Patience and Trust! (Psalm 37) Day 5

Please read Psalm 37

First a story on patience - Little Johnny asked his kindergarten teacher for help to put on his snow boots. The teacher who saw the boy’s struggle tried to help.  Even with all her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn't want to go on. By the time she got the both boots on, the teacher worked up a sweat. Then little Johnny said, "Teacher, They're on the wrong feet." The teacher once again struggled as she pulled the boots off.  Finally the boots were of and after some struggle the boots were on the right feet. Then Johnny said, "These aren't my boots." She wanted to scream, “ Why didn’t you tell me” but again she took his boots off – struggling and panting. Then she asked Johnny “Where are the boots you wore to school today”. He said pointed to the boots that came off “I wore these boots to school”. The teacher was upset “What do you mean these are the boots you wore to schools today? You just told me they aren’t your boots!” Johnny said “They aren’t. They're my brother's boots. My Mom made me wear them." The teacher didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. Again patiently she wrestled the boots back onto Johnny’s feet and then she helped him into his coat and checked his pockets for his mittens. Finding no mittens in his pockets, she asked “ Johnny, where are your mittens?" He said, "They are in my boots - stuffed them in the toes of my boots."

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm. It is not addressed to God but to man. In one way this psalm reads more like a Proverb. Also, v.11 begins “But the meek shall inherit the land…”. Does that sound familiar? It is the third beatitude “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

So let’s see what David teaches us in the first eleven verses today. Psalm 37 provides great advice. When David writes “Fret not yourself..”(v.1), he is telling us be patient, and not get worked up because evil people and wrongdoers are doing better than us.  Paul also writes about Christian love “Love is patient and kind;” ( 1 Corinthians 13:4).  Peter in his second epistle teaches us God’s patience. “The Lord is …. is patient toward you…” (2 Peter 3:9). So we are taught to be patient – so what does a patient man do? He waits. How does he wait? Who does he wait for? From v.3 we learn “Trust in the Lord, … befriend faithfulness” So let’s trust in our God’s Word, Wisdom and Grace and in faith wait on the Lord!

David’s teaching in other verses emphasizes trust and patience “⁵ Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”(v. 5);  and “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (v. 7); He is also teaching us not to react - “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself” (v.8) to evildoers. What happens if we do react to evildoers? David provides the answer  “it tends only to evil” (v.8) and in the end (v. 11) we learn “the meek shall inherit the land…” Jesus’ third beatitude in Matthew 5 is just a statement but in Psalm 37 we are provided an explanation.

So let’s trust God and patiently wait on Him and one day you and I will enjoy the “treasure in heaven”, i.e. the company of Jesus who died on the cross for your sins and my sins and rose on the third day for your salvation and my salvation.

Teach me O God, to trust in You and Your Word and also to wait patiently on you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Cleansed by the Blood (Psalm 51) – Day 4

Please read Psalm 51

In v.7 David asks God “Purge me with hyssop,…wash me”.  He is asking God to remove his sins completely so that he will be “clean” and “whiter than snow”; David wants to be unstained by sin.

David refers to hyssop, which is a small plant.  In Israel, a bunch of hyssop was used to dip into blood and then the blood was sprinkled to ceremonially cleanse lepers (Leviticus 14:6,7). When David asks God to purge/cleanse him with hyssop, he realizes that the cleansing has to come from outside of himself.  He also acknowledges a costly cleansing – the sacrifice of a life. And that sacrifice cannot be the life of another sinner; it has to be the life of someone innocent. So David understands that he cannot cleanse himself and he looks up to God to cleanse him.

Dear brother and sister in Christ, do you realize that you and I, sinners, cannot cleanse ourselves from our sinful condition? Our One True God cleanses us, i.e. sets us free from sin. The good news is that Jesus the Christ died for your sins and my sins according His Father’s will and plan, and on the third day rose from the dead for your salvation and my salvation.  In The Glorious Exchange, Christ achieved for us what we cannot do or achieve. His death on the cross brings us life and he took our sins and gave us His Righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). You and I should be suffering the wrath of God but in Christ God reconciles us to himself.  And that is good news!

The story is told of a chicken farmer who fled his home and farm during a fire. Before he ran off the property, the farmer opened the doors of the hen house and the chickens escaped the fire too. After the fire died, the farmer walked through his property, dejected and sad. He came to a hen lying on the ground, partly burnt to death with her wings spread wide open. Since he thought that all of his chickens fled the fire, the farmer was surprised to see a dead hen, and in disgust kicked the hen’s body. Then, to his surprise he saw two chicks run out from under the dead hen’s body. The mother hen took the fire to save the two chicks.  Jesus our Savior did that for us. He spread His arms on the cross and saved us from God’s wrath.

 

Dear Lord Jesus: I acknowledge that your suffering, sacrifice and death cleanse me with you blood. I thank you for cleansing me. Amen!

O God, cleanse me from MY sin. Day 3

Please read Psalm 51

In verses 1 to 9 we see how the psalmist, King David, approaches God, portrays himself during the confession of his sins, and talks about true restoration.

The psalm begins with David coming to God and pleading for forgiveness- “ Have Mercy” David pleads. Now David is the King of Israel, God’s chosen people. He vanquished Israel’s enemies. Singlehandedly, he killed Goliath, lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:36). He did many great deeds – but he does not approach God on his own merits, and does he blame others for his sins. David discerns that he cannot argue, reason or bargain with God, and that he cannot justify his own sinful deeds. So he approaches our God of “steadfast love” and pleads for His Mercy.

Next David talks about his sin. David IS AWARE of his sins and he uses three phrases to talk about his sin. First he uses the phrase “my transgressions”(v.1), and then he talks about “my iniquity” and “my sin”(both v.2). And he calls his sinful deeds “evil”(v.4). By using the word ‘my’, David owns to the sins he committed. It is also interesting that while King David’s words are about his personal sin, he addresses it ‘to the choirmaster’ – i.e., he makes his confession public.

The Hebrew word for transgression is the rebellious and willful overstepping of the boundary set by God. Iniquity means perversion. Sin means missing the mark (like an archer missing the set target)- the mark set by God. Using the three words David acknowledges the gravity of his sin and that he has sinned against God.

So David is a broken, desolate man. But he knows the ‘good news’ because he realizes the source of forgiveness, good news, joy etc. He knows that it is his(our) God who ‘delights in truth in the inward being’ (God knows your heart),  is the God who ‘teaches wisdom’, ‘purges to clean’, ‘ washes (filthy rags) to whiten’, speaks words that bring ‘joy and gladness’, makes the ‘broken to rejoice’ and ‘hides and blots sins’. David is teaching us the state of restoration that only God can provide.

As you can see dear brother and sister in Christ, David realizes that God is the only way out of his sinful and miserable state. How about us? Do we truly understand and own our sins? I am reminded of the story of Little Johnny. Johnny was nervous. It was the first day of school – his first day – he was going to kindergarten. He was the only son of his doting and loving parents. So his mother took Johnny to school and meets little Johnny’s kindergarten teacher and told her “my Johnny is somewhat of a trouble maker and mischievous. So whenever he causes trouble spank the kid sitting next to Johnny, and that will scare my son and he will behave.” And just like Johnny’s mom we try to blame others and expect them to suffer for our sins -instead of owning them.

Gracious LORD: I appeal to your mercy that you would forgive my sin of (name your sin(s) here) which I commit. For Jesus sake forgive me. Amen.