For you I wait ...

Walk with me in a meditation on the word at Psalm 25:1-10:

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.

There is one God; I acknowledge you as God, and confess I am not God. Help me to pray and act that way.

O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me.
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

I put my trust in the one who has always loved me and always sought to help me. I trust you, O God, and I trust those who choose to trust in you. I have my enemies, and I do not expect that I will always be right, or that I will always win. Please, on the days I will not be victorious, on the days I must be humbled, let it be humility that I learn and not humiliation that I experience. Help me to watch and wait for your movement, O God, so that I may walk alongside you and avoid vain, ignorant, or evil ways. At the end of the day, may shame be the reward of those who have behaved shamefully, for those who knowingly and persistently ignore your will and your way.

Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.

Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light upon my path. Your word reveals your path to me, and yet, you mark the way that I should go in other ways as well. You bless some efforts more than others. You provide the resources for some work and not others. You bring me joy, a spiritual satisfaction, when I do certain things that is notably different than others. You create fruit from certain seeds that I plant, and not others. Let me examine my life to see what you mark, where you bless, what you provide, when you bring joy, and what you multiply. Let me examine this in prayer with you until a path is clearer, if it takes me all day long. If the path remains foggy, help me understand the lack of clarity tells me something, too.

Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD,
and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for your goodness' sake, O LORD!

Your love and mercy are ancient and everlasting; they changed this world before I was born, and they will continue to bring life long after I am dust. You have not forgotten the first time I faithfully spoke your name as a child, and yet I ask you to forget the first time, and every time, I acted like I didn’t know you at all. You must wonder if I will ever grow up. After I have learned my lesson, help me to forget the details. Let me have at least temporary amnesia, so that I might be able to function without attempting to carry the oppressive burden that Jesus has already taken away from me. Remember my faithfulness, remember my love, remember the good things in my life, O Lord, because you are good. Your steadfast love never ceases. May your goodness bear fruit in my life for your glory, O God.

Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.

You are really the only one who can believably teach us what is good. Thank you, O God, that you do instruct us, hard-headed, hard-nosed, stiff necked people, in your way. Instead of living in immoderate pride, help us to see ourselves as you see us, God. May we understand humility, not as some sort of feigned self-abasement. Instead, help us to see humility as understand who you are, understand who others are, and understanding who we are. You value us, perhaps for reasons we do not understand. As we become truly humble, may your path for us become more clear.

All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

Whatever path is yours, we will always be able to recognize this about it: it will be the way of steadfast love, it will be the way of faithfulness. Knowing that, let us behave toward you as you have behaved toward us.

Grace, and peace,

Ron

Walk with God

Today, the words of Peter:

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God,
and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.
He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.

Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory
by means of Christ Jesus.
So after you have suffered a little while,
he will restore, support, and strengthen you,
and he will place you on a firm foundation.

All power to him forever! Amen.

1 Peter 5:6-11

Jason

Bad day at Black Rock

Adoni-Zedek. Offended and troubled by the defection of the Gibeonites to the Israelite camp, the king of Jerusalem gathers four other Canaanite kings, marches to the gates of Gibeon, and begins a siege (why attack the Gibeonites instead of the Israelites?). The Gibeonites call Joshua to come from Gilgal to help them out, and one of the most famous battles in history ensues.

Not only is it a bad day at black rock for Adoni-Zedek, God holds the sun still at Joshua's request so as to make it the longest bad day ever. Adoni-Zedek and the four kings hide out in a cave, which the Israelites seal with rocks until the battle is over and the combined Canaanite forces are wiped out. Instead of waiting for the kings to starve to death in the cave, Joshua sends for the five kings and has them brought before his army. He has his commanders put their feet on the necks of the kings (the acme of insult in the ancient world), beheads them, hangs their bodies on five trees for a day, and then buries them in a cave. What a humiliating way to end someone's life!

Why is the humiliation so significant? Those of you with study Bibles will find a notation that Adoni-Zedek means "Lord of Righteousness", or "My Lord of Righteousness". That's a fair understanding of the Hebrew. Now, although "Lord" is a title that is often used of kings in the OT (especially of David), there is a hint that this is a divine title. Adoni is also a title that is used for God. Remember that the predecessor of Adoni-Zedek only called himself Melchizedek, which means "king of righteousness" (this is the king of Salem who blessed Abram, Gen 14.18). But here, the current king of Jerusalem (Salem) is no longer content with merely being a king, but must title himself "LORD". How proud can you get?

Can you imagine the affront to his power to have one of his neighbors choose to make a deal with the enemy? If no Godfather would put up with that kind of nonsense, then you can bet that no god (little g) would tolerate it either. Besides which, the turf the Israelites possess plus Gibeon cuts Canaan in half. So, pride offended, Adoni-Zedek acts.

But God, the Father of all humanity, reduces this proud man to the status of a humiliated man suffering a humiliating death. The Gibeonites, though many and strong, humbled themselves and survived. But a proud ruler exalted himself in front of the people of God and found humiliation instead of glory.

Just before the end, Moses warned Pharaoh to humble himself before God (Ex 10.3). Aid comes to Daniel because he humbles himself (Dan 10.12). And both James and Peter counsel us to humble ourselves before God so that he can exalt us (James 4.10, 1 Pet 5.6). So will we actively humble ourselves, or passively suffer humiliation?

P.S. - There is going to be a "Lord of Righteousness" who will rule over Jerusalem and every other place, but he doesn't appear in this part of the story. When he does appear, not only will he be a better king - he will be a better priest as well (Heb 7). This Adoni-Zedek will deliver his people to glory, not to death. Oddly enough, this mighty king knows more about humility than any other leader humanity has ever known.

Grace and peace,

Ron