Month: July 2022

The Big Reveal on the Meaning of Life

Ecclesiastes 12

Thursday, July 21, 2022

After plodding through Ecclesiastes 1 and 3 over the last two day’s devotions, we are finally at Ecclesiastes 12, where Solomon has his reveal about the meaning of life.  Verse 1 starts out the chapter with, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, I find no pleasure in them.”  

The next 7 verses highlight why the elderly may not find pleasure in their old age – because they experience things like fading eyesight, losing hearing, developing tremors, stooping because of osteoporosis, losing teeth, unable to sleep – and then die.

So what does it mean to “remember your Creator?”  Is this like “remember to take out the trash?”  No.  And it entails a lot more than just thinking about Him once in a while. When you’re tempted to enjoy the pleasures of sin, remember your Creator.  When you’re tempted to live your life in rebellion against God, remember your Creator.  When your peers are doing something you know is wrong and you’re tempted to join in, remember your Creator.  It means putting God at the forefront of your thoughts, dedicating your life to Him, and living for Him.

I think there are several practical reasons to start serving the Lord while you are young.   Here is a partial list:

  • Life in a close relationship with God is satisfying and fulfilling, so the earlier you start that relationship with Him, the longer you’ll experience meaning in your life.
  • By accepting God while you are young, you will spare yourself a lot of pain and problems that you would experience in a life of rebellion against God.
  • You may want to live it up while you are young and plan on a “death bed confession” (giving your life to the Lord just before you die).  But we never know when we may die.  Accidents happen.  And you don’t want to suffer the eternal consequences of not devoting your life to the Lord.
  • You may get dementia as you age, and won’t be able to make a decision for the Lord late in life.
  • As people age, they get more set in their ways and find it more difficult to change.

I think Solomon is giving good advice, “remember your Creator in the days of your youth.”  

At the end of Ecclesiastes 12, we finally come to Solomon’s conclusion when seeking the meaning of life.  Ecclesiastes 12: 13-14 read, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:  Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”

Fear includes a lot more than being scared of God.  It includes being in awe of Him.  Giving Him reverence.  Giving him glory.  Giving Him your life (living for Him).

To paraphrase Solomon, the bottom line is this:  

You can live your life your own way, and experience a life that is meaningless and unfulfilling, then die.  Or you can live your life God’s way, and experience a life that is meaningful and fulfilling, and then die.

Either way, you will die.  And when Jesus returns, you will face judgment.  If you have lived your life your own way, you will face condemnation and the second death.  If you have lived your life for God, you will receive commendation and will enjoy eternal life.

The only rational choice is to “fear God and keep his commandments.”

You don’t have to be rational.  But you do have to choose.  Choose wisely.

–Steve Mattison

Application Questions

  1. Look again at the list of reasons to start serving the Lord while you are young. Is there anything else you would add to it?
  2. If you have started serving the Lord, when did you start? Why was that a great time to do it? If you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

What to do with the Difficult Times

Ecclesiastes 3

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Whether you know it or not, you’re probably familiar with the first few verses of Ecclesiastes 3:

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2  a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3  a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

4  a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5  a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6  a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7  a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8  a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

I like about half the things listed, and would rather not have the other half, but life just doesn’t work that way.  We have to take the bad with the good.

I was at a funeral last Saturday when these verses were read.  It seems like this passage is mostly referenced during difficult times – because we don’t need to be reminded about these things during happy times.  When someone is born, we don’t want to be reminded that they will eventually die.  But when someone dies, we need to be reminded that this world has both good and bad, and we can’t just pick and choose what happens in life.

Verse 11 goes on to say, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men…”.  

Does this mean that death is beautiful?; that cancer is beautiful?; that problems are beautiful?  No, not in themselves.  But the rest of the verse goes on to say that God has set eternity in the hearts of men.  I think that means these experiences make us long for the time when these problems will be a thing of the past.  When there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain – in the Kingdom of God. 

We mentioned Romans 8:22-23 a couple of days ago, which says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”

In addition to pain and suffering being consequences of the Curse (Genesis 3) as a result of sin, I believe God uses these to help us long for His coming kingdom.  This longing helps us refocus our lives on following Him.  It also helps us not place too much importance on the temporary things this world has to offer.

James 1: 2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

I believe this points out that difficulties we face in life can produce perseverance, helping us mature in our Christian walk, and helping us become more persistent in living for the Lord.  And if we finish strong – living our lives for the Lord – we will be in His kingdom, experiencing delight for eternity.  

So because difficulties can draw us closer to God, which will cause us to live more dedicated lives for Him, with the ultimate result of being in His kingdom, in this sense, everything works together for our ultimate good, and is therefore beautiful.  Even though it might seem like something stinks at the time, it can be beautiful – but only if it makes you long for the Kingdom of God and then live your life devoted to following Him.

If difficult times make us resent that God permitted these times, and if we reject God as a result of this, then we can look forward to Ecclesiastes 3:17 which says, “…God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked…”

I’d like to challenge you to let the difficult times draw you closer to God.  But it’s entirely up to you how you respond.

–Steve Mattison

Application Questions

  1. What difficult times have you been through? What good times have you enjoyed?
  2. What can be learned through the good times? What can be learned through the difficult days (and seasons)?
  3. Looking back on your own life (or the example of someone else) can you see times when the trials and hardships have prompted spiritual growth and perseverance and a re-focusing on what truly matters, including of course eternal life with God and Jesus in the coming Kingdom of God?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Chasing after the Wind

Ecclesiastes 1

Solomon was the wisest person who ever lived (see 1 Kings 3:10-12). He wrote the book of Ecclesiastes to probe the meaning of life.  It’s widely believed that he wrote this toward the end of his life, after he had experienced much of what life had to offer.

Let’s look at some of the treasures of wisdom Solomon wrote down:

  • Ecc 1:2, “Meaningless! Meaningless! says the teacher.  Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless.”
  • Ecc 1:11, “There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.”
  • Ecc 1:14, “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
  • Ecc 1:17, “Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this too is a chasing after the wind.”
  • Ecc 1:18, “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.”

We’re only covering chapter 1 here, but chapter 2 goes on to point out the uselessness of pursuing wealth or pleasure or accomplishing great things.

What’s going on here?  Does life just stink?  

Solomon is pointing out the futility of living this mortal life to the fullest – apart from God.  If all we have to look forward to is death, life is indeed meaningless.  It doesn’t matter how much we pursue pleasure, wealth, or anything else that our hearts desire – our life will be unfulfilled, without satisfaction, without joy, without purpose, and without hope.

When my wife was dying after a four-year battle with cancer, we could both take comfort in the fact that we have the hope of the resurrection, and eternal life to look forward to.  Even in death, we have hope of future joy.  Living a life for God gives us hope.  Our life can be fulfilling, with satisfaction, purpose, and joy.

It takes a lot of people a very long time to figure this out.  My challenge to you is to carefully consider the meaning of your life today.  Choose a life of submission and service to God, and your life won’t be meaningless.  Or go your own way, and identify with Solomon’s Ecclesiastes.

–Steve Mattison

Question Application

  1. What do you spend a lot of time (effort, or money) on that Solomon, or God, might consider “Meaningless”?
  2. Have you found anything that gives life satisfaction, purpose and joy? Where would you look?
  3. What will last?

2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Which Will You Be?

Proverbs 10

Monday, July 18, 2022

In Proverbs 10, we see several contrasts between a person with Godly wisdom who lives a Godly life versus someone who doesn’t.  I thought it might be nice to summarize those contrasts here.

A person with Godly wisdom and who lives a Godly life:

  • Brings joy to their father (v1)
  • God doesn’t let this person go hungry (v3)
  • Hard-working (v4, 5)
  • The memory of this person will be a blessing (v7)
  • Accepts commands (v8)
  • Their mouth is a fountain of life (v11)
  • Love covers wrongs (v12)
  • Wise and discerning (v13)
  • Receives life (v16)
  • Holds their tongue (v19)
  • Delights in wisdom (v23)
  • Desires will be granted (v24)
  • Stand firm forever (v25)
  • Adds length of life (v27)
  • Has joy (v28)
  • Will not be uprooted (v30)
  • Mouth brings forth wisdom (v31)
  • Knows what is fitting (v32)

A person who doesn’t:

  • Brings grief to their mother (v1)
  • God thwarts this person’s cravings (v3)
  • Lazy (v4, 5)
  • Violent (v6, 11)
  • Name will be cursed (v7)
  • Fool comes to ruin (v8)
  • Hatred stirs up dissension (v12)
  • Punished (v13, 16)
  • Conceals hatred (v18)
  • Spreads slander (v18)
  • Their heart is of little value (v20)
  • Finds pleasure in evil conduct (v23)
  • What they dread will overtake them (v24)
  • Swept away (v25)
  • Their life is cut short (v27)
  • Hopes come to nothing (v28)
  • Will not remain in the land (v30)
  • Only knows what is perverse (v32)

Which list would you like to describe you? If you see some attributes in the second list that may be used to describe you, you can change.

Hebrews 3:8 says, “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts”.  If something here got your attention, take action.  Don’t let this moment pass.

2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”  Now is the time to act.

James 4:4-10 says, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  … That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you. … purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

You can be a friend of the world, and fall into the second list, or be a friend of God and fall into the first list.  But in order to be a friend of God, you first must submit to God, resist the devil, and draw near to God.  You must humble yourself before God, only then He will lift you up.  Only then will the first list fully describe you.

–Steve Mattison

Application Questions

  1. What 2-3 points do you find most appealing from the first list for the Godly life?
  2. What 2-3 points do you find most distasteful or disturbing from the second list?
  3. Both lists include some actions/attitudes as well as consequences. How do your choices now determine your future? How often do you remember this?
  4. If you choose to humble yourself before God and submit to Him, what will that look like for you today? How will you work to remove something from the second list to replace it with something from the first?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Trust

Proverbs 3

Sunday, July 17, 2022

There are so many great nuggets in Proverbs 3, each of which could have a devotion centered on it.  Some of these include:

  • Proverbs 3:3, “Let love and faithfulness never leave you…”
  • Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”
  • Proverbs 3:9, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.”
  • Proverbs 3:11-12, “.. do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”
  • Proverbs 3:27, “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.”
  • Proverbs 3:33, “The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.”

Today, I’d like to focus on Proverbs 3:5-6.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

It’s easy to praise and thank God when things are going well.  And when life is sailing along smoothly, its hard to even think about having to trust in (rely on) God.  But when times get rough, that’s when the rubber meets the road for our faith.

So what does it mean to trust in God when you face financial hardships?  When you’ve lost a loved one?   When you face serious health problems?  When life seems to just stink? When you’re dying?

1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

In Matthew 11:28, Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

I know from personal experience that it is easy to, “Cast my anxiety on Him” by crying out to God, telling him all my problems, asking Him to solve them, and asking Him to give me peace.  I also know it’s hard to not pick up those problems again and try to shoulder them myself.

In other words, this passage is easy to acknowledge as right, but very hard to really put into practice.

Jesus passed along some wisdom about how to accomplish this in Matthew 6:24-34.  This section starts with Jesus telling us not to worry about our lives, what we’re going to eat, or wear, or anything else.  And the reason he gave was:  God knows what you need, and will take care of you.  Instead, Jesus gave us something else to focus on in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

So the trick to not focusing on our problems is to instead focus on God’s promises.  In Revelation 21:4, we’re told that in the Kingdom of God, God himself ‘… will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Think about the Kingdom of God and the conditions there.  Obsess over it.  Long for it.  Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and then live your life in such a way as to be in God’s kingdom.

I have learned from personal experience that the closer we draw to God during our tough times, the more he seems to lift us up and help us through – in situations where it seems we couldn’t have gotten through on our own.

And while we’re talking about problems, have you ever thought that God may allow problems in our lives to help us focus more on Him and his kingdom?  Romans 8:22-23 says,” We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”

So, while you’re experiencing loss and pain, focus on God and on his kingdom.  Long for it.  Draw close to God.  In doing this, you will learn to trust in the Lord with all your heart.  And then He will direct your life.

–Steve Mattison

Application Questions

  1. How has God shown Himself to be trustworthy so far – in the Bible? In the lives of people you know? In your own life?
  2. How does remembering God’s promises help get you through tough times?
  3. What does it mean to you to not have to rely on your own understanding?
  4. Would you like to be known as a person who puts their trust in God? How can you work towards increasing your trust in God?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

He Creates. He Destroys.

Fear the Lord.

Proverbs 1

Saturday, July 16, 2022 

                “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,  but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)

                The Hebrew word yir-aw can be translated fear, terror, reverence, respect, piety.  We are to fear, be in terror of, reverence, respect, show piety to God.

            But God doesn’t really want us to fear Him, does he?  Isn’t God all about love and grace and mercy and forgiveness?  Why should we fear God?

            Jesus knew God, his heavenly father better than any human being has ever known God, and here is what Jesus had to say: “Never be afraid of those who can kill the body but are powerless to kill the soul! Far better to stand in awe of the one who has the power to destroy body and soul in the fires of destruction!” (Matthew 10:28 JB Phillips translation of New Testament).  That’s what Jesus said about his own Dad.  Ever heard of the, “My dad can beat up your dad” game?  Jesus says, “Wise up people, my Dad can throw you into the lake of fire where you will be completely destroyed forever.”

            Of course God want us to love him.  God longs to have a loving personal relationship with all of His children.  God loves us so much that he allowed his perfect and sinless son to endure the betrayal and beatings and crucifixion and agonizing death on the cross so that we might have salvation and not be cast into the lake of fire which consumes all those who reject God’s grace and mercy through Christ.  God’s love is 100.  If you need a reminder of this go back to Thursday’s reading “His love/mercy/faithfulness endures forever.”  That’s where God wants every single one of us to end up, fully surrendered to His divine love for us.

            But not everyone is there yet.  In order to fully love God we need to know God.  God is powerful beyond words.  God speaks the word and trillions of galaxies are birthed.  Stars with planets swirling about them.  God speaks the word and living things come into being, plants, birds, fish, mammals.  God scoops up a pile of mud and blows into it and a human person is created.  God rolls back a stone and sends forth his spirit and the dead Jesus comes to life everlasting.  That same powerful God speaks a word and a star explodes.  That same powerful God speaks a word and the earth shakes, volcanos erupt, powerful winds swirl and destroy all that is in their path.

            When God was leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt they were terrified to go near the mountain where God came down to speak to them.  After Moses was in God’s presence receiving the ten commandments his face was glowing and the people were afraid to come near Moses because he had been near God.

            To truly Love God we must know God, and to know God means to recognize his unimaginable power to both create and destroy.  In Jude 7 Jesus’ younger brother writes: “ Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”  Yes, our loving God, who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son (John 3:16) is the same God who completely destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sexual immorality and perversion.  I’m not making this stuff up, it’s there in the Bible.

            I love God, but it took some time to get there.  Before I could truly love God I had to know who God is and I had to understand that God, who is capable of such great love, is also capable of destroying those who rebel against him and his word.  Fear and Love are not mutually exclusive.

            A great old hymn by Isaac Watts begins:

“Before Jehovah’s aweful throne,

ye nations, bow with sacred joy;

know that the Lord is God alone:

he can create, and he destroy.”

To know God is to know that he can both create and destroy.  To know God is to know that he is capable of incredible acts of love and mercy, and the power to destroy those who reject his love.

I like a lot of modern worship music, and yet, I think too much modern worship focuses only on God’s love and mercy and grace, grace, grace.    Maybe some of the old hymns need to be dusted off and revisited.  We need to be reminded that “he can create and he can destroy” because the “fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” and God knows our world is running way short of wisdom these days.

Isaac Watts hymn started with God’s aweful throne and a reminder that he can create and destroy, but it ended with God’s love:

Wide as the world is thy command,

vast as eternity thy love;

firm as a rock thy truth must stand,

when rolling years shall cease to move.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but it ends with Love for those who embrace all of who God is.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions:

1.        What is your favorite Love passage of the Bible?

2.       What passage in the Bible really scares you?

3.       How can you hold these two polarities in your mind?

2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

NO Pit TOO Deep

Look UP!

Psalm 130

Friday, July 15, 2022 

                The comedic author Erma Bombeck once wrote a book entitled: “If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits.”  It’s a funny play on words using “the pits” as the antithesis of the good life.  The “pits” she’s talking about are not really cherry pits, those things you spit out after you have eaten the deliciously sweet cherry, but the pits of despair.  Webster’s Dictionary defines  “the pits”: “something that is very bad or unpleasant. You caught the flu on your birthday? That’s the pits! This rainy weather is the absolute pits.”

                You’re in the pits when things are going horribly wrong, or when you are feeling low.  You feel low when you are depressed, like there is something heavy weighing down on you.

                Psalm 130 is known as a penitential psalm (Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143).  It starts out very low, “Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD”.  This person is in deep despair because they are weighed down by feelings of guilt.  They have done something terribly wrong and they are weighed down with the heaviness of regret.

                In the Bible there are stories of people who are down in the pits of despair who cry out to God.  When Joseph was taken by his brothers and thrown into a dry cistern down in the earth, he was in the pit.  When Jonah was swallowed by the whale (or great fish), he was in the pit.  When Daniel was thrown into the den of lions he was in the pit.  But each of these people when they were in the pit cried out to God.  And that’s what this Psalm writer does from the depths, they cry to God.  They cry for mercy.

                They acknowledge that it is only by God’s mercy that they are able to get out of that pit.  If God kept a perpetual record of our sins that we had to carry around with us all of our lives none of us could stand under the weight.  Imagine trying to swim holding a 100 lb barbell in your hands… you would sink to the bottom in an instant. 

                Psalm 130 is also one of the songs of ascents.  This selection of Psalm from Psalm 120-134 were sung by worshippers journeying to the temple in Jerusalem to worship God by offering sacrifices.  They would sing the songs of ascents as they climbed up Mt. Zion.  They would sing them as they walked up the steps to the temple bringing with them their sin offering, their guilt offering and other reminders of their need for God’s mercy and forgiveness.

                Notice as the Psalm begins they are “in the depths crying for mercy” lamenting that no one can stand in God’s presence as long as God remembers their sins.  But feel them rising up as they get closer to the top of the mountain, closer to Jerusalem, closer to the temple, closer to God.  There is the hope of forgiveness.  There is this longing for God, they are waiting with their whole being for God, they are putting their hope in God.  As they look up and draw closer to God they are literally coming up from out of the pits, out of the depths of misery and despair into God’s mercy and forgiveness into the arms of God’s unfailing love and full redemption.  They are being bought from slavery to sin and given freedom in God.

                So many people today, like this Psalmist, are in the pits.  The rates of depression are incredibly high.  A study in 2020 showed that 37 million Americans take anti-depressant medication (the numbers undoubtedly have gone up in the 2 years since then due to Covid lockdowns).  Over 100,000 people died in 2021 from opioid/fentanyl overdoses.  People take these pain killers not for physical pain but to try to relieve existential pain and despair.  Suicide rates are rising because people find themselves in the pits and can’t find a way out. 

                Psalm 130 says to them and to us…. Look up, there is a way out.  God is the way out of that pit of despair.  God rescued Joseph from the pit and  he became the most powerful man in all of Egypt and saved his whole family from starvation.  God rescued Jonah from the pit of the whale and Jonah preached salvation to the entire city of Nineveh and they were restored to God.  God closed the mouths of the lions and Daniel was rescued by God from the pit of lions.  Even Jesus was in the pit of despair on the cross from which he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” as he took the total weight of the sin of the world on his shoulders.  God rolled back the stone and rescued Jesus from the pit of the tomb and brought him out to everlasting life.

                There is no pit too deep for God to bring you out of if you will cry out to him, look up and move toward him.  Ascend from the depths of despair to God’s mercy and forgiveness and true life through faith in Jesus Christ.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions:

1.        When was a time that you were in the pits?  How did God help you out of that pit?

2.       If you’ve experienced God’s saving hand in the pit, who can you share that hope with to help them out of the pit?

2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Love that Endures Forever

Thursday July 14, 2022

Psalm 136

            “We got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit, how about you?”

                        “We got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit, how about you?”

            “We got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit, how about you?”

                        “We got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit, how about you?”

That takes me back over 40 years to my high school days.  The cheerleaders out on the sidelines leading the call and response cheer to help get the crowd involved and pumped up to keep the team motivated.

            Call and response is a part of the culture.  In music, particularly jazz and some rock and roll,  the call and response is a form of music with a long history.  One instrument plays a riff, and another answers back.

            Call and response is a big part of African worship.  I once preached a community service with several hundred in attendance including a sizeable contingent of black worshippers who really got into the call and response and kept me, the preacher, energized.

            The call and response is an old form of worship and Psalm 136 is a great example of how call and response was incorporated into the ancient Hebrew worship tradition.  As you look through this great Psalm of praise and worship it’s all about call and response.  One calls out,  “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good” and the other responds right back, “His love endures forever”.  The other calls back, “Give thanks to the God of gods.” And the other responds: “His love endures forever.” And so it goes, call and response, call and response.  It’s an interactive prayer in two voices and it tells a powerful story of Israel’s gratitude to God for his endless love and mercy and faithfulness to his people.

            With each successive call, this Psalm tells the story of God’s greatness.  God is greater than anything else that people worship.  God’s greatness is revealed by his acts of creation. He made the heavens, the lights, the sun and moon and stars, this part of the Psalm shows God’s universal greatness to all people.  Then, the Psalm shifts to how God reveals his greatness particularly to His people, Israel, by recalling the story of the Exodus and how God showed His faithfulness in delivering his people from slavery.

            With each call revealing God’s creative and saving acts there is a response proclaiming the permanence of God’s love.  The Hebrew word, “hesed” is a challenging one to translate.  If you look at various translations of Psalm 136 you will see it translated as love, mercy, steadfast love and faithfulness.  Hesed is a word so full of meaning that it takes a lot of words to try to capture the fullness of it’s meaning.  And that makes sense.  God’s love and mercy and faithfulness are so great and so dependable that it can’t be contained in one simple definition or translation.

            As you go about your day, pay attention to all of the ways that God reveals his love and mercy and faithfulness to you.  Be sure to give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, His love endures forever. 

            As an added bonus, listen to Michael W. Smith rock out on the song: Forever, which is based on this Psalm: https://youtu.be/3lPdtqgouCc

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions:

  1.  Choose one element of God’s power or character that is included in the Psalm and think about how God has revealed that to you in your life.
  2. Try writing your own Call and Response Psalm to God.  What parts of God’s story revealed in creation, the Bible and your own life experience would you include in the call?  Which element of God’s character would you magnify in the response?
  3. Do a word study on “Hesed” (Bible Gateway lets you compare multiple translations in parallel – for example, see Psalm 136:1 in various translations).  What would your definition of Hesed sound like?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

The Words of the God You Love

Psalm 119

Wednesday, July 13, 2022 

            Back when I was a child, at Church camp when you stood in line for a meal they made you say a Bible verse.  Us young boys learned that John 11:35 was the “go to verse” for quick memorization: “Jesus wept.”   A two word verse, easy to memorize- boom “Jesus wept!” the legal requirements are met, now can I eat? 

            Bonus round—what is the shortest book in the Bible?  2 John or 3 John depending on how you measure it.  2 John has the fewest verses, 3 John has the fewest words.  For fun sake, Obadiah is the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible (The Old Testament).  We can argue about anything, can’t we?

            But there is no argument about the longest chapter in the Bible- Psalms 119 is the big winner.  Psalm 119 has 176 verses.  Compare that to the shortest chapter in the Bible – Psalm 117 which has only 2 verses. Not only is Psalm 119 unique because of its length, but its structure is quite unique as well.  Psalm 119 is written as an acrostic poem.  It is made up of 22 sections which are 8 verses each and each section begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, beginning with the first Hebrew letter “aleph” and ending with the final Hebrew letter, “taw”.  This was likely a device that helped the student to memorize the Psalm, which good little Jewish boys and girls did.

            Obviously with 176 verses we can’t look at the whole Psalm in one brief devotion and we won’t even try.  I’ll just point out something basic for you to consider and then focus on one section in some detail.

            Something basic for us to consider is that this Psalm is devoted to an appreciation of God’s Word.  Different Hebrew words are used in the Psalm including “Torah”, which can mean: “teaching, direction, guidance and law”; “Debar” which means “word” and “Misva” which means commandment or ordinance.  The entire Psalm is devoted to having a love for God’s word or commands or teaching.   This clear expression of love for God’s word is important.  In many places in the Bible, beginning in the Old Testament in places like Deuteronomy 6:5 , we are told to love the LORD/YHWH/God with all of our hearts.  Here in Psalm 119 we are told to also love God’s Word  or teaching.  Vs. 97 says “O how I love your ‘Torah’ (law/teaching) I meditate (think about/ponder deeply) on it all day long.”

            I don’t know about you but there are only a few things that I’ve ever thought about literally “all day long”. (One of them was my wife back when we first began dating, and another may or may not be Krispy Kreme hot donuts-they are beautiful and delicious and hot).  You usually only think about something constantly if it’s someone/thing that you really, really love a lot, or something that you are really, really worried about.  In the case of Psalm 119 it’s clear that the writer is thinking about God’s Word all day long because he/she loves that Word.

            Is there a difference between loving God and loving God’s Word?  In one way, yes.  There are people who diligently study the Bible simply as literature or history.  They tear it apart and analyze it like someone might dissect an animal or human cadaver or look at tiny things in a microscope.  But in this case, the person writing the Psalm loves God’s Word and thinks constantly about God’s Word because it’s God’s Word and this person loves God wholeheartedly so he also loves God’s teaching, instructions, commandments.  Jesus would later tell his disciples “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15).

            Let’s go back to that thing that I said I have literally thought about all day long (not the Krispy Kreme donut, but my wife, Karen, who is also beautiful, delicious, hot and begins with a K- sorry, but I needed to include that in order to embarrass any of my adult children who might be reading this devotion today, you’re welcome).   Because I love my wife I usually try to pay attention to the words she speaks to me. (I’ll admit, I’m not always perfect on this, but in my defense, sometimes she’s just talking to herself and I have to clarify who the intended listener is, me or herself, sometimes I miss the things that I’m supposed to hear).  Part of love is paying attention to the words spoken by the one we love.  So, for the Psalmist, he loved God so he also loved God’s word.  So for Jesus, if we love him we also need to keep his commandments/teaching/words.  So the overall theme of Psalm 119 is “I love God and so I also love God’s word.”

            The section of Psalm 119 I want you to think about is the second section- verses 9-16 which begins with the Hebrew letter “Beth” ב.  It begins with a question and answer:  “How can a young person stay on the path of purity?”  That’s a great question and reveals the important desire that forms the content of this person’s heart.  They love God so much that they want to know how to keep on the right path, the path of purity.  They want to know how to live a life that is pleasing in the sight of God.  The answer is by living according to God’s word.  If a person wants to walk a path that is pleasing to God then he or she needs to follow the word of God.  God has revealed to us, by His word, how to live a life that is pleasing to him.  We need to follow that path. 

            In order to stay on that path of purity we must be intentional.  We need to seek God with all of our heart.  Why do I want to pay attention to and follow God’s word?  Because I’m seeking God with my whole heart.  How do we avoid falling into sin? By putting God’s word deep into our hearts.  He speaks about the Law with strong emotional words: joy (rejoice), meditate and delight.  For him staying on a path that is pleasing to God brings him such joy that he is thinking deeply about God’s word all of the time and finds his delight in doing what God’s word says.

            You can love someone’s words without loving the person, but you really can not love a person if you don’t also care deeply about the words they use to convey what is important and meaningful to them.  The next time you look at your Bible, consider this: out of all the trillions of words that have ever been spoken or written in the history of the world, these words contained in this Bible are the words that were spoken by God to human beings in order that we might know, love and serve God.  So why would we not love the words that come from the God that we love, and why would we not obey the words that come from the God that we love?

            Do you want to keep your way each day pure (pleasing in God’s sight).  Then pay attention to those words each day, think deeply about them, immerse yourself in them, delight in them, find joy in reading and obeying them because you love those words because they are the words of the God you love.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions:

  1.  Which words from today’s reading (Psalm 119) will you choose to think deeply about?
  2. Which words from today’s reading will you take special delight in thinking about?
  3. Which words from today’s reading will bring you the most joy?
  4. How will these words from God help you when you find yourself tempted to go in a direction that is not in keeping with loving God?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

SHOUT!

Psalm 100

Tuesday, July 12, 2022  

            I love going to baseball games in a packed stadium full of loud and excited fans.  The same could be said for football, basketball, hockey or even soccer (but I’ve never been to a professional soccer game).  I’ll stick with baseball since it’s my favorite and I just went to a Washington Nationals game a few days ago.

            In sports they talk about having “the home team advantage”.  That comes with having the energy of thousands of cheering fans joining together to encourage you at just the right time, spurring you on, giving you that extra boost of adrenaline or confidence.  Who doesn’t get an extra boost by hearing people enthusiastically offer you encouragement?  If you’re on the pitching mound and your trying to get that last out, and 50,000 people are screaming for  you with every pitch, it has to give your fastball just a little extra pop.

            Games have their own rhythm and language. It’s very similar to a worship experience:  The National Anthem followed by the announcement of the line-up is like the call to worship.  The program is kind of like the bulletin.  There’s a big screen with information on it just as many churches have on the wall behind the pastor.  Instead of bread and wine for communion they serve beer/coke and hot dogs.  And just watch what people do when their team hits a home run- they stand up and raise their hands in the air and shout, just like they do in Church with a big hallelujah during a worship song.  When you go to games regularly you see the rhythm of the game and can anticipate what’s coming. (Be sure to stand up in the 7th inning for the stretch).  At times, they flash instructions up on the score board: “Let’s Go Nats” with a loud organist leading a kind of call and response.

            Psalm 100 is a powerful Psalm which instructs us in how to worship God.  It contains seven commands: Shout!, Worship, Come, Know, Enter, Give Thanks, Praise Him.

            There are certainly times and places when silence and solitude are very appropriate and meaningful forms of worship, but there are also times when God wants his people to rock the rafters off the room of the house.  Here God’s people are instructed to get loud and let the world know how great God is.  Don’t keep it to yourself, shout!

            The word for worship has to do with both worship and service.  Our public worship is united with our daily service to God.   We are to worship and serve God with gladness.  Worship and service are not a duty that we have to do, but a joy that we get to do.  Just as I go and happily cheer on my favorite baseball team (the Nationals), I get to come and worship my great and mighty God.

            Come before Him with joyful songs is a reminder of the importance of gathering.  In ancient Israel the people would come from all over the nation and beyond to gather at the temple of Jerusalem to praise and celebrate God.  Sure, I like watching baseball on a 60 inch flat screen t.v. with surround sound in my recliner, but it’s still not the same energy I get when I sit in a stadium with 40,000 people on a Saturday afternoon in June when the stadium is shaking and my ears are ringing.  During Covid lockdowns many were forced to worship in front of a computer screen, and that was better than not worshipping at all, but nothing beats coming together with other believers to sing joyful songs.  The Greek word for Church: ecclesia means literally “the assembly.”  True church needs to come together.

            The center command in Psalm 100 is to know.  Know that the Lord is the God who made us and that we are his people.  Jesus said that we are to love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength.  To know God with our mind means that we think about God, who He is and what He has done for us, his people.  We are blessed to have a written record- the Bible, coupled with the verbal record- the testimony of others so that we continue to know God with our minds and have God shape our thinking.

            The fifth command is enter His gates.  There is no longer a temple in Jerusalem for us to enter to worship, but we have Jesus and his Church as the true and living temple.  When we gather in the name of Jesus to bring worship to God we are entering his gate.

            We enter those gates to worship with thanksgiving.  Gratitude to God is foundational to true worship.  Failing to be grateful to God leads to all kinds of sin and brokenness.  Paul said it very clearly in Romans 1: 21,”For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. “  When we fail to give thanks to God and give God the glory it ruins our thinking and our hearts.  Take time every day to give thanks to God.

            The seventh and final command is Praise Him.  When someone hits the ball over the fence, everyone stands and cheers.  When the pitcher strikes out three in a row everyone stands and cheers.  The energy of the teammates and fans really does lift a player.  I had the benefit of watching the Nationals during the 2019 season when they won the World Series.  They were the most celebrated team: the crowd shouted, they danced, they screamed, they cheered and 40,000 people did the “baby shark” together.  I saw that team literally come back time and time again to win because the level of praise was so great.  If we can scream and shout and praise a man for hitting a home run or throwing a strike out, how much more can we praise the one who made us and gave us not only the gift of life today, but the hope of everlasting life in his coming Kingdom.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions:

  1.  How much shouting do you do in worship?  If not much, what’s holding you back?
  2. What difference does it make to you in worship when you come together with other believers instead of just being alone?
  3. How often to do you tell God, “Thank You”?  Do you want to show your gratitude more to God?  What’s keeping you from doing it?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload