THE LORD SPOKE (August 26)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Psalms 107-110

Psalm 108:1-5

“The best thing about waking up, is Folgers in your cup.” So rang a little advertising ditty a few years ago. But there’s something better yet. The greatest way to start the day is before dawn with a song and with your thoughts directed toward God.

Maybe you don’t play the harp and lyre (vs. 2) like David but you can buy yourself a hymnal. Or pick up one of the old ones at church when they purchase new ones for the pews - does anybody do that anymore? Work your way through the whole book taking a song a day. It will put a melody in your heart!

Look some more at Psalm 108 for other ideas:

1. Put new strength into your life by thinking God’s thoughts first thing every morning. (“my heart is steadfast, O God” - vs. 1a)
2. Use music; sing to the Lord; create your own melodies using Scripture; work your way through the hymnal. (“I will sing and make music with all my soul” - vs. 1b)
3. Start early - first thing in the morning. Get up before the sun to do it right. (“I will awaken the dawn” - vs. 2)
4. Share your thoughts with others. Tell your family what the Lord is teaching you. Let your friends know. Speak of God wherever you go! (“I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations” - vs. 3)
5. Do it outdoors, or at least near a window where you can look out and see God’s wonderful creation, especially the expanse of the sky. (God’s love is “higher than the heavens...reaches to the skies...over all the earth” - vs. 4-5)

Here are some more suggestions for that hymn book:

• Take one song every day and read through all the stanzas like a poem; sing it if you know it or learn it if you don’t.
• Use the table of contents to follow the logic of the collection in the hymnal.
• Use the table of contents to find doctrinal themes within the collection. This is a very good way to internalize truth but make sure they’re doctrinally correct!
• Use the indexes to find songs that are from other centuries (it will give you a sense of our continuity with beliefs from the past) and from other countries (it will give you a realization that we are part of a large, multi-ethnic family).
• Use the index of authors to find your favorite or other famous authors (Fanny Crosby, Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, Bill Gaither) and composers.
• Use the index to find songs centered around a theme you’re currently studying or that are appropriate to the occasion (Thanksgiving, Christmas, patriotic).
• Use the musical index to find songs that are metrically compatible so you can trade tunes and words. It's a great way to help people (including yourself) pay closer attention to the words.

If you do this, you will put feet to David’s words in vs. 5, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.


New Testament: Jude

Another one of the postcards of Scripture, this little book wastes no time diving into some of the deepest doctrines of Scripture (salvation and sovereignty). Jude is a master of metaphor (e.g. six in two verses, 12-13) and uses many inspired illustrations from Scripture to illuminate his points. Like a skilled craftsman, he composed one of the hardest hitting chapters in all the Bible.

While Jude was eager to write about salvation (vs. 3) he found that he really needed to address the problem of certain immoral teachers who were trying to persuade others that they could get away with sinning. They were convinced that being saved by grace somehow gave them a license for immorality (vs. 4) and Jude wanted to squelch that idea from the git-go.

To do so, Jude reminds his readers of several biblical examples of God’s swift and stern judgments upon sin: angels were “tartarized” (probably means “chained in outer darkness” as usually translated in vs. 6); Sodom and Gomorrah were vaporized (vs. 7 and Gen. 19:24-25); Cain was penalized with a permanent “mark” (vs. 11a and Gen. 4:15); Balaam was marginalized and lost his ministry (vs. 11b and II Pet. 2:15-16); and Korah was terrorized and swallowed alive by the earth (vs. 11c and Num. 16:31-34).

Jude spares no condemnation for these ungodly men and musters six graphic images from daily life and nature to describe them:

1. “blemishes at your love feasts” - blots where you should expect beauty
2. “shepherds who feed only themselves” - irresponsible and selfish
3. “clouds without rain” - disappointing and full of unfulfilled promise
4. “trees without fruit” - sterile and unproductive
5. “wild waves of the sea” - full of flotsam, without any clear direction, yet full of destructive force
6. “wandering stars” - shooting off in any direction and eventually self-destructing

With a final flourish, Jude describes them as ungodly (four times!), harsh, grumblers, faultfinders, evil, boasters, and full of false flattery. In stark contrast he encourages his “dear friends” to be vigilant in the following ways:

1. remember what you’ve been taught
2. build up your faith
3. pray
4. keep yourself in the love of God
5. wait expectantly for the Lord’s return
6. be merciful with others
7. fear to fall

Did you know that the word “enthuse” comes from two Greek words, en + theos? The root meaning then is to be “in God”. That sounds a lot like #4. How are you doing?