Act 4:2 Being greatly disturbed that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the priests and the captain of the temple were greatly disturbed that disciples taught the people. This was their first crime. When was the last time you greatly disturbed someone? Who were these unlearned peasants who dared to teach the people? The religious folks of the day were grieved in their spirits that they were being usurped. If the ordinary folks were listening and being taught by other ordinary folks, where would that all end? They were, of course, particularly grieved that they taught that Jesus was the Christ and that He was alive! Now, the rulers and the elders and even the high priest had the disciples set before them. Outside of the Romans, these were the most powerful men in all of Judah. They demanded to know by what authority they spoke. It is always about authority.
Peter stood up, and, filled with the Holy Spirit told them boldly and plainly that it was in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ they spoke “whom you crucified.” And then, to hammer home the point about Jesus being the Christ says “there is no other name under heaven, given among men by which we must be saved.” Unlearned men, untrained blue collar workers. Their only qualification, which was recognized, was that they had “been with Jesus.” Praise the Lord. When they were commanded by the rulers to never speak of Jesus again, the disciples rebuffed them by asking, who should we listen to, you or God? Oh for a tiny portion of that boldness in our own days. Never in the history of the Church has this kind of boldness been more needed.
The same religious men in our days have attempted to silence “the unlearned and the untrained.” And for the same reasons. Authority. They desire the authority and the preeminence. If every ordinary man or woman could preach or teach or give a word of wisdom or a word of knowledge or a tongue or a prophecy then where would that leave the religious leaders? Probably out of a job. If Christians this day had the same boldness to stand and be counted for the cause of Christ as the disciples did, not afraid of what might become of them, then we would have a Church like the early Church. And when the disciples went back and recounted what had just happened to them, their brothers and sisters prayed over them for even more boldness “and when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spake the word of God with boldness.” Would to God that we would pray that same prayer and experience that same shaking and filling.
2Jn 1:4 I rejoiced greatly that I found some of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
In 2nd John 1:4 John says that he rejoiced greatly to have found some of the saints walking in the truth having received the commandment from God. In 3rd John 1:4 John says that he had no greater joy than to hear that his children were walking in the truth. Imagine that, the great Apostle’s greatest joy was the saints walking in the Truth. Why was this his greatest joy? John knew that if we walk in the Truth, then and only then will we make forward progress in the Kingdom, overcoming trial and temptation and becoming more like Jesus. Obedience is the key to this.
Imagine you are in a small boat in the middle of a vast ocean. You have no sail and you have no motor to power you. What will happen? Without the thrust of forward momentum you will drift. The power that will move you will be the current of the ocean. It will take you where it will take you. I want to suggest to you that without obedience to the Word of God and to the Holy Spirit you will not make any forward progress on your spiritual journey.
Obedience is the outboard motor that will propel your forward. The Holy Spirit is the fuel in the motor. Obedience is the raising of the sail that will catch the wind, the Holy Spirit is the wind that will propel you forward against the forces of the current.. How mature are you? How many weeks old are you in the Kingdom? We make forward progress in the Kingdom by prayerful obedience to the revealed will of God. What is the revealed will of God? First and foremost it is the Word of God, the Scriptures. Secondly it is the still small voice of God, the Holy Spirit. And of course, one will never contradict the other, there will always be perfect harmony between the Holy Spirit and the written Word of God. He is the author.
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
One nation brothers and sisters! A holy nation and we are the priests of the Living God. We are a separated people who walk apart from this world, through it and in it but not of it. We walk through the darkness of the deepest valleys shining the most marvelous light of the Lord Jesus Christ. Into the depths of hopelessness we bring the light of hope. He who reached down into the barren wastelands of sin and plucked us from its grasp and renewed us and restored us, sends us forth back into those places. As ambassadors for the Kingdom of God in priestly garments of holiness, we walk this sin sick world with the banner of the Kingdom raised on high.
We are not like other men or woman, we are a called out people, a chosen people. We have been chosen to show forth His praises and to speak of His glory to the captives, to the crushed, to the broken to those who are caught up in the ravaging storms of the flesh and its dying sin. We were the broken children of a broken world and we were not His people but rather the condemned children of Adam. And now we are sons and daughters of God! Behold what manner of love that the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called children of God. Children of God brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:1) This is the good news of the Kingdom and we have been called to proclaim it. Remind yourself today who you are and what your calling is. It is glorious.
Can you remember as a child, when you first discovered the power of a magnifying glass? I remember the first time I was able to start a fire with it. Harnessing the power of the sun. The magnify glass does not change the power of the sun, it intensifies the light that shines from the sun. You can cause a dormant match to burst into flames. You can melt an ice cube with it. Scientists can harness the power of the sun and create lasers that can cut through almost anything. The Holy Spirit is our magnifying glass. For those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit He causes the love of Jesus to explode in our heart.
He magnifies the Lord Jesus Christ to us. He causes the light of His love to set our hearts on fire. That concentrated power is aimed directly at you. One is powerful, a whole gathering is incredible. His grace becomes magnified in us and we weep because of it. His mercy is intensified in our consciousness and we cry out to Him. His intensity causes our own sin to be magnified in our conscience and we cannot bare it, under the power of conviction. Upon the crumbs of our bravery and obedience He shines this light and we stand as David stood against Goliath. When we speak with the intensity of this power men are stabbed in the heart and His word does not return void. A mere thimble of compassion in us becomes a mighty raging river by the power of the Holy Spirit. What absolute madness to think we could do anything without being endued with the power of the Holy Spirit.
With a magnifying glass, you need three things to make it burn, You need the glass itself, the person and the sun. If the sun is not shining then the glass is not working, it has nothing to intensify. Yet, with the Holy Spirit, the whole earth could be covered with clouds and darkness and gross darkness.We could find ourselves in the depths of the deepest dungeon or walking through the darkest valley, yet the Holy Spirit can magnify the light of Christ into our hearts under any conditions. Where could we flee from His Spirit and His magnified presence? If we ascended up to heaven, He is there. If we make our beds in hell, behold He is there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall His hand lead me, and His right hand shall hold me. Brothers and sisters, even the darkness is light to God. His glory, magnified by the Holy Spirit is all powerful.(Psalm 39)
There is a scripture that alludes to one who would hide Himself in hell to avoid God but that the hand of God would reach right into hell and pull that one out (Amos 9:2) If indeed the hand of God would reach into hell itself for judgment, what circumstances could you face where the light of the glory of God, magnified by the Holy Spirit, could not reach you? Could not penetrate the darkness of your situation? There are no such set of circumstances, glory to God. Far too often, the flesh is being controlled by it own magnifying glass and not the Holy Spirit. It magnifies our fears. It magnifies our insecurities. It magnifies the darkness that would come against us. The Holy Spirit intensifies the light, the enemy intensifies the darkness. What will be magnified in your life this day brothers and sisters?
Psa 42:5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Many know the depths of despair. Many have been touched by a creeping darkness that threatens to overwhelm your soul and pull you downward. On such an occasion in my life the Lord spoke directly into the darkness and pierced it with this Scripture. He asked me a rhetorical question “why so downcast Frank, put your hope in me for you will yet praise me.” It struck me to my core. My tears had been my food day and night and my soul longed to be away from that place. And there, in a moment of time, My Lord came to me in the depths of my soul and lifted up the head that hung low. He dried my tears and I was like the deer that had panted for the water brooks and found it and found therein the waters of life that revived my soul.
If the waves and the billows of the deep are washing over you, know this brothers and sisters, they shall not drown you. You shall cry out to the Lord your God in the days of your distress and He will command His lovingkindness to envelope you through the day and in the night His song will keep you as you sleep. Many will say in the depths of your distress “where is her God now, where is his God when he needs Him.”And the answer that they will not be able to see is that He is in the very depths of your heart, keeping you and holding your head above the waters as you go through them. When they take their eyes off your situation and look upon your face, they will see the peace of our Lord. For out of the heart that belongs to God, shines the beauty of holiness that overcomes the darkness.
Psa 149:4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
I was around the age of twenty the first time I ever flew on a plane.. As a boy growing up in Scotland, overcast skies were normal. In Scotland you can often go a month without seeing a blue sky. Imagine my surprise when we broke through the clouds and I discovered that there was an eternal and perpetual blue sky. Growing up with almost endless cloud cover had conditioned me. I reveled in this blue sky. I would never look at the clouds the same way again, for I now knew what lay just beyond them. Imagine the tragedy for saints who labor under a perpetual cloud cover. To never know the intimacy of God. To never, in a sense, see His smiling face.
The barrier between God and us is more often than nought self made. We often forget the pleasure that God has in us. We forget that the whole purpose of our existence is for His will and for His good pleasure. Tozer suggests a few titles for the man made barriers that keep us from seeing the smiling face of God. He calls it a wall of obscurity. 1. Self will. 2. Ambition. 3. Fear. 4. Self love.. 5. Money. 6. Fear of people and what they think. There are more to be sure and each one mentioned would take a long time to expound, but you get the idea. Just one of them, or some combination of them, form a barrier between us and the smiling face of God. Almost all of our activity in our walk revolve around them and they are a major distraction to who we are and the God that loves us.
I want you to ponder on this for a moment and do not confuse this with cheap grace. God loves His children, God loves you. His face towards you is smiling. He loves you. He saved you. He took the ashes of your life and He is making something beautiful out of it. His thoughts towards you are more numerous than the sands of the sea shore. He knows you by name and your name has been on His lips. The walls that you have erected that obscure the light of His glory shining down on you must come down. The wind of the Spirit must blow again in your life and that wind shall blow away the clouds. If you reach out your hand to Him He will take it. If you seek Him with all of your heart then you will stand under a beautiful blue sky with your hands raised toward heaven as you bask in the warmth of His love. Today saints, today is the day and now is the time.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me:
At first glance it appears that Jesus is saying that those who keep His commandments love Him, when of course He saying those who love me keep my commandments. Look at verse 23 “If a man loves me he will keep My words.” There is all the difference in the world between the two positions. Keeping Gods commandments. Religious men of every stripe strive for this. So what separates the man of God from the religious man? To the religious man, keeping the commands of the Lord is akin to keeping score. If they can just get enough points then they can tip the scales in their favor. And in doing so, they believe they will find favor with the Lord. What constrains them is the thought of them not making the grade or indeed not making it into heaven. The constraints are a burden to them and they grudgingly trudge on. At the hearts of it all lies self.
Those who encounter God love God. They have a passion that runs through their veins. They have the law of God written upon their hearts, and out that very heart flows love. He is loved and he loves. This very love becomes his restraint and that very restraint is the mark of his freedom. He is free from the curse of the law, he is free from the bondage of it, he is indeed a bond-servant. His love for His Lord is such that any fall from grace comes with this price-he has disappointed his Lord. There can be no greater anguish for the saint and only the one who knows Jesus can know this anguish. And it is this very love that drives the saint to the throne of grace.
David famously says in Psalm 51 “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” He was not trying to get saved and he was not afraid that he had lost his salvation, what he was deeply anguished and broken about was that he had sinned against the one he loved. He acknowledges his sins and desires above all else to be cleansed in his inwards parts, to be purged of what had separated him from His Lord. He is broken and contrite because of his great love for God. It is this very attribute that makes David a man after God’s own heart. Love is the catalyst for it all. God’s love for us and our love for Him. That is the bond. Nothing can be achieved in the realms of the Spirit outside of this love. It is the foundation of salvation and it is the means by which we walk the narrow path home.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
(1Jn 5:2-3)
Psalm 4:8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
You alone oh Lord cause me to sleep in perfect peace. Its the kind of sleep that our Lord slept in the back of the boat in the midst of a storm. When all the world, it seems, comes against us, when we seem to be all alone, we are not alone. When the waves crash over the sides of our boat and it seems that we shall be swamped, we shall not. In Christ alone we dwell in safety. He is our rear guard. Even in the darkest night the Lord will lift up the light of His countenance upon us. He fills our hearts with gladness. The world shall peer into the darkness and see the light of Christ burning deep inside of us and shining forth from our faces and they will stand amazed.
Those who trust in the Lord shall not be put to shame. He is yesterday and forever, always the same. His peace is the burning wall of fire that surrounds our camp, His Spirit is the burning oil that fills our lamp. He is the solid Rock upon which we stand and the wind of His Spirit is the means by which the fire is fanned. Oh brothers and sisters what fortunate people we are. Our very hearts are protected by Jesus Christ Himself. If God is for us, who can be against us? What trial shall prevail? What storm shall destroy? Nothing, no one, no trial. Lay your head down this night and know that the Lord Himself is with you and He shall never leave you.
Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,
How we long for this, do we not? The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, should rule rule and reign in our hearts. I want to say that as of late, this peace has not ruled in my heart. In days of old, when there was not peace in the land, it was typically because there was competition for the throne of the land. Someone would challenge the king and claim to be the right and proper heir to the throne. Pretenders would come forward having raised an army and would fight the king in open battle and the winner takes the crown, takes the throne, rules supreme. This would be known as civil war.
If Jesus does not rule and reign in us, we can expect no peace. When a pretender or a usurper is allowed to come forward and challenge the rightful King, then peace flees and war ensues. In this very chapter we see that we ourselves are the battle-field and the usurper is the flesh. Who shall sit upon the throne of our hearts? Remember, Jesus must have all of us. The “members” of our flesh must be defeated. My own particular rebellious members are fear and anxiety. If I allow them an allotment in the land of my flesh, they will quickly try and take over the land, they can have no place within me. I cannot make treaty’s with them, for they are treacherous and liars. They must be put to death.
And how do we kill these members? We must “put on,” love. (Col 3:14) Now these two words “put on,” means to clothe oneself.” Remember when we were in encouraged in the Scriptures that we would have a garment of praise for a Spirit of heaviness.” (Isa 61:) Also in the Scripture the oil of joy was given for mourning. You see what is happening here? There is exchanges going on. In the same manner we are encouraged in Col 3 to put off anger and wrath and malice and put on tender mercies, meekness and long suffering. And above all these things we are to put on Love. It is the bond of perfection which leads to the peace of God ruling in our hearts. In another place we are told that perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18) There is no fear in love. So brothers and sisters, let love do its work in you today, put it on. You already have it, put it on. Its just like the armor of God, you must put them on, so must you adorn yourself with Love. And then you will discover that the peace of God rules and reigns in your heart.
Psa 133:3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
There is such a beauty in unity. The phrase “together in unity,” means to be alike all at once. There is also a root word from that phrase meaning to gather. There is a mystery involved when we gather together and we are alike all at once. To stand, covered by the same Spirit, all at once is to be covered by oil from head to toe. It is to be soaked to the skin by the dew that covers everything. Walk through a field of long grass in the morning and despite the fact that there has been no rain, you shall be soaked by the mist that falls upon everything in the early watches.
There is but one place in all of the scriptures that we read that the Lord “commanded a blessing.” And that blessing was life. And the fruits of that blessing are eternal. In the charlatan world of the charismatics they refer to “the soaking.” This has nothing to do with the actual soaking of life, and that more abundantly, that we see when brethren dwell together in unity. No, the blessings of life and unity come as we gather together in the Spirit and under the name of Jesus. There, life floods forth. We see just glimpses of it in revivals as men, for a mere moment, forget about their divisions and denominations and lift high the banner of Christ.
As the day of the Lord fast approaches, this ancient commandment from God that cannot be revoked, will come into its own. God’s people will gather together as one in Christ. Persecution shall strip away all pretense, all superficial differences. The genuine saints of God shall come forth from the wilderness of disunity and find each other in the beauty of Holiness. They will indeed be soaked by the blessing of life, even in the midst of a world under judgment. This life will be unmistakable to all who see it. The glory of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Life, and that more abundantly, shall stand out radiant in the midst of darkness and death. There will be no mistaking the unity of the saints. It will be like earth itself, a blue jewel of life in the vast darkness of space.
Psalm 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
This psalm, considered to be written by David, is remarkable. Here is a prince indeed, a King himself, shouting aloud for all the world to hear that men should not put their trust in him. Our hope must be in the Lord! We are called to praise the Lord with all of hearts and with all of our souls and sing praises to God while we yet still have our being on this earth. David is telling us not to trust in princes, even good ones like himself for he is but a man whose body shall be laid in the ground like every other man. Rather, trust in the Living God who made the heavens and the earth. Trust in the God of justice. Trust in the God who gives food to those who truly hunger, hunger after Him. In doing this you will have food for your soul.
Trust in the Lord who gives freedom to the prisoners. He came to set the captives free. He came to set at liberty, those who are bound by the chains of sin and hell and death. Trust in the Lord who opens the eyes of the blind. And in doing so you can truly sing ” I once was blind but now I see.” You will have eyes to see the glory of the risen King. Eyes to see His majesty. Eyes to see the train of His robe which fills the temple. Trust in the Lord who raises those who are bowed down. He gives grace to the humble. He elevates the lowly in spirit. He dwells in lofty places with the broken and the contrite. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will raise you up. Men die, all men die whether they are rulers or princes or presidents or kings, trust not in them. Rather trust in the Lord who reigns for ever and forever. Happy is the man whose hope is in the Lord.
Psa 145:18 The LORD is near unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
This Scripture here in Psalm 145:18 says that the Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He may feed the world and give provisions for mankind by His gracious creative hand, but to those who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, He is near to them. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and by Him and in no other way, we come near to God. Listen to the words of one who calls upon Him in truth, David, from this Psalm. Starting at the beginning we see the marks, the words of those who are near to Him…….”I will extol you my God…….I will bless your name forever and ever……Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised……Your greatness is unsearchable………..I will mediate on the glorious splendor of your majesty……your Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom. These, my fellow brothers and sisters, are the words of one who calls upon Him in truth. Who worships Him in Spirit and Truth, who knows by personal experience that He is the way, the truth and the life.
And how shall we know them? We shall know them first by their Love for God and the treasure that shines through them through earthen vessels. This love for God translates into love for one another, love for those who are near to Him and call upon Him in truth. This nearness, this proximity to God translates into personal holiness and creates the desires of our hearts which the Lord then fulfills for they are His desires. The language of this psalm is the language of heaven. The way David speaks about the Lord is the way the genuine saints speak about the Lord. Its the same language because its the same Spirit that resides in us that resided in David. To call upon Him in truth we must have truth in our inward parts. The depths of our heart, the very essence of who we are. This is where Truth resides and it cannot be hidden, for the Lord resides in broken vessels that He may pour through them His glory so that it may be seen of men.
Psa 139:1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
This is one of the most intimate statements in all of the Scriptures. So very personal. Can you say this? Have you been searched by God? This word “searched,” is from the primitive root to “penetrate.” Has God invaded every part of who you are? Are you known by God? This, of course, is no abstract truth for of course God knows everything and everyone. No, this is a very intimate form of the word. Have you ever looked into the eyes of another human being, one who is being deceptive and say right to that person “I know exactly who you are.” Its a declaration of a knowledge that goes beyond anything to do with outward evidence. This is do with the inner man, the inner woman. David is declaring that God “knows,” him in the most intimate way. He says that “even from afar you understand my thoughts.” It is something akin to a husband and wife who are “one,’ and knows the other ones thoughts in ways that only they can.
This is the kind of relationship that every genuine saint has with the Lord. We walk in the sure knowledge that He “knows,’ our every thought. This is far beyond any human intimacy. To be one in spirit is far beyond being one in flesh. It is the ultimate intimacy. And of course the trouble with this kind of intimacy is that on the one side is perfection and holiness and purity, and on the other side is us, very much flawed by our flesh. This is why intimacy is such a difficult issue. It may be the most difficult of all the issues. At the root cause of all failings in the saints is a lack of intimacy with the Lord. Jesus of course knew this. Time and again he told us to abide in Him, to continue to abide in Him. To take up the cross, not once, but daily. Abiding in the Lord and in His Word, while carrying the cross is one sure way to stay very close to the Lord, to maintain that intimacy that can be so easily lost. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, on a daily basis, on a moment to moment basis, and draw near to the Lord and He will draw near to us. And in that nearness there is intimacy and out of that intimacy flows the beauty of Holiness.
There are two very different kind of men in the Kingdom. One man shies away from this intimacy. He sets up camp at a safe distance and there he dwells. He stays within that camp and looks on from a distance, not unlike the Israelites who watch, from their camp, the tent of meeting. They worship God from afar but Moses and Joshua come to that tent of meeting and entered in. They have come to seek that intimacy. Men like Moses and Joshua could just as easily cry out to God what David cried “search me O God and know my heart, try me and know my anxieties and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” We have taught men from when they were boys, to guard their hearts, to pretend that they are fearless and to be independent. All of that works against intimacy, deliberately so. The only answer is surrender. Surrender into the hand of God and allow yourself to be consumed. Allow yourself to be searched. Seek to be known. This is the way of everlasting and He desires to lead us in it.
Psa 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
It is a sad day when we sit down to weep. Memories come rushing into our minds like a river that never stops flowing. Our tears and our sadness only add to its flow as we consider the source of our pain. We remember how it was. We are left with the vague shadows that the world calls memories. Yet, what is a memory? It’s a pale imitation of what once was real. We grasp onto them, yet they are like gossamer butterflies flitting through our minds. Our hearts cry out for one more moment, just one more day and yet the knowing of that impossibility is the source of our sadness. The children of Israel had taken it all for granted and now it was no more.
How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? How shall we who dwell in a foreign land rejoice when the enemy has stripped it all away? How shall we respond to the jeers of an enemy who taunts us and asks us to sing our songs of victory now? Shall we do as the children of Israel did? Shall we hang our harps upon the willow tree in our midst?(v2) How shall we in our day sing in the midst of great loss? Can we rejoice in the depths of captivity when the enemy seems to be so victorious? What do we have that the children of Israel did not have? Jesus said in John 14 that He would not leave us as orphans. He would send the Helper, the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that He has prepared a place for us, even in the presence of our enemies. There is a table set before us, a feast of His presence. It enables us to take the harps down from the willow tree, the tree of weeping, and play a song of victory, right there, in the midst of our circumstances.
“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” (Acts 16:25) The harp had been taken down at the midnight hour and the power of God came down with it. As the praises and the prayers went up, down came the power of God and it shook everything. That harp is in our hands brothers and sisters. That prayer is on our lips, those praises are in our mouth. And the power of God never fails, it is eternal. The children of Israel sat down beside the raging river of weeping. We have been made to sit down in green pastures and the river that flows is the still waters of peace and joy and comfort. Even in the valley of the shadow of death we shall not want, for He leads us and He guides us and He comforts us. And in that comfort that He sent us, the Holy Spirit, we are victorious and we find that He inhabits the praises of His people.
Psalm 131:2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul.
I cannot tell tell you how many times my soul has cried out from its depths for quiet and for calm. In an ever changing world and sometimes extremely tough circumstances, how much value can we put upon this? To be calm and to be quiet in your mind as opposed to a raging stormy sea of noise and anxiousness and fear. Then of course there is the accuser who may be ever whispering in your ear. David says in the opening verses of this Psalm that his heart is not haughty nor his eyes lofty. He does not concern himself with matters that are too great for him nor too profound for him. There are a few things to be said of that, I have two.
Firstly there are the matters of our day and we get caught up with them, much like the world does. Watch any news at all and perhaps you begin to feel the weight of it all pressing down upon your shoulders. In a news cycle that runs twenty four hours a day, we may find ourselves drawn into crisis after crisis. And yet who are we saints? The Lord’s kingdom is not of this world. We know how this world ends, we already know it yet somehow we can get caught up with it and feel its weight. We need to lay that down. David was a king when he made his opening statements of this psalm. A king! And yet he says he did not concern himself with great matters! Surely the answer is he trusted in the Lord His God. If a king can do it and lay his burdens down, surely you can?
Secondly and more interestingly, listen to what David’s brother says to him when he, the young shepherd boy comes into the armies camp in 1 Sam 17:28 …”I know thy pride and thine wickedness of heart.’ Eliab was angry with his brother. He accuses him of being prideful and haughty. Why? Because David has just heard Goliath mock the armies of God. David was indignant and had a mind to kill Goliath. This would have undoubtedly shamed not only his brothers but every man among them that this boy was willing to fight this giant when they were all so very afraid. David had not sought this situation, the situation found him. And God moved in his heart. Brothers and sisters we should not concern ourselves with great matters, nor should we pursue things that are to profound for us. Unless you are in the Lord these matters will crush you. It is only by His Spirit that we should pay any mind to any matters at all.
And so brothers and sisters. Do you seek to be quiet in your mind and in your spirit? Do you seek to walk in peace , a peace that surpasses all understanding? Then do this. Seek the Lord your God with all of your heart and your mind and your spirit. Let that be your life’s works. Do not watch things that make you anxious, in fact be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving make your request known to God. Let your heart be bathed in thankfulness. One more thing. David was falsely accused by his brother. Perhaps, way back when, when you were young, you were raised with slander instead of love. To this day you still hear the accusations ringing in your ears and echoing throughout your soul. Time and again it raises its ugly noisy head. I want you to know that your total identity is found in Christ. He thought so much of you that He died for you. God so loved you that He made an enormous sacrifice to save you. All that matters is what He thinks about you. Rest in that. Be at peace. You are loved by God and in the end, that is all that matters. And in this knowledge there is no burden.
Psalm 119:126 It is time for You to act, O lord, for they have regarded Your law as void.
Is that not your hearts cry dear saint? In a fallen world where gross darkness is covering the land and the name of God is blasphemed everywhere. In a time and place where day has become night. Right has become wrong and truth is trampled in the streets. What used to hide away among the shadows and the alleyways now marches down Main street with its banner held high. And if the enemy would have his way then it is the saints who would have to hide among the shadows in the dark-lands of the alleyways.
Can you not here this Scripture ringing out from Romans “for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ , for it is the power of God unto salvation………………for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness ………for since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead , so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify God.” O Father in heaven, glorify your name in all the earth?
And of course our Father in heaven glorified His name in all the earth through the name and the power of the Lord Jesus and we cry “glorify your name again Lord.” In verse 136 the psalmist says ” Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law.” Those rivers, brothers and sisters, are still running deep for our Lord Jesus is mocked and ridiculed and rejected. Shall we not cry out to God with our whole hearts? Shall we not rise before the dawning of the morning and seek the one whose tender mercies are great? Many are out tormentors and enemies yet we shall not turn from His testimony. Verse 161 says “Princes persecute me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of Your Word.”
Lord, we stand in awe of You. We look to the heavens and know where our help comes from. The foundations may be destroyed and the Princes of this world may hunt us down but we trust in you that you may glorify Your name through us. Christ in us, the hope of glory! Behold, the nations are as a drop in the bucket. To whom shall our God be likened to? Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? He shall bring the Princes of this world to nothing. They shall not keep root. For we shall lift up our eyes on high and behold the One who has created all things. And we who are weak are made strong. Even the youth shall faint and be weary. And young men shall utterly fall, but we who wait upon You shall renew our strength, we shall mount up with wings as eagles. we shall run and not be weary, we shall keep on walking and not faint (Isa 40)….glory to God
Psa 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with their whole heart.
This is the beginning of Psalm 119 and is a continuing themes throughout. Seeking the Lord with our whole hearts. With our whole hearts. It is the key to an abundant life in Christ. Can I suggest that to seek the Lord with anything other than our whole hearts is an exercise in futility. If we do anything in this world half heartedly we know we shall not succeed. Secular folks know this all too well. How is it that we could ever imagine that we could seek the Lord with anything less than all that we have?
In verse 32 the psalmist says that “I will run the course of Your commandments for you shall enlarge my heart.” This is a beautiful way of saying that I will run after my Lord, I will run after His ways, I will be diligent and delight myself in His ways. When I do this, then my very heart in enlarged. My capacity to love the Lord and the world will increase. My ability to forgive and to show mercy will be full to overflowing in this heart of mine that is now significantly deeper. Running after the Lord with everything that we have is like excavating the depths of our hearts. Into that excavated heart flows the river of life from the throne of God.
In verse 111 the psalmist tells us ” Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes, forever, to the very end.” Oh, the magnificence of a fully committed heart that is resolved to believe and to follow the Word of God and the promises of God until the very end. There is a huge difference between being on a boat in a shallow river than being on a ship in the deepest ocean. In the deepest ocean one senses and can feel the power of its depths. It is moved by the wind and heaves forward in massive powerful waves. This too is the power that resides within the heart of the saint who has sought and found the Lord with His whole heart. Come away from the shallow rivers saint, and come into the depth of the deepest of all oceans, the Fathers heart.
Psa 112:4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
We see in Exodus 10:22-23 that a great darkness fell upon Egypt for three days. This darkness was described as “thick,” or “gross.” Yet, in Goshen, the children of God dwelt in light. When Jesus hung upon the cross there was a gross darkness that fell upon the land from the sixth hour until the ninth. Gross darkness is undoubtedly judgment from God and in both the above examples it led to an exodus. Moses would lead the children out of bondage and slavery by the power of God. Jesus would do the same.
To those who are covered by the righteousness of Christ there arises light from the deep darkness. And it leads the way to victory. We saints will undoubtedly encounter darkness and gross darkness in our lives, maybe you are experiencing it right now. I want to tell you saint, that the light that is within you, the light of Christ, shall overcome this darkness. He will rise up in you and by His power you shall conquer the darkness. In Micah 7:8 the prophet says “rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.”
Remind your enemy today that even though you may have fallen, you shall arise by the power of God. Even though you may at this moment be sitting in darkness, your Lord shall be a light to you. In Psalm 139 David says that even the night shall be as light to him. Even if he made his bed in hell, there Gods light would shine into the darkness. Where can you go from His Spirit saints? What can separate you from such a love as this? Commit your situation into His hands and He will raise you up as light arises from darkness like the breaking of the dawn. The devil himself will tremble as he hears a strange noise coming from the midst of the darkness, it shall be the praises of God from the saints. This is light, and in that there is no darkness.
A Call To The Remnant 