Praise God, even when web servers don’t work!( really!)

I was doing some reading about WHEN we are enjoined to praise God (many aspects of our lives can “praise” God; for this purpose I’m narrowing the definition to  the acts we might call “overt praise”)….and conluded that, at least for me , nothing demonstrates better that we can praise him in any circumstance, than David’s prophetic Psalm 22:

Psalms 22: 1 – 31

1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? [Why are You] so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning? 2 My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, by night, yet I have no rest. 3 But You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You rescued them. 5 They cried to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disgraced. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by people. 7 Everyone who sees me mocks me; they sneer and shake their heads: 8 ”;He relies on the Lord; let Him rescue him;let the Lord deliver him,since He takes pleasure in him.”; 9 You took me from the womb, making me secure while at my mother’s breast. 10 I was given over to You at birth; You have been my God from my mother’s womb. 11 Do not be far from me, because distress is near and there is no one to help. 12 Many bulls surround me; strong ones of Bashan encircle me. 13 They open their mouths against me- lions, mauling and roaring. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed; my heart is like wax, melting within me. 15 My strength is dried up like baked clay; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You put me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me; they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones; people look and stare at me. 18 They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. 19 But You, Lord, don’t be far away. My strength, come quickly to help me. 20 Deliver my life from the sword, my very life from the power of the dog. 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.  22 I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; I will praise You in the congregation. 23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him! All you descendants of Israel, revere Him! 24 For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He did not hide His face from him, but listened when he cried to Him for help. 25 I will give praise in the great congregation because of You; I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You. 26 The humble will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise Him. May your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations will bow down before You, 28 for kingship belongs to the Lord; He rules over the nations. 29 All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down; all those who go down to the dust will kneel before Him- even the one who cannot preserve his life. 30 Descendants will serve Him; the next generation will be told about the Lord. 31 They will come and tell a people yet to be born about His righteousness- what He has done.

      Amazing!! In the midst of what sounds like the worst time of a person’s life, David, while pleading to God for relief, in verse 3 turns to praising his Lord. I had intended to explore the idea that sometimes praising God begins as an act of the will, and is not always preceeded by “happy feelings”. David has demonstrated that exqusitely. What begins as a desperate prayer of supplication ends in

a proclamation of hope for David’s own life and well- being;

22 I will proclaim Your name to my brothers;I will praise You in the congregation.

a recommitment to a life with purpose;

25…I will fulfill my vows before those who fear you.

and a release of  the spirit to give hopeful praise for God’s future plans not only for David, but for “all nations”.

      It gives me pause to remember that all this started with David literally “groaning before God’, and then deliberately turning his thoughts to recount the greatness and faithfulness of God. I recall also that the Psalms were SUNG…David, in his “depression”, began to sing. What tools God has given us today! When I was slow and feeling “un-praisish” this morning, I began to give thanks to God and praise him , but had a huge boost when I put on some of my mp3 music.(I think “Wonderful World” came on first)… Sometimes just turning the mind toward God is all that’s needed, sometimes, being silent before Him, sometimes a walk in His creation,; so much can “jumpstart” us, but it’s an act of the will.

   One of the neat things about the Lord is that the same God works so individually….he connects to each of us uniquely. For me, music is HUGE, for others, quiet praise, silent or spoken, for others, praise music and dance; God can be praised by each of us in a unique and vital way.   

God’s Peace…Jim

Next…………………How do we “Practice the Habit of Praise”? (that is to say, I had some more thoughts on this, and am not sure when I’ll be able to post)

Be God’s…Jim

1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust…4 But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.(Psalm 781: 1a, 4) 

Talk about seeing through a glass darkly!!! As I’ve mentioned to some of you, I am somewhat limited in my ability to post right now, and it’s driving me nuts! I so enjoy “talking ” with you all, and reading what you have to offer. The system I am currently on(ie., @ this very moment) has the unpleasant habit of “locking up” in the middle of attempting to type, or post, so this should be short.

    A former roommate of mine came to mind recently. One day, when we were in college, I heard him YELL  (from another room)….”PRAISE GOD!!” I walked into the room where he was to see what form of divine ecstasy he was in, or to learn what good news he had received. I was surprised to see him holding his head from one of those incredibly painful encounters most of us have had with the corner of a kitchen cabinet. He explained that he had begun to practice praising God deliberately in “untoward” situations. He had initiated this habit partly to supplant the tendency to curse.

      That little incident years ago continues to be part of a core change in my life, which God is continuing to effect today. I purposefully remind myself to praise God when things appear to be going  badly,when I get what appears to be “bad news”; when I have failed to live up to the standard to which I aspire. …I remember that God is always worthy of praise, set my focus on Him, and begin to worship.The obvious example of this (in the Bible ) is Job. After he had lost wealth, and all His children had been killed, the following is recorded:

 Then Job stood up, tore his robe and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, 1 saying:
Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will leave this life.
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Praise the name of the Lord.

 Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.(Job 1:20-22)

HERE was a man who PRACTICED what he believed: that God was/is good, no matter what this corrupt world offered . May we be as steeped in the awareness of God.

(I know; I said I’d be brief…, I’ll quote Victor Hugo, who once apologized for the length of a missive in this way: “Please forgive the length of this letter, as I do not have time to be brief.”)

Praising God…Jim

 

 

For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 1 Cor. 13:12

…Further thoughts on “The blind men of Hindustan”(as shared with Secure In Truth)

…. It’s interesting to me that as many times as I’ve used this poem over the years to illustrate the limitations of our human understanding of God, I have tended to focus more on the though that each of the men had some, if incomplete, understanding of the truth. My point was not to conclude, as the poet does, that “each of them was wrong”, but that each of them had more to learn.Granted, in the sense that each of them gave an incomplete, limited definition of what the elephant was, they were indeed, “wrong”….that just wasn’t my primary focus…it was instead on how the truth each of them had could have added to a fuller picture for all of them. I feel the same way about our Christian faith….we are finite, “blind” human beings, capable of only “see(ing) in a glass darkly”, and looking forward to the day when “we shall know as we are known”. 

There is much to learn about God, and along with prayer(talking with God), study of scripture(reading about God), and meditation (thinking on God), so much is to be added in listening to others (especially honest seekers of like passion).

I love this adage from the Talmud; “A fool learns from no one; The wise man learns from every man.”

Pursue God, Friends…Jim 

Reading a discussion on Fishtree’s site about the historic attempts to describe/define Christ’s nature (divine? human? both? uniquely neither?) reminded me of an old folk tale of India which was put into poetic form many years ago by Godfrey Saxe, and which I can remember from childhood. Even though it’s a little obvious, just for fun, here it is:

The Blind Men of Hindustan            

There were six men of Hindustan, to learning much inclined,
Who went to see an elephant, though all of them were blind,
That each by observation might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant, and happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side, at once began to bawl,
“This mystery of an elephant is very like a wall.”

The second, feeling of the tusk, cried, “Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp? To me ’tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an elephant is very like a spear.”

The third approached the elephant, and happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands, thus boldly up and spake,
“I see,” quoth he, “the elephant is very like a snake.”

The fourth reached out an eager hand, and felt above the knee,
“What this most wondrous beast is like is very plain” said he,
“‘Tis clear enough the elephant is very like a tree. “

The fifth who chanced to touch the ear said, “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most; deny the fact who can;
This marvel of an elephant is very like a fan.”

The sixth no sooner had begun about the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail that fell within his scope;
“I see,” said he, “the elephant is very like a rope.”

So six blind men of Hindustan disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion exceeding stiff and strong;
Though each was partly in the right, they all were in the wrong!

I have often felt that as humans we are probably as simplistic(relative to the reality of God) in our efforts to describe the infinite, unfathomable God as the men in the poem. This is not to mock our attempts…far from it, when we meditate on God we follow in the honorable traditions of great  men of God, from David to Bonhoeffer.We are encouraged to do so in scripture.

   However, I am disappointed when Christians battle over differences between honestly held opinions….there is room for so much growth in discourse with respect. Bob Mumford, best known as a Charismatic minister, once said “the mark of the (sincere) Christian is TEACHABLENESS”…I always liked that

God Bless Your “Thinks” Today….Jim 

Sooooooo…in the past three days I’ve done the brakes on two daughters’ cars, worked with my son to remove and replace a broken stabilizer bar on his left rear wheel, and done two oil changes.Makes one feel useful, you know? As I’ve commented before, it feels GOOD to DO. There is a simple pleasure we often miss that is to be had in simply being useful.I fully believe that our worship of God is fulfilled in honoring Him by loving others with the tools (bodies) He’s made for the purpose of glorifying Him                                    

“So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal  to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.”(Romans 12:1)      

     I’m at work, so I think I’ll sign out for now, and spend some time “worshiping” (internally AND externally).    

                       God’s Presence, All…Jim 

Hey, everybody! Man, it’s S-T-E-A-M-Y and HOT in Michigan today!!!Being blessed with all KINDS of car problems right now…son has a broken wheel stabilizer, two daughters have brake problems, and the other daughter lost her ONLY copy of her car keys on Saturday (it still amazes me how many inconvenient things seem to happen between Friday evening and the start of business hours on Monday), all while I wait to fly to Colorado to pick up my car which was in an acccident last month when I lent it out. NOW who doesn’t believe that God is at work in the manner of Romans 5…

                  1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our  Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Also through Him, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

3 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

   Was talking with my oldest daughter today about something related to this very topic, which came to a focus for me in the awareness that I now respond very differently to some of these “life assaults” which come from time to time, than I did when I was in my 20s, or even my 30s or 40s. I notice a far greater ability (CERTAINLY not perfected, ‘though! ) to take it in perspective in many ways ….instead of stressing out or blowing up, or asking God, “What I am doing wrong?”, as I used to, I will respond, for example; “”Well, here comes another one of those ‘trial periods’; time to settle in to ride it out”, and, “Well, this is just how life seems to be from time to time ….sure will be glad not to have to go through this in eternity!” 

    I’m betting that this kind of perspective had a lot to do with Paul and Silas’s ability in Acts to be singing hymns, psalms, and worshiping God at midnight, while in shackles, in an inner cell of an almost certainly pitch-dark prison (torches, at best)! 

 I am so thankful that God sometimes allows us to SEE that we really ARE progressing toward the completion of the work He is doing in us. 

                          God Bless You All Richly!!…..Jim                                         

 

Claiming  “nothing but Christ, and Him crucified”…Long workday ahead….more later. God’s Presence comfort you all…Jim

Quietly, I’m back! A little subdued…kind of low  energy, but back in Michigan (and near a computer) nonetheless. Relying on God’s mercy and love ’till the energy level comes back up, and spending lots of time talking to God (and listening) about His current projects in improving my relationship to Him.Reading a little of John R.W.Stott today, and I love what he says about what Christianity is:

   “…Christianity is NOT a creed…(it) is NOT ..a code of conduct…(it) is NOT a ‘system of religious worship’…What is it? IT IS CHRIST!…and a personal relationship to (Him)..”

  THAT is what I so long to deepen…and when I am disappointed in my own performance, or with Paul, find myself crying out, ” O, wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of sin and death?”, after a failure or regression into something I am working to conquer, it is that relationship alone which has the power to restore me, allow me to forgive myself , and pick myself up in the confidence of God’s unflagging efforts to complete His plan for me.Along with D.C. Talk, I’m convinced ”I’m still a man in need of a savior.”..Be Christ’s…….Jim