"Why...In Despair? Hope In God"

"Why are you bowed down ('in despair'), O my soul?  And why are you disquieted within me?  Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, my God."  (Psalm 42:5)

Some may remember the song which was written for Frank Sinatra by Paul Anka, "My Way."  It could be the American "national anthem," perhaps the "anthem" of all humanists.  "My way" was never a good way.  It was self-made, self-perpetuating, self-aggrandizing.  Results, not good.  I'm sure you can identify with this. 

The psalmist asked himself as to why he was, "bowed down, in despair."  He could not understand why his soul was, "disquieted within [him]."  The Word for, "disquieted," can mean to, "murmur, to growl."  It is akin to an undercurrent of complaining and frustration.  Webster's says that the English word means, "a lack of peace."  This is what the life style of "My Way" produces.

Apparently the psalmist was able to "come to his senses" when he said, "Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him."  There are some variances in the translation of the next statement, but I believe this to be the best one, "....For the help of His countenance, my God."  The Word, "countenance," means, "Face," and is sometimes translated, "Presence."  The New Covenant "version" of this is in 2 Corinthians 4:6, "For it is the God Who commanded light to shine out of darkness, Who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ."  What Glorious, "Countenance"!

So there you have it, my friend.  "My Way" vs, "....the help of His Face."  The choice is continually ours.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I am so very grateful, "for the help of His Face...."  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"Obscures...Plans...Without Knowledge"

"Who is this that obscures My plans without knowledge?...Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?...Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?  Can you loosen Orian's belt?" (Job 28, NIV)

If Job, "obscures...plans...without knowledge," what were the others doing?

Regular readers are probably hoping I "get over" the Book of Job.  But Job is one of the, if not the earliest Writings of the Covenant People.  Maybe we can say that Job has certain precedential authority in Divine Revelation.  Our text is "The Eternal One," Father, Son and Holy Spirit, challenging Job to consider just what he had been attempting to accomplish in his theological discourse.  

The events of the Book of Job could have transpired over a period of a month, or more, while all this time God was silent; then, His first Words, "Where were you?"  This is a fundamental "wake-up-to-reality" of Jesus, "The Word of God," to Job.  It is quite clear: "Job, I was here before all of it; you weren't.  How could you ever hope to understand?"  The opening discourse of, "The Word of God," is full of irony, even a sort of Divine sarcasm, "Tell Me if you understand....Surely you know!...For you were already born!  You have lived so many years!"

You and I need the same "challenge" and reminder from time to time.  Perhaps it would lessen anxiety, frustration, and any attempts to "make sense of it all."  And there is something which I am seeing more and more as the years go by:  For some of life, there just are no answers, no "explanation," nothing to satisfy our humanistic bewilderment.  "Come to Me...and learn from Me," saith the Lord Jesus Christ.  In Jesus and His Words alone is the "relief" from life's bewilderment.

Father, in Jesus' Name, "Out of life's storm and into Thy calm,

                                            Out of distress to jubilant psalm,

                                            Jesus, I come to Thee!"  Amen.

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Read:  "Latin America Is Collapsing and Taking America With It" at: jhs58.blogspot.com

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"The Waves May Roll, But They Cannot Cross...."

"'Should you not fear Me?' declares the Lord.  'Should you not tremble in My presence?  I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot cross it.'"  (Jeremiah 5:22, NIV)

So much "happens" in life which no one can understand, though the proud among us w0uld not agree.  Nevertheless, humanity can observe human existence, the Universe, and come to whatever conclusion it chooses, but Jesus comforts us with the Truth of, "I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross."  This is "basic" Biblical Theology.  It is sort of a conformation of, "banks on the creek." 

Though you and I cannot understand, grasp, even, dare we say, make any "conclusive sense" out of the Universe, we are nonetheless inside His, "boundary."  You may have, or are now experiencing what the old hymn describes as, "troubles assail, and dangers affright."  But our text is "shouting out" to us today, "I made the...boundary....They cannot cross it."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You for Your protecting, "boundary."  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"All The Days Of My Warfare"

"For truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you."  (Job 36:4)

I'm still in Job, and here is another presumptuous statement of the young Elihu, an untested person.  The NLT says, "for I am a man of great knowledge."  Woah!  I'm sorry, but did I miss the word "humility" somewhere?

The Book of Job is considered by some scholars to be the oldest of the Biblical Writings.  If that is true, then apparently Jesus Christ, "The Word of God," is telling humanity something about how "life works."  Maybe it is another way of saying, "Everything's [Not] Coming Up Roses."  This is a life principle which the "seeker friendly" people will just not accept.  

I have never been a "why" person.  The update on Lucy which I sent to you earlier, however, has left me heart-broken, and, with no answer.  I know that we are all in "post Fall" mode.  Our "parents" just blew it in the Created Purpose, and, everything literally "went down hill ever after."  But my heart just breaks for Lucy and her family.  Maybe from time to time you can just say on their behalf, Father, in Jesus' Name have mercy on Lucy and her family."

People greatly desire some kind of "answer" to such suffering in the world.  I just don't really have one.  But I do have the Promises of Jesus.  You also know Them/Him, right?  And, just as Paul, you and I declare, "....but I press on...."  Job too pressed on.  At one point, in the midst of the terrible suffering, he said, "All the days of my warfare will I wait til my time comes."  He did.  Yet we always need to keep in mind that for some throughout Covenant History the, "time," was the time of passing from this life to the next.  While I can say that this is not an excuse for my unbelief, just fact, I can also say that should be okay for us, not a disappointment, not a reason to give up and quit, get "mad at God," become cynical, and all the rest of the self-destructive paths one can take.

So I call you and me today to, "take up the Cross and follow Me," viz., Jesus, not "our cross," but Jesus' Cross, not self pity or capitulation, but the triumphant victory cry from the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, "It Is Finished!"--- "Christus Victor!"  And I can assert something more: I want to press into walking in and praying for all that Jesus has for us.  Sometimes, quite frankly, I feel I do not.  Today I have felt this, as Paul said to the Roman Church, "I am a debtor to [Lucy and her famly]"  May it ever be!

Father, in Jesus' Name, have mercy on Lucy and her family, and all of us.  Amen.  

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* I am scheduled to be in DC, May 14 an 15.

* Two Updated New Reports on attacks upon Jews at: jhs58.blogspot.com

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2