HURRY, HURRY

People that have lived long enough to receive their congratulatory 100^th birthday anniversary wishes from our Commander in Chief can tell you how much any number of things have changed over the years, especially the various methodologies employed to speedily deliver a message one to another.

Since the first “marathon”, people have been looking for ways to get the message out faster and faster.  The telegram was eventually replaced by the mailgram (always a dumb idea in my estimation).  Now we’re up to cell phones, text messaging and the like.  Sometimes, a combination of old-fashioned telephone and police radio transmissions team up for spectacular results too.

It was late winter, 1978.  I was on a weekend trip to Schiller Park, Illinois, with our junior college Circle K group (college chapter of Kiwanis International).  We were meeting for a regional convention at the Howard Johnson.  We befriended many an interesting person during the visit, and found it had a lot to do with another group that was meeting at the hotel at the time, an EST Seminar.

An acronym for Erhard Seminar Training (a.k.a. Est Standard Training), the participants would meet for 60 hours over the course of two 30 hour weekend sessions.  The course had as its goal, the motivation to see peoples’ lives change for the better—especially those that were grappling with self-esteem issues, or those generally doing battle with the world.  Word had it to be a very expensive endeavor for the participants, who were under strict control of the leader(s), in order that their thinking might be reshaped. 

As a psychology student, I was very interested in eavesdropping on the sessions when not in Circle K meetings (or the pool).  The verbiage and tone of the instructors seemed to be at the very least, harsh—but what caught my attention, and the attention of a hotel operator—was the verbal thrashing that one of the Seminar workers was giving an elderly lady that could have easily passed for Tweety’s owner.

Apparently, because she had committed the grievous error of eventually going to the bathroom after having been told several times that she could not leave to do so, she stood outside the ballroom, being told she could not come back for the rest of the seminar, and that none of the thousands of dollars she’d spent would be returned. 

The loud voice of the instructor and the sobbing of the elderly lady carried from where they were to the hotel desk.  The attendant sent the security guard over to talk with the man, except the man did not seem terribly interested in civil discourse.  Things became more and more heated—so much so that I decided to walk outside to literally get a breath of fresh air.  It wasn’t a full minute later that nine police cars showed up—two with galloping police dog German Shepherds in tow, two with shotguns at the ready, the others with revolvers out of their respective holsters—I nearly got knocked over.

Apparently what happened is that in the heat of the “discussion”, in a moment of panic the hotel operator said, “Officer needs assistance” instead of “Security officer needs assistance.”  I was instantly in love and awe with how passionately one law enforcement officer would come to the aid of another thought to be in distress.

That’s the way it is with God and you. 

God hurries to help you when you call upon Him for the help.  He sends out His reinforcements to assist and drives your enemies away.  You stay—they flee.  Your enemies become filled with your former dread, as you become filled with the contentment of God.

b(Les)sings

Psalm 70

New King James Version (NKJV)

–To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. To bring to remembrance.

 ¹ Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
         Make haste to help me, O LORD!
        
 ² Let them be ashamed and confounded
         Who seek my life;
         Let them be turned back^[a] and confused
         Who desire my hurt.
 ³ Let them be turned back because of their shame,
         Who say, “Aha, aha!”
        
 ⁴ Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
         And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
         “Let God be magnified!”
        
 ⁵ But I am poor and needy;
         Make haste to me, O God!
         You are my help and my deliverer;
         O LORD, do not delay.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 70:2 Following Masoretic Text, Septuagint, Targum, and Vulgate; some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac read be appalled (compare 40:15).

SO MUCH TO SAY, SO LITTLE TIME--PART I

 

I would like to take a moment to have all readers rise with me and thank my wife.  Without her, I would not have thought to break this formidable treatise on Psalm 34 into two parts—“Thank you, dear." Please be seated.

Years ago, I delivered coffee and bottled water products for a company out of Elgin, Illinois.  After helping to set up a new account in a small, rented, modular building (it resembled a cross between a trailer home and the caboose of a freight train), I followed up a few weeks later, making a second delivery. 

Conversation was buzzing among the dozen or so employees as I asked the young man to kindly sign my delivery ticket.  He saw the moment, seizing an opportunity.

“How much money do you make?” he asked.  “I knew where he was going, and didn’t think it was any of his business, so I truthfully replied, “An adequate hourly wage.”

He tried getting the specific amount a few more times before abandoning his effort. 

“If you sold _______for me, you could make $100,000 a year.  I’m making tons of money myself,” he said unconvincingly.  I thought to myself, “Yeah, you’re making so much money in sales that you’re an office clerk just for fun.”

He went on and on with the transparent embellishment until my soul simply could not take it anymore.  I felt a geyser of words springing forth from my belly, with authority and volume.

“Son, money didn’t buy my salvation!”

It was one of those E. F. Hutton moments.  Everyone had simultaneously stopped conversing and all heard.  I looked dumbfounded at the youth and pointing, said, “I’ll need your signature here please.” 

He signed, looking confused in the process, as though thinking deeply about something.  The group conversation started up again and I left.

I returned three weeks later to meet with the police, who told me the company had literally moved out in the middle of the night.

What gave me peace to speak so boldly?  The God of the Word.  Like then, as now—spoken or written.  It’s that very Word that tells us how necessary words will be provided for us when we have need of them  (Luke 12: [11] And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:  [12] For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say—KJV).

It has been poetically said, “Whatever is down in the well comes up in the bucket, “ and as Jesus said, ‘Out of the abundance of man’s heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).  My well had the Word of God in it—the peace that salvation is.  The words are peace to those that drink of them and speak of them—and peace comes to those who apply those words in their lives.

On another matter, our daughter will tell you that I never fail to brag on her when given a chance (and sometimes I’ve been known to make chances to do so).  I don’t do it to build her up—or myself for that matter—but that the Father that helped me with her upbringing may be glorified.

David tells us that his soul shall make its boast in the Lord, and doing that brings us peace because it reminds us of how kept we are by a sovereign God—and how we don’t have to rely upon ourselves to do the job.

Coming up—Part II.

SHEPHERDING

I never understand all the technical elements of Fox’s House M.D., but I always enjoy the show.  It’s like the way most of us look at the 23^rd Psalm.  We know about it—or perhaps can even recite it from memory—but we don’t really understand the details.  Just as a medical doctor undoubtedly appreciates the program more than the rest of us, so an actual caretaker of sheep is likely to have greater appreciation for the famous passage.  That’s where Phillip W. Keller comes in.

Keller authored A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, which is a superb book, written by a former shepherd.  He gives insight into things we would not otherwise have knowledge of.  It would be like watching House M.D. with a doctor by your side.

Without rehashing the book verbatim, let me just touch on some highlights for you.

Sheep are stupid, and fortunately the shepherd that cares for them is not.  Because of this reality, the sheep in the shepherd’s care are content, thus not “wanting”.  And, because they are not wanting, they are at peace. 

Do you know how picky sheep can be?  According to Keller there are four criteria that need to be met before sheep have enough peace to “lie down in green pastures”.  Imagine that— as sheep we are so stupid that we won’t rest where we should without His help!

My late wife used to analyze water for the city of Crystal Lake, Illinois, and as such would alert her supervisors to unseen health hazards she discovered.  Sheep don’t have lab analysts but they do have a shepherd that makes sure they’re not drinking polluted waters that would otherwise sicken them. 

And if a sheep isn’t sick, it may need restoration as it can be “cast down”.  What does that mean?  Think of the old television commercial, “I’ve fallen—and I can’t get up!”

And if we don’t fall, we—as stupid sheep—so often long for the edge of the cliff, which is certain death.  The Good Shepherd leads us away from the attractions of life that are no good for us, and directs us instead to the most wholesome food through the journey, for it was Jesus Himself who said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” (Matt. 7:13--NKJV). 

The rod and the staff are two tools the Good Shepherd will use to help His sheep.  There are many uses for such, and they include correcting the sheep and beating off the enemies of the flock.  Thank God for a Shepherd that cares so much for His own.

Have you ever gone to a luxurious restaurant and had to set your own table?  Of course not.  But, even worse, can you imagine going to a fine dining establishment and having to cook your own food, much less with poisonous ingredients that you would not be able to discern as poisonous?  The “table” referred to here has to do with the physical location at the top of a mountain range, which needs to be “prepared” ahead of time, so that the sheep can enjoy a good meal, rather than succumb to the perils of the land.

And speaking of perils, as humans we probably don’t worry too much about flies and the like, but to a caring shepherd, controlling their effects are critical.  By anointing the head of a sheep in insect season, he/she can prevent the sheep from accidentally killing themselves, which can happen when running away from the flies in terror.    

Additionally, certain breeds of insects can be deadly to the sheep as well.  Furthermore, interestingly enough, flies don’t like the anointing—kind of like ancient Off!

The fact that goodness and mercy shall follow us all our days, and that we shall dwell in the Lord’s house forever (assuming that He is our Good Shepherd and we are His sheep), is tying the whole psalm together. 

In addition to revisiting the 23^rd Psalm, and checking out Keller’s book for yourself, also consider the following four Old Testament verses (ALL SCRIPTURE FROM NKJV)

Isaiah 53:6-7

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
      We have turned, every one, to his own way;
      And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
       ⁷ He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
      Yet He opened not His mouth;
      He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
      And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
      So He opened not His mouth.
Psalm 119: ¹⁷⁶ I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
         Seek Your servant,
         For I do not forget Your commandments.
 ³ Know that the LORD, He is God;
         It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;^[a]
         We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 100:3 Following Kethib, Septuagint, and Vulgate; Qere, many Hebrew manuscripts, and Targum read we are His.

Psalm 23

New King James Version (NKJV)

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

 ¹ The LORD is my shepherd;
         I shall not want.
 ² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
         He leads me beside the still waters.
 ³ He restores my soul;
         He leads me in the paths of righteousness
         For His name’s sake.
   
 ⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
         I will fear no evil;
         For You are with me;
         Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
   
 ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
         You anoint my head with oil;
         My cup runs over.
 ⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
         All the days of my life;

b(Les)sings

HOUSING: TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT

The word abide, found in the first half of the first verse of Psalm 15, refers to a temporary home—a tent, for example—whereas the dwelling place—in this case ‘God’s holy hill’—would be your house; your home away from home—or, as it were, heaven.  So then, the rest of the verses of the psalm answer the question as to who may walk with God, both in this life and the next.

Jesus takes away uncertainty about the afterlife—and the consternation that naturally follows such uncertainty-- for those that trust in the truthfulness of His words, when He told us in John 14:2-3 that He was leaving to prepare a place for His followers, that He was going to His Father’s house, and that where He was, there also would be those that believe in Him.  He states that if this were not the case, He would have told them that.  When you have confidence in another, and that person tells you not to be afraid—to have peace—you listen.

The remaining four verses discuss the attributes of such a “follower”.

For one thing, they do what is right, and would not be considered by others to be a hypocrite; they do what they say they will do, even when no one is watching.  Doing what is right brings peace, because we lack it when we do the things contrary to what God would have us do (or not) do.  It is the conflict that rages between the flesh and the Spirit.

For another thing, the follower doesn’t gossip about his neighbor nor does he accept gossip about him.  This of course begs the question, “Who is my neighbor?”  The same was asked of Jesus, and the answer is given in Luke 10:25-37.  In a nutshell—per Jesus--a neighbor is you, when you show mercy to another, be it friend or foe.

Likewise, such a follower has utter disdain for the things of the wicked.  I did not say he hates the wicked, but rather, the things the wicked person does.  Merely hating the wicked would not qualify such a person as a follower to begin with.  Such a person has no peace from the onset, for out of the abundance of the heart their mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).

As for verse 4 (“…He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;”), two personal stories readily come to mind (I’d love to hear yours as well—please leave a comment or email blogczarus@gmail.com). 

Years ago a fellow church elder was in dire financial straits through no fault of his own, and he was ready to lose his home—he was $15,000 in arrears and the deadline to satisfy the debt was rapidly approaching.  After much prayer, my late wife and I determined to refinance our mortgage, borrowing an extra $15,000 to extend to the family—I told him we would do this, and he was grateful.  When I was ready to close—literally at the table—the bank officer said, “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, we made a mistake.  If you borrow this extra $15,000, you’ll have to refinance for 30 years at a higher rate, not 15 years at the lower one (which we were going to do—keeping our current payment about the same).  That was going to mean much more indebtedness on our part—we kept our word, and our brother kept his home.  I told him he could pay back whatever he could whenever he could—to this day (about 20 years later) he hasn’t been able to—and that’s OK.

Many years later, we prepared to move back to Illinois from New Hampshire.  I was trying to sell the indoor miniature golf we’d started from the ground up.  Time was of the essence, as we had to vacate our leased space by the beginning of the following month.  Additionally, we had a home in Illinois that had been built for us, and was ready (we thought) to be moved into.  I’d advertised the business for about two months with no result.  Finally, 48 hours before my deadline, I told a man he could have the business for a song.  He was going to give it away to a friend in Vermont that needed an outside course to help augment his income.  Since our indoor course was made with pressure-treated wood and had never been outside it was a perfect fit.  I gave the $75,000 business away for $300.  And then, within the next 24 hours, I got several offers, including one for $100,000—all of which I turned down—because a promise was a promise.

The last verse of Psalm 5 explains that one that enjoys the company of the Lord will not lend his money expecting exorbitant interest in return, nor will he try earning money by accepting a bribe to pervert the justice of another.  He/she who does or doesn’t do as noted in the psalm, will walk in regular fellowship with the Lord—and that, is the greatest peace one could possibly have.

b(Les)sings

Psalm 15

New King James Version (NKJV)

Psalm 15

A Psalm of David.

 ¹ LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
         Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
     
 ² He who walks uprightly,
         And works righteousness,
         And speaks the truth in his heart;
 ³ He who does not backbite with his tongue,
         Nor does evil to his neighbor,
         Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
 ⁴ In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
         But he honors those who fear the LORD;
         He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
 ⁵ He who does not put out his money at usury,
         Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
     
         He who does these things shall never be moved.

THE DICTATOR NAMED ME

Do you ever feel like your prayers are not getting beyond your cathedral ceiling?  When you do feel that way, it can be because you’re not getting the answer you want to the request you’ve made.  There is a difference between, “God didn’t answer my prayer” and “God didn’t answer my prayer the way I demanded.”  Let me explain.

When we came back to Illinois from New Hampshire, once plentiful jobs were obsolete, and my lack of employment was not for lack of effort.  Finally, I got the second interview callback and things looked absolutely stupendous—I was going to start in a couple of days.  When I read the job description I told the Lord that’s the one I wanted—it was the “perfect” job for me.  After the second interview I was careful to thank Him and give Him praise—only something was wrong—they weren’t calling me back like they promised, nor were they responding to my requests for return calls.  Finally, I went back there in person and they simply told me, “We hired someone else.”

I was furious.

I was mad with them and I was especially mad at God.  Their being ignorant was one thing, but God was without excuse.  After attending my Saturday morning men’s prayer meeting the next day, my wife and I got into the car to go the local supermarket.  We had no sooner entered the store when I heard that blood-chilling, “Les?”  It was my stalker from three years ago—and had I gotten the job I wanted, he would have been working for me!  To say that I felt about as tall as worm dung in the presence of God would be an understatement.  The sovereignty, omniscience, and love of God prevented me from the disaster that would have been, had my prayer been answered the way I wanted it to be answered.  I was able to thank God for the peace I kept as a result of His saying, “No.” 

Help from your (Heavenly) Father is one thing—trying to help your earthly father can be quite another.

When I was four, I used to “assist” my dad in cutting the grass.  He had one of those turquoise blue Sunbeam electric mowers with the really cool start-up sound.  I had a plastic model that I pushed along behind him.  Of course I wasn’t doing a thing to help my father (except possibly keep him company), but I really did think I was.  Truth be told he was worried I might distract him and that consequently he’d run over the cord and electrocute himself like he had heard others had done. 

We’re all a little bit like four year-old Les.  We tell God what the problem is and what He needs to do to fix it.  We know we can improve our “chances” by helping Him along, but all we really do in the process is get in His way. 

Ironically, we have peace when we just let God be God without requiring Him to either get our permission or opinion before He acts.  Though our intentions may be right, if we demand how God can best do his job , rather than allowing Him to do it His way, He may just give us our request, and then have to listen to us complain about His having granted it—poor God.

b(Les)sings

Psalm 10

A Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil

 ¹ Why do You stand afar off, O LORD?
         Why do You hide in times of trouble?
 ² The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor;
         Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
     
 ³ For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire;
         He blesses the greedy and renounces the LORD.
 ⁴ The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
         God is in none of his thoughts.
     
 ⁵ His ways are always prospering;
         Your judgments are far above, out of his sight;
         As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
 ⁶ He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
         I shall never be in adversity.”
 ⁷ His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression;
         Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.
     
 ⁸ He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
         In the secret places he murders the innocent;
         His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
 ⁹ He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den;
         He lies in wait to catch the poor;
         He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
 ¹⁰ So he crouches, he lies low,
         That the helpless may fall by his strength.
 ¹¹ He has said in his heart,
         “God has forgotten;
         He hides His face;
         He will never see.”
     
 ¹² Arise, O LORD!
         O God, lift up Your hand!
         Do not forget the humble.
 ¹³ Why do the wicked renounce God?
         He has said in his heart,
         “You will not require an account.”
     
 ¹⁴ But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief,
         To repay it by Your hand.
         The helpless commits himself to You;
         You are the helper of the fatherless.
 ¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man;
         Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
     
 ¹⁶ The LORD is King forever and ever;
         The nations have perished out of His land.
 ¹⁷ LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;
         You will prepare their heart;
         You will cause Your ear to hear,
 ¹⁸ To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
         That the man of the earth may oppress no more--NKJV