Meditation Psalm 34 For those who doubt

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:8-10 NIV)

This is the message I want to believe and feel with my whole heart. That you Lord are good. This is the same message I want people to hear when I share the gospel and when students come to InterVarsity who do not believe. Our God is good. That is why he sent his son Jesus. That is why he loves us. That is why he longs for his lost people to come home to him.

Not because he needs them to or because he is arrogant. But because he is good and he has good for us. In him alone Jesus says is the best possible life.

Please Lord bring your people home to you. Open hearts, send us your servants to boldly proclaim your son Jesus in his life, death and glorious resurrection.
Amen

Meditations Psalm 33 Our only hope is God

No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
(Psalm 33:16-19 NIV)

Ironically I think the place I put my hope outside of God is in my ministry with InterVarsity. Maybe it is subconscious but it becomes apparent sometimes when I feel righteous or successful because of what I am doing for InterVarsity. It is even more apparent went things aren't going well, when less people come to InterVarsity events or the bible study I lead or people in InterVarsity are not growing closer to God's heart.

I want to learn to trust in you Lord. I want my hope for salvation in your stripes, death and resurrection. I want to be faithful to serve you and bring your kingdom but rejoice in you Lord in times of success and times of discouragement.
Amen

Meditation Psalm 32: Be quick to confess

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,"

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Therefore let everyone who is godly

offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;

surely in the rush of great waters,

they shall not reach him.

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,

and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (Psalm 32:3-6, 11 ESV)

My natural tendency when I hurt someone or sin is often to justify and be defensive before others and God. But like David, my acts weigh upon my heart. I have been trying to live in a reflex of confession and seeking forgiveness. I am starting a new phase of my life in ministry and I am making lots of mistakes. In trying so hard I have lost sight of other things and hurt people I care about. Lord please guide me to live by your righteousness. But when I fail and hurt others and you Lord please help me to be quick to see, confess and repent. For you are forgiving. Help me to love others and humble myself to admit when I am wrong to them an ask forgiveness.
Amen

Meditation: Psalm 22 Doubt and fear

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest. In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame. Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother's breast. I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you. (Psalm 22:1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 22 NIV)

David is fearful and doubts. He is suffering and endangered in ways many of us never experience. I live safe and well fed in America. But people throughout the world live most of their life afflicted and in danger. David has cried out to the Lord and he feels abandoned. Yet, even then David trusts his Lord and remembers Gods faithfulness to him and to those who came before him.

I was not looking forward to this psalm after the first two verses, but when I read through to the end I found strength and faith. I pray that like David I would trust in the Lord even when I feel alone and when I feel God has not answered my cry. For God is faithful. He has been faithful before and he remain faithful.

And we know David was saved in this time of affliction.

Yet more important was the joy of his salvation in the Lord. For I think the Spirit revealed the day of Jesus an d his salvation. David wrote:

All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!
(Psalm 22:27-31 NIV)

And I proclaim Jesus is Lord and savior. He has done it!

Amen