In the movie Beauty and the Beast, we see how looking beyond an outward beastly appearance to the beauty within can be a positively transformative experience. Beauty is heralded and powerful. The poet John Keats said, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all.” If beauty is truth, then all the base and ugly things in our existence are coverings, clothing which conceals the true beauty and value of people created in the image of God, much like the curse placed on the Beast in the movie.

If beauty is truth, why then are we, as an advanced, progressive western society so consumed by analyzing and dissecting and examining all that is base and beastly in this world with an insatiable, consumptive appetite?

“We don’t,” you might say.

Oh, but we do. Our entertainment is so often based on the themes of violence, cruelty, betrayal and inhumanity, or, when we consider reality TV, simply the most base forms of unthoughtful humanity. Shows like The Bachelor or The Kardashians do not promote the high order thinking or the transcendent values humans are capable of. They utilize low forms of gossip, ridicule or scandal to appeal on the most base level.

No thought of human value or purpose is attributed to either the figures on-screen or those watching from their couch.

When we consider the Christian worldview and the value placed in people as created beings and as expressed in the death of Jesus Christ for humanity, then the time we spend in our day to day lives, dwelling on the base and brutal aspects of this world, is an indictment on our claim to be image-bearers of God.

The world we live in is riddled with anxiety and depression. I myself battle anxiety. But I wonder if these struggles are exasperated by our cultural fixation with the darkness we see around us. The darkness is real and pervasive, but why do we let it pervade us so much more than we need to, particularly through popular entertainment? If fear is a battle for you in your life, why dwell so much on fear?

There is a better suggestion. Paul states in Philippians, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Think about these things.

How much of popular culture is created around truth and excellence?

Rather, it largely feeds on broken humanity, scandal and all that is base about our world. Let me encourage you to reject cynicism and callousness when considering people. We don’t have to be hard-boiled toward and suspicious of others. The second part of Romans 16:19 says, “Be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.” Which are we more adept in recognizing? What do we spend more time contemplating or being entertained by? Good or evil?

I had a sociology lecturer back when I was in university. He was a sociological genius and the head of the sociology department at University College Cork. I will never forget what he said in a lecture one day when discussing society’s obsession with mindless reality TV. He said, “When you take something and bring it down to zero, and then multiply it, you get an infinity of zero, an infinity of mindless, worthless totality, unprofitable rubbish.” He was so right. Human persons are capable of so much beauty. We are, after all, created in the image of God. But how will we ever reflect the beauty, goodness and kindness of God, His excellence, purity, honor, commendation or truth when we are not looking at beauty, particularly God’s beauty, and His reflected beauty in creation and humanity? Instead, with blinders on, we stare abjectly at the “Beast:” the cruelty, violence and depravity of the world.

“But these things (cruelty, depravity and violence, etc.) exist,” I hear you say. “Should they not be given our consideration?” Yes, of course, they must. As Christians, we are mandated to combat these forces with the love of God for humanity, but this is a very different form of consideration than hungrily being entertained by these themes.

Paul also says in Philippians chapter four, verses 4-7: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

According to Paul in these verses, how do we find peace?

I would suggest Paul is saying we find peace through dwelling on God. When we are happy, rejoice in the Lord, when we are anxious, look to the Lord for help, when we are grateful, thank God. God is purity and beauty, so look to Him and dwell on Him. Jesus said, “When you see Me, you see the Father.”

For true beauty, look to and dwell on Jesus as He is revealed to us in the Bible. Remember that humanity is made in the image and likeness of God, so do not dwell on the aspects of humanity that have become base and beastly.

Do not entertain yourself with the base things of the world, when we have been imbued by God with the capacity for so much more. Psalm 8 states humanity is “crowned with glory and honor.” Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” We so easily forget the glory of God, of His creation and how He loves the people of this earth; this is largely due to the amount of time we spend dwelling on the corruption and darkness in the world.

Even the hard atheist Nietzsche said, “If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” If you dwell so much on darkness, the darkness eventually permeates you. So dwell instead on light; it too will permeate your being. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” So let us then be light (Matthew 5:14). Colossians 1:13 says, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His beloved Son.”

Just ask yourself, What am I spending my time dwelling on?

Is it darkness and fear? Is it inhumanity and brokenness? Or is it the beauty and power of God? Is it His excellence and purity because whichever one of these you dwell on will affect how you view the world, society, your own life and the people around you. You will see people either as high and capable of great beauty and creativity, or as low, base and beastly, not worthy of the love and respect given to them by God.

Christopher Hitchens, the renowned atheist thinker, states, “The biggest problem facing a post-religious or superstitious world is the lack of beauty and the transcendent.” Well, this is a very good point. Without God and His glory in the universe, where can we find the transcendent? What a great loss this would be; what an empty existence. The point is that, as Christians, we believe we do live in a universe that was created by God and that displays His glory. Why then do we often live as though this was not true, as though we live in this post-God world that even Hitchens describes as being empty of the transcendent? Instead of lifting our eyes to the beauty and glory of God and allowing this to inform how we love our fellow humans, we focus our eyes away from all that is worthy, beautiful and great, and we dwell on brutality, inanity and worthlessness.

Psalm 1 says: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

This man in Psalm 1 made his choice. He dwelled on the beauty and greatness of God. He rejected the low and scoffing ways of society, and this choice affected his life. He was rooted in the reality and foundation of God.

If we believe in God, let us live like that is true. As Paul so wisely tells us, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

To think about the glory of God seems like a grand endeavor indeed, but Jesus said in John 14:9, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” God gave up His power and glory to become a man, if we need to consider the beauty of God, then we need look no further than Jesus. God made Himself known to us in Jesus. Jesus is kind, powerful, humble and self-sacrificing. He is our inspiration; He gives value to all humans because He loved them so much He died for them. Let us then see the people we encounter in our lives as beautiful and worthy of love, because that’s how God sees them.

So what it’s to be, Beauty or the Beast? What we think about is important, so let’s choose to dwell on Jesus, on the glory of God, rather than dwelling on the base and beastly things found in this world.

I was driving alone in the car, and I was thankful for the solitude. The silence was like an old friend I hadn’t seen in a long time, and I yearned to just visit with for awhile. As I drove up Warner Boulevard, my head was spinning with the way things weren’t working out, and my heart was broken that God hadn’t seen fit to do things the way I wanted Him to. I stopped at a red light and just began speaking (a.k.a. praying) to my best friend, Jesus. “I am mad! I’m mad that you aren’t doing things the way I thought you would. I’m angry that you aren’t changing things and making everything OK and allowing this difficulty to continue! This isn’t the way things are supposed to go!” I have to be honest and say that I didn’t have a kind tone; I wasn’t even really being reverent. I was just being honest.

I want to pause and ask you a question…having read my prayer above, did you say to yourself “Whoa Shannon! Looks like you forgot your place! I can’t believe you would pray like that!” Now let me ask if you have ever felt those raw, honest, angry thoughts deep inside your heart? I know we all have, even King David himself did! In Psalm 22 we see David crying out, “God where on earth are you?! Why aren’t you helping me?!” Of course, that’s the Shannon version, he used an even more desperate term, forsaken, which means to abandon or desert. Did David really believe God had forgotten all about him, abandoned him even? I don’t think he really BELIEVED he was forgotten, as much as he FELT forgotten, but only for a moment.

Have you been there?

The beautiful thing about coming to Jesus with our heavy hearts is the fact that He is eager to lift that burden and remove the blinders from our eyes to cause us to see! Before the anguished words from our lips reach His heart, He is already lavishing us with hope. You can see David’s struggle throughout Psalm 22 to grab onto that hope with everything he has. He jumps back and forth between proclaiming God’s holiness to detailing the ways people persecute him and how strapped of strength he is. Oh, how thankful I am to have the Bible that reminds us that the people who came before us were JUST like us! They wavered in their hope and needed restoration, and doggone it, they just needed to vent sometimes!

As I continued my drive up Warner, speaking honestly and openly, God’s hope began to wash over me. I began to see that though His way may take longer in my eyes, the deep healing, depth of character and hope that is cultivated has no comparison. I am thankful for a God who allows us to come to Him in whatever state we may be in. He can see past our moodiness, through our irreverent tone, deep into the heart that is longing for a reminder that He sees us, understands us; and that His future plan for us, our families and even our teenage children is beautiful. Let me encourage you to go to Jesus honestly today, pour out your heart and wait for the softening that can only come from your loving, Heavenly Father.

“Every journey changes you in some way.” – Anon

“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You. Whose heart is set on pilgrimage…” (Psalm 84:5).

We began this journey as a search for peace. Along the way, we have scaled some towering peaks. We’ve cried out for God’s mercy, celebrated our deliverance and committed our lives to labor for the freedom of others. We’ve been reminded of the need to live out our faith in the context of family relationships. We have admitted that we don’t know it all; that some things are still too profound for us.

Now at last, we are at the summit. Our journey is complete.

The difficult mountains, the “ascents” are behind us. Yet this is less a finish line and more of a starting point, a jumping off, jumping in point, because this place is less a “place” and simply the presence of Him whom we seek. We were never on a quest to find a building. We did not lace up our boots, climbing peak after peak, trudge through sweltering deserts and fight battle after battle only to snap a selfie in front of a magnificent piece of architecture. The point and purpose of our pilgrimage was to step into the full, unfiltered presence of God, with other pilgrims coming from every other point on the compass. We didn’t dream of being a religious audience. We came to meet with and stand in awe of God Himself.

I love to wander, meander, explore and browse. I don’t mind ignoring Siri’s gentle commands, “return to the route,” while enjoying a journey with no stated destination. But that’s not what this journey is about. From the outset, we fixed our heart’s GPS to be with God. David’s lyric in Psalm 122 reminded us we are being beckoned home, to the “house of the Lord.” Now that we are here, what’s next? Our question is answered in the simplest of terms.

“Behold, bless the Lord all you servants of the Lord” (Psalm 134:1)

This last song is not directed to God, but to those gathered before Him. This is an invitation to sing our own personal love song to Yahweh; a call to go beyond rituals and ceremony.

How do we bless the Lord?

We choose to allow praise and gratitude to escape our lips, bursting from our hearts, directed to our Savior, Lord, King, Protector and Friend. The writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 13:15) said, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise; the fruit of lips that openly profess His name.”

There’s more to our relationship with God than just singing songs to Him, but it’s also true that at the core of any good relationship is a conversation. This conversation begins with spoken gratitude. It’s appropriate to step into the presence of the Lord with voices raised in praise, hands lifted and hearts engaged as we stand together before Him. This writer is saying, “This is why we’ve come, why we embarked on this sometimes discouraging, overwhelming, frightening pilgrimage. We wanted God. We wanted to see His face, longed to just be in His presence, knowing we were at last home. So now that we are here, let’s bless Him. Let’s sing praises as His face shines upon us.”

Far more than ritual or ceremony, this is family celebration, the exuberant response as a whole tribe. This is not a call for a gifted soloist to do a concert. We are all invited to sing out … “ALL you servants of the Lord.”

This is how “church” should look, yet sadly, this is not always the reality when we enter our weekly gatherings.

When Israel gathered for their yearly festivals, especially Pentecost and Tabernacles, they were instructed to rejoice. (Deuteronomy 16:11, 14). Apparently, God wants His house to be a “happy house.” If our gatherings for worship, prayer, Bible study and the building of strong, supportive friendships don’t ring with joy, something’s wrong, and the solution is not to register a complaint at the main office.

The answer is for ME to make the “choice to rejoice” in Jesus, inviting those around me to join in. If we each determine to “enter His courts with praise,” our joy meter will begin to rise, creating a vibrant culture in our churches.

These last two Psalms (133 & 134) remind us to love God as well as one another, but we also discover we’re not alone in the “blessing business.” The songwriter ends this brief chorus by saying: “May the Lord, who made heaven and earth, bless you from Zion” (Psalm 134:3).

In other words, God will continue to do as He has always done.

God out-gives every giver. God loves to bless people. Consider the universe He created. Wherever we look there’s evidence of God’s generous heart. He blesses us with breathtaking beauty. He blesses us with nourishing food and refreshing drink. He blesses us with night and day, work and play. He also blesses us with wonderful friendships, families and partnerships. In Psalm 16:11, David sang about the fact that God’s blessings toward us are endless. “In Your presence is fullness of joy and at Your right hand are pleasures evermore.”

Yes, as the Haitian proverb says, “Beyond mountains, there are mountains,” but one day we will climb our last mountain here and arrive at that summit. Not a “false summit,” but a heaven beautifully prepared for all who trust and love Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Once there, we will most certainly raise our hands, hearts and voices to bless the Lamb of God who died, arose and lives to save us. Until then, as we gather, let’s perfect the art of praise, lifting up our hands and our voices to bless the Lord who made heaven and earth.

For now, with our hearts set on this pilgrimage, let’s keep pressing forward with great hope, faith and love, until we see Jesus face to face.

“Strive together for the sake of the Gospel” (Philippians 1:27). “This is My command; Love each other” (John 15:17).

God is love, but he doesn’t love everything. In fact, in Proverbs 6:16-19, King Solomon compiled a list of those things God hates. The list concludes with a stated hatred for discord in a family. God loves unity. God hates division between those who should be loving one another. Anyone who grew up in a family of more than one child or raised a quiver full of kids understands David’s sentiment here when he says, “Behold how good and pleasant when the kids get along” (my paraphrase).

When you have a family, you have the potential for conflict. You don’t even need a child in the home to prove that point. A husband and wife or even a couple friends can experience conflict all on their own.

Bottom line: Unity is Rare

Any way we look at it, it really is wonderful when we get along with one another, especially in a family of brothers and sisters gathered together around a common faith.

The Bible makes it clear that David knew all to well the pain of a divided house. The battles between David’s children were epic. They were fueled by lust, jealousy, revenge and ambition. His royal children left a wake of destruction as they battled one another.

It’s impossible to know when David wrote Psalm 133 or what scene he had in mind. Did he look around at an uncharacteristically tranquil home? Or was he looking back at a more peaceful time of family harmony?

Whatever the inspiration for this song, there is no doubt its placement here, just before our “finish line,” is meant to give us a view of the assembly of worshipers gathered for the purpose of a yearly celebration in Jerusalem. There was no temple in David’s day, so any gathering might likely have been around the Tabernacle, God’s “mobile home” that led the way through the wilderness as His visible presence went before the children of Israel for 40 years. Perhaps David enjoyed and marveled at the unity of the large company of singers and dancers who accompanied the Ark of the Covenant as it was brought into Jerusalem and then into the new tent David had built for God.

My favorite scene to imagine at this point is in the temple of Solomon, during one of the mandatory festivals: Passover, Pentecost or Tabernacles. David’s passion was to see that beautiful worship center built and filled with loyal, adoring worshipers of Yahweh. This psalm typifies what he longed to see.

In later years, after the construction of the temple, the priestly leader of the carefully planned liturgy would begin at the bottom of a flight of 15 stairs, leading from the court of the women, into the inner courts, reciting a different Psalm on each step as he moved toward the top. He would have begun with Psalm 120 as he took that first step, then 121, 122, etc. Now on step 14, the priest had a panoramic view of all those gathered for worship, including even the Gentiles gathered in their outer courtyard.

On that step, with a breath-taking view, it must have been emotional and thrilling to see those from every tribe of Israel, as well as worshipers from many other nations. But think about the factions within those tribes: the rich with the poor, the educated with the unschooled, the servant and the master. The Pharisee, Sadducee, Essene, Zealot, Scribe and all those foreigners, gathered together for that moment. After the festival, they would potentially go back to their cliques. Yes, there were more than enough points of disagreement to start a civil war in those gatherings. There are in our assemblies too, but for that moment, they were on the same page. They were … “together in unity.” David describes the profound impact of such unity:

Unity is like oil. The oil described is that which would have been poured upon the priest to prepare him to stand between God in intercession for His people.

Unity is like dew. Think of that morning dew on your lawn or garden. Dew is life-giving and refreshing.

Unity is that place where the Lord commands the blessing of new life. When God finds a congregation that walks and stands together in unity, you can be sure He will bring those who are looking for life to that “good and pleasant place.”

Yes, unity is good and pleasant, but unity is rare.

At times it seems we are born for battle. The Church is notorious for that. Even though we have every reason to stand together and no reason to divide, even though we have each found the same perfect grace, even though Jesus prayed for us to experience “perfect unity” and begged us to love one another, we often stand at arms length from one another, apparently to get a good shot at our brother as we assume opposite sides of a battlefield.

God won’t force us to be saved, and He won’t force us to love each other. He will, however, pour down the “oil and the dew” and bring new life among us as we walk together in unity and fight for one another. May God find us laying aside petty differences and see us “practicing for heaven,” as we strive together for the sake of the Gospel. Let’s lift one voice with one passion and give praise to the One True God who made us one in Jesus Christ.

We sang a song in my early days in the family of God that declared:

We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity
Will one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love

Yes, indeed they will.

I love everything about travel, except the travel.

Travel is hard, even after finding a worthy reason to leave home. We rush through traffic to make it to airports just in time. We deal with parking lines, check-in lines, baggage lines, security lines, the essential caffeine store line and boarding line. Then we travel 1000’s of miles in seats too small for Hobbits and deal with all the above in reverse. Once we arrive, if the travel is international, we navigate strange cultures, struggling to adjust to language, food, customs and traffic while dealing with that 20th century monster; jet lag, a term that didn’t land until 1966, when it first appeared in print in the Los Angeles Times.

The destination may be worth all that, but the travel can be a chore.

Now compare moving around today with the rigors of travel in the Bronze Age. We can easily travel 10,000 miles in less than 24 hours, while David had to settle for 20-30 miles before calling it a day. On top of all the inconveniences of rugged camping, weather and aching feet, our ancient counterparts faced the very real dangers of assault by raiders and robbers. Remember, these pilgrims were on the move, and as they moved, they were making their way through difficult and dangerous territory. In other words, all their troubles were not behind them yet.

Think of the refugees today in many corners of the world. Forced from their homes by natural disasters, intense persecution and ethnic cleansing. They’re suddenly exposed to harsh elements of weather and rugged terrain. Add the discouraging bias from residents in the lands they’re either passing through or attempting to resettle in. This is no “Princess Cruise.”

Psalm 125 could be an extension of the theme from Psalm 124. It is one thing to recognize God’s protection after our last close call, realizing how close we came to our mortal end. It’s another thing to steer our vehicle back on to the same road and continue to head in the same direction, toward even more danger. Eugene Peterson’s excellent book on this same grouping of Psalms is entitled A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. That small volume, strategically placed at eye-level on my bookshelf, catches my eye several times a week, reminding me to keep pressing on.

The strategic placement of Psalm 125 is no less purposeful. The writer sings, “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, the LORD surrounds His people.” The peaks that surround Jerusalem include Mount Scopus, Mount Zion, Mount Acra, and the eastern ridge of the well-known Mount of Olives. This writer is telling discouraged travelers, “Relax, you’re surrounded!” Every follower of Jesus can take great peace in this truth.

God is not panicking over the “clear and present dangers” and demons we face… Neither should we, because God surrounds us NOW, on our way to heaven.

Then we’re told, “The scepter of wickedness will not rest on the land allotted to the righteous.” That’s a powerful promise. The devil may have his sword drawn, but his arsenal is no match for God. Isaiah 54:17 reminds us, “No weapon turned against you shall succeed.” Did you notice there are no great commandments in this Psalm? However, there are two important reminders:

• First, a reminder to TRUST:

“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mt. Zion which cannot be moved.” In Acts 20 Paul’s friends warn him of dangers he’ll face if he dares continue his journey to Jerusalem. His response? In Acts 20:24 Paul says, “None of these things [his friends’ frightful warnings] move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Paul determined that he would move forward, unmoved by the danger that lay ahead, even if it cost his life, because he was determined to preach the Gospel again in Jerusalem.

• Second, a reminder to DO GOOD:

The Bible is clear that no one is redeemed, saved or forgiven by good works, but the Bible is also clear that God will reward us for our good works. Therefore, while we move step-by-step toward heaven, the best scenario is that we leave a trail of good works behind us. Maybe that’s what David meant when he said, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalm 23:6

Given the sense of an inferred threat in this song, you’ve got to love the last words of these lyrics. They sound like the whispers of a father to a scared child, trying to fall asleep in a thunderstorm. “Peace be upon Israel.” Sons and daughters of God, rest in His peace … Shalom.

Some metaphors are “multipurpose.” In Psalm 121, the mountains were the challenges we face as we draw close to God. Now, those same “rocky mountains” are seen as the defense system, which protects us from our enemies. So why not welcome the Shalom – the Peace of God? Why not heed these reminders and relax and do good all the way home. Picture Jerusalem surrounded by formidable mountains, then realize you are surrounded in the refuge of God’s protection as well with His security detail assigned to you.

Listen to God’s whisper to you right now, “Peace be upon YOU,” in Jesus’ Strong Name.

“The godly may fall seven times, but they will get up again.” -Proverbs 24:16

“If God is for us who can be against us?” -Romans 8:31

It happens to us all. Near misses, close calls, averted disasters, followed by that sobering realization that we narrowly escaped death or catastrophe. As we stand there trembling, surveying the damage, and wondering at the What if’s; one might say “Dude, that was close,” while the more spiritually aware would answer, “No dude, that was God.”

Saturday, June 6, 2015, 11:00am. Palm Desert, California. Our church Couples Retreat was underway. Our speakers, Rick and Kathy Hicks, dismissed us from our second morning session uncharacteristically early. Our assignment was to spend some time talking over some questions they had prepared for us. They said, “Go back to your room, go out for coffee, or just hang out by the pool and work through this material together.”

What if Rick had kept us on the typical schedule? What if our session hadn’t been dismissed forty minutes early? What if three couples hadn’t decided to take their assignment to the poolside?

It’s hard to say, but I know this; those three couples, including a nurse, a doctor, and a fireman wouldn’t have been there to pull the limp body of an unconscious six year old girl from the pool, administer CPR that restored her breathing, and stabilize her, as well as comfort her mother until the ambulance arrived.

We all stood there amazed at the miracle of that moment. Some would call it luck. Some would credit karma. We all knew better. This was God. He was with us.

Psalm 124 finds David singing his song of gratitude and recognition over God’s defense when enemies, disasters, circumstances, and storms slam into our lives. The pathway of the pilgrim has many close encounters.

David understood close calls. He’d had quite a few.

• With wild beasts
• With jealous, insecure King Saul
• With his own rebellious son, Absalom
• With Goliath and the camp of the Philistines

But this song isn’t about David’s personal near disasters. The king writes about close calls experienced by his nation, Israel. Woven into their history was story upon story of close encounters of the disastrous kind. Nation after nation took their best shot at God’s chosen people. Countless enemies rose against them, each capable of finishing them off, or in David’s words, “Swallowing them alive.”

The list of nations who threatened the security of Israel by the time David arrived was long and growing longer, including Egypt, Philistia, Midian; and of course, those seven nations they were told were bigger and badder than them: Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perrizites, Hivites, and Jebusites. (Deuteronomy 7:1)

Here, David, surveying the faithfulness and power of God measured against the history of Israel, seems to be saying, “Dude! That was close!”

We’ve all said that. Maybe after the “T-Bone” collision that destroyed our pickup truck without serious injury to either driver or the passengers. (Yes, there’s a personal miracle story there.)

Perhaps it was the unexpected recovery from an illness, even if we were left with chronic pain or disabilities. We survived without any explanation except, “God was with us.”

Maybe there was a frustrating delay that turned out to be providential.

Maybe it was the text, email, call, or visit from a friend who just happened to reach out when you were ready to give up.

Or maybe it was that stranger jumping into the pool to rescue your sinking child from the deep end, just in time. All of them leave us wondering, “What just happened?”

For David, there was no question. It was God who was to be credited with the inexplicable win.

• The frightening fury of amassing army … quelled by God.
• Those swollen flood waters … diverted by God.
• That assassin’s spear … swatted away by God.

David could see the solid yet invisible presence of God in the midst of all the buffeting and battles. Do we see the same? Do we believe God is truly on our side. Do we keep getting up after our setbacks?

Moses spoke courage into the hearts of the children of Israel on many occasions with words like these:

Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 “The Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

Jesus put it like this in Matthew 28:20 “I am with you al-ways, even to the end of the age.”

In other words, God is on our side. However, it’s important to note two things.

First, God didn’t defend Israel because they were perfect, blameless, or even good, but because GOD is good. Because God is love. And don’t forget God’s grand redemptive purpose. This nation, Israel, would be the vehicle through which Yahweh would provide our Messiah, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Secondly, we need to remember that we will not dodge every bullet. Jesus’ followers often suffer hardship and loss. But in the midst of those life-altering disasters, God will still be on your side.

• God was with His enslaved people in Egypt and Babylon
• God disciplines those He loves. (Hebrews 12:6)

And remember, at some point in our future, one last encounter will not be just another close call but our last call, leading to that long awaited, “Close encounter of the best kind” with Jesus. Until then, stop worrying about anything or anyone slipping through God’s security system. The watchful, living God is on your side.

So, allow me to give you a little assignment of your own. Why not sit down and make a list of your close calls? Then turn your list into your own song. And sing out LOUD, because on this long hike home, we need to be reminded that God IS now and always has been On Our Side.

The seed of every sin known to man is in my heart.
Robert Murray McCheyne

The Holy Spirit never enters a man, then lets him live like the world.
A.W. Tozer

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me, and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the paths of everlasting life.
Psalm 139:23-24

Psalm 123 begins like Psalm 121 with both songwriters looking up. However, this psalm focuses not on foreboding mountains, but on the Lord “Who dwells in the heavens,” with a perfect perspective.

What if we could see our life path from God’s perspective? We’d understand every confusing twist in the road, every frustrating delay, and His reason for choosing our particular traveling companions.

We can wish all we want. The truth is, our heavenly Father wisely allows us to see through a foggy glass now, so we’ll learn to trust Him with each step and every change of direction.

In 1998 my wife, Joy, and I were lost in London, England at rush hour, trying to reach the city of Ashford. Facing the embarrassing truth that I was lost, I finally did something decidedly unmanly and demeaning. I asked for directions. The truck driver I approached uttered just two beautiful words, “Follow me!” then led us through lanes, alleys and boulevards, turning north, south, east and west for thirty minutes. Finally we came to the M20 onramp heading toward Ashford. Our “savior” just pointed and shouted, “There ya go, mate!” We had no choice but to trust this stranger on our wild ride that day. We were at the mercy of this kind Samaritan. We were lost.

Psalm 123 is that kind of confession from a humble servant who has stumbled into some deep, dark trouble. This is a cry for MERCY.

That word “mercy” is found four times in these fifteen Psalms, three of which are here in Psalm 123. Safe to say this psalmist is responding to God’s detailed search of his soul, at the early stages of his long walk toward the “celestial city.”

What brought this traveler to his knees? Look at verses 3-4.

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us!
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scorn of those who are at ease,
With the contempt of the proud.
Psalm 123:3-4

The problem was sin; contempt, scorn and pride, all qualities of the arrogant man who makes a nasty habit of looking down on others in order to vaunt himself to a perch of superiority.

He’s like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable (Luke 18:10-14) who said, “I thank You, God, that I’m not a sinner like everyone else,” while the remorseful IRS agent prayed, “Be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.”

The man who believed all he needed was to “get out of Dodge” and his life would be bright and promising, has discovered he’d carried with him the spoiled culture he thought he’d left behind. He had lived long enough in Meshech and Kedar to adopt at least some of the ungodly attitudes and actions of the “locals.”

I imagine this pilgrim stopping for a rest, taking a deep breath, then noticing a distinct foul aroma in the air. He sniffs a couple times, studying the familiar odor before he says out loud, “Something around here smells like Meshech and Kedar.” Then reality hits. It’s him…in him and on him! Having “marinated” in the violent, deceitful culture of that compromised land for so long, he had become like the very place and people from which he was trying to escape. The problem was “assimilation.”

He also confesses the extent of the encroaching darkness. Apparently it was pervasive. He says, “We are exceedingly filled with scorn…contempt.” Yes, it’s bad, but God had graciously diagnosed the dangerous disease before it resulted in total ruin.

You see, the truth about the proximity of evil in the world is not just that it’s all AROUND us, it is also IN us. We’ve all sinned. We’ve all failed in our quest for perfection. McCheyne was right, I do carry the seed, the potential for any and all sin, within me. But Tozer was right as well. God refuses to abandon us to live like the world, now that His Spirit has enlivened or “resurrected” us. Yahweh is in us and for us.

We are always in danger of becoming like our cultural environment. We are daily confronted by the dominant values of our region, whether they be violence, deceit, pride, racism or hedonism. Unless we consciously resist our toxic culture, it will seep in and pollute the core of our hearts.

You see, the truth about the proximity of evil in the world is not just that it’s all AROUND us, it is also IN us. We’ve all sinned. We’ve all failed in our quest for perfection.

What do we do when we discover this invasion; realizing we’ve become worldly trained and tainted by ungodly traits of our neighborhoods? We would be wise to follow the steps of this Psalm 123 hiker.

• Look up to the Yahweh who sees the whole scene perfectly
• Identify our compromise, give it its true name
• Confess our sin. Say, “I did this, Lord.”
• Ask for mercy

Speaking of mercy, when Jesus heard a crucified thief begging for mercy, crying out with one of his last weak breaths, “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom,” Jesus promised him he would be home with Him in paradise before the day was over. THAT’S MERCY! You can be just as assured as that condemned thief that your cry of “Mercy, mercy, mercy” will be heard and rewarded with abundant, saving grace. God is faithful to forgive the humble confessor (1John 1:9). He “delights to show mercy” (Micah 7:18).

This is one of the most common and critical crossroads. We will not make continued progress without humility, repentance and daily mega doses of mercy.

This is also one of the hardest ascents in our journey; admitting we’re lost, still in need of mercy. But just do it. Let God search your heart. Let Him forgive you. Let Him clear the air. Let Him lead you along the paths of everlasting life. Leave the past in the past. Press forward.