The Secret in Psalm 23:1

I have been slowly working my way through the Psalms, and I recently made it up to Psalm 23. This is such a familiar passage that it would have been very easy to just roll right through it without stopping to contemplate its great meaning and depth. After all, I've had it memorized since childhood. I decided to go through it very slowly, but I didn't think I'd be this slow. I was stopped at the very first verse ----

I lack nothing. Nothing? Do I really believe that there is nothing I lack, or do I constantly have a long list of things that I think I need?

“The Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need” (NLT).

Is everything that is on my list actually a need, or is it mostly wants?

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (ESV).

I shall not? Is being able to say “I lack nothing” just a matter of will? Can I just decide that I will be satisfied with what I have and not beg God for a long list of more and more?

Psalm 23:1 reminds me of the apostle Paul's very well-known statement that he “can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13 NIV). Paul is not saying that he can accomplish every goal that he sets for himself, but in order to see what it is that he can do and how this verse reflects Psalm 23:1, we need to back up to verse 12.

It had never occurred to me before, but it appears that Paul’s statement in Philippians 4:12-13 can be seen as a restatement of Psalm 23:1. Paul says, 

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:12-13 NIV). 

In other words, I think Paul is saying, The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing –I have all that I need –I shall not want.

Paul says that he has learned the secret of being content in any circumstance. How do we learn his secret ---this ability to be content, the ability to honestly say "I lack nothing," the ability to be satisfied with what we do have –especially in a culture where we are daily bombarded with all the stuff that we “need”?

Whatever our current situation – whether we have very little or very much –we can succumb to an attitude of discontentment and of always wanting more. If I’m not content when I have more than enough, might God take it away until I have learned to be content in Him, trusting Him as my shepherd and provider? In the same way, if I’m not content when I have little to nothing, might God leave me in that situation until I have learned to be content with what I have and not constantly be searching for and desiring more and more?

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing –I have all that I need –I shall not want…I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…”

The secret to being able to say "I lack nothing" seems to lie with trusting the Lord as my shepherd --my guide, my provider, my master, my strength. While I can’t say, like Paul, that “I have learned the secret…” maybe I can say “I am learning the secret of being content and of being able to say "I lack nothing." 

Have the Mind of Christ in Your Marriage

A quick Amazon search of "marriage books" reveals over 260,000 results. A search of "Christian marriage books" reveals almost 28,000 options. Within these thousands of book options, many of them tell us how to change our actions. They offer helpful to-do lists of tasks to do for your spouse. One of these nearly 28,000 Christian marriage books, 9 Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage, by Sheila Wray Gregoire, comes at it from a little different angle. While Gregoire does offer a number of practical application tasks and ideas, what sets her book apart is her focus on our mind ---how we think about our spouse, more than merely what we do for our spouse --which will in turn affect our actions.

Some of her advice on our thoughts include remembering that our spouse is our neighbor, and Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves, which should greatly affect how we treat them. She advises her readers to focus their thoughts and attention on their marriages so it doesn't drift out with the tide due to neglect or taking it for granted. She reminds us that we cannot expect our spouse to fulfill a role for us that only God can fill, and a reminder that we cannot change our spouse and mold them into what we want or expect. We must remember that the partners in a marriage are on the same team ---not in competition with each other. We also need to allow our spouse to be our spouse, and only allow God to be God.

I especially found her approach to submission very compelling (Chapter 5). She acknowledges that the usual definition of submission is that in the case of a disagreement, the husband wins --the wife is to blindly obey and defer to her husband's position, regardless of the outcome. I love that Gregoire quotes The Princess Bride, saying of the word submission, "I don't think it means what you think it means."

To illustrate her understanding, she walks through two Scriptural narratives: the story of Nabal and Abigail, in which she (correctly) did not blindly obey her husband (1 Samuel 25) and the story of Ananias and Sapphira, in which she (incorrectly) did blindly obey her husband, much to her own detriment (Acts 5:1-11). Gregoire advises to focus on unity of the marriage and asking the question 'What does God want me to do in this situation', not blind, dutiful "submission."

My capsule version of Gregoire's advice in this book is to "have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16 NIV), especially in regards to our spouse.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

When the Lord Says "Watch This!"

Remaining strong and hopeful while waiting on the Lord can be so difficult –especially as your season of waiting grows long or as the situation grows hopeless.

I wonder if a friend of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus may have offered this verse to them as a word of encouragement while they waited for Jesus to show up and heal Lazarus. Someone may have said to them, ‘I know you are concerned because Lazarus is sick and even though you sent word to Jesus, he hasn’t come yet. Remember what the psalmist said –wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’

As Lazarus grew sicker and sicker, were Mary and Martha able to wait patiently for Jesus? Were they able to remain strong? Did they continue to have hope in their hearts? What happened to their hope when Lazarus died and Jesus still had not come?

I’m reminded of the end of the wedding scene in The Princess Bride when Buttercup is completely shocked and devastated because Westley did not come in time to rescue her from Prince Humperdink. It was with a deep sense of disappointment and hopelessness that she uttered, ‘he didn’t come.’

Like Princess Buttercup, Mary and Martha must have wondered why Jesus didn’t come and why He didn’t make it to Bethany “on time” to heal Lazarus and save the day. They must have wondered why Jesus was so slow. Didn’t he know what was going on and what they were going through in His absence? Didn’t He love them and their brother Lazarus? 

I find it interesting that John notes for us that “although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days” (John 11:5-6 NLT). His delay was not because He didn’t love them or want what was best for them or everyone else around them.

As the stone was sealed over the tomb, Mary and Martha must have seen their situation as finished and hopeless. As everyone knows, death is final and there was nothing else that could be done. It was over. Even Jesus couldn’t do anything for them at this point. Lazarus was dead, as was their hope. And this was all because Jesus was too slow in getting to them --at least in their understanding.

The apostle Peter was there and witnessed this entire event. I wonder if he had this in mind at all when he wrote, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness…” (2 Pet 3:9 NIV). How do we understand slowness? God not acting on our personal timeline? Or not acting according to our own finite understanding?

The Lord says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is 55:4 NIV). His thoughts and ways are not just a little bit higher than ours. We can’t just reach a little higher or think a little deeper or concentrate a little harder and be able to wrap our minds around the Lord’s ways and thoughts, just as we can’t stretch high enough to reach into outer space or even to touch the clouds in the sky.

Mary and Martha’s plan was for Jesus to come before Lazarus died and for Jesus to restore Lazarus to health. While this would have been a good, miraculous event, it was nothing compared to what Jesus did for them. He didn’t just restore health to a living person. He brought a dead, rotting, stinking corpse back to life. While healing Lazarus from his illness would have been nice, raising him from the dead after four days was a glorious, spectacular, incomprehensible miracle that no one expected --a miracle that could only be performed by the One who “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Eph 3:20 NIV).

Raising Lazarus from the dead was far beyond what Mary and Martha could have asked or imagined, and they would have missed it if Jesus had succumbed to their plans, their requests, and their timeline. Jesus waited until the situation seemed completely and utterly hopeless before He stepped in and said “Watch this!”

So again, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Ps 27:14 NIV) and wait for God to step into your hopeless situation and say “watch this!”

Through the Storm

I don’t like storms, and I really don’t like to drive in them. I do not want to drive through a torrential downpour or get beat up by hail stones or attempt to keep the car on the road and make it to shelter during a threatening tornado. If I had to guess, I’d say that there are not many people who do like to be out in this type of weather. It’s scary. Probably most of us prefer the safety of solid protection. Strong, reliable protection. Tested protection. Something we know is going to outlast the storm.

During a recent worship service, I was struck by one particular phrase in the chorus of “Cornerstone,” an updated version of the old hymn, “The Solid Rock.”[1] The song speaks about putting our hope in Christ alone and building our lives with Him as our foundation. The chorus is:

Christ alone, Cornerstone,

Weak made strong in the Savior’s love

Through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all.[2]

Jesus is Lord through the storm. He is the firm, unmoving anchor that we can put our hope in, even during the storms of life. What really struck me recently about this is that if we don’t go through any storms in life (whether they be spiritual, emotional, financial, or anything else that threatens to shake us up), how can we sing with conviction that Jesus is Lord through the storm?

If I build a house on the beach and try to guarantee that it will withstand hurricane-force winds, how will anyone believe me unless that house has been through a storm and has stood firm? If I claim to be anchored to Jesus and stand firm on Him as my foundation, how will anyone believe me unless I have been through the storm and lived to tell about it?

I have been through a number of different storms. Some of them were only a little summer rainstorm, but others involved hurricane-force winds. Some of them threatened to knock me loose from my foundation. But they didn’t. Every time I hit bottom, the Lord speaks to me in some way –through a friend, through a Scripture passage, through a sermon, through a song –and tells me that He is still here. He is still with me. A foundation built on Christ can withstand the storms.

“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken.’” (Is 28:16 NLT)

Through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all.

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[1] Text by Edward Mote; Music by William B. Bradbury

[2] Edward Mote, Eric Liljero, Jonas Myrin, Reuben Morgan; CCLI Song #6158927

Words of Comfort

Christmas music is playing everywhere now. It’s on the radio, in the stores, and in our Sunday morning worship gatherings. Some are new songs, and some have been around for decades. Do you ever really listen to and think about the meaning of the lyrics to any of them, especially the ones you have sung since you were a child, or do you just sing along out of familiarity without thinking about what they mean? This week, a friend and I were discussing one such old Christmas carol.

Have you ever thought much about the phrase “tidings of comfort and joy” that we sing at the end of each verse of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”? The phrase “tidings of joy” is easy.  At the birth of Jesus, the angel announces, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10 KJV). I see tidings of joy, but where are the tidings of comfort? Are we even promised comfort? Are we ever promised a time when we can put up our feet and experience a life of ease?

Jesus seems to promise just the opposite. He says we must carry a cross in order to be His disciple (Luke 9:23), we must be a servant (Matt 20:26-28), and we must give up everything to follow Him (Luke 14:25-35). So where are the words of comfort and ease…the tidings of comfort? Is "tidings of comfort" an appropriate phrase for this Christmas carol? I thought I would investigate this dilemma.

To quote my favorite movie, The Princess Bride: “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.”[1] That seems to be the case here with the word comfort. I found a blog entry from December 2005 entitled “Tidings of Comfort and Joy,” written by an Episcopal priest. He references Isaiah 40:1-2, “Comfort, comfort, my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins,” and explains the word comfort this way:

The original meaning of comfort is “to make strong” –to fortify. It is about taking heart and being encouraged, being strengthened with resolve and given hope that there is better to come. Comfort is not about feeling warm and cozy, it is about facing the future with trust in God and hope in one’s heart, no matter how bad things might have been in the past, or how they might appear at the present. It is a call to be prepared and strong for the good of the days to come…

That makes much more sense than tidings of ease, prosperity, and warm fuzzy blankets! I looked up what he said about the history of the word comfort and he is right. The Oxford Dictionary says comfort is “from late Latin confortare ‘strengthen’, from com- (expressing intensive force) + Latin fortis ‘strong’. The sense ‘something producing physical ease’ arose in the mid 17^th century.”[2]

I love this old/new definition of “tidings of comfort.” Words of strength and encouragement for the days to come are certainly “tidings of comfort” that many of us can use because we are not living in a world of ease and luxury. There are so many among us who are suffering physically or emotionally, or who have to endure days of uncertainty, grief, or darkness.

The birth of Jesus…the arrival of God incarnate…the presence of Immanuel, brings us not only “tidings of joy,” but also “tidings of comfort” – not the warm fuzzy kind but the strengthening, encouraging, fortifying kind of comfort. He may not have us living in the lap of luxury here, but He does want us to be strong and courageous. He wants us to live in faith, not fear. Be encouraged by these tidings of comfort.

Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more. I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God” (Psalm 71:20-22a NIV).

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[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIP6EwqMEoE (accessed December 9, 2015).

[2] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/comfort (accessed December 9, 2015).