I MOVED FROM BETHLEHEM PA TO SILVER CREEK NY LAST WEEK! IT'S BEEN A CRAZY BUSY TIME - IN PART BY MY OWN MAKING. THIS MEANS THE MIND MELD BLOG HAS BEEN A BIT SPOTTY. THANKS FOR CHECKING BACK! AND THANKS DAN, FOR YOUR PATIENCE. I'M BLESSED BY MANY GOOD FRIENDS AND READERS.

PSALM 37:23-40 (Condensed)

The LORD directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the LORD holds them by the hand.

Once I was young, and now I am old.
Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
or their children begging for bread.
The godly always give generous loans to others,
and their children are a blessing.

Turn from evil and do good,
and you will live in the land forever.
For the LORD loves justice,
and he will never abandon the godly.

He will keep them safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will die.
The godly will possess the land and will live there forever.

Put your hope in the LORD.
Travel steadily along his path.
He will honor you by giving you the land.
You will see the wicked destroyed.

The LORD rescues the godly;
he is their fortress in times of trouble.
The LORD helps them, rescuing them from the wicked.
He saves them, and they find shelter in him.

A non-grumpy, non-grouchy God
I’m glad God isn’t like me. I grow impatient with myself and others with all of our stumbling through the Christian life. But God reaches out to grab us before we crash and burn! Some godly people strain my willingness to love and my ability to endure them. Clashing personalities, cultural assumptions, and religious convictions feed the feeling of running away as fast as I can from some godly folk. And just because people are godly doesn’t mean they aren’t a bit looney! Abandon ship. Row in the opposite direction with all your might!

Rescuing godly people gets tiresome too. As often as not, godly people get themselves in a fix. I think of David’s lousy parenting that helped precipitate Absalom’s rebellion (2 Samuel 13). And he had the audacity to call out to God for help (Psalm 3)! Godly people are always calling on God, and God’s people, for help out of the fixes into which their own choices got them. Me too!

So I am especially warmed and cheered at David’s second sentence, “He delights in every detail of their lives.” Imagine that. God delights in all the pieces that create the puzzle of my life - and yours. Every piece, even the strangely shaped and oddly colored ones. Sounds like a perfect Father!

Lord of every sort of mortals, including my own sort, thanks for not thrusting out your rescuing hand in frustration or anger at yet another stumble or dizzying fix I find myself experiencing, often due to my own silliness or stupidity. Thanks for loving, even chuckling or winking at this child of yours as I flail about groping for your rescuing and steadying hand. I am glad that you take delight in me. - Mike Leamon

Godly beggars
There is a man in our church who is struggling financially. He is a man of great faith and godliness and yet he struggles. At times he cannot meet his needs but he continues to trust in God.

When I read the second half of Psalm 37 I honestly get skeptical. Had the Psalmist never really seen a godly person begging? Is every beggar in the cities across America not godly? I struggle to find resolution to this.

Perhaps the Psalmist is using hyperbole to make a point. Maybe the Psalmist just did not get out much. Were things that different then?
Certainly, things were not that different. In other Psalms we hear of the wicked prospering while the righteous are suffering. That sounds more like what I read in my newspaper.

I tried to think of a godly person who is a beggar just to prove the Psalmist wrong, but I could not think of any. But then, I don’t know any real beggars personally at all. (Maybe that is part of my challenge.) I thought of this one man in our church I mentioned above. He has had some tight calls financially but God keeps coming through in unexpected ways.

The Psalmist I think is right. Even beggars in the city, when they come to Christ, see their lives improve. I thought about the stories of so many at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. God turns beggars into givers. There is something about God’s family, when you dive into Jesus; they surround you with love and all you need. God really does help the godly to prosper, not always in the way the world thinks about prosperity, but their needs are met and they are able to give to others out of their excess.

God of the rich and the poor, I pray for those who are less fortunate than I am today. Provide for their needs and encourage them to know you will meet every need of their life. Do not let their poverty pull them away from you I pray. - Dan Jones

PSALM 37:1-22 (condensed)

A psalm of David.

Don’t worry about the wicked
or envy those who do wrong.
For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.

Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.
For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.

Don’t worry, be happy!

The old song seems ridiculous in real life. How is it possible to not worry? With 4 dollar gas and declining home sales, banks folding and stocks tumbling, we are all worried about the future. These realities make life difficult for us all.

What makes me even more uptight is when I open the paper and read about oil executives being paid millions in bonuses and perks while I struggle to pay my bills. I get angry when I hear of evil people skirting the law because of crooked judges and bribed officials.

The Psalmist is either smoking weed with the hippies singing “Don’t worry, be happy” or he has found something most of us struggle to find. (I don’t think he was smoking weed.) The Psalmist tells me to trust God, keep persevering and don’t lose hope. Maintain an eternal perspective.

I live way too much of life in a temporal mindset. I think about today, tomorrow, maybe five years down the road when I do extended planning, but eternity? That is too far off to think of.

The Psalmist has challenged me today to start living like I am already in eternity, for that is ultimately the reality of every believer. I already possess the victory over death, so how big a problem is 4 dollar gas? It is not very big at all when looked at from an eternal perspective.

Lord of all eternity; help me to escape the confines of my present struggles to glimpse life through an eternal perspective. Lift me up to see life from your vantage point that I may find rest and comfort in knowing you are in control. – Dan Jones

The impossible dream

Envying those who do whatever it takes to climb the economic ladder comes naturally. Some just have the knack to climb over anyone who stands in the way, shut down or buy out competitors, downsize employees and demand more productivity out of those who remain, and minimize wages for the peons so those at the top reap huge stock options. While I don’t want to be that kind of person, boy, I sure would like the rewards.

Not all of them mind you. But I’d love to have a Lear jet and pilot at my beck and call, and just for pocket change! And I’d love to vacation all over the world without ever asking what it costs.

I love David. He’s a lot like me. In one psalm he’s lamenting the prosperity of those who will do anything to get to the top of the heap. Then, in his poem, he sings, “Get over it!” I know that emotional pendulum. Upset and envious one day then peaceful and trusting another. Humans are strange things, even those who love God deeply and serve God faithfully.

I suspect it is impossible to hope that there will never be occasional spasms of envy in me. And I am pretty sure that I will not always approve of how God goes about fulfilling my deepest heart yearnings. (Often that requires him to refuse me my wants because some of them inevitably sabotage the satisfaction of my deepest hopes and dreams!) I am confident, however, that God’s grace will lead me further and further into the reality David expresses today – trusting in the Lord, and doing good, without casting an envious, or even wishful, eye at the Lear jet flying overhead to some exotic locale.

Good God, I know that the deepest desires of my heart do not require any material prosperity to fulfill. In fact, you do not need anything more than the double ingredients of “our daily bread” and my seeking the Kingdom first with which to work out my hearts deepest desires. So again I focus my attention on you and the good you have for me to do during my days on earth. - Mike Leamon

PSALM 36

For the choir director: A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord.

Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts.
They have no fear of God at all.
In their blind conceit,
they cannot see how wicked they really are.
Everything they say is crooked and deceitful.
They refuse to act wisely or do good.
They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots.
Their actions are never good.
They make no attempt to turn from evil.

Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the ocean depths.
You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.
How precious is your unfailing love, O God!
All humanity finds shelter
in the shadow of your wings.
You feed them from the abundance of your own house,
letting them drink from your river of delights.
For you are the fountain of life,
the light by which we see.

Pour out your unfailing love on those who love you;
give justice to those with honest hearts.
Don’t let the proud trample me
or the wicked push me around.
Look! Those who do evil have fallen!
They are thrown down, never to rise again.

Too deep to measure

I live in the area of NY known for its lakes. The Finger Lakes are glacially formed lakes that stretch like fingers on a hand. Each lake is very narrow, most are less than a mile, but they stretch North and South for several miles. I am told the higher the hills surrounding the lake, the deeper the water in the lake.

One of the Finger Lakes has a submarine training station it is so deep. I once was told this lake has an underground river that flows out of the lake, making it impossible to obtain an accurate measurement of its depth. (This could be a fisherman story, I don’t know for certain.)

David describes God’s love as stretching across the heavens. I would say it is deeper than the deepest ocean or lake. Like an underground river, when you think you have reached the end of God’s love, it sweeps you away to deeper depths.

Funny thing with the finger lakes, they really disrupt your travel if you are trying to go Southeast from Rochester. You have to go South then East or East then South to get around the lake. So it is with God’s love, hard to avoid. It affects your route through life no matter where you are going.

My prayer is a song.

Your love O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness stretches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountain, O yeah, your justice flows like the ocean tide. I will lift my voice to worship to you my God. (Third Day arrangement of Psalm 36) - Dan Jones

"Who murdered the Gorillas?"

That title leapt off the front of a recent issue of the National Geographic Magazine. At first I thought it reflected the radical animal rights agenda, and hair brained notion, that animals possess equal value as people. I thought, “Hold on a minute, murder refers to taking human life. Animals can be killed justly (food) or unjustly (sport) by humans hunting them down. But hunt another human, and it’s always wrong. Why? God breathed his own image into humans. Their value far surpasses every animal.

The article told the sad tale of gorillas caught in a vicious conflict between warring sides in a central African country. Gorillas have been killed without provocation or reason. Just killed and their bodies left to rot. As much as I recoil at such senseless killing, I still want to preserve the language of murder for people.

Perhaps I should not get too entrenched in this notion, though. I think David was onto something when he equated God’s care of people and animals. God’s unfailing love reaches to the full extent of his creation. While David elsewhere celebrates the uniqueness of humanity, “made just a little lower than God,” here he grabbed my attention with his own attention to the animal world; far more attention and care than I have ever considered.

I am more disgusted with dead animals lying along the road than concerned about how urban sprawl and highway development affect these animals who are crafted by the same God who crafted me. And, please have mercy one me (!), all the impounded dogs and cats haven’t moved me one bit. “Euthanize them and solve the problem!” has been my attitude.

Was David just an animal lover? Or does his celebration of God’s immense love for all his creation suggest that my attitude should change. Just because killing a stray cat (mercifully of course!) isn’t murder, doesn’t mean that God approves.

Father of mammals, reptiles, birds, and fish, place in my heart the same sense of your vast love and care for everything you created. Grant me the same joy in caring for your creation as you received by creating it and continue to receive by sustaining it. - Mike Leamon

PSALM 35:11-28 (condensed)
Malicious witnesses testify against me.
They accuse me of crimes I know nothing about.
They repay me evil for good. I am sick with despair.
Yet when they were ill, I grieved for them.
I denied myself by fasting for them,
but my prayers returned unanswered.
I was sad, as though they were my friends or family,
as if I were grieving for my own mother.
But they are glad now that I am in trouble;
they gleefully join together against me.

How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing?
Rescue me from their fierce attacks.
Protect my life from these lions!
O LORD, you know all about this.
Do not stay silent. Do not abandon me now, O Lord.
Wake up! Rise to my defense!
Take up my case, my God and my Lord.
Declare me not guilty, O LORD my God,
for you give justice.
Don’t let my enemies laugh about me in my troubles.
Don’t let them say, “Look, we got what we wanted!
Now we will eat him alive!”

May those who rejoice at my troubles
be humiliated and disgraced.
Then I will proclaim your justice,
and I will praise you all day long.

When God disappoints me
There are times God has let me down. He went to sleep on the job (to use David’s emotional words!). When he woke up, he looked on and did nothing. I’ve been disappointed in God several times in my life.

Like the apostle Paul, I’ve asked God to deliver me from a “thorn in the flesh” that I thought was adversely affecting my life and ministry. Like the man Jesus healed, I mustered all the faith I had and asked him to help “my unbelief.” Unlike that man, God didn’t deliver me. With Paul, I was disappointed with God.

I’ve asked for other things, not for material gain but for spiritual experiences. My requests were rebuffed.

Now, through eyes of faith, I know God answered my prayers the way I needed them answered and for my benefit and usefulness to him. My mind is with Paul who recognized that God did not deliver him from his personal enemy (thorn) for a very good reason. But my emotions are with David. I felt disappointment with God.

My faith is richer today because God saw fit to make sure both the emotions and the mind got reflected in scripture. And I’m glad God didn’t write off David, and doesn’t write me off, because I feel disappointed in him. In fact, through David, God wisely encourages me to express my feelings to him, rather than deny them out of fear of his rejection.

Holy God, thanks for not being touchy and easily offended! I will confidently express to you all the emotions stirring in me right along side my faith, hope, and love in and for you. - Mike Leamon

Voices from under the altar
I cannot help but hear the cries of the martyrs from Revelation 6:10 in Psalm 35. The righteous who have been slain on the earth cry out for vengeance and justice. In response to their cries, they are given a white robe and told to wait a little while longer.

I don’t know about you, but I do not like to wait. There are times when you make a call for help and you told, wait and I will call you back. You stand next to the phone, then pace, and then shout at the phone, until finally it rings and then it is somebody else. You get them off the phone quickly because you can’t do anything else until you receive the phone call you are waiting for. Frustrating!

“How long, Lord, How long?” When we wait for God we usually wait the same way, but I think God wants us to wait differently when we wait for him than we do when we wait for others or the phone to ring. When waiting for God we should experience renewal not anxiety; peace not panic; confidence not fear. Isaiah 40 reminds us:

But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Father, teach me to wait on you in such a way that I am renewed in the time of waiting. Help me to put all of my trust in you while I wait. - Dan Jones

PSALM 35:1-10
A psalm of David.
O Lord, oppose those who oppose me.

Fight those who fight against me.

Put on your armor, and take up your shield.

Prepare for battle, and come to my aid.

Lift up your spear and javelin

against those who pursue me.

Let me hear you say, “I will give you victory!”

Bring shame and disgrace on those trying to kill me;

turn them back and humiliate those who want to harm me.

Blow them away like chaff in the wind—

a wind sent by the angel of the Lord.

Make their path dark and slippery,

with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

I did them no wrong, but they laid a trap for me.

I did them no wrong, but they dug a pit to catch me.

So let sudden ruin come upon them!

Let them be caught in the trap they set for me!

Let them be destroyed in the pit they dug for me.

Then I will rejoice in the Lord.

I will be glad because he rescues me.

With every bone in my body I will praise him:

“Lord, who can compare with you?

Who else rescues the helpless from the strong?

Who else protects the helpless and poor from those who rob them?”

When jerks assail me
Let’s just suppose David is justified in his anger and feelings of vengeance. Let’s assume his cause is, in fact, the righteous one; totally righteous without even a smidgeon of being in the wrong. If this is so, then he and I might be in the same boat. You might even be there along with us.

There are people, even those who claim to be Jesus-followers, with whom I get angry. In fact, I am so convinced that they are in the wrong and have cause harm to those around them – and, of course, myself – that I wish they got a dose of their own medicine! Let them fall into the pit they unwittingly, intentionally, ignorantly – it doesn’t matter, they’re at fault – dug for others.

Haven’t we all been here? There are people who, in the vocabulary of Dr. Paul Meir, are jerks to the nth degree (“Don’t Let Jerks Get the Best of You”). These are the ones who are so self absorbed that all blame gets shifted onto your shoulders, your different opinions are always stupid, control must always be in their hands, and you can never show enough appreciation for their wonderful contributions to life.

I’m with David. “Make their path dark and slippery” just like they have for others. “Let sudden ruin come upon them!”

I’m also in the company of some fine preachers who counsel taking out certain foreign leaders or celebrate the death of certain terrorists. The only different between these men and the jerks I know is the scale of their jerkiness. Let their pit be that much bigger!

But alas, while in the company of David, I have to confess I’m not in the company of the Son of David. Surely Jesus (the Son of David is one of his names) understands my emotions. But he also warns that such anger, left to simmer in the soul, may as well be murder.

Rather than praying for these jerks, yearning for their salvation – even more, their sanctification – sacrificially serving them by working for their highest and best (ah, that’s the kind of love Jesus showed), I’m begging God to spear them. Not spare them. Spear them.

Holy God, I confess unholy emotions. David didn’t have the full revelation of your grace. He had an excuse. I don’t. Still, I know you understand such emotions. That’s probably why you made sure David’s rant made it into scripture. So, please take me through, then beyond this anger to the place of praying for and loving jerks – even when I have to confront them. - Mike Leamon

Radio in the Air Force
You have probably seen the old war movies where the American forces are hunkered down under enemy fire unable to advance. The commander calls for the guy carrying the radio and calls in the air force who sweeps down with bombs and devastation clearing away the enemy opposition and making it possible for the American forces to achieve victory.

This is the image that comes to my mind in the first verses of Psalm 35. David is under the gun and he is calling in the Air Force to clear away his enemies. On one hand I am shocked at such a vivid prayer for destruction of our enemies when Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. On the other hand I am thankful I serve a God who has the aerial advantage. We can call on God whenever we need to and God is able to defeat our enemies.

Ironically, if we look at David’s life, we realize God did not send in the big bombs destroying David’s enemies in one full swoop. God delivered David, but in the same way we are delivered most of the time. God gave David the strength to keep moving forward little by little.

We can pray Psalm 35 as Christians, yet we must pray it recognizing God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. We must pray not with an attitude of “kill my enemy” but “transform them by showing them the error of their ways.” To do this we must trust God for our vindication and to make all things right in the end.

Lord I pray you would not let those who are opposed to me and the work you have called me to triumph over me. Instead, transform their lives that they may become partners in the ministry you have given to your people. - Dan Jones

PSALM 34 (condensed)

A psalm of David, regarding the time he pretended to be insane in front of Abimelech, who sent him away.

I will praise the LORD at all times.
I will constantly speak his praises.
I will boast only in the LORD;
let all who are helpless take heart.
Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness;
let us exalt his name together.

I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened;
he saved me from all my troubles.
For the angel of the LORD is a guard;
he surrounds and defends all who fear him.

Taste and see that the LORD is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
Fear the LORD, you his godly people,
for those who fear him will have all they need.
Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
but those who trust in the LORD will lack no good thing.

The righteous person faces many troubles,
but the LORD comes to the rescue each time.
For the LORD protects the bones of the righteous;
not one of them is broken!

Weird Al
You may have never heard of Weird Al Yankovic but he is very popular in parody circles. Weird Al takes normal songs and turns them into ridiculous rants and nonsensical musings on everything from politics to food. Some of his stuff is funny, other things are gross, most are, well, weird.

You may hear a tune you are very familiar with and think you know the lyrics and then suddenly Weird Al’s voice comes on and the words are all different from what you expected. Now my analogy may be a stretch today, but I think God sometimes does the same thing as Weird Al. At times, God does not give us what we expect; He gives us something totally different that might even be funny, or slightly gross.

David is captured, bound in chains and in front of an enemy king who would really like to kill him. He prays to God and instead of sending in the cavalry, God gives David an idea. Quite literally, a crazy idea: pretend you are insane. David does, the king dismisses David as a madman and David’s prayer for safety is answered.

Sometimes we miss God’s blessings or deliverance because God’s answer to our prayer is so far out there we believe it could not possibly be of God. Our rationality dismisses anything illogical before we even ask God if it might just be the answer to our prayer. Sometimes tasting and seeing how good God is means we taste unusual foods.

God of improbability and surprises, when I look at Scripture I see you used the most improbable people to do the greatest acts of service in your Kingdom and at times through unusual methods. Help me to be open to embarrassing and even crazy ideas you place in front of me. Give me discernment to know when these thoughts are from you and when they are not. – Dan Jones

An alcoholics blessing
God forbid that I would have to become hopelessly addicted to alcohol before I come face to face with my own utter helplessness. And God forbid that I would have to face certain death, as David did, before that same reality sunk deep into my soul. However, I suspect that those in these situations have a truer understanding of helplessness than the rest of us. Perhaps this is one reason our relationship with God tends toward the shallow.

The first reality Alcoholics Anonymous insists addicts must embrace confesses, “We are powerless over alcohol.” Strange how victory over life’s most profound challenges begins not with a Walt Disneyesque “I can” but with a brutal “I can’t.”

I don’t know this for sure, but it wouldn’t surprise me that a mighty warrior like King David had to find himself powerless before a foreign king in order to deeply understand the kind of attitude that must precede every victory. I know self-sufficient people like me, usually don’t get to this place except being drug into hopeless situations.

“I can’t, but God can” must be the song always running my head. I am hopelessly addicted to sin. But God can deliver me. I am hopelessly ego centered. But God can turn my heart fully towards him. I am hopelessly unforgiving and attracted to grudge holding. But God can… God can, I can’t.

In a world of positive thinking and self esteem mantras, I need a new grip on my helplessness and God’s greatness. The things I can do on my own are life’s peripheral accomplishments. The central issues I face, the life-shaping stuff of my soul, I am helpless to understand, engage, and mold. I must be infused with the presence and work of a Power beyond myself.

Thank you, Father, for bringing addicts into my life to remind me of my own powerlessness. I will tell of your greatness and exalt you with increasing conviction the more I discover about my own inabilities and your abilities. May the theme of my life be, “I can’t but you can!” - Mike Leamon

PSALM 33 (condensed)

Let the godly sing for joy to the Lord;

it is fitting for the pure to praise him.

Sing a new song of praise to him;

play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.

For the word of the Lord holds true,

and we can trust everything he does.

Let the whole world fear the Lord,

and let everyone stand in awe of him.

For when he spoke, the world began!

It appeared at his command.

The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations

and thwarts all their schemes.

But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever;

his intentions can never be shaken.

What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord,

whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.

The Lord looks down from heaven

and sees the whole human race.

He made their hearts,

so he understands everything they do.

Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory— f

or all its strength, it cannot save you.

We put our hope in the Lord.

He is our help and our shield.

Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord,

for our hope is in you alone.

Who belongs to whom?
We have just come through Independence Day celebrations where many of us lamented how far our country has traveled from our godly heritage. I agree our country has drifted from the laws of God and we have gone our own way. We are like the people at the end of the book of Judges where each one did what was right in their own eyes. It is frustrating to observe this.

It is equally frustrating to hear people who think we are God’s unique country. The way some people talk, it is as if God cannot do anything in the world without us. It is an attitude of, “God is ours” or “We have a handle on God” that is so troublesome. Even when disguised by words like “God bless America” our attitude often adds, “because we deserve God’s blessing.” Too often this “we own God” attitude is found even among Christians.

We cannot own God. When the Psalmist writes “what joy for the nation whose God is the LORD,” he is not talking about ownership but submission. Just as 2 Chronicles 7:14 states, when God’s people humble themselves and pray, and seek God’s face, then God will hear from heaven and come heal their land.

Whining about where our country is going does not do any good. Humbling ourselves and realizing we do not deserve God’s blessing and daily seeking God’s face is what will bring about change. What if all God’s people stopped complaining about the direction our country is going and started praying, seeking God and demonstrating God’s love to other people. I believe God would heal our land.

Father, forgive me for whining about the course America is headed down; instead help me to humble myself. Help me to seek you daily. Help me to share your love with every person I meet. Please come and heal our land. – Dan Jones

Put the warhorse in its place
Warhorses are just that because they can. They could sustain an ancient warrior in battle. In fact, better be a soldier on a warhorse than one of the countless schmucks on foot! Warhorses I think about today are the two legged variety, in particular political warhorses. These are the men and woman of long years in government service who have accomplished much for the sake of my country.

Then, of course, there is my great grandmother Sherman. She was a warhorse. Survived a rough and tumble life, got things done, held it together, she did. I never knew her except as a plucky old warhorse.

But David tells me not to count on warhorses to help me survive the perpetually scheming, scrambling, and struggling world. Literally he’s telling me not to depend on my nation’s mighty military to save me in a world of Islamic terrorists. Figuratively, he’s telling me not to trust my hardworking representative in congress to save me from economic vagaries, or my great grandmother to pass down the wisdom that will save me from bad choices.

David wouldn’t want me to go out and shoot the old warhorse! He rode his share of them into battle. And he surrounded himself with trusted political warhorses. But he understood that is was God, not his military or political machine that frustrated the plans of the nations. It was the Maker who understood the motives and plans of the powerful.

Warhorses are to be wisely used, but not finally trusted. The last word belongs to the one who spoke the first word. Ultimately, and miraculously, his plans will work themselves out through the freely made choices of those who, to us, look like they are in control.

Eternal God, I trust your unshakable intentions for this world. I will hope in you and look to you to weave my life into your perfect plans. - Mike Leamon

PSALM 32
A psalm of David.

Oh, what joy for those

whose disobedience is forgiven,

whose sin is put out of sight!

Yes, what joy for those

whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,

whose lives are lived in complete honesty!

When I refused to confess my sin,

my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.

Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.

My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.

Interlude

Finally, I confessed all my sins to you

and stopped trying to hide my guilt.

I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”

And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

Interlude

Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,

that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.

For you are my hiding place;

you protect me from trouble.

You surround me with songs of victory.

Interlude

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

I will advise you and watch over you.

Do not be like a senseless horse or mule

that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

Many sorrows come to the wicked,

but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.

So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!

Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

The high risk of honesty
Honesty risks rejection. Speaking a painful truth often produces anger and relational awkwardness or worse, brokenness. This is always the risk of honesty whether or not the spoken truth is an admonition or a confession. And so, very often, we engage in burying a truth that needs speaking or performing a verbal dance around it that ends up confusing the issue.

Rightly, we often do not trust ourselves or the other person to handle the truth well. Honesty is a burden. Speaking with complete honesty, while it can be wonderfully freeing, can also be the verbal equivalent of placing a backpack full of rocks on the other person’s shoulders.

Honesty is a rather complicated thing in human relationships. What truths do I need to give verbal exposure? What truths are best left unspoken? When do I speak a needed truth? What words do I use so that I truly communicate and the other person receives it in a healthy way? What non-verbal communication gets attached to my words that will twist the message in ways I don’t intend?

I am so glad that honesty with God comes without complication or risk! I can say anything to him, at anytime, and with any non-verbal attachments! In fact, as David discovered, God wants complete honesty from us. In this Psalm, he celebrates the honesty of confession.

Confessing my deepest feelings, my darkest sins, or my dogged struggles does not ruffle God’s feathers, offend his ego, threaten his security, or hurt his feelings. Defined by pure love, he welcomes my honesty and, more amazing, welcomes me.

Holy Love, bless you for not being complicated! I praise you for never rejecting me because of my honesty. Thank you for forgiveness, release from guilt, and yes, your admonitions and discipline. - Mike Leamon

Festering guilt
The month of June and July was sliver time for me when I was still on the farm. Working without gloves in dry hay is like trying to handle a porcupine without gloves. You are going to get pricked at least once.

A hay sliver is not only painful; it is hard to get out. The hay tends to disappear in your hand and you can feel it, but you can’t see it. Not until it starts to fester are you easily able to remove it.

Guilt is sort of like a hay sliver. It gets into your life and disappears under your skin. No one else can see it, but you can feel it. The only way to remove guilt is to confess your wrong to God and those who you have hurt, but that is not easy. Left alone, guilt will eat you up. It undermines our ability to accept God’s grace in our lives and our ability to give grace to others. Since we are feeling so rotten inside, everyone else should feel rotten as well.

Left unchecked, guilt can turn into such a serious infection part of our life may eventually be cut off. David certainly knew what it felt like to walk around with regrets. He had slipped up a time or two (actually several times) and we do not have all the stories of his life in Scripture. David also knew the freedom and joy that accompanies confession.

1 John 1:9 tells us if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The joy of the follower of Christ is we do not have to live in guilt; we can live in forgiveness and joy.

It is so wonderful to experience your forgiveness and grace when we confess our sins Father. I marvel in the joy of your salvation and the freedom of your grace. I am blessed to be able to confess my sins to you and experience your grace. - Dan Jones

PSALM 31:19-24

How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you.

You lavish it on those who come to you for protection,

blessing them before the watching world.

You hide them in the shelter of your presence,

safe from those who conspire against them.

You shelter them in your presence,

far from accusing tongues.

Praise the Lord, for he has shown me the wonders of his unfailing love.

He kept me safe when my city was under attack.

In panic I cried out, “I am cut off from the Lord!”

But you heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help.

Love the Lord, all you godly ones!

For the Lord protects those who are loyal to him,

but he harshly punishes the arrogant.

So be strong and courageous,

all you who put your hope in the Lord!

Be Strong and Courageous
David was no doubt familiar with the OT writings of Moses. He had for sure heard of the Exodus and conquering of Cannon and the words to Joshua from Moses on being strong and courageous. Moses at the end of his life commanded, and assured Joshua repeatedly that as long as he was strong and courageous in the Lord, everything would work itself out.

It must have been easy for David to think of how foolish Joshua was to worry and be afraid when they went into battle. Yes, Joshua was one of the confident spies, but he too needed to be reminded to be strong and courageous. David the warrior, the one who people had sang songs about, who had killed more enemies with his own sword than most regiments had killed in years also needed that reminder.

When the city of Jerusalem was surrounded, at times by his own sons and their followers, David felt alone, abandoned by God and in the middle of an inescapable mess. In his panic, David heard the reassuring voice of God, “don’t panic, be strong and courageous.” It wasn’t easy but David believed God and found his courage.

I am glad God does not respond to my panic attacks with disgust and a “get over it” attitude. God responds with assurance, grace, and encouragement, even when my panic is self-imposed.

Thank you God for assuring me you are always there and giving me strength to carry on. In you I am able to stand firm in courage and strength. - Dan Jones

Vanquish me, please!
The myth of the self-made, self-directed individual grips the human psyche. Burger King feeds it with the “have it your way” jingle. Legendary duo, Simon and Garfunkel sang it with “I am an Island.” America idolizes it with the worship of the heroic self made man.

Of course none of us is a life unto ourselves. Psychology and sociology, should we bother to explore their discoveries, reveal this reality repeatedly. Still humanity lives as if we were. Even the way we go about studying both the soft (psychology/sociology) and hard (geology/biology) sciences betrays our addiction to this myth. (We use knowledge as a club to further our belief agendas!)

I’m hopeless. I’m a product of generations that drove this myth ever deeper into the human psyche. And I am a product of my own cultural moment. The arrogance of the self-made, self-directed life oozes through my pores! The longer I live, the more I realize just how much a grip it has on me.

I confess that, gestating under this arrogance, a very different – even radically transformed – man grows and struggles to redefine every aspect of my existence. By God’s grace I have come to possess fear of and faith in God! He has made a new creation of me, at least the part of me that lies deeper than my psyche.

I know that David speaks primarily of arrogance in this deep spiritual region of self. Still, I am a whole being that cannot divorce the various layers that comprise who I am. Each wields profound influence on the other. Somehow the humble, God-made and God-directed self must break through to influence and transform every other layer of my life.

So I pray.

Sovereign God, on whom I depend for my existence and every breath, break any and all patterns of arrogance in my life. Vanquish every layer that defines who I am so that I may love you – sacrificially serve you, no strings attached – with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. - Mike Leamon

PSALM 31:1-13
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
O Lord, I have come to you for protection;

don’t let me be disgraced.

Save me, for you do what is right.

Turn your ear to listen to me; rescue me quickly.

Be my rock of protection,

a fortress where I will be safe.

You are my rock and my fortress.

For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger.

Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me,

for I find protection in you alone.

I entrust my spirit into your hand.

Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God.

I hate those who worship worthless idols.

I trust in the Lord.

I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love,

for you have seen my troubles,

and you care about the anguish of my soul.

You have not handed me over to my enemies

but have set me in a safe place.

Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress.

Tears blur my eyes.

My body and soul are withering away.

I am dying from grief; my years are shortened by sadness.

Sin has drained my strength; I am wasting away from within.

I am scorned by all my enemies and despised by my neighbors

— even my friends are afraid to come near me.

When they see me on the street, they run the other way.

I am ignored as if I were dead, as if I were a broken pot.

I have heard the many rumors about me,

and I am surrounded by terror.

My enemies conspire against me, plotting to take my life.

The Warrior is a Child
God forbade David to build a Temple (1 Chronicles 17). Ironic. The one who felt so passionately about God played the role of establishing the nation of Israel through years of warfare. Building a Temple would be his son’s role. This warrior king not only had a heart for God, it turns out he had a rather sensitive heart.

Sensitive people, and I think David would agree, are more susceptible to anguished souls. While these tender warriors possess the ability to act decisively and with steadfast resolve, they feel deeply. Externally they may appear as if nothing can penetrate them. But thick skin does not mean a hard and unmovable heart. And when thick skin is penetrated, the tender heart bleeds with an exceptionally strong flow.

I am glad that God understands and cares deeply about anguished souls, whether they lie behind thick or thin skinned people. When grief mounts to overwhelming proportions and the warrior, who has just been valiant in battle, hasn’t the strength to even get out of bed, God understands!
One day we’re galloping to the forward line galvanizing the soldiers and leading the charge to victory, a month later we’re dying from grief. No we aren’t sick people. We are the tender hearts.

Twila Paris sang about us. “Lately I've been winning battles left and right, but even winners can get wounded in the fight. People say that I'm amazing, strong beyond my years. But they don't see inside of me. I'm hiding all the tears.”

To one degree or another, all of us warriors are tender children inside. Perhaps that’s part of the reason why Paul the apostle, himself a great spiritual warrior, wrote that in this life we are all children (1 Corinthians 13).

Father, thanks for understanding and caring about this child, not only when he is valiant and charging ahead, but especially when he can barely raise his head. Confident or distressed, I’m yours. - Mike Leamon

PSALM 30
A psalm of David. A song for the dedication of the Temple.

I will exalt you, LORD, for you rescued me.
You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.
O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,
and you restored my health.
You brought me up from the grave, O LORD.
You kept me from falling into the pit of death.

Sing to the LORD, all you godly ones!
Praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
When I was prosperous, I said,
“Nothing can stop me now!”
Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain.
Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.

I cried out to you, O LORD.
I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,
“What will you gain if I die,
if I sink into the grave?
Can my dust praise you?
Can it tell of your faithfulness?
Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me.
Help me, O LORD.”

You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!

Understanding Forgiveness
I moderated a theological symposium yesterday at our camp on the topic of entire sanctification. In my paper, I wrote that our misunderstanding of God’s call to complete holiness is due in part to our misunderstanding of salvation. Salvation is a turning point in life.

Too many people who would call themselves Christians have never turned towards Christ realistically. They have prayed a prayer of salvation but there has been no repentance; no turning from one way of living to another.

As the group discussed my thoughts it was brought up that some of us have been spared the experiences of life that make a “dynamic and inspiring testimony”. God has kept us from those sins, therefore the turn in our life is not all that visible.

I understand this position for it describes my path into Christ. I grew into salvation as a natural course of events in my life rather than finding Christ after a lifetime of sinful choices. Yet I struggled with this idea. I have discovered for me it has produced a shallow understanding of forgiveness.

What I mean is by thanking God for keeping me from the “gross sins” of life I have downplayed the critical nature of the sin in my life. My bad attitudes, refusal to submit to my parents, pride, prejudice, all are as damming as murder, adultery, and a host of other sins.

It is not until we truly weep over our sin that God is able to turn our mourning into dancing and joy in the forgiveness He offers to us. Only when I fully understand the ugliness of, and the pain my sin caused Christ, will I find the joy of forgiveness. Until then I take it for granted.

Father of forgiveness and grace, help me to understand the full weight of my sin so that I might appreciate fully the complete freedom you offer in forgiveness. Thank you for your grace in my life, a sinner saved by grace. - Dan Jones

God’s Bent
God could be angry with me for a lifetime. He’d have every reason to be. I see enough of my own flaws and failures to frustrate myself. Good grief, God knows me better than I do. And he’s perfectly holy. It’s hopeless. He should be angry with me all the time.

So how does he do it? How does he know me perfectly without being angry with me perpetually? I think it has something to do with the bent of God’s character. God is holy, triple holy the angels sing. But his holiness grows toward grace like a plant grows toward the sun. God is perfect in every way so that my tiniest flaw could be for him a glaring tear in the perfect fabric of his good creation. But rather than a bent toward perfectionism, his perfection is bent toward grace.

It’s nothing by grace that creates favor for a lifetime!

I suspect David could frustrate the socks off God. All of his protestations of innocence and righteousness when God appears to fail him, his lack of understanding the difference between material blessing and God’s faithfulness – even in this psalm, his spirit of vengeance on the wicked; I’m sure there were days God just shook his head.

But God is bent toward grace. He knew he had a long slow road to bring David, and all of humanity to the brighter light of his Son. And he remains bent toward grace. Thank God! He knows he still has a very long way to help us – me – understand and apply the light of his Son.
At the right times and in the right way God gets angry. After all, he is perfectly holy and we are so prone to get this relationship with him so wrong. But he isn’t bent in the direction of perfectionism.

Holy God, I appreciate and benefit from your bent toward grace. Thank you for relating to me out of this profound character quality. Grant me the grace to reflect it out to others. - Mike Leamon

PSALM 29
A psalm of David.
Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings;
honor the Lord for his glory and strength.
Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea.
The God of glory thunders.
The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars;
the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf;
he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord strikes
with bolts of lightning.
The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks
and strips the forests bare.
In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”

The Lord rules over the floodwaters.
The Lord reigns as king forever.
The Lord gives his people strength.
The Lord blesses them with peace.

A strange love
I love summer thunderstorms, especially if I’m sitting in an open air shelter all by myself! I love the kind produced by a cool front coming to rescue me from stifling heat. The sights and sounds, the wind and spritz of blowing rain against my skin, the smell of fresh air pushing away the muggy air – it’s a physical and spiritual experience. Apparently David agrees.

However, I don’t know that I’d shout, “Glory!,” should I be sitting near one of those cedars when lighting split it in half. Or if the winds became ferocious enough to twist oaks, ground tremors added their amen to the mounting music, and waters began crashing over their riverbed homes. By that point I think I’d have enough sense to run for cover. I think!

Of course, David’s world attributed all these meteorological phenomenon to angry, punishing gods. David knew better. God rules quaking mountains and flooding rivers.

We know more than David. For us, the physical world has been demythologized. Thunder is neither gods nor God. It’s simply cold and hot air masses colliding. Quakes are only earth’s tectonic plates shifting.

Sadly, we know more, but we don’t know better. We easily forget, or deny, that all these natural phenomenon owe their existence to their Creator. The physics that govern a marvelous thunderstorm originated in an intelligent Mind. John called that Mind the Logos.

Eternal Logos, Word become flesh, thank you for thunderstorms. Whenever I enjoy an especially good one I will join David and remind myself of you and so many of your amazing and overwhelming qualities! - Mike Leamon

All Rise
When you go to court you have to respect the judge or you get thrown out of court and you lose your case. Whether you like the judge or not, you stand when the judge enters the courtroom. The judge commands respect. The judge holds the power in the courtroom.

Nature demonstrates the power of God. In poetic imagery God breathes tornadoes and hurricanes. He claps out thunder and rubs lightening off his hands. His voice sends seismic waves through the mountains causing them to jump up and down chaotically. God is powerful and nature is His courtroom. God is in control.

When such a powerful presence enters the room you stand. You honor such majesty, such power, such incredible strength. In our sins we stand in fear, hoping God will not brush away like siding on a house during a tornado. In the blood of Christ we stand in celebration of our forgiveness. This awesome and fearsome God is the same God who gently leads us by still waters, the same God who holds us in the palm of his hands and carries the weak.

I am glad God is big enough to be scary. God would not be much of a refuge if He was impotent, yet like Elijah on Mt. Carmel, we can know, Our God Reigns! There is nothing He cannot conquer; there is no one who can stand against Him. Praise be to God, He is the Almighty.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation. O my soul praise Him for He is thy rock and salvation. Thank you Lord for being God over all of creation. - Dan Jones