Psalm 91.1-2
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 

TBT: What it Means to Trust in God | by Thomas Lye (c. 1675 C.E.)

To trust in God, is to cast our burden on the Lord, when it is too heavy for our own shoulder; to dwell “in the secret place of the Most High,” when we know not where to lay our heads on earth. It is to “look to our Maker,” and to “have respect to the Holy One of Israel;” to lean on our Beloved; to stay ourselves, when sinking, on the Lord our God. 

In a word, trust in God is that high act or exercise of faith, whereby the soul, looking upon God, and casting of itself on his goodness, power, promises, faithfulness, and providence, is lifted up above carnal fears and discouragements, above perplexing doubts and disquietments. These acts are either for the obtaining and continuance of that which is good, or for the preventing or removing of that which is evil.

More particularly, there are three ingredients of trust in God:

1. A clear knowledge or right apprehension of God, as revealed in his word and works. Knowledge of God is of such necessity to a right trust, that it is put as a synonym for trust: “I will set him on high, because he hath known,” that is, trusted in, “my name.”

2. A full assent of the understanding, and consent of the will, to those divine revelations, as true and good, wherein the Lord proposes himself as an adequate object for our trust.

3. A firm and fixed reliance, resting, or recumbency of the whole soul on God. Or a firm persuasion, and special confidence of the heart, whereby a believer particularly applies to himself the faithful promises of God, and certainly concludes and determines with himself, that the Lord is able and willing to make good to him the good promises he hath made. This indeed is the very formality of trust; one of the highest and noblest acts of faith.

Prayers from the Past
Lord Jesus Christ, you created heaven and earth; you never forsake those who put their trust in you. Thanks be to you: you have made us fit to live in your city in heaven and share your kingdom.

Give your servants rest; turn the violence of their enemies to me.

Give your church peace; deliver it from the tyranny of the devil.

— Theodotus of Ancyra, prior to his martyrdom c. 302 (excerpted from a longer prayer).

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 8 (Listen – 2:58)
Psalm 91 (Listen – 1:39)

Investing With Your Life
Part 4 of 5, read more on TheParkForum.org

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Psalm 90.14
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 

A recent study reveals 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 90.14 records a simple and beautiful prayer, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love.” The Psalmist longed for a joy that would be present in the good and bad of life. He 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. Morning 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
God, satisfy us with your love — let us long for nothing else, as you are what we need the most each day; may everything in our life be what you want. Provide what we truly need today. Give us your wonderful grace and allow us to extend that grace to those who hurt us. Lead us in your ways, God, and remove evil from our heart, mind, and life.

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 7 (Listen – 4:13)
Psalm 90 (Listen – 2:03)

Investing With Your Life
Part 3 of 5, read more on TheParkForum.org

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Psalm 88.1
O LORD, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you. 

Halfway through the winter of 2009 construction crews worked to dig a parking garage under a 13 story apartment building in Shanghai. The workers, mostly untrained migrants, had dumped tons of excavated dirt on the bank of a nearby creek. What happened next was was likely a result of unfavorable winds, soft soil from unseasonably high amounts of rain, and the creek bank collapsing under the weight of the dirt.

Photos from the site are arresting. A nearly intact 13 story building lays on its side — as if a toddler had knocked over her dollhouse. Fortunately, because construction was incomplete, there were no tenants in the building and only one person lost their life in the tragedy — a remarkably low number based off the size of the building.

Weak foundations lead to catastrophic events.

Psalm 88 is a desperate cry to God in the midst of catastrophic events. Charles Spurgeon called it “the darkest of psalms.” The psalmist pleads with God, “Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry!”

Spurgeon continues, “It is a sorrowful wail, and it comes to a close when you do not expect it to finish. It really has no finish to it, as when men wind up their songs with proper finales; but it is broken off, like a lily snapped at the stalk.”

The psalmist pours his pain and frustration before God in prayer. “Prayer is always best when it rises to pleading,” Spurgeon concludes. “The man who understands the sacred art of prayer becomes a special pleader with God.”

Even in the seconds before the building in Shanghai fell over it would have looked no different from the other two buildings on site. The outside architecture was nearly complete. The paint color naturally complemented existing structures. And the view of the city from the top floors would have been wonderful. 

The foundation was built on shifting sands.

We can attempt to solve life’s disappointments and crises with emotional strength or shear will. But it’s in our relationship with God through Christ’s sacrifice, our prayer and worship, the community of believers, and the scriptures that we find the foundation which can sufficiently support a thriving life.

Prayer
Father though this world will fail us, you have proven your steadfast ever-pursuing love. Help us to invest our lives in you — our great hope, our joy, our freedom and our life.

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 5 (Listen – 4:25)
Psalm 88 (Listen – 1:58)

Investing With Your Life
Part 1 of 5, read more on TheParkForum.org

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Psalm 83.1
Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah 

In The Problem of Pain C.S. Lewis says he would pay any price to remove the doctrine of hell because of its difficulty — to teach, understand, and grasp as reality. A few pages later he reveals the startling reality about hell that is often overlooked:

“I said glibly a moment ago that I would ‘pay any price’ to remove this doctrine. I lied. I could not pay one-thousandth part of the price that God has already paid to remove the fact. And here is the real problem:

“So much mercy, yet still there is hell.”

Heaven and hell, for Lewis, were destinations for courses set in this lifetime. Good people aren’t simply people who are morally superior, but people who have found their life in Christ. Bad people are those who have rejected their greatest good — the love of God.

“Both processes begin even before death,” Lewis said of heaven and hell in The Great Divorce. “The good man’s past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven: the bad man’s past already conforms to his badness and is filled only with dreariness.

“And that is why, at the end of all things, when the sun rises here and the twilight turns to blackness down there, the Blessed will say, ‘We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven,’ and the Lost, ‘We were always in Hell.’ And both will speak truly.”

It’s difficult to embrace the reality that present choices have effects that extend beyond our present world. This is one of the chief reasons we need God’s grace every moment of every day.

The cruciform life — of laying down our selfish desires, self-interest, and pride as we follow in humble obedience — requires extraordinary grace and rigorous discipline.

“If Christianity was something we were making up, of course, we could make it easier. But it is not,” Lewis concludes in Mere Christianity. “We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about.”

Prayer

Father, we pray for your grace on our lives and the lives of those who reject you. Show us your mercy. Use us as instruments of your love so that those around us experience you in profound, even if simple, ways. 

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 2 (Listen – 5:05)
Psalms 83-84 (Listen – 3:20)

Life and Death Apart from God
Part 5 of 5, read more on TheParkForum.org

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This Weekend’s Readings
Saturday: Deuteronomy 3 (Listen – 4:33); Psalm 85 (Listen – 1:25)
Sunday: Deuteronomy 4 (Listen – 7:22); Psalms 86-87 (Listen – 2:16)

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