When the Wicked Rule

READING: Ps. 125; Matt. 26, 27

SCRIPTURE: Ps. 125
¹ Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
² As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people
both now and forevermore.

³ The scepter of the wicked will not remain
over the land allotted to the righteous,
for then the righteous might use
their hands to do evil.

⁴ Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
to those who are upright in heart.
⁵ But those who turn to crooked ways
the LORD will banish with the evildoers.

Peace be upon Israel.

OBSERVATION: This psalm starts with a declaration that the Lord blesses and protects the righteous. Then the next section has some very interesting verses. They speak of the necessity to have righteous rulers over a people. The statement is made that if unrighteous rulers (leaders) remain too long in power then those who are righteous in the land may turn to doing evil themselves. In other words, corrupt leadership can lead those committed to moral living astray. When I look around my own country and see the changes that have happened in the moral landscape, I have to say I agree with these words. When I was younger, even non-Christians spoke against lewdness, pornography, having sex before marriage, "shacking up", abortion, greed, etc. After the drug and political revolution of the 1960's, those standards all started to change very rapidly. The results are evident today. We have a weak church where people are afraid to confront sin because people could leave their congregations if they do. There is almost as much sex before marriage among "Christians" as among non-believers. Child molestation is at an all-time high, corporate and individual greed is causing great suffering and has ruined our economy, materialism is the new religious idol and much evil of every kind abounds. It is hard for Christians to maintain their personal commitment to righteousness when they live in a moral cesspool. It seems there is no reward for living according to the Word. But there is! The psalm ends by saying God will bless the righteous and judge the wicked.

APPLICATION: It is important to pray for righteous leadership in our country and in our churches. This psalm stresses the reasons for that. We will be tempted to do evil much more if we live in a world with unrighteous people in places of authority. In any case, whether we have righteous leaders or not, we ourselves need to keep in mind that in the end, all wicked people will be judged by God, so we must maintain our commitment to obedience to the Lord.

PRAYER: Oh Lord, deliver us from those who do not have their hearts set on you! Speak to those who rule over us in any capacity. Remove leaders who do not believe in you and walk in your ways. Give us righteous leadership so that it is easier for us to walk in obedience to you. Keep us from being tempted to do wrong. Bring peace to our land and to our world. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Masquerade

TODAY'S READING: Ps. 124, 2 Cor. 11, 12, 13

SCRIPTURE: 2 Cor. 11:13-15
¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

OBSERVATION: In my 43 years of living as a Christian I have seen way too many of these men and women who have an air of spirituality lead people into gross sin and error. One of the first men we worked for in ministry was a false pastor with a church in the thousands. He could preach up a storm, keeping people on the edge of their seats so nobody was watching the clock. We were taken in for awhile ourselves. But as we rose in leadership, we discovered this man was sleeping with a number of women in the church. He would perform a private "marriage" ceremony with them in his car or home so that they would feel it was blessed by the Lord before he fornicated with them. These leaders, be they men or women, usually have charismatic personalities and an ability to fool people with a holy demeanor and great speaking ability. They can function in the gifts of the Spirit but have no fruit of the Spirit in their lives. Jesus warned that there would be those who could even do miracles in his name but who would have no relationship with him personally. Why is it that so many people can be fooled by false leaders? Mostly, it is due to a lack of knowledge of the scriptures. Another reason is that we tend to look at the wrong things in judging an individual. We look on the outward appearance, intelligence, an ability to speak well, etc. Rarely do we examine character and integrity. What concerns me is that the Lord said as the end of the age approaches, more and more will be drawn aside to such leaders.

APPLICATION: Just because something looks good doesn't mean it is good. As these verses state so well, evil can masquerade as holy and righteous. What then are we to do to avoid being taken in? Study the Word regularly and pray for discernment! God teaches us what to look for in others but if we don't read the Word and are not attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit we can be taken in. It is our responsibility to use the tools the Lord has given us so that we do not fall into error ourselves and so that we do not follow others who do.

PRAYER: Father, teach us to discern from your Word and from your Spirit between truth and error. There is such a vacuum of leadership in the world today that people will easily follow those who say they know the right way to go. Help me to be a leader who is humble and can show others the way to you so that their hearts are transformed by you. Uncover those who are masquerading as something they are not. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

I'm Confused

TODAY'S READING: Job 41, 42; 2 Cor. 1, 2

SCRIPTURE: Job 42:1-9
¹ Then Job replied to the LORD:

² “I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
³ You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

⁴ “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
⁵ My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
⁶ Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”

Epilogue

⁷ After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. ⁸ So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” ⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.

OBSERVATION: I like the book of Job because it debunks Christian myths that are still circulated today; such as, if bad things are happening to you, you must have sinned. Or its converse, if you obey the Lord, you will prosper in all you do and not suffer. Not true! Clearly, not true! However, the last part of Job has always confused me. I have studied it, have sought answers from other pastors and Bible scholars, and no one has given me a satisfactory answer. After God responds to Job and rebukes him as one who had obscured God's counsel without knowledge, Job repents of what he has said about God. Then God goes after the three friends (but not the fourth young guy who was there) and tells them that they didn't speak what was right about him as Job had done. God says they better ask Job to pray for them so that they don't get judged by God. Interesting that the Lord has them ask Job to pray instead of letting them repent to Him directly. It was an extra measure of humility they had to swallow to have Job, against whom they had been railing, pray for them. I liked that part. But what I don't understand is the total absence of anything said to Elijhu, the young, arrogant punk who was the last to speak to Job. He said he wouldn't use any of the same arguments to prove Job wrong that the others had used, and yet, though he did bring up a few new points, his arguments were much the same as the others. Why didn't the Lord say Job needed to pray for him too? Was it just his young age that excused him? I don't get it! The Lord also says to the three that they have not spoken what was right about Him as Job had done. What? Didn't Job just get rebuked by God for speaking without knowledge? Was God simply being understanding of Job because he had suffered so much for no good reason? These are questions that have never been resolved to my satisfaction. I have had Bible scholars try to explain it with convoluted reasoning that really doesn't fit with the facts, leading me to believe that they really don't have a good answer to these questions either.

APPLICATION: This leads me to the "So what?" question. What does it matter if I don't understand it fully? Does that mean it loses validity? No, it does not. I have learned much from Job. I have learned that sometimes suffering has no good explanation. I have learned I should not judge why another person is suffering. I have learned that humility and righteousness are important and that God is pleased with those attributes in my life. I have learned it is worth serving God and not denying him no matter what kind of injustice and undeserved calamity I may be going through. So Job has taught me many valuable lessons, and I am looking forward to meeting him in heaven. I am also looking forward to God explaining to me things that I do not understand now and that no one has been able to adequately explain to me. Who knows? I may not understand God's answer either. But this I do know: God loves me and has my best interest at heart. Serving anyone or anything other than Him leads to destruction. I choose the Lord!

PRAYER: Father, I really don't like it when I read things that I can't fully grasp. You made me a curious person, and I hate it when I can't figure things out. But I trust you to lead me and guide me into all the truth that I need to live as you want me to. The rest I leave in your hands. But I will ask you to give me revelation and understanding where I don't have it. I don't know when I will have my questions about Job answered, but I trust you to lead me even when I lack the understanding that I so desire. You are a good God. I love you and hope that you are as pleased with me as you were with Job. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Knowledge is Good; Love is Better

TODAY'S READING: Job 35, 36; 1 Cor. 7, 8

SCRIPTURE: 1 Cor. 8
¹ Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ² The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. ³ But the man who loves God is known by God.

⁴ So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. ⁵ For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), ⁶ yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

⁷ But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. ⁸ But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

⁹ Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰ For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? ¹¹ So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. ¹² When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Although there is one specific issue that Paul is dealing with here, the principle he espouses applies to many different issues that have relevance in today's churches. I may possess the knowledge that the Bible does not forbid drinking wine or other alcoholic drinks as long as a person doesn't get drunk. However, if I insist on my right to imbibe whenever I want to, I am not acting out of love. What about if I am in the presence of someone struggling with an addiction to alcohol? What if there are under-age young people near me? My knowledge of the truth can actually harm them by giving them "permission" to do something that a sin for them. (Yes, there are some things that are sin for one person and not for another. If you have an addiction to overspending, a shopping spree with friends can be sin for you and not for others who do not overspend). Paul makes it clear that we are to be motivated by love for one another. I must be willing to limit my freedoms in order to protect the consciences of others who do not possess the same level of knowledge that I have. Therefore, if I am with a friend who has a problem with gluttony, I choose not to order dessert when we are out for a meal together. I choose, out of love, to not engage in anything that could be a problem for them, even if it is not one for me. I must not be puffed up in my knowledge, insisting that others embrace my understanding of holiness. The passage is very clear that if we are insistent on our rights to do as we please based on our knowledge of the Word and it harms another person, we have sinned against Jesus. Those are strong words that we must heed.

PRAYER: Father, there is such wisdom in your Word. Help me to always treat my fellow believers with respect and dignity. I never want to sin against you by insisting on my own way. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

To Judge or Not to Judge

TODAY'S READING: Job 34; 1 Corinthians 4,5,6

SCRIPTURE: 1 Cor. 4:3-5; 1 Cor. 5:12, 13; 1 Cor. 6:1-8
³ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

¹² What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? ¹³ God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”

¹ If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? ² Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? ³ Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! ⁴ Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! ⁵ I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? ⁶ But instead, one brother goes to law against another—and this in front of unbelievers! ⁷ The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? ⁸ Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.

OBSERVATION: The Bible is not an easy book and a person must be willing to "wrestle" with it to try to glean the correct understanding of its ideas. The seemingly opposite instructions in the verses above are what drive some people to distraction. In 1 Cor. 4, Paul says not to judge anything; wait for the Lord to judge in his time. Then, in the later verses in chapters 5 and 6, he clearly says that believers are to judge each other. So which is it? Are we to judge or not to judge? The point Paul makes in chapter 4 is that we cannot judge the intentions of other peoples' hearts. We can't even judge our own hearts without the insight of the Holy Spirit. So we leave that judgment to God. However, in the later chapters Paul is speaking about judging behaviors. He makes it clear that certain behaviors are inconsistent with having a Christian testimony and that we can even bring reproach to Christ in the eyes of unbelievers if ungodly ac tions are tolerated and not renounced. The Church is weak and ineffective today because we have bought into the cultural lie that we should be tolerant and non-judgmental toward everyone. The world sees little difference between believers and unbelievers. Living together before marriage, divorce, greed, unkindness, etc. are just as prevalent in the Church as outside of it. Isn't Christ supposed to make a difference in us? Shouldn't we have power to overcome our sinful nature? Yes!

APPLICATION: We cannot allow our culture to dictate our attitudes toward sin. The Church is the one place where sin should be called what it is and people should be instructed that they cannot have the power and fellowship of God and live in disobedience. They will reap a bitter harvest if they do. We have so much more heartache and suffering in Christians than we need to because they are not warned by leadership to stop sinning and obey the Lord! I have seen many pastors afraid to speak up and confront sin when they see it because it could cause them to lose people and the income they bring to the church. Are we engaged in a worldly business or in kingdom work? Ought we to turn a blind eye to sin and let people suffer the consequences they will surely reap if they don't repent? Shouldn't we care enough about their welfare that we are willing to risk their being offended with us in order to spare them from spiritual and emotional harm? Don't we care that others may see them sinning without any challenge from church leadership and be emboldened to succumb to temptation and become trapped themselves? We must not let our culture dictate to us. We must be willing to lovingly confront our fellow Christians with the view to restoring them to living in obedience. Until we do this consistently, the Church in America will be weak and ineffective.

PRAYER: Oh Father, how we need you to cleanse us all! Forgive us for caring more about not offending each other more than we care about offending you. Help me to be true to the instructions in your Word even if others are not. But I pray you would place a hunger for righteousness in your Church. May we not fear being hated by the world but may the fear of the Lord lead us to wisdom. This I pray in the blessed and strong Name of Jesus. Amen.

SHAKING A FIST AT GOD

TODAY'S READING: Job 31, 32; Galations 5, 6

SCRIPTURE: Job 31:35-37; Gal. 6: 7-9

³⁵ (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser put his indictment in writing.
³⁶ Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,
I would put it on like a crown.
³⁷ I would give him an account of my every step;
like a prince I would approach him.)—

⁷ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸ The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

OBSERVATION: Job is a righteous man who is committed to social justice. He recounts how he does not worship his money but uses it to help those who are less fortunate. He has humility born out of his understanding that the same God who made him made the poor people and that it is really just an accident of birth that he has been fortunate enough to have wealth. There- fore he uses it to help others. He is counting on the fact that because he has lived a righteous life, God will protect him and keep him from harm. He "shakes his fist at God" when he demands to be able to state his case before him and get an answer as to why he is having to endure such miserable suffering. Based on what I read today in Gal. 6, Job has a reason to feel this way, for that scripture says that if we do right and don't give up, we shall reap a good harvest. Conversely, that same scripture also says that if we purposely sow to our sinful nature, we shall reap destruction. I have seen many people over the years shake a fist at God and declare him to be unrighteous because they reaped heartache, pain, or some other form of destruction as a result of their own actions of sowing to their sinful natures. They felt that simply believing in God and even going to church to worship him entitled them to skip the consequences of their behavior because, after all, God is a God of grace that forgives sin. Why should they receive the consequences of their own actions when they worship a God of love? I can understand why Job shook a fist at God. He was living righteously. But I think the reason why so many get mad at God when they reap the consequences of their disobedience is because the Church has focused on the grace and forgiveness of God and has not taught the balancing truth that God also judges sin and that his grace is given to us so that we can overcome and be victorious over sin and have the power to live righteously.

APPLICATION: There are a couple of things we can learn from these scriptures. First, shaking a fist at God for any reason doesn't really do any good. We don't get answers to the "why?" questions often. If we are suffering when we have been living righteously, like Job, we have to learn to trust that God is working something in us that will benefit us down the road, even if we do not understand it now. Trust is the key. Second, we need to examine our own hearts, with help from the Holy Spirit, to see if we are reaping consequences of our own actions because we have not submitted to God in some area of our life. Third, we should not judge why someone else is going through trouble. Job's friends told him he had to have sinned pretty grossly if this trouble was happening to him. They were wrong. Suffering does not always come because someone "earned" it.

PRAYER: Father, help me to live righteously and to lead others to do so. It is not at all comfortable to confront another person and warn them that their behavior is going to cause some sort of destruction to be unleashed in their lives. But you tell us that doing so is part of loving our brothers and sisters. It is part of our responsibility to one another. Help me do it with love, gentleness and humility, understanding that I am subject to the same temptations as anyone else is. And also, help me to trust you when I suffer for righteousness' sake. I know I am not above my Master, who did the same. You have told us that we will suffer persecution simply for being followers of Jesus. Let me handle that with grace and trust. May your Bride, the Church, be cleansed from all unrighteousness and may we abstain from injuring one another with our actions or words. Make us all clean, without spot or wrinkle, ready for your return. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Watching and Waiting

SCRIPTURE: Mark 13:32-37; Mark 14:37,38 (italics added)
³² “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴ It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵ “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

³⁷ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? ³⁸ Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

OBSERVATION: It struck me as I was reading that Jesus, in consecutive chapters, tells his disciples to keep "watch". The situations are different, but they are both related to something that is ending. In Chapter 13, Jesus is telling his disciples about what the signs of the end of the age are. He then says it will be like when a master leaves his property and puts his servants in charge of it and gives each one of them a job and one to stand watch at the door (to guard the property but also to watch for the master's return). Then he says all the servants should watch for the master's return and warns them not to let him find them sleeping. Now we switch to Chapter 14. Jesus is in an agony of travail before God knowing his life is about to end, and asks his closest disciples to watch and pray with him. Guess what they do? They fall asleep. Their master finds them sleeping. Though obviously disappointed, he isn't too tough with them. He understands that they are tired, that their "flesh" is weak even though he also knows they do love him (because their spirit is willing). However, he does warn them that they need to be able to watch and pray or they will fall into temptation.

APPLICATION: Jesus makes it clear that we all have work to do for him until he returns. Some people have a special task to watch at the door. I believe these are pastors, teachers, prophets and apostles. But all of us have a duty to watch and pray so that we keep on doing our job and don't fall into temptation. One of those temptations is to slack off and take it easy when we are tired or discouraged at the long wait for our Master. Both of these passages have a warning attached to them. That is because watching and praying are not easy things to do. They are simple, but not easy. We need to encourage each other to be those who watch and those who pray. We need to remind each other to be about the tasks the Father has given us to do. If we do not, we run the risk of being found to be asleep when our Master comes for us.

PRAYER: Father, I am weak. I admit it. I give in to the demands of my body too often. I also am unwise in caring for my body and so I get weary more than I should. Forgive me, Lord. I need to discipline myself to engage in better sleep, exercise and eating habits so that I am at my very best to be able to serve you. My spirit is willing to do this, but my body is weak, just like Peter was. I am glad for your grace, but I want to be an overcomer by listening to your Spirit! Please help me to do better and to also encourage my fellow believers to do the same. I don't want you to come and find any of us asleep! I ask this in the powerful Name of Jesus. Amen.

My Goal

SCRIPTURE: Job :10-13
¹⁰ But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
¹¹ My feet have closely followed his steps;
I have kept to his way without turning aside.
¹² I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

OBSERVATION: These verses caught my attention. Job makes this declaration about himself in the face of the worst kind of suffering. His kids have all been killed, his wife has turned away from him, his health and wealth have been stripped from him, and his friends are insisting that he has done evil and turned from God or all this tragedy would not be happening to him. I have such admiration for Job. In the midst of all this, he still considers it important to follow God and to treasure and obey his words. He does give voice to his complaint of not understanding why he is going through this and his wish to state his case to God and ask "why?". But I do not fault him for that. It is certainly understandable that he did so. He was still committed to obedience to God even though he was stupefied by what was happening to him.

APPLICATION: I so want to have Job's declaration about himself be true of me! I think it is a laudable goal to have for my life. I want to be able to say that I have been steadfast in devotion to God in spite of any loss or unjust accusations or betrayals by friends and to know that when God has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

PRAYER: Take my heart and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee! This is my goal; to always serve you in spite of anything I may be going through. I trust you to keep me and to work out the pain in my life in a redemptive fashion that will be for my ultimate good. You suffered unjustly too, and because you stayed obedient, I have redemption, a future and a hope! May I be more and more like you. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.

He Keeps Me From All Harm?

SCRIPTURE: Ps. 121

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

OBSERVATION: I love this Psalm. It declares that my help comes from the Lord and if I look to him for help he will always protect me. Nothing will harm me and that is guaranteed 24/7; all day, all night without fail. He will watch over me without losing interest or getting weary. But as great as these promises are, I still have to square them with other things I read in the Bible. Take Job, for instance. That book opens by saying that Job did look to the Lord for his help. He was righteous and a man of integrity and yet it seems to me that he suffered quite a bit of harm, for no good reason. Where was God's promise of keeping Job from all harm? What does this Psalm mean when it says the Lord will keep us from all harm? This psalm was probably penned by David, who certainly did not have an easy life. He was driven from his home and had to constantly be on the run from king Saul who wanted to kill him for no other reason than being jealous him without cause. How could David write such words when he had suffered such injustice? By the way, I have suffered harm from some people who I have not wronged in any way. I have also suffered harm because of disobedience to God. But there are definitely times I was serving God with my whole heart and with integrity and have suffered cruel words and actions at the hands of others. Where was God then? Well, I think I have learned, like Job did, that God is faithful even when we are going through immense injustice or pain that is not due to our own disobedience or poor judgment. There is not one event in my life that God has not used to bring me some kind of benefit. That would not happen if I had not trusted him in spite of suffering. Processing pain while trusting God allows him to turn those ashes into beauty and turn mourning into joy. Going through pain without God just leaves scars, bitterness, regrets, anger, hopelessness, and other negatives which continue to haunt a person. So what is the conclusion of the matter?

APPLICATION: I can rejoice in the words of this psalm! God does indeed protect me and keep me from all harm. That statement does not mean I won't ever have problems or unjust suffering. It means that if I look to God as my help, even the hardest and most painful events in my life will not have a destructive effect on me.

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, for being constantly vigilant in your watchcare over me! I rejoice in your protection and that I never have to fear coming to any harm. You will turn my mourning into dancing and every sorrow will turn to joy when I look to you as my Help. I love you and ask you to fulfill your Word in my life. May all those I love look to you as well. Keep us all in your tender care. In Jesus' Name, Amen.