by saying that in old times people were vindictive, or by contrasting the “God of the Old Testament” with the “God of Jesus.” The fact is that both Testaments portray God as One who vindicates His own and punishes the wicked. Jesus often warned His listeners of eternal punishment, and 2 Thessalonians 1:6–7 says, “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled.”
Yes, today you and I are to emphasize the grace of God, and display that grace in every dealing with others. But let’s not forget that God is a God of justice as well as grace. The anger and antagonism David expressed toward the wicked who torment the righteous are but a dim reflection of the wrath God will unleash when the day of grace is past.

Psalm 110: God of Messiah’s Triumph. The coming Messiah of God is God (v. 1), destined to unite in His person the kingship promised to a descendant of David (vv. 2–3) and a new priesthood (v. 4), and destined also to judge the earth (v. 5).

Though only seven short verses, this is the most quoted of all Old Testament psalms. To understand its significance read Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; 16:19; Luke 20:42–43; Acts 2:34–35; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Ephesians 1:20–21; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3, 13; 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:17, 21; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; and 1 Peter 3:22.
The God we praise in this psalm is a God who, in Jesus Christ, will bring all His purposes to pass. He will redeem His own, He will judge the wicked of the world, and He will establish the endless kingdom of our God.

Psalm 111: God of Wonders. We celebrate the wonder-working power of God, for His works have provided us with redemption.

“I will extol the LORD with all my heart” Ps. 111:1–10. Here is another psalm well worth memorizing. Its 10 short verses move us to praise as we see again that God has chosen to exercise His power to redeem and to care for you and me.

DEVOTIONAL
God of the Good Man
(Ps. 112)
I was leading a retreat in Washington State, and asked each person in the very large circle to share one thing each really liked about himself or herself: one thing that marked him or her off as a good person.
I knew it would be hard for some. So many of us have been taught from childhood that we’re only sinners saved by grace, that it somehow seems “wrong” to say or think anything good about ourselves. It was hard for the folks there in Washington. Only a few mentioned anything significant. Most choked out things like, “Well, I enjoy children,” or “I dress nicely.” But when we got to the pastor’s wife, she said honestly, “I don’t know anything good about myself.”
How tragic. Because, you see, our God is not a God of sinners. He is a God for sinners. But He is a God of sinners who are being made good!
It is appropriate for David to speak of the blessedness of the “man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in His commands.” This is a man being transformed by his relationship with the Lord: a man who through that relationship has become good. He is generous and lends freely. He conducts his affairs with justice. He trusts in the Lord. He cares for the poor. And his righteousness, his good actions, “endures forever.”
Why not take a moment before you read Psalm 112 to ask yourself the question I posed on that retreat. What are some things you like about yourself? What things mark you off as a good person? When you’ve made your list, then read in this psalm the blessings that God has in store for you.
He has made you good that He may bless you forever.

Personal Application
Be glad, but not proud, when you find good in your heart and life.

Quotable
“It is the highest and holiest of the paradoxes that the man who really knows he cannot pay his debt will be forever paying it.”—G.K. Chesterton

WORSHIP THEMES
Psalms 99–106

“Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever” (Ps. 106:1).

Themes developed in worship psalms tend to focus on who God is, on what He has done, and on the wonder of His love for His people.

Overview
Israel worshiped the Lord as enthroned (Ps. 99), as God (Ps. 100), and as a God of love and justice (Ps. 101). One psalm foreshadows the Messiah’s days and endless years (Ps. 102), while others celebrate God’s great love (Ps. 103), His self-revelation in nature (Ps. 104), and particularly in history (Ps. 105) as a covenant-keeping God (Ps. 106).

Understanding the Text
Psalm 99: God Enthroned. God’s absolute sovereignty is demonstrated in His gracious choice of Israel.

“The LORD reigns” Ps. 99:1–9. God has exercised His sovereignty in choosing Israel (vv. 1–3). That choice was just, as well as sovereign (vv. 4–5), for God’s own keep His statutes (vv. 6–7). His justice is also displayed both in punishing Israel’s misdeeds and in His forgiveness (vv. 8–9).
How important to remember that God does not use His power capriciously. He keeps His commitments, and does right.

Psalm 100: The Lord Is God. The one true God has revealed Himself in His personal name, Yahweh, “the LORD.”

“Know that the LORD is God” Ps. 100:1–5. The personal name Yahweh was revealed to Moses. That name, which means “The One Who Is Always Present,” was to be “My name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation” (Ex. 3:15). This psalm exults that it is Yahweh who is God. “He who made us, and we are His,” is God. The Lord, who is good, and whose love endures forever, is ruler of the universe.
What a cause for thanksgiving. Because the Lord is God, we are safe and secure forever. For “His faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Psalm 101: Love and Justice. David found a reason to praise, and a motive for godly living, in the love and the justice of God.

“I will be careful to lead a blameless life” Ps. 101:1–8. The psalm expresses David’s commitment to the God whose love and justice he praised. That commitment was expressed in the psalmist’s determination to live in a way that pleased God.
But note the motivation. David intended to lead a blameless life in view of the love and the justice of God. Because God loves us, we want to please Him. Because God is a God of justice, we can trust Him fully to reward those who do right, and to punish the wicked.
Our motivation too, when pure, is response to the love God has showered on us, and trust that His justice will guard and protect us as we live for Him.

Psalm 102: Messiah’s Days and Years. Even in Old Testament times this psalm was known as messianic. It is a psalm which sensitizes us to the sufferings of the Saviour, and a future shaped by His ultimate exaltation.

“I am in distress” Ps. 102:1–11. In familiar terms this psalm evokes images of frailty and pain, rejection and despair. It was because of God’s wrath against our sin, not the sufferer’s, that the Father has “taken [Messiah] up and thrown Me aside.”

“You will arise and have compassion” Ps. 102:12–17. In the Messiah, God’s appointed time had come, and He Himself acted to have compassion on His people. Through that act “the LORD will rebuild Zion” when He appears “in His glory.”

“Written for a future generation” Ps. 102:18–22. The benefits of the Messiah’s act are not immediately visible. But they will be known in the future, when God declares His name openly and “the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the LORD.”

“Your years will never end” Ps. 102:23–28. Though death would cut short Messiah’s days, His years will “go on through all generations.” He is the One who laid the foundation of the earth. The universe will perish, but not Him, for “You remain the same, and Your years will never end.” And, because of Messiah, “the children of Your servants will live in Your presence.”
When we read such psalms and many of the prophets we realize how often God turned the eyes of His Old Testament people ahead, and how clearly He portrayed the coming Saviour. Most importantly, however, we ourselves are led to sense the wonder of a God who would enter our world and suffer here as a human being, in order to redeem a people who have no benefit to return to Him but our worship and our praise.

Psalm 103: God’s Great Love. David chronicled evidence of God’s love in a psalm that is sure to move us to praise. (See DEVOTIONAL.)

The Old Testament compares God’s love to that of a father for his own children (Ps. 103:13). Only in the New Testament do we discover that God is a Father to individual believers. It is Father-love that has motivated God to do for us those wonderful things which Psalm 103 records.

Psalm 104. God in Nature. God’s greatness is displayed in all the wonderful things which He has made. We are to meditate on creation’s evidence of His glory, and praise the Lord.

“When You send Your Spirit, they are created” Ps. 104:1–35. This psalm parallels the Genesis Creation account. It is well to read it as a commentary on Genesis 1, not to explain how God created, but to celebrate the wonder of His works.

Psalm 105: God in History. God is known by what He has done in history for His people Israel.

This psalm praises the Lord for His “wonderful acts.” The miracles and judgments of the Lord seen through the history of His dealings with Israel reveal Him as a covenant-keeping God, who keeps His promises and works miracles on behalf of His own.

Psalm 106: Covenant Love. In this dark counterpart to Psalm 105, the psalmist reviewed history’s evidence of human failure. Against that background the wonder of God’s covenant-keeping love shines bright and clear.

DEVOTIONAL
Let Me Count the Ways
(Ps. 103)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote one of the English language’s most powerful love poems. It begins:

  How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
  I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
  My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight . . . 

  and it ends

  With my lost saints—I love thee with the breath,
  Smiles, tears, of all my life!-and, if God choose,
  I shall but love thee better after death.

Browning’s powerful poem wasn’t the first to count love’s ways. The first was David, who a thousand years before Christ set down a list in Psalm 103 of ways in which God loves you and me. And his list is far more specific, far more extensive, and far more wonderful than Browning’s.
How does God love us? He forgives our sins and heals our diseases (v. 3). He preserves our life and crowns us with love and compassion (v. 4). He satisfies our desires with good things (v. 5). He works justice for the oppressed (v. 6). He made known His ways to Moses and revealed Himself in history’s mighty acts (v. 7).
And the list goes on.
He is compassionate and slow to anger (v. 8). He does not treat us as our sins deserve (v. 10).
And still there is more. Far too much to record in this brief meditation.
But if life ever seems hard and the future so bleak that you can see nothing but darkness ahead, turn in your Bible to this psalm that celebrates God’s love. As you count with David the ways that God loves you, the darkness will break. And, with David, you will be lifted up to sing God’s praise.

Personal Application
Jot down the number of this psalm on the inside back cover of your Bible, so you can find it at times when you feel down.

Quotable
“I believe that each individual is precious to God, and that a divine undefeatable purpose is being worked out in every life; a life that goes on after death. A thousand things happen to us which are not ’the will of God,’ but nothing can happen to us which can defeat His purposes at last.”— Leslie D. Weatherhead

OBSERVING RESTORATION
Psalms 90–98

“You make me glad by Your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of Your hands” (Ps. 92:4).

Book IV suggests a collection date near Judah’s return from Exile. The first psalms remind us that every experience of God’s blessing teaches us more about the character of our Lord, and deepens our appreciation of His great love.

Overview
A prayer of Moses for restoration (Ps. 90) is followed by psalms celebrating the joys of dwelling in God and proclaiming His love (Pss. 91–92). The following psalms hold God up as Ruler (Ps. 93) and Judge (Ps. 94). God is also celebrated for His voice (Ps. 95), His imminent coming (Ps. 96), His righteousness (Ps. 97) and His salvation (Ps. 98).

Understanding the Text
Psalm 90: A Prayer for Restoration. Moses reflected on the fragility of life, and appealed to God to “make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us.”

“From everlasting to everlasting” Ps. 90:1–6. God’s eternal nature stands in awesome contrast to the brevity and fragility of human life. He is the only stable element in reality, beside whom the universe itself is young.

“Teach us to number our days” Ps. 90:7–15. The Exodus generation knew God’s anger as their sins were exposed. Moses yearned for his people to learn the lesson taught by God’s wrath, that the people might experience His compassion and be made “glad” for as many years as they had seen trouble.
How those who returned to their ruined homeland after decades of exile in Babylon must have identified with this psalm! How appropriate that it launches this book of psalms, which most view as liturgy used in public worship by the postexilic community.

Psalm 91: Dwelling in God. This psalm is the Old Testament’s corollary to Jesus’ call to the believer to “abide in Me.”

“Rest in the shadow of the Almighty” Ps. 91:1–2. Safety is found in closeness to the Lord, represented here as “dwelling in the shadow of the Almighty.”

“Surely He will save you” Ps. 91:3–13. Christ is the example of One who dwells in God’s very shadow. When tempted, Jesus had no need to prove God’s loving care by leaping from the temple’s highest point. He knew, without any need to test God, that the Lord had commanded “His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (v. 11).

“I will rescue him” Ps. 91:14–16. These last, magnificent verses define what it means to dwell in God’s shadow. It means to love Him, and to acknowledge His name. When you and I do love the Lord, and acknowledge Him in our daily lives, we can claim this promise: “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

Psalm 92: Proclaiming God’s Love. We too can exalt God, and sing for joy as we contemplate God’s works and His thoughts.

“The righteous will flourish” Ps. 92:1–15. This too is a psalm with a promise. The “senseless man” cannot know God. But we who praise Him are filled with joy as we consider what He has done. With that joy comes assurance for the future. We have God’s promise. Planted in the house of the Lord we will flourish forever, ever proclaiming and praising the Lord.

Psalm 93: God Reigns. God’s throne was established in eternity. He is the one and only stable element in the universe.

Psalm 94: God Is Judge. God is moral Judge of His universe. The anxious person can find comfort in the love of a righteous God.

“O God who avenges, shine forth” Ps. 94:1–7. The oppressed believer cries out for God to judge, while the wicked man laughs at the notion God sees or cares.

“Take heed . . . you fools” Ps. 94:8–11. How senseless to suppose that a God who designed the ear cannot hear, and the eye cannot see! God does know—and will punish the wicked.

“Blessed is the man You discipline” Ps. 94:12–15. As Judge, God has given man His Law, in order to teach us His ways. The upright in heart follow it and are blessed.

“Your love, O LORD, supported me” Ps. 94:16–19. As Judge, God helps His own against the wicked, supporting them with love when they become anxious.

“He will repay” Ps. 94:20–23. As Judge, the God who is our present refuge will one day destroy the wicked and repay them for their sins.
If you or I become victims of the wicked, we too can celebrate God as Judge. He does see. He guides us with His Word, supports us with His love, and in the future God will repay.

Psalm 95: God’s Voice. God is our King. We are to hear, and respond to His voice.

“Today, if you hear His voice” Ps. 95:1–11. The writer of Hebrews returns to this psalm two times, quoting or alluding to it in 3:7–11, 15, and 4:3, 5–11. The psalm recalls Israel’s refusal during the Exodus to obey God and enter the Promised Land. That failure to obey led to 40 years of wandering in a wilderness until an entire generation died.
This psalm celebrates God as the great King. We acknowledge His lordship by responding when we hear His voice. Only by showing respect to God as King and Lord, and obeying His voice, can we find rest.

Psalm 96: God Approaches. This psalm is vibrant with shouts of joy as God approaches to “judge the world in righteousness.” (See DEVOTIONAL.)

Psalm 97: God’s Righteousness. The foundation of God’s rule is justice and righteousness.

“Let those who love the LORD hate evil” Ps. 97:1–12. This psalm too is vibrant with a sense of awe at God’s greatness. That greatness is displayed in a righteousness which establishes justice, punishes the wicked, and delivers the upright who hate evil.
If you and I live a righteous life, we are promised both light to guide us and joy to accompany us (vv. 11–12).

Psalm 98: God’s Salvation. The whole universe joins the believer in singing praise to God for His salvation.

“Sing to the LORD” Ps. 98:1–3. The song of salvation celebrates the marvel of God’s love, faithfulness, and righteousness, which bond together to win glory for “the ends of the earth.”

“Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth” Ps. 98:4–9. The phrase “all the earth” generally means all people of earth. But here it seems to have a different focus. The chorus is joined by the sea and all in it, the world and all living things in it, the rivers and mountains as well.
The psalm reminds us that nature too is warped from its original shape by Adam’s sin (Gen. 3:17). Paul pictures the creation as “subjected to frustration” and waiting to be “liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom. 8:20–21).
When God’s salvation appears, you and I, and creation itself, will at last be set free.

DEVOTIONAL
Line the Streets
(Ps. 96)
What would you do if you were walking through a dark alley, and suddenly met God?
This seems like a strange question. Yet it seemed the best way to express something I found some years ago when I did research on a class of children in a Christian school. I wanted to find out how eighth-graders in our local Christian school really felt about God, and how those feelings related to what they knew about Him. Briefly, a number of the boys and girls had a sense of warm, close, personal relationship with the Lord. But several felt uncertain, strained, and even distant. The immediate reaction of the first group, if they met God in a dark alley, would have been to run to Him with arms open, shouting out for joy. But the reaction of the second group would have been to draw back, and very possibly to slink away.
Remembering that research, I’m tempted to title Psalm 96 the Psalm of the Joyous Children. It is a shout of joy. It is a portrait of God’s children lining the streets, with arms open, jumping up and down in excitement as the Lord approaches.
If our own relationship with the Lord is warm and close, this psalm will excite us too. The Lord is near! And we are lining the street, eager to meet Him and filled with a great joy.

Personal Application
Think of Christ’s coming, and let the prospect fill your heart with joy.

Quotable
Let me hold lightly
Things of this earth;
Transient treasures,
What are they worth?
Moths can corrupt them,
Rust can decay;
All their bright beauty
Fades in a day.
Let me hold lightly
Temporal things,
I, who am deathless,
I, who wear wings!
-Martha Snell Nicholson

GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE
Psalms 85–89

“Great is Your love toward me; You have delivered my soul from the depths of the grave” (Ps. 86:13).

Confidence that God loves us undergirds our faith. We trust Him, not only because He is able to help, but because He truly cares.

Overview
We experience God’s love through a forgiveness (Ps. 85) that awakens commitment to Him (Ps. 86). God loves Zion (Ps. 87). And though we may experience despair (Ps. 88), we remain objects of His love and faithfulness forever (Ps. 89).

Understanding the Text
Psalm 85: You Forgave. In forgiveness God’s love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace all meet.

“You forgave the iniquity of Your people” Ps. 85:1–3. “Iniquity” is willful, rebellious sin. Even this God forgave, and covered His people’s sins.

“Restore us” Ps. 85:4–7. As a forgiven people, God’s own can expect renewed blessing as the Lord shows His unfailing love. God’s promise of peace to the forgiven is contingent. Peace comes only to those who fear God and turn from “folly” (moral evil).

“Love and faithfulness meet” Ps. 85:10–13. How can we understand forgiveness? By seeing it as a place where God’s love, faithfulness, and righteousness unite to bring peace. Because God loves us, He forgives. Because He is faithful to His covenant promises, He forgives. Because God is righteous, He pays the price in Christ that forgiveness requires. Where these three qualities unite in forgiveness, man is restored to that state of peace (well-being) which Adam and Eve first knew.
Viewing forgiveness as an expression of God’s character and attitude toward man, we can be sure that “the LORD will indeed give what is good.”

Psalm 86: The Undivided Heart. The forgiven man responds to God with gratitude, commitment, and trust.

“I am poor and needy” Ps. 86:1–4. The forgiven man acknowledges his need for mercy, and looks only to God for salvation and for joy.

“You are kind and forgiving” Ps. 86:5–10. The forgiven man recognizes the source of his blessing in God’s character. Having experienced God’s love, he prays freely to the One who alone can do marvelous deeds.

“Teach me Your way, O LORD” Ps. 86:11–13. The forgiven man focuses completely on God. With an undivided heart he seeks to learn and to walk in God’s way. The forgiven man responds to God’s great love with a wholehearted effort to glorify the Lord.

“You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God” Ps. 86:14–17. Under attack by the arrogant, the forgiven man appeals to God for mercy, and confidently expects the Lord to provide signs of His goodness.
When you and I realize that we truly are forgiven, we too respond to the Lord with an undivided heart.

Psalm 87: Zion. The city of God reflects His glory.

“Zion” Ps. 87:1–7. The Zion of the Bible is first Jerusalem, the city God chose as the focal point of Old Testament worship; the location of His ultimate revelation of love in Christ Jesus. God chose Zion simply because of His love for this place from which His grace shines out on all men.
This psalm emphasizes the fact that Zion is not only a place, but also a people. To be born in Zion is to be one with the people of God, who gather round His revelation and rejoice in the Lord. The stunning emphasis of this psalm is that those who have been Israel’s historic enemies, Rahab (Egypt), Babylon, and Philistia too, will one day know the Lord. It will be said of them as well as of Israel, “This one was born in Zion.”
What an amazing reminder of God’s grace, nestled here among psalms that celebrate forgiveness. And how we need to remember that those who seem God’s most implacable enemies remain the objects of His forgiving love.

Psalm 88: In Distress. Those who know God well may still experience unremitting pain and grief.

“Day and night I cry out” Ps. 88:1–18. Most psalms which express despair or distress lead us from the depths to the heights. We share the psalmist’s pain. But then our hearts are lifted as the psalmist turns his thoughts to the Lord. In affirming God’s greatness or love the psalmist shows us where we can find peace.
This psalm is different. It speaks of an unrelenting darkness. Heman, its author, found himself “in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.” Though he called out to God “every day,” there was no answer, and the psalmist felt rejected by the God on whom he depended. And this had been his lot “from my youth”! He had been afflicted, in terrors and despair, as long as he could remember.
What is the value of a psalm like this one? It reminds us that faith promises no 30-minute resolution of our problems, nor 30-second spiritual highs! There well may be days, weeks, or even years when all seems dark, and God remains silent. While faith frequently offers us inner peace in outward turmoil, some men and women with a true faith will find themselves living in unexpected, and unexplained, dark.
When that happens, we need not blame ourselves, as if the darkness were evidence of some personal spiritual lack. Psalm 88 reminds us that for some, who honestly trust and cry out to God, the answer is withheld and the darkness remains. When this happens, and we cannot say why, then we must believe that even the darkness is a gift, intended by God to be our “closest friend.”

DEVOTIONAL
Falling Out of Love
(Ps. 89)
We read about it all the time. Sometimes we even experience it. “I’ve just fallen out of love with my husband,” the young wife writes to Ann Landers or complains to a counselor of “Can This Marriage Be Saved?” in the Ladies Home Journal. Or, perhaps the glow fades in our own marriage, and your spouse says, “I just don’t love you anymore.”
I suspect that many married couples in this land of ours, where divorce seems destined to strike 51 percent of those who marry for the first time, live with a conscious uncertainty about love. They aren’t sure whether they are loved. Or even whether they really love their partner!
What reassurance we find in Psalm 89 that our relationship with God is different. There is no uncertainty here. God does love us. In fact, His love “stands firm forever.” He is by nature a faithful Person: He will not take His love from us, and promises, “Nor will I ever betray My faithfulness.” We can be comfortable in our relationship with God because He loves us with an unconditional, unchangeable love.
Psalm 89 is a long psalm. But it celebrates something basic in the nature of God, and vital to our relationship with Him. Because God’s love stands firm forever, because faithfulness surrounds Him, we who walk in His presence are assured of blessing, of strength, and of a ready answer to our prayers.

In the Old Testament the throne is a symbol of not only human but divine rule. In the psalmist’s exalted vision of God, His throne and the throne of the coming Messiah, “will endure before Me like the sun; and it will be established forever” (Ps. 89:36–37).

Personal Application
Read the psalm thoughtfully. What evidence does it give that God is faithful forever? What does the fact of God’s faithfulness mean to you?

Quotable
There is no place where earth’s sorrows
Are more felt than up in heaven;
There is no place where earth’s failings
Have such kindly judgment given.

For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of man’s mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind. . . .

Pining souls! come nearer Jesus,
And O come, not doubting thus,
And with faith that trusts more bravely
His huge tenderness for us.

If our love were but more simple,
We should take Him at His word;
And our lives would all be sunshine,
In the sweetness of our Lord.-F.W. Faber

CONTENT WITH CHRIST
Philippians 4

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Phil. 4:11).

When you have it all, more means little.

Overview
Paul exhorted his friends (4:1–9), put their gift to him in unique perspective (vv. 10–20), and added final greetings (vv. 21–23).

Understanding the Text
“Therefore . . . stand firm in the Lord” Phil. 4:1. Most connect this exhortation with the teaching in chapter 3. The reason is the “therefore.” As the old preacher observed, “Whenever you see a ‘therefore,’ you gotta look back to see what it’s there for.”
What is this “therefore” there for? Paul had just explained the futility of trying to relate to God through works, and reminded the Philippians of the resurrection power available to those who rely completely on Christ, and who “press on toward the goal” Christ sets for His own. In view of the supernatural character of the Christian life, believers are to “stand firm in the Lord,” and resist every effort to shift the focus of their faith from Jesus Himself.
The verse contains another of those 14 occurrences of “joy” or “rejoice” found in Philippians. Here Paul called the Philippians “my joy and crown.” In this he reflected a theme found in 3 John 4: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
When you and I stand firm in the Lord we do give our leaders joy. More important, we give God Himself joy, for we fulfill His purposes for us.

“I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche” Phil. 4:2–3. Paul knew the hurt caused by misunderstandings and sharp disagreement. His own stubbornness had caused a break with his dear friend Barnabas (Acts 15:36–41). Paul didn’t condemn these women who for some reason found themselves at odds. He instead pleaded, “Help these women.”
There’s a vital lesson here. In Philippians 2 Paul described the attitude of humility which alone is capable of melding believers together (2:1–4). Paul might very well have bluntly accused each of these women of abandoning this attitude, and bluntly demanded they get right with God and then get right with each other.
But Paul did not! Instead he was sensitive, caring, and—please note, respectful! He pleaded, not ordered. He asked others in Philippi to help, not demand or discipline. And he showed respect for these two women by praising them for contending “at my side” for the Gospel. He carefully numbered them along with the “rest of my fellow workers.”
We make a great mistake if in trying to cure we condemn, or in trying to help we disparage. Belittle a person whom you hope to help respond positively, and you’re almost sure to harden him or her in his position. But appeal with respect, as Paul did, to the better self others have displayed, and you free others to make right choices.
Really, having faith in God’s people to do the right thing is having faith in God. As Paul has said, “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (v. 13).

“Rejoice in the Lord always” Phil. 4:4. It is significant that Paul burst out with another expression of joy just after mentioning the conflict between two good women in Philippi.
Charles L. Allen tells about the manager who took a pen and put a black dot in the center of a large sheet of white cardboard. “Your trouble is,” the manager told his employees, “that the moment one black spot appears you fix your attention on that, and fail to see all the clean white space.” We Christians are like that too. When a black spot, or a dozen black spots, appear, we spend all our energy thinking about them rather than on the vast white space that represents what we have in Christ.
Paul wasn’t going to let conflict between Euodia and Syntyche pull his eyes away from Christ! And so he tells us, when the black spots appear in our lives, as they surely will, to “rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice.”

“Do not be anxious about anything” Phil. 4:6–7. Psychologists have defined anxiety as a feeling of apprehension, cued by a threat to something we hold essential. Some, however, are chronically anxious: fearful and nervous even when there is no apparent threat. Whatever the source of anxious feelings, they’re no fun to have.
I suspect that the real cause of anxiety is a sense of powerlessness. We feel threatened, but don’t know what to do about the threat. Paul reminds us that we can not only do something—we can do the most effective thing! We can place the problem squarely in the hands of the one Person in the universe who can deal with every threat.
So Paul said, “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” The thanksgiving is important. It is our affirmation of faith that God will surely deal with the situation we have just handed over to Him.

“The peace of God, which transcends all understanding” Phil. 4:7. Why does the peace of God “transcend understanding”? Simply because, on the surface, our circumstances will not have changed. Something we hold dear will still be threatened. We’ll still be out of work. Or our child will still be bullied on the school bus. Or our spouse will still face a battle with cancer. We could explain the peace we feel to others if we could announce, “I have a new job!” Or if the bully was kicked off the bus, or the doctor announced the cancer cured.
The thing that’s special about the peace God gives, and the thing we can never explain to those who have never had the experience, is that we experience peace before the situation changes in any way. God’s Spirit calms us, and whispers in our hearts, “It’s all right now. God will provide.”

“Think about such things” Phil. 4:8–9. The word translated “think” here (logizesthai) means to “continually focus your mind.” But more is implied than considering. We are to concentrate on expressing these qualities in our lives, so that as we dwell on them, they in turn dwell in us.
Paul’s list includes:

• the true—meaning the truthful in thought as well as every aspect of life.
• the noble—meaning that which wins respect; the honest, honorable, worthy.
• the right—meaning that which fulfills all our obligation to God and to other men.
• the pure—meaning that which fits us for fellowship with and service to God, including but more than freedom from bodily sins.
• the lovely—meaning that which is attractive and winsome.
• the admirable—meaning that which is kind and likely to win others.
  These were considered excellent and praiseworthy qualities in Greek culture as well as among Christians. The Christian is not to be the “odd” man in society, but the ideal man (see DEVOTIONAL).

“I have learned to be content” Phil. 4:10–20. Paul had received a money gift from the Philippians, which he appreciated. It revealed their continuing love for him, and this was important to Paul. And as an expression of love for God, the gifts are “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice.” Paul also shared his own unique perspective on money. During his 25 years of ministry Paul had known times when money was plentiful, and times he was “in need.” And Paul had learned that neither condition made any real difference: “whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” Paul had learned to be content.
His independence from circumstances grew out of the conviction that his God meets all our needs “according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (v. 19), and the conviction that “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (v. 13).
This is one of the greatest gifts that is ours through our relationship with Jesus. We have a God whose endless resources will be used to meet our needs. And a God who will give us strength to meet every challenge. If we constantly remember who our God is, we too will grasp the secret of being content, whatever our circumstances.

DEVOTIONAL
Hear, See, Do
(Phil. 4:6)
My wife is one of those naturally good cooks. I say naturally, but I don’t really know whether it’s a gift, or the result of practice. On the other hand, I have a hard time trying to cook, largely because I don’t have the patience to follow a recipe’s instructions. I look at a list of ingredients, throw them all together, and somehow don’t notice that the shortening wasn’t supposed to be melted before being mixed in. Or if I’m making the gravy, I plop the flour and milk I’ve mixed so carefully into the broth in one great glop, creating some of those wonderful lumps that my mom’s gravy—or Sue’s—never has.
Sometimes we Christians make a similar mistake with the Bible. We read it and get all the ingredients straight. But then we don’t notice just how they are supposed to be blended together. And what we sometimes get is a disaster instead of a tasty dessert.
Philippians 4 is like this. Paul gives us ingredients for a vital and joy-filled Christian life. He writes about bringing our anxieties to God (vv. 6–7). He reminds us of the qualities we’re to nurture (vv. 8–9). He even tells of the contentment that comes as we rely on God rather than our current bank balance (vv. 10–20). And there, right in the middle, he tells us how these ingredients are to be combined!
Paul said, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put into practice” (v. 9).
It’s dangerous to leave out any of these steps. If you’re a parent or a teacher or preacher, it’s not enough to speak the truth. To translate what is heard, most people need to see it put into practice by others. So those of us who teach in any setting need to open our lives to others, so they can see how the truths we share find living expression in our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. Preachers can’t just proclaim the truth and expect their people to go out and practice it. God’s recipe calls for a vital intermediate step.
If you and I are learners, there’s a reminder for us here too. We can’t just “learn and receive and hear” the truth from our teachers, or just see it in other’s lives. We have to go on to personally “put it into practice.” Truth we don’t practice is about as useful as a tire without air. We won’t get very far on either!
So let’s remember as we try to put together the ingredients God gives us for a truly Christian life that we have to follow His recipe carefully. We have to hear, see, and then do.
Then, and only then, will we experience what Paul knew so well: the joy of knowing that “the God of peace” is with us.

Personal Application
What you don’t know, you can’t do. But what you don’t do, you cannot truly know.

Quotable
“There is only one golden rule for spiritual discernment, and that is obedience. We learn more by five minutes’ obedience than by ten years’ study.”—Oswald Chambers