Archive | December, 2011

Show me the Way #3 An Astonishing Commitment

30 Dec

THE PATH OF LIFE

You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11

The Dynamics of the Path of Life from Psalm 16

1                  Cry out “Help!” Preserve me! (v1) Blog on Dec 5

2                  Affirm God as the Lifeguard  (v1) Preserve me, O God Blog on Dec 15

3 . . . and in You do I put my trust and hide myself. Psalm 16:1 (Amplified Bible)

The fabulous sensation of relaxing into trust must rank high on everyone’s scale of satisfaction and pleasure. Think of the proposal of marriage: someone trusts you sufficiently to seek, and commit to, a lifetime offering companionship, security and intimacy. It is only a proposal, however, and it requires a response. The proposal ends in a joint commitment of breath taking dimensions:

“I take you . . .

To have and to hold . . .

For better for worse . . .

For richer for poorer . . .

In sickness and in health . . .

As long as we both shall live . . .”

 The marriage covenant requires each participant to say “I do.”

 God says “Yes” in Christ:

“For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” He is the one whom I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says. For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. (1 Corinthians 1:19-21 New Living Translation)

Some circumstance in David’s colorful life brings him to the brink, so he cries out for help and affirms his trust. The day unfolds and emotions swirl as reality overshadows. A brief time elapses and another wave dumps him. Once more, and not for the last time that day, he shouts “Help!” adding the affirmation “in you I put my trust!”  Trust is a journey, not an event. Or, better yet, a journey of many events. Each and every event in your life requires you repeat the affirmation and commitment. This is how we hide ourselves in Him.

The Synergy in Harmony

A loving husband embraces his fearful wife and reassures her “We are in this together.” As she leans into the embrace of his love, in the harmony of the moment, a transformation occurs. Reassurance floods her, the negative emotions of anxiety and fear, like a leaden lump of dread in the gut, are replaced with the nervous excitement of anticipation. The two currents of separate energy from husband and wife combine into the stronger force of a relentless river. Nervous still, but now curious and expectant about the outcome, the trusting person looks to an entirely different destination. Once it was a journey of despair, now it is an expedition of hope. How much more when the feeble life of a mortal being merges with the inexhaustible energy of The Mighty God!

Hear now God’s commitment to you in Jesus Christ:

“I take you . . .

To have and to hold . . .

For better for worse . . .

For richer for poorer . . .

In sickness and in health . . .

As long as we both shall live.”

 What is needed of you at this moment?             “I do.”

Listen now with astonished amazement; God is the author behind your promise of “I do.”  He is prompting you with the cue of Jesus:

“When I proclaimed the Son of God among you, did you pick up on any yes-and-no, on-again, off-again waffling? Wasn’t it a clean, strong Yes? Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.”  (1 Corinthians 1:19-22 The Message)

Say it, “I do.” Keep saying it, “I do.”

Show Me the Way #2 The Plumber

15 Dec

THE PATH OF LIFE

You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11

Preserve me O God, for in You I put my trust.  Psalm 16:1

It was a very expensive mistake. I neglected the maintenance of the sewer line, and when it became apparent a problem was brewing, I attempted to fix it myself. My amateurish efforts proved useless, and a messy film of raw sewerage flooded the basement laundry. My problem was now compounded: the stinking mess needed clearing; all the plumbing in the entire house was inoperable; and the clogged line still had to be cleared. It now needed an urgent call to 3 experts. Sigh.

Preserve me Is a desperate cry, but it is often misdirected, compounding the problem.

  • Self help, as addicted people in recovery testify, is the proud man’s attempt to fix matters himself. With real problems it usually leads to denial or masking; deliverance requires the confession “I am helpless and need to submit to a Higher Power.” HELP!
  • Human help normally consists of sound advice (repeated to the point of nagging in some relationships) all pretty useless for someone caught in a life threatening situation. What is the point of a lifeguard who responds to the cry of help from a drowning person by reading “A Dummy’s Guide to Swimming” over a loudspeaker?
  • David’s cry is addressed to an Expert Helper. Preserve me O God, for in You I put my trust.  The Hebrew word for God is EL (אל ‘el). It means strong, mighty, a mighty one, a hero.

He is a capable helper that can be trusted.

This lifeguard plunges right into our ocean of turmoil. Isaiah (9:2) records:  

 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.

Then he describes the light in v 6:

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, ( אל EL)
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

What a Life Guard!

  • The Mighty God shows us the path of life:
  • his counsel causes wonderment;
  • he bestows his peace upon us;
  • all as a wise heavenly father.

He is the three-fold Expert who clears the sewer line, cleans the mess and restores the plumbing to full functionality.

When there is a stinking mess, there is no point in waiting. Cry to him for help right now, and determine to discover the dynamics of The Path as we continue in Psalm 16.

Show me the Way # 1

13 Dec

THE PATH OF LIFE

11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

“Help!” The shout sounded desperate and immediately the lifeguard on duty scanned the thronged beach. “Help!” There! The cry came again, distinct above the crash of the waves and from the normal hubbub of the happy beach. “Help!” It was hard to distinguish exactly where the sound came from, given the distracting noises and the “where’s-Waldo” scenario of a packed and multi-colored mob of moving sun and fun seekers. The lifeguard also knew the person shouting might well be underwater between alarms. Finally he glimpsed a waving arm in a trough between the foam of crashing surf. A drowning person is calling for a trusted lifeguard to come to the rescue.

Psalm 16 starts with a similar scenario. 1 Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. (NKJV) David does not define his trouble, but the desperation of his cry resonates with the anxiety of any and every hue. Life is dangerous –

  • physical life is precarious, witness weird bacteria and unpredictable traffic;
  • and spiritual life is described as wrestling with powers greater than ourselves, where the devil is described as a roaring lion seeking to devour;
  • practically, tedium, boredom, dissatisfaction, insignificance are all symptoms of a rut – a rut is a shallow grave.

HELP! HELP! HELP!

David’s example instructs us to cry to God any time we are overwhelmed in the foamy trough of the crashing breakers of life, whether physical, spiritual or in practice. Drowning swimmers are not likely to delay the cry for help, neither should overwhelmed people.

Preserve can have either positive or negative connotations. Those who swim among sharks usually do so in metal cages. This is safe, but terribly inhibiting. David develops the dynamic of preservation positively. In contrast to the confining safety of a steel cage, he explores preservation as the path of life where joy is constant and pleasures are eternal. Far from simply being caged for safety, a plan to snorkel, surf and sail in safe enjoyment is in mind. Full potential cannot be attained from a restricted existence in a cage; it requires the freedom to range. Full potential requires liberty to explore both deep and wide with complete confidence.

11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

May this tempt you, whet your appetite and lead you into a journey of discovery.

Sign up for progressingpeople.wordpress.com to continue the journey.

Follow Progressing People on twitter!

9 Dec

Show Me the Path of Life

5 Dec

Psalm 16 opens with a desperate cry for help, and ends with the confident assertion:

“You show me the path of life:

  • you fill me with joy in your presence;
  • you fill me with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

The Psalm explores the dynamic principles of a King under a threatening cloud, transformed into a person of noble radiance. It is the story of King David at a dire time in his life, and translates into the common experience of any and everyone.

This series of blogs identifies David’s circumstances and establishes signposts pointing to his discovery of the path of life and his transformation.

Stay tuned.