OUT OF THE FRYING PAN (Psalm 81)

I removed his shoulder from the burden; His hands were free from the baskets.
You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. (Psalm 81:6-7, NKJV)

Am I reading this right? Verse 6 of Psalm 81 repeats the familiar story of the exodus: God freed the hands of the Israelites from the "baskets," from the task of making the building blocks of the pyramids and perhaps pulling them in place. Verse 7 repeats that story: You called. I answered. I delivered you.

But then . . . there is always "but." Asaph elaborates on that deliverance. I believe I've mentioned before that Hebrew poetry often works either with expanding and restating the original idea; or stating the opposite. This is an example of the first kind of poetry.

First he says God answered them in the secret place of thunder. I'd say Mt. Sinai qualifies. After God delivered them from slavery, the first order of business was giving the laws to live by. Mostly Israel experienced God through thunder and lightning. Moses spoke ordinary words; God answered with thunder, perhaps the "language they didn't understood." (although I suspect Asaph was referring to the local Egyptian dialect.)

The law doesn't feel so much like deliverance as it feels like the regulations needed for an orderly society.

The next description of deliverance doesn't feel like deliverance at all: "I tested you at the waters of Meribah."

Twice during the Wilderness Wanderings, the Israelites ran out of water. Both times God provided water from a rock. The second time became the breaking point for Moses. He struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God had commanded him, and for his disobedience, he was denied entrance into the promised land.

Not a happy place.

I know Asaph is referring to those two occasions because both times, they named the place Meribah.

So the testing at Meribah, the lack of water, the people's lack of faith, perhaps even Moses's disobedience--all of that in some way built on God's deliverance from slavery.

So, deliverance may lead to further testing. Deliverance doesn't mean we get to live in on the Mountain Top, thunder and all, for the rest of our lives. No, we go back into the valley, where we face tests on a regular basis.

But where sin and slavery weigh us down with its heavy yoke, life in harness with Christ lightens the load--tests and all.

Today's favorite verse: Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O Lord. Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish, That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord,are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalm 83;16-18, NKJV)

BECOMING ADULTS (Psalm 80)

Then take the hand of your once-favorite child, the child you raised to adulthood.
We will never turn our back to you; breathe life into our lungs so we can shout your name!
God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come back! Smile your blessing smile: That will be our salvation. (Psalm 80:17-19, MSG)

In Psalm 80, Asaph questions God. You brought us, a tender young vine, from Egypt, and gave us good soil to grow. You protected us. What happened?!


Here's the answer: they grew up.

When an infant reaches for a hot pan to grab food (as my 8-month-old son did many years ago), we don't say, "That's hot. Don't touch." The first thing we do is keep them from burning those tender fingers--while saying, "That's hot, don't touch."

When the child is eight, we no longer feel compelled to grab their hands. We may yell a warning. Keep the handles from where a child can grab. But we hope our children have learned some basic safety rules.

Spiritually, our lives are much like that. Look at Israel as an infant, during the Exodus. God corrected them each and every time they did something wrong.

A little later, God used the cycle we see in Judges--of deliverance, sin, oppression, repentance, deliverance--to discipline His people.

Later yet, God sent them prophets to remind them of God's rules. Mentors, if you will. God did everything short of cutting out of the will to correct their behavior. When that didn't help, He allowed foreign nations to carry them away from the land.

God treats His children the same way today. He teaches us to walk--then lets go of our hands, always watching us, rejoicing in our successes, giving advice when requested, but--treating us as adult children. And, oh, yes, standing by, ready to perform spiritual CPR if necessary.

One of my favorite parts of The Shack (not condoning the whole book, but this one resonated with me): The character playing God the Father said, "That one was one of my favorite children." When questioned, He said, "They're all my favorite children."

So the once-favorite child is still the favorite child. Just raised to adulthood and given the freedom to learn and try on our own.

And the final stanza about "Smile your blessing smile" while beseeching God to come back? That refrain is repeated three times in Psalm 80. A three-peat screams "pay attention here!" So let's make that our prayer tonight.

We may want to climb onto God's lap as children, but He asks to stand at His side as adults.

Today's favorite verse--You're famous for helping; God, give us a break. Your reputation is on the line. (Psalm 79:8, MSG)

FIERCE AND FEARSOME (Psalm 76)

Fierce you are, and fearsome! Who can stand up to your rising anger?
From heaven you thunder judgment; earth falls to her knees and holds her breath.
God stands tall and makes things right, he saves all the wretched on earth.
Instead of smoldering rage--God praise! All that sputtering rage--now a garland for God! (Psalm 76:7-10, MSG)

I am much more comfortable with the images of God as the Shepherd, the God of Love, the Protector, the One who Hears. But reading the Psalms has challenged me to look at the fierce-and-fearsome God who gets angry at sin.

Fierce--aggressive, violent, profound
Fearsome--frightening, impressive

God is fierce. He's on the warpath against evil and evil doers. He knocks tyrants off their thrones and upholds the hand of the righteous. If we don't see God on the warpath very often, Peter explains the reason why: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) "Everyone" includes even those people we would judge harshly if it were left up to us: murderers, child molesters, rapists--ex-spouses and harsh bosses and rude customers.

God is fearsome. The Bible often uses the language of nature to describe the fear He invokes. Ocean saw you in action, God, saw you and trembled with fear; Deep Ocean was scared to death. (Psalm 77:16, MSG)begins verses that mention thunder, lightning, "buckets" of rain, whirlwinds (dare we add tornados?) and earthquakes.

I confess that I don't often think of God in those terms. Like many of my fellow Americans, I could use a dose of Jonathan Edwards' classic sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

God wants to take our rage and turn it into praise and garlands for God. Instead of wasting our energy on sputtering rage, we can channel it into artistic expressions of praise through music and words and art, garlands of flowery praises to give back to God.

Today's favorite verse, another one for writers: And I'm telling the story of God Eternal, singing the praises of Jacob's God. (Psalm 75:9, MSG)

P.S. Sorry for no post last night. Computer problems!

PRAYER FOR THE PRESIDENT (Psalm 72)

May all godless people enter his circle of blessing and bless the One who blessed them. (Psalm 72:17, MSG)

Psalm 72 records Solomon's prayer for the king--himself, obviously. Who better to advise us on how to pray for our president than the wisest man who ever lived--one who knew the pressure of leading an entire nation?

I quoted the verse above as a good summary--God blesses us so that we in turn will bless others. As God blesses our leaders, they in turn are to bless the people they govern, and through, our blessing can extend to the entire world.

When I read Psalm 72, "human rights" jumped to my mind. But lest I let my personal Democrat leanings unfairly color my glasses, let's look through the petitions. Solomon asked God for:

• A wise and just rule
• Champion of the poor
• Enemy of cruel tyrants
• Good weather for crop growing: imagine a good atmosphere for economic growth
• Righteousness
• Peace
• Respect of other world leaders
• Rescues and restores the poor, the destitute, the down-and-out, the wretched
• Free those under tyranny and torture
• Enduring fame
• lengthy rule
• Rule a large territory (sea to sea, river to rim)
• Victory over his enemies
• A heart for his people

Solomon's list covers both domestic and foreign affairs and suggests the king's treatment of everyone, both little and small. It touches on the leader's character. It gives him guidelines to consider before embarking on war.

Whatever country we live in, we would do well to pray these same request for our leaders.

Today's favorite verse: No doubt about it! God is good--good to good people, good to the good-hearted. But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness. I was looking the other way, looking up to the people at the top. (Psalm 73:1-4, MSG)

OUT TO PASTURE? (Psalm 71)

Just as each day brims with your beauty, my mouth brims with praise.
But don't turn me out to pasture when I'm old or put me on the shelf when I can't pull my weight. (Psalm 71:8-9, MSG)

You, who made me stare trouble in the face, turn me around;
Now let me look life in the face.
I've been to the bottom;
Bring me up, streaming with honors; turn to me, be tender to me.
And I'll take up the lute and thank you to the tune of your faithfulness, God. (Psalm 71:17-24, MSG)

I had a best friend named Jonathan when we were in second grade. We remained good friends until I seventeen years later. But Jon is responsible for a sad-but-funny childhood memory. We were playing farm and ranch or something like that with another girl. They sent me "out to pasture" while they went on to play somewhere else.

Hmm. That's the way I was feeling on Saturday--put out to pasture while God was playing with someone else, someone younger, with more time and freedom to travel than I do.

Yesterday I reached a point where I felt hopeful that I would again feel hopeful and find purpose. I still don't know what that purpose will be--but God will show me and until then, I live the day He has mapped out for me: I have four more books to write. And I hope to complete two years at least of this blog, taking us all the way through the New Testament.
Today I received a birthday card that sent exactly the message I needed to hear: You hold a special place in God's heart and a special purpose in this world. . .and that makes you irreplaceable.

Saturday, I stared the trouble ahead of me in the face. I am aging. I haven't left the nursing home for anything except my trip to the hospital in over a year. I may have topped out as far as how wide a path I will cut in the writing world. (Yes, I will write more books, but I doubt that I will become a bestseller or win a Pulitzer prize.) My glass was more than empty.

Today I echo David's prayer: Let me look life in the face. And it IS life. Every pain-filled, joy-filled, GOD-filled minute of it. Any honors that come to me, may I offer them as thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. Today, my glass is half full and the liquid level is rising.

How do you look life in the face?

TODAY'S FAVORITE VERSE: Especially for writers. I'll write the book on your righteousness, talk up your salvation in the livelong day, never run out of good things to write or say. (Psalm 71:15, MSG)

GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE (Psalm 68)

…or Elvis…or Laura Ingalls Wilder. Whoever your heroes are, it’s exciting to visit their birthplaces and later homes. On one trip from Pennsylvania to Texas, my husband and I sidetracked to Laura’s Missouri home, and I saw the lined tablets on which she handwrote the Little House books. There was nothing special about her modest home—not like the houses I covet while watching House Hunters on HGTV. Because a favorite author had lived there, the house’s status increased.

Mount Bashan, majestic mountain,
Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,
why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain,
at the mountain where God chooses to reign,
where the Lord himself will dwell forever? Psalm 68:15 – 16, NIV

            The hills of Bashan, east of the Sea of Galilee, are remarkable for their height, according to www.blueletterbible.org. They are known today as the Golan Heights, but I can’t find an exact height for the Heights. Mt. Zion is 2,510 feet, according to Wikipedia, and seems to be a hill in already elevated Jerusalem, the location of the ancient Temple, and today the Temple Mount.

            The point is, if you were choosing a mountain based on height and majesty, Bashan would win over Mt. Zion. But in this psalm, Bashan is green with envy because God chose Zion. YHWH, the God who revealed himself as I AM to the Hebrew people, lives on Zion. Forever. Bashan’s got nothing to compare.

            When I’m feeling as insignificant as a little bump surrounding by huge peaks, this psalm assures me that God’s presence in my life gives me significance and value. God is not looking for a fancy schmancy house, just a house with an open door.

 You huge mountains, Bashan mountains, mighty mountains, dragon mountains.
All you mountains not chosen,sulk now, and feel sorry for yourselves,
For this is the mountain God has chosen to live on;  he’ll rule from this mountain forever. Psalm 68:15 - 16, The Message

This is Roberta writing today. Visit me at www.robertabrosius.blogspot.com