Transcendent Praise

I Thessalonians 4:13 Brothers we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.

I often marvel that little or no schooling is provided for some of the most critical life skills – parenting, finances, friendships, marriage and the big exit – death and its aftermath for the living. It is called mourning. As long as I have lived no one has ever said to me: “Listen, one day you are going to mourn the loss of someone and this is how you do it.” Why is that?

I have been to many funerals, but the impact didn’t quite begin to hit home until the last few years when they began to include my peers, friends, and family members – a brother, my father and mother, and my husband. Until then I did not understand the total brokenness that ensues even if the one passing was a believer in Jesus Christ. And yes, you understand in your head that the word of God promises that if you are believers you will see each other again in eternity. (See I Thessalonians 4:14). It is this fact alone which allows us to eventually come to grips with loss.

But what are you to do with the pain that is engulfing you in the moment? This is the time to throw yourself in the arms of your Heavenly Father. You will not be able to pray long prayers but you can cry out “Father help me, I need you now.” He will come to you in the person of the Holy Spirit and say “Do not be afraid my child, I will take care of you.” Pull your family members close. And be sure you have a friend or two who will pray for you and listen to you. And do continue to make room for the Word of God to filter into your mind and spirit even if you can’t read or “study” it at the moment. Gospel music can be very helpful in this regard.

As the darkness lifts and the weeks roll into months and even years, there will continue to be a tug at your heart. I didn’t know that would be the case! So how do you deal with the dilemma to let go and remember at the same time? Remember your loved one to friends and family by recalling the person’s strengths and characteristics which made you laugh and experiences which brought you joy. Write the good stuff down if it helps you. Toss the negative stuff out because there is no longer any remedy for that. Do something tangible in their honor – a poem, a quilt, a painting, a gift to charity, plant a tree, start a garden, volunteer or start mentoring someone.

The time does come when you must let go of this person and get on with life as it presents itself. There is no room in the life of a believer for rolling yourself up in a big ball of pain indefinitely or quitting on life. That would mean you have not availed yourself of the comfort which the Holy Spirit brings. Return to living, slowly if that is the pace that works for you, but return you must. Convince yourself, based on the Word of God that the relationship is over – especially if it was your spouse – the commitment was only “till death do you part.” (Romans 7: 1-3 refers).  Begin to embrace your own life each day, mindful that God still has a full and purposeful life for you. So sit down and talk to God, make your case that you need guidance on how to move forward. Commit to listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit within you and do the next thing, however small, to get started on your journey.  Make a long to do list. Get moving. Live!

Isaiah 40: 25 To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? says the Holy One.

God knows that as mortals we have questions about his deity and right to rule. Some set out to challenge God, but Isaiah 40 sets out to enlighten and bring comfort to God’s people – those who are seeking after God with their whole heart. A contrast is drawn between the frailties of man and the awesomeness of God. “Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”  “Here is your God!” “See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power and his arm rules for him.” The so-called might of nations is put into perspective: “Before him all nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.” In contrast: “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.”

God presents himself as the Holy One, the Creator.  On that basis alone you have to ask yourself, “To whom can I compare God?” You are invited to lift your eyes and look to the heavens and ask: “Who created all these?” The answer is provided for you, “He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”

Like Israel, you as a believer have no reason to complain that your way is hidden from the Lord or become discouraged thinking that your cause is disregarded by your God. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.”   Recognizing God’s authority over everyone and everything means you can draw on his strength when you feel weak and powerless. It is a promise: “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

1 Samuel 30: 6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

In the King James Version the last sentence of the verse quoted above reads: “but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” That is not the way we normally think. We expect encouragement to come from others. But here was David in real pickle. He and his band of warriors had just been rejected by King Achish of the Philistines on the advice of his commanders. They were turned away from fighting with the King’s army because their loyalty was in doubt. In effect the king ordered them back to base. David thought he was coming home with a band of like-minded men to their families. But when they arrived in Ziklag all they saw was destruction and ruin, their homes had been plundered and burnt and their wives, sons and daughters had been kidnapped by their enemies the Amalekites.

In their despair David and his men held a pity party – they broke down and wailed and wept until there was no strength left in them. Then the next stage of grief quickly caught up to them, they became angry and launched the blame game. It had to be someone else’s fault. And, of course, it must be David’s. So, come let us stone him and get rid of him!

Naturally when David got wind of this, he became greatly distressed. He was grieving like everyone else, but as a leader he felt there had to be something he could do. He encouraged himself in the Lord his God. I believe he reaffirmed the character of God as he had showed himself in the past. I believe it is significant that David called for the Ephod, that priestly garment of praise normally worn by the High Priest which was inlaid with stones engraved with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. He enquired of the Lord – the same Lord who had brought Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. (See Deuteronomy 26:8). Why? He needed confidence, sure guidance, wisdom and extraordinary empowerment for what he was to do next.

So David asked the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party, Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.” (I Samuel 30: 8). There is no greater thrill than knowing you have God’s blessing for a task ahead of you because he guarantees the outcome. When faced with a challenge and there is no one to turn to, be assured that the Lord is never intimidated by the circumstances and his wisdom transcends all. Encourage yourself in the Lord your God!

Psalm 63:3 “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.”

Pardon me just a minute. Let me resort to the King James Version: “Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.” New translations are great but when you have walked with God for a while, certain words take on very personal meaning. The loving-kindness of my heavenly Father is not just that he loves me but that he is jealous over me and zealous for my welfare. That means that there are times when I am in danger and don’t even know it or someone is about to take decisions or do something that will imperil my life or future and he steps in and says in essence “no way, devil, that’s my child you are messing with!” Not until afterwards, do you realize how great his intervention was. You can’t put a price on that kind of favor or protection!

If you are a parent, you understand perfectly what I am saying. Anyone who is going to get at your child is going to have to get past you first. God is good like that! Oh that we could come to grips with this fact! From that understanding will flow the kind of praise that David the Psalmist was speaking about: “I will praise you as long as I live and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.” (Psalm 63: 4 – 5). That kind of praise will absolutely bring you into a deeper relationship with God the Father.

There is a song which I have been hearing recently on the radio that says in the chorus: “You are a good, good Father, that’s who you are, that’s who you are. And I’m loved by you, that’s who I am.” What a relationship! “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” (Titus 3: 4 – 5a)  Kindness and love – loving-kindness! Hallelujah!

Joshua 3:7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so that they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”

From whom are you taking your orders? That big decision you are about to take, how will it glorify God? Your life is not about you! What? That’s right. When a soldier enlists in his country’s armed forces, he learns very quickly what that means. When you became a believer you relinquished your right to yourself and committed to following Christ. It is the hardest concept to grasp and it is possible to live for years being completely self-absorbed and just happy that you are “saved”.

Jesus said: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.” [John 10:27]. So, if you are listening, then I assume you are open to taking orders. Only when you are sure of the source of your orders, should you attempt to cross your Jordan, otherwise you will drown. The Israelites crossed the Red Sea and the Jordan because both Moses and Joshua were open to taking orders from God. Life’s journey has frequent major cross-overs. The players and circumstances may be different each time but the Lord’s voice is what you need to hear and obey. “Humble yourselves, therefore under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6).

“Yea, I did it once, I did it twice and I can do similar works again. I am not limited by time or circumstances. All I require is that my children obey my voice. I am the God of the ages. I am in charge of all things, things present and things to come. I will again show my glory in the earth so that mortal man may know that I alone am God. I am not in competition with man, I rule from one end of the earth to the other. My majesty and might man must understand, to the end that they humble themselves at the sight of my glory.”

Deuteronomy 34: 4 “Then the Lord said to him: This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’  I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”

Have you ever disagreed with God? Thought he was unfair? I confess that I have. I know better now because I have come to understand his sovereignty and that his wisdom is beyond all. A couple of years ago I re-read the account of this encounter Moses had with God in Deuteronomy 34. It stopped me in my tracks. I thought: “God, why were you so harsh with Moses? After all, this is the man who had to face the great Pharaoh repeatedly at the risk of his life.  Then he led your people out of Egypt across the Red Sea and into the desert and had to put up with their grumbling and complaining all the time. At one point they even wanted to stone him!  (Exodus 17:4). He had done so much for you! And now he has come to what looks like his reward – life in the Promised Land – you tell him he can only look, he can’t enter it?”  I was pretty much throwing a tantrum on Moses’ behalf.

This was a prime example of the puny mind of a creature coming up against the all-wise Eternal God, Creator of the universe. In Romans 9, Paul addresses the matter of God’s sovereignty and among the questions he asks is “But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?”

The fact is that although our lives are intertwined with each other, God has unique divine purpose for each of our lives and he is in full control.  At the time of my little protest to God about Moses, the Holy Spirit, in his grace and wisdom, spoke to me:

“What you don’t understand my child is that God had taken him to the highest point of communion with himself in the earth that man could reach at that time. It was therefore fitting that I should take him home to be with me to share the joy of being in my presence, a fitting reward for this servant of mine. In your humanity you misconstrue my love for punishment. But I am a faithful God and Father. The standards of earth are not mine. I judge righteously all the time. I am the Almighty.”

Deuteronomy 30: 14 – 16 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

This is part of Moses’ speech to the children of Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land of Canaan. He reminded them how good God had been to them and that God was a covenant keeper. However, God required a response.  They had choices to make every day and their individual choices would determine the quality of their life experiences.

Living life in fellowship with God is a choice. Once God’s Spirit draws you and you respond by believing in Jesus Christ, God brings you into covenant with himself. As Moses pointed out to the Israelites, he was not asking them to do the impossible, just to respond to God’s goodness by loving and obeying God. To help them, he had spelled out for them what conduct would result in curses and which would bring blessings into their lives.  If ever there was a formula for successful living, there it was.

God is totally consistent. When Jesus walked the earth he taught: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6). One day Judas, a disciple of Jesus, (not Judas Iscariot) asked “But Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied:  “If anyone loves me he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who loves me will obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14: 22 – 24).

You have a loving Father who is able to bless you. Your life of obedience brings its own rewards. In Matthew Chapter 6: 25 – 34, Jesus assured his followers that their heavenly Father knows about their daily needs so there was no need to worry. He counseled them, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you as well.”

Exodus 14: 3 Pharaoh will think, “The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.”

You are caught in a situation from which there seems to be no way out. Now what? Your only source of help is the Lord – the One who is never caught by surprise.

After the death angel had passed through Egypt killing all their firstborn, Pharaoh finally gave Moses permission to leave and take the Israelites and all their possessions with them.  However, as soon as they left, Pharaoh had a change of heart and decided to pursue them because he realized that their labor would be a great loss to Egypt’s economy. (See Exodus 14:5)

The Lord had given very specific instructions to Moses as to the route they should travel and they were to encamp by the sea directly opposite Baal Zephon. This move was meant to confuse their enemy. “You mean The Lord will do that?” Yes, he will. The Israelites were terrified when they realized that they were being pursued by Pharaoh’s army. They truly felt they were trapped and called out to the Lord. Pretty much in the same breath though, they turned on Moses, blaming and complaining. They even reminisced about how great their lives would be if they had remained as slaves in Egypt. Seriously! Distress has a way of taking the mind to strange places.

Moses is such a special man to me, because he always seemed to have his heart and ear so tuned in to heaven that he could keep calm in the midst of great chaos and speak peace. “Do not be afraid. Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14: 13 – 14). This goes against common sense, doesn’t it? The normal response to distress would be to run, scream, holler, tear your hair out.

Look what happened next. In verses 15 and 16 Moses got his instructions: The Lord said “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” Child of God, if you don’t take the time to stand still, you cannot hear your instructions for what your next step should be. And note in verses 17 and 18, the Lord’s purpose in this situation was to bring glory to his name.

“Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. (Exodus 14: 19 -20) Imagine that! All this time you thought you were alone but God has had you covered and surrounded! Go ahead and praise him, even if you are not yet on the victory side of your situation.

Exodus 12:23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

Every relationship requires active thoughtful participants to ensure the vitality of the relationship. In everyday life we call it “give and take” but not everyone gets it. Often one is giving and the other is taking.

In our relationship with God, he requires our obedience. In the book of Exodus we read about God’s dealings with his chosen people, the Israelites, who had been in bondage in Egypt for 400 years. At the end of that time God chose a man named Moses to lead them out. The process took a while and many miracles to convince Pharaoh the ruler of Egypt that he had no choice but to let God’s people go. In Exodus chapter 11, the Israelites were given specific instructions to select a lamb in each household, and use the blood to mark the door tops and frames so that when the destroying angel passed through to slay the Egyptians their households would be spared.

It was the blood of slain lambs that saved the Israelites then and it is the blood of Christ that saves now. The blood is evidence of covenant. Once saved, God requires our obedience to keep the relationship energized. He is faithful to keep watch over us as his children and he will protect us so that the enemy cannot take advantage of us. He sets the bounds of the enemy’s interference in our lives. Be faithful at your end to listen for his voice and do as he says.

Joshua 3:17 “The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”

Joshua was God’s chosen leader of the Israelites after Moses had died. Moses had led them out of Egypt and across the Red Sea into new territory. The relationship Moses had with God was exceptional. Joshua was called upon to move the Israelites forward not to duplicate Moses’ life. But Joshua did have to take them across the Jordan. For both of these men the fundamental thing was for them to listen to God’s voice and tell the people what to do. Implicit in this was that as leaders they believed God would do what he revealed to them first. Listen to Joshua’s words: “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you.” (Joshua 3: 9 – 11).

The challenge I had some years ago when I read about the crossing of the Red Sea in the Book of Exodus and the crossing of the Jordan in the Book of Joshua was the stated fact that the people crossed over on “dry ground”  (Exodus 14:22 and Joshua 3:17).  It created a crisis for me because it is necessary to believe that God is the Almighty who can do above and beyond what our minds can conceive. This is the kind of faith in God which helps believers to live victoriously. So yes, I do believe the ground was dry as the Word says because the Holy Spirit was gracious in breathing the following to me:

            “What the Lord God does is well done. He has no teacher nor needs one. He is eternal. Everything that is was made by him so he has full control. He shakes the earth and rearranges its elements as he pleases. The crossing of the Jordan was an immense miracle to inspire his children to trust his awesomeness. He is the Almighty God and none can stop his hand. It is only in mercy that he spares mankind to allow time for man to repent and turn to him.”