Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!  Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre.  Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast; this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.  He established it as a statue for Joseph when he went out against Egypt, where we heard language we did not understand.  He says, “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket.  In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah “Hear, O my people, and I will warn you if you would but listen to me, O Israel!  You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.  I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt.  Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.  “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.  So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.  “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!  Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.  But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” (NIV)

At the start of my journey of reading five psalms a day the purpose of this journey was to help me improve my prayer life.  During this journey I also discovered the writings of Oswald Chambers. In his October 17 devotional The Key of the Greater Work, he makes this statement about prayer “Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God’s work”.  As I reflect upon this statement I am reminded of the Paul’s references to prayer:

Ephesians 6:18 – Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints

I Thessalonians 5:17 – Pray without ceasing.

Philippians 1:4 – Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.

It is prayer and worship then that must play an important part in our daily spiritual walk.  As I consider the first four verses of this chapter I see the importance of daily worship.  Do I have a song of praise in my daily walk?  Do I thanks the Lord for my daily needs that have been met?  Do I take moments from my daily walk to devote to prayer?  Do I consider prayer as asking God for something, or is it a request that we present before God?  A great example of prayer from the business world would be that of a budget request. We put together our budget and then submit it to our manager and hope it gets approve.  Prayer is the process of submitting our request to God.  In verse ten we see God wanting us to open our mouth wide and he will fill it.  However, we have not listen to God.  Our prayers (budget request) are not in line with what is needed.  We ask for things outside the requirements of God’s will.  Verse seven gives us an example of what prayer is like “in your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you and I tested you”.  The two parts of prayer are seen in this verse.  I called and God rescued me.  I ask and he fulfilled my requested desires.

The second part is the testing God gives to each believer after he has answer their request. This testing by the waters of Meribah comes when God has already answer our prayers, however we are again in a place that we need God’s help again.  In Exodus 17 this place is called both Massah (which means testing) and Meribah (which means quarreling).  Question yourself and considered if your request before God is either testing God or quarreling with God?  Sometimes during our journey on this earth we get hungry and thirsty for spiritual things in our life.  However, instead of asking God to meet these needs we start to complaint about how God has just deserted us.  We let our hearts become stubborn like Israel and stop listening to God and stop following his ways.  To succeed in this time of testing we must practice the principle of trust and obey and know that God is God.

Charles Spurgeon sums up this Psalm by calling it “THE PRAYER OF THE AGED BELIEVER”.  He sums up this Psalm as being written by one “who, in holy confidence of faith, strengthened by a long and remarkable experience, pleads against his enemies, and asks further blessings for himself. Anticipating a gracious reply, he promises to magnify the Lord exceedingly.”  As I read this Psalm I picture the walk of a righteous person as he makes his journey of life on this earth.  Verse one sets the stage for having a righteous walk on our journey through life on this earth.  We must learn that it is only in God we can find a refuge, a place to retreat in times of trouble.

As I read this Psalm I realize that one of the main purposes of a believer is to tell of the mighty acts of God in our life and to proclaim his righteousness to others.  In this Psalm the Psalmist declares to others God’s splendor all day long as he praises the Lord more and more.  He proclaims God’s righteous and his salvation all day long.  His daily conversation centers on God’s righteousness both in times of trouble as well as seasons of great abundant of blessings in one’s life.   However, the Psalmist recognizes that there are those who want to harm him, who are characterized as wicked, evil and cruel man.  In light of this Psalm believers today should put forth the same example in their lives as the Psalmist does in this Psalm.  So as you walk daily in this world walk it in the same light as the Psalmist does:  taking refuge in the Lord, knowing it is He who rescues you from the wicked, praising God all the daily long, knowing that he is the one that has created the splendor that we see daily and finally realizing that it is Him who teaches us to walk in the way.

I have realized that the more I study the Psalms the more my daily conversations centered on how great God’s righteous acts are toward those whom pursue a life pleasing to Him.  As having a blessed life of knowing Christ from an early age I reflect on my youth and recall how truly this greatness of His goodness has been in my life.  As we age we begin to realize the true pressures of this life and how we are in a battle against the spiritual wickedness that Paul writes about in Ephesians chapter six.  So as we face these battles we must approach it in the same manner as Paul outlines in Philippians chapter three: “Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ,  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.”  So as I go about today’s journey may my song be reflective of that great hymn “and the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace”.

As I read and reflect upon these words of David and study his life I realize that the path God had for David was not always the path that David had for himself.   In Revelation three verses seven and eight John writes “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things said he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that opened, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opened; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.”.  As I look at this verse and also study the only other reference to the key of David found in Isaiah 22:22 I noticed three characteristics that the church of Philadelphia had that David also possessed: little strength, kept God’s ways and did not deny God’s name.  David’s strength was in his trust of God strength and not the strength that David possessed.  David knew that the events and daily happenings in his life was for God’s purpose and not the path that David had planned for that day.  Did David realized this from his youth?  I believe not, He grew in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord just as we all do.  However this one thing was true in David’s life as they must be in the believer’s life; he did not deny God or God’s way.

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?” for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:  (KJV)

Last night as I was watching the news there seem to be an emptiness about the events that they were reporting.  I had just challenged one of my co-workers that day to read II Peter which is only three chapters long, yet packed with so much truth for today’s Christians.  The book of II Peter was a letter to those who had received a faith of the same kind as the apostles giving them instructions on how to live a believer’s life style while waiting on the Lord to return.  This is also the life style that we should be living in this present age. In chapter three Peter writes “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lust, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming?”.

Know this first of all the Lord is coming.  As we live on life on this earth do we live it in the light that Christ might come to earth tomorrow?  Will my labors of the day and my plans for the future be wasted if the Lord was to return today?  Peter states that with fact should always be with us.  In chapter three verse eleven he wrote ” Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.”  As I read II Peter I realize that we have misplaced our true purpose on this earth.  We have become firemen fighting to save a burning building instead of being firemen with the sole desire to save lives from a burning building.

So as Peter closes his short epistle with these words “You therefore beloved knowing this beforehand be on your guard lest being carried away by the error of unprincipled men fall from your own steadfastness.” we need to look a our true purpose in life.  This purpose is simple.  We are to KNOW  that Christ is coming and to live our life according.  Knowing this we should be found to be spotless and blameless, growing in the grace and creation knowledge of our Lord and Savior.  Having the same purpose as God does which is waiting patiently for his , not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.  Wherefore Know this first of all the Lord will return.

“And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of them that hate thee, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou may judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee; neither shall there any after thee have the like”.

I cannot help but think how Solomon started to follow other gods and leave the very principles that God saw in his heart at this very young age in his life.  In the verses, God promised Solomon, not only what he asked for (wisdom and knowledge) but also riches, wealth, and honor, such as no king before or after him.  As we studied Solomon’s life in I Kings, we can see how God carried out his promises to Solomon.  Even to this very day our culture refers, we refer to the Wisdom of Solomon.  The book of Proverbs is a great example of his wisdom.  Even in the business world, great business leaders read one chapter of this book a day to gain greater insights on how they can manage their endeavors.

However, as I study Solomon’s life I realized that there only a few references about his failures.  I King 11: 11-13 “Wherefore Jehovah said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days, I will not do it, for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to thy son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.”  These verses tell the true tale of his failure. The King before his father David (Saul) faced this same failure.  God did not permit Saul to pass his Kingdom on to his son Jonathan because of his rebellious heart.  As you study I Kings 11 and see how God raised up Jeroboam to become King over Israel after Solomon’s death.  Yet Solomon could not find repentance in his heart but instead chose the same course of action that Saul did when God took his kingdom from him and gave to David.

However, God’s did keep His promises to Solomon. God gave Solomon everything he had asked for, however in the end he lost his relationship with God.  So as we look at Solomon’s life remember his parting words in Ecclesiastes 12: 12, 13 ” This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil”.  In the end, we see that Solomon missed the biggest blessing of all and that was not being a part of the true lineage of Christ.  As we read in Luke 3:31 he was from the “son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon”.  Here in Luke chapter 3 we see Christ lineage through Mary’s side.  As you study this, you will see that Nathan, Solomon’s brother had this honor.

Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me; all day long they press their attack.  My slanderers pursue me all day long; many are attacking me in their pride.  When I am afraid, I will trust in you.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?  All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me.  They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life.  On no account let them escape; in your anger, O God, bring down the nations.  Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll are they not in your record?  Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.  In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?  I am under vows to you, O God; I will present my thank offerings to you.  For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.  (NIV)

This psalm was written by David when the Philistines had seized him in Gath. This was the period in the life of David when he was running from Saul.  David’s life has been given to us as an example of how we must face the issues that we encounter on our journey in this life and how to address these issues.  In this example David is fleeing from Saul not because of wrong doing but because of Saul saw him as a threat to his kingdom.  This threat was not caused by David’s decisions but by God’s decision that the Lord had made in I Samuel 15 and 16 when He rejected Saul and chose David.  God made this decision but how David reacted to it affected others around him.  This holds true for us today.  If we make ourself available to God his plans for us can have an impact on our relationship to those around us.  Just the simple belief that God is our creator and we are his creation will cause others around us to form an opinion about us.  Saul rejected God’s decision to make David the next King and placed himself against God and chose to kill David.  David accepted it, but waited for God to intervene and make him king.  So as you read this psalm study David’s reactions to Saul’s attack on him.  Waiting is not easy however it does strenghten on faith in the Lord.

The first thing David does is to make an appeal to God’s mercy.  He places himself before the judge of the universe as one that is willing to accept his verdict because David knows that God alone has absolute power.  He states his case before God: (1. men hotly pursue me 2. they attach me 3. They slander me) because of their pride.  They have twisted David’s words, they are plotting against him, they lurk about him and watch his steps.

After this appeal for mercy David states to God “In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”    David praises God’s word and trust in his judgment and at the same time David does not fear man.  Why?  Because Samuel had anointed him king of Israel and God had not changed this.  Sometimes we seem to forget God’s promises that he has made.  We seem to forget that he will never leave us or forsake us.  We seem to forget my daughter Alex’s favorite verse Romans 8:28  “And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.”  So remember and trust in God’s promises in times of trouble.  The second thing to remember is not to fear man.

Next we see the results of David’s prayer “Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me” I love I John 5:14-15 where one of the five evidences of Christ in you is this: “And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us: and if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked.”   Yes God does answer our prayers, he protects us along the way and the true believer can also repeat what David states in verse thirteen of this psalm. However, we must also understand from these verses that answer prayer is in accordance to His will.  As we grow in Christ we must realized to that God wants to transform the intermost part of us.  Events happen everyday in our life that will either bring us closer or farther from the transformation that God wants to happen in our life.  If we stay in the Word and walk in His way then these events will bring us closer to the transformation that God desires for us and we will see answer prayer in our life.

As we read this psalm we can also compare it to the life that Christ lived during his ministry on the earth.  For as David the anointed king to take Saul’s place was pursued and hunted so was Christ the promise Messiah from God pursued and hunted.  During Saul’s reign David was the rejected King just as Christ was during his ministry on this earth was the rejected Messiah.   Just as David became King after Saul’s death, so will Christ become King of Kings when he returns to the earth.  Are you looking forward to that Day?

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.  Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.  Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.  Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.  Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.  Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.  Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.  Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.  O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.  You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.  In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.  Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.  (NIV)

Have you ever judged someone and then find out that it was you who was wrong and guilty of the issue?  This is David’s psalm to Nathan’s remark in II Samuel 12:7 “Thou art the man”.  It is only when we see our sinfulness before God that we come to the point of realization of our own fallen nature.   As I read this psalm I must go to I Kings 15:5  “because David did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite”.  This psalm along with psalm 32 was written as a result of this sin.   Every time I read this psalm I realized that a life without God’s presence is a life in which there is brokenness.

In verse one David comes to God for mercy and the blotting out of his transgression.  In verse two he adds wash away my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  David knew he had sinned; he felt the need for cleansing and knew that this cleansing could only come from God.  As you read the rest of this psalm you should be able to pick up on one of the major characteristic of God and that is his unfailing love and his great compassion.   How do you get right with God after you have sinned and done evil in the sight of the Lord?  Read psalms 51 and 32 and let the Holy Spirit speak to you through these verses to restore the joy of your salvation and renew a steadfast spirit within you.  Then you will have a purpose in life and that is to teach transgressors God’s way and turn them to Him.

One of the greatest truths that one learns in life is the importance of relationships.  This psalms represents a time in David’s life where he had abandoned the ways of God to protect himself and others from public shame.  Yet his plans to protect these relationships did not work.  As a believer we need to realize the truth about sin, and that truth is that all sin is known by God.   Another truth about sin is that it affects relationships.  The family relationship is usually the strongest relationship that people have in this world, and yet the bond of this relationship can easily be broken when sin enters the picture.  There is also the relationship that we have with God.  This psalm focuses on the only way to restore a broken relationship and that way is through repentance and returning back to God’s ways.  Verse six makes God’s way simple, God desires truth in our inner parts He desires to have His laws written on our heart.  So, if you are facing a broken relationship today know that unless you are coming to God with a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you will not be able to have true joy and peace in your heart.

This leads to another truth I see in the world today, but cannot fully understand.  Why do we let sin rule our life and wreck relationships, when God has provided a way for all relationships to be restored by his great gift of forgiveness?  As I study the story of Cain and Abel found in Genesis chapter four I see God’s love being rejected by Cain before he killed Abel.  And even after Cain killed Abel God placed a mark on Cain to protect him from others.  Yet Cain still went out of God’s presence.  Why then do individuals who have been once enlightened and who have tasted the heavenly gift fall away?  The Lord gives reasons for this falling away in his parable of the sower found in Matthew chapter thirteen.   In this parable the seed (God’s Word) falls on four types of soils: the soil of the wayside, the rocky soil, the soil among the thorns, and the good soil.   In the first case the word is heard but Satan takes it away from them.  In the second case the word is heard, but is soon abandon when tribulation or persecution comes along in a person’s life.  In the third case the cares of this world choke out the word and the person does not grow and becomes fruitful.  However, in the fourth case the word is heard and brings about great changes in the person.  Do you let the Word of God grow in you, or does Satan, the cares of this world, or the desires of this world destroy the effects that the Word could have on your life.

Verses six and seven “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.” describes the nature of man.  As a child grows the sweetness that the new-born child processed gives way to the true sinful nature which we all are have at birth.  The desires of the child turns to me, me, me.  But God is always calling to us to return to Him.  His desire for us is to have truth within our hearts and wisdom within our inmost place.  Therefore as a young child we must heed the call of God.   This simple concept of God’s desire seems to get lost in our everyday routine of living.  We let Satan, the cares of this world, or the desires of this world rob us of this desire that God wants for us in our life.  In the devotion for June 11 in his book My Utmost for His Highest Oswald Chambers writes:

The questions that truly matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words— “Come to Me.” Our Lord’s words are not, “Do this, or don’t do that,” but— “Come to me.” If I will simply come to Jesus, my real life will be brought into harmony with my real desires. I will actually cease from sin, and will find the song of the Lord beginning in my life.

This is what David is writing here in this Psalm.  As I look back in my life as well as the life of other Christians I know or have known; it was not our seeking after God that brought God in our lives, but it was the way that we responded to the seeking God as we opened the door to our heart and let him enter our inmost place to dwell.   Once we open the door and receive Him then the true transformation of bringing our life into this harmony with His desires takes place and we can experience the peace that passes understanding.

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.  The LORD will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.  The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.  I said, “O LORD, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.”  My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die and his name perishes?”  Whenever one comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it abroad.  All my enemies whisper together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying, “A vile disease has beset him; he will never get up from the place where he lies.”  Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.  But you, O LORD, have mercy on me; raise me up, that I may repay them.  I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.  In my integrity, you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.  Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.  Amen and Amen. (NIV)

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak:

The LORD delivers him in times of trouble. The LORD will protect him

The LORD will preserve his life

The LORD will bless him in the land

The LORD will not surrender him to the desire of his foes. The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed

The LORD will restore him from his bed of illness.

As I said, “O LORD, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

My enemies say of me in malice:

When will he die?

When will his name perish? Whenever one comes to see me, he speaks falsely

While his heart gathers slander

Then he goes out and spreads it abroad. All my enemies whisper together against me

They imagine the worst for me, saying, “A vile disease has beset him

He will never get up from the place where he lies.

Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

But you, O LORD

Have mercy on me

Raise me up, that I may repay them. I know that you are pleased with me

For my enemy does not triumph over me. In my integrity, you uphold me

Set me in your presence forever.

This is another psalm, which we can see the life of David, the life of Christ and the life that we are now living entangled together. Verse eleven “I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me” could refer to many enemies.  As we study this psalm, it starts out as blessing the one that is a friend to those in need.  As we consider the word friend, we must realize that the word enemy comes from the Latin word inimicus, which means unfriendly or hostile.  So these psalms centers around the behaviors that are either friendly or unfriendly.  So as the psalmist writes in verse eleven “for my enemy does not triumph over me” is referring to the forces that are unfriendly to him.  So the next time you considered the word enemy considered the word friendship.  To love your enemy is to love these who are not a friend to you.  That is what God did for us on the cross.  We were all unfriendly to God, yet in his love he reached out to us his enemies (whose who were not his friend) to make us his friend.  This is the same love we must reach up to our enemies (those that are not a friend) to make them a friend of ours as well as God.

In his devotional for February 9 titled “Are You Exhausted Spiritually?” Oswald Chambers writes, “Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ?”  As I read the words of this psalm, I cannot help but see the desire of the Psalmist to fulfill the purpose that God has for him in this life.  Verse 11 states “I know that you are pleased with me.”  However, this desire of having God being pleased with us can sometimes make us feel spiritually exhausted.  This is especially true when we have realized that we have sinned against God.  When sin does take place in our life we must realize it and turn from it.  Oswald writes in this devotion about this examination.  Paul writes about this call for service in II Timothy 2:21 “If a man therefore purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master’s use, prepared unto every good work.”  There are usually two reasons that I believe Christians become exhausted spiritually: first they are so focus on the things around them that they forget about God; or because they focus on and become consumed by trying to discover what is God’s purpose for them in this life.  To me the answer to renewing a spiritually life is to live blameless before God.

An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes.  For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.  The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good.  Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong.  Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.  Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.  How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.  They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.  For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.  Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.  See how the evildoers lie fallen thrown down, not able to rise!  (NIV)

This psalm was written by David as an oracle (any utterance made or received as authoritative, extremely wise, or infallible) concerning the sinfulness of the wicked.  For us the study of the sinfulness of man begins in Genesis chapter three with the temptation in the Garden.  The three individuals involved were Adam, Eve and the serpent.  It involved a simple decision to follow a command, “If you eat or touch the fruit of tree which is in the middle of the garden, you will die”. They did break the command and then they did their eyes where open and they saw their nakedness and attempted to cover it with fig leaves.  They now became like God knowing good and evil.  The outcome of breaking God’s command was death, however, God delayed death and made provisions for Adam and Eve to live.  Yes, there was curses, but there was also provisions.   As a believer makes his or her daily walk in this world probably the biggest challenge that he or she will face along their path is the same challenge that Eve faced.  This challenge can be found in the simple word “but”.  Just as Satan challenge Eve trust in God those around us challenge our faith in God today.  It is this challenge that those around us question our understanding of God and present the “but” questions to challenge our understanding of God’s way.  It seems that the more we walk with God the more we have to defend our relationship to him to those around us.  In this Psalm we see the sinfulness of the wicked those who oppose God and has let pride become their necklace.  However in this Psalm we also see the Lord’s provisions to those who know Him.  One of the main challenges we seem to face from the world is the belief that God takes care of those who take care of themselves.  The problem with this belief is that it is a path for man to flatter himself on the way he follows God, which leads him to the point of not seeing his our sinfulness.  This leads to a path of reasoning about all issues of life which places man in charge of his our life which leads to a course of sin and this soon leads to the rejection of the Lord and His provisions.  The escape from this path is to know the Lord and to walk in his righteousness.  For the believer this means being more Christ-like.

How the free will of an individual and the will of God interact is a mystery that mankind battles with daily.  However, this weekend as I was studying C. S. Lewis’s book Mere Christianity his statements that atheism was “too simple” and “Christianity and water”,water down faith, could not explain the world in which we live.  The battle of Good verses Bad was also the wrong approach to take in looking at the world in which we live.  After reading his writings his weekend I realized that the true battle is the rebellion of Satan and the evil forces here on earth against God and that we as Christians are really “living in enemy territory”.  If this is the case then verses two through four would describe the enemy  “For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin. The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good.  Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong.”  If this is the case then how important is it for believers to live in the shadow of God’s wings.  To better understand the free will of an individual and how the individual will interacts with God’s will we must turn to the creator of both who is God.

As I was studying the book The Battle is the Lord’s  by Tony Evans this oracle speaks loudly not only of the sinful man, but also the sinfulness of Satan.  As I study this book I ask myself the question “why did not God just destroy Satan as soon as Satan rebelled against God?”.  If he had done that then Satan could not have tempted Eve and she would not have offered the fruit to Adam.  But we know that this did not happen.  There is a reason why God has chosen the path of dealing with Satan as well as the sin of mankind.  The more I understand this battle the more I understand the battles in my own life.

As I read and study the Psalms I realize that living a Christ-like life is easy until I have to put down the Bible and move into the real world and face your daily routines.  It is only when we as believers take God’s written Word and make it God’s living Word in our hearts that we can answer the “but” questions from those around us with an affirmative answer just as Christ did to Satan “But it is written”.