Speaking well of others and God is a Praise

Psalm 134:1-3

“Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord!  Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!  May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!”

We all need praise, and it is something built deep in our DNA, the desire to have someone, especially parents tell us, great job!  When that happens, you feel the pleasure of accomplishing the task.  It does not end with mom and dad, it is something we seek from our spouse, our boss, and those we have as friends and family.

As I looked at this Psalm and because I’m not Jewish and often as one studies the Bible, I find I need to understand words, culture, and what is happening at that time in history, I referred to my HCSB Study Bible. These are a few of the jewels I came away with, the word praise and bless are the same word in Hebrew.  When we bless a person by speaking well of them, and when we speak well of God it’s a praise.

I also found that after the exile the people had for a time a heart attitude of servants and were designated the faithful community.  In the evening hours they came together for congregational singing at the temple.  Today often the word servant is looked down on and we are too busy with important tasks like select sports, T.V., computers, and video games or cell phones to make it on Sunday morning, much less congregational worship.

Where have we gone with the congregational worship, when we turn down the lights on the congregation and put lights on a stage with some dudes with a micro-phone singing so loud it hurts your ears.  We have come a long way it may be the social trend but is it worship?  Maybe, but it is also noise, and in my life I’ve found it’s hard to hear from God in the noise, I’ve heard His voice in the still of the morning and in bed after I’ve turned off the noise in my home.

Let me give you a thought to ponder on, the person who cleans your house, cooks your food, and washes your clothes or the husband that goes to work each day to give you a lifestyle that you enjoy, praise them!  Or it may be the person who cleans the table at the fast food places you eat or the older lady that is working tables at the restaurant or older gentleman who cleans up your mess.  They probably never planned on doing so but life had a turn they were not expecting.  Will you take time to notice them, to thank them for the service they have rendered to you and your family.

What about the staff at church?  Will you stop and praise them for doing the work of ministry, and let’s not go there, but as long as we are pondering; is that not what God calls all of us to do?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice 

No Wiggle Room

Psalm 133:1-3

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!   It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!  It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!  For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.”

In Mark’s gospel we have in chapter 12:28, a scribe asking Jesus “Which command is the most important “ and Jesus reply is found in 29-31.  Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

Those words leave no wiggle room, many have asked but who is my neighbor, and to my best  understanding of that truth you look at your life and compare it to the words of Jesus?  As my pastor often reminds us, we are all messed up, we all need grace and forgiveness.  At the ripe age of 78, I often remind myself that Scripture tells us we will be judged in the same manner we judge others, ouch!

I would like to think a brother was one in Christ, are my own blood, but Jesus has a way of not agreeing with my logic.  Do you recall Jesus telling us that if you look on a woman with lust in your heart you have committed the sin of adultery.  But let’s go with human logic and how are you doing loving all those who claim to be Christian’s, and remember many of them have very different views of Gods written word than you do?

Are you in total unity with them?  We are experiencing a nation that has so few values on right and wrong, and we may not talk about our beliefs in our church, but if we did how many would agree with what Jesus says about when life begins, about greed and lust, about lying and telling the truth, about marriage?

Yes, it would be wonderful if brothers dwell in unity, it must begin with you, with me, showing grace, for without grace it is impossible for us broken, messed up people to find God’s love.  All Jesus is asking of you and me is to allow Him to do it all for us, but that requires us taking our broken lives to him.   I want to close this paper with a word from Os Hillman; “when God does things outside your paradigm of experience. Don't jump to conclusions about the ways of God if they don't fit your paradigm.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Promise Keeping God

Psalm 132

The Psalmist begins in this manner, “Lord remember David and all the hardships he endured.”

The writer of this Psalm understands what David encountered with his desire to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem, of David’s anguish over Uzzah’s death told to us in 2 Samuel 6:6-8.  “And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.   And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.   And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day.”

Now the rest of the story is David had not done his homework, or he would not have put the ark on a cart, but had the priest carry it with the long poles it came with.  Many a person that goes by the title of Christian is doing the same thing today, and their life is full of anger and frustration at both God and man.

Now zeal and desire to do some great acts, for God seems to feed our flesh and King David was no different than us.  He had set his heart on building a temple in Jerusalem for the ark of God, but that was not God’s plan.  Many a person has followed David’s example without allowing a prophet like Nathan to tell them, you are not the person to do that.  Many a person has a desire to do something great for God, but never ask if it is His will.

As we have said many times and will proclaim once more our God keeps His promises, but we have seen from Solomon that being wise does not keep one’s heart from turning to the small gods of this world.  In that Solomon broke the covenant God had made with David, all but Judah was taken from his sons.  

But God has kept His promise and Jesus is coming back as King of Kings and Lords of Lords and His throne will be Jerusalem.  I have some bad news for the Muslims that sealed off the Eastern gate, it’s not going to slow down our LORD.  Our LORD will clothe his enemies with shame, but the Crown He wears will be glorious.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Pride is a sneaky rascal.

Psalm 131:1-3

“Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty.  I do not get involved with things too great or too difficult for me.  Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself like a little weaned child with its mother; I am like a little child.  Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
both now and forever.”

My mother would talk or brag about her grandchildren, and always say now this is good pride not bad.  We all understood what she was conveying to us, but pride is that deplorable sin that many of us are blind to in our lives.  A king such as David that had won so many victories and accomplished so much and could go before an all-knowing God and say my heart is not proud.  It brings shame to me that I often have wanted people to think of me higher or better than both God and I know to be true, yes, I am often confronted with pride and arrogance in myself.

The apostle John gives us some sound council in 1 John 2:15-16,  ^“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”  As the apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 13:5, examine yourself, be on guard as Jesus told Peter for the devil is a sneaky rascal.

Do you recall these words from Jesus, “And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.   Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matthew 18:3-4)  If you ponder on what Jesus has said, everyone must have a heart change, we must understand we are needy, not complete and run to Jesus with our broken life, as a child runs to his mother or daddy, with his broken toy.

My dear brother in Christ, Bill Gillham was a speaker and professor of psychology and he often said, “Psychology was placing Band-Aids on things that only God can fix.”  We are living in a time that truth is made fun of, a liar is thought of as wise, but God has spoken, be still and wait for the Lord, He has set a date for the wicked.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Great Counsel

Psalm 130:1-8

“Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord!  O Lord hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!  If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?  But with you, there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word,  I hope; my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.  O Israel, hope in the Lord!  For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.  And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

I often need to reread a book authored by Brennan Manning, titled “The Ragamuffin Gospel”, in that it exposes a man like me that falls short often of being a follower of Christ.  That’s the bad news, but the good news is it also exposes God’s grace to all who will agree with God and have a repentant heart like King David.  Let me share this quote from the book; “For Ragamuffins, God’s name is Mercy.  We see our darkness as a prized possession because it drives us into the heart of God.” (Page 220)

A concern for both you and I is we do not see our sins as darkness, so we don’t cry out to the Lord, and we in some foolish way hope God is not paying attention to our acts of the heart.  But a Ragamuffin understands that if God considered sins, no one could stand.  The fourth verse in the Holman Study Bible, “But with You, there is forgiveness, so that You may be revered.”  The English Standard Version is what is quoted above, and it uses the word feared in place of revered.  It is my belief you should do both.

Verses five and six, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word,  I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.  O Israel, hope in the Lord!”  If you are not spending time in the Scriptures, it’s impossible to grasp how the Holy Spirit of God will encourage, and confront you on your business life, family life, and how you treat your neighbor.  The Word of God is a living word, it does not change with cultures, and God is the same today as yesterday.  But if you are not seeking Him, you have no understanding of the joy and peace you are missing out on, ask a Ragamuffin, like me.  I do Identify with the watchman, in boot camp I pulled fire watch and those nights seemed like they would never end.  I’ve also set in a cold deer stand waiting for the morning light and that’s the longest hour I’ve ever spent.  Maybe that’s the reason I’m so glad Glenn, my wonderful neighbor does the hunting and brings me some deer meat.

But now look at verses 7 and 8, “O Israel, hope in the Lord!  For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.  And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”  What If you and I added in our prayers the United States of America, and the Church of the only God, and His Son Jesus Christ.

I end today with this quote found on page 88 in the Ragamuffin Gospel.  “The gospel of grace calls out, Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.  You must be convinced of this, trust it, and never forget to remember.  Everything else will pass away, but the love of Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Faith will become vision, hope will become possession, but the love of Jesus Christ that is stronger than death endures forever.  In the end, it is the one thing you can hang onto.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Promised and Chosen

Psalm 129:1-8 

“Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth”— let Israel now say— “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.” The Lord is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.  May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward!   Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, with which the reaper does not fill his hand nor the binder of sheaves his arms,  nor do those who pass by say, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you!  We bless you in the name of the Lord!”

In the early days of Israel, they often suffered affliction from enemies, and also when in 1948 they once more became a nation, the same thing happened.  Have you ever pondered over why the Arab nations fear and hate the Jewish people?  I have and it is clear as the nose on your face, they are the chosen people of God.  In 1948 when they came back to their land it was not a productive land, but it soon became a land flowing with new technology, new products and land that came alive with fruit trees and produce.  From the beginning God has kept the promises he made to Abram later to have his name changed by God to Abraham.  Often the people chased after the small gods of this world and God always allowed them to do so.  But it also brought shame and destruction on them and often the enemies became their master, always a harsh master.

When the Psalmist says plowmen plowed over my back; he tells us that as slaves they were often beaten, and the overseers and owners left stripes on their backs.  I sure hope you did not stop reading, God cut the ropes of the wicked, and then we have the Psalmist curse on the enemies of Judea and Israel, in verses 5-7.  Do you understand what the Psalmist is asking of God, this is very clear, anyone that hates Zion will be driven back in disgrace.  He was not through with his request of God; he is asking God to make them like grass that sprouts briefly only to be withered and never bear seed or fruit.

In verse eight the Psalmist is asking God to curse their harvest, and that no one will offer a cheerful greeting.  As a follower of Christ, we must love what our Lord Jesus loves and that is Israel and its people.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

“Standing on the Promises”

Psalm 128:1-6

“Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!  You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;  you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.  Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.  Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!  May you see your children's children!  Peace be upon Israel!”

Do you recall singing this Hymn?  “Standing on the Promises” the first lyrics went like this;

“Standing on the promises of Christ my King Through eternal ages let his praises ring Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing Standing on the promises of God.”  

That is what King David is doing; he recalls the Promises God made to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3.  “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.   And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Our Father is a promise keeper, but so many of us cannot stand on the promises if we do not open the Word of God and apply them to our life.  As I read this, our President popped into my mind and his act of accepting Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel.  Many Presidents had made that promise, but not one of them honored their word.  President Trump did so, and in doing so, is being blessed.  Let me remind you that we also are experiencing as a nation the blessing of our President, most jobs ever, an excellent economy that is blessing all people, yes, it is vital to bless Israel. 

I find it of interest that often we have such high expectations for our leaders and such low hope for ourselves.  As I look at the men in Scripture that God used, all of them seem to fall short of the mark.  I only found a few of the prophets of God, like Isaiah, who understands the fear of the Lord; listen to his words in Isaiah 6:5.  “And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”  Do you not understand, we are that kind of people, and only when we receive the promises of God the Father and stand on and obey as Isaiah so well stated in verse five?  Jesus is the only answer, and He has made you promises, maybe it is time you searched them out.

Let us close with,  “Peace be upon Israel!”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice