What Big Thing Does God Want to Start From Your Small Step?
Nehemiah 7:5-73 is the sort of thing people skip over when they read the Old Testament, as verses 6-73 are simply a census list of the returned exiles.
BUT
That boring detail is actually a key step to an amazing spiritual breakthrough.
Nehemiah has a sense that the Lord wants him to take a census of the people:
Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. [Nehemiah 7:5]
Nehemiah is obedient to the Spirit’s prompting, and he begins to gather the people for a census. The rest of the chapter is a list of the exiles.
Who cares?
The reason this matters is that chapter 8 (coming tomorrow) tells us that when Nehemiah gathers the people together for the census, there is an amazing revival among the people! (Again, more tomorrow.)
Today, we read that Nehemiah feels prompted to take a census, and that small obedient step leads to a big spiritual breakthrough.
Here’s my question for you: what small obedient step do you feel as if the Lord is asking you to take TODAY? What if there is a BIG BREAKTHROUGH waiting in your future that all depends on your small step today?
A Test Worthy of the Man
The wall is completed in 52 days.
Destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians, 140 years later Nehemiah’s leadership results in the walls around Jerusalem being rebuilt in 52 days.
The accomplishment is so astounding that the surrounding people are filled with awe and terror at the obvious favor of the Lord on Nehemiah’s life and in support of the beleaguered Jewish community of exiles in Jerusalem:
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. [Nehemiah 6:15-16]
But the accomplishment is all the more impressive with the next details that Nehemiah gives us as to the complicated web of corruption and intrigue he faced when building the wall. (See today’s passage: Nehemiah 6:15-7:4.)
Allow me to share an extended quotation from Derek Kidner:
“While chapter 5 brought to light the severe strains beneath temporary unity, these three verses reveal a still more serious threat in the disloyalties that might have sabotaged the whole enterprise, and which would persist to the end of Nehemiah’s story (see the final chapter).
This evil, like the other, found its foothold in the more prosperous levels of society, this time through the love of power and status rather than primarily through love of money. Tobiah was a more insidious influence in this respect than Sanballat, since he was probably a fellow-Jew…. His numerous binding agreements (by oath, 18) within the Jewish community were probably trading contracts, facilitated by his marriage connections…. While such links and loyalties were embarrassing enough in themselves, we now learn how busily they were exploited by intrigues, persuasive talk, leaks of information and threatening letters. All this, in addition to the outside pressures already described, brought Nehemiah under attack from almost every quarter. It had been a test worthy of the man, and it was not yet over.”
May each of us take inspiration today from Nehemiah, a truly great man.
How to Respond to the Haters
You can be doing anything of value—literally anything—and you will face opposition.
If Handel were premiering Messiah this week, someone would write on Twitter:
“Sure, the music was pretty good, but I HATED the part when we had to stand for the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus.”
It doesn’t matter what it is—there will ALWAYS be someone who complains, dishonestly critiques, or otherwise tries to compromise what you’re doing.
Opposition is inevitable, which is why I like Nehemiah so much—he never lets opposition get in his head. In today’s passage (Nehemiah 6:1-14), he gives us three different ways with which to respond to opposition.
First, Stay Focused On What Matters Most
6 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.
Nehemiah is rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, but the enemies of the Jews want to stop him from completing his project, so they try to distract him with a pretext for a meeting. I love Nehemiah’s response:
“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”
Stay focused on what you are building; ignore the folks who only want to tear down.
Second, Don’t Feel You Have to Respond to Lies
5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.
The charge that Sanballat levies against Nehemiah is that the rebuilding is just a cover for a rebellion that Nehemiah wants to lead, with himself as king. This is a serious charge, because presumably the Persian king would not take kindly to rebellion in Jerusalem. And yet Nehemiah doesn’t take the bait:
“No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.”
And he goes on with the work.
Don’t feel the need to respond to every lie that is said about you.
Third, Be Prepared to Stand Your Ground, Come What May
10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.
A false prophet—on the enemies’ payroll—tries to persuade Nehemiah to hide for his life in the Temple. Nehemiah rejects this suggestion:
“Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.”
Nehemiah decides that he has a job to do, and if it costs him his life, so be it. In other words, he doesn’t give into fear.
Fear is a lie, and it never comes from God, so don’t give it undue power in your life today.
As you are engaged in building something beautiful, what opposition are you facing today?
Walls Won't Work When the Enemy is Within
Today’s Nehemiah Reading (Day #5): Nehemiah chapter 5.
Walls won’t work when the enemy is within.
The walls of Jerusalem are meant to protect its citizens, but as Nehemiah is engaged in the task of rebuilding those walls, the poor people of the city come to him and tell him that they are being oppressed by their fellow Jews. In other words, the enemy is not only without, but within the city. Nehemiah promptly and effectively confronts the elites that are behaving in that way and even gets them to willingly agree to change their economic practices. However, this sour note in the rebuilding process is a foreshadowing of what will happen at the end of the book.
Today’s Leadership Lesson from Nehemiah:
The narrative then jumps ahead and we learn that Nehemiah is actually the governor and that his first term lasted 12 years! And then, he gives us this insight: though he was entitled—as governor—to tax the people to pay for food for his retinue and for himself, he never took a dime from the people; rather, he paid for everything out of his own pocket.
Great leaders serve their people.
Whom can you serve today?
We Prayed...and Set a Guard
Today’s Nehemiah Reading (Day #4): Nehemiah 4:1-23
Nehemiah is a model for faithful action. Unsurprisingly, his rebuilding project faces opposition, and the enemies of Israel conspire to come with violence and tear down the half-rebuilt wall around Jerusalem. So, this is what he does:
“We prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against [our enemies] day and night.” [Nehemiah 4:9]
We prayed…and set a guard.
Prayer informs and undergirds action. We still need to act, but prayer makes our actions meaningful.
Pick Up the Stone Right in Front of You [Day #3]
Don’t skim or scan today’s Nehemiah passage. Yes, it first seems like a tedious list of who did what when, but I think it’s worth reading for 2 reasons:
All the specific historical details are a clue: this really happened!
All the names and groups of people listed are an insight into Nehemiah’s leadership genius: he got everyone to do a part.
The rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem is a difficult project to undertake, and it will only be successfully completed if Nehemiah gets everyone to do his or her part. Which, of course, is what he does.
Friends, there is a lot of building to do, and it can be overwhelming—where do we begin?
Take the next faithful step right in front of you; pick up the stones right there, and get to work on your section of the wall.
Let us rise up and build!
How to Be Strong No Matter What Happens [Day 2]
It’s the kind of detail you miss if you don’t have access to a good Bible commentary (or a learned and refined blog like this one):
Four months pass between Nehemiah chapters 1 and 2.
Nehemiah 1:1
Now it happened in the month of Chislev….
Nehemiah 2:1
In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes….
“Chislev” is the Jewish lunar month of November/December, and “Nisan” is the Jewish lunar month of March/April. Our story begins in chapter 1 in November/December 446 BC, and then resumes four months later in chapter 2 in March/April 445 BC.
In other words, Nehemiah has been praying about his meeting with the Persian Emperor for four months!
Today’s Nehemiah Reading (Day #2 of 15): Nehemiah 2:1-20
How to Be Strong No Matter What Happens
I love the story of Nehemiah’s life-and-death meeting with Emperor Artaxerxes that’s told in our reading today. As the cup bearer to the king, Nehemiah is a close personal aide and advisor to the king, and yet he is still taking his life in his hands with his audacious request to be sent back to Jerusalem—at royal expense(!)—to rebuild it. I love his gulped prayer (v. 4) and how he then boldly pushes ahead. And, the king grants his request!
Nehemiah’s four months of prayer have prepared him for this moment in 2 ways:
He has become the kind of person who is able to simply do the right thing when the moment comes. Disciplined prayer shapes us like an athlete’s training—when it’s game time, you just do the right thing without thinking about it. Disciplined prayer is God’s way of making us wise.
He knows that he has been praying and that his life is in God’s hands; whatever happens, God is with him. So, when the moment of decision comes, he gulps out his prayer and just pushes ahead.
What if you started preparing today for your next challenge in the same way? Circle something in prayer, and when the moment comes, walking boldly ahead, knowing that you are in the hands of the Lord.
That’s the secret of strength.
P.S. Today’s Leadership Lesson from Nehemiah
When applicable, I’ll add a brief leadership lesson to each day’s reading. Here’s today’s:
When Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem, he doesn’t tell anyone what he’s there to do. Rather, he goes by night and silently inspects the walls, learning about the state of the ruined city before he shows his hand.
Listen and learn first, and then act.
446 BC
For the next 3 weeks (weekdays only), I’m going to be reading through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, which is all about rebuilding after disaster.
Talk about timely.
You in?
(Trust me—it’s one of the most inspiring stories in the Bible, and most of it is told in first-person as a direct memoir from Nehemiah himself.)
Scripture for Day 1 (9/14/2020):
The story begins in November 446 BC, and to understand what’s happening, a few historical facts are in order:
In 586 BC, the Babylonian empire destroyed Jerusalem and carried off the Israelites into exile in Babylon;
In 539 BC, the Persian empire conquered the Babylonian empire;
In 538 BC, the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great permitted the Jews to return home to begin to rebuild, and a small group of them did so;
Over the next several generations, the rebuilding moved forward slowly, in fits and starts (this story is told in the Book of Ezra).
Much of the book of Nehemiah is a memoir written by Nehemiah himself, and as the story begins in November-December 446 BC, he is working for the Persian emperor in the Persian citadel of Susa.
Prayer becomes an essential part of Nehemiah’s story, and before he makes his move (we’ll read about it tomorrow), he spends 4 months in prayer.
What do you need to circle with that kind of intense prayer today?
P.S.
My sermon yesterday was about today’s Nehemiah passage, and it centered on this question:
What if God needs to change you before he changes your circumstances?
The Nastiest Verse in the Entire Bible - Psalm 137
In 586 BC, the Babylonia Empire razed Jerusalem to the ground and removed its people into exile in Babylon, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Psalm 137 comes from the time immediately following that cataclysm; it closes with what is perhaps the nastiest verse in the entire Bible.
137 By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
Unsurprisingly, the exiles first action upon arriving in Babylon (between “the rivers”) is to lay down and weep.
2 On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
Willow trees grow alongside rivers, and when the exiles arrived their oppressors taunted them to “sing about Zion!” It wasn’t just that Zion had been their home; it was that Zion was the home of the Temple, the Lord’s “house.” Did the Babylonian victory mean that the Babylonian god was stronger than the Lord?
And so the Israelite exiles resisted and hung up their harps and refused to sing.
4 How shall we sing the Lord's song
in a foreign land?
This is the central question of exile, isn’t it? How can we stay faithful even when it looks like we’ve been abandoned by God?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
And so the psalmist declares: if I forget from where I came, then let my hand cease to work and my mouth cease to speak.
7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
Edom was an historic enemy of Israel, located to the south and east of the Dead Sea (in present day Jordan). We don’t know to what v. 7 is specifically referring, but it seems the Edomites rejoiced over Jerusalem’s fall, and the psalmist wants to be sure they receive punishment for their gloating.
8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
The prophets had said that the Lord would use Babylon to punish Israel, but that Babylon would itself subsequently be punished for its wickedness. The psalmist says that whoever punishes Babylon will be blessed! (Historical note—Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC, not even 50 years later.)
The Nastiest Verse in the Bible?
And then we come to the nastiest verse in the entire Bible. After the psalmist sings of his misery at living in Babylonian captivity, he closes his psalm:
9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock!
The psalmist pronounces blessing on anyone who beats out the brains of Babylonian babies. Presumably, he is saying this in a language the Babylonians don’t understand, as a bitter ironic response to the Babylonian guards’ taunts that the Israelites “sing”.
What do we do with that kind of language?
Let us not clutch our pearls and imagine ourselves to be so much above such emotions. It is literally unimaginable for us to consider what it would be like to have your city razed, women raped, children killed, and to be carried off into exile.
The psalms are our prayers to God. Because honesty in prayer is so important, there are times when are prayers to God will disclose just how evil are some of the thoughts of our hearts.
If we keep these sorts of emotions in, they will still be there, festering. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Evil produces evil. Babylonian wickedness provokes Israelite hatred. This is one of the many reasons our evil actions toward others are so dangerous—they provoke them to hate me, thereby doubling injuring them, both body and soul.
The only way out of this trap is grace, and the only way out of the evil of the world is Jesus. Jesus died for his enemies, thereby showing us what God is like.
It seems counterintuitive, but the more we consistently pray our true emotions and read scripture, the more the Spirit will conform us into Christ’s image.
Some Cool Videos with Call and Response [Psalm 136]
Call and Response is found in musical styles all over the world.
Here’s Andrew Peterson’s beautiful song (based on a passage from Revelation) Is He Worthy?
I’ve written before about U2’s great song “40,” and in this famous recording from Red Rocks there is a fun call and response at the end. (How appropriate that it’s a psalm!)
I love the dancing of the school kids at the beginning of this video:
Psalm 136 is obviously a call-and-response song from Israel, with the leader working through the song and the congregation singing the refrain “for his steadfast love endures forever.” It’s fun to imagine the ancient Israelites singing this back and forth at the top of their lungs!
136 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;4 to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;17 to him who struck down great kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed mighty kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to Israel his servant,
for his steadfast love endures forever.23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Why You Need to Stay Connected to Your Past - Psalm 135
It’s part of our national identity—forget the past, and look ahead. Almost all of our ancestors came from over the oceans (whether by choice or not) and made a new life in this country, and so Americans have been a forward-looking people, cut off from our past by thousands of miles of grey water. But the digital age in which we live is even more relentlessly-focused on an eternal NOW than were ages past: there’s no past and not really any future—just NOW.
The problem is that humans were not made to live disconnected to our past, because each of us is a product of the world that’s come before us. We will never be able to understand ourselves if we don’t acknowledge that we came from the past. One of the reasons modern man is so unhappy is because he is disconnected from his historical roots.
The Israelites knew this truth—they knew they lost a connection to the past at their peril. And so they sang songs to remind themselves—and teach their children—of who they are, from whence they came, and of whose they are.
Because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, someone like me—who comes from the pagan peoples of northwestern Europe—has been adopted into Israel. Which means that Israel’s stories are now my stories.
Which means Psalm 135 is my family’s song!
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord,
give praise, O servants of the Lord,
2 who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God!
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to his name, for it is pleasant!
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession.
The Lord chose “Jacob” and “Israel” for himself, not because they deserved it, but because of the so-called scandal of particularity—that the One God would use one family—that of Abraham—and through that family would bring blessing to the whole world.
The church is the New Israel, and we are blessed so that we can be a blessing to everyone.
5 For I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
7 He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
who makes lightnings for the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
“Whatever the Lord pleases, he does….” How great is that?!
Pray BOLDLY today—nothing can stop the Lord Almighty.
8 He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both of man and of beast;
9 who in your midst, O Egypt,
sent signs and wonders
against Pharaoh and all his servants;
10 who struck down many nations
and killed mighty kings,
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
12 and gave their land as a heritage,
a heritage to his people Israel.13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants.
Israel could never forget Egyptian slavery or the difficult journey to the Promised Land. There was opposition, yes—”Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan”—but by the mighty hand of God, Israel prevailed.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
17 they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them.
There but for the grace of God go I. If it weren’t for God’s grace, I could think that sex and money and power are gods, and I could give my life to them. Thanks be to God I know who the Creator is and am blessed to live my life for a worthy purpose!
19 O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
he who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!
AMEN!
Use This at the Bottom of Your Emails! - Psalm 134
This is a quick little psalm, and I think the final verse is a perfect blessing to send to someone:
May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth!
We Cannot Let This Election Divide Us! - Psalm 133
Psalm 133 is about the beauty of unity among God’s people.
133 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
2 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!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
Unity among God’s people, says the psalmist, is like luxuriant oil on the head (in the ancient world, it was a good thing and a sign of prosperity to be anointed with oil). It’s like the life-giving dew that gathers on Mount Hermon, north of the sea of Galilee, and gives water to Israel.
Brothers and sisters, let us not let this coming presidential election divide us!
Some Simple Ways to Maintain Unity and Fight Off Hate
Pray for friends who support the other party.
Pray for the candidates by name.
Avoid social media as much as possible—it will just get you riled up.
Remember:
13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
In other words, loving the people who are wrong is more important than being right!
The Danger of Arrogance - Psalm 132
Psalm 132 is about the Israelites’ confidence in the Lord’s commitment to Jerusalem generally and David’s line specifically. That’s good, and the Lord was committed to Jerusalem and David.
The problem is that the Israelites then behaved as if God’s grace toward them came without any expectations. They thought, “We can behave however we want—worship foreign gods, even practice child sacrifice—and the Lord won’t punish us, because we’re the Chosen People.”
That’s a dangerous way to live. Yes, the grace of the Lord is inexhaustible, but God’s grace doesn’t mean we will be exempt from the consequences of our unrepentant actions.
What do you need to turn away from today?
The Sweetest Psalm in the Scripture - Psalm 131
I think Psalm 131 might be the sweetest psalm in the scripture.
131 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.
The imagery is simple:
I’m not allowing my mind to wander into fears or worries, and I’m not trying to be somewhere else—I’m just totally present and totally calm. In fact, I’m like a little child, sleeping on his mother.
I’m trusting the Lord, and things are going to be okay.
When’s the last time you had that sense of calm?
More Than The Watchmen - Psalm 130
I took this picture of my son this summer; it’s from Monomoy Island, Chatham, Cape Cod, MA.
Cape Cod has historically been a ships’ graveyard because of its treacherous shoals and currents, and just beyond view at the left of the picture is Chatham Light, which flashes forth day and night to warn ships of approaching danger.
Can you imagine being the lookout on a ship in the black of night, scanning the horizon for the light, desperate to know if you are approaching an unseen, underwater danger?
Can you imagine how desperate you’d be for dawn to come?
In the ancient times, watchmen kept watch on the city’s walls, ready to sound the alarm and rouse the city at the sight of approaching danger.
How desperate must the watchmen have felt in the midnight watches for dawn to come?
This is the image the psalmist plays with in Psalm 130:
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
“More than watchmen wait for the morning, so desperate is my soul for the Lord.”
What if the people of God across our country felt that kind of desperation today for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and communities?
P.P.S. I’ve always liked this praise song from 20 years ago, and I really like the Shane and Shane version that they recently released.
“Lord, I’m desperate for you….”
Want Antifragile Kids? Make Them Listen to This Kind of Music. [Psalm 129]
Remember, these “Songs of Ascents” are the songs that the Israelite pilgrims would sing as they made their way up to Jerusalem every year for the big festivals. The boy Jesus certainly sang these with his family.
Think about how singing something like this would shape a child for life!
Something antifragile is something that not only withstands hardship but actually thrives as a result of hardship.
(Americans are not antifragile these days.)
Psalm 129
A Song of Ascents
1 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth”—
let Israel now say—
2 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
they made long their furrows.”
So, the Israelites taught their kids to SING that, though they had been sorely oppressed by their enemies— “they plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows”—they were not defeated.
They acknowledge difficulty—they sing about it!—but they all tell themselves they’ve not been defeated.
Can you imagine singing that your whole life? Can you imagine how antifragile that would make you?
The psalm closes with a defiant statement that God will defeat Israel’s enemies:
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward!
6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
which withers before it grows up,
7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8 nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
It strikes me that this is EXACTLY the kind of music we need to be singing and memorizing these days.
What do you think?
Obedience-->Blessing [Psalm 128]
Stop over-thinking it!
Psalm 128 reminds us again of the Bible’s clear teaching:
obedience leads to blessing.
Stop over-thinking it. Where do you need to be obedient today?
P.S. Isn’t it interesting that the images the psalmist uses to illustrate blessing are all domestic? We get it totally BACKWARDS—we think the primary form of prosperity is OUTSIDE the home, whereas the Bible sees prosperity’s ultimate form to be domestic harmony and abundance.
Roadtrip Music - Psalm 127
The last Psalms post I wrote was for Psalm 79 on June 30! Today is my first Monday back after taking the last 6 weeks off, and today we find ourselves at Psalm 127. Let’s look at it.
Songs of Ascents=Roadtrip Music
Psalms 120-134 each have the same superscription: “A Song of Ascents”. These psalms were sung by the Israelite pilgrims as they made they way “up” to the Temple Mount for the big religious festivals every year. (To the Israelites, you always go “up” to Jerusalem, even if you are coming from a higher elevation. Mount Zion was spiritually high, so to speak.)
So, these psalms were roadtrip music.
No doubt the boy Jesus sang these songs as he made the 3 week journey from the Galilee to Jerusalem every year!
What are you listening to as you make your journey through life? With what are you filling your thoughts?
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
127 Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
The Lord is the ultimate source of all strength and success, and unless we are building on his principles, what we are doing will be both exhausting and ephemeral.
The reason so many people are so tired is because they are trying to do it on their own.
What would it look like for you to partner with the Holy Spirit today in whatever it is you are doing?
P.S.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
What a great image! “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.”
They Put Out The King's Eyes [Psalm 79]
In 586 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried off its citizens into exile. That event is the background to today’s psalm. I’ve pasted below the account in 2 Kings 25 of the downfall of Jerusalem. Warning—it’s not for the faint of heart.
2 Kings 25 New International Version (NIV)
25 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 2 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.4 Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, 5 but the Babylonian army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 6 and he was captured.
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him. 7 They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
8 On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 10 The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 15 The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—all that were made of pure gold or silver.
16 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the movable stands, which Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed. 17 Each pillar was eighteen cubits high. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was three cubits[f] high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its network, was similar.
18 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. 19 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and five royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of the conscripts who were found in the city.20 Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.
So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.
22 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be over the people he had left behind in Judah. 23 When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. 24 Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.”
25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. 26 At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians.
Jehoiachin Released
27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. 28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 30 Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.