Psalm 37:34 Keep the Lord's way

"You know the way to the place where I am going.” 

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”  I John 14:4-7

John 13-17 is the record of Jesus' conversation with his disciples on his last night with them about his plans and purpose for the Church after his departure. It's important that we understand the way and the truth and the life within that context.

As with nearly every scripture verse outside the book of Proverbs, this statement wasn't dropped into the evening's conversation like a tweet on the @12Disciples Twitter feed.

Jesus is answering a question, one posed by the disciples' designated doubter, Thomas.

After Jesus says, "You know the way to the place where I am going," I picture each of the disciples looking sideways at the others, checking to see if everyone else is confused.  They maybe look at Peter to see if he's going to pop off and say something stupid again. But Peter still has a glazed look in his eyes, his head cocked to the side as though he's listening hard to see if there's a rooster crowing somewhere.

Finally someone elbows Thomas and an involuntary yelp escapes his lips. When Jesus and everyone else looks at  him, Thomas can't help but letting the yelp become the question in his head.

“Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  

I've heard a boat load of sermons and read a truck load of books and articles and blog posts analyzing Jesus' reply, "I am the way and the truth and the life." Most of those, in my opinion, stretch this simple statement far beyond Jesus' intent.

Jesus doesn't say this:

In order to go where I'm going, here's a list of things you need to do:  You need to do everything the way I've done them; you need to know all the truths I've taught; you need to live your life like I lived mine.

Followers of Jesus will most certainly be blessed if they seek to imitate his way, his truth, and his life. But that isn't the way to the Father.

Jesus IS the way. There's no other route or plan to reconcile with the Father than through Jesus. Just as football coaches like to say, "the road to the championship goes through fill in the blank with your team's location, Jesus says the way to the Father goes through him. There's no alternate route, like Google maps likes to give us. Any other way won't get you to God.

Jesus IS the truth. He is the embodiment of the truth about the Father. There's no other way to truly know God without knowing Jesus.

Jesus IS the life. As he told Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life." The only way to live the abundant life and eternal life God intends for us is to receive that life from Jesus. On this last night, Jesus knows he is about to seal that part of the deal once and for all, by defeating death.

Any other interpretation of "I am the way and the truth and the life" inevitably puts the focus on our own effort and away from Jesus. He is the author and the finisher of our faith.

Hope in the Lord and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.
Psalm 37:34

Psalm 37:30-31 Speak wisdom and justice for the Lord

In the 21st century, likes and retweets and thumbs-up have become among the most valuable coins in our constant jockeying for status in the public sphere. Nothing makes an online commenter feel better than to have someone reply with, "This guy/girl gets it."

Usually, what the guy or girl got was the proper way to respond in a way both devastating to opponents, yet with a dry, undercutting humor.

The mouths of the woke slay with shade. Even among Christians on social media, the urge to join in and humiliate your opponents is strong. There's something satisfying about that fleeting knowledge that you've put your opponents in their place.

There's also something deeply disturbing and misguided about it. Unrighteous is what it is.

The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,
    and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts;
    their feet do not slip.
           Psalm 37:30-31

The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just. The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip ... 

       ...because they've clothed themselves with the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:10-20

How does the righteous soldier stand firm? How does the soldier princess make sure her feet do not slip? By clothing themselves with truth and righteousness and the readiness that comes with the gospel of peace and faith and salvation and the Spirit's sword, which is the Word of God.  

All of this comes not because the spiritual soldier is focused on acquiring all of those weapons, but through aligning God's heart - the law of God - with your own heart.

And when your heart is filled with God's laws and God's thoughts, winning a Twitter war just can't begin to compare with finding new and effective ways to drop a taste of the Almighty God's deep, deep wisdom into the shallow waters of the internet.

The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip ... 

       ...when they take a stand for what is right and just. I Corinthians 16:13; Philippians 4:1

The best stance for a soldier is not at parade rest, where someone can topple them from attention with a shove. The best stance places the soldier's feet, legs, and entire body in a position prepared to move, to attack, to defend. 

The soldier prince doesn't pick a position and stand stubbornly for it. The soldier defends and goes to battle for whatever is right and just.

What does that look like in the public square of the 21st century? Unfortunately, much of the evangelical world's attempts at taking the battle to the enemy have slid off center, aiming the worldly weapons of the internet at the the people who stand for "the wrong political opinions."

When the "enemies" push their politics, believers push back for what they apparently believe in most: the political opinions that push their buttons and move them into action. 

If, by action, we mean opinionating.

So what should it look like when the people of God take a stand for what is right and just? 

First, they should make sure they're standing for the same sort of right and just things Jesus did.

Second, the righteousness and justice of God is seldom well represented by quick and cutting responses or hastily shared or retweeted memes. God's heart and your heart will always be best presented by speaking from one heart to another, whether in person or in well thought out writing.

The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip ... 

       ...when their beautiful feet go out to speak good news. Isaiah 52:7

What is the good news?

It's seldom the news delivered by the news media. Most of them do their best to report the news accurately, but their goal is to report what's happening in the world, not to report what's happening in the Kingdom of God.

The Good News is the news of the Kingdom. As Jesus told the people standing around him, the kingdom is among you. It's among us.

Our job as God's newcasters is not to debate the same things the worldly news media is talking about. We're to be about the Father's business, speaking the good news about what the King did through Jesus on the cross, but also what the King is continuing to do now in the 21st century. 

The good news we get to share is all about God reconciling the world to himself through Jesus Christ.

The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip ... 

       .. when they give careful thought to the directions they choose in life.  Proverbs 4:26-27

Is it okay for a soldier of God to have personal political opinions? Yes. Is it okay to share those opinions? Certainly.

The problem - and in the American culture of the 21st century it always seems to be a problem - is that politics is like quicksand. You can't just step your toe into it a little. You can't just take a stand in the middle of it and then easily get back to the righteousness and wisdom of God. It will suck you in. It will drag you down so deeply, you'll soon lose all sight of where it was you once knew you should be making your stand.

Make a habit of constantly storing the law of God in your heart. You'll have plenty of time for that if you also begin making a habit of actually spending less time on social media and other sources of divisive talk and speculation.

Spend your time giving careful thought to the wisdom and righteousness of God's heart, and to how you can be a different voice, a clear and steadfast voice among the constant noise of our world.

Give careful thought to how you can intentionally echo the words of Jesus Christ, the one true thought leader.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. 

All other ground is sinking sand.

Psalm 37:21 Be generous for the Lord

I worked alongside Kevin for a little over a year, back in 1980. He had been to a bible college, like me. He had dreams of getting into some kind of full time ministry, like I did. We were around the same age, and we became pretty good friends during that year.

I came to know him well enough that I knew he didn't handle money very well. He always seemed to be struggling to keep up with his bills. He didn't understand how checking accounts worked, not really. He sometimes expressed frustration because the bank didn't always pay off on checks in the same order he had written them.

Shortly after Thanksgiving in 1980, Kevin asked if I could help him out. He just need a small loan. 300 dollars would do.  He had a bill he needed to pay, and he was short $300.

I wasn't exactly rolling in money myself, but I told him I would help him out. Kevin insisted this would be a loan, that he would pay me back. He even said he would pay interest on the loan. Five per cent.

I shrugged and said, okay. Kevin smiled and said he'd have the money to pay me back within a month.

About a month later I overheard Kevin talking to a couple of his friends who worked there at the hospital. They were talking about how much fun they had when they all went to Memphis, Tennessee, for the Liberty Bowl. Their description of the fun they had, the hotel rooms they stayed in, and the great places they had eaten, plus the cost of tickets to the game - it all added up to quite a bit of money.

It made me wonder how Kevin could afford that trip and all that fun when just a week before the Liberty Bowl, he was telling me a tale of woe about how he would be evicted if he didn't come up with $300.

A few days after I heard about the big weekend in Memphis, Kevin was fired from his job. It was discovered he was playing fast and loose with the petty cash funds he used to run purchasing errands for the hospital.

I never saw him again.

The following Sunday morning I was leading worship at the Mizzou Christian Campus House. The experience surrounding Kevin's firing had me pretty low, but I was getting through it.

Our usual worship service at the time including providing an opportunity for anyone in the crowd to share a scripture that had been meaningful to them that week. One of the college students spoke up this Sunday.

He said he didn't really know why God had put this particular scripture on his heart that weekend, but he wanted to share it.  He read from Matthew 5:38-42, which includes this line:

Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you

He read that verse and then looked up at me.  Everyone in the room looked up at me. And they waited. They watched tears form in my eyes.

I gave them an abbreviated version of what had happened with Kevin, and that this verse was obviously what I needed to hear.

That day, my wife and I made a decision to never again loan money to anyone. 

We will give people money, when it seems appropriate to do so. If they promise to pay it back, we'll tell them that would be fine - we'll accept the payback if they do come up with the money. But this is a gift, because Jesus says to give to the one who asks you.

The custom has served us well, and we have put it into practice many times over the years. We've even been repaid a few times, but it was always a pleasant surprise, not an expected repayment.

Having this as our personal practice has helped to train us to have a generous heart. We love to give freely whenever God gives us that opportunity. 

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  II Corinthians 9:6-8

It's easy, when times are hard, to react by pulling everything you have inward, taking and protecting.  During hard times I'm always puzzled by the Christians whose automatic response is to want to hide in their bunker and protect themselves and the things they have. I think God is much more pleased by the  Christians who react to difficult days by heading out into the community to see how they can help.

The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously
Psalm 37:21

I reconnected with Kevin a few years back, by way of Facebook. He was surprised when I friended him, and frankly told me he assumed I hated him.

I told him no, and I told him about the lessons I had learned from that experience. 

He never did offer to pay me back. That's okay.

Psalm 37: 14-15 Draw your Sword for the Lord

The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. 

But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.

Psalm 37:14-15

As someone who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, what makes you angry enough to want to draw your sword and bend your bow? 

• Millions of unborn children whose lives are ended through abortion? Millions of children whose lives are oppressed by generational poverty and government programs that keep them there?
  
  
• The misuse of God's name through curse words? The misuse of God's name by people who claim to speak for God but don't pursue God's purposes?
  
  
• Discords, factions, and truth-bending? Even more so when it's Christians who are arguing among themselves and bending the truth to suit themselves?
  
  
• Selective indignation at certain sins, and passive acceptance of other sins?

It's important to remember we're fighting God's battle, not our own, and we're fighting with God's weapons, not the weapons of the world.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

As a soldier for the Lord, what are the weapons you're tempted to rely on instead of the Sword of the Lord, the Word of God?

• Legalistic emphasis on the laws of the Bible, unbalanced by love and grace?
  
  
• Pursuit of power through politics, privilege, or the purse-string?
  
  
• Leading with anger and condemnation instead of love? Confrontation instead of Care-frontation?

It's so easy to allow our anger be sparked by our personal obsessions, to let our zeal be directed by the ways of the world.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. II Corinthians 10:3-4

...in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left... II Corinthians 5:6-7

Psalm 37:12-13 Laugh with the Lord

I love the limited TV series, The Chosen. It's a dramatized telling of the life of Jesus and his followers. If you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it.

One of the best features of the show is its portrayal of Jesus' sense of humor. I've always pictured Jesus and his disciples as being much like any close knit group of guys, including a fair amount of friendly joshing and laughing. That's exactly the way they're portrayed in the Chosen. 

Most men pick up their sense of humor, for better or worse, from their fathers. Dad jokes get passed along from generation to generation, exasperating wives and children. I was perpetually perplexed by my own dad's favorite joke ("What's the difference between a duck?"), but I faithfully passed it along to my own boys. Mercifully, I think the legacy stopped there.

It should be natural for us to imitate our heavenly Father's sense of humor. The more my heart becomes like God's heart, the more I'll laugh at the same things he laughs at.

By the same logic, the less my heart is aligned with the Father's, the less I'll be able to laugh at the sort of things - and people - he laughs at.

The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them;
but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.
Psalm 37:12-13

Beginning at this point in Psalm 37, David shifts toward describing the way the wicked people of the world react to disagreements and conflicts, and contrasting that with the way righteous people ought to approach those situations.

He begins with a comparison that prompts this question:

Why do so many Christians get so worked up about the goings on of governments and political leaders and the results of elections?

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,  “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”   

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. (Psalm 2:1-4)

If God thinks so little of them, why do we get so worked up about them?

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” 

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’ (Luke 4:5-8)

Notice, Jesus doesn't dispute Satan's claim to having been given all the authority of nations and the rulers of nations.

It's an interesting claim, especially considering the logical next question: If that authority has been given to Satan, who gave it to him? There's really only one logical answer to that question.

God thinks so little of the power of nations and rulers, he's delegated that insignificant part of the world to Satan.

Let Satan have the politics. God and His people have the gospel.

Looked at that way, Jesus' reply to Satan could be read as having a double meaning.

• No, Satan, I won't worship you. As the Son, I will only worship the Lord my God and serve him only."
• Anyone who worships the Lord and serves him should be careful to not elevate concerns about the nations and rulers and all their authority (i.e., politics) above concerns about glorifying God and sharing the gospel.

Go ahead, have and share political opinions. Every Christian is free to be involved in politics and government. Every Christian is free to hold opinions (although nowhere in the Bible are we told we have to have an opinion on every topic, nor are we ever commanded to share what we think about every topic).

But keep such things in perspective. God has given the kingdoms and the kingdom authorities over to Satan. Followers of Jesus should make the same choice He did: worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.

Psalm 37:10-11 Be Meek for the Lord

A little while, and the wicked will be no more;

 though you look for them, they will not be found. 

But the meek will inherit the land

 and enjoy peace and prosperity.

Psalm 37:10-11

My favorite novel is Monte Walsh, by Jack Schaefer. There are other books I've read more than once, but none of them as often as Monte Walsh. I have two copies of the book, both paperback. One is so worn from re-reading that the cover and pages feel like soft cotton. On the inside of the back cover I've noted the month and year of each time I've re-read the book. I actually read the book a few times before I started keeping track, and I've read it a couple of times since then, using a newer edition I bought.

The opening line: 

A boy and a horse.

That pretty much summarizes the plot. Monte Walsh, who begins the novel as a young boy and concludes it as an older man, becomes one of the best cowboys ever at handling horses.

There are several times in the tale where Monte tops a wild bronc and hangs on through a rough and dangerous ride, eventually calming the horse. I hesitate to say he "tames" horses, because the ideal horse, in the mind of any good cowboy, is one that has been trained to follow the rider's wishes, but retains the energy and personality of a wild horse.

In one story, Monte, as an old vagabond cowhand, is working with a rough crew, for a mean boss.  As they're gathering cattle, a neighboring farmer arrives and says he can't find his milk cow.  He wants to know if they could remove the milk cow from the herd of longhorns. 

The boss rudely refuses, saying he has no intention of stirring up the cattle by sending cowboys into their midst to search for one milk cow. Monte Walsh offers to do it, and promises he and his veteran horse won't disturb the cattle. The younger cowboys laugh at the old man and at his boasts about his old worn down horse.

Monte tells them his horse can do it even without a rider, which brings even more laughter. But once the farmer gives the horse a whiff of the milk cow's bridle, Monte sends the horse in. The old horse smoothly winds his way through the herd, locates the cow, and gently but insistently nudges the nervous cow through the longhorns and back out to the edge. The herd was barely disturbed.

That same horse, whenever Monte first climbs aboard each morning, goes into a fit of bucking and kicking and trying to unseat the cowboy. It's not quite as wild as when they were both younger, but both Monte and the horse enjoy the exercise.

The word translated as meekness in scriptures is a word used to describe a wild horse that has been tamed just enough to be subservient and loyal to its master, but still retaining a healthy dose of wild energy. 

If we put our energy into fighting what we see as evil in our country, we might have some successes. We also might give in to the worst of our wild nature, stirring up troubles and alienating the very people the Master wants us to be winnowing out from the crowd and reuniting with the Master.  

Much of 21st century church culture urges God's people toward arguing, debating, fighting, and pushing for our rights. But just imagine the victories we could win if we continually put our efforts and energy into whatever the Lord sets us to doing. 

Psalm 37:9 Hope in the Lord

The apostle Peter wrote to the church in Rome at a time of hopelessness. A realistic analysis of the likelihood for the survival of the Church in the heart of the Roman Empire would have concluded there was little or no chance.

And yet Peter talks to them about hope. 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. I Peter 1:3-5

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. I Peter 1:13

Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.I Peter 1:21

For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. Peter 3:5-6

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. I Peter 3:15-16

The kind of hope that changes lives, that can be seen in the daily actions of people - that version of hope is our best tool for drawing people to faith in Christ. A daily life that turns hope into real world action is what will prepare you to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that you have.

They won't ask if they don't see hope not only in the words you speak but in the places you go, the people you help, the sacrifices you make for others, and your refusal to compromise your priorities.

Why has China been ground zero for the growth of the church in the past few decades? By all logic, the church should have died under the oppression of the totalitarian, communist, atheist government. Instead the believers who expressed their hope actively ain hundreds of house churches.

How will the church in America survive or thrive in the face of a nearly overwhelming secular cultural that trivializes and marginalizes Christianity? 

It won't because we put our hope in rallies and protests. It won't because we put our hope in the memes and shared posts or tweets that hammer home a version of righteousness in unrighteous ways.

It won't be because we put our hope in candidates or in politicians, those people who know how to manipulate us because they can see clearly that our hope is not in God, but in causes and laws. Rather than asking us the reason for the hope they see in us, they callously manipulate our misplaced hopes. And we willingly sell our inheritance of righteous to any unrighteous huckster who promises to vote the right way.

And the world observes our actions and rightly pinpoints the empty promises and soul-less politicians in whom we've placed our every hope.

We've let ourselves believe that our best hope for reclaiming America as a Christian nation is by putting our hope in a certain brand of politics. But this hope will fail us. This path will destroy us. 

For those who are evil will be destroyed, 

but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

Psalm 37:9