Psalm 22:4 “In you our fathers put their trust;”

[Throughout the history of Israel, Abraham and Moses, Job and Joseph, David and Daniel, and many others trusted you in the midst of their trials, challenges and suffering.]

“they trusted and you delivered them.

[They chose to turn to you and were saved in and through their difficulties. This verse describes what you desire: a partnership with your children. You prepare things, then call us to trust, and when we do, you act. Without our joining you in trust, we hamper your giving us answers.

As it says in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, AS YOU TRUST in him so that your lives may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Without that trust, joy and peace and hope won’t flow.]

Psalm 22:5 “They cried to you and were saved;”

[Trust is demonstrated by crying out to you first, not seeking answers elsewhere. If we trust in ourselves, or others, or circumstances, or luck, or culture (as Abraham did in producing a son by his own cleverness instead of waiting for God’s timing), God sits back and waits, allowing us to suffer the consequences of our poor decisions so that we might come to ourselves and turn to Him in trust (as Abraham did when God called him to sacrifice Isaac).]

“in you they trusted and were not disappointed.”

[You, the faithful One, always come through in the right way and at the right time, which is often very different from how and when we would like you to do it.

As it says in Psalm 46:5, “God is in her [Jerusalem then, but He is in us now], she will not fall, He will save her at break of day.” We would like help to arrive before it gets dark instead of having to wait through the whole long, cold night—as Daniel did in the lions’ den until dawn–but you,Lord, act at the right time and we can praise you while we wait.]

 

 

Psalm 22:4 “In you our fathers put their trust;”

[Throughout the history of Israel Abraham and Moses, Job and Joseph, David and Daniel, and many others trusted you in the midst of their trials, challenges and suffering.]

“they trusted and you delivered them.”

[They turned to you and were saved in and through their difficulties. This verse describes what you desire: a partnership with your children. You prepare things, then call us to trust, and when we do, you act. Without our joining you in trust, we hamper your giving us answers. As it says in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, AS YOU TRUST in him so that your lives may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Without that trust, joy and peace and hope won’t flow.]

Psalm 22:5 “They cried to you and were saved;”

[Trust is demonstrated by crying out to you first, not seeking answers elsewhere. If we trust in ourselves, or others, or circumstances, or luck, or culture (as Abraham did in producing a son by his own cleverness instead of waiting for God’s timing), God sits back and waits, allowing us to suffer the consequences of our poor decisions so that we might come to ourselves and turn to Him in trust (as Abraham did when God called him to sacrifice Isaac).]

“in you they trusted and were not disappointed.”

[You, the faithful One, always come through in the right way and at the right time, which is often very different from how and when we would like you to do it.

Psalm 22:3 “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;”

[David here reminds himself–and you, Lord–of who you are, the Perfect Presider, the Supreme Shepherd, the Righteous Ruler, the Glorious Guide, the Ever-faithful Father. The first thing we should do when we feel far from you, is to remember who you are–our great and good God.]

“you are the praise of Israel,” and of us!

[As we look over history and see how you faithfully protected, provided for and guided the Israelites through the centuries, it is so clear that you, in your unwavering love and care, are worthy of the praise of Israel.

And you are also worthy of our praise for your power and presence in our lives, for your goodness and grace, your faithfulness and fatherhood, your holiness and help, your greatness and glory.

In the light of this, we must praise you, O Lord God, for your complete knowledge, your deep wisdom, your mighty work, your powerful faithfulness, your persistent love and your unending goodness.

Today, whether I sense it or not, I can know that I am with you, that you love me, that you will guide me in the way I should go. I therefore surrender to you and praise you now for what you will do. May you be honored in my life this day as the Holy One, enthroned on high.]

Psalm 22:1b “Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?’

[This is how David felt: he received no immediate answer to his prayer, had no sense of God’s presence, no visible support, no help, no guidance. For David, this was a feeling, but it was not the truth. This was also true for Jesus on the cross: when He became sin for us, You, Father, turned your back on him, you were far from Him. You did not save Him from this suffering, because you Three had a greater plan.

So it is with us, as it was with my wife Barbara in her depression, you send us through that suffering because you have a bigger, wider plan than our being comfortable, a plan which will accomplish much more and in a better way than what we desire.

You gave us the pattern for this in the life of Job, who, suffering seemingly senseless loss, but was actually playing a huge role in the cosmic battle and in bringing future comfort to millions across the millennia.

Psalm 22:2 “O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and you are silent.”

[There are times when our prayers seem to go no further than the ceiling. These times are the of testing of our faith, a call to rest in the certainty of the Lord’s goodness when there is no visible sign of it.

Jesus demonstrated this kind of faith on the cross and in His descent into death. Becoming sin for us, He was far from you, Lord, but, in the midst of His separation He also trusted you fully, following through with your plan.

Glory be to you for your great wisdom and your persistence in carrying out your perfect plans. Help us to walk in faith, embracing those times of your silence, trusting you to act when the time is right.]

Pic: Barb in Depression

I think about what it was like before God brought me to surrender in Himself. I lived in the land of death where the devil had reign and destruction was growing in my  life. As it says in Psalm 18:4-6,“The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.”

But you did not abandon me to this darkness, for when, in my distress “I called to the LORD… he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.” And He rescued me from the dominion of darkness and brought me  into the Kingdom of Light! What a wonderful, marvelous salvation.

Truly, Lord Jesus, in you is all that our hearts long for—belonging, worth, competence, purpose, hope and a future with you–and we can only have it because you, O Triune God, were willing to suffer the pain of separation within the Trinity to bring salvation to your enemies.

I praise you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for your great, deep, powerful Love that led you to embrace and endure such anguish for the undeserving.

You are a gloriously wonderful God, full of love and wisdom, grace and goodness, selflessness and tender mercy. To surrender to you is such a powerful privilege, embracing the truth that. when we are weak, then we are strong. Rule in us today, Lord, and use us for your glory.

[Psalm 22. Praise be to you, O Triune God, for your rich and revealing Word. Here we have another prophetic, Messianic Psalm, written 1000 years before your coming into the world, foretelling your suffering both on our behalf and for your glory.

Praise you for your wisdom in preparing the way in such a manner that your revelation in this Psalm helped both those before Christ and inspires wonder in us who came after.]

Psalm 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

[David was feeling far from you, abandoned and alone, and cried out in anguish. But this is much more a “pre-echo” of the actual abandonment by you, Heavenly Father, of the God-man Jesus as He became sin for us while hanging on the cross.

You, Father, had to turn away, breaking the relationship of the Trinity–that perfect, eternal intimacy, which was without strife, without conflict, and in perfect harmony, commitment, love and unity–and all was torn asunder. All three of you, Father, Son and Spirit, suffered great pain in this ripping of the relationship.

It was brutally broken by the burden of iniquity, as you, Lord Jesus, took upon yourself all the sins of everyone who ever lived or will live, and as you, Heavenly Father, turned away from such sin, leaving Jesus utterly alone. Your shared reason for doing this, was that we would not be left alone, that all people might have the possibility of entering a rich and intimate relationship with the Trinity.

In offering your enemies such a never-ending connection with you, Lord God, the possibility of abandonment of us from your side became impossible, while the possibility of rest, stability and safety became rock-solidly certain for those who believe–for you are faithful to the end.

Chapter 89  Epilogue: He Sets Prisoners Free

 

One day in Germany Barbara said to me, “You certainly are easier to live with NOW than you used to be!”   “That’s because of my ongoing revival,” I said.

That little conversation made me think more about what the Lord was doing in my life. It was clear that many of the sins and wrong attitudes that had for years dictated my responses, especially my emotional ones, were much less prominent in my life now.

My anger, my fear of man, my touchiness, my laziness, my anxiety, my impatience had all greatly diminished. Looking back, I could see the progression. It was like a “J” curve.

A “J” curve is a graph where there is minute, incremental growth for a long time, and then it turns a corner and  rises upward in an almost straight line.  A graph of the increase of the world population is a “J” curve.

The explosive growth of knowledge in the 20^th century is another “J curve.”

In my spiritual life there had been slow and steady growth as I consistently sought the Lord in my quiet time, prayer time, memorization of Scripture and meditation on Scripture. I did not see a lot of big surges, but the trajectory was continually upward.

Then, starting with my personal revival in the fall of 2006, my spiritual life began to turn a corner, rising sharply upward at an increasing rate of speed. The Lord was using all the groundwork of the previous forty years of my life to build this upward turn. With this turn of events, it became easier to stand against sin, to praise when I didn’t feel like it, to trust God when things were going wrong, to let go, hold on and rise above, to train my emotions to follow Truth.

 

Along with “easier” came “harder.” The challenges became greater, with more opportunities to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalm 50:23). Where grace increases, so do the opportunities to use it. I expect this upward trajectory to continue as I intentionally cooperate with God in keeping the “vivacious cycle” going: worshiping to nurture my “first love” for Jesus, which leads to an ongoing revival, which then brings opportunities to make more worldview shifts.

 

This is like freedom on steroids—freedom to serve Him, to be a blessing to others, to lead the way to giving greater glory to God. It is, I believe, the life that God wants for all of us. It is what He is leading us toward through His discipline: “…we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!”  (Hebrews 12:9).

 

He wants us to really live, and to do so in His power. He is eager for us to see the things that prevent us from doing so. He wants to shine the light of His presence and Truth on the path before us so we can see what sins are causing us to stumble over and over again. To do this He disciplines us with the consequences of our poor choices, our faulty thinking, our stubborn selfishness. Then, when He has our attention, He can lead us out of our self-imposed darkness into the Light of His Love.

 

It all starts with meeting with Him every day. When we awake, He is there, waiting for us, desiring to spend time with us.  The question is, are we willing to do that?  To spend time in worship, in confession, in whole-heartedly reading His Word, in tenaciously praying? And then obeying what we know to be true?

This is where the trajectory of your spiritual life starts to rise. And my life story tells you where it goes: upward and onward with Him into ever-increasing freedom, joy and usefulness.

 

 

 

[You, Lord, will triumph, overcome all evil and win, destroying all that is against truth, against goodness against you. “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord” (Prov. 21:30). “The Lord foils the plans of the nations and thwarts the purposes of the people, but the plans of the Lord stand firm forever and the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Ps 33:10-11).]

Psalm 21:13 “Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength;”

[You are strong, you are powerful, you are undefeatable, you will win over all your enemies. For this you deserve to be lifted up on high, exalted, honored and praised. We can be confident in your victories, past, present and future; we can rest in them and rejoice.]

“we will sing and praise your might.”

[We respond to these great truths with worship of you for your mighty, majestic, multifaceted power. That will overcome all evil, sweeping it all into the lake of fire and sealing it forever. Then you will create the new Heaven and Earth, which will be the perfect paradise you intended, with no sin, no rebellion nor any evil to mar it.

Your righteous wrath will right the wrongs that ravished creation. You will bring goodness and grace to every atom, every flower, every galaxy, every part of creation. We praise you that you have included us, your children in this plan. Help us to consistently live in this majestic hope. To you be glory forever and ever. Amen!]

 

Psalm 21:8 “Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes.”

[You, Lord God, did just that in the resurrection of Christ, defeating the devil, death, and destruction. And you will continue to act in righteous justice against those who oppose you, every one of them: Satan and his forces of demons, and all human beings who join him in rebellion against your Word, your Truth and your Character.]

Psalm 21:9 “At the time of your appearing you will make them like a fiery furnace. In his wrath the LORD will swallow them up, and his fire will consume them.”

[You will appear again, Lord Jesus–this is a certainty–and in your righteous wrath deal with those who oppose you and in doing so they also oppose all that is good. But you will do this only  after giving every one of your human enemies the chance to believe, to respond to the light they have received (Rom. 1:19-20). Your judgment will be just. But only those who have accepted your gracious offer of salvation, whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will escape this judgment (Rev.20:15).]

Psalm 21:10-12, “You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from mankind. Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed; for you will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow.”

We know that will grieve your heart to do this, Lord, for it says in 1 Timothy 2:4 that you our good God, “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” And yet, you are just and must eliminate all evil so there will be no sin, no evil, no harm in Heaven. What a gracious God you are. May we rest in you, the final Victor knowing that we will share in that victory.

Psalm 21:7 “For the king trusts in the LORD;”

[When David trusted in you, he was led on in paths righteousness. When Jesus trusted you in his time on earth as a man He was totally vulnerable, absolutely weak, fully helpless in his humanness.

But He was willing to be weak because He knew and trusted your pure, positive, perfect character. And you were proven true again in the Resurrection where He obeyed you and submitted to the cross and death.

And we can trust in Him because He trusted you, heavenly Father.  Such trust is the doorway into the garden of His delights, like the door in the picture.

“through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken.”

[Your love, Heavenly Father, did not fail, did not leave Jesus in the grave, but brought about the great victory over death, decay and the devil. And that “unfailingness” continues on in our lives today.  You, the Most High, the Final Authority, the Almighty One, persist in your perfect love to protect us so we will never be shaken as we rest on the rock-solid reality of your rich and reliable character.

Praise be to you Lord God, Triune King, Gracious Shepherd, Mighty Warrior. Tender Father, to you be honor and glory and praise as I submit to and trust in your goodness today and on into eternity forever. Amen.]