Tag: Psalms

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When You See No Light

Have you ever had a time when people were talking about how great it is to know the Lord and how comforting it is, and you just thought, “No way. I don’t feel that at all.”

When you are in great suffering, to hear people talk about hope and how good the Lord has been can feel hollow and make you feel even more isolated. Who are these people, you think, who have no real struggles?

That’s one thing I love about the Psalms. They are made for people with struggles. They contain great declarations of faith, but those declarations are often made after deep struggles with the hard realities of their situation.

On the other hand, sometimes you just can’t see the light. You struggle. You pray. You process. And you still can’t see the light. Psalm 88 tells us of one such person.

Psalm 88 begins like many other psalms. “Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you” (Psalm 88:1). However, as the Psalm develops, he says, “I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death” (v. 3). It never moves to a high point from there. It simply concludes. “You have taken from me friend and neighbor—darkness is my closest friend” (Ps. 88). And that’s the end.

It’s rather remarkable that there is a song like this in the Bible. It’s not really what a person might expect. I love our worship songs and hymns, but you wouldn’t guess that this would be one of the songs in the Bible based on what we sing in church. It’s a really dark psalms that speaks of a person who is overwhelmed and struggling with the toughest things in life.

So, what are we to do with this “dark” psalm?

First, we should remember that people feel this way sometimes. We should remember that not everyone can easily see the light. We should be patient with them and allow them to process their darkness without being “miserable comforters,” as Job called his friends.

Second, you may feel that way right now. This is a Psalm for you. You can pray this psalm or something like it and present your feelings exactly as you are to God. Even if your feelings aren’t this strong now, it shows you that you can bring your struggles to God. Even if they aren’t that strong to day, it’s good to think of the future and how you may use this psalm later.

Finally, they point us to the suffering of Christ. The psalms tell us of ourselves, and they also tell us of Christ. Christ said while he was on earth, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Ps. 26:38). When we are struggling, we are dealing with a God who has experienced what it means to have “sorrow to the point of death.” That’s why the author of Hebrews tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:15–16).

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Photo by Cherry Laithang on Unsplash

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How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?

If you or someone you love has questions on this issue (as most of us do!), I would encourage you to read Pastor Tim Keller’s New York Times Bestseller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. I really can’t recommend this book highly enough.

In this post, I’d like to summarize what Keller says about this important question: how could a good God allow suffering?

Whether you are a believer or unbeliever, it’s a question you’ve likely asked at some point in your life, maybe often.

Keller says that there are two ways we can ask this question. The first is intellectual. How can we logically say that a good God could allow evil? The second is emotional. We get angry at a God who would allow such evil.

Let’s consider what Keller says about each in turn.

The Intellectual Issue
In regard to the intellectual question, Keller begins with the objection of a philosopher who states essentially: “because there is much unjustifiable, pointless evil in the world, the traditional good and powerful God could not exist” (23). Continue reading “How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?”

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It’s About the Kingdom

Back in Spearfish, SD, I had so many friends who were pastors. There was a real sense that we working together. The evangelical pastors in the area had been meeting for years. We did activities together. It was a real blessing.

I’ve never been able to reproduce that feeling here. I’ve tried to get groups together. I’ve tried to get together with pastors and get churches together. I fee like a lot of my work has been frustrated. I’ve often felt like giving up.

Psalm 2 made me realize that I should not do that. You know why? Because it’s about the kingdom. It’s not really about me. It’s about what God is doing in the world to glorify His chosen king, Jesus. It’s in the interest of the kingdom to get churches working together and having a sense of being a part of the kingdom. The world knows who God is through the love that Christians have for one another.

All kinds of people are opposing Him, but God is working out His plan and building up His kingdom. “I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:7–8). So, the kings of the earth and everybody else needs to get on board. “Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling” (Ps. 2:10–11). God is doing something big in this world, and everybody needs to get in line with it. The kingdom is coming whether we like it or not.

The first psalm looks at the individual and how he flourishes. The second psalm points us to the bigger picture. It points us to the work of God through Christ establishing His kingdom throughout the world. This is the second theme we will consider as we look at the psalms. In one sense, all of the psalms are about Christ, but there are some in which the theme comes out more clearly than others. Consider, for example, Psalms 2, 22, 45, 72, and 110. These all point us back to the fact that our first prayer should be hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done.

This passage also tells us that the kingdom is good news for us, too. We are made to be part of something bigger, and what we see here is that God wants us to be a part of it. More than that, he wants to bless us in the work of His kingdom. The psalm concludes, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (2:12). That’s the blessing of meditating on God’s kingdom and His King. That’s how this psalm can both challenge us and be a refreshing stream for our soul, pointing us back to the true meaning of life and who is really in charge and in whom we will find our blessing.

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Psalm 1: A Vision of a Flourishing Life

If you look at the end of the Psalms, you will find a series of Psalms called the “hallel” psalms. They are psalms that focus on praising God. If you think about it, this is how you might expect the book of Psalms to begin. However, the Psalms do not begin that way. They begin, “Blessed is the man . . .” They provide for us a song about a righteous man. If I were to write a book of songs for the church, I’m not sure that I would do that. Yet that is what we have in our Scriptures. It’s remarkable.

Why is this the case? God wants to give us a vision of what it means to live a life rooted in Him. He wants us to see that the way of blessing is rooted in Him. He also wants to warn us that if we go in another direction, then there will be terrible consequences. We and the universe are not made in any other way than to glorify God and rejoice in Him. So, He gives us songs to help keep that vision in front of us. “Blessed is the man . . .”

In this passage, we have two key elements of what that vision is. First, the righteous man is rooted in the law of the Lord. This means that He meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree that is planted by the rivers of water. In every situation, He has a refreshing stream from the law of the Lord that blesses him and provides him with what he needs. Whether he is seeking guidance, is struggling with anxiety or anger, or rejoicing, the law of the Lord is an unlimited resource.

This rootedness leads to activity. “Whatever He does prospers” (1:3). He is active in good works, and these works are blessed just as the righteous man is. “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever . . .” (Psalm 112:9). As they work, they reflect the goodness and compassion of God and attune themselves to the universe.

This is in contrast to those who do not root themselves in the law of the Lord. They are just like chaff that the wind blows away. Whatever they do is destined to perish, and they are destined to perish. It is only in the rootedness that God provides in His Word that we find the blessing and flourishing life God intends for us.

One interesting thing about this passage is that it says “Blessed is the man . . .” That is the literal rendering, though “they” is not wrong because it refers to any human. But the way the original Hebrew reads make us think of both an original man and all the people who may be like this. As we read this, we recognize that we have not always been fruitful, and we have not delighted ourselves in the law of the Lord as we should. However, there is a man who did! That man is Jesus Christ. He is the truly blessed man, and we are blessed in Him, and we are made active and fruitful in Him.

This is just what Jesus said in John 15. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (15:7–8). This is the vision that God has for us. He wants it to go deep down in us. He has given us a song to remind us. Let’s keep singing it, praying it, and meditating on it, seeking the fruitfulness that redounds to our Father’s glory through Jesus Christ.