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A Springboard for Your Spiritual Life

Praying like the Psalmists

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For centuries, Christians have looked to the psalms as a guide for prayer. No wonder, the raw emotion of the Psalms provides something for everyone no matter their situation or setting in life. Whether you are blessed beyond compare with health, wealth and salvation or you feel cursed and forsaken, the Psalms have prayers to echo what is in your heart. 

Even Jesus relied on the Psalms in His prayers, quoting the laments of Psalm 22:1 and Psalm 31:5 while on the cross. In my recent studies of the psalms, I have learned so much about prayer and praise. However, the number one point I’ve learned is tattooed across the pages of these writings. If we will ever pray like the Psalmists, we must see God as they did.

God is My Rock…

Whether the psalmists were ascending to heaven or making their bed in Sheol (cf. Psalm 139:8) they could pray because they were utterly dependent on God. Psalm 18:1-2 describes it extensively.

“I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

The amazing thing about Psalm 18 is this psalmist had been near death and in distress. Yet, he called upon the Lord? Why? So many in this place feel God has abandoned them and decide to abandon God. Why did this psalmist keep praying? Because no matter how he felt, he knew deliverance could only come from God. No matter what he was facing, he relied on God and surrendered to God. Instead of assuming God had to do everything his way on his time, he simply trusted God to take care of him on God’s time table. So, he kept crying out to God.

 

The Example of a Distressed Psalmist

Consider Psalm 10:1, 4. The psalmist begins saying:

“Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide ourself in times of trouble?”

Listen to this psalmist. I remember after Bette Middler made the Julie Gold song “From a Distance” famous the many well meaning Christians who seemed to rebuke everyone by saying, “If God is watching from a distance, who moved?” That seems meaningful and spiritual to us, but this Psalmist would have said, “God did and I’m begging Him to come back.” This violates our sensitivities. We know Hebrews 13:5-6, which says God never forsakes us. Therefore, we fear taking up this psalmist’s cry in our prayers. We see this as despair and doubt which lead to sin. However, that is not how they are pictured in Psalm 10.

This psalmist actually contrasts the wicked and the righteous. The contrast is not that they feel God is not watching. The psalmist starts his lament with that feeling. Then he describes the wicked in Psalm 10:4-11. In vs. 11 the wicked justifies his sin by saying, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” Just like the psalmist, he believes God hidden Himself. The difference is seen in Psalm 10:4. “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.'” 

Did you see the difference? In this psalm both the righteous and the wicked believe God has hidden his face. The wicked takes that feeling and decides God is not watching. He decides God must not exist. He uses this as justification to sin. The psalmist, on the other hand, feeling that God is hiding starts to seek for Him. By the end of the psalm, he lets his faith overrun his doubts and feelings. Even though he feels like God is hiding, he knows by faith God does see and will act. Psalm 10:14-15 says:

“But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none.”

Why can this psalmist whose feelings are covered over with so much despair that he will accuse God of hiding pray this prayer? Because he truly believes God is king forever (Psalm 10:16). Because, despite his feelings in the moment, he truly believe God hears him and will act based on his prayer (Psalm 10:17). Though he doesn’t use the terms found in some other psalms, like Psalm 18:1-2 noted above. The sentiment is the same. Even in his despair he can pray because God is his rock, his refuge, his redeemer.

 

The Springboard for Our Spiritual Lives

These are not sentimental terms to fill our praise songs. They are whole-hearted beliefs that anchored the psalmists no matter what was happening to them and no matter how their situation made them feel. Since God was their rock and refuge, whether times were good or bad, they could rest in Him. They could cry out to Him. They knew He was there. They knew He would listen. They knew He would act. Perhaps not on their time table. But He would deliver.

When we have that faith, we will pray like they did.

The Entire Serenity Prayer

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I’ve seen what is called the “Serenity Prayer” for years. Most commonly it is attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, written during the early 1930s. It became famous in modified form by 12 step programs. I’ve seen it cross-stitched on walls. I’ve seen it printed on posters. I’ve even seen it written on bathroom stalls. 

Until recently, I thought it only contained three lines:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

That little bit of the prayer has actually helped me in numerous situations. It has kept me from blowing up at people I cannot change. It has kept me from falling prey to temptations I cannot change. It has kept me from sinking in the mire of past actions I cannot change.

However, I have learned that the original prayer/poem was a bit longer and I want to share it with you.

 

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.

 

 I know this prayer is not inspired scripture. But it certainly was inspired by scripture. I want to remember this prayer. I want to remember that there are numerous things I cannot change and I need to quit wasting my time and energy trying to change those. There is something I can change, by the grace of God. That is me. May I always have the wisdom to remember that.

I want to live one day at a time (cf. Matthew 6:34) and quit trashing today by worrying about tomorrow. I want to trust that God will make all things right in His time. I want to surrender myself to His will and simply do the next right thing. Through that, I can have happiness, not through pursuing my own ideas. My best thinking messed me up. God’s thinking is what will save me and make tomorrow better.

Just thought I’d share.

The Psalms Teach Us to be Honest with Ourselves and with God

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I’ve been studying the Psalms a great deal lately. I came across this great statement from Walter Brueggemann’s Praying the Psalms. Instead of me commenting, tell me what you think about it.

“Note that the Psalms thus propose to speak about human experience in an honest, freeing way. this in contrast to much human speech and conduct which is in fact a cover-up. In most arenas where people live, we are expected and required to speak the language of safe orientation and equilibrium, either to find it so or to pretend we find it so. For the normal, conventional functioning of public life, the raw edges of disorientation and reorientation must be denied or suppressed for purposes of public equilibrium. As a result, our speech is dulled and mundane. Our passion has been stilled and is without imagination. And mostly the Holy One is not addressed, not because we dare not, but because God is far away and hardly seems important. This means that the agenda and intention of the Psalms is considerably at odds with the normal speech of most people, the normal speech of a stabled, functioning, self-deceptive culture in which everything must be kept running young and smooth.

“Against that, the speech of the Psalms is abrasive, revolutionary, and dangerous. It announces that life is not like that, that our common experience is not one of well-being and equilibrium, but a churning, disruptive experience of dislocation and relocation. Perhaps in our conventional, routinized prayer life (e.g., the daily practice of the office) that is one of the reasons the Psalter does not yield its power–because out of habit or fatigue or numbness, we try to use the Psalms in our equilibrium. And when we do that we miss the point of the Psalms. Moreover, our own experience may be left untapped and inarticulate and therefore not liberated…

“Thus I suggest that most of the Psalms can only be appropriately prayed by people who are living at the edge of our lives, sensitive to the raw hurts, the primitive passions, and the naive elations that are at the bottom of our life. For most of us, liturgical or devotional entry into the Psalms requires a real change of pace. It asks us to depart from the closely managed world of public survival, to move into the open, frightening, healing world of speech with the Holy One.”

A Prayer for Us

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Just this past weekend, I read for the first time the prayer attributed to Francis of Assisi. I was almost moved to tears. I hope to make the sentiments of this prayer my own every day.

 

Lord, make me a channel of your peace
–that where there is hatred, I may bring love
–that where there is wrong, I may bring a spirit of forgiveness
–that where there is discord, I may bring harmony
–that where there is error, I may bring truth
–that where there is doubt, I may bring faith
–that where there is despair, I may bring hope
–that where there are shadows, I may bring light
–that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted
–to understand, than to be understood
–to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.

Amen

All I could say was, “WOW!” What a great encapsulation of a godly life. That is my prayer for me today. That is my prayer for you today.

May God richly bless you as you draw closer to Him. More importantly, may you richly bless God.

The Bible is Our Treasure Map

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What is the Bible? No doubt I could talk about the collection of books. I could mention it’s two major sections, Old and New Testament. I could talk about the number of writers, the different languages, etc. But with all this, we still wouldn’t know what the Bible is.

Matthew 13:44 likens the kingdom of heaven to a treasure hidden in a field. I want to piggyback off that simile and present the Bible as the treasure map. It is the guide to get us to the right field, to dig in the right spot so we can have the right treasure. As II Peter 1:11 says, we want to enter “the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” However, the way to eternal life in that kingdom is not cheap, easy or natural. Matthew 7:13-14 says we must “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

God has given us the Bible to be our guide. It lights our way (cf. Psalm 119:105). This should affect how I read and apply it. Think about how we use any other map. Just a few weeks ago, I took a trip from Spring Hill, Tennessee to Chillicothe, Ohio. I pulled out my map to show the way. When I pulled out my map, I wasn’t trying to learn how to be good enough to get to Chillicothe. I simply had faith that my atlas would show me the way that worked. By following the roads the map showed, I wasn’t trying to earn my way to Chillicothe. I just wanted to go the right way or I wouldn’t get there. That is the way we should read the Bible. We can’t be good enough to earn heaven. The Bible wasn’t given so we could be good enough to earn heaven. If we gain eternal life in the eternal kingdom of heaven it will not be because we are good enough, but because God is good enough. Instead of reading the Bible so I can be good enough, I should read the Bible and apply it because God’s way works. God’s directions will really get me to that treasure.

This should also impact how we discuss the Bible with other folks. Let’s just say I made a wrong turn on my Chillicothe trip. For instance, let’s say I turned south on I-65 instead of north. How should I have responded if my wife said, “Hey, Edwin, you just made a wrong turn; you need to turn around”? Maybe I might say, “Why you judgmental, narrow-minded, nitpicky little Pharisee. Who gave you the right to tell me how to get to Chillicothe? Wow. You just think you’re the only person going to Chillicothe, don’t you.” That doesn’t make any sense at all, does it? The fact is, I can travel south on I-65 from Spring Hill and I’ll never get to Chillicothe, Ohio. I can call the person who tells me the right way all kinds of names, but that won’t make me get to Chillicothe. When someone says I’m going the wrong way, I just need to get out the map and see. If I’m going the wrong way, then I need to turn around or I’ll never get there. The same is true with the Bible. Instead of railing with all kinds of names, anger and hatred at those who tell me I’m going the wrong way, I need to just pull out the map God has given me. If they’re right, then I need to change, because if I’m going the wrong way, I’ll never get to my treasure. If I find they are wrong, then I can show them the map.

Of course, I know some of us seem to see the map differently. That saddens me, but I know it will be this way. After all, Jesus said only few will find the way to life. In this case, I simply pray that God will help me understand His guide. I can’t change just because someone else says I’m reading the map incorrectly and I don’t expect everyone else to change just because I say they are reading it incorrectly. However, I think we can have these discussions without all the fighting and hatred that comes up. We can let God do the judging. Granted, we may not be able to walk hand in hand because we are going different ways, but as we discuss these differences we can do it with love and compassion. In fact, I have the idea that if we all started reading the Bible as God’s guide to our treasure instead of the debate guide to argue our favorite point and prove we are right and others are wrong, we might just learn the key to figuring out the right way to eternal life. Let’s just surrender to what God has to say. He buried the treasure. He knows where it is and how to get to it. Why don’t we just do that? Not because we are earning the treasure. We can’t do that. No, it’s just because if God says the treasure is that way, we need to go that way or we’ll never get the treasure.

I’m ready to get that treasure, so I’m busy getting in the Word trying to figure out which way God is telling me to go. What are you doing?

 

By the way, in related news, my other blog, giveattentiontoreading.com, started a journey through the New Testament today that will last six months. If you’re interested in joining us, I invite you to hop over there, read and talk with us. We’re striving to learn God’s way to the treasure together.

“Do Hard Things”

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Do Hard Things. That’s what Alex and Brett Harris encourage in their recent book of the same title. This would be impressive enough if it were written to adults by adults. Instead, it is written to teens by teens. The Harris brothers are 19 year-old twins. At age 16, they interned at the Alabama Supreme Court. At seventeen, they served as grass-roots directors for four statewide political campaigns. By 18, they were the co-authors of the web’s most popular Christian teen blog. This year, they have co-authored a book that is destined to be a bestseller, if it hasn’t already reached that status.

If you are a teenager or plan to be someday, if you have children or grandchildren who are teenagers or plan to be someday, if you know a teenager, if you used to be a teenager, this book is for you. One warning to the post-teenagers: if you wasted your teen years, this book will produce a bit of shame and guilt. However, for me, it did it in a positive way that hasn’t made me linger in shame but rather encouraged me to get moving right now.

The Harris brothers challenge today’s teens to rebel against our culture’s low expectations. They take a decidedly Christian approach, but their book is helpful even if you are not a Christian. Their challenge is simple—Do Hard Things. Don’t take the easy path. Don’t take the path of least resistance. Don’t be satisfied with mediocrity from yourself even if everyone else thinks your mediocrity is excellent.

On the down side, I do think they missed the boat on what the Scriptures say regarding salvation. They tout the common evangelical line that salvation is by faith alone, despite the fact that the only place in the Bible the phrase “faith alone” is used is a passage saying justification does not come by faith alone (James 2:24). They totally ignore the role of baptism in becoming God’s child (cf. Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; I Peter 3:21). Also, while I recognize we can serve God no matter what our profession, I think they confuse this with actual missionary work. I think it is great that teenagers have become involved in the ending of modern day slavery, in providing houses for the needy and food for the homeless. Those works, as good as they are, however, are not fulfilling the great commission. The great commission is to teach the gospel to the lost and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (cf. Matthew 28:18-20).

Despite those problems, I think this book is a must read. I have no doubt my congregation will be getting some lessons this year inspired by the challenges I read in Do Hard Things. While much of what they said applies to secular profession or social concerns, the principles highly apply to spiritual lives, as the Harris brothers repeatedly point out. Jesus called His people to avoid the broad, wide, easy road and walk on the narrow, strait and difficult road. Jesus has called us to do hard things.

The cream of the book is the discussion of the “Five Kinds of Hard.” 1) Doing things outside your comfort zone. 2) Doing things that go beyond what is expected or required. 3) Doing things too big to accomplish alone. 4) Doing things that don’t earn immediate payoff. 5) Doing things that go against the grain of the cultural norms. I especially liked #4 because it reminded me some hard things are very small. However, facing up to those small hard challenges repeatedly produces big, long-term results.

My wife picked up this book Saturday afternoon. While she was busy, I read the first chapter and then absconded with it. I finished it on Sunday evening. I guess the first hard thing I need to do is apologize to my wife for stealing. However, I’m really excited to hit 2009 with this great encouragement to Do Hard Things. I encourage you, even if it is hard, get this book. Read it. Read it to your kids. I think you’ll be changed by it. It’s definitely a springboard for your spiritual life.