My Sheep Listen To My Voice

June 12, 2017

My Sheep Listen To My Voice

“You who live in the shelter of the Most High,

   who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,

 will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress;

   my God, in whom I trust.’

Psalm 91:1-2 (NRSV)

Psalm 91 contains some of the most beautiful prose in the psalter. While the prose is beautiful, it may not always reflect our personal experience. Actually, try to think of one person in the Bible, or in the history of the church, who has literally experienced the Godly protection enumerated in this psalm. How then can we embrace the prose of “You who live in the shelter of the Most High” as we seek the life in Christ as our way of life?

When Jesus went into the wilderness after his baptism, he was tempted by Satan. For his second temptation, Satan quoted verses 11-12 of Psalm 91,

“Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you.

And they will hold you up with their hands

    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

(Psalm 91 quoted in Matthew 4:5-6).

The angels didn’t protect Jesus from death on the cross. However, the cross didn’t end Jesus’ life; he arose from the grave! This truth that the grave didn’t conquer Jesus’ life points us to the eternal significance Psalm 91 has for our lives as well. We need to always remember Jesus’ discussion of the vine and branches. He said “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5b). The Apostle Paul referred to our remaining in Christ, or being “in Christ,” over and over in his epistles. For the followers of Jesus, the opening line of Psalm 91, “You who live in the shelter of the Most High” refers to our new life in Christ: “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Because our life is in Christ, we can rest in His promise:

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

(John 10:27-30)

Yes, there are most certainly many dangers, toils and snares in life. It is grace that has kept us in Christ thus far, and grace will lead all the way home.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 Copyright © 2017 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Be Steadfast, Immovable

June 9, 2017

Be Steadfast, Immovable

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

   and prosper for us the work of our hands—

   O prosper the work of our hands!”

Psalm 90:17 (NRSV)

Psalm 90 has long been a source of inspiration to the people of God. The hymn writer Isaac Watts drew inspiration from this psalm for one of our most beloved hymns, O God, Our Help in Ages Past. After the English Parliament passed the Schism Act, which was designed to severely limit religious freedom, Watts responded by writing this reassuring hymn.

Saint Peter turned to this psalm to help him express our need for patience as we wait for the coming again of Jesus, “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:8-9).

The structure of the psalm is a short course in the history in humankind’s relationship with God: God is eternal, infinite; humankind is weak, frail, finite. God’s judgment is upon the sins of humankind; nevertheless, God is merciful and extends His favor to His children.

For me, verse 17 is most compelling. It has been a tradition in monasteries for the Monks to pray this verse each morning before they begin their daily labors. St. Paul, encourages us in 1 Corinthians 15:58, to always remember the value of our work in God’s Kingdom: “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (NRSV) With this in mind, verse 17 is a good way for the followers of Christ to begin their day:

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

   and prosper for us the work of our hands—

   O prosper the work of our hands!”

Psalm 90:17 (NRSV)

An Appropriate Foundation For Our Faith

June 8, 2017

An Appropriate Foundation For Our Faith

I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever!

Young and old will hear of your faithfulness.

Your unfailing love will last forever.

Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.

Psalm 89:1-2

The author of Psalm 89 had a crisis of belief. Henry Blackby’s small group study, Experiencing God, teaches that whenever you face a crisis, what you do next reveals what you believe about God. In matters of faith, the crisis can be like an earthquake rupturing the foundations of your beliefs. In the time of Jesus’ life on earth, Israel faced such a crisis of belief. The people longed for the Messiah to come, but Jesus did not fit their expectations of the Messiah. Some of the people resolved their crisis by giving their life to Christ; others crucified Jesus.

This psalm was probably written after the fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.) when the Jews were taken away to captivity in Babylon. (2 Kings 24) The psalmist, in remembering God’s covenant, includes God’s warning that if the descendants of King David forsake their covenant responsibility, God would punish their sins. (Psalm 89: 30-37) The psalmist’s lament is not ‘why?’ --- It’s ‘how long?’

Because Jesus has already been punished for our sins (Isaiah 53:5), we need not fear God, but God will discipline His children. Sometimes our crisis is brought on by our own willful disobedience; sometimes our crisis is the result of the sins of others. Whatever the cause, our times of crisis are always an invitation to plumb the depths of our faith, to make sure we are resting our faith on the bedrock of God’s Word.

The psalmist ended the psalm at verse 51, while he was still in the depths of despair. At a later time, an editor added verse 52 as a benediction to mark the end of Book Three of the Psalms. Nevertheless, it is an appropriate foundation for our faith,

“Praise the Lord forever!

    Amen and amen!”

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

We Are Never Without Our Hallelujahs

June 7, 2017

We Are Never Without Our Hallelujahs

O Lord, God of my salvation,

    I cry out to you by day.

    I come to you at night.

Now hear my prayer;

    listen to my cry.

Psalm 88:1-2

Images of Jerusalem again flooded my mind as I read Psalm 88 this morning.

The Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu is a Roman Catholic church located on the eastern slope of Mount Zion, just outside the walls of Old Jerusalem. This is believed to be the site of the house of the High Priest, Caiaphas, where Jesus was taken after his arrest. It is also the place where Peter denied Jesus. (Gallicantu in Latin means “rooster crows.”) Adjacent to the church there is a dungeon where a deep pit was hewed into the rock. It is believed this may the pit where Jesus was kept overnight. When we visited the site our group gathered in the darkness of the pit, and with help from my iPhone flashlight I read Psalm 88:

“You have thrown me into the lowest pit,

    into the darkest depths.

Your anger weighs me down;

    with wave after wave you have engulfed me.”

Psalm 88: 6-7

There are no hallelujahs at the end of this psalm. This is a prayer of one who is in great despair. In Mark’s Gospel, the only words spoken by Jesus from the cross were “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Mark 15:34) In this fallen world, people face sickness and tragedies every day. There is a longing for closure, vindication and justice. For some people, their longing will not be satisfied this side of the grave.

But, the psalmist begins his prayer with, “O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out to you . . .”, and Jesus’ first words on the cross were, “My God, my God.” These salutations evidence a faith that justice denied in life will be received beyond the grave.

In the midst of suffering and loneliness, the followers of Christ can remember that our Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Because of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we can rest in the assurance,

“But he was wounded for our transgressions,

   crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the punishment that made us whole,

   and by his bruises we are healed.”

                                                                                (Isaiah 53:5 NRSV)

Because of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus, we are never without our hallelujahs.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.