Psalms Archives - Page 18 of 37

Psalm 114: Song of the Exodus

Christ Church on February 2, 2020

Introduction

As we continue through the Hallel Psalms, we come to the second of them, and this is a great song of historical remembrance. When we set ourselves to praise God, to say hallelujah, we are to remember His great works of deliverance in history. Keep in mind that the Christian faith is not a faith in detached theological doctrines, but is rather a faith in God’s meaningful interventions in history—His great deeds among the people, deeds rich with theological gold. And so as we consider this song of deliverance from our older brothers, the Jews, we are reminded of an even greater Exodus, the exodus that all other deliverances point to.

The Text

“When Israel went out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was his sanctuary, And Israel his dominion. The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back . . .” (Psalm 114:1–8).

Summary of the Text

The psalm begins with a burst (v. 1). “When Israel came out of Egypt” means that we are talking about the events that were inaugurated by the Red Sea crossing. The house of Jacob went down into Egypt, and did so when Jacob was still alive. Centuries later, they are still the “house of Jacob,” and they come out of Egypt still one family—about two and a half million of them. When they come out, Judah is first and is called God’s sanctuary. Israel is called His kingdom or dominion (v. 2). We then get our first inkling that the poet is treating the entire departure from Egypt and entrance into Canaan as one event, including the key events in between. The sea saw what Judah and Israel were and fled, and the Jordan was also driven back (v. 3). The mountain skipping like rams appears to be a reference to the convulsions that Mt. Sinai (or Horeb) went through (v. 4; Ex. 20:18). We then return to the Red Sea and to the Jordan. What is the matter with you, sea? What is the matter with you, Jordan? (v. 5). The same question is then posed to the mountains that trembled (v. 6). The answer is then given, and it is an obvious answer—the earth should tremble at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob (v. 7). Remember that this means the presence of the God in Jacob (vv. 1-2). He is the one who turned the rock into standing water (Ex. 17:6), the flint into a fountain of waters (v. 8).

The X on the Map

A quick orientation may help. Moving from west to east, picture Egypt, the Red Sea, the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Akaba, and then Arabia. The land of Goshen, where the Israelites were living in Egypt, was in the eastern part of the Nile Delta—up north. Now the traditional view is that Mt. Sinai is located in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula. But this view has a number of difficulties associated with it, not least being the fact that it was identified as such by that noted archeological authority, Constantine’s mom, Helena. I consequently prefer an alternative view, which is that the mountain of God (Sinai, or Horeb) was in Midian (which is in Arabia). We see this in the burning bush incident (Ex. 3:1), where God told Moses that he would bring the people out of Egypt and back to that particular mountain (Ex. 3:12). Furthermore, the apostle Paul also places Sinai in Arabia (Gal. 4:25)—as do Josephus and Philo. This means that I believe that the Red Sea crossing was a deep-water crossing, somewhere at the northern end of the Gulf of Akaba. And that would make it a miracle with a capital M.

The Misery of Man

When Israel went through the Red Sea, the Lord was present with them. The glory cloud prevented Pharaoh from getting at them until the sea parted (Ex. 14:19-20). On the other end of their wilderness wandering, they had fashioned the ark of the covenant by this time, and so that is how the presence of God was manifested this time, causing the waters of the Jordan to stop flowing (Josh. 3:8).

The next time the mercy seat came down to the Jordan it was to be baptized by John (Matt. 3:13).

The Great Exodus

On the Mount of Transfiguration (which was probably the mountain called Tabor), Jesus met with both Moses and Elijah. Note that this means that after his life was over, Moses didmake it into the promised land. Note also that it meant that Christ was meeting with two men who previously encountered God on Mount Horeb. Moses went up on the mountain there and he met with God (Ex. 19:20). And Elijah fled to Horeb after the showdown on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 19:8), and it was there that God spoke to him in a still, small voice. But most importantly, what were they talking about on Tabor with Jesus? Luke tells us—they were conversing with Him about the Exodus that He was going to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31).

If we are the people of God, then this means that we are His remembrancers. We are to recallwhat He has down for us throughout the entire history of redemption. You have the Table set before you, do you not?

The Presence of the Lord

What is it that gives victory to the people of God? How is it that enemies are turned to flight? How is it that the adversary is abashed? The Red Sea fled when the Red Sea saw the sanctuary was in Judah, and that the kingdom was with Israel. They saw the presence of the Lord, in other words. “Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob” (Psalm 114:7).

In short, if God is present, who can be against us? “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).

Psalm 113: Praise Jah!

Christ Church on January 26, 2020

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Introduction

This particular psalm begins the section of the psalter that is known as the Hallel. This section is Ps. 113 through 118. It was the custom of Jews to recite this section verbatim festival occasions of praise. The word hallel means praise, and When we are told in the New Testament that Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn after their last meal together (Matt. 26:30), this was very probably the Hallel. This is where the word hallelujah comes from—an intensive expression meaning (much more than) praise Jah.

And this psalm is the threshold of this section, the entryway to the Hallel psalms.

The Text

“Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore . . .” (Ps. 113:1-9).

Summary of the Text

The first words of the psalm are an imperative, directed at the servants of God. All the servants of God are to praise Him (v. 1). They are to praise Him, and they are to praise His name. Boast in Him. The name we are exulting in is a name that is to be considered blessed forever and ever (v. 2). His name is to be blessed throughout time. And then, in the next verse, we see that His name is to be praise spatially (v. 3). Throughout all history, and from the east to the west, let the name of the Lord be praised. The Lord is high over all the nations of men, and His glory is higher than the heavens (v. 4). Who can be compared to Him, as He is the one who dwells on high (v. 5). When He looks at earth and the heavens above the earth, He is looking down. He condescends to look at the highest point of the whole created order (v. 6).

Whatever galaxy is at the top of the whole affair is a galaxy that He looks down on. And yet, He sees and considers the poor man, down in the dust, and He raises him up out of the dust (v. 7). He sees and lifts up the needy man from the landfill, from the dump, from the place of squalor and filth (v. 7). When He does this, it is in order that He might place among the princes of His people (v. 8). And in true tenderness, He looks down on a barren woman, and gives her a home to keep, and children to run around in it (v. 8). So we end with the toddlers, and that brings us to the final hallelujah. Praise Jah. Boast in Jehovah. His greatness is ineffable, and stoops to consider the smallest.

The first six verses are offered up in praise of His excellence. The last three verses are offered up in praise of His kindness, compassion and mercy.

The Greatness of God

God’s greatness is such that He cannot look above Himself. He has no superior. His greatness is such that He cannot look around Himself. He has no peers, no equals. Prior to the creation, there was nothing but the Father’s eternal delight in the Son, and that delight returned, and that delight being Himself the Spirit of the Father and the Son. And once He determined to create, He could only look down.

So God is above the nations, outside them. We cannot get Him to fit within anything made by human hands . . . or minds. God is transcendent. This means, among many other things, that He rules the nations of men. We turn this way and that, and we think we have done marvelous things. But the king’s heart is in the Lord’s hand—He diverts it wherever He pleases (v. 4). We see the rhetorical question—who is like the Lord our God? The answer expected is no one (v. 5)

The Misery of Man

Man was created for dominion—created to be fruitful and to fill the earth. And yet, despite being able to do this with physical children, our corruptions were such that the Gentile nations were spiritually barren. “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 54:1, see Gal. 4:27).

It was not just a matter of our inability to produce wholesome fruit. There was also the question of our diseased state. Picture mankind in all his pretended and glory, in all his delusional pomp, as some kind of zombie in an advanced state of decay. And remember also that this unfortunate zombie is also saddled with a singular lack of self-awareness, and he thinks he is awesome.

Where are the recipients of God’s redeeming love to be found? The answer is that they are found on the dunghill (v. 7). They are found as a cinder on the ash heap. They are found as refuse among the offal. They live on the manure pile—in poorer countries, dung was often used as fuel, and that waste station was their home. They were found as a crushed and soggy juice box out at the land fill.

And this leads to the next point, which is enough to stagger anyone who thinks about it.

The God Who Stoops

And so we have seen how God works with the barren women of Scripture—whether Sarah, or Rachel, or Samson’s mother, or Hannah, or Elizabeth, or even the special virginal barrenness of our Lord’s mother, Mary. God typifies His intention for our fruitless world by hearing the prayers of these women, and by answering their cries. And so with Hannah we are privileged to say, “neither is there any rock like our God” (1 Sam. 2:2). This is the same point made in this psalm before us (v. 5).

God cannot look up, or around. He can only look down, and because He is supreme, and because humility is part of His greatness, that humility is supreme. The lowest of the low is plainly within the Lord’s compassionate sight, and God in His mercy determined to send His Son become one of us. To be born in our midst. To be born of a woman, born under the law. To be born on the dunghill.

His intention was to make us princes in the land (v. 8). Is this not what He has done? He has made us kings and priests (Rev. 1:6: 5:10).

The one who had the name that was to be praised above every name consented to be born in the lowest spot. He did this in order to get under. And He got under because the purpose was to pick the whole thing up. And so He stood, the cosmos itself stretched across His shoulders. The government was on His shoulders, and unless we look with the eyes of faith we will not see it. And that is because the redemption of all things in heaven and earth was cleverly disguised to look like the horizontal beam of His cross.

Psalm 112: The Blessedness of Godly Delight

Christ Church on January 19, 2020

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Introduction

This psalm is part of a matched set, together with the previous one. Both this psalm and Ps. 111 are alphabetic psalms, with each portion beginning with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet. As a consequence, the two psalms are right around the same length, and there are frequent echoes. The theme of the former is the glory of God, and the theme of the latter is the glory of God as reflected in the life of the godly man.

The Text

“Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever . . .” (Ps. 112:1-10).

Summary of the Text

So what is the godly man like? How does God bless him? First we define the godly man. He is the man who fears God, and this is defined as someone who delights in God’s commandments (v. 1). Notice that this is no servile obedience, but rather a delighted obedience. Not only will he be blessed, but so shall his descendants be—his seed shall be mighty (v. 2). His house will gather in wealth, and his righteousness will continue (v. 3). The upright, in the darkness, will see the sun rise (v. 4). He is a gracious man, compassionate, and righteous (v. 4). He is generous and open-handed. He lends (v. 5). A neighbor who borrows all the time is a perfect nuisance, but we also need to compare him to the tight-fisted guy on the other side who is just like him. He is a perfect nuisance also. But at the same time, this generous man is shrewd (v. 5). He will be a permanent fixture in God’s story. He shall not be moved forever. Remember Abraham? He lived in tents, and the story of his faithfulness will be told to the end of the world. Have you seen the pyramids? Great monuments to “we’re not sure who that was” (v. 6). Rising trouble does not trouble him. He is courageous. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord (v. 7). His heart is established. He shall not fear, and he will see his enemies dealt with (v. 8). Again he is open-handed, not tight-fisted. His righteousness goes on forever, and his horn shall be exalted (v. 9). This blessing that envelops the righteous man is something that grieves the wicked (v. 10). The wicked will gnash their teeth, for all the good it will do. Like a slug on the sidewalk, the wicked will melt away, and their only monument will be the slimy trail they leave behind.

Who is this Righteous Man?

The first thing we must note is that there has only been one person who met this description perfectly—the Lord Jesus. He gathers wealth (v. 3), and Jesus is the heir of all things (Heb. 1:2). He is open-handed and generous (vv. 5, 9). The Lord is the one who brings salvation to the world in order to give it away. His heart is fixed when trouble arises (v. 7). The Lord set his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51)—like flint (Is. 50:7). This description of the godly man is therefore a description of the perfect man, and we all know who the perfect man was.

The Path of Imitation

At the same time, we are called by our name of Christian to be followers of Christ. We are to imitate God (Eph. 5:1). We are to copy the Lord. We are summoned to imitate more mature believers as they imitate Christ (1 Cor. 4:16; 1 Cor. 11:1). We are to imitate the saints as their lives are described in Scripture (Heb. 6:12).

As we imitate the Lord, we must also keep an eye on the astonishing promises that were given to Him. Imitating the Lord means imitating His expectations also, and His expectations were grounded firmly in what God had promised Him. These promises are ours also, but they are ours in Christ.

No Wooden Imitation

This psalm, taken by itself and interpreted in isolation, could lend itself to a “health and wealth” doctrine. But remember what you have been taught—God’s servants, the ones we are told to imitate, were saints who overcame great obstacles (Heb. 11:33-35a) and who also endured severe persecution and hardship (Heb. 11:35b-38). And remember that the Lord Jesus Himself has inherited every form of wealth that there is, but that the path to His kingdom of fabulous wealth was a path that went to the cross, wound down through the grave, descended to Hades, and up again to the throne room of the Ancient of Days. God did place universal dominion into His hands, but they were pierced hands.

In Christ Himself

Now Scripture teaches us that we have been given all things because we belong to Christ, and Christ has been given all things.

“Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours” (1 Cor. 3:21–22).

Think of it this way. We are the body of Christ. When He extends His hands to receive what His Father is giving Him, we are those hands. When He walks the earth to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth, we are His feet.

“And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:22–23).

God has placed all things under His feet—and in the same breath He tells us that we are those feet. The Lord has inherited all the things promised in this psalm, and throughout all Scripture and learning that this is true can be quite a heady experience. But if we are His feet, and all things are His footstool, we have to remember that the feet are pierced. If the Father has placed universal dominion into His hands, and we are those hands, recall that the hands are pierced. If we are the bride of Christ, as we most certainly are, remember that the new Eve was taken from the side of Christ just as our first mother was taken from the side of Adam. If we are His bride, all that He has belongs to us—because we were taken from His pierced side (John 19:34-35).

We may glory in this, and indeed we must glory in it. But we must glory in the full story.

Psalm 111: The Great Deeps of the Covenant

Christ Church on January 12, 2020

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Introduction

This is a straightforward psalm of praise, but we have to extend our arms all the way out to carry what we are praising Him for. In order to wield this psalm rightly, we will have to beseech God to enlarge our hearts. Enlarge our hearts all the way out, so that we might learn how tiny they are. “I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart” (Psalm 119:32). This was the source of Solomon’s wisdom (1 Kings 4:29), from botany to biology to battle to business, and the apostle Paul thought in the same terms as well (2 Cor. 6: 11-13).

The Text

“Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever . . .” (Ps. 111:1-10).

Summary of the Text

God is to be praised, of course, but He is to be praised with a whole heart. Further, it is to be done in the assembly of the upright (v. 1). God’s works are greatness stacked upon greatness, and those who have pleasure in Him have pleasure in them, and therefore study what He has done (v. 2). What we will find as a result of our study is honor, glory, and righteousness (v. 3). God did all this so that it would be remembered (v. 4), and He is gracious and full of compassion. He gives food to those who fear Him, and this is part of His covenantal faithfulness (v. 5). God has demonstrated the power of His works so that we might understand His purpose to give us the heritage of the heathen (v. 6). What He does with His hands is truth and judgments. His commands are certain and sure (v. 7). His commands aren’t going anywhere—they are forever, true and upright (v. 8). He sent redemption for His people, and again this is a matter of covenant faithfulness (v. 9). His name is holy and reverend. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, not the end of wisdom (v. 10). Obedience is the path to understanding—those who do what He says will know. His praise is forever.

Sought Out by Those Who Have Pleasure

If we follow the example of Solomon, and seek to have our hearts enlarged to understand more of the ways of God, we have to understand that this will make us hungry in every direction. Largeness of heart is not just for the big things. The God who throws galaxies as though they were grains of sand is also the God who engineered the jumping mechanism on a grasshopper. The God who inhabits eternity is also the God who has nicknames for every electron in the cosmos.

This is the basis for science. It is the basis for history. It is the basis for theology. It is the basis for everything.

We are allowed to be finite (which is a good thing), but we are not allowed to be bored or uninterested. You could go out in your backyard if you wanted and spend the rest of your life getting one PhD after another on the happenings taking place on one blade of grass.

The Heritage of the Heathen

We study the works of God because we love Him. God shows off for us so that we might study and marvel, and as we study and marvel, He gives to us the heritage of the heathen—He gives to us the heritage of those who are uninterested in the works of God, or who are interested in them only for the sake of denying that they have happened. Enlarge your heart, which will mean that you enlarge your eyes. And when you enlarge your eyes, you will come to see that the phrase intelligent designcan only be described as ridonkulous understatement.

Jesus is Lord, and this truth is to be understood both extensively and intensively. There is no place where it is not pertinent and exhaustively authoritative. Jesus is Lord in all, over all, and through all. All science, all history, all philosophy, and all engineering. It all belongs to Him, and so we study His works in it.

The Great Deeps of the Covenant

The greatest ocean, an ocean with immense depths, has places that are just under the surface. This psalm mentions God’s covenant keeping in two places (vv. 5, 9).

When we receive our daily bread—which Jesus instructed us to pray for (Matt. 6: 11)—the answer to that prayer is a covenant blessing. I had a friend, a Baptist at the time, who said that we Presbyterians were covenantal about everything. He said that it was like dealing with covenant peanut butter and covenant jelly. Had I only known my Bible well enough, I could have retorted with this verse. The terms of God’s covenant with us are all-encompassing. There is no place where you may go in order to stand outside the covenant. Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). The hairs of your head are all numbered. Because there is no part of your body that is unbaptized, there is hence no part of your life that may remain unsanctified.

But this is only possible because the covenant is oceanic, and God’s tender mercies go all the way down. Consider the implications of verse 9. “He sent redemption unto his people: He hath commanded his covenant for ever: Holy and reverend is his name” (Ps. 111:9).

How is it that redemption has come to you? Your sins, which were dark and grimy, have all been cleansed and washed away. How did this thing happen? It happened because He sent redemption to His people. And how did He do this great thing? He commanded His covenant, and He commanded His covenant forever. But do not confuse this. Remember that the Lord Jesus showed us the identity of this covenant. This covenant has a name, and He was obedient, even to death on a cross. The Lord Jesus held up a cup and said that it contained the blood of the new covenant (Matt. 26:28). He is the covenant.

He sent redemption. He sent the covenant. He sent Jesus.

Gratitude in the Lowlands

Christ Church on November 17, 2019

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Introduction

C.S. Lewis once made a vivid observation that grumblers are on a path to becoming just a grumble: “[Hell] begins with a grumbling mood and yourself still distinct from it: perhaps criticizing it. And yourself, in a dark hour, may will that mood, embrace it. Ye can repent and come out of it again. But there may come a day when you can do that no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood, just the grumble itself going on forever like a machine.”

The Text

“I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars. What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD” (Psalm 116).

Summary of the Text

This is a passover Psalm, likely composed by David, and was a regular fixture of that celebration. It opens with a declaration of love, firm footing for any expression of praise to the Lord. But this ain’t vague sentimentality. Rather, He loves God because God heard him (v1). His statement “I will call upon the Lord (cf. vs. 2b, 4a, 13b, 17b)” forms the spine of this hymn. God’s past kindness in inclining His ear to David stirs him up to make calling upon God his continual habit (v2). He had faced a recent trouble––death hunting him down (v3)––and we see his response: calling unto God for deliverance (v4). God’s grace and righteousness is the basis for David’s confidence in this request (v5), along with the reality that God doesn’t deliver on the grounds of the recipient’s merit, social status, or book-smarts (v6).

This reality brings rest, because God has blessed him bountifully in this undeserved deliverance from death (vs 7-8); but it also compels him to “walk before the Lord” (v9). Faith isn’t an anesthetic to his emotion; rather it allowed him to look affliction in the face, and call it what it is (v10). This also helps him see his temptations to sin against his neighbor (v11).

All this leads to a question of how to properly thank the Lord (v12). What should I give Him? I should take from Him. The cup of salvation is received, and God is once more called upon (v13). Furthermore, reviewing God’s deliverance elicits a response of tangible gratitude. The thanksgiving overflows in obedient execution of vows (v14, 18), humbly recognizing that being spared death was a precious gift from the Lord (v15). In other words, salvation compels service; deliverance from bondage binds us to obedience (v16). The sacrifice which a loving, faith-filled heart gives is thanksgiving––public obedience––in the midst of God’s people (vs17-19).

Black Swan Deliverance

While this is a very “first person” psalm, it isn’t a psalm of individualism. Remember that this is a passover hymn. The psalmist sees in that mighty, miraculous deliverance of God’s people a source of hope for his present difficulty. David draws hope from God’s past faithfulness to His people, to buoy his hope that God would perform another miraculous exodus for him. In essence, he sings about his present trial, while putting himself in remembrance of God’s mighty works of old.

God’s deliverance is always undeserved, and we see this in a few spots in this passage. As Spurgeon observed, the grace and mercy are a bejeweled sheath for the blade of justice (cf. vs5). David had seen many perish, and knew that God sparing his life was a precious gift, not to be taken for granted.

We also see that the Lord’s preservation of the simple is not the way corrupt systems of human justice works. There often seems to be one law for D.C. elites and Hollywood stars, and another set of laws for us simple folk. But God isn’t a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), and he delivers whom He will regardless of their wealth, influence, power, prestige, or IQ. God saves those who call to Him in faith. As David says in another Psalm, “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. (Ps. 34:6).” And He continues to save them through “many dangers, toils, and snares.”

Gratitude and Duty

But the deliverance is intended to lead us to love and thanksgiving. The sacrifices of Israel were always supposed to elicit gratitude from God’s people. They were both an expression and a reminder of the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise which we owe to God. The sin offerings reminded the saint that the throat which should be slit was theirs, but instead, God graciously accepted the lamb in their stead. But this gratitude and faithful thanksgiving, wasn’t to be empty words. It is dutiful work. Notice the order of this psalm: love leading to loyalty, faith catalyzing good works.

How do you repay God for His salvation? You receive once more from Him a heart of thanksgiving, regardless of your circumstances. What does God want from you? He wants you to get more of Him and from Him. He wants you to overflow with praise. Praise for His blessings: life itself, rest, bounty, and all the other blessings. But also praise in the pit. Thanksgiving in all circumstances, for all circumstances.

Faith-filled hearts of gratitude don’t just thank God for keeping us safe during the flood, it thanks Him for the flood. Because the flood is what gave us another opportunity to call upon Him, look unto Him, and trust ourselves to Him alone.

Grumble or Gratitude

The grumbler wants to mutter and whine about everything, as he plods down the path to hell. He thinks he knows what his circumstances should be. He thinks a nice, comfortable life is his by right. He wants to pour his own cup, with his own choice of wine.

But the grateful heart knows that whether in blessed or burdensome times, whether on the mountain or in the low-lands, God delivers His people from all their troubles. The grateful pray to God about their problems. The grumbler prays to himself.

Drink the cup which God set before you. Trust that in it, you will taste that Christ has already drank the cup of God’s wrath, that you might drink the cup of God’s blessing. So don’t fear your trials, even the final trial of death. God’s deliverance is always a resurrection from the dead. For in Christ, even death has lost its sting (1 Cor. 15:55).