Month: June 2017

He who supposes that Jesus Christ only lived and died and rose again in order to provide justification and forgiveness of sins for His people, has yet much to learn.

―J.C. Ryle

Scripture: Psalm 98.8-9

Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

Reflection: Grace Which Rises
By Augustine of Hippo (354-430 C.E.)

Observe heaven: everywhere on every side it covers the earth. Men sin beneath heaven: they do all evil deeds beneath the heaven; yet they are covered by the heaven. From heaven is light for the eyes, and air, and breath, and rain upon the earth for the sake of its fruits, and all mercy.

Take away the aid of heaven from the earth: it will fail at once. As then the protection of heaven abides upon the earth, so does the Lord’s protection abide upon them that fear Him. You fear God, His protection is above thee. But perhaps you are scourged, and believe that God has forsaken you. God has only forsaken you if the protection of heaven has forsaken the earth.

When sin is remitted, your sins fall, your grace rises; your sins are as it were on the decline, your grace which frees you on the rise. You should look to the rising, and turn away from the setting.

Turn away from your sins, turn unto the grace of God; when your sins fall, you rise and profit. This is the grace which rises unto us: both our sins fall forever, and grace abides forever.

Who but Christ has prepared His throne in heaven? He who descended and ascended, He who died, and rose from the dead, He who lifted up to heaven the manhood He had assumed, hath Himself prepared His throne in heaven.

The throne is the seat of the Judge: observe therefore you who hear, that “He has prepared His throne in heaven.… The kingdom is the Lord’s, and He shall be the Governor among the people. “And His kingdom shall rule over all.”

And why? God is the Judge. “In every place of His dominion: bless thou the Lord, O my soul!” From blessing we set out, to blessing let us return, in blessing let us reign.

Prayer: The Request for Presence 

“Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling; That I may go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy and gladness;* and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God. —Psalm 43.3-4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 12 (Listen – 5:11)
Psalm 97-98 (Listen – 2:19)

 

If we have no peace it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

―Mother Teresa

Scripture: Psalm 95:3-4

For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.

Reflection: The Weight of the World
The Park Forum

It may be partially as survival mechanism, but urbanites find near-perverse delight in the idiosyncrasies of city life. Pastor Taylor Field of Graffiti Church in Manhattan recently shared one of his favorite urban contrasts, found in a 7 ton bronze statue of the god Atlas. Although immense, and depicted with defined muscle, the figure of Atlas strains under the weight of the world, which rests on his shoulders.

Because it is placed outside one of the entrances to Rockefeller Center, the 45 foot tall statue seems dwarfed by the scale of the buildings which surround it. Writing for The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik observes, “The tall building is the symbol of all that we hope for—height, reach, power, and a revolving restaurant with a long wine list — and all that we cower beneath.”

Gopnik explains the ornate design of Rockefeller Center and its impressive artwork: “It was not that Rockefeller, in a burst of civic generosity, decided to go all out. It was that everyone then was expected to go all out… All the things that make Rockefeller Center immediately winning–the statues of Prometheus and Atlas, the molded glass bas-reliefs–were just part of what you were expected to do.” Expectations can be immensely heavy. We often find ourselves, like Atlas, crushed by the weight of the world.

Tucked humbly behind the altar inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral—just a few hundred feet from Rockefeller’s statue of Atlas on Fifth Avenue—is a significantly smaller statue of Jesus. The Christ stands, but a child, effortlessly holding the world in the palm of his hand.

The Psalmist writes, “In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. …Oh come, let us worship and bow down.” The best reason to find ourselves kneeling is not because we’re buckling under the weight of the world, but because we’re falling in worship and submission to the one who holds it effortlessly in his hands.

Prayer: The Request for Presence

Come to me speedily, O God. You are my helper and my deliverer; Lord, do not tarry. —Psalm 70.5-6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 11 (Listen – 4:38)
Psalm 95-96 (Listen – 2:37)

This Bible is a great honeycomb, and it drips with honey. Come and taste its virgin sweetness, O ye whose mouths are full of bitterness

― Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Scripture: Psalm 94.19

When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

Reflection: Thoughtful Trust
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Godly people are thoughtful people. Indeed it is often a sign of the beginning of grace in a man when he begins to consider. Believing is not the death of thinking, it is the sanctification of it.

Gracious men take much account of their thoughts, and make a conscience of them. Other men are scarcely alarmed in conscience by their actions, unless they happen to commit some glaring crime, but the saint has lost his heart of stone, and his heart of flesh is conscious of God’s displeasure, and trembles at it, when an impure thought has defiled his soul.

Regenerate men have sensitive minds, so that a word wrongly spoken grieves them sorely; and if it should never go so far as a word, and only an evil thought like an unclean bird flits through their mind, they are troubled lest they should have invited or secretly entertained so foul a lodger.

We must, then, look well to our thoughts, and keep our heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. We must watch thought, think upon thought, and pray about thought, and happy shall we be if we can say, in the language of the text, “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”

In times when many thoughts assail us, the attributes of God are each one of them the delight of our soul. The gist of the whole matter is this: the way to comfort is the way where God is to be found. Christian, the way for sustenance, strength, hope, and consolation is the way which leads thee to thy God. Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength.

And oh, poor sinner, the same way is open to you. Do not look within for comfort, for you will find none. As well go to the Arctic regions and pierce icebergs to discover warmth, as look to yourselves for consolation. Away, away, away, away from your own thoughts to God’s thoughts; away from your own judgings and weighings, and computations, and speculations, and expectations to the firm promises of a God that cannot lie.

*Excerpt from Medicine For The Distracted by Charles Spurgeon.

Prayer

Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life. —Psalm 90:14

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 10 (Listen – 3:12)
Psalm 94 (Listen – 2:08)

Of one thing I am perfectly sure: God’s story never ends with ‘ashes.’

―Elisabeth Elliot

Scripture: Psalm 93.3-4

The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!

Reflection: Hope of Glory
The Park Forum

It can be difficult to understand the level of fear ancient people felt when they talked about the sea. When the Psalmist cried, “The floods lift up their roaring,” he described one of the greatest threats his people faced. The NET Bible translates his cry as, “The waves roar, the waves roar and crash.”

Without reliable maps, weather prediction technology, or modern marine science, most people in ancient cultures knew someone who went out to sea and never came back. The sea was a place of great unknown, near-certain danger, and possible destruction.

The Psalmist continues, “Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty!” The Hebrew word used for, “might” is the same word for majesty, glory, or excellence. We might say, “Though there is immense uncertainty and danger, God transcends all and is wonderful in his beauty.”

The Psalmist rests in the understanding that God transcends what we perceive as unconquerable. Even the most crushing of our fears does not diminish God’s power or excellence in the least.

There is great security in the majesty of God, both in the darkest moments of human history, as well as in the intimate moments of our individual trials and pain. Yet we join with Christians throughout time in our longing for more.

In describing the new heaven and new earth the Scriptures promise that we will find, “the sea is no more.” The Biblical writers’ symbol for all that is unknown, dangerous, destructive, fearful, and evil will be defeated. Though, in the toil of today, we place our hope in God, we long for the day we see his glory bring full restoration to all that is broken, return what is lost, and heal our suffering.

Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Incline my heart, O God, to your ways. Turn my eyes from longing after vanities.

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 9 (Listen – 5:06)
Psalm 92-93 (Listen – 2:09)

Learning to trust is one of life’s most difficult tasks.

―Isaac Watts

Scripture: Psalm 89.1

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

Reflection: Rhythms
The Park Forum

Research shows it takes 90 minutes for the average Londoner to transition from bed to walking out the door each morning. The average resident of Shanghai invests just 9 minutes grooming for the day, while two thirds of Parisian women apply makeup and perfume each day.

On the other hand, only fifty six percent of New Yorkers shower each day (rush hour subway, anyone?). For those who do, showering and grooming averages 30 minutes each morning.

Few people practice ideal morning rhythms. Looking at New Yorkers alone, 59% say it’s important to exercise in the morning—just 16% do. For those with children, 77% say morning playtime is important—only 21% engage in it.

The number one place for New Yorkers to self-reflect is the shower (let’s face it, it’s the only place we’re consistently alone), but stress, problem solving, and scheduling too easily consume reflection time. If we’re honest it’s far too easy to invest a disproportionate amount of time in the morning focusing only on ourselves.

Psalm 89 records a simple and beautiful longing to “sing of the steadfast love of the Lord”—a plea echoed in the prayer of Psalm 90; “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love.” The Psalmists longed for a joy that would be present in the good and bad of life. They knew this kind of transcendent joy could be found in one source alone: satisfaction in the love of God—every morning.

Scripture reading, prayer, and reflection on the character and nature of God each morning is time well invested. Daily rhythms rooted in Christ move us beyond ourselves opening up time to pray for people who may not have anyone else praying for them, and centering our lives on the only source that delivers what we need most

Prayer: The Request for Presence

I call with my whole heart; answer me, O Lord, that I may keep your statutes. Hear my voice, O Lord, according to your loving-kindness; according to your judgments, give me life. —Psalm 119.145ff

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 6 (Listen – 3:13)
Psalm 89 (Listen – 5:29)

This Weekend’s Readings
Deuteronomy 7 (Listen – 4:13) Psalm 90 (Listen – 2:03)
Deuteronomy 8 (Listen – 2:58) Psalm 91 (Listen – 1:39)