PSALM 28
A psalm of David.
I pray to you, O Lord, my rock.

Do not turn a deaf ear to me.

For if you are silent, I might as well give up and die.

Listen to my prayer for mercy

as I cry out to you for help,

as I lift my hands toward your holy sanctuary.

Do not drag me away with the wicked—

with those who do evil—

those who speak friendly words to their neighbors

while planning evil in their hearts.

Give them the punishment they so richly deserve!

Measure it out in proportion to their wickedness.

Pay them back for all their evil deeds!

Give them a taste of what they have done to others.

They care nothing for what the Lord has done

or for what his hands have made.

So he will tear them down, and they will never be rebuilt!

Praise the Lord!

For he has heard my cry for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and shield.

I trust him with all my heart.

He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.

I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

The Lord gives his people strength.

He is a safe fortress for his anointed king.

Save your people!

Bless Israel, your special possession.

Lead them like a shepherd,

and carry them in your arms forever.

Bursting out
The past few weeks we have watched as the people along the Mississippi River have worked feverishly to prevent levees from bursting. Sometimes their efforts have succeeded at other times they have not. If you have seen a burst levee it is a dreadful sight. A wall of earth that is supposed to hold the water at bay, becomes a channel spewing water directly into neighborhoods and towns. A burst levee cannot hold back water.

Many times in life I feel like bursting. (No I am not talking about how I feel after Christmas dinner at Grandma’s house, although it could apply.) I am referring to times when I want to burst forth verbally about something. At times I want to burst forth in praise, but other times I have heard words of anger and disgust flowing out of my mouth.

James provided some good insight on what comes out of our mouths. “Does a fresh water spring produce salt water? Neither should a believer’s mouth produce abusive and foul language.” (My paraphrase)

David longed to burst forth in praise to God and rightly so for God is worthy of our praise. I say let it out. Shout to the Lord! Sing to the Lord! Burst forth in praise to the King! Sometimes when I am singing I just have to shout “whew”. When God has a hold on your life don’t try to hold it inside, burst out in praise.

Father, help my words to be always uplifting and positive when I burst vocally. Instead of anger or bitterness fill my mouth with praise and rejoicing. I desire to sing your praise today. - Dan Jones

A divine jetty
In just a few weeks I’m moving to Silver Creek, New York, a village along Lake Erie. I already know what one of my favorite places will be. The rocks.

There is about a quarter mile long and 30’ wide jetty of rocks reaching into the mighty lake like a finger pointing to Canada. Someone stacked hundreds of large rocks and poured a sidewalk like a spine down the middle. Sitting on a rock at the farthest end will be one of my favorite places to read, meditate, think, pray, and relax.

I won’t have to swim to enjoy that spot. Or tread water the deep water in order to stay afloat. I won’t worry about any current causing me to drift. I won’t need to keep my eye on other boats or kayaks. The rocks make it possible for to enjoy this beautiful spot and focus my attention of matter completely unrelated to this inland sea.

Neither will I focus on the rocks and wonder if they will collapse. I don’t know the people who put them there, but I trust them. Strange how we put our lives in the hands of perfect strangers!

God is no stranger to me. I trust him to be like one of those Lake Erie rocks. Firm. Solid. Trustworthy. Unmovable. In fact, because of his reliability, I do not need to focus on shifting, lapping, even dangerous life all around me. He’ll be my support through everything. I can fill my mind wit new discoveries and deeper awareness rather than worry and anxiety.

Rock of ages, I don’t always simply trust you as my unshakable foundation. I let worry and anxiety invade as if you were not completely reliable. Forgive me. Help me to increasingly treat you like I treat this jetty; absolute confidence. - Mike Leamon

PSALM 27
A psalm of David.
The Lord is my light and my salvation—

so why should I be afraid?

The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,

so why should I tremble?

When evil people come to devour me,

when my enemies and foes attack me,

they will stumble and fall.

Though a mighty army surrounds me,

my heart will not be afraid.

Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.

The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most—

is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

delighting in the Lord’s perfections

and meditating in his Temple.

For he will conceal me there when troubles come;

he will hide me in his sanctuary.

He will place me out of reach on a high rock.

Then I will hold my head high

above my enemies who surround me.

At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,

singing and praising the Lord with music…

Teach me how to live, O Lord.

Lead me along the right path,

for my enemies are waiting for me…

Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness

while I am here in the land of the living.

Wait patiently for the Lord.

Be brave and courageous.

Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

Single minded but many sins
I don’t think David had enjoying time with God on his mind that spring evening on the rooftop. He had Bathsheba’s gorgeous wet body strumming his desires. I don’t think he had enjoying God’s perfections on his mind when he received news that one of his sons raped one of his daughters. He had his head in the sand of denial. David was a mixed bag of issues – just like the rest of us, just like me.

But I think if we were to strip back the layers of desires and flaws, failures and sins, we’d find a single driving, defining search fueling his life; the search to know and love God. This man genuinely enjoyed spending time with God. Speaking and singing, worshiping quietly and dancing wildly, here was one who felt passionately about his relationship with God.

I think it was this single minded passion, despite his sad and egregious sins, that made David a man after God’s own heart.

I don’t have David’s personality. My highs don’t soar like his do. Nor do my lows descend to the same depths. But I want David’s passion for God expressed through the personality God gave me. I want a single mind for God that drives my life.

Confidence is one of the many benefits this kind of relationship with God offers. Life may grow threatening – a plunging housing market when I need to sell my house, skyrocketing gas prices and a much lower income, family stresses due to living at a greater distance from one another – still this God I have come to know and love is my rock. There is less chance of him abandoning me that my parents turning their backs!

So I will wait patiently – and confidently – for the Lord!

I'm all yours, Lord God. All else may fail and the world around me grow trying and stressful. But if I have you, I have all I need. So, with your help, I will be brave and courageous. - Mike Leamon

PSALM 26
A psalm of David.
Declare me innocent, O Lord,

for I have acted with integrity;

I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me.

Test my motives and my heart.

For I am always aware of your unfailing love,

and I have lived according to your truth.

I do not spend time with liars

or go along with hypocrites.

I hate the gatherings of those who do evil,

and I refuse to join in with the wicked.

I wash my hands to declare my innocence.

I come to your altar, O Lord,

singing a song of thanksgiving and telling of all your wonders.

I love your sanctuary, Lord,

the place where your glorious presence dwells.

Don’t let me suffer the fate of sinners.

Don’t condemn me along with murderers.

Their hands are dirty with evil schemes,

and they constantly take bribes.

But I am not like that; I live with integrity.

So redeem me and show me mercy.

Now I stand on solid ground, and I will publicly praise the Lord.

Bold Claims
The last verse of the great hymn And Can it Be says:

No condemnation now I dread
Jesus and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown,
Through Christ my own.
Amazing love!
How can it be That thou, my God,

Shouldst die for me.

I love this old hymn for it tells the story of my salvation. Each verse takes me closer to the God I love until I am boldly approaching the throne of God to claim my crown through Christ.

Most days I don’t feel as bold as David or Charles Wesley. I shudder to think what the outcome would be if I were to ask God to put me on trial. My thoughts, my desires, my lack of obedience in the small things flood my mind with guilt. I know what the verdict would be. Guilty, not innocent!

Then I hear the voice of Christ assuring me, He has taken my punishment, I am innocent because of Christ. In this realization I am humbled, broken, and amazed. It is amazing love. How can it be, that Christ, my God would die for me.

I thank you Lord for dying for me that I might live. Thank you for declaring me as righteous and then giving me the strength to live that way as I walk in obedience to you. Thank you for forgiving me each time I fail to live in your love. Your love is amazing. - Dan Jones

Arrogance or sociology?
Repeatedly in his poetry, and again in this psalm, David admits that he refuses to hang out with people who refuse to recognize God’s authority and insist on determining their own life direction and creating their own moral compass. He thinks this is a good thing and pleases God. In fact, it seems that avoiding the company of wicked people evidences his pure heart and warrants God’s blessing.

Dare I write it the way many would think or express their disdain for a man like this? Just who does the SOB think he is!? Better than everyone else?

Almost 25 years ago I read a fascinating secular sociology work titled, “A Social Construction of Reality” by two guys named Berger and Luckman. Their observations about the influence of primary and secondary social groups suggest that people like David are onto sociological reality rather than into arrogance!

Primary social groups, our dearest and nearest family and friendship systems, largely determine our perceptions of the world around us; our attitudes, thoughts, assumptions, and beliefs about everything – reality. If a person wants to significantly change his or her entire system of perceptions, that person must change primary relationship networks! The old primary relationships must become secondary. In fact, every social group with perceptions outside those one wants his or her life to be shaped by, but be casual relationships.

This is simple sociology – ah, common sense. So if I do not want David’s religion to be the primary lens through which I understand everything, he and his kind cannot ever become my most intimate social network.

But then, I do want to see life this way. So I’m hanging out with David and his kind of people; friends with everyone, but nearest and dearest with only those who help me develop a God centered view of reality.

God, with your help I will never develop an arrogant attitude toward those who view life differently. Still, help me to allow into my closest circles only those who feed and nourish my faith in you. - Mike Leamon

PSALM 25
A psalm of David.
O Lord, I give my life to you.

I trust in you, my God!

Do not let me be disgraced,

or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.

No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,

but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.

Show me the right path, O Lord;

point out the road for me to follow.

Lead me by your truth and teach me, f

or you are the God who saves me.

All day long I put my hope in you.

Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love,

which you have shown from long ages past.

Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth.

Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, f

or you are merciful, O Lord.

The Lord is good and does what is right;

he shows the proper path to those who go astray.

He leads the humble in doing right,

teaching them his way.

The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness

all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.

For the honor of your name, O Lord,

forgive my many, many sins.

Who are those who fear the Lord?

He will show them the path they should choose.

They will live in prosperity,

and their children will inherit the land.

The Lord is a friend to those who fear him.

He teaches them his covenant.

My eyes are always on the Lord,

for he rescues me from the traps of my enemies.

The eyes have it
Fixing my focus on God presents a constant challenge. It’s much easier to focus on my own ability to assess a situation, wrestle with the options, and create solutions. These are not bad. In fact, I think God expects me to use the critical thinking capacity he gave me. Still, these aught not be my focus as I move through daily decisions.

Immersing myself in understanding the ways of God – character, mind, and heart; this must be the context surrounding and underlying my decision making processes. Knowing him means being led by him to those who humbly submit themselves to him. Knowing him means that his truth defines the path I take daily.

This is why I must spend more time focusing, not on the issues that demand decisions, but on God himself. I need him to teach me all his ways. I need this more than I need some practical direction in any given decision I face. In fact, as my life grows more reflective of him character, mind, and heart, I will need to ask less of specific and practical direction!

It’s all in my eyes! I must focus them less of the decisions staring at me and more on the one who would lead me. I must know him inside and out. Then I will know the paths I should take in the broad sweep of my life and the narrow choices I face each day.

Oh Lord, I give my life to you! I will focus on you through my summer of transition and change. I will seek to know your character, mind, and heart so well, that your leadership comes naturally, indeed instinctively, to me. - Mike Leamon

Colored lenses
I was golfing the other day with some friends and as is par for my game, my ball was in the rough. If you golf much, you have experienced the frustration of trying to find your ball in 3-4” rough. You saw your ball land in what seemed like an open area, but when arriving where you thought your ball was, there is nothing to be seen. The ball is hidden in the tall grass.

The time I am referring to, one of my partners had some glasses that helped the ball to stand out from the grass around it. The glasses were tinted making the white ball stand out from the green grass. With his help I was able to locate my ball and continue on without a penalty.

David desired that God would see him through tinted glasses. I need God to look at me through the lenses of Christ’s death. With David, I plead that God would remember me as righteous, forgiven, and holy in the light of his love. It is not that I attain these things on my own, it is only through Christ I am these things to God.

God remember me in the light of your love and Christ’s death. Without the covering of Christ in my life I am revolting to you. Thank you for loving me and making me into something beautiful in your sight. - Dan Jones

It's been an emotionally chaotic weekend for Mike, who does the posting (interesting given today's psalm!). I candidated at and accepted the invitation to pastor a marvelous congregation in Silver Creek, NY - Christ Chapel Wesleyan Church. So the Friday and Monday posts just didn't happen. Today order returns!

PSALM 24
A psalm of David.
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

The world and all its people belong to him.

For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas

and built it on the ocean depths.

Who may climb the mountain of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy place?

Only those whose hands and hearts are pure,

who do not worship idols and never tell lies.

They will receive the Lord’s blessing

and have a right relationship with God their savior.

Such people may seek you

and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob.

Interlude

Open up, ancient gates! Open up, ancient doors,

and let the King of glory enter.

Who is the King of glory?

The Lord, strong and mighty;

the Lord, invincible in battle.

Open up, ancient gates! Open up, ancient doors,

and let the King of glory enter.

Who is the King of glory?

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies— he is the King of glory.

Interlude

The King of Glory
In OT times the King was top-dog. Our democratic fancies make us averse to kings in America but not entirely. We still crown a high-school senior the Prom King, Elvis was the King of Rock and Roll and Labron James has been nicknamed King James for his prowess on the basketball court. Our culture is full of people we elevate to the status of king in their perspective areas.

Kings are people who command our respect, our attention, and even our allegiance. Their triumphs quell our doubts about who is best and who are the rest. Kings rule. When a King walks into the room you stand, when they ask for something you hurry to get it. Kings have people to take care of their light work.

A king rides in a limo, has cops all around them to keep the paparazzi off them and has crowds of people screaming to get close to them. Every girl wants to marry the king. Kings have money and power and fame and glory and everything you could ever want. Every boy wants to be the king; only one gets to.

The image of Psalm 24 is of an invincible King, strong in battle. Matthew 21:5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion, See your king comes riding to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Matthew 27:37 “Above his head they placed the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

An odd place to find a king, but this is how Christ demonstrated true Kingship.

My Lord and my King, you reign over all the earth and over all my life as well. I give you thanks for abandoning the trappings of your throne to walk this earth in humility so we could become heirs of your kingdom of power. - Dan Jones

No chaos here!
Maxwell Smart bumbles his way through his mission to keep Kaos from wrecking havoc on the world in the spy spoof, Get Smart. This old TV show, now movie, basis itself on the yin yang philosophy of balancing chaos and control in the world.

David reminds me that the real world doesn’t need balance between these two things. There is no chaos, only God in control. I need this reminder because life often seems rather chaotic. My mind perceives chaos all around me and I wonder what in the world is going to happen in the world during the second half of my life. Philosophical Naturalism wants me to believe my perceptions, insisting that all of life happens randomly and without ultimate purpose. It’s only a chaotic survival of the fittest.

David’s generation perceived chaos. The ancient world perceived the gods in constant battle. In fact, that’s how creation came about. Younger gods of land defeated the gods of water, banishing them to places under and over the earth. David addresses perceptions of chaos in his generation and mine in the opening lines of his poem.

Using the images of his own era, David insists that God is in control of it all! If we could somehow come into the King of glory’s presence we would begin to see life from his vantage point. We could begin to relax and live at peace when life seems so out of control.

My goose is cooked! I cannot come into his presence. My hands and heart are not always pure. I am committed to worshiping only God, but I also confess that I suspect I come painfully close to worshiping other things like my country, my financial security, my body. I struggle to live honestly, letting who I really am and what I’m truly thinking and feeling reflect themselves in my words.

Thank God for Jesus who make a way for me to enter the presence of the King of glory so his perception of all creation can increasingly become mine!

Lord, strong and mighty, I worship you as both the Creator and Sustainer of all this exists. You didn’t conquer it. You made it, both the waters and the land. There are no other gods to compete against you. Grant me growing confidence in your ability to control the forces of your creation while never withdrawing or trampling over your wonderful gift of freedom. – Mike Leamon