A View From the Cry Room: Church

My kids love church. They often remind me that I do, too. But why doesn't everyone love this place as much as we do? It all depends on what you expect to find...

I look back to, hmmm... this morning. My car would not start and it's 10 minutes until church starts. Everyone I know is already in their designated pew at church. So my children and I sit in the driveway for a minute contemplating our next move. Do we give up, unload, and go back to bed? Throw heavy things at the car to release anger? Maybe just cry in frustration for a bit...

But no, my kids suggested we walk to church. Mind you, we live about 3 miles away and the sidewalk follows some very busy streets. I was not sure if 5 kids were going to make it in their church clothes. We decided trying to get there was more interesting than just sitting around at home. So we took off for the streets.

Sure enough, almost an hour later, we made it! My kids were so excited that we actually could finish the service with the rest of the church. I, on the other hand, was completely disheartened. We walked in (yes, an hour late) and received the expected surprised & dirty looks. We were asked not to participate in a section of the service because we had missed the first part. The kids we're understandably antsy after an hour of fresh air, and not quiet. I was growing concerned about how we are going to get home, now that we were stranded without car seats. At this point the only thing I could think was, " Why are we here?"

A little later, I went to the front of the church to receive Christ's body and blood. My kids received a blessing that told them they were baptized children and loved by God. We were forgiven our sins and I was reminded why I was here.

Sometimes I expect to find an easy road, happy friends, and no cares or worries at church. But that is not what is there for me. Actually, it's only Christ. He makes all things new. My kids find their comfort here and remind me how simple it is to love this place.

Praying Psalm 19

Words

What is the title of Psalm 19? To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Read Psalm 19:1-4

1 The heavens (are those who) declare the glory of God, and the expanse (the one who) proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals (bow down) knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world…

What does the Psalmist describe?

Creation is speaking.

This is "Natural knowledge". Nature can actually tell about God.

(See Romans 1 - Men have no excuse!!)

Read Psalm 19:4-6

…In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵ which comes out like a bridegroom from his chamber, and he exults, like a strong man, to run its course/path.
⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat/sun.

What picture does he describe?

Sun is like a bridegroom – the tent in a wedding ceremony is a place where the marriage is consummated. So you can imagine the bridegroom coming out - He is strong, vigorous, happy!

BUT ALSO, the Sun is all-encompassing (v.6) =

This transition changes the image from creation to an image of God’s law.

Read 19:7-9

7 The law (torah) of the Lord is perfect/complete, returns/brings back the body/soul ( nephesh); the testimony of the Lord is sure/confirmed, making wise the simple;
⁸ the precepts of the Lord are straight/right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ the fear of the Lord is clean (ceremonially), enduring forever; the judgements of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

How is the torah described?

Torah means law =  testimony, precepts, commandment, fear, judgments

These are good, perfect, clean, true things!

Read BONHOEFFER, Psalms, The Prayer Book of the Bible, "The Law".

Read 19:10-11

10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward/ consequence.

What benefit is the torah?

Sweet – priceless - GREAT STUFF!

ALSO, warnings - This is good too.

Read 19:12-14

¹² Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
¹³ Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

What is David’s prayer?

Forgive me. Keep me from doing the things I don’t want to do. Keep MY WORDS.

I hope the law benefits me in this way...

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

What is the purpose of this Psalm/prayer?

Description = creation speaking

Description = YHWH speaking (torah, law of God)

Prayer for MY speaking

How does Christ fulfill this psalm?

John 1:1-17 Word created, Word made flesh, Christ actually IS God's Word made human.

He speaks for God and for man AT THE SAME TIME!

Christ is "revealed knowledge". We know about mercy for our words on account of his speaking to God for us; namely, "forgive them, by my sacrifice."

Word/Christ actually lives in us. Our words are HIS words when we confess (same-say) His Word.

How can we pray this?

We pray our words are His words

Reminded who we are in – Confession/ absolution, Baptism, Supper

Hebrews10:15-24  Prayer for MY SPEAKING/living Word:

¹⁵ And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, ¹⁶ “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
¹⁷ then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” ¹⁸ Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.


WE PRAY:
Thy kingdom come.

What does this mean? The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer, of itself; but we pray in this petition that it may come unto us also.

How is this done? When our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life here in time and yonder in eternity. 

Praying Psalm 18

Great Deliverer!          

What is the title of Psalm 18?

For the choir director, a servant of YHWH, David who spoke to YHWH these words of a song. In the day YHWH delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

The background is Deliverance – See2 Samuel 22 – David is looking back on his life. Sons were sung to remember!

Read Psalm 18:1-6

1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
² The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
³ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies.

⁴ The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;
⁵ the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

 ⁶ In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Who is this God that David addresses?

This is descriptive!! He is the One who saves - & hears. This is the God we know and love!

Read Psalm 18:7-19

⁷ Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
⁸ Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.
⁹ He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
¹⁰ He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water.
¹² Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

¹³ The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴ And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
¹⁵ Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

¹⁶ He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.
¹⁹ He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

Describe this picture of God.

Crazy "hidden God" scary picture. God is angry, judging with hailstones.
He is UNDOING creation (v.15) He is sending arrows - death??
BUT HE SENT for me (v. 16)– He saved & rescued David from the impossible enemies.

Read 18:20-29

²⁰ The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
²² For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.
²³ I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt.
²⁴ So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵ With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
²⁶ with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
²⁷ For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.
²⁸ For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
²⁹ For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.

What is the relationship between YHWH and David?

According to the purity of my hands… David calls himself blameless. Really, David was righteous enough?? This is a section to struggle with…(20-24). If you know you are a sinner (which David certainly knew about himself) HOW can you say you are blameless?

THE ANSWER is v. 28-29. Where does this impossible strength come from? It is God who makes one victorious - merciful, blameless, and pure for that matter. The OT people had sacrifices to continually remind them what it took to "keep the ways of the Lord". It took death and blood to have a right relationship with God.

Read 18:30-42

³⁰ This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

³¹ For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?—
³² the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.
³³ He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.
³⁶ You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.
³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed.
³⁸ I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet.
³⁹ For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed.
⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
⁴² I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

What did God do in David’s life?

God made David great. Taught him, guided him, equipped him. Beginning to end, God gets all the glory. In the end -  David won the victory

Read 18:43-48

⁴³ You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.
⁴⁴ As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me.
⁴⁵ Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.

⁴⁶ The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation—
⁴⁷ the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me,
⁴⁸ who delivered me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you rescued me from the man of violence.

What was the result of this victory?

Kingship - David was given a position of leadership among the nations, foreigners.
God delivered & rescued David from enemies.

Read 18:49-50

⁴⁹ For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name.
⁵⁰ Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

What are the final words of this psalm?

Praise – for THIS salvation,

FAVOR to a king,

 OFFSPRING mentioned

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

What is the purpose of this Psalm/prayer?

Description - God of comfort & salvation / ALSO God of judgment
Description - Relationship between "blameless" David and God.
Description - God's working in David's life

Praise - for Salvation and work in David's personal life as king!

How does Christ fulfill this psalm?

This psalm describes God in our lives too - Our God of comforts and saves us  AND there will be a day that God will come to judge. BUT, He sent for us - He sent Christ.

So we can claim blamelessness, like David. NOT because we are sinless people, Rather we have been MADE blameless by Christ's death and blood. His was the sacrifice made once and for all so our realtionship would be right with God.

AND SO, our lives are saturated with God - protecting us, blessing us, giving us victory. This is not to say our lives will be peachy-keen. Christ told us otherwise:

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin,^[c] but now they have no excuse for their sin. John 15:18-22

BUT we can look forward to the final victory won by Christ; the resurrection of the dead, new heaven & new earth, and life everlasting!!

Cross references:

How can we pray this?

We love our salvation!!. Praise God for the great deliverance in David's life.

We know Christ (our great deliverance) shapes our lives and deserves our praise as well!

WE PRAY:

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What does this mean? The good and gracious will of God is done indeed without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.

How is this done? When God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow the name of God nor let His kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh; but strengthens and keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. This is His gracious and good will.

Praying Psalm 17

"Come Lord Jesus!”           

What is the title of Psalm 17? A Prayer of David.

Read Psalm 17:1-2

¹ Hear YHWH, righteousness.! Give attention to my cry. Heed/listen to my prayer. From lips of no deceit (I don’t lie…)

2 From before you Let your judgment come out! Let your eyes see the righteous.

What is the Psalmists opening plea? Hear - See -  this righteous man

Read Psalm 17:3-8

³ You examine my heart, you visit in the night, you refine me – Nothing you find. I considered nothing will pass over my mouth.
4 For the works of man by the word of Your lips I, myself keep (avoid) the ways of the violent.
5 To support (put in order) my steps in your entreanchments/ wagon tracks, my feet NOT have they been shaken.
6  I, myself call upon you because you answer me, God. Turn your ear to me and hear my speaking.
7 Show your mercies ("cheseds"), Savior, of the ones who seek refuge, from the ones who rise up in  your right hand.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye, in a shadow of your wings hide me.

How does the Psalmist describe his relationship with YHWH?

1 - I am clean - blameless.
2 - My ways have been kept in" wagon tracks" the entranchments that have been worn from years of safe travel. What a beautiful picture of the ways of our faith - keeping us on a well worn path.
3 - I call upon God – expect answer. HE has integrity, GOD will save.
4 - See the Song of Moses Deut. 32:10-11.These are great victory words reminding Israel where they have been with God watching over them. Here the psalmist confesses the same.

Read 17:9-12

9 From before your face, the wicked ones who destroy me, my enemies with  flesh/soul (nephesh)  they surround me!

10 Their fat they shut their mouth they speak majestically.

11 our steps now they surround. Their eyes they set to stretch us to the ground.

12 His likeness is as a lion longing to devour. And as a young lion dwelling in hiding.

What is going on around David?

The enemies are seeking to destroy him.

Read 17:13

¹³ Rise up YHWH, meet/confront his face Cause him to bow down, deliver my body/soul (nephesh) from the wicked by your sword.

What is the prayer for the wicked?

Confront the enemies –  MAKE THEM bow down.
Save ME!

Read 17:14-15

¹⁴  From the men, by your hands, YHWH, from the men from the world, a portion in their life. You fill their womb with your treasure. They are satisfied with sons and give rest their abundance to their children.

¹⁵ I in your righteousness I see your face I am satisfied in waking your likeness.

What are the blessings to the righteous?

They recognize God's good gifts, BUT ultimately they are satisfied with God's righteousness - This means loving both sides of His judgements, comfort and revenge. 

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

What is the purpose of this Psalm/prayer?

Describing relationship with God - Trust, history, wagon tracks of righteouness

Lament for current situation - the enemies surround!!

Prayer for judgement to come - fix this! I am satisfied with your judgement on sin.

How does Christ pray this psalm?

He was clearly in this relationship with God. Evil ones surrounded him, He prayed for judgment, good done to others, and was wholly satisfied with waking in God’s likeness, even to death.

How can we pray this?

We are given this awsome relationship with our God. BUT we have enemies of evil and sin within and around us. We want God's judgement to come. Rise up! Come Lord Jesus! Return and visibly set your judgment before our eyes.

WE PRAY:

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What does this mean? The good and gracious will of God is done indeed without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.

How is this done? When God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow the name of God nor let His kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh; but strengthens and keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. This is His gracious and good will.

Give us this day our daily bread
What does this mean? God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all wicked men; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.

What is meant by daily bread? Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.