Tag Archives: blaming God

The Strength of my Heart

03 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by in Bible, Devotionals, Psalm 73, Psalms

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Reading:                                      Psalm 73

(Verses 21-28)
When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.
Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds (NIV).

Reflection
I love the brutal honesty of the psalmist. I always like to think I am the smartest one in the room, but the truth is I am very capable of wrong-headed thinking. And wrong thinking often leads to hurtful words or unwise actions. Take a moment to consider the psalmist’s confession: When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.

2017-12-30b

Through the spruce boughs — photo by David Kitz

 That’s brutal honesty. Are we that honest with God when our reasoning goes off the straight and narrow rails? Or do we justify our thoughts and blame God or others when we are ticked off?

We need to come into God’s sanctuary to have our hearts and minds tuned into the LORD’s thinking. The LORD reminds us that He knows the big picture. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

When we are in God’s presence, we can have our affections adjusted. All too often I have my priorities all messed up. What about you? The amazing truth about God is that He loves us despite our mess ups. The psalmist knows the power of that love. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

What a patient, loving God we serve! This should become our humble confession: Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Response: LORD God, I want to have your perspective. I want to see as you see. Set my thoughts on the right path. Remind me to take time to be with you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. Amen.

Your Turn: How do you get your affections in tune with God? What steps do you need to take?

A Lament over Sin

21 Thursday Sep 2017

Posted by in Bible, Devotionals, Psalm 38, Psalms

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Reading:                                      Psalm 38

A psalm of David. A petition.
(Verses 1-8)
LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
Your arrows have pierced me,
and your hand has come down on me.
Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;
there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.
My guilt has overwhelmed me
like a burden too heavy to bear.
My wounds fester and are loathsome
because of my sinful folly.
I am bowed down and brought very low;
all day long I go about mourning.
My back is filled with searing pain;
there is no health in my body.
I am feeble and utterly crushed;
I groan in anguish of heart (NIV).

Reflection

Psalm 38 is a psalm of personal lamentation. The psalmist, David, laments the state of his personal and spiritual health. Notes of joy and triumph are absent from this psalm; instead we find David in a state of deep melancholy.

img_20161004_132712_hdr

Petrie Island, Orleans, ON — photo by David Kitz

What is the cause of this melancholy—this depression verging on despair? David attributes his current ill health to sin. He has sinned and is bearing the consequences of his sin. His words of confession make this perfectly clear. Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.

What a refreshingly different approach to one’s problems! Rather than blaming others or blaming God, David takes responsibility for his self-inflicted difficulties. How different from the pop-psychology of today! Rather than deal with the sin issue we are often advised to pop a pill, blame a parent, a colleague or society in general. Rather than take our problems to God the world encourages us to indulge ourselves with another bottle, another doughnut or another spouse, meanwhile, our putrid load of sin piles ever higher.

David was on the right track when he confessed his sin to the LORD. He laments, “My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.”

Thanks be to God! He can handle our sinful folly. He sent Jesus to die on the cross to wipe away our sins. Healing, forgiveness and redemption are available through the blood Jesus shed.

Response: LORD God, I thank you for Jesus. I am thankful that I can put my complete trust in you. You forgive me and cleanse me from all my sins. I am saved by your amazing grace not by my effort. Amen.

Your Turn: When was the last time you truly lamented over sin in your life?

The Plans of the Nations

22 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by in Bible, Devotionals, Psalm 33, Psalms

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Reading:                                     Psalm 33

(Verses 10-15)
The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do (NIV).

Reflection
I confess I am a bit of a history buff. I am currently reading The War that Ended Peace by Margaret MacMillan. The subtitle is The Road to 1914. As you might guess, it highlights the causes of World War I. Throughout, the author meticulously points out that war was not inevitable. A change in course by any of the key players in the years leading up to 1914 could have prevented this monumental catastrophe. Each nation had plans and objectives that they considered in their best interest. Quite naturally the pursuit of those plans led to conflict with neighbouring nations with opposing objectives.

2017-08-09e

MosaiCanada 150, Jacques Cartier Park, Gatineau, Quebec — photo by David Kitz

What does the psalmist say about national objectives? The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. 

Nations pursue their own perceived national interest. Despite the rhetoric we sometimes hear, they do not pursue the plans and purposes of the LORD. For political leaders national self-interest trumps the purposes of God. In fact the purposes of God are seldom considered. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Was it God’s plan and purpose to have millions of Christian believers go to their slaughter in World War I? Many atheists purport that this is what we believe. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are responsible for our own actions. God does not cause war. Humans cause war and they carry it out. Why should we suddenly blame God for what we have engineered through our own dogged stupidity? Blaming God for our own arrogant idiocy is the pinnacle of irresponsibility, yet we do it all the time, both on a national and a personal level. Most often we are the author of our own disaster. We stubbornly fail to pull back and change course before it’s too late.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.

Response: LORD God, thank you for choosing me to be to be one of your people. Help me to live a life that is pleasing to you, my Father. You watch over me. You, O LORD are my inheritance, and first and foremost I am a citizen of your eternal Kingdom. Amen.

Your Turn: How does personal conflict escalate? Do you blame God rather than yourself?