Exodus 20.1-2, 14
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... You shall not commit adultery.”
Here is a boundary I must not cross. On this side are Your joy and all beauty; on the other side the hideous and grotesque masquerade as pleasure and happiness. Keep me aware, very aware of that boundary, my Lord and Master.
Psalm 119.129-136
Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them.
Lord, Your statutes are wonderful; I earnestly desire to obey them but cannot without the Holy Spirit to teach and reform me.
The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
As I grow in understanding of Your words, I see the beauty of your creation, the wisdom of Your plan for all that you have made.
I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your commands.
Oh, Lord, be not far from me, I long to have Your commands so embedded in me that they are the sole guide for my life.
Turn to me and have mercy on me, as You always do to those who love Your Name.
I know that You are faithful and constant, and that You will hear my plea, for I love Your Name. I hate those it take it in vain; it is an abhorrence to me.
Direct my footsteps according to Your Word; let no sin rule over me.
Tell me when my footsteps stray from Your righteous path; lay my sins out before me.
Redeem me from the oppression of men, that I may obey Your precepts.
Oh, Lord, how many are the sins and temptations of this world, and the ways that Satan uses my fellow man to ensnare and draw me in, so that I am not obedient to You! Without Your redemption, I am helpless.
Make Your face shine upon Your servant and teach me Your decrees.
Help me to remember Your Word as I read and study. Help me to take these decrees into my heart and make them my way of life, so that I might become who and what they are.
Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for Your Law is not obeyed.
I am heartbroken, for I do not obey Your laws. I am heartbroken for my family and for all around me, Lord. Bring me to a genuine sense of despair and grief for myself, and for all who do not obey. Fill me with a driving desire to tell others of Your goodness.
Psalm 34.17-22
When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems the life of His servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
What a paean of promise, my Lord! Through turmoil and persecution, depression and anxiety, fear and doubt, abuse and scorn, Your deliverance is complete, and my joy is without bounds. Your Word stands as a bulwark against anything the Evil One brings against me. Praise be unto You, my Lord and Master.
Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
Lord, keeping my tongue from evil and deceit, turning away from evil, and seeking and pursuing peace – clear and simple, but impossible tasks in my own strength. But You have heard my cry; You have sent Your Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth and to write Your Law on my heart. Then and only then, am I equipped and empowered to demonstrate my love and my fear of You by keeping Your commandments. Praise be unto You, my Lord and Master!
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
Taste and see! To savor Your goodness, see Your righteousness! Oh the blessings that come from You, the peace and joy that are mine when I seek refuge in You! The knowledge that I lack no good thing! Praise be unto You, my Lord and Master!
I sought the LORD, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them.
My Lord, all those past tenses are lovely and comforting: I have sought, You have answered and delivered. I have cried out, and You have heard and saved. And then the present tense, Your angel is encamped around me and delivers me from all my foes. Is it any wonder that my face radiates Your glory, and not shame and fear?
Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together!
Oh, come all you saints and join with me in seeking to make the praises of the Lord be continually on our tongues! Let us exalt His Name in word, song, and deed, from our rising up until our laying down. Let His praise spring to our lips and fill our minds as we awaken during the night. Let us never be silent in our boast of the Lord’s goodness, righteousness, love, grace, and mercy!
Exodus 20.1-2, 13
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery…You shall not murder.”
Or put someone down or despise or make fun of or… But I am called to be an encourager, a bringer of life and joy. To seek to lead people to You, the source of Life.
Psalm 119.121-123 I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors. Give Your servant a pledge of good; let not the insolent oppress me. My eyes long for Your salvation and for the fulfillment of Your righteous promise.
Yes, Lord, help me to see the unseen. I want the fire that Pascal saw, the flooding of my soul with Your presence. The sights, sounds, aromas of the Unseen that were present to John, can they be mine also? He heard, smelled, felt, tasted, saw and the Unreal became Real. Let it be so for me, O Lord!
Can Your Presence be so real to me that I can hear Your voice, smell the aroma of the incense that clings to Your garments, feel the clasp of Your arms about me, taste the salt on Your lips as we kiss, and see the incomparable beauty of Your face? Can I, Lord, can that be mine?
What stands between me and this bliss? Where does my self intrude? Is this some sort of a catch-22? I think not. You are not playing games with me, toying with me – testing whether or not I will persevere in seeking You. You are not going to give me a hint of what can and should be and then withhold that glory from me.
I am a child of the King, a prince of the realm. I want the privileges and trappings that are mine. To see the Unseen, hear the Unheard, feel the Untouchable, taste the Untasteable, smell the Unsmellable.
Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let Your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in You.
You and You alone are my ever-ready bulwark in times of trouble. To trust in You is to have perfect peace and joy, freedom from care and anxiety, a dawning sense of the fullness that is, and an anticipation of seeing clearly, no longer seeing in a mirror dimly.
The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love, that He may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
Lord, as we work out all the impediments required to set up a non-profit, help us to keep in mind that that this effort will only bring You glory to the extent that we fear You and trust in Your steadfast love. Even though its purpose is to enable us to work with kings and their great armies of bureaucrats and their warhorses of regulations, they are not the hope of our salvation; You are. Likewise, O Lord, bless and guide all who take up ministry in Your Name today, and every day.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage! The LORD looks down from heaven; He sees all the children of man; from where He sits enthroned He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.
But You have great plans for Your people, for the people of Your temple, those chosen as Your children. We are blessed with Your presence, with Your wisdom, with growing into the Kingdom, with a sense of being in Your purpose and will. Praise You, Lord.
Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him! For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
How is it, Lord, that the nations cannot see the futility of their plans and schemes? Man never learns that his counsel brings only grief and frustration. If the definition of insanity is to believe you are God, then the whole world is insane, for they insist that they are like gods, capable of managing their own destiny, over and over and over again. Always new schemes but always the same result. Thousands of years of recorded history prove that the course of man’s wisdom is ever downward, that mankind’s triumphalism is a sad joke.
Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to Him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the word of the LORD is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; He puts the deeps in storehouses.
Yes, my Lord, the earth is full of Your steadfast love, but I see as in a mirror dimly. However You give me a key here, a way to sharpen the eyes of my heart. As I become more intentional about shouting for joy, giving thanks to You, singing to You and praising You, the eyes of my heart begin to see, my heart is warmed and transformed, Your faithfulness, righteousness, and justice are revealed.
Lord’s Day, 17 August 2008
Exodus 20.1-2, 12
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery...Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
Lord, my mother and father were and are the embodiment of the Imago Dei to me. They reflected your glory and guided and taught Your Word to me. They were faithful to Your precept to guide me in the way I should go when I was young so that I would be faithful to Your Word in my old age.
Thank You for their faithfulness.
Lord, forgive me for not being as faithful with my own children. Let them not suffer because of my sin.
Uphold me according to Your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for Your statutes continually!
What an apt simile, Lord, “the blinders of faith”, for as a draft horse has to have blinders beside each eye to keep it from being distracted, and therefore needed to trust in the driver to protect it from assaults from the sides, even so do I need faith in Your Word and Your Law to protect me from assault and guide me through life.
I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.
I especially hate the double-minded in me. James must have had me in mind as he wrote that passage in the 1st chapter. Lord, give me constancy in You. And the love of Your Law, Your Word, will provide that single-minded focus on You that must be the overarching theme of my life.
You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your Word. Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
Let me nestle in the shelter of Your Word and be graven on the palms of your hands, hidden from the assaults of the evil one. Give me the blinders of faith so that I am not distracted by the wiles and temptations of the devil.
Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Be glad, rejoice, shout for joy, and why not! Sins forgiven, safe in the gentle hands of my Lord, and filled with the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth! I am a child of the King, equipped to live a life that glorifies and honors Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thank You, Lord, thank You!
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.
Not only do You preserve my life, but Your grace and love extend to guiding me in the path of righteousness. You give me understanding so that I do not need a bit and bridle but am equipped to live an obedient life. Steadfast love, Your steadfast love, is my lot when I put all my trust in You.
Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to You at a time when You may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
Lord, I am getting a picture of being surrounded by shouts of deliverance, the mighty roar of Your voice of triumph over my enemies. That picture includes the torrent of a great flood that Satan releases to sweep away Your loved ones; but I am safe in the hiding place of Your hands, a place of great comfort. There I am preserved.
Monday, 11 August 2008
Psalm 32.1-4 A Maskil of David.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
What greater blessing could I ask, Lord, than to have my transgression forgiven, my sin covered, iniquity erased, and deceit removed? Out of my weakness and failure, You have brought healing and relief. You brought me to an understanding that all my efforts were of no avail; I had nothing left.
Psalm 32.5
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
But, Lord, when I confessed that I was weak and powerless before You, You were not silent, You were quick to forgive and restore.
Exodus 20.1-2, 8-11
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
Lord, once again, we are at the beginning of another week and it is fitting that this day be set aside as a day dedicated to You. If I am truly seeking You first and pursuing Your righteousness with a pure heart, then it is not only fitting, it is necessary to begin my week’s activities with the Lord’s Day, to allow You, my relationship with You, and my awareness of the leadings of the Holy Spirit, to be the focus of my heart, soul, mind, and strength today.
How else can I be prepared to be Your ambassador to the world, to be armed and equipped to resist the Evil One? How else can I be capable of doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly before You? How else can I be that good and faithful servant, making disciples as I go? I must spend this day with You.
Lord, I pray for those men who have found You during their incarceration, whose lives have been transformed by Your Holy Spirit. Pour Your courage into these men as they face problems and setbacks during their imprisonment, and as they attempt to re-enter society. Bring Your saints around them to walk alongside them during those early days of adjustment to life on the outside. Use them, Lord, to carry the message of hope and transformation to a world that only knows fear. Maintain that first blush of love for You and preserve their faith as they face a society who can only fear and reject someone who has “done time.” Bless them, Lord.
Lord, equip me to carry this prayer into the prison and to those of Your people who will carry the stigma of conviction of crime with them as they re-enter society. Equip me to lead them into trusting You, in spite of the reproaches of society, as they seek housing and employment. Equip me to provide appropriate assistance and guidance during re-entry and in finding a community of faith to support them.
Lord, I meet so many men in the prison who desperately need You as their rock and fortress; they are overcome and burdened with addictions, anger, rejection, and generational curses. The only advice the system offers is to pull themselves up by the bootstraps. But You offer redemption and refuge; You have sent Your ambassadors to carry that message into the prisons and be Your voice crying in the wilderness: Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is available to you now.
Lord, I have sworn an oath to You, and You have accepted me as a fully restored member of the Kingdom, but still a being with free will to be obedient or not. I hold my life in my hand, I do not stray, I incline my heart – only because You have filled my heart with the joy of Your presence. Your love has transformed me.
Praise You, my Lord and Master.
Lord, I am weak and failing. I know Your rules in my head, but the heart still needs transformation. Teach me Your rules so that they become so alloyed in me that to see me is to see Your gracious and good Law at work.
I have sworn with my mouth and believe in my heart that You are Lord, the Son of the Living God, crucified and raised again on the 3rd day. You are the Word, the Logos, the One for whom, by whom and through whom all things were made, the Creator, the Lamb of God.
I confirm that I am bound, of my own free will, to acknowledge the righteousness of Your Law and to obey You in ALL things. This oath is freely given and is in acknowledgment of Your grace and mercy to me.
Lord's Day, 3 August 2008
Exodus 20.1-2, 7
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD Your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”
I am John, son of the Most High, chosen by You, adopted into Your family, sent by You to be an ambassador of reconciliation today. I wear that name with pride and seek to obey the will of my Father. Through the power granted from the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit to me, I will do so today.
Your gracious mercy and Your power displayed in my life bring a song of praise to my lips. The joy that is at the core of my being is a declaration of Your grace for all the world to hear. How can my hands be still, my feet not dance, my mouth not sing in the midst of Your grace!
What will it avail me, Lord, to cry to some other god in my distress? For You and You alone, are my source of mercy. Be merciful to me, my Lord, and preserve me to proclaim Your great mercy and faithfulness.
