PART 3 : Studies 35-51

Meditation Title: Overview

Meditation No. 35

Meditation Title:  God of joyful presence

Psa 21:6 Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

There are two bad attitudes expressed within the human race. The first is to deny the existence of the Lord (that's the atheist), and the second is to attribute to Him wrong or bad attributes. It is the latter one we want to deal with here. There are many people, and this really does include Christians, who have a negative view of God. They see Him as a hard God (Lk 19:21) or a harsh God (Mal 3:13). They are contemptuous about God (Mal 1:6) by the way they live, indicating they believe He is an absent Lord, and they're glad.

Wrong understanding of God is very common and it may be that we have such attitudes because of the things that happened to us before we came to know Him, things that harmed or hurt us, things that came from a fallen world, or things that came through our own sinful foolishness, and because of that sinful foolishness, we never (then) turned to the Lord for help. Thus we had a bad view of life and subsequently (and subconsciously) of God. We even attribute the way we think to the way we think God thinks. We are not charitable and so we cannot understand God being charitable. We are not forgiving so we find it difficult to believe that God is forgiving. We expect people to work to achieve acceptance, so we believe God wants us to work to achieve His acceptance. In all these ways, we have wrong ideas!

The truth is displayed here by David and it needs thinking about. First of all he says, Surely you have granted him eternal blessings, referring to himself. Eternal blessings? Yes, things from heaven that are un limited in their life. If we give a Christmas present it normally has a limited life and may be broken or thrown away within months or years. The good things that God gives, do not have a ‘shelf life', they go on and on and on and on. They are eternal because they come from an eternal God. Because of who they were, Israel were automatically blessed as God's covenant people (Deut 33:29 & Psa 33:12). Blessing, goodness from God, was part of the package of their relationship with the Lord. Many times in the Old and New Testaments we come across the words, “Blessed is the man who ….” e.g. Psa 89:15 – “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence”. To be blessed means to have received all the goodness of God, and that comes over in Scripture many times as we just said. Many times the Bible tells us we can receive this goodness that makes us happy, and the Psa 85 quote tells us that we will be really happy when we walk in the light of God's presence, and that has echoes of our verse above - glad with the joy of your presence.

These verses tell us that it is a wonderful thing to be in the Lord's presence, a joyful thing. We sometimes use C.S.Lewis's book ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' to illustrate spiritual truths, with Aslan the Lion picturing Jesus. When three of the children first hear Aslan's name mentioned, they each have lovely thoughts and feelings, even though they don't know who he is yet. Lewis understood this truth we see in this verse, that actually knowing God, being in His presence, even thinking about His presence when you have a right understanding, is a most wonderfully joyful thing. Why? Because He is love, He is utterly good, and so it's a lovely thing to be in the presence of such a Being - well it is if you have turned your heart to love and goodness and towards Him – then it will be THE most wonderful thing possible – this ‘being in His presence'!

Meditation No. 36

Meditation Title:  God of anger

Psa 21:9 In his wrath the LORD will swallow them up, and his fire will consume them .

There are some things about the Lord that make us do a double-take. Is the Lord really like this? On one hand we're told that God is love (1 Jn 4:8), so how, we wonder can He also be a God of anger, a God of wrath who destroys people? This needs thinking about!

Let's start with that incredible man of God, Moses: Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.” (Ex 4:14,15). This is where looking at the context is important, for this comes near the end of a long conversation where the Lord has answered all of Moses' questions, explained what would happen, given two miraculous signs and still Moses says, “ send someone else to do it .” There is nothing more that God could say or do more than He has already done in this conversation. Moses' response is now just selfish obtuseness and there is no excuse for it. God's anger has been slow to come but anger is the only response to it.

So what is anger? A Bible dictionary definition is, “a feeling of displeasure resulting from injury, mistreatment, opposition, etc.” It is a natural, right and just response in certain circumstances. We so often link anger or wrath with a quick, hasty and selfish response to an offence, but with God it is the exact opposite. It is a slow, measured and concerned response of justice. It is slow (Psa 103:8) because God doesn't just react to people, He gives a fully measured, perfect response to the situation. The anger or wrath of the Lord is not a capricious self-concerned response, but a slow concerned response. We might nod at someone's sin and excuse or ignore it but God knows that unrestrained sin spreads and destroys so He first speaks against it, speaks and speaks again, and then acts against it. A willful ignoring of His calls is just that, a willful ignoring! It is an act of stupid rebellion; it is pure folly. Stop and think what emotions you could express: happiness at it. Well that is obviously stupid! Neutral and unfeeling? How can you remain unfeeling about a gross crime? Our problem sometimes is that we simply don't feel enough, we don't think enough about the crime. If you were a husband and father and your house was invaded by an armed gang and you were tied up and your wife and daughter raped in front of your eyes, what would you be feeling? Happiness? Don't be silly! Passive neutrality? You've got to be joking! It will be absolute, total, hostile anger. Everything in you will be blazing against them – and rightly so!

So why do we wonder, when perfect, beautiful God who calls out and calls out and calls out and has to watch increasing (because it is increasing before He acts) stupidity, eventually expresses anger? The answer has to be because we simply are blind to the awfulness of the stupidity. Why does God judge and destroy? To stop the spread of destructive sin. As someone has said, the incredible thing is not that God destroys one or two individuals, but that He doesn't destroy all of us! That is the wonder of the Cross! It is God's means of diverting His righteous anger over sin. Why does He ever act against sinners then? So save the situation getting worse, to save others from the spreading destructive nature of what this person or people do.

Meditation No. 37

Meditation Title:   God of Silence

Psa 22:2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer

In the 15 th meditation we considered ‘The God who hides' and the idea and effect is very similar to this verse, but it is sufficiently important that it needs looking at again. The truth is that there are times when we cry out to the Lord and He seems to remain silent, He seems to ignore our cries. Why would a God of love do this? This psalm is considered a prophetic psalm reflecting Jesus' anguish on the Cross. This psalm is the cry of the Saviour heard as “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Mt 27:46)

Probably the classic example of silence from God is Rev 8:1, “When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” Again there, there is given no explanation for the silence and so we are left wondering. So what does a silence indicate? Is it an indication that God doesn't care? No, everything else in Scripture challenges that wrong assertion! Is it an indication that God is having to think through an issue before He comes up with an answer? Definitely not! Everything in Scripture tells us that God has perfect knowledge and wisdom and, even more importantly, that what is happening today is a working out of His perfect plan devised before the very foundation of the world. Oh no, it is nothing like that! So what are we left with?

Probably it is because God is waiting for the right moment to speak and move. Indeed there can be no other satisfactory answer. There are clear indications in Scripture that God is concerned with timing and moves at exactly the right time (e.g. Mk 1:15, Jn 2:4, 7:6,8, 7:30, 8:20, 13:1, Acts 3:21, Rom 5:6, Gal 4:4, Eph 1:9,10). It seems it is as if God moves in ‘seasons'. There have been times in church history when He has come in revival power; suddenly He has turned up and amazing things have happened and thousands of people have been saved. Compared with such times, most of church history seems slow and relatively uneventful. In those ‘slower times' it is natural to cry out to the Lord, with the feeling, “Why Lord, don't you answer?”

So why does God seem to wait? Why doesn't He come with power all the time? Possibly it is that He knows that if He did we would take it all for granted and it wouldn't, in fact, bring good into us. The reality is that we change more into the likeness of Jesus in the hard times, not the times of great blessing. The times of God appearing to remain silent are, in truth, times of testing for us, times that reveal what we're really like. One day Jesus told a parable, “to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” (Lk 18:1) It was about a widow who pleaded with a judge who apparently wouldn't reply. Eventually he did, just because she went on and on. Listen to how Jesus concluded it: “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Lk 18:6-8). Look at what he's saying. Yes God will eventually deal with the issue, but in the meantime, if I should return, will I find you in a position of faithfulness?

When God appears silent, will we still remain truth to our faith and to Him? Yes, God is waiting for something to happen before He replies, but that something may just be your right response in the situation, your affirmation of love for Him, your declaration of trust in Him. For such reasons the Lord remains silent. If the Lord remains silent, He has a good reason. You can keep asking, but you may have to wait a while for the answer.

Meditation No. 38

Meditation Title:   God who is a shepherd

Psa 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

To approach this most familiar of psalms, let's see if we can view it slightly differently from usual, in an endeavour to catch something new from it. Suppose you were a sheep and you'd never read this psalm – well sheep can't read can they! As a sheep you know little of existence. There are sheep enclosures where you are put at night and there are fields where you wander during the day. That is your world – and no more. In the morning you are turned out of the fold. You wondered why you had to be in a fold. Without thinking you start nibbling at the grass. As one patch of grass is shortened you are moved on to another fresh patch. You are taken to the river shallows where you drink. This happens day in, day out, and all the while in the background of your consciousness is this figure who is there. You're not sure why he's there, he just is, and he's the one who lets you out in the morning and shuts you in at night and moves you on during the daytime. He's just there, whoever he is, this being.

I suspect that is how many people feel about life. It just happens and we take it for granted. We seem to have what we need – and lots more sometimes – and life goes on, and there in the background we're conscious of some ‘being' who is there – God.

David is very much aware. He is aware of what the shepherd does – because he is or has been, a shepherd. He also knows who God is and what He does, and as he thinks about it, he realises that God is very much like a shepherd. He's there in the background of the sheep but He's not just there, He's doing things and He's doing them for the sheep. He spells out some of the things he's come to realise that the shepherd does. “He makes me lie down… he leads me…. he restores” (v.2,3). Yes, the way The Shepherd looks after him, He looks after his welfare and quietens him and restores him when he feels worn and jaded. “He guides me in paths of righteousness” (v.3). He helps keep David on track. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (v.4). He reassures David by His presence with him. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” ( v.5). David didn't have to worry about his enemies because God was blessing him. “You anoint my head with oil” (v.5). David was aware of the Lord re-equipping him and resending him (anointing was a sign of being set apart for a task).

In each of these ways avid was aware of The Shepherd looking after him: quietening, restoring him, keeping him on the right track, reassuring him by His presence, blessing him and resending him. So how about us? Have we taken for granted the figure in the background or have we realised that He is there ministering to us? Have you responded to Him and let Him lead you into a place of peace and quiet (even in the midst of busyness) where He stills you and restores your soul? Have you known His reassuring presence? Have you had a sense of His gentle voice calling you back to the right track when you've gone to wander away? Have you had that sense of being equipped to be sent, of going into life with a clear sense of purpose, going at the bidding of the Shepherd?

Do you see the point of what we have been saying? It is so easy just to have a vague awareness of this person in the background of our lives, but not realise what He's doing. He IS you shepherd and He's there guiding and directing, protecting and providing, caring and concerned – all for you!

Meditation No.39

Meditation Title:   God who owns the earth

Psa 24:1,2 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters

When I was young I used to make model aeroplanes. Mostly they were plastic and they would hand by threads from the ceiling of my bedroom. They were mine and I took great joy in them. I eventually made a large span glider. It took hours and hours to make. Every piece pinned on a board and then glued together, covered in tissue that was then shrunk and ‘doped' to make it hard. That was a special plane. Hours of effort had gone into that one. One of my sons and his wife recently just moved and were sorting out things to get rid of. There was an old video player. “Oh, we don't want that any longer,” he says. “We can't throw that away,” she says, I saved up months to buy that,” and recounted how she had saved and saved to get it when she was younger. It held memories and had lots of sentimental value. It was hers and she'd earned it. It meant something.

David understood ownership; he understood that the world belongs to God because He made it. Scientists can jump up and down in excitement over their latest speculation, but they can never know . What ever the mechanics of the world coming into being, the Bible again and again, unashamedly declares that the Lord made it. Listen to this echo from Proverbs: “I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.” (Prov 8:27-31). What an amazing picture of the Son working alongside the Father as together they brought the world into being. It's theirs; it belongs to them because they made it!

Again, when I was a child I bred beautiful black and white Dutch rabbits. I started out with two and ended up with a lot more. Nobody disputed by ownership of all of them. Whether or not God has a hand in making each individual person (and there are Scriptural suggestions that He does) this is His world and everything and everyone on it belongs to Him. Because He is God He has absolute rights over it. If He wanted to He could wipe out every foolish little person who thinks too much of themselves and denies Him, but He doesn't. He loves this world and wants to give every such person (and we were all like that) a chance of understanding He's there for us, and sometimes it seems to takes a lot to get the creature to realize the Creator is for them and loves them – and sometimes they leave the earth still not realizing it, despite all He's said and done for them.

I recently came across a well-known writer commenting about a very famous atheist-philosopher (who will remain nameless) and who is dead now: “For 70 years he entertained us….. but as for conveying wisdom he might never have lived.” What a terrible indictment. This so-called philosopher had written volumes but now all consigned to this condemnation and why? Because he had never allowed the evidence of this wonderful world permeate his pride and so he never met the Creator. This is God's world and how we respond to that truth determines how we will be assessed eternally (Rom 1:18-20). If we worship the Creator and His co-creating Son, we become elevated to sonship and greatness. If we refuse we are consigned to the scrap heap of fading memories.

Meditation No. 40

Meditation Title:  God who is teacher

Psa 25:4,5 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

For many people their schooldays were not the best years of their life. In fact, for many people the thought of teachers and school sends a cold shiver down their spine. It's sad but it's true. So what about God who is a teacher? Are some of us left with a vision of an angry old man who will smack us around the ear if we fail to repeat the things we heard last Sunday? Is He just waiting to put us in detention or give us the cane (which may be completely unknown to the younger generation), is he waiting to rebuke us for being so slow witted. Ah! Now on that last point we have to be careful for He does have expectations of us and He does rebuke us if we refuse to believe! Be careful!

But look at these verses, look at David's heart. To catch the full significance of what he is saying we need to put it in context (as we always should) and see what went before. He has been saying that his trust and his hope are in the Lord and he's asking not to be put to shame before his enemies; in fact anyone, he says, who hopes in the Lord will not be put to shame. Do you see what he is saying? He's saying the whole basis of his life, and particularly his life as he confronts his enemies, is reliant upon knowing the Lord. Therefore he comes with an open teachable heart, saying, Lord, I need to know things if I am not to be put to shame before my enemies, I need you to show me, teach me, guide me. This isn't coming from the Lord saying, you must learn; this is coming as David is aware of the truth of his life and recognizing his need to learn. Therein is the start of wisdom, recognizing our need to learn.

Solomon knew this: “For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.” (Prov 2:6-8). In his words, the Lord gives victory to those who walk rightly before the Lord, and guards and protects them. And how does He do that? First by giving them wisdom, knowledge and understanding to know how to walk rightly before Him. Isn't that just the thing that David asks for? “Show me your ways”, i.e. show me the way to walk rightly before you.

The ‘ways' of the Lord? Moses cried, “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” (Ex 33:13). The Lord answered that cry: “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation” (Ex 34:6,7). It was like the Lord answered: “My ways? I'm compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…. this is the sort of God I am and this is how I work, these are the ways I operate.” This, if you like, is the path the Lord walks, and so if we are to walk with Him we will be the same. If we walk like this, like David, we will be able to trust in Him and hope in Him. We can trust that He is there for us today and hope He will be there for us tomorrow and when He is, we will be secure and we will not be ashamed before our enemies, for the Lord will be with us and for us. Hallelujah!

Meditation No. 41

Meditation Title:God who remembers

Psa 25:6  Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

Tomorrow we've look at the next verse which is about God forgetting, but before we get there comes the verse about remembering. Memory is an amazing feature of being a human being who is made in the image of God (Gen 1:26). Most of us take it for granted. I certainly did until my father-in-law had a series of strokes which left him with no short term memory. When you walked in he would ask you how you were and what was happening to you and you'd tell him. Three minutes later he would be repeating the questions and three minutes after that you'd start the cycle again and again. Thinking about that I realized how much of our conversation is about the past. Our conversations are mostly based on what has already happened – you watch yourself over the next day. In fact if you take that in, you'll see that if we had no memory, we even forget we who we are. That is the problem of the person who wakes up in a hospital after a serious accident and suffering amnesia, can't remember who they are.

So here we are now in the above verse with David basically saying, “Lord remember who you are, remember what you're like!” You want to see more of the significance of that? Stop and think about your life when things are going wrong. On a good day you might be thinking (in accordance with Scripture and your experience), “I am a child of God with all of the grace of God available to me. I am full of His Spirit and all of His characteristics, I am a child of the king!” Then suddenly you are attacked with a verbal attack that takes your breath away. Suddenly you forget who you are and you go on the defensive and attack back. You shouldn't but sometimes you do, because the emotions that suddenly arrive overwhelm you and make you forget who you are. That's why David is saying, “Lord remember who you are” because he knows the experience of forgetting in the face of adverse emotions.

Now of course the funny thing is the Lord never forgets who He is. he has no cause to feel defensive, but David needs to remind himself of these characteristics of the Lord. Some times when we pray things about the Lord, it's not because the Lord needs telling them – He already knows – but it's for our own benefit; we need reminding, we need encouraging by the truth.

So here is the truth that David is declaring: the Lord won't forget who He is. The Lord won't forget that He is full of mercy and love. Moses had to tell his people that the Lord would not forget His covenant (Deut 4:31). Sometimes David asked the Lord not to forget, because it seemed the Lord was not moving and had forgotten. Of course He hadn't; He was just biding His time. Hence David asked the Lord not to forget the helpless – himself (Psa 10:12) or him generally (Psa 13:1). One of the other psalmists asked the Lord not to forget their oppression (Psa 44:24). The Lord declared through Isaiah, “O Israel , I will not forget you” (Isa 44:21). For the Lord to forget His children today is an impossibility. You forget someone who is away from you perhaps, but the Lord actually dwells within His children today by His Holy Spirit. How can he possibly forget us? He won't but there may be times when, for His own purposes, He may appear to delay and we'll find ourselves saying, “Lord don't forget….” because that's the fear we have, of being forgotten by our loving heavenly Father and being left alone in the corner of upset. It's all right, you're not alone, He hasn't forgotten (Deut 31:6, Heb 13:5,6)

Meditation No. 42

Meditation Title:   God who forgets

Psa 25:7   Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;

Memory is a strange thing. We want to remember things and can't, and the things we'd rather forget we can't. We'd like to be able to remember all the good things we've done and all the good times we've had – but so often we forget. But then there are the bad things we've done, the embarrassing things we've said, and we wish they could be utterly blotted from our memories, but they remain there in stark clarity. David has been asking the Lord to teach and guide him, and he's fearful of anything that might hinder the Lord doing that. He looks back and, like we've just said, he's got memories of the past that he'd rather forget and he worries that those things from his youth might disqualify him from knowing the Lord and receiving His blessing. It is a common worry. So he cries to the Lord, Lord, please forget my foolish past, see my heart today.

Isaiah made a similar call: “Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD; do not remember our sins forever” (Isa 64:9). Most of the time the cry to the Lord was to remember the past, His relationship with Israel, or the Lord Himself saying He would remember their sin to judge it. So, here we have just two calls for the Lord to forget, calls that find echoes in most of our hearts.

And the good news? Isaiah has it again: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isa 43:25). How was the Lord able to say that justly? Isaiah heard it: “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.” (Isa 40:2). The Lord had dealt with Jerusalem in Isaiah's day and therefore once dealt with, He did not keep on harping back to it. Also Isa 44:22 “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist.” The Lord laid down the principle through Ezekiel: “And if I say to the wicked man, `You will surely die,' but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right….. None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.” (Ezek 33:14-16) In other words where there is true repentance the Lord will wipe away from His memory the past sins. David came to really know this: “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psa 103:12). There is no measurable distance between ‘East' and ‘West' so he says they have been completely taken away and forgotten! The prophet Micah knew the same thing: “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?” (Mic 7:18).

Here was a principle being wrought in the Old Testament that burst through into full glory in the New Testament: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:23,24). And do you remember what they say justification means? It's “just as if I'd never sinned”. That's what the work of Jesus does. He so completely deals with our sins on the Cross that it's like there was never any sin. We've been forgiven, washed and cleansed (1 Jn 1:9), and once God cleanses or purifies, He doesn't keep going back to look at the dirt that was washed off. That's why Paul could say, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). The past has been dealt with. God has forgotten it. Move on! What's next?

Meditation No. 43

Meditation Title:    God who Vindicates

Psa 26:1   Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

There are times when we have been going through life quietly, minding our own business, when suddenly someone makes an unfounded accusation against us. We are hurt by it, but what makes it worse is that others listen to the accusation and wonder if it is true. At that point we want to be vindicated, we want the world to see that it is not true. Or it may be that a certain course of action seems obvious to us – but not to others. We take it and then start wondering. We were sure about it but it's going to take a while for the fruit of it to be seen. In the meanwhile you're aware that people are questioning the wisdom of going this way. You long for success to come for you want to be vindicated in the eyes of the watchers.

This is how David feels. David is aware that he lives in the midst of people who, he describes, are deceitful men, hypocrites, evildoers, wicked (v.4,5) sinners, bloodthirsty men, in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes” (v.9,10). It seems he is conscious that he stands out among them and (implied) they point fingers at him. It's like the Christian working in the midst of people who are unbelievers and who point fingers at them for being ‘religious' or a ‘goody-two-shoes'! The reality is they are upset by being shown up so they make comments, or worse. It's normal in those circumstances to cry out, “Vindicate me, O Lord!”

In his appeal to the Lord, David now lists all the things he has been doing right: “I have trusted in the LORD without wavering” (v.1), “I walk continually in your truth” (v.3), “I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites” (v.4) and so on. It's like he is saying, Lord, I have sought to please you in all I do. Please show the world around me that this was the right way. Please justify me!

Justify is a word that goes with vindication. To justify means to show the rightness of a person's actions. Justification is a key theme in the New Testament. It's all about how God has vindicated His actions, sending Jesus to the Cross, by making you right in His sight. Paul said, “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith” (Gal 3:8). One of those Scriptures that Paul spoke about was, “my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities ” (Isa 53;11). Perhaps one of the other Scriptures was simply, “the LORD will vindicate his people ” (Psa 135:14). Paul was to go on and write: “ we have been justified through faith ” (Rom 5:1), “we have now been justified by his blood” (Rom 5:9), “those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Rom 8:30) and “it is with your heart that you believe and are justified” (Rom 10:10).

This is all about God putting us right in his eyes. But what about in the eyes of the world? Well, we're to do the same as David; we're to seek to ensure that everything we say and do is right and glorifies God (Mt 5:16, 1 Pet 2:12,15, 3:1,2). Even if we do receive opposition, says Peter in his first letter, such people “should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good” (1 Pet 4:19). Ah, have you noted the goal of this vindication in these verses? It is to ensure God is glorified. As David put it at the end of this Psalm, as he realized what his position really was: “My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the LORD” (v.12). That was the truth: with the Lord it was fine! Just let God be glorified.

Meditation No. 44

Meditation Title:   God who is light

Psa 27:1   The LORD is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear?

SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is a type of winter depression that affects an estimated half a million people every winter between September and April; in particular during December, January and February, caused by lack of sunlight. Light is important! The absence of light means that we can only live by artificial means. Light means we can see things around us and can therefore see where we are going. Light means we can cook, play games, read, in fact do everything that we do in life. We can't do these things in the dark. The very first thing God created was light (Gen 1:3).

Light and darkness are used in Scripture to indicate wellbeing and goodness or gloom, difficulty and sin. In the book of Job, a book about a man who seemed in darkness of life, the word ‘light' comes up 25 times.

David also understood the concept of light and wrote elsewhere, “You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light.” (2 Sam 22:29). David, in his last words reveals that he knew he also had become like light with the Lord: “The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: `When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.” (2 Sam 23:3,4). Do you see what he said? If you rule righteously you'll be like the sun rising each morning, you'll be bring light – goodness and the ability to live well and with blessing – to your people. Paul picked up on the transfer of light from God to us when he spoke of Moses reflecting God's glory when he came out of God's presence and said that's how we too are changed (2 Cor 3:13,18).

With the coming of Jesus, the use of light was multiplied. Matthew picked up on the prophetic Scripture that said, “the people living in darkness have seen a great light” (Mt 4:16). John wrote, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (Jn 1:4,5).and “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” (Jn 1:9) Jesus declared of himself, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12) and “Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (Jn 9:5). In this Jesus was perfectly expressing the nature of his Father in heaven. When God first came to Israel at Sinai His presence had led them by a bright cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Ex 13:21). When He came down on Sinai in fire (Ex 19:18). When He filled the Tabernacle and the Temple it was with a bright cloud (Ex 40:33-35, 1 Kings 8:10,11). When Ezekiel saw his heavenly vision he saw “brilliant light” (Ezek 1:4). Scientists link light and energy. God is all-powerful and that energy is seen as brilliant light. David knew God as one who came with that light bringing the foundational means (light) so that he could live. God brought revelation and showed him the way. Jesus came and did that for mankind, and still does it today for us. On a grey cloudy day, everything is dull and lifeless. Then the sun comes out and everything is transformed and beautiful, full of colour. This is what the presence of the Lord does for us. Our lives were dead and drab and He comes and brings His presence into them and they are utterly transformed so that, like David, we can say, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” The two things go together.

Meditation No. 45

Meditation Title:   God who speaks awesomely

Psa 29:3    The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.

Sometimes there are things in life that you simply take for granted, breathing for instance, or life itself, or colours or taste, a whole range of things. For those of us who study God's word, the thing we probably take for granted most and accept without thought is the fact that God speaks. In the 18 th meditation we did indeed pick up on the fact that God is a God of communication, but today's verse goes beyond that. When God speaks, things happen. In this respect He is very different from us. We can use words and nothing changes (if it's in respect of people, to people, they may change), but when God speaks so often, it is a command and when God commands, the world changes. God speaks and material things change. How does he do that? It's beyond our finite minds. He's God and when we say He's all-powerful, we mean it. He only has to speak it and things change.

In this psalm, David perhaps is under cover watching a thunder storm. He sees the thunder as God speaking. He starts the psalm with a call to ascribe to God glory and strength or power. It's like he's saying, you need to see god as He really is, acclaim Him for who He really is. Later in the psalm he says, “And in his temple all cry, "Glory!" (v.9). The end result of thinking of these things is that the people will give glory to God. Why? Because they will have seen His might and His majesty as they look on Creation and see the works of God. Seven times he refers to “the voice of the Lord”. God speaks and it happens. At Creation, each act of creation was bought about by God saying, “Let there be…” (Gen 1:3,6,9,11,14,15,20,24,26). The same thing: God speaks and it happens. In this psalm today, David sees the Lord speaking and thundering (v.3), breaking trees (v.5), even the oaks (v.9), and shaking the desert (v.8). Yes, for the materialist this is purely the work of nature (don't let's give it a capital ‘N' for that seems to suggest personality), temperature changes that brings about thunder and rain and lightening. For David, this is the voice of God at work, a mighty voice having mighty effect.

Have you ever stood in a thunderstorm with a sense of awe? We're told that one lightning strike can carry enough electricity to power 10 million homes for one month, and there you are standing there with deafening thunder and lightening strikes of incredible power ever few seconds. If that isn't awesome, what is? Of course scientists can observe temperature and pressure changes but why should they happen? Don't be silly, says David, just recognize here the power and presence of God in His Creation. He speaks and things happen.

The struggle to understand ‘providence' is the struggle to see the hand of God and hear the voice of God. Was God in this flood or that hurricane? We'll never be able to answer that confidently this side of heaven. The Bible suggests, at the very least, He is behind it sometimes. There are Biblical examples of God bringing ‘natural' effects to bear to destroy enemies. Whether it's all or some, we could be in danger of missing the point: God can speak and this can be the effect. He can do it and sometimes, at least, does do it. That makes Him awesome, that brings a proper perspective in life. In the early years of the 21 st century we have seen a considerable number of such ‘natural catastrophes'. What they tell us is that we're powerless. Let's give Him proper respect and worship.

Meditation No. 46

Meditation Title:   God who heals

Psa 30:2,3 O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit.

If there is one thing that unites people in a common desire, it is the desire to be well. How many people do you know who enjoy having a headache, enjoy having tooth ache, enjoy having arthritis, enjoy having a sprained wrist? No we take pain killers, and go to the doctors. We want to get rid of these afflictions. When I was younger I thought how good it must be to be in a hospital bed, having time to think and to meditate on God's word. How unreal!

When you are ill, God feels a million miles away and you definitely don't feel spiritual. perhaps that's why Jesus seemed to do more healing work than anything else: “News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them” (Mt 4:24). “When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.” (Mt 8:16). “Many followed him, and he healed all their sick” (Mt 12:15) “Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.” (Mt 15:30) “The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.” (Mt 21:14). Do you see this? Matthew could hardly stop writing it! It was what, in later periods of church history, we call ‘revival', God unleashed!

Yes, it does seem that at certain times in church history in certain places and through certain individuals, God pours out His healing power. There do seem other times when it is not so frequent and indeed, seems sporadic – but God does heal! David knew that. From what he says we see that he had obviously just been through a crisis where he thought he would not survive. It seems he had been in a place of pride (v.6) but then the Lord had allowed him to do into a place of despair (v.7-10). From there he cried out to the Lord and the Lord healed him. Then there was joy (v.11,12)

Yes, it does seem as if sometimes the Lord allows affliction to come upon us to humble us when pride threatens us. How soon we feel weak and frail and inadequate! How soon we cry out to the Lord to come close in a new way. Yes, sickness can have a chastening effect. But is also seems that there are times when for no apparent reason, affliction comes (see Job) and our only recourse is to cry out to the Lord, but even in those times there is purpose – testing! How will be respond to sickness? Will we remain true, will we remain faithful. Job knew this. The enemy through his wife sought to get him to respond less than righteously and cried, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). That's what the enemy tries to get us to do when we're down in sickness. But Jesus never rebuked anyone for coming to him to seek healing. If anything he rebuked people for coming with little faith. He seemed to want them to come boldly and expectantly. He taught us to pray and keep on praying. Yes it is right to hold a gracious attitude while we are waiting for healing, and in some the Lord wants them to come to a place of surrender that even accepts the sickness before He brings the healing – but He does heal! It's never something we can force out of Him. It is always a gracious gift, not earned, just freely given by ‘the Great Physician'. He heals.

Meditation No. 47

Meditation Title:  God of limited anger

Psa 30:5    For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favour lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning .

In these meditations we have already considered the God of Anger, but here there is something more that need taking in. Do you ever remember times when, as a child, you did wrong and there came a division between you and your parent who was angry with what you had done? The separation was the thing that hurt you more than any smacking you may have received, the fact that your parent thought badly of you and didn't want to know you. Well that, almost certainly, is how many of us were brought up, and in a day of no smacking, the only punishment seen by many is banishment, and psychologically that is far worse that smacking which is over in a moment.

David knew this about God. Yes, He did get angry when it was justified, but that anger was a temporary thing, something that only lasted for a moment. Yes He does bring discipline (see Prov 3:11,12, Heb 12:5,6) but it is a momentary thing in the scheme of things. Yes, it may leave you weeping for a night, but it will only be for a night (all right, a ‘night' may not just be a few hours, it can be days, depending on the depth of work the Lord has to do in us!) It will only be for a limited period and mostly it is only a very limited period.

Consider the usual order of events in these things today: you do something wrong, the Holy Spirit within you convicts you, and you are sorry. What has been going on in heaven? The Father sees the sin and is angry – because He is with sin. He stirs His Spirit within you and you respond. Now what happens? At that moment Jesus intercedes on our behalf: “Father, I died for them, I died for that sin, it's been dealt with.” (1 Jn 2:1,2), and the matter is instantly closed. What may happen is that in the earlier stages you may take longer to respond to the Holy Spirit's activity within you. Like Jonah (Jon 1:1-4) we try to ‘run away' from God and pretend it didn't happen, so it takes a little longer for the Lord to bring us to our senses so that we repent, but the moment we do, the above conversation in heaven takes place.

There is an important principle here: God's anger against a sin last only until you repent. The literal interpretation of our verse above which says “weeping may remain for a night” is actually “weeping will come in at evening to lodge”. It's the picture of a lodger who comes to stay overnight. You may not yet the significance of this, so let's say it again: God's anger against sin lasts only until you repent. It doesn't carry on holding the failure against us after it's been dealt with. Some of us feel God will keep on harbouring it against us. No He won't; once it's dealt with it's over. That's how any punishment with children should be. When our children were little we had a saying, “After smacks come cuddles.” The practice of pushing our children away is psychological manipulation which is harmful. The controlled smack without anger after a clear warning, followed by hugs, says this is dealt with and is now past history that can be forgotten. It is interesting to note that under the Law of Moses, incarceration (prison) was not an option. The options were death (for major crimes, which became few) or restitution. In other words, there was no long, prolonged punishment, but reconciliation as quick as possible into society. God is looking to bring favour and blessing, but we'll have to leave that to the next meditation.

Meditation No. 48

Meditation Title:  God of lifetime favour

Psa 30:5   For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favour lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning .

In the meditation yesterday we considered the Lord's anger and so now we move onto the second thing: the Lord's favour. In families we sometimes have favourites. These are the children most liked by the parent and who receive the blessing and goodwill of the parent. You may remember, Isaac's favourite was Esau and Rebekah's favourite was Jacob (Gen 26:28). Later Jacob (Israel) was to have Joseph as his favourite (Gen 37:3). Having favourites always causes problems, but the point is that a favourite is one who receives the favour of the parent, the blessing and good will of that parent. This isi what favour is all about – blessing and good will. What is a blessing? It is simply a decree of good, so when we say favour is about blessing and good will, we're saying that favour is about decreeing good towards that person.

After the incident of the golden calf at Mount Sinai, the Lord tested Moses by suggesting that He destroy all Israel because of what they had done. We then read, “But Moses sought the favour of the LORD his God” (Ex 32:11). In other words Moses approached the Lord with a view to changing the Lord's intent from bad to good (which, of course, was what the Lord wanted to do anyway). The way Moses did it is instructive. He appealed to the Lord on the basis of the Lord's revealed will to Abraham. It was like he was saying, “Lord you decreed blessing for Abraham and his family. We are still part of that family, so that decree surely must apply here and now, not disaster.”

Do you see that, it's like he's saying, “Lord surely your intent to bless all peoples of faith last a lifetime – for ever?” Yes, a lifetime here, doesn't just mean for a single person's life; it means for ever. In that example we catch a hint of something really big: God has a plan and it's a plan of blessing and it's a plan that will go on and on and on throughout history. We've seen previously that it's a plan formulated by the Godhead before history began (Jn 17:24, 1Pet 1:20 etc.). In the second ‘Servant Song' in Isaiah, Isaiah prophesies, “In the time of my favour I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you” (Isa 49:8). Paul took this Messianic reference and applied it: “we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, "In the time of my favour I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation”. (2 Cor 6:1,2). God had been working right through history up to this point when His Son would come to bring salvation.

What is salvation? It is saving out of a place of judgement and bringing into a place of blessing. God didn't just save us so that we would not receive His judgement; He saved us so that we would receive an ‘inheritance' (Col 1:12) a blessing of goodness into our lives that would bring all the benefits of Sonship (Gal 3:26) to us. Yes, it's this same thing we've seen more than once in these meditations: God is good and He decrees good for His people, the blessing of oneness with Him through His Spirit by the work of Jesus (Gal 3:14). We live in the era in history that can be called the ear of the fruit of God's salvation. It is the time when God's favour, God's decree of good for people is seen and experienced in all of its fullness this side of heaven. It has been brought by Jesus, applied by His Holy Spirit and received by us, and it last for a lifetime – for ever!

Meditation No. 49

Meditation Title:   God who guides

Psa 31:3    Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

In the 9 th meditation we did consider the God who leads but the emphasis there was on God who initiates and opens a way ahead. This verse has s slightly different emphasis. Many people have written books on God's guidance, it is a big subject and it is because when we become God's children we want God to show us the right way ahead. We want to know how God wants us to live, what He wants us to do. Making decisions in a major part of life and Christians want to know who to marry, what career to follow, where to live, and so on. The assumption is that God will guide us. An old hymn goes, ‘Guide me O thou great Jehovah'. We want to be led. We want God to lead us.

Now when we come to this song of David's, he first of all gives us a reason why he expects God. Notice the starting word, ‘Since'. Because you are this, he reasons, I expect you to do that. Now we have considered God as rock and fortress, a place of security and so what David is saying here is, since you are the one who provides my complete security, to ensure that that happens every moment of my life, I need to know you leading and guiding me.

Imagine the pilot of a ship approaching the land. He's been taken out to the ship from the land. He knows the land and, more important, he knows the shape of the coast here. So he's taken out to the ship to guide it into shore, guide it into harbour. He will guide it through the shoals, he will guide it between the rocks so that it is not harmed. he sees it safely into the shore. That's what God's guidance is all about. It is about guiding us in such a way that we know we are safe and secure in His hands. Security comes from knowing that we are in the hands of the all- knowing , all powerful , God of love . Put those three characteristics together and they spell ‘security'.

After God had led Israel through the Red Sea and killed Pharaoh and his army, Moses and the people sand a song of triumph. In it they sang, “In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.” (Ex 15:13), They were able to sing about the future because of what had just happened in the recent past. Note the two characteristics they highlight - love and strength (or power). They feel secure because of the way God had led them out of Egypt . Now He guided them: “By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people” (Ex 13:21,22). Yes they knew God as their Guide and they felt secure.

Centuries later Nehemiah's Levitical team declared God's goodness: “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take.” (Neh 9:19). Israel knew God was their guide. The psalmists sung of God guiding them with His truth (Psa 25:5, 43:3) and with His counsel (Psa 73:24). Isaiah prophesied that God would guide the blind so they could see (Isa 42:16) and that He would lead His people into places of refreshing (Isa 49:10). Guidance was part of the ‘restoration package' promised by the Lord (Isa 57:18). Oh yes, God guides His people into goodness, into a place of safety and security. it is good to be guided by God!

Meditation No. 50

Meditation Title:   God of truth

Psa 31:5   Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth .

At the peak of history, Pontius Pilate said, “What is truth?” (Jn 18:38). In that he was reflecting the skepticism that Satan so often uses. Is there such a thing as truth? Philosophers throughout the ages have pondered on it. We won't waste our time quoting their many speculations – for that is what philosophy is – speculating about the truth.

A dictionary might provide the following definition: being in accordance with experience, facts, or reality; conformity with fact. Put another way we might say it is exactly what is. Scientists seek to find the truth of how matter ‘works'. Psychologists seek to find the truth of how the human mind responds to the world outside it. The “X-files” TV series had the phrase, “The truth is out there.” What they were saying is that ‘out there' somewhere is an account of what has happened that accords perfectly with what did actually happen. Sometimes people might say of themselves, “You get what you see” and what they're trying to say is that I am what you see. Of course that is never true. The only person of whom that is true is God. There is no ‘side', no falseness in God. He is utterly true in every way you can think of explaining those two words.

When Jesus came, he said “I am the truth” (Jn 14:6). What he was saying was, I am the dependable, perfect expression of the One who is and was and always will be. Philosophers will say that if there is a Supreme being, He has to be the source of all movement and all what we call life. Some speak of God as energy. Whatever it is, at the ‘back' of everything is God. He is the reality that brings everything else into being and indeed, keeps it going (Heb 1:2b,3b). Nothing exists without Him; He is the truth.

But even more than that, because He is that and because He is unchanging, everything He says is truth. He cannot deny Himself, He cannot speak untruth. Perhaps that why the Gospels recording Jesus so many times saying, “I tell you the truth”. This wasn't just a simple little cultural expression. This had meaning. What Jesus was saying WAS the truth. It was true. There was nothing false or unreal about it.

David, in this psalm, was in a state of anguish (v.9,10), aware that his enemies were out against him (v.4,11). He has come to the end of himself and thus declares, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” This is the ultimate expression of trust in God – I put myself entirely in your hands. Then he cries, “ Redeem me !” meaning, save me from this situation where only death faces me. He then names his God, LORD, which you will know from Exodus 3 means the “I AM” the eternal, ever present, Supreme Being. But he puts even more content to what he is saying: “the God of truth” – the One behind all things who is unchanging and faithful and who can be utterly relied upon. He is contrasting God with the people around him who are a) against him, who b) slander him, c) conspire against him and d) plot to take his life (v.13). David knows that God is exactly the opposite. God who is utterly real and utterly dependable and who is unchanging, is a) for him, b) only speaks good of him, c) purposes good for him and d) plans constant blessing for him. That is the truth about God that comes out again and again in Scripture. Do you and I know God like this? Read back over those four things. Because God is love and because He is utterly real and never changing you can be assured of those four things. You can trust God, rely upon Him. Everyone else may pretend, speak untruth and generally be unreal, but God never is. He is truth.

Meditation No. 51

Meditation Title:   God who preserves

Psa 31:23   The LORD preserves the faithful

At the time of the year we call Autumn, or the Americans call Fall, wives and mothers used to take the fruit and bottle it. That bottled fruit we call preserves. They have been put into liquid, sometimes vinegar, to keep them from deteriorating so that we may use them later. Scientists may preserve body parts in jars, to keep them from deteriorating so they can show them to students. In parts of Africa you will come across a game preserve where animals are protected to keep them from being wiped out. In each case the idea is to keep or maintain and prevent loss or deterioration.

And so now we see David saying that the Lord ‘preserves' the faithful. God puts us in a jar of vinegar? No, but he does protect us and keep us safe and from being harmed. We have previously considered God who is our stronghold or refuge but the idea in this verse places a different emphasis. Remember in the examples above, preserving prevents harm, deterioration or adverse change. We're not merely provided a safe place; we're provided a protection that will not allow us to be harmed or changed adversely. Now of course that is Satan's desire – to harm us and change us adversely, to make us less than what we are in Christ.

Now look at this further: “The Lord preserves the faithful”. Who are ‘the faithful'? They are those who remain true to the Lord and who follow His ways. Today they are those who believe in Jesus and who follow Him, who are led by his Holy Spirit, who seek to live godly, righteous and holy lives. Now that is what the Lord wants to preserve – this state of life in His children. Satan seeks to get us to be godless – to forget God and rely upon ourselves. When we do that we cease to be conscious of the leading of God's Holy Spirit, and we drift into silly behaviour that is no longer righteous and, in terms of life and attitude and behaviour at least, we cease to be holy. That is how Satan seeks to make this ‘fruit' (us) deteriorate, but God is there to ‘preserve' us.

How does he do that? Consider this: “The LORD will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.” (Psa 41:2). That verse first gives us three positive things the Lord does: protect, preserve and bless. The negative thing He also does is not allow us to be given up to the enemy. He stands against the enemy. We see a good example of this in Zechariah 3. “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.” (v.1) Here was Satan coming against Joshua. See what follows: “The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem , rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" (v.2) The Lord rebukes Satan, basically saying, “Get off, leave him alone!” And why? Because Joshua is one of God's children who has been snatched from judgement. Having done that act of salvation, the Lord is going to follow it through to completion (Phil 1:6), He is not going to let Satan spoil you. He is going to preserve you in all the glory that He has already made of you. You are a child of God, bought by the blood of the Lamb, empowered by the Spirit, adopted into God's family, and you think He's going to let Satan get you back???? The awesome thing about this is that because we have free will, we choose to stay in this position of being preserved – but we can also choose to step out of that protection and start rotting. Isn't that terrible! Stay close. Be preserved!