Think of Me

But as for me, I am poor and needy;

    may the Lord think of me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

    you are my God, do not delay.

Psalm 40:17

The first two lines of this verse reveal a great deal about the Christian religion and its God.

The psalmist says he is both poor and needy. In the rest of the psalm he lays out his bleak situation. His enemies not only want to see his life in ruins, they want to take his life away (v. 13-14). "Troubles without number surround me;" the psalmist states before admitting "my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see" (v. 12). This is a desperate a man. His sins and his enemies have caught up with him, and he is crying out to God for help.

Yet, He asks God to "think of me." That God should bend His great and limitless mind to think about any man would be an immeasurable honor. That He would do so for a poor and needy man who is in dire circumstances because he has sinned against God is unthinkable. Yet, it is entirely in keeping with the God of the Bible. Scripture tells us again and again that God's eye is on the poor, the needy, and the humble. He leaves the ninety-nine in the open country to go search for the one lost sheep that has strayed (Luke 15:3-6). He is like a father who runs to meet the prodigal son who dares return (Luke 15:11-31). Jesus even tells us there's rejoicing in heaven over a sinner who repents (Luke 15:10).

What an amazing God we serve! How unthinkable that He should think of me! Even more so after I have rebelled against Him. Yet, if I humbly repent of my sin and approach Him through the blood of Jesus (Acts 4:12 & Hebrews 10:19-23), then I can be confident that I have not only entered into His thoughts but into His very presence as well. 

Imagine how vastly different God would be if just this one thing about His character were changed. What if He were still all-knowing, all-powerful, eternal and everything else we know Him to be, but He simply wasn't personally concerned for needy, sinful people like you and me? I shudder to think of it. God deserves all our praise and all our gratitude. He has poured out amazing, unimaginable, unfathomable grace on us. To Him alone be the glory!

Father, we too are poor and needy. We confess our sins to You. We have gone our own way. Our sins surround us and our enemy waits to devour us. Forgive us, Father. Deliver us. Think of us in Your grace. Draw us back to yourself and teach us to walk in Your ways. Make us more like Jesus and give us the joy of spending our lives here extolling Your goodness and grace in the ears of men.

Playing with Fire

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

James 3:6

On November 23, 2016, two teens, one fifteen and one seventeen, walked down the Chimney Tops hiking trail in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park lighting matches and tossing them off the side of the trail as they went. One or more of these matches started a wildfire that burned for roughly three weeks in and around the national park and Gatlinburg areas. It burned 17,904 acres, destroyed 2,500 structures, and caused about $500 million in damage. Worst of all, it sent 191 people to the hospital and killed 14 more. It all started with a tiny little fire on the end of a matchstick. (Both teenagers have now been charged with aggravated arson.)

It is hard to imagine what these teens were thinking tossing lit matches into a wooded area. How could they not realize that even such a small fire could be so dangerous!? But many of us display the same cavalier attitude in the things we say. We think, "I probably shouldn't say this..." but we just can't help ourselves; so we light the match and toss the comment over our shoulder as we walk away. We never stop to think about how much damage it could do. We slander, gossip, and accuse people, and we think it's no big deal. But James tells us that the tongue is like a fire. Your words can burn with all the destructive force of a wildfire, injuring and destroying anyone in their path. This is especially true of slander. 

Did you know that the word for "Devil" in the New Testament actually means slanderer or accuser? Revelation 12:10 says he is, "the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night..." This fits perfectly with the story of Job from the Old Testament in which Satan appears before God to slander and accuse a righteous man. This is what the Devil spends his time doing, accusing and slandering God's people. So when you slander one of your brothers or sisters in Christ, you actually become the weapon in the enemy's hand that he uses you to attack God's people. You are doing the Devil's job for him! That is why Scripture takes such a firm stance against slander. James 4:11 says "do not slander one another." Titus 3:2 says we should "slander no one." Ephesians 4:31 counsels us to "get rid of all slander." And I Corinthians 6:10 even goes so far as to say that slanderers will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

Brothers and sisters, please be careful what you say. Don't be double-tongued. Don't praise God with the same mouth that you use to curse and slander His people. Instead be known for speaking encouragement, Scripture, and blessings (even when you are being cursed). Keep a tight rein on your tongue, and may we all be more like the righteous man in Proverbs 10:11 than we are like the worthless man in Proverbs 16:27.

Proverbs 16:27- "A worthless man's speech is like a scorching fire."  Proverbs 10:11- "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life."

How to Read the Bible

Many believers don't enjoy reading their Bible because they read it the wrong way. I don't mean that they read it upside down, but that they don't really know how to feed on God's Word (Matt. 4:4). If you read just to get through a set amount, then you will race to be finished instead of savoring every bite. It's hard to enjoy a meal you are rushing to get it over with. If you read only for content, then you will learn a lot of truth, but it may not stir your heart or change your life in any way. You can be wise and still have a cold, dead faith. If you read solely for application, then you will be convicted of your sin and feel a burden to make corrections in your life, but you may begin to think of Christianity as merely a self-improvement plan. All of these ways of reading God's Word are good in their own right, but they are all insufficient in and of themselves and should be subordinate to the main way that we read the Bible.

Read the Bible to find out who God is! We can't forget that Scripture is the second greatest revelation of our God (Jesus Christ being the first and most perfect revelation) (Heb. 1:1-3 & 2 Cor. 3:14-18). So when we read Scripture it is fitting that we should ask of the text what it reveals to us about God. What is He like? Then once we have gotten a clear view of the greatness of God, all of the sudden praise becomes a part of our Bible reading regimen. Awe returns to our faith and we begin to worship at the throne of God every time we open His Word. All the other appropriate ways to read Scripture flow naturally from this starting point. Once Scripture has reminded us of God's greatness, then we will want to understand His plans for our lives. We will want to follow His commands meticulously and we will know that our only hope of doing that is through the indwelling power of His Spirit in us. We will want to meditate on His Word and think deeply about all its treasures so we can harvest them and call them our own.

Take a moment to read these three verses from Psalm 40 and as you do seek to answer the question "What is God like?" But don't just make a list of attributes, pause and praise God for each attribute you find. Take time to turn your Bible reading into bible-fueled worship! For your edification I am including the list of attributes that God revealed to me from these verses in my personal quiet time this morning.

I waited patiently for the Lord;he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,out of the mud and mire;he set my feet on a rockand gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,a hymn of praise to our God.Many will see and fear the Lordand put their trust in him.                               Psalm 40:1-3

• God is worth waiting for
• God hears our cries. He listens to me!
• He turns toward us. He is eager to draw near.
• He is our Savior in every sense of the word!
• He is not afraid to get dirty in order to save His children. (Consider this in light of Jesus' willingness to take our sins on Himself in order to save us from God's wrath.)
• He lifts up.
• He turns lives around dramatically.
• He gives us a firm foundation for life. He is our firm foundation for life. 
• He is the reason we sing. He inspires us to praise and He is worthy of all praise.
• He is trustworthy!

Praise the LORD!

God is Great!

Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let those who love Your salvation continually say, “God is great!”

Psalm 70:4

The believer has but one refrain. Like a broken record, we replay the same song day-by-day, moment-by-moment. Just as a broken record will play the same song regardless of its surroundings, so too our circumstances in life ought not change our tune one iota. "God is great, God is great, God is great!" That is our song.

But far too many of us are wooed away by the deceitfulness of this world. We stop seeking after God. We stop loving His salvation and finding our joy in Him. To us Jesus says, "I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first" (Revelation 2:4). Be wary of beginning to exult in someone or something other than God. We may be grateful for the people we love, or the group we belong to, or even material things. All of these are worth rejoicing over but only as good and perfect gifts which have come down to us from the Father of heavenly lights (James 1:17). So even then, when we rejoice in His gifts, we continue to say "God is great!" The gift is simply the most recent proof of our refrain. Our joy remains not in the gift but in God Himself.

So lift Him up! Praise Him for all His blessings! Rejoice in His goodness. Tell others what He has done for you. 

Father, give me the words to tell others how wonderful you are. Show Yourself to be great through me. May my testimony adorn You with beauty. Help me to faithfully proclaim your goodness all the days of my life.