A WHOLE LOT OF SHAKING GOING ON

Our daughter thought we were playing a trick on her, shaking her bed, until she realized that other bedroom items were swaying as well.

Down the hall, our bed was shaking too, but we thought it was our golden retriever getting stuck under it again, trying to shake his way loose—until both dogs were on the bed and the telling shaking continued a while longer.

We walked down to the corner grocery and saw food cans strewn through the aisles. 

Later that day I was giving a talk at a resort when suddenly I noticed the carpet-adorned floor roll before me, like when you press on a waterbed and see its contents shift.

Yes, it was an earthquake—mild as they go, about 3.5 at the New York/Vermont border.  We felt it in northern New Hampshire.  I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like closer to an epicenter.

In addition to shattered nerves and a nasty headache throughout the day, I was amazed to find my balance askew, as though I was trying to walk upon the deck of a moving ship.  Californians may be more used to it, but the Midwestern-born are trembler-challenged.

What does all this have to do with peace?  Everything.

Without trusting God to deliver you, you are subject to every shaking that goes on.  When the symbolic earth beneath your feet begins to move, you will be shaken to the core—unless you are on the Rock.  Your very sustenance may be under attack, but relationship with the Lord yields provision in diverse ways and diverse channels as needed.  When your “earth” shakes, your head may ache, your nerves may frazzle, and your walk may indeed be out of balance.  The angst that you find yourself in, though, will reverse when you reverse course, and walk with (instead of run from) Him.

b(Les)sings

Psalm 60

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.
 ²Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
 ³Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
 ⁴Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
 ⁵That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me.
 ⁶God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
 ⁷Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;
 ⁸Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me.
 ⁹Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
 ¹⁰Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?
 ¹¹Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
 ¹²Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

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.