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Good Monday morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends.
We’ve concluded our consideration of Paul’s letter to his friends in Philippi, a letter of rejoicing, to be sure!
This is Thanksgiving week. It’s a significant week on the American calendar, right?
> Thanksgiving Day of course, and all the family traditions and great food!
> Black Friday and the frenzy of spending and shopping for special deals… and Wall Street’s expectations
> The count-down to Christmas and the end of 2019
> The approach of a new year, and in this case what might 2020 bring in American politics / the global economy / the moral revolution / an election year / the migration of millions of refugees / climate change
…and so much more. Are we ready??
I feel led to invite us to take a one week break from our following the chronology of the New Testament, and instead, for this Thanksgiving week, let’s focus on THANKS and PRAISE to God!
Did you know there are 5 very special Psalms called the Hallelu Yah Psalms? These begin with Psalm 146 and conclude with Psalm 150. Each begins and ends with the phrase “Hallelu Yah” translated in English as “Praise the LORD.” That seems very fitting for this week, would you agree? So let’s go… turn back in your Bibles to the book of Psalms and today, Psalm 146.
You notice none of these Psalms have an author’s name attributed to them. But they all call us to “Praise the LORD”!
You’ll remember “LORD”, all in capital letters, is the name of God that Moses met at the burning bush, the great “I AM”. May I urge us to read Exodus 3 today BEFORE you read Psalm 146? It will help set the tone for this week. . .
Ok, let’s dig into Psalm 146 today, keeping these questions in mind. . .
With what attitudes of heart and mind, did this person pen the words to Psalm 146?
What attributes of God appear to be most overwhelming to the author?
What response does the Holy Spirit of God awaken in me, in response to this Psalm?
“Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” (146:1,2)
Do you see the progression?
A generic call from one person to anyone who will hear…“Praise the LORD”.
Next that call turns inward, and the author calls HIM/HERself to actively engage in praising the God Moses met at the burning bush… from deep within their own SOUL.
You’ll find the Bible often refers to us human beings as uniquely designed by God with three parts . . . Body, Soul and Spirit.
We understand “body”, we all have one, and it’s temporary, aging by the day! These bodies need water, food, especially air. These bodies don’t do well in extreme temperature variations (Dawn and I lived in Fargo for 8 years, and now the heat and humidity of Florida summers!) Our bodies don’t do well underwater or on high mountains without help breathing. etc. Our bodies are amazing miracles of God, however they all die, and when they do, decay begins immediately.
Most Bible scholars believe “Soul” refers to intellect (mind), emotion (heart), reason (will), personality and maybe things like passion, desire, ambition, motivation etc. Your soul is unique to you as all those parts of you combine to form the unique person you are!
“Spirit”, many Bible scholars believe, refers to that part of us which has morality (capacity to discern right & wrong), ability to discern there is a God, understand accountability and responsibility to God, and especially the ability for relationship with God. We are all born with a ‘dysfunctional spirit’, a sin nature, inherited from our parents. We understand that natural tendency in all of us to selfishness, deceit etc.
That sin nature separates us from God and if unresolved, will send us to an eternity apart from God since Holy God refuses to allow sin in His heaven. When a person trusts fully in Jesus Christ for salvation from their sin, they are ‘born again’, they receive from God a new spiritual nature. Look please at John 3:3-7 as Jesus explained that to Nicodemus. This new, holy, spiritual nature, is what brings us to heaven to be with God at death!
Now as we read Psalm 146, watch for all three, body, soul and spirit interaction with God!!
Do you hear determination…“I will praise the LORD…” and life long perseverance “…all of my life….as long as I live”?
Ponder that a moment. Is there anything you would like to see as a dominant part of your life, for the rest of your life? How about Praise to God? How do you suppose that would affect you. . . and everyone your life touches? Currently, is praise to God an important part of your personal reputation, legacy, in the view of others… family, friends, co-workers? Or is that a Sunday, in church thing?
Please notice the futility of living with our hopes fixed on mortal man in vs. 3. Look back. How often has your identity, your ambition, your life focus depended on others… parents, boss, teacher, coach, political leader etc. But there is equally the danger of being totally self-reliant, right? What do you see God expects us to assume personal responsibility for, and what are we to trust Him for, and what should come from our inter-connectedness with other people, beginning in our family?
Do you notice in verse 4 the Psalmist uses the word “spirit”? Do you see the description of death here? “When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.” Do you hear echoes of the Apostle Paul and what he wrote to the Philippian Christians, remember? ““I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain…” (Phil. 1:20-23).
In every generation, in every society there is a fascination with death… and what happens after our bodies cease to function? The Bible is clear. Our bodies begin to decay within minutes and our souls / spirits remain living forever. But where? And what determines WHERE? What is your answer to that my friends?
As you live this Monday… what confidence do you have about where your ‘soul/spirit’ will go when your body stops normal function and ‘dies’? What if that were to happen to you before midnight tonight? Consider John 3:16-19, and note please the difference between the word “Perish” and the word “death”. We’ve discussed death as the separation of soul/spirit from the body. “perish” is eternal separation from God in our sinful condition, together with the devil and all evil beings in a special place prepared for all evil… hell!
Do you see how the author of Psalm 146 invites us in vs. 5-10 to see how blessed a person is, who has a relationship with God? What God? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God of the Bible. The only true, living, holy God. The Creator God who made the universe, our planet and everything, living and not, which exists! Stop here for a few seconds… I hope you always do “Walking with Jesus” with pen in hand, and paper ready. I invite you, my friends, to start listing… right now, the attributes of GOD as you understand Him to be. As many attributes as you can think of. I gave you a few here, grow the list.
Now, Psalm 146 gives us quite a description of some of the great ways that God engages with us human beings He made in His image. Do you see them as outflows of two words in vs. 5…“Blessed is he whose HELP is the God of Jacob, whose HOPE is in the LORD his God…” Look back in your life… what has the HELP from and HOPE in God been like for you? What could a Psalm 146 relationship between you and God be like?
Of course that’s a main reason I write for this “Walking with Jesus” journey which we began last May. I hope by now you’ve noticed the home page of the web site of “Walking with Jesus”. It has an archive tab, and EVERYthing we’ve done since May is there! You’re welcome to go back anytime, and dig in to the glorious truths of God we’ve been discussing. It all points to Jesus, doesn’t it?
Look at vs. 7-9…
“He (the LORD) upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.” Is that true? Does that which nourishes our bodies and every living thing that breathes, come from God… really? YES my friends! Does God somehow see & understand the plight of ‘the oppressed’? Does God care, really? Can you answer YES to these questions…from your own personal experience?
Do you remember what God said to Moses at the burning bush? “I have indeed seen the misery of My people, I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, I am concerned and I have come down to rescue them…” (Ex. 3:7,8)
Do you remember what Matthew tells us about Jesus “When He saw the crowds He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36)
So… Is that you and me sometimes? Do you believe God sees us in our pain… and cares and is concerned, and is coming to our rescue? Have you told the stories to your children of God’s rescue of you in your life?
Do you see the hope in verse 8 of Psalm 146? “The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous.” The Bible is filled with the miraculous accounts of God doing for us human beings simply what we cannot do for ourselves. When you read those reports, do you stand amazed my friends, or do you write it off as myth? Do you know anyone, who has experienced a miracle? What about you, have you? The author of this Psalm seems convinced, not by hearsay, but by experience.
Verse 10 sure fits in our world today doesn’t it? “The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow…” I live in Florida. Need I say more? If you are widow or widower; if you feel like an alien where-ever you live now, do you sense God’s profound love for you and His complete awareness of your need and even what you FEEL about your situation? Consider Psalm 33:13-22 and take great encouragement from those verses!
Do you see the contrast between “…the LORD loves the righteous…” in vs. 8 and “…but He frustrates the ways of the wicked…” in vs. 9?
And then finally this: “The LORD reigns forever…” in vs. 10. Now that my friends should give us hope! Remember Philippians 2:9-11 and Revelation 7:9-12? In closing today, take a moment and look at those two pictures of the Throne Room of God, and I urge you to PRAISE the LORD today!!
Oh Lord Jesus. . .
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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