Mackenzie King Estate, Gatineau Park, QC — photo by David Kitz
Your Fortress
16 Saturday Jul 2016
Posted in Psalms, Saturday's Psalm
Yearly Archives: 2016
God’s Choice
15 Friday Jul 2016
Reading: Psalm 78
Verses 50-55
He prepared a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death
but gave them over to the plague.
He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,
the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.
But he brought his people out like a flock;
he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
but the sea engulfed their enemies.
And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to the hill country his right hand had taken.
He drove out nations before them
and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;
he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes (NIV).
Reflection
Understanding God’s choice is not a simple matter. Today’s reading from Psalm 78 draws our attention to the choices God makes. Why did God choose the people of Israel? Why did He decide to get behind this rebellious people? Why did the LORD throw His active support behind a slave revolt? Why did He show mercy to Israel, but pour out His wrath on Egypt?
Sunset — photo courtesy of Donald Adam
Of course we can ask the same questions on a personal level. Why did God choose to save me from my personal pile of sin and destructive habits? Why did He show me the incredible love of Jesus through his death on the cross? Why did the message of the gospel touch me so deeply and transform me so radically, while it bounced off others around me like a babble of meaningless words?
We may never know the answers to these questions. What I do know is that God did not choose the best and the greatest when He chose Israel. Furthermore, at this present time, God overlooked the best and the greatest and instead He chose you and me. St. Paul writes, “My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn’t think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families. But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame” (1 Corinthians 1:26-27, CEV).
Later the apostle, Paul, writes, “The god who rules this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers. They cannot see the light, which is the good news about our glorious Christ, who shows what God is like” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Why does the light go on for some, but not for others? We could spend an eternity pondering these questions and not arrive at a satisfactory answer. Ultimately, we must allow God to be God. We did not choose Him, but rather He first chose us and for that we can be eternally grateful.
Response: LORD God, I am thankful that your Spirit sought me out and drew me to the cross of Jesus. I bow before you in praise and gratitude. I pray that you will show the same mercy to many others. Amen.
Your Turn: Do you understand God’s sovereign choice? How do you respond?
God Struck the Rock
14 Thursday Jul 2016
Posted in Psalms, Thursday's Thought
“It’s true God struck the rock and water gushed out like a river, but can he give his people bread and meat?” (Psalm 78:20, CEV).
Remic Rapids Park, Ottawa, ON, balanced rock sculptures by John Ceprano — photo by David Kitz
Reflection
This week’s I Love the Psalms theme is rock.
There’s an old saying about how it’s hard to get blood from a stone. But according to today’s verse from the Psalms, God is very good at getting water from a rock.
“It’s true God struck the rock and water gushed out like a river, but can he give his people bread and meat?”(Psalm 78:20, CEV).
This quote from the Psalms refers to the time when the people of Israel were without water in the Sinai Desert. The LORD gave Moses these instructions, “I will be there with you. Strike the rock with the stick, and water will pour out for the people to drink.” Moses did this while the leaders watched (Exodus 17:6).
St. Paul tells us the true significance of the rock that was struck in the wilderness. All of them also ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink, which flowed from the spiritual rock that followed them. That rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:3-4).
Jesus is the rock that was struck on our behalf and from him gushes living water that will bring eternal life. He said, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say” (John 7:37-38).
Response: LORD God, I thank you for Jesus, the eternal living rock. Through his shed blood I have everlasting life. Jesus, you are my water of life. Amen.
Your Turn: Is Jesus the rock of your salvation?
Words and Thoughts
13 Wednesday Jul 2016
Posted in Mid-Week Medtiation, Psalms
Tags
David, pleasing God, Remic Rapids Park, Rock, the LORD, thoughts, words
Let my words and my thoughts be pleasing to you, LORD, because you are my mighty rock and my protector (Psalm 19:14, CEV).
Remic Rapids Park, Ottawa, ON, balanced rock sculptures by John Ceprano — photo by David Kitz
Reflection
This week’s I Love the Psalms theme is rock.
Words and thoughts belong together. Thoughts produce words and words produce thoughts. Thoughts and words are the legs of our intellect. They are the means by which we move ideas and events forward. The world becomes a better place, when our words and thoughts are sourced in God. For that reason we should pray that the Holy Spirit would guide our every word and thought. That was David’s prayer in Psalm 19.
Let my words and my thoughts be pleasing to you, LORD, because you are my mighty rock and my protector (Psalm 19:14, CEV).
Our goal in life should be to please the LORD. Just as a young child wants to please its parent, so our daily desire should be to please the LORD. As my parents protected me as a child, so the LORD protects me now. He is the rock-solid strength that I need.
Response: LORD God, today I want to please you. When angry thoughts come, be my peace. When cruel words are spoken, be my comfort. I want to think as you think, Lord, and speak as you speak. Amen.
Your Turn: What do you do to keep your words and thoughts pleasing to the LORD?
Safe on top of a mighty Rock
12 Tuesday Jul 2016
Posted in Psalms, Tuesday's Truth
In times of trouble, you will protect me. You will hide me in your tent and keep me safe on top of a mighty rock (Psalm 27:5, CEV).
Remic Rapids Park, Ottawa, ON, balanced rock sculptures by John Ceprano — photo by David Kitz
Reflection
This week’s I Love the Psalms theme is rock.
Here is an Encarta Dictionary definition for the word precarious. Precarious: 1. unsafe, dangerously unstable, unsteady, uncertain, or insecure. 2. not well founded, based on uncertain premises or unwarranted assumptions.
The rock sculptures of John Ceprano, as seen in the photo above, are a vivid picture of the word precarious. The rocks are delicately balanced. Setting them in these positions takes deft precision, incredible skill and a great deal of patience. On the evening when I took this photo, John was working on a new balanced sculpture. Three times it collapsed in a jumbled heap.
John’s rock sculptures remind me of this verse from the Psalms:
In times of trouble, you will protect me. You will hide me in your tent and keep me safe on top of a mighty rock (Psalm 27:5, CEV).
This verse seems like it contains a contradiction. On the one hand it says the LORD will hide and protect me in His tent. But within in that tent He will keep me safe on top of a mighty rock. It’s hard to hide on top of a rock.
There is nothing precarious about my life if it is hid in God—if it’s safe within His tent. There I can stand on top of my mighty Rock.
Response: LORD God, I’m thankful for the security I have in you. Troubles may come, but I am safe within you. Amen.
Your Turn: How do you view your salvation? Are you safe or precarious?
A Mighty Rock
11 Monday Jul 2016
Posted in Monday Meditation, Psalms
Tags
David, God, Psalms, Remic Rapids Park, Rock, rock sculptures
You alone are God! Only you are a mighty rock (Psalm 18:31, CEV).
Remic Rapids Park, Ottawa, ON, balanced rock sculptures by John Ceprano — photo by David Kitz
Reflection
This week’s I Love the Psalms theme is rock.
Repeatedly, throughout the Old Testament God is called a rock. God is a spirit. Why then would God be called a rock? Rock is solid; it’s substantial. A spirit has no substance—no physicality. How then can God be a rock? Nevertheless, today’s verse from the Psalms declares this to be so.
You alone are God! Only you are a mighty rock (Psalm 18:31, CEV).
David, the psalmist, is saying that despite the spiritual nature of God, for him God has substance. He is real. God is as solid and substantial as any rock on which David stood.
How real is God to you? Is he as real to you as the material world? Is He as real to you as your child, your brother or your spouse? Is He as fixed and eternal as the largest rock in the limited universe of your personal experience? That’s how real—how substantial God was to David.
Only when God becomes fully real to us can we say, “Only you are a mighty rock.”
Response: LORD God, become more real to me with each passing day. I want to experience the reality of your presence in my life. Give me faith that is rock solid. Amen.
Your Turn: How real is God to you? Is He more than an idea or a concept?
He will spread his wings
10 Sunday Jul 2016
Posted in Psalms, Sunday's Psalm
Tags
The Ruins, Mackenzie King Estate, Gatineau Park, QC — photo by David Kitz
The Lord will keep you safe
from secret traps
and deadly diseases.
He will spread his wings
over you
and keep you secure.
His faithfulness is like
a shield or a city wall.
(Psalm 91:3-4, CEV)
Under the Protection of God Most High
09 Saturday Jul 2016
Posted in Psalms, Saturday's Psalm
Tags
Mom’s flowers — photo by David Kitz
Live under the protection
of God Most High
and stay in the shadow
of God All-Powerful.
Then you will say to the LORD,
“You are my fortress,
my place of safety;
you are my God,
and I trust you.”
(Psalm 91:1-2, CEV)
A Band of Destroying Angels
08 Friday Jul 2016
Tags
angels, gospel, hell, self-actualization, wrath, wrath of God
Reading: Psalm 78
Verses 40-49
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the wasteland!
Again and again they put God to the test;
they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
They did not remember his power—
the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,
the day he displayed his signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the region of Zoan.
He turned their river into blood;
they could not drink from their streams.
He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,
and frogs that devastated them.
He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
their produce to the locust.
He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
He gave over their cattle to the hail,
their livestock to bolts of lightning.
He unleashed against them his hot anger,
his wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels (NIV).
Reflection
There are a number of things I would like to believe. I would like to believe that God never gets angry, that His patience is everlasting, and that there is no such thing as the wrath of God. I would like to believe that Jesus never raised his voice in anger—that he winks at my sins, as though they were no big deal, and then moves on. I would like to believe there is no hell, no burning lake of fire, and no Satan to deceive me.
Hopewell Rocks, NB — photo by David Kitz
I would like to believe these things, but I would be wrong. I would be putting myself above the authority of the word of God, which says such things are so. Today’s reading from Psalm 78 reminds us that God’s wrath is real and I don’t want to find myself on the receiving end of it, as was the case with the Egyptians. He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility—a band of destroying angels.
I confess I am tempted to believe in a comfortable gospel, because a comfortable gospel doesn’t call me to account and demand that I change. The Jesus of the comfortable gospel doesn’t demand that I sell all and follow him. The Jesus of the comfortable gospel promises me prosperity and self-actualization. I can become what I want, rather than what he wants. The comfortable gospel leaves me as I am—like a pig in his wallow. But somehow, Lord, I believe you want more from me. You want my life—my changed life.
Response: LORD God, I believe in your wrath because you are grieved at the hate and harm we generate in this world. I want to hear you calling and follow you to the place of deep personal change. Amen.
Your Turn: What kind of gospel do you believe in?
Receiving the Land
07 Thursday Jul 2016
Posted in Psalms, Thursday's Thought
Tags
You will show the right path to all who worship you. They will have plenty, and then their children will receive the land (Psalm 25:12-13, CEV).
Tulip beds, Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC — photo by David Kitz
Reflection
This week’s I Love the Psalms theme is land.
Are you waiting for your inheritance? Actually, as sons and daughters of the King, we have an eternal inheritance that will be coming our way. We have a promised land that is ours to possess. Today’s verse from the Psalms is a direct promise from the LORD:
You will show the right path to all who worship you. They will have plenty, and then their children will receive the land (Psalm 25:12-13, CEV).
Old Testament Israel was promised a land flowing with milk and honey—a rich inheritance. But there are conditions attached to receiving the promises of God. Israel did not simply waltz in and possess the land they were promised. They had to fight for it. Yes, the LORD fought with them, but in return He expected their love, obedience and worship.
The same principles apply to believers today. The LORD will show the right path to all who worship Him. The LORD may show us the right path, but we must be willing to take it—to walk down that path—His chosen path for our lives.
Response: LORD God, show me the right path. I worship you with my whole heart. Give me a willing heart to enter into your promises that come through a life of love, faith and humble obedience. Amen.
Your Turn: Are you entering into your inheritance?
I love the Psalms 