In the Morning...

"But I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning."

Psalm 59:16

Zack Eswine:

"In the morning, songs of praise and thanksgiving can rise because God's strength has gotten us through the night. The night didn't win. We awake and see once again that God's love hasn't quit on us, and we ask that he will go with us and guide us into what awaits us. The morning stirs us to pray, therefore, and to watch how God will answer these prayers through the day. 

The new dawn also calls out to us that the help of God has come. Morning is meant as a poem or sermon to console the downcast. Their soul cry is given new invitation to ask again to have hope that the dawn of God will soon come to answer. The morning enables us to think again of God's goodness and to ask him why he waits to reveal that goodness to us (Psalm 88:13-14). The ending of night also rouses us to a renewed conviction to use the day as a means of opposing what is wretched in the world and protecting what is good and beautiful and right. 

Because God gives this meaning to the morning, he poetically pictures the sun as a bridegroom love-struck and happily longing to see his bride. The sun is no melancholy like me, tired of shining again unnoticed, traveling the same old path everyday and bored with it all. No! The sun is like that running in the story 'Chariots of Fire', who, when he ran, lifted his head as one who joyfully feels the pleasure of God (Psalm 19:5)....

One of mistaken uses of the morning, therefore, is to look at the circumstances and appointments awaiting us on our calendar without attending them with an awareness of their service or surrender to God and what God may wish to reveal to us with them or in spite of them."


Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry As a Human Being (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2013), 74.

Who Am I?

A seemingly simple question of identity. Yet, I'd be curious as to how people would respond if you randomly stopped them and asked. Here is how King David might answer that question:

"The LORD is my shepherd"

Psalm 23:1

For David, the answer is simple. Here is how I imagine David answering:

I am the LORD's. I belong to Him. I am a sheep and He is my shepherd. 

Sheep may be dumb, stubborn, needy, weak, and often ignorant, 

and I am not too proud confess that I am those things as well. 

I may be dumb, but I am His. My shepherd leads me. 

I may be stubborn, but I am His. My shepherd is infinitely compassionate towards me. 

I may be weak, but I am His. My shepherd is my strength, and His strength is made perfect in my weakness. 

I may be needy, but I am His. My shepherd provides for me. He carries me through. 

I  may be ignorant, but I am His. My Shepherd shows me the way and restores my soul.

My only hope in life and death, is that I belong to my Lord. My confidence is not in my ability as a sheep, but rather in the fact that my shepherd is the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for His sheep. I am His. 

Assurance in His Grip

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one

will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me,

is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand.

John 10:27-29

Where does your assurance come from? Is it from the strength of your own grip, or is your confidence completely in the strength of the grip of the one to whom you cling? Religion says your assurance comes from the strength of your own grip. In other words, your confidence is based on your performance. If you are standing upon solid ground, it is because you picked yourself up by your own boot straps. I often fall into this trap of basing my relationship with God on how strongly I am holding onto him, or how I am performing spiritual. 

But, the Gospel tells us quite the contrary. Jesus says his sheep know him, not because of how smart they are, or how strongly they cling to him. Rather, they know him and follow him because 1) they were given to him by his Father and 2) because his Father is greater than all, and no one can snatch his sheep out of his strong grip. Therefore, our trust should not be in our ability to hold on to God, but it should be in the strength of the one who holds onto us. 

This idea of God eternally choosing sheep to be his own, and sovereignly gripping them unto the end should cause great wonder and adoration. This is because, when we think about it, in our sinfulness, we were never able to hold onto God unto salvation. We are weak and broken, we had gone astray. Yet, God is so loving, that he died on the cross, as the lamb of God, innocently slaughtered for his people, for his sheep. The only way we could know God and follow him is if he sovereignly chose us, and maintained his eternal grip on us until the end. This should cause praise, adoration, humble service, self-sacrifice, and thanksgiving. 

Though we are weak, he is strong. Christians have the ultimate hope; not they will themselves will be strong enough to grip onto God and follow him, but that they have been chosen and loved by a God who has snatched them from death, given them life, and says he will never let go. 

On Mine Arm Shall They Trust

HT Dan Orr:

The following comes from Spurgeon’s Morning by Morning (per Aug. 31st):

“On mine arm shall they trust.” – Isaiah 49:5

…..

In seasons of severe trial, the Christian has nothing on earth that he can trust to, and is therefore compelled to cast himself on his God alone. When his vessel is on its beam-ends, and no human deliverance can avail, he must simply and entirely trust himself to the providence and care of God. Happy storm that wrecks a man on such a rock as this! O blessed hurricane that drives the soul to God, and God alone! There is no getting at our God sometimes because of the multitude of our friends; but when a man is so poor, so friendless, so helpless, that he has nowhere else to turn, he flies into his Father’s arms, and is blessedly clasped therein! When he is burdened with troubles, so pressing and so peculiar that he cannot tell them to any but his God, he may be thankful for them; for he will learn more of his Lord then than at any other time. Oh, tempest-tossed believer, it is a happy trouble that drives thee to thy Father! Now that thou hast only thy God to trust to, see that thou puttest thy full confidence in Him. Dishonor not thy Lord and Master by unworthy doubts and fears; But be strong in faith, giving glory to God. Show the world that thy God is worth ten thousand worlds to thee. Show rich men how rich thou art in thy poverty when the Lord God is thy helper. Show the strong man how strong thou art in thy weakness and when underneath thee are the everlasting arms. Now is the time for feats of faith and valiant exploits. Be strong and very courageous, and the Lord thy God shall certainly, as surely as he built the heavens and the earth, glorify Himself in thy weakness, and magnify His might in the midst of thy distress. The grandeur of the arch of heaven would be spoiled if the sky were supported by a single visible column, and your faith would lose its glory if it rested on anything discernible by the carnal eye. May the Holy Spirit give you rest in Jesus this day.

....

Thanks D.O. Needed these words today.

A Psalm of Confidence

"God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble. 

Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.....

The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress."

Psalm 46: 1-3,7

What are your troubles today? What is it that bears down on your soul, threatening to crush you? Where are you weak? Come what may, this psalm tells us that God's people dwell secure. Our hope is not in our own ability to lift our own burdens, or that in our own strength we can withstand the devastating blows of this life. In times of trouble, we are not strong enough.

But, God tells his people that He himself is there strength. He is an unshakable, impenetrable refuge. With the Lord as our refuge, the troubles of this life are as raindrops falling onto a concrete shelter. We dwell in the only shelter that is able to protect us from the storm. More so, our God is a very present help. Our hope doesn't rest in a distant, theoretical God. Our hope is in the God who is there and who is not silent. His strength becomes our strength. He actively protects His people. The thoughts of his children are many. 

Martin Luther said of this psalm,

"We sing this psalm to the praise of God because God is with us and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends His church and His Word against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against the assaults of the world, the flesh, and sin."

The Ruler of Israel

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephratha, 

who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

Therefore he shall give them up until the time

when she who is in labor has given birth;

then the rest of his brothers shall return

to the people of Israel.

And he shall stand and shepherd his 

flock in the strength of the LORD,

in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

And they shall dwell secure, 

for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

And he shall be their peace."

Micah 5:2-5

The ruler of Israel of which the prophet Micah foretells is indeed Jesus. The Son is from ancient of days. It has been predestined from before the foundations of creation that Jesus would come and save a particular people (Ephesians 1:5). By the blood of His cross, He has united a people unto himself. His wounds are their peace. He is the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sake of His sheep. Surely he shepherds God's children in the strength and majesty of the LORD. 

Be a Man

Martin Luther writing a letter of encouragement to his dear friend, Philip Melanchthon

"Now it is time to leave the rest to God, and he will accomplish it. Only be a man and hope in God."

Luther equates being a man with hoping in God. In contemporary culture, being a man is usually equated with pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and pressing on. It is bucking up, and pulling yourself together in your own strength. However, I think Luther touches on what being a real man is. Being a real man is being able to completely thrust yourself upon the true and living God, putting your full trust and hope in him. It is recognizing your own weakness, and in turn, turning to the strength of the Savior. Be a man, hope in God. 

Spiritual Strength

In Ephesians 3, Paul is praying for spiritual strength for the people in Ephesus.

...

In verse 20, he prays they might "know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

...

I am convinced this is the purpose of biblical study. Not to simply know things, like the love of Christ, but to be filled with the love of Christ. His Word is real. Let us believe every day it has the power to transform our lives when we read it.

Walking in a Manner Pleasing to Him

"so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. ¹¹May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light." Colossians 1:10-12

What does it mean to walk in a worthy manner of the Lord, in a way that is pleasing to him?

According to God's Word, it means.....

1) Bearing good fruit

2) Increasing in our knowledge of Him

3) Being strengthened by His power

4) Giving Thanks

Moreover, Paul writes that it is God who qualifies us. We bear good fruit because God's seed has been planted in us, and we are new creations. We now live by the indwelling Spirit, who produces good fruit in us. We Increase in knowledge according to what He lovingly reveals to His children. We are strengthened by His power according to His glorious might. We give thanks because of what He is doing in and through us.

Yet, we are to walk this way. We are called to act. We are to press on to live a life pleasing to God. But we do this by looking to God himself, as the source and qualifier of our faith, who, by His grace, will enable us to bear good fruit, increase in knowledge, be strengthened and give thanks.

Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners

Just listened to this hymn this morning......very powerful.

"Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners"

Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Refrain

Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

Jesus! what a Strength in weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my Strength, my victory wins.

Jesus! what a Help in sorrow!

While the billows over me roll,

Even when my heart is breaking,
He, my Comfort, helps my soul.

Jesus! what a Guide and Keeper!
While the tempest still is high,
Storms about me, night overtakes me,
He, my Pilot, hears my cry.

Jesus! I do now receive Him,
More than all in Him I find.
He hath granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine.