Psalm 44.23-26 Awake! Why are You sleeping, O Lord? Rouse Yourself! Do not reject us forever!

Psalm 44.23-26

Awake! Why are You sleeping, O Lord? Rouse Yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do You hide Your face? Why do You forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of Your steadfast love!

Renew and revive Your church, O Lord! Build us up, bring us into the place of unity in the Holy Spirit where we can fan the flames of revival into white heat. Break any vestiges of other gods or false idols that stand between us. Make us fully fit for Your Kingdom work.

Psalm 44.17-22 All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You,

Psalm 44.17-22

All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You, and we have not been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from Your way; yet You have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For He knows the secrets of the heart. Yet for Your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

Though we trip and backslide, You are there to forgive and restore – ever loving, ever patient, ever-restoring Lord and Master. We know that You are the Faithful One, Who purchased us with His blood and Who will not let us go. We gladly suffer persecution for the sake of Your Name.

Psalm 44.9-16 But You have rejected us and disgraced us and have not gone out with our armies.

Psalm 44.9-16

But You have rejected us and disgraced us and have not gone out with our armies. You have made us turn back from the foe, and those who hate us have gotten spoil. You have made us like sheep for slaughter and have scattered us among the nations. You have sold Your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them. You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face at the sound of the taunter and reviler, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

There is a small band of men in the prison, struggling to find their way as disciples of the Kingdom in a very hostile environment. Often facing ridicule or worse, they can be burdened with the shame of failure and taunts of hypocrisy. But You are with them, You pick them up, dust them off, set their feet, and direct them back on the path that leads to You.

Psalm 44.4-8 You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob!

Psalm 44.4-8

You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob! Through You we push down our foes; through Your name we tread down those who rise up against us. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But You have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah

Lord, I do need to be more faithful about giving You the credit and boasting in You. For the glory and power are not in my strength, but Yours; not in my erudition, but in Your wisdom; not in my name, but Yours.

Through the power of Your name, I can triumph over all that besets me, but I need to learn to go to You first, not after I have tried all and failed. Why cannot I get it in my head that the proper order is “Pray and do”, not “Do and pray”?

Psalm 44.1-3 O God, we have heard with our ears

Psalm 44.1-3 To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds You performed in their days, in the days of old: You with Your own hand drove out the nations, but them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, but them You set free; for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but Your right hand and Your arm, and the light of Your face, for You delighted in them.

Lord, Your cross drives out my sin and afflictions; Your right hand and arm. Your love, grace, and mercy are the light of Your face, shining Your delight upon me. Let Your delight be like a beacon, reflecting Your glory in my life for all to see.

Exodus 20.1-2, 12 And God spoke all these words, saying, “…Honor your father and your mother,

Lord’s Day, 26 October 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, how do I support others and teach them to see the importance of this instruction? Teach them to see that this is a precept of great significance, especially as our society begins to suffer from the ravages of broken families? Not just divorce but from the dissolution of the recognition of the importance and function of marriage?

How can this precept be lived out by someone who does not know who his father is, or someone who is not being a father to her own children? How are Betty and I called to teach this principle?

Psalm 119.14-16 In the way of Your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.

Psalm 119.14-16

In the way of Your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your Word.

Yes, Lord, I will delight, I will meditate, I will fix my eyes, I will not forget. Often times, poorly and ineffectually, but always seeking to draw closer to You through Your Word.

Deal bountifully, Lord, that I may be filled with all spiritual riches. Draw me deeper into Your presence, so that I may live. Not just exist, but be alive in your presence. That is the bounty.

Psalm 119.12-13 Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes!

Psalm 119.12-13

Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of Your mouth.

Lord, teach me to teach. It is one thing to simply spout your Word, but another to teach as You teach.

Lord, my plea is that my declarations might be full of grace and wisdom; that my goal will be always to bring glory and honor to Your Name, not to elevate myself; that my audience will hear and see You, not me.

Psalm 119:9-11 How can a young man keep his way pure?

Psalm 119:9-11

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word. With my whole heart I seek You; let me not wander from Your commandments! I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

I’m a leaky storehouse, Lord; I need to be continually working at refilling, renewal, and relearning. How else can I know the boundaries and possibilities of Your Kingdom?

Lord, those boundaries, those national borders, are another set of the evokers of the Numinous; they not only serve to tell me when I have crossed out of the Kingdom into a hostile land, but they are the evidence that You have given me for seeing You. They, in their purity, are descriptors of You. Your Word says to me, “I am here, not there. This tells You who I am.”

Psalm 43.5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, ...

Psalm 43.5

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.

O Lord, You reign; what have I to fear? Let Your praises be ever in my mouth and a two edged sword in my hands. There is no reason for turmoil other than my weak eyesight. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.

Psalm 43.3-4 Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me;

Psalm 43.3-4

Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling! Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise You with the lyre, O God, my God.

Your light, Your truth, my guide, my path. The way to You and Your presence. Bringing me into the courts of the Kingdom. Thank You LORD God Almighty.

My life is my lyre, an instrument of praise. Let my life be a hymn of praise to Your goodness and mercy.

Psalm 43.1-2 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people,

Psalm 43.1-2

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me! For You are the God in whom I take refuge; why have You rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

Why do I let the enemy convince me that I have been abandoned by You, Lord? You have not rejected me; Your promise is that You will never leave me or forsake me. Why do I believe the lies of the master of lies? You are my refuge and my strength in times of trouble.

Exodus 20.1-2, 8-11 And God spoke all these words, saying, “…Remember the Sabbath day,

Lord’s Day, 19 October 2008
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.

So much, LORD, needs to change in my life if I am going to be able to keep this commandment. Take from me any vestiges of legalism and replace them with a burning desire to keep the Lord’s Day holy. Peel the onion so that my life will become a suitable sacrifice of praise to You.

Psalm 119.6-8 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all Your commandments.

Psalm 119.6-8

Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all Your commandments. I will praise You with an upright heart, when I learn Your righteous rules. I will keep Your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!

O, Lord, as You transform me, I am filled with Your praises and with a joy that can come only from You. It is no longer an onerous task to obey but an understanding that within the boundaries of Your Law is the Kingdom of God, and therefore a place where I long to be. It is where You dwell, a Kingdom of great joy.

Psalm 119.4-5 You have commanded Your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping Your statutes!

Psalm 119.4-5

You have commanded Your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping Your statutes!

Yes, Lord, I understand and accept the command: to obey You as proof of my love for You. But I cannot do this faithfully in my own strength; all I can do is plead for strength and guidance. Steadfastness must come from the Holy Spirit, and Lord, often I fail to pay attention to His gentle nudges. Yet that’s not inattention but refusal to be obedient, and an act of self-will.

Oh, Lord, forgive me and change my heart. What good does it do me to sit here morning after morning, pleading for understanding, when I refuse to obey when You give me a nudge in that direction? I know when those nudges are from You, but I choose to ignore them, to go my own way, do my own thing. Lord, forgive me and transform me!

Psalm 42.9-11 I say to God, my rock: “Why have You forgotten me?

Psalm 42.9-11

I say to God, my rock: “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.

How foolish I am, Lord; You do not forget, You cannot forget. I am the forgetful one, I am the one who sinks in discouragement, I am the one who takes the taunts of Your enemies to heart. But, Lord, You are my salvation, the Lifter of my head; in You I have peace and tranquility.

Psalm 42.5-8 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?

Psalm 42.5-8

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and Your waves have gone over me. By day the LORD commands His steadfast love, and at night His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

When will I learn, Lord, that You are with me in times of trouble and discouragement? When will I learn to praise You in all things and in all circumstances?

You do not fail, Your promises are sure, Your Truth ever speaks reality, Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. I cannot fail unless I take my eyes off You and forget the power of Your name.

Psalm 42.4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:

Psalm 42.4

These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.

How I remember last night, Lord, as 19 saints gathered to sing and shout Your praises. Not a multitude, but we filled the room with our voices as we sang Your praises and offered prayers of thanksgiving, words of encouragement, words of thanksgiving, words of praise, Your Word read and sung. Thank You for providing Your Word and your Spirit to guide us.

Psalms 42.1-3 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God.

Psalms 42.1-3 To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

How will You use me to excite hunger and thirst for You in the hearts of those I meet today? How will You use me to advance Your Kingdom? What opportunities will You provide for me to offer the cup of Living Water and the Bread of Life?

Lord Jesus, give me strength and willingness to stand, and the discernment to know what vessel to use to present the Cup and the Bread.

Exodus 20.1-2, 7 "...You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain,"

Lord’s Day, 12 October 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.”

Lord, I have taken your name as your child. I am John Barjesus. I claim the sonship of the living God with all the rights, powers, responsibilities, benefits, and prerogatives inherent in the family. It is my name now. I come to You to guide me through Your Spirit into full sonship.

Psalm 119.175-176 Let my soul live and praise You, and let Your rules help me.

Psalm 119.175-176

Let my soul live and praise You, and let Your rules help me.

Here I am, LORD; let today be the beginning of the year of Your favor in my life. I want to live, LORD, according to your Word.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.

LORD, keep me in the palm of Your hand; keep Your Word ever before the eyes of my heart. Jerk me back when I stray!

 

Psalm 119.173-174 Let Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts.

Psalm 119.173-174

Let Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts. I long for Your salvation, O LORD, and Your law is my delight.

I long, Lord, to live totally and completely within the realm of Your word; to live as You lived among us, to live in obedience to You and to Your commands. “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” I cannot live in that state of complete obedience without Your Holy Spirit to guide me, teach me, and chasten me.

Psalm 119.169-172 Let my cry come before You, O LORD; give me understanding according to Your word!

Let my cry come before You, O LORD; give me understanding according to Your word! Let my plea come before You; deliver me according to Your word.

Lord, how can I live without understanding Your word? How can I live without Your deliverance? There is no purpose to my life, no freedom from sin and despair without Your word. Your word defines life in the Kingdom of Heaven; I must know it and understand it to be able to live within the Kingdom.

My lips will pour forth praise, for You teach me Your statutes. My tongue will sing of Your word, for all Your commandments are right.

Oh, Lord, that I would spend my day in praise of You, singing of the glory of life within the Kingdom! I need to be driven to sing of the glories of Your word, the perfection, the completeness, the beauty. There is a symmetry to Your word that is glorious to behold, no law of unexpected consequences.

Psalm 41.7-13 All who hate me whisper together about me;

Psalm 41.7-13

All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me. They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.” Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. But You, O LORD, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them! By this I know that You delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. But You have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in Your presence forever. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.

Lord, stand between me and the Evil One; be a hedge of protection around me as he seeks to tempt me, tries to assault my faith and weaken my testimony, sends his minions of anger, depression, greed, lust, covetousness, pride, and self-will to sway my faith and convince me that I cannot depend on Your promises. Through You, I can resist the devil and he will flee from me.

Psalm 41.4-6 As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against You!

Psalm 41.4-6

As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against You!” My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?” And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad.

I have sinned against You, my Lord, both in omission and in commission, in the done and the undone; in the doing and in the not doing, I have brought disgrace to Your name. For when I have claimed to be one of Your children, transformed by Your grace and mercy, the world judges me by a different standard. They say, “Aha, he says he is a Christian but look how he sins, look how he lives just like we do. Why should we listen to what he preaches? What a hypocrite.”

Lord, forgive me, for I have sinned against You. I repent and seek the transforming power of Your Holy Spirit in my life, so that my walk as Your disciple truly reflects Your love, grace, and mercy.

Psalm 41:1-3 Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; the LORD protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The LORD sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.

Lord, you have sent me to bring your good news to the poor, to bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to open the prison of those who are bound. And as I am obedient to your command, I am enriched, I am healed, I have freedom, and I am released from prison. I am restored to health and soundness. Praise you Lord for the marvelous ways in which you work.

Exodus 20.1-2, 4-6 And God spoke all these words, saying, “You shall not make for yourself...

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 make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

LORD, where are the false images in my life? To what do I turn before coming to You? Give me understanding, give me the willingness and the power to set these images aside, and the focus to see only you as the source of my strength.

Psalm 40:15-16, 17 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me,...

Psalm 40:15-16, 17

Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” But may all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!”

Lord, thank You for that testimony from Gary last night: No bone cancer revealed! His joy in You continues, as he said in his e-mail last night; if he can smile in spite of all the surgery of the last few weeks, so can we. What encouragers both of them are!

Lord, thank you for the way in which the confidence and joy of Gary and Elaine are being demonstrated during his treatments. Great are You, LORD.

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!

Do not delay; You know my plea for continuing transformation. Like the peeling of an onion, remove those scars of sin and willfulness from me.

Psalm 40.11-14 As for You, O LORD, You will not restrain Your mercy from me;

Psalm 40.11-14

As for You, O LORD, You will not restrain Your mercy from me; Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness will ever preserve me!

You do not restrain your mercies from me. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness, oh, God, my Father, great is Thy faithfulness unto me. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. Thou failest not, Thy compassions, they fail not. Great is Thy faithfulness unto me.

For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me! Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!

Lord, You have shown me that to intercede for my brothers in the prison means that I must be willing to share and help carry the burdens that they labor under. That I must be willing to lift up a portion of the anger, hurt, rejection, greed, lust, addictions, etc. That I must be willing to say to You that I stand with them, feeling a portion of their lostness. And I do, Lord, albeit weakly and with much hesitation.

To be with them, to feel their fright at prospect of release and at facing sobriety without the protection of prison: Let me be the conduit of the peace and strength flowing from the Father through You by the Holy Spirit to me and for him.

Psalm 40.7-10 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;...

Psalm 40.7-10

Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart." I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as You know, O LORD. I have not hidden Your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness from the great congregation.

What a passage for the morning that we go to the nursing home. The great congregation this morning is a precious group of the elderly.

Give us the words to speak to them of Your deliverance, of Your love and grace and mercy. Let our lips sing Your praises and speak of Your faithfulness, let our ears hear their calls for help and hope, and give us the grace to respond in love and gentleness.

Thank You, Lord, that Betty can go with me, that this has become a joint ministry. Thank You for those others who join their voices with ours and are willing to play the piano. Thank You, gracious Lord.

Psalm 40.5-6 You have multiplied, O LORD my God, Your wondrous deeds ...

Psalm 40.5-6

You have multiplied, O LORD my God, Your wondrous deeds and Your thoughts toward us; none can compare with You! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

Lord, my testimony is weak and I am often unwilling. I repent; I seek to be transformed into a vibrant, living example of Your love in action. What ever it takes, Lord, transform me. May Your will be my will; Your love, my love; Your grace, my grace. In all things, for all people, for all purposes. To tell and to live as You tell and live. Thank you, Lord Jesus.

In sacrifice and offering You have not delighted, but You have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.

Lord, do not let me fall into the trap of thinking that all this busyness is what is called the “Lord’s Work” and that it will serve as devotion to You. You have given me an open ear; my devotion to You is measured not by my busynesses but by my willingness to come to that open ear.

Lord, may it be so!