Author: Warren Rachele

Psalm 20 ~ Pray for the King

Psalm 20 reminds us of an often neglected responsibility for disciples of the Savior, to pray for our leaders (1 Tim 2:1-4). Whether you may have voted for a leader or find yourself in opposition, the Christian is called to exercise his or her intercessory moments and seek wisdom, guidance, and protection for the authorities recognizing all the while that God’s providence directs the course of history. This psalm was used to seek these God given tools for the king before he went out to war and can offer the same things to a current leader who faces an immensely complex world.

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.

May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. (vv 1-3)

The psalmist takes an interesting turn in his form in verse six. In exuberance, a liturgist proclaims loudly the truth of the psalm’s words, bursting forth with a proclamation of assurance for the effectual nature of the believers prayer. Our modern prayers can lead us to the same confidence if we approach them fervently and humbly, confident in God’s course and not insistent on our own ways.

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. (vv 6-8)

Third Sunday in Advent with Micah – Restoration

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Israel longed for the promise of being made whole again after their internal corruption had ripped them asunder. Micah brought this promise to them but also reminded them that they must remain in the crucible a bit longer in order to reach the necessary purity.

I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.

I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people. (v 2:12)

No matter what our personal situation may reflect now, the anticipation of the birth of Jesus kindles hope within us of a personal restoration. His gift of the Holy Spirit can gather our fractured souls together and restore us to what God had intended for us to be. We won’t be perfect, not in this lifetime but when we are all gathered home. . . that is a gift worth receiving.

Our thoughts in this season must move beyond this personal gift and extend it to others. When we become a part of a single body we move together as the representative of the Savior on earth. We become this face of restoration as we bind up the broken and invite them into the sheepfold to enjoy the love of their Restorer.

Psalm 19 ~ The Heavens Declare

Like many places on earth, Denver is geographically blessed to enjoy one of the gifts that God has provided in the sunrise and sunset. To the east, the Great Plains of the United States unroll in mile after mile of broad, flat country. To look to the east in the morning is to see the straight line of the distant horizon and the Sun gradually rising a slice at a time. On cloudy mornings we are treated to a magnificent show as the sky lights up from black to violet to a blazing pink and orange in the briefest of moments. The the immediate west rise the 14,000 foot peaks of the Rocky Mountains. The sun disappears in the evening much quicker behind these imposing monuments but again, if the clouds are present, we are treated to another visual feast as the filtered sunlight plays off the bottoms of the thunderheads. To the beauty of the sunrise, the course of the sun, the careful ordering of the stars and the phases of the moon the psalmist expresses his praise.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. (vv 1-2)

There is no divinity in the skies or the celestial objects and yet, they speak. They speak not in themselves but in our souls. Our appreciation for the beauty before us comes from a divine source. Without that presence, the prismatic effects that we look at would be nothing more than atmospheric coincidence and the refraction of light. With the Spirit, we see God and the immense complexity in the interplay between weather, astronomy, the incredible human eye and the emotions of the heart that reacts to the visual message it receives.

The same beauty if found in the Law of the Lord. The Law is often misunderstood as a constraint to freedom. Instead, as we understand God and his provision of the Law, it is actually the definition of true freedom. The Law provides the boundaries which our broken hearts are tempted to test. It is meant to increase our enjoyment of life, not diminish it.

The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. (vv 9b-10)

In the glory of the heavens we begin to see our purpose, to glorify God as they do.

Second Sunday in Advent with Micah – Longing for Justice

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The Prophet Micah spoke a message that is ultimately about hope. Though difficult times must come upon God’s people, in the end, the just nature of God will overcome all and His people and His world will be restored to their proper relationship. The advent season can be a joyous, hopeful season but for some people, it can also serve to magnify their distress and hopelessness. There are numerous reasons that people feel this way but one cause that the Bible teaches us to address with His blessing is injustice. We can be the hope bringers in situations of injustice. God’s grace can be transported to these situations and they can be transformed…if we are willing. One of my favorite passages regarding worship describes in the voice of God himself the direct relationship between justice, mercy, and adoration.

He has showed you, O Man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (vv 6:8)

In this season of longing and anticipation, we can turn to one of Micah’s passages of hope as a prayer of our own. We can trust that God will restore justice in His time. Until that day, we can carry His message on our own.

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?

You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (vv 7:18-19)

Psalm 18 Pt 3 ~ The Lord is My Rock

The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Savior!

He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me.

Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O Lord; I will sing praises to your name. (vv 46-49)

This psalm of praise ends as it began, with the psalmist proclaiming the greatness of God and the firmness of the foundation which He provides to those whom He loves. In the mid section of the psalm, we read David comparing his righteousness to that of his enemies and and anointing this right relationship with Yahweh as the true source of his victories. This last section turns back to God and offers praise for who He is,

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless.

He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

For who is God besides the Lord?

And who is The Rock except our God? (vv 30-31)

Humility is discovered in that moment when we discover who we are not. It may come when we fail at some task that we thought we had mastered. That clarity may arrive also when we discover that we are not God and that all we have or do comes from Him. At that moment, these words of praise become our words. Sing them to Him this morning.

An Advent Benediction of Trust

May the Lord put test to your faith.image

May He challenge your trust, may you be troubled,

In the same way that His servant Mary was challenged.

 

Whether it be in the form of an angelic light

or the face of a stranger in need,

Pray for the Lord to challenge your faith.

 

May you rise to the purpose he has vested in you;

May your answer to his call be ‘May it be to me as you have said.’

May your heart know the trust of not being afraid,

and your confidence rooted in the knowledge that nothing is impossible with God.

 

Amen

from the Gospel of St. Luke 1:26 – 38

The Blue Parakeet 7

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A collection of laws from Leviticus, chapter 19 includes the following:

19:2 Be Holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

19:3 You must observe my Sabbaths.

19:9-10 When you reap the harvest of you land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. . . . Leave them for the poor and the alien.

19:16 Do not spread slander.

19:19 Keep my decrees.

19:26 Do not eat any meat with blood still in it.

19:27 Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.

19:28 Don’t put tattoo marks on your bodies.

19:32 Show respect for the elderly.

19:37 Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them.

So, how’re you doing on keeping this list along with the hundreds of other laws spread throughout the Bible? Most Christians will claim that if the Bible says it, they make their best attempt at following the law.

Except for those they don’t.

The question that we must answer to ourselves is why. How have we come to decide that some of the biblical laws are no longer applicable in our modern day and age? More importantly, how have we come to decide which ones to put aside? There are some who will read the bible within the framework of God’s holiness and His requirements being unchanging and therefore, His laws remain unchanging. This prism does not take into account that despite the unchanging nature of His holiness, God’s will for his people does.

Christians have developed a discernment rooted in Jesus and the New Testament and this way of discerning what applies to our lives and what is to be left to history. This stands us up to accusations of picking and choosing what applies and to some extent, this is true. In fact, the Church as a whole has historically taken this approach to the commandments of the Bible. Our goal then is to identify the patterns of discernment that lead us to the choices we make. Anyone want to start the conversation?