Our Enduring Hope In Christ

April 6, 2017

Our Enduring Hope In Christ

Rise up! Help us!

Ransom us because of your unfailing love.

Psalm 44:26

There are three distinct characteristics of life revealed in the Bible. There is the life of tangible blessings brought through faithfulness and obedience to God; there is the life of faith where we are called to remain true to God in the face of distress (i.e., the life of Job); and there is the life of hope, where even though evil seems to have the upper hand, we trust in God’s ultimate victory. (The Book of Revelation is an example of a call to hope in the face of persecution.)

Psalm 44 is our model when we encounter times of great distress in our lives. We do not know for sure the exact circumstances that led the King of Israel to write this poem. What we can see within the psalm is that the King believed Israel was faithful, and as God’s favor had been with Israel in the past, he expected God’s favor when he led Israel into battle. The King was wrong, and Israel suffered a humiliating defeat. Even so, as was Job’s, so also was the King’s hope in God: “Rise up! Help us! Ransom us because of your unfailing love” (Psalm 44:26).

Why didn’t Israel receive God’s favor? The most likely reason is that the King had ventured off on his own initiative and not through the Lord’s leading; or, perhaps, Israel was not as faithful as the King presumed. Our lives, and the lives of our churches, are impacted by the sins of others; or, perhaps this was an occasion when evil appears to be winning.

Psalm 44 teaches us that when we face adversity in our life, we can honestly express our emotions to God. God can handle our grief. We will face such times, as the Apostle Paul in quoting Psalm 44, assured us. Even so, Paul points us to our enduring hope in Christ.

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”

Romans 8:35-36

Sē’lah

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(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. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

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.

Why Am I Discouraged?

April 5, 2017

Why Am I Discouraged?

Send out your light and your truth;

let them guide me.

Let them lead me to your holy mountain,

to the place where you live.

Psalm 43:3

Occasionally, my wife Cheryl travels to visit our grandchildren, and leaves me home alone. I am pretty useless while she is gone. What I do accomplish requires more effort than usual. I know she will soon return. I know she is simply gone from my sight, that's all. She is just the same as when I saw her, but things seem different.

Perhaps the psalmist had similar feelings in his relationship with Elohim. For whatever reasons, his present reality caused him to use hyperbole to express his sense of loss, his sense of longing for closeness to God. Whatever his inner turmoil, the psalmist was single-minded in his purpose: “There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy. I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God!” (v.4).The psalmist knows who alone can fill the God-shaped vacuum in his heart.

People often have scripture passages bookmarked, taped to walls or attached to their refrigerators. Is verse 5 included in your collection? If not, today is a good day to add it to your collection.

Why am I discouraged?

    Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

    I will praise him again—

    my Savior and my God!

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. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

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.

As The Deer Panteth

April 4, 2017

As The Deer Panteth

As the deer longs for streams of water,

so I long for you, O God.

Psalm 42:1

Psalm 42 begins a new section of the Psalms. All but four of Psalms 1-41 are attributed to David. We are not sure of the specific identity of the psalmist in this next section. In the first section God was addressed as Yahweh, LORD, which is the intimate, personal name for God. In this next section, God is addressed as Elohim, which is the traditional Jewish view for the name of God as the Creator and Judge of the universe. The change in the name for God is indicative of the many perspectives from which we can view or understand God’s nature. There is the ethical view, which understands God as the Creator and giver of life. This view calls forth the acknowledgement of our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation, and that as all people are created by God, we have a responsibility to treat all people with respect. As God is the giver of life, our response to receiving God’s gifts is to generously share God’s gifts with others.

There is also a more personal and intimate perspective in our approach to God. Together, the names Elohim and Yahweh can lead us to affirm with Saint Augustine that we have a God-shaped vacuum within, and we will not be at peace until we allow God to fill the vacuum. Psalm 42 reminds me that God created me with the needs to be loved, accepted and valued, and only God can fulfill these needs.

Not surprisingly, many others have been so reminded, not the least of which is Marty Nystrom, the author of the well-known praise and worship song, As the Deer. In a beautiful God moment, as I sat in my study this morning reading Psalm 42, this song was playing on my iPod.

As the deer panteth for the water
    So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
    And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
    To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
    And I long to worship You

As the Deer

Marty Nystrom

Yes 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. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

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.

Reality Psalms

April 3, 2017

Reality Psalms

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,

    who lives from everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and amen!

Psalm 41:13

The Bible, especially the Book of Psalms, presents the reality of living in a world fractured and broken by sin. The psalms do not hide or deny sin, evil and a world hostile to God. Over and against the reality of this world, the Psalms present God the Father, who is ever seeking to repair the breech in His creation, whose mercies never come to an end, and whose love and faithfulness are sufficient to meet our every need.

In Psalm 41, the psalmist is struggling with his own sin, his illness, the hostility of his enemies and the betrayal of his friends. Welcome to “Reality Psalms.” In the face of this crisis, the psalmist cries out to God with an expectation that God will be his deliverer, his healer, his protector. He goes to God expecting to receive forgiveness and the blessing of dwelling in the presence of God, eternally.

Like the psalmist, we get to choose this day how we want to live. We can choose to deny the sin and evil in this world. We can choose to accept the reality of living in a broken world and live in despair. Or, we can choose God. We can choose to run to God with an expectation that God will be our deliverer, our healer, our protector. We can go to God expecting to receive forgiveness and the blessing of dwelling in the presence of God, eternally.

“. . . Choose today whom you will serve. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

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. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

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.