Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - "Cast Upon God" Monday, 1 December 2014 - Scripture: Psalm 22: A David Psalm1-2 God, God . . . my God!
Why did you dump me
miles from nowhere?
Doubled up with pain, I call to God
all the day long. No answer. Nothing.
I keep at it all night, tossing and turning.
3-5 And you! Are you indifferent, above it all,
leaning back on the cushions of Israel’s praise?
We know you were there for our parents:
they cried for your help and you gave it;
they trusted and lived a good life.
6-8 And here I am, a nothing—an earthworm,
something to step on, to squash.
Everyone pokes fun at me;
they make faces at me, they shake their heads:
“Let’s see how God handles this one;
since God likes him so much, let him help him!”
9-11 And to think you were midwife at my birth,
setting me at my mother’s breasts!
When I left the womb you cradled me;
since the moment of birth you’ve been my God.
Then you moved far away
and trouble moved in next door.
I need a neighbor.
It is little wonder that Psalm 22 is the most quoted psalm in the New Testament. David recalls times of persecution, such as he endured under King Saul. David’s experience foreshadows Christ’s crucifixion. In crying “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus infused David’s words with greater meaning (Matthew 27:46). On the Cross Jesus fully identifies with our human condition. The sufferer feels abandoned and yet realizes God is the only hope.
David clings to two threads of hope: God’s faithfulness to His children in the past and David’s lifelong relationship with God. In those days a newborn was laid on the knees of the father or mother while the child was cleaned and the cord was cut. In this act the parent acknowledged the child as their own. When David says, “I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb,” he describes the strong bond between himself and God.
In our deepest suffering those two threads still prove strong. Even when we feel forsaken, the One to whom we cry is still “My God.”
"Cast Upon God" by Duane C. Brush
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"No Way Out But Up" Tuesday, 2 December 2014 - Scripture: Psalm 22:And to think you were midwife at my birth,
setting me at my mother’s breasts!
When I left the womb you cradled me;
since the moment of birth you’ve been my God.
Then you moved far away
and trouble moved in next door.
I need a neighbor.
12-13 Herds of bulls come at me,
the raging bulls stampede,
Horns lowered, nostrils flaring,
like a herd of buffalo on the move.
14-15 I’m a bucket kicked over and spilled,
every joint in my body has been pulled apart.
My heart is a blob
of melted wax in my gut.
I’m dry as a bone,
my tongue black and swollen.
They have laid me out for burial
in the dirt.
16-18 Now packs of wild dogs come at me;
thugs gang up on me.
They pin me down hand and foot,
and lock me in a cage—a bag
Of bones in a cage, stared at
by every passerby.
They take my wallet and the shirt off my back,
and then throw dice for my clothes.
19-21 You, God—don’t put off my rescue!
Hurry and help me!
Don’t let them cut my throat;
don’t let those mongrels devour me.
If you don’t show up soon,
I’m done for—gored by the bulls,
meat for the lions.
22-24 Here’s the story I’ll tell my friends when they come to worship,
and punctuate it with Hallelujahs:
Shout Hallelujah, you God-worshipers;
give glory, you sons of Jacob;
adore him, you daughters of Israel.
He has never let you down,
never looked the other way
when you were being kicked around.
He has never wandered off to do his own thing;
he has been right there, listening.
"No Way Out But Up" by Duane C. Brush
I once heard an interview with a writer for an old-time radio adventure serial. He recalled an episode where the hero and his friends were caught in a deep pit surrounded by angry natives threatening them with spears. The episode aired before the writers could come up with a solution to their hero’s dilemma. Many wild scenarios were suggested, but none seemed to work. The next episode began with the announcer saying, “After our hero and his friends got out of the pit . . .”
David knew what it felt like to be surrounded and without hope. Bulls, roaring lions, and brutal villains all convey the picture of someone hopelessly entrapped by a merciless foe. This scene was on full display when Jesus hung on the Cross surrounded by a mocking crowd, thieves, and soldiers casting lots for his clothing (Matthew 27 and John 19).
The Lord will not scorn the suffering of His afflicted One. He has listened to His cry. The pit is now empty, but how is no mystery, “He is not here; he has risen” (Luke 24:6). When the only way out is up, call on God.
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"The Tipping Point" Wednesday, 3 December 2014 - Scripture: Psalm 22:22-24 Here’s the story I’ll tell my friends when they come to worship,
and punctuate it with Hallelujahs:
Shout Hallelujah, you God-worshipers;
give glory, you sons of Jacob;
adore him, you daughters of Israel.
He has never let you down,
never looked the other way
when you were being kicked around.
He has never wandered off to do his own thing;
he has been right there, listening.
25-26 Here in this great gathering for worship
I have discovered this praise-life.
And I’ll do what I promised right here
in front of the God-worshipers.
Down-and-outers sit at God’s table
and eat their fill.
Everyone on the hunt for God
is here, praising him.
“Live it up, from head to toe.
Don’t ever quit!”
27-28 From the four corners of the earth
people are coming to their senses,
are running back to God.
Long-lost families
are falling on their faces before him.
God has taken charge;
from now on he has the last word.
29 All the power-mongers are before him
—worshiping!
All the poor and powerless, too
—worshiping!
Along with those who never got it together
—worshiping!
30-31 Our children and their children
will get in on this
As the word is passed along
from parent to child.
Babies not yet conceived
will hear the good news—
that God does what he says.
"The Tipping Point" by Duane C. Brush
Psalm 22 begins with God’s servant feeling forsaken and ends with an expansive vision–a time when “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD” (Psalm 22:27). That vision has yet to be fulfilled. What was the source of David’s confident hope? A clue can be found in the structure of the Psalm itself.
We often think of poetry as words arranged in a pattern of measured syllables and rhyme. Hebrew poetry is typically structured by patterns of thought and imagery. Psalm 22 balances like a fulcrum. The tipping point is between verses 21 and 22. It is there that David’s attitude is transformed. For 21 verses he cries for deliverance, yet in the last ten verses David turns to praise. In verses 20 and 21 David cries “deliver me,” “rescue me,” and “save me.” However, when we reach verse 31 David is ready to declare, “He has done it!” God has not scorned his afflicted one. God sees, hears, and responds.
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"Here I Am" Thursday, 4 December 2014 - Scripture: Isaiah 52: God Is Leading You Out of Here
1-2 Wake up, wake up! Pull on your boots, Zion!
Dress up in your Sunday best, Jerusalem, holy city!
Those who want no part of God have been culled out.
They won’t be coming along.
Brush off the dust and get to your feet, captive Jerusalem!
Throw off your chains, captive daughter of Zion!
3 God says, “You were sold for nothing. You’re being bought back for nothing.”
4-6 Again, the Master, God, says, “Early on, my people went to Egypt and lived, strangers in the land. At the other end, Assyria oppressed them. And now, what have I here?” God’s Decree. “My people are hauled off again for no reason at all. Tyrants on the warpath, whooping it up, and day after day, incessantly, my reputation blackened. Now it’s time that my people know who I am, what I’m made of—yes, that I have something to say. Here I am!”
"Here I Am" by Duane C. Brush
Once, while refilling the hummingbird feeder outside our kitchen window, I made a discovery. The hummingbirds would zoom away as I approached. I found that if I stood completely still they would quickly forget I was there. Less than a minute before I had been a fearsome threat. Now, I had become part of the background, no more threatening than the house, a tree, or the feeder itself.
How like hummingbirds we are! We see God move and we are struck with awe. Depending on His action we may be awed by fear or moved to praise. However, on other days when His moves are not as apparent to our eyes, it is so easy for us to forget that He is always near us. We are like spiritual narcoleptics who too easily fall asleep to the presence of God.
“Awake, awake, my people . . . Shake off the dust and rise up . . . Cast off your chains,” the Sovereign Lord cries. This is no time for complacent Christianity. God has not abandoned us. Clothe yourself with strength and put on your garments of splendor—the Lord is near.
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"His Holy Arm" Friday, 5 December 2014 - Scripture: Isaiah 52:7-10 How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the messenger bringing good news,
Breaking the news that all’s well,
proclaiming good times, announcing salvation,
telling Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Voices! Listen! Your scouts are shouting, thunderclap shouts,
shouting in joyful unison.
They see with their own eyes
God coming back to Zion.
Break into song! Boom it out, ruins of Jerusalem:
“God has comforted his people!
He’s redeemed Jerusalem!”
God has rolled up his sleeves.
All the nations can see his holy, muscled arm.
Everyone, from one end of the earth to the other,
sees him at work, doing his salvation work.
11-12 Out of here! Out of here! Leave this place!
Don’t look back. Don’t contaminate yourselves with plunder.
Just leave, but leave clean. Purify yourselves
in the process of worship, carrying the holy vessels of God.
But you don’t have to be in a hurry.
You’re not running from anybody!
God is leading you out of here,
and the God of Israel is also your rear guard.
It Was Our Pains He Carried
13-15 “Just watch my servant blossom!
Exalted, tall, head and shoulders above the crowd!
But he didn’t begin that way.
At first everyone was appalled.
He didn’t even look human—
a ruined face, disfigured past recognition.
Nations all over the world will be in awe, taken aback,
kings shocked into silence when they see him.
For what was unheard of they’ll see with their own eyes,
what was unthinkable they’ll have right before them.”
"His Holy Arm" by Duane C. Brush
When the Scriptures speak of God “laying bare” or revealing His “holy arm” it is to display His power in the redemption and deliverance of His people. For instance, God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites, “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment” (Exodus 6:6). God’s power to redeem finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ (see John 12:37-41). Unlike the word given to Moses for Israel the redemption revealed in Jesus Christ is for “all the nations . . . all the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 52:10).
The Lord we discover in this Advent season is the Redeemer of all people for all time. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16). God has laid bare His holy arm and we cry, “Come, Lord Jesus, redeem your people once again.”
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"Bind Our Hearts to Thee" Saturday, 6 December 2014 - Scripture: Isaiah 53:1 Who believes what we’ve heard and seen?
Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?
2-6 The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
on him, on him.
7-9 He was beaten, he was tortured,
but he didn’t say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
and like a sheep being sheared,
he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off—
and did anyone really know what was happening?
He died without a thought for his own welfare,
beaten bloody for the sins of my people.
They buried him with the wicked,
threw him in a grave with a rich man,
Even though he’d never hurt a soul
or said one word that wasn’t true.
10 Still, it’s what God had in mind all along,
to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life.
And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.
11-12 Out of that terrible travail of soul,
he’ll see that it’s worth it and be glad he did it.
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,
will make many “righteous ones,”
as he himself carries the burden of their sins.
Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly—
the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn’t flinch,
because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
he took up the cause of all the black sheep.
"Bind Our Hearts to Thee" by Duane C. Brush
The hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was written by Robert Robinson. Robinson came to Christ under the ministry of George Whitfield. He felt called to preach while attending Whitfield’s Calvinist Methodist Church. But, in only a year, he became entangled in a controversy over infant baptism. He soon joined a Baptist church, later becoming their pastor. One book he wrote during this time was: A Plea for the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, after retirement he became associated with Unitarians and a prominent Unitarian minister performed his funeral.
It is said that late in his life, while riding in a coach, a woman asked Robinson if he recognized the tune of the hymn she was humming. It was the tune to “Come, Thou Fount.” Robinson is reported to have replied, “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then.”
We have all gone astray and are too prone to go our own way. Our only hope is to live daily near the One who was pierced for our iniquities.
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