Psalm 137 and Lament Teams

In my opinion, we had a FANTASTIC conversation this morning! Thanks to all you who offered great insight.

Reading Psalm 137 (especially the last verse) confronts us with a reality that we generally ignore when we are in church. Created in God's image, we have a wide range of emotions going on inside us. Yet we sometimes feel as if we have to keep all the negative ones bottled up inside to ourself.

Who would ever say publicly in church something like, "Happy is...he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks!" What!? I can hear someone respond instantly by asking, "How could we even think something like that!? We are supposed to love our enemies!"

Well...an unspoken assumption in most of our corporate worship times is that the only legitimate expressions of worship are positive and joy-filled. Thus, in class we explored the appropriateness of LAMENT in our gatherings. Instead of just having conversation about a praise team, what if we also worked to have a lament team?

Even though this brings a little bit of laughter, I wonder how (and when) we could seriously entertain the idea of encouraging lament among us.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

1. What would it look like to have a corporate lament service? Have you ever experienced this?
2. Based on a closing question in class, do we need to reconsider what we do in our funeral services? How so?
3. Why do you think most people are so uncomfortable with sharing any discontent about God with others in church?

Space on the 12th Day of Christmas

Every year, on the twelfth day of Christmas, my wife and I get to celebrate our wedding anniversary! Tanya and I were married on January 6, 2001. We got a chance to get away for our 11th wedding anniversary yesterday and today! My mom came in to spend some time with Kayla and Tyler.

We went to Crystal Beach, near Galveston. And, get this! We backed up our Honda Pilot right to the ocean's edge, opened the back door, and sat there for hours! It was amazing! The sea gulls were doing their thing, the water was doing what it does best, and we were enjoying the comfortable silence...mesmerized by God's beautiful creation! The only people we encountered during these times were those in the one or two cars that passed by every couple of hours or so.

When was the last time you took advantage of some space to reconnect with God through his creation? You need to do that.

"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters." Psalm 24:1-2

Praise the Lord!

What would happen if you said these words to 3 different people today: "Praise the Lord! God is so good!" How would those people respond? What kinds of conversation would come from a statement like that? Who needs to hear you say something like that? What would that do to your heart? When would you imagine a statement like that coming out today?

As this Christmas Break Exercise continues, stretch a little today and give a little shout out for God!

"Praise the Lord! O gives thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord, or declare all his praise? Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times." Psalm 106:1-3

The Vineyard

I praise God for this Christmas Break Exercise where we have the opportunity each morning to focus our minds on the way of Jesus to water our hearts for the day. Hear the word of the Lord from Isaiah 5:1-2:

"Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes."

Notice that Isaiah is singing a love song for God. Interestingly enough, the love song is startling for Israel. It speaks of all that God has done for Israel, his provisions, and his protection. In spite of all of it, however, Israel returns sour grapes! As we see a few verses later (Isaiah 5:7), the Lord expected to see justice, but saw bloodshed; he expected righteousness, but heard a cry!

We pause for just a minute to thank God for all that he has provided for his people, for us who desire to draw near him and learn his ways! Spend a minute (or four) to thank God for his provisions in your life.

Let us pray that God's provisions result in the fruit that He desires for us. During this break, may God see in us useful grapes! Search us, O God, and know our heart; test us and know our thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting. Amen.

Praising God

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits..." Psalm 103:1-2

Last night I facilitated a great conversation about praising God in our combined adult Bible class, Going Deep. I had asked the tables to discuss a small way that they have seen God at work. After that I wondered if the table discussion itself could be considered praise of God. One of the points of conversation centered on whether everything we did could be considered praise of God. This was an interesting development, especially as I asked a followup question, "Are you sure everything we do can be considered praise of God?"

Truly the summons to "let everything that has breath praise the Lord" (Psalm 150:6) is present! We certainly need to praise the Lord with everything. I just wonder, as I mentioned as an example last night, whether we would consider even lament as praise of God. Praise, in my mind, could be contained within lament, yet I think they are two distinct things. Is praise just all the good fluffy bunny stuff? Is there a darker side to praise that still contains trust?

I tend to think expressions of praise (both verbal and non-verbal, human and non-human) include expressions of thanks, blessing, magnifying, glorifying, and singing. And my last post about talking to trees betrays my thinking in terms of all creations' ability to speak. What do you think: is there a line to help us understand where praise begins and ends? (leave a quick comment on the blog)

Talking to Trees

Have you ever talked to trees? I did that again yesterday. Here is what I heard them say:

I heard God's creation reaching out as high as possible toward the sky. They were grounded, though, accomplishing the purposes for which they were created. Their shout was clearly a communal one saying, "We move together, intertwined! Each one of us affected by the other, we know it is best to draw on that blessing." I am humbled at their voice; they proclaim their creator every time.

Willing to risk sounding insane, I think everyone needs to talk to trees every now and then! Their message is captivating!

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." Psalm 19:1-4a

The Silent Voice Speaks Volumes

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." Psalm 40:1-2

I find myself struggling to understand this period in my life. This semester is full of busyness that never ends. I go from one thing to the next to the next to the next. When I have a free moment, I am thinking about how to get ahead a little more on the endless tasks.

God is silent. Freedom. God speaks. Do I listen? I want to listen. All the other things jockey for my attentive ear, but his voice is there. I am compelled to listen, to put behind all the other seemingly very important matters and just listen with attention. What am I listening for? God.

Just stop and listen to the silent voice that speaks volumes.

Streams of Water

Psalm 1:

"Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water

which yield its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish."

If there are any commitments I make for this year, it would be to explore the depths of this Psalm. Understanding this Psalm only goes as deep as you are willing to try it out.

I have been wanting to write a practical spiritual guide to help college students get through two semesters at school with all the ebbs and flows on a college campus. It is kindof like a devotional book for college students. The idea stems from Psalm 1.

All of us, however, need to spend time asking how are we like a tree planted by streams of water? From what are we drawing our nourishment? What is our delight?

Reading the Bible with Jesus of Nazareth

I wanted to share this article written by my mentor from ACU, Mark Hamilton. It is well worth the read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Here is the link: http://www.wineskins.org/filter.asp?SID=2&fi_key=192&co_key=1614.

Hand Washing

Don't tell anyone, but when I normally wash my hands I don't spend a ton of time making sure every part of my hand is absolutely clean. I don't wash each finger individually or wash the top of my hand thoroughly (its not like I'm going to use the top of my hand the rest of the day).

Yesterday afternoon I just decided that I wanted to be thorough in washing my hands. [That is definitely the dork coming out. Sometimes I do totally random things. I'm glad no one sees these things most of the time, but now my cover is blown...oh well] Even as I was doing it I felt silly. Even so, I made sure to spend sufficient time on each finger. I even moved my ring around to get under it. Yeah...I know...silly.

Then...all of a sudden...I found a spot of something at the bottom of my palm. What!? I didn't know that was there. If you would have asked me before I washed my hands, I would have told you it was not there; I would have told you my hands were clean. I even debated at first whether I should wash my hands at all! "They are already clean!" I would have said. So...now I'm glad I decided to be thorough in washing my hands! Who knows what kind of embarrassed I escaped from my thorough hand washing! This little spot was now gone. Relief. I rinsed off my clean hands and went on my business.

What are you talking about Chris? I'm glad you asked. Think about this: How often are we thoroughly attentive to the little spots of "dirt" in our lives? Many times, we don't spend time even considering what is dirty. We might even say, "little white lies never hurt anyone." What about that little bad attitude that is only seen by God? I bet you didn't see that little speck of jealousy.

Today I will be attentive to the sins that hurt my relationship with God. I call out for God's cleansing hands to be thorough in washing me. The imagery of Psalm 51 is fitting. Hear our prayer:

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love ... Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge .... Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice."

Singing Praises

Yesterday I found myself singing praises to God in my house. It started out kindof soft, but gradually grew to be pretty loud. The thought occurred to me that my neighbors might be able to hear me, especially since we have tile flooring. This curbed my enthusiasm for a bit, but I soon returned to my previous vigor unable to control myself. I was lost in the moment of praise.

Consider one verse (Psalm 147:1): "Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!"

It is good. Let me encourage you to sing praises to God today. It might be one song; it might be twenty. Whatever it is, I pray that you experience the good and pleasant feeling of singing praises to our God.

Cleanliness

How does God clean us? This is the question that lingers in my mind this morning after reading Psalm 51. Surely it has something to do with my sacrifices, doesn't it? That makes sense...I think. When I am "dirty" with sin, my sacrifices somehow cleanse me and pacify God's wrath against me. Blood has to be shed when there is sin, so sacrifice is a necessity. That is what I normally might think.

But I read about something different in David's Psalm here. Sin is present...no doubt about it. David wants mercy. He wants to be washed. He wants joy and gladness. David wants to be clean.
So, how does he get clean? I see David appealing to God's character. It is because God is an unfailing-love kind of God. It is because he is a compassionate God. It is because God is the one who saves. God cleans us because God is all these things. He cleans us by being all the things. God's character is powerful enough to bring cleanliness to us.

Well, surely we have to do something, don't we?

Yes, but it is not burnt offerings. And it is only in response to his cleaning us.

Well, what do we do?

According to this Psalm, we fall down in humility. Our sacrifice is a broken spirit, a contrite heart. There is nothing we can do, but appeal to God in true humility. Any justifying of my actions that happens shows that true humility is not yet present. I must know and recognize that I am sinful...period.

I also notice that we teach others, but only afterwards. David says that he will teach transgressors God's ways and sinners will turn back to God. It is only after God cleanses us that we are able to tell others about what God has done. This brings glory to God and God alone.

So, God cleans us by his being God. We are cleansed in our humility before the God who was and is and is to come. Let us fall before the throne of the one who is highly exalted above all gods. Amen!

Psalm 37:30-40

This mornings Psalm reading:

"The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just.
The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip.
The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, seeking their very lives;
but the Lord will not leave them in their power or let them be condemned when brought to trial.
Wait for the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,
but he soon passed away and was no more; thought I looked for him, he could not be found.
Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace.
But all sinners will be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off.
The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them because they take refuge in him."

Something I needed to hear.

Dwell in the House of the Lord

Psalm 27:4 - "One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple."

When I read this entire Psalm, I get the sense that the psalmist had an intensely close relationship with God. No matter what was happening he never waivered from his trust in the Lord. It was in the Lord that he found his well-being, not in the circumstances of life. In due time, the Lord would come through.

Dwelling with the Lord gives me an image of contentment. If I dwell at someone's house, I have bags packed and am staying a while. It is not like one of those, "Hey, I'm just stopping by to say hello." It is one of those visits that says, "I want to know what it is like living here." We are dwelling with the Lord in contentment.

Let's make an effort today, this week, this month, this year, and this decade to dwell with the Lord.

Where to start?

Spend some time to reflect on Psalm 40:5:

"O LORD my God, you have done many miracles for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them."

Read it a few more times slowly; pause the think about each sentence. Let this be a prayer to our Lord, a praise to him. This is what stands out to me this morning: "Your plans for us are too numerous to list." God actually has plans for us. He cares enough to take some time to think about and plan what he wants for us. God is personal; he cares; he loves. The only place to start is with God's love.

Think about the plans that God has for you. Why did he put you here? Why do you have the friends you have? Where is God leading you? When you think about God's plan for you, where do you start? Let it be with God's love.

Reading the Bible

For the last month that I have been listening to our preacher I have found my mind wondering. As all preachers preach, the things that are said evoke thoughts about the listeners' life. Sometimes this is good and sometimes not so good.

Yesterday, I found myself again thinking of something I desperately need to do more of: reading the Bible. Being a teacher of the Bible, I am already reading it, preparing to teach it, and encouraging others to read it more. This is good. But my thoughts go toward consuming myself with the Word of the Lord. I want my life to revolve around it and draw strength from it as the Psalmist says in Psalm 119:28, "My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word." Throughout this Psalm, I find a man who is completely consumed with the instructions of the Lord. Teaching about the Bible and being consumed with it are two different things.

Lord, my prayer is that I desire to be in your word so that I may find you, that I may dwell with you, and that I may reflect you. When I open your word next to take a break from the world, bless my effort to know you and your people more. Then I can walk according to your word. Let it seep into my soul that I may find healing and rest.