Glory!

The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, "Glory!" ESV Psalm 29:9

Do you ever marvel at God’s glory? Our lives are so full and busy that’s it’s easy to miss the everyday wonders that are all around us. Each wonder is a gift from the Creator and each wonder should be a reminder of God’s glory.

Our verse today has come to my attention at least three times this past week. The more I meditate on it the more I’m convinced that God’s glory is beyond my imagination. The first time I came across it was at a Christian website that I visit often. The verse was superimposed over a picture of an erupting volcano. Imagine a volcano in full eruption at night with red hot lava spraying around a crater and steam rising into the evening sky. Volcanoes are powerful enough to lift the top off mountains. Their power is magnificent; so is the voice of the Lord.

My family took a spur of the moment overnight trip this past week to Little Bear Creek Lake. We do quick trips like that from time to time; though sometimes to the chagrin of my family. But we usually all end up having a memorable time. Anyway, we rented one of the cabins down on the lake. Just before sunset Melisa and I walked down to the pier and watched the sunset. Sunsets are always prettier on the water and this one didn’t disappoint us. Just at the last moment, the sky erupted with color in a spectacular display. Sunsets are spectacular; so is the voice of the Lord.

The next morning I watched the sun rise on the other side of the lake and then sat down for a cup of coffee and Bible reading. There it was. Our verse for the week caught my eye for the second time. I pondered the descriptions the Psalmists gives of God’s voice. It’s so strong that leaves fall from the trees and deer spontaneously give birth. In some respects the voice of the Lord must be frightening. Like the rumbling of thunder; so is the voice of the Lord.

A relaxing getaway is not complete for me without two critical items; a good book and my bicycle. Determined to get in a short ride, I headed out for a quick spin as soon as the morning chill lifted. Just a few miles out, I was reminded of our verse a third time as I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I had startled a spotted fawn on the roadside. It ran along beside me for several yards and then froze at the edge of the wood and watched me pedal on by. The fawn was beautiful; so is the voice of the Lord.

How do you react to the voices of nature? Do you take them for granted or do you see them symbolic of the voice of God? I’m convinced that God speaks today through His written word. The Bible is the voice of the Lord for you and me. How do you react to the voice of the Lord? Don’t take the voice of the Lord for granted. Instead, listen intently as the unimaginable glory of God unfolds. His voice is magnificent, spectacular, frightening, and beautiful. If you listen intently to His voice you’ll be like those in the temple; your one word response will be “Glory!”

Boast in the Lord

Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD." ESV Jeremiah 9:23-24

The Bible is the most fascinating piece of literature ever to grace creation. It is sufficiently simple so that anyone with basic reading skills can glean knowledge of God Himself; even by hearing the word spoken for that matter. At the same time the Bible is intricate enough (and sometimes seemingly paradoxical) to provide more than a lifetime of learning to even the most discerning and educated among us. Let’s look at just a couple of seemingly paradoxical examples found in Scripture.

On the one hand, the Proverbs (written mainly by Solomon, the richest and wisest man of the day) clearly teach that wisdom is to be desired more than gold and that knowledge of God is the beginning of wisdom. And the Psalms, many of which are attributed to David (the mighty lad who slew Goliath with a stone), resound with a humility before God that cannot be found anywhere else. Do you see the paradox here? The rich showing disdain for treasure and the mighty bathed in humility. Both are counter cultural in our day.

Imagine for a moment that Solomon and David were living in modern day America. How would our culture portray these two? Would Solomon grace the cover of Forbes magazine? Would we make movies of David’s heroic exploits and battles? Would media frenzies erupt at their every move? Yes, because we are a society that celebrates individual accomplishment above all. We are proud and boastful too. Our motto could be, ‘It’s all about me.’

But David and Solomon acted quiet differently. Far from being self-centered, they both seemingly understood and lived the principles that are taught in our text today. The actions of David and Solomon both testify to the fact that they knew it wasn’t ‘all about them.’ No, they knew that their riches and might were gifts from God to be used for His honor and glory. And they both honored God by not boasting in their personal accomplishments, but in God and God’s work.

An even greater paradox is that God became man so that you and I could be reconciled to Him. Theologians call it a voluntary condescension. In human terms, it makes no sense at all. Yet that is exactly what happened in Christ. Christ came as your redeemer; the perfect for the imperfect.

What are you most proud of in your life? Is it your family? Is it physical strength, athletic ability, your education, or career? It doesn’t matter. We must put those things

Broken Cisterns

“Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” ESV Jeremiah 2:12-13

Where were you on September 11? What images come to mind? They aren’t images of this year are they? Probably not, and they are probably not images from last year either. The images that come to mind are the images of September 11, 2001; the day that terror hit home.

I was on the way to an appointment that morning when my assistant called to make sure I knew what was happening. Within just a few minutes I was sitting in a friend’s office watching on television as the second plane slammed into World Trade Center building. Moments later, we all watched in stunned disbelief as one of the buildings came crashing down in a plume of dust. Appalled, shocked, utterly desolate; words cannot adequately describe the emotions of the day. It was a day when you just wanted to quietly hug your loved ones and mourn with the nation.

As part of my job, I traveled to New York just a few weeks later on October 31. As my flight made its approach for a nighttime landing it occurred to me that the tranquility of the lights below and the surrounding darkness betrayed the disquiet and apprehension that I would see up close in the city; and the city did not disappoint me.

New York City was in shock. Prayer stations were set up every few blocks where people (Christians and non-Christians) would stop to try and gain some semblance of spiritual composure. Church doors were open 24/7. Flowers, candles, cards, letters and photographs were placed at make-shift memorials; oft times at the base of a barricade near ground zero. Stench from the smoldering ruins filled the air in lower Manhattan. Grand Central station erected a long line of bulletin boards where people posted pictures and pleas for help finding loved ones who were missing and feared dead. And as I stood next to the famous bronze ‘charging bull’ statue situated near Wall Street, I looked north (on Broadway) into an empty and quiet street. No cars, few people, few words. New York City was in shock.

For New Yorkers, indeed for the nation, nine eleven was a shocking reminder of the frailty and shortness of life. It jolted many folks out of complacency and caused them to reflect on their values. It was a time when many found it easy to distinguish between urgent things and the truly important things in life. It was a time when everyone seemed to unashamedly call on the name of God.

How quickly we forget. As individuals and as a nation it seems we are becoming complacent. Carried away with the urgent matters of the day, we have forgotten the lessons of nine eleven or buried them in our memory as ancient history.

Sadly, sometimes history repeats itself. As individuals and as a nation we are watching an even greater tragedy than nine eleven unfold before us. It is a tragedy so great that even the heavens are appalled, shocked and left feeling utterly desolate. It is the same two part tragedy that was unfolding in Jeremiah’s day. We are forsaking the living God in pursuit of our own recreations. We are exchanging the eternal for the temporary.

In John 4, Jesus tells the woman at the well that the “living water” that He possesses and gives is eternally satisfying but that the water in the earthly well only satisfies temporarily. She responds by saying, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty…”

Now, let me ask you, do you find yourself continually thirsty in your spirit? Is your life filled with one empty pursuit after another? Have you forsaken the living God and exchanged Him for your own recreations?

Our own recreations will never hold eternally satisfying water. Even our boldest pursuits only satisfy for a little while. Then, like water leaking from a broken cistern, all our joy leaks out and we find ourselves empty; thirsty again.

Individually there may be little we can do to thwart another tragedy like nine eleven. But we can each individually avoid the even greater tragedy of forsaking God for our own pursuits. We can respond like the woman at the well and be satisfied with the living water that God provides through faith in Jesus Christ and experience eternal satisfaction in Him.

No Apathy with God

“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. 5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.” ESV Psalm 5:4-5

Apathetic: If you look the word up in the dictionary you’ll see that it means to be indifferent or without concern about a matter. For instance, many folks outside of our beloved state are apathetic when it comes to college football; they could care less who wins or looses each Saturday on the gridiron.

OK, maybe that example is a little hard to imagine. Let’s try again. Suppose that your neighbor is cheating on his taxes. Do you care or are you really sort of indifferent about it? I suspect that many would argue that an issue such as taxes would be between the neighbor and Uncle Sam; certainly no business of theirs to be concerned with.

But what if the same neighbor runs the corner business that you frequent and you get shorted in a transaction? Would it change your feelings towards the indiscretion? Would you continue to be apathetic? No, apathy ends when the indiscretion gets personal. Personal indiscretions garner an entirely different response from most of us than impersonal ones don’t they?

I fear that apathy is rampant in our society. Let’s face it, as a society we are pretty apathetic, even calloused on occasion, when we are not personally attached to an event. Sadder still, apathy has even invaded the church to a large extent. How often, even in the Church, have we ‘winked’ at sinful behavior and looked the other way because it didn’t involve us personally? Too often I’d argue, but I’ll save those thoughts for another day.

Today, let’s look only at God’s attitude towards indiscretion; God’s attitude towards sin. Does God wink at sin? Does God consider any sin ‘none of his business?’ No, the Psalmist tells us plainly that evil does not dwell with God and that sin brings God no pleasure. God hates sin. God is never apathetic towards sin. When you give it just a little thought, you’ll have to agree that with God, ALL sin is personal.

The Psalmist takes the issue of sin even further and makes it personal. Have you read the text carefully? Notice that God hates not just sin, but “all evildoers” as well. Pick your translation; that is what it says. Ouch! Many will no doubt find the thought of God hating evil doers as repugnant, but it will still be true. And one day God will pour out His wrath against sin and sinners.

But God, in His love, has also provided a way by which sinners can be reconciled to Him and avoid His wrath. The way is singular. There are not multiple ways to be reconciled. The way of reconciliation is belief in Jesus Christ. That is the good news; the gospel.

Drew Jones has written a short song (The Gospel Song) that has captivated me of late. It goes like this: “Holy God, in love became -- perfect Man to bear my blame. On the cross He took my sin. By His death I live again.”

God is not neutral. God is not apathetic towards sin or sinners. Every sin is personal to God. Make the good news personal; be reconciled today.