Psalm 111
1 Hallelujah. I will praise the LORD with all my heart in the assembled congregation of the upright.
2 Great are the works of the LORD, to be treasured for all their delights.
3 Majestic and glorious is your work, your wise design endures forever.
4 You won renown for your wondrous deeds; gracious and merciful is the LORD.
5 You gave food to those who fear you, mindful of your covenant forever.
6 You showed powerful deeds to your people, giving them the lands of the nations.
7 The works of your hands are right and true, reliable all your decrees,
8 Established forever and ever, to be observed with loyalty and care.
9 You sent deliverance to your people, ratified your covenant forever; holy and awesome is your name.
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; prudent are all who live by it. Your praise endures forever.
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This is the responsorial psalm from tomorrow's daily mass, and was written by David.
God called David a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Have you ever wondered why? What do we see in David that merits this praise from the almighty Lord?
One thing that always strikes me about David is shown in verses 7-10. David doesn't see the Lord's commands as onerous/painful/restrictive/whatever. He says the Lord's decrees are reliable, established forever, and are to be observed with loyalty and care.
Many have said such things. The difference with David is that he LIVED that way He put his faith in the Lord and did what the Lord told him to do. That's the model to follow. As it says in James 1:22, we are to be doers of the Word, not hearers only.
PS - Psalm 111 gives just a taste of David's take on obedience. Read Psalm 119 for the full picture.
PPS - I highly recommend diving into David's life in 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, the beginning of 1 Kings, and also reading his songs of praise in the Psalms. In those writings we can see what a man after God's own heart is really like.
Showing posts with label James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Daily - 1/19/09
1 Peter 5:6-7
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.
7 Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.
James 4:7-8
7 So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
Psalm 46:8-11
9 Come and see the works of the LORD, who has done fearsome deeds on earth;
10 Who stops wars to the ends of the earth, breaks the bow, splinters the spear, and burns the shields with fire;
11 Who says: "Be still and confess that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth."
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In my opinion submitting to God is the ultimate fork in the road, particularly for men. We don’t want to give up control. But over and over and over again, throughout the old and new testament, God tells us to do exactly that. So … what does it mean to submit to God? It means a lot of things, but the first step is obedience. Submitting to God means saying that you will no longer make your rules, and that you will submit to His:
John 8:31-32
31 Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
When Christ calls us to remain in his word, he is calling us to obedience. Once we are faced with the Word, we have a choice to make – belief and submittal to it, or not. If we believe but we do not obey, we are caught in a kind of spiritual limbo. This happens to a lot of people. In my opinion, for men the reasons come from two places – either fear of the unknown (ie, what will happen to me, what do I have to do, what will be taken from me), or a prideful refusal to give up control.
Yet if we remain in the word (ie, obey), Christ promises us the truth, and that the truth will set us free. Some people spend years studying the word before finally coming to this point. I was one of those people. Finally I woke up and realized that the call to obedience was firm. Once I responded to this call and submitted to Christ’s authority, I was able to understand a lot more about the concept of the pursuit of spiritual maturity and the surpassing joy that can come from that pursuit.
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.
7 Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.
James 4:7-8
7 So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
Psalm 46:8-11
9 Come and see the works of the LORD, who has done fearsome deeds on earth;
10 Who stops wars to the ends of the earth, breaks the bow, splinters the spear, and burns the shields with fire;
11 Who says: "Be still and confess that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth."
---------------------------
In my opinion submitting to God is the ultimate fork in the road, particularly for men. We don’t want to give up control. But over and over and over again, throughout the old and new testament, God tells us to do exactly that. So … what does it mean to submit to God? It means a lot of things, but the first step is obedience. Submitting to God means saying that you will no longer make your rules, and that you will submit to His:
John 8:31-32
31 Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
When Christ calls us to remain in his word, he is calling us to obedience. Once we are faced with the Word, we have a choice to make – belief and submittal to it, or not. If we believe but we do not obey, we are caught in a kind of spiritual limbo. This happens to a lot of people. In my opinion, for men the reasons come from two places – either fear of the unknown (ie, what will happen to me, what do I have to do, what will be taken from me), or a prideful refusal to give up control.
Yet if we remain in the word (ie, obey), Christ promises us the truth, and that the truth will set us free. Some people spend years studying the word before finally coming to this point. I was one of those people. Finally I woke up and realized that the call to obedience was firm. Once I responded to this call and submitted to Christ’s authority, I was able to understand a lot more about the concept of the pursuit of spiritual maturity and the surpassing joy that can come from that pursuit.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Daily - 12/31/08
James 1:22-25
22 Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror.
24 He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like.
25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.
As it says in verse 22, we are called to be “doers of the word and not hearers only.” Sometimes I am much better at the understanding than the doing. That’s not right. We are called to act on God’s commandments, not merely understanding them. Understanding is great, but if I don’t act, the flesh is winning out over the spirit.
John 3 is quoted so often about the nature of Christ’s mission on earth – down to the guy with the rainbow hair holding up a John 3:16 sign at football games. But one quote I almost never hear from John 3 is this:
John 3:36
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.
Christ himself states that disobedience is the opposite of belief. I’m sure that I had read this more than a dozen times before it really sunk in with me. Obedience to God and acting on his commands aren’t a result of belief, they are belief, by Christ’s own definition.
22 Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror.
24 He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like.
25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.
As it says in verse 22, we are called to be “doers of the word and not hearers only.” Sometimes I am much better at the understanding than the doing. That’s not right. We are called to act on God’s commandments, not merely understanding them. Understanding is great, but if I don’t act, the flesh is winning out over the spirit.
John 3 is quoted so often about the nature of Christ’s mission on earth – down to the guy with the rainbow hair holding up a John 3:16 sign at football games. But one quote I almost never hear from John 3 is this:
John 3:36
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.
Christ himself states that disobedience is the opposite of belief. I’m sure that I had read this more than a dozen times before it really sunk in with me. Obedience to God and acting on his commands aren’t a result of belief, they are belief, by Christ’s own definition.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Daily - 11/21/08
James 4:7-10
7 So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds.
9 Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
1 Peter 1:13-16
13 Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
14 Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance
15 but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct,
16 for it is written, "Be holy because I (am) holy."
James and Peter are speaking directly on the subject of submitting to God’s authority.
It isn't until one truly submits to God's authority that they even see the need for obedience. Until then, God’s commands are really just a list of good things to live by. Once one submits to God's authority, the light shines on the self, and you are able to see yourself (to the extent possible for a human) through God's eyes. And once that happens, the necessity of obedience becomes obvious – you can see with your own eyes how short you truly are of what can be, and the desire for obedience begins to grow.
Look at the verses from James. Submit to god, draw close to Him, and He will draw close to you. Purify your hearts, “you of two minds.” What are the two minds? For me, this is the state I was in when I was feeling God’s pull through scripture and prayer, but I wasn’t ready to make an “all in” commitment. I was beginning to see the truth, and “kind of” trying to follow God, but I wasn’t ready to put the flesh to death, and was holding on to the life I had.
I distinctly remember the day that I submitted to God’s authority. I was at Mass on a Sunday, and was really troubled about a couple of things. I knew that I had been resisting submission to God, and I knew that it was holding back my spiritual growth. But I also knew that submission meant obedience, and THAT meant letting go of some worldliness – habits and mindsets that were precious to me. I was afraid of letting go, because all I could think about was how much I was going to lose, of what I’d have to give up, of the fun I was going to miss, of the security I might miss, and of what people would think of me.
Submitting to God’s authority requires significant work on our part. It means knowing what the rules are, and committing to following them. Look at the verses above. Humble yourself. Do not act in the desires of your former ignorance. Live soberly. Cleanse your hearts. Purify your mind. That takes work, and it’s a lifelong process. I pray almost daily for God’s help along this road, and the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist are critical to this process for me.
It is a major spiritual struggle to take this step. But once I started, blessings flowed. I began to understand pieces of scripture that I just couldn’t comprehend before. Certain things that I’d been praying for months and even years started to happen. These daily emails changed from an intellectual exercise to something much more – an exploration of faith which has drawn me ever closer to God. I have developed a desire to make myself available to God, so that he can use me to share some of the things I’ve learned.
7 So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds.
9 Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
1 Peter 1:13-16
13 Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
14 Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance
15 but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct,
16 for it is written, "Be holy because I (am) holy."
James and Peter are speaking directly on the subject of submitting to God’s authority.
It isn't until one truly submits to God's authority that they even see the need for obedience. Until then, God’s commands are really just a list of good things to live by. Once one submits to God's authority, the light shines on the self, and you are able to see yourself (to the extent possible for a human) through God's eyes. And once that happens, the necessity of obedience becomes obvious – you can see with your own eyes how short you truly are of what can be, and the desire for obedience begins to grow.
Look at the verses from James. Submit to god, draw close to Him, and He will draw close to you. Purify your hearts, “you of two minds.” What are the two minds? For me, this is the state I was in when I was feeling God’s pull through scripture and prayer, but I wasn’t ready to make an “all in” commitment. I was beginning to see the truth, and “kind of” trying to follow God, but I wasn’t ready to put the flesh to death, and was holding on to the life I had.
I distinctly remember the day that I submitted to God’s authority. I was at Mass on a Sunday, and was really troubled about a couple of things. I knew that I had been resisting submission to God, and I knew that it was holding back my spiritual growth. But I also knew that submission meant obedience, and THAT meant letting go of some worldliness – habits and mindsets that were precious to me. I was afraid of letting go, because all I could think about was how much I was going to lose, of what I’d have to give up, of the fun I was going to miss, of the security I might miss, and of what people would think of me.
Submitting to God’s authority requires significant work on our part. It means knowing what the rules are, and committing to following them. Look at the verses above. Humble yourself. Do not act in the desires of your former ignorance. Live soberly. Cleanse your hearts. Purify your mind. That takes work, and it’s a lifelong process. I pray almost daily for God’s help along this road, and the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist are critical to this process for me.
It is a major spiritual struggle to take this step. But once I started, blessings flowed. I began to understand pieces of scripture that I just couldn’t comprehend before. Certain things that I’d been praying for months and even years started to happen. These daily emails changed from an intellectual exercise to something much more – an exploration of faith which has drawn me ever closer to God. I have developed a desire to make myself available to God, so that he can use me to share some of the things I’ve learned.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Daily - 7/17/08
James 3:13-18
13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show his works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
15 Wisdom of this kind does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.
One danger of the pursuit of wisdom (and I personally include "intellectualism" with that) is the development of selfish ambition. Per James, wisdom of this kind does not come from above and is earthly – even demonic. The Father of Lies has many weapons to use against us. One such weapon is to tempt our intellectual pride. If you feel like you are somehow better than someone else because of intellectual prowess, selfish ambition takes hold. Per verse 16, this can lead to bad things.
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Verses 17 and 18 describe "wisdom from above" as peaceable, gentle, compliant, and full of mercy and good fruits. Such wisdom is a gift from God, and is not the result of some intellectual greatness that resides within us. I’m not sure that I’ve ever experienced such wisdom, but if I ever do, I hope that I will remember where it comes from.
13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show his works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
15 Wisdom of this kind does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.
One danger of the pursuit of wisdom (and I personally include "intellectualism" with that) is the development of selfish ambition. Per James, wisdom of this kind does not come from above and is earthly – even demonic. The Father of Lies has many weapons to use against us. One such weapon is to tempt our intellectual pride. If you feel like you are somehow better than someone else because of intellectual prowess, selfish ambition takes hold. Per verse 16, this can lead to bad things.
-----------------
Verses 17 and 18 describe "wisdom from above" as peaceable, gentle, compliant, and full of mercy and good fruits. Such wisdom is a gift from God, and is not the result of some intellectual greatness that resides within us. I’m not sure that I’ve ever experienced such wisdom, but if I ever do, I hope that I will remember where it comes from.
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