Humble Hearts
Wilderness Wanderings
I trust in you with all my heart. Don’t let me wander away from your commands (Psalm 119:10). “A man after my own heart”, God said of David. Is your heart healthy? Do our hearts align with God’s? A week ago, we explored one answer, David’s desire to be obedient to God’s law. On its surface, Psalm 119 is boring. It’s repetitive. But I think we miss the point. Its goal is not content but enchantment with the Word of God. It’s a carefully crafted poem which oozes with delight in how God has created and ordered the world. There is nothing better for the psalmist than to follow...
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An Invitation to the Depleted
Wilderness Wanderings
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live (Isaiah 55:1-3). Many things are expected and demanded of us. We have family obligations. Many of us are required to work for a living; this makes significant demands on us. When we don’t have such work, the demands are...
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Be Free!
Wilderness Wanderings
A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Galatians 5:1, 13-14. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it . Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: Dive In! What were the three things about freedom mentioned in the previous sermon? Relationship with _________. The result of the ___________ of _________ __________. Life in the ____________ of _________. These three are from whose...
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Sabbath Fruit
Wilderness Wanderings
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow (Isaiah 1:15-17). Do you know who made the clothes you are wearing? Do you know how much the server makes at your favourite restaurant? Do you know where the components of your cellphone come from? Do you know any of the people who were...
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Obedience as Thanksgiving
Wilderness Wanderings
My heart is filled with longing for your laws at all times (Psalm 119:20). I remember a group exercise, probably some ice breaker, in which we were asked what we would like on our tombstone. How is that a good icebreaker? Probably, to get into a conversation about legacy. I didn’t like it then and I still don’t. A more interesting question to ask is “What do people say about me right now?” but not as an icebreaker. David, the shepherd boy turned king, is introduced in the Bible not by name, but by what God says about him, ‘a man after my own heart’ or...
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Who are God's Missionaries?
Wilderness Wanderings
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). There is hymn that begins with: “The church is not a building; the church is not a steeple; the church is not a resting place; the church is a people.” And the refrain: “I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together! All who follow Jesus, all around the world! Yes, we're the church together!” Intuitively, many Christians recognize that these lyrics are true. But...
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A Sabbath Keepers Welcome
Wilderness Wanderings
The Sovereign Lord declares—he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered” (Isaiah 56:8). In Deuteronomy, Moses prepares Israel to enter the land of promise. As they settle in, they will finally be able to develop the habits enabling them to be God’s holy people. Part of the preparation is defining who is in and who is out. Access to this holy people, and consequently to their God, is quite limited. All folks with mutilated genitalia and many foreigners are excluded (cf. Deuteronomy 23:1-8). Interactions with non-Israelites...
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Ending Evil
Wilderness Wanderings
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…Don’t pay back evil with evil…Don’t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil by doing good (Romans 12:14, 17, 21). What do we do in the face of evil? This is the question that ends Romans 12. Its not theoretical; its personal. “How should Christians respond when evil is done to us”? The answer is: “Don’t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil by doing good.” Evil is insidious. It begins small, a trickle, which, if not stopped, becomes a flood that fills us. In the end, it...
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Free to Work
Wilderness Wanderings
For in [Christ] all things were created…all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together…For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Colossians 1:16-17, 19-20) Again, I want to address the question, “Why produce a weekly podcast on the subject of work?” Work must be understood here as more than what we do to earn a paycheck. It includes that, of course,...
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Be Free!
Wilderness Wanderings
A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Galatians 5:1, 13-14. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it . Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: . Dive In! What does freedom mean to you? What kind of things would you like to be free from? What does it mean to be human? How would you describe the best human? How can we become like that? Give some examples of good laws (not the ones Pastor Michael...
info_outlineI trust in you with all my heart. Don’t let me wander away from your commands (Psalm 119:10).
“A man after my own heart”, God said of David. Is your heart healthy? Do our hearts align with God’s? A week ago, we explored one answer, David’s desire to be obedient to God’s law.
On its surface, Psalm 119 is boring. It’s repetitive. But I think we miss the point. Its goal is not content but enchantment with the Word of God. It’s a carefully crafted poem which oozes with delight in how God has created and ordered the world. There is nothing better for the psalmist than to follow this God. Here is an invitation to catch the joy of obedience.
If obedience is one aspect of a person after God’s own heart, close on its heels is humility. The delight in this psalm can only come from a place of willing submission to God. In our reflections on obedience, it was mentioned that David waited for God to put him on the throne of Israel. He would not claim it by force as his right.
This was an act of humility towards God. In 1 Samuel 25, David is slighted by Nabal and sets out to get vengeance. On the way, he is intercepted by Nabal’s wife who begs her husband’s pardon. David recognizes that God has sent her to keep him from doing wrong and he let’s go of his desire for vengeance. Humility.
There is the sordid tale of David sleeping with Uriah’s wife followed by a murderous cover up. When Nathan confronts him regarding this sin, David responds, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13). Humility. Later, David counts his fighting men. This displeases God, who forces him to choose which punishment Israel will endure. When David makes his choice he says, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great…” (2 Samuel 24:14). Humility.
In each case of disobedience, David responded with an admission of guilt and a turning back to the Lord, something Saul refused to do. He made excuses (cf. 1 Sam 15:24-25). Humility before the Lord acknowledges our disobedience and then turns back towards obedience.
Disobedience never has to be the last word. With God there is mercy, forgiveness. We do not need to approach God with fear in our disobedience, but rather, we may “enter boldly because of the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19). Our identity is formed by being God’s children, not by our disobedience. We are daughters and sons of the King.
If you have wandered far from God, turn back. Humble yourself before him. God’s mercy is great. He loves you and wants nothing more than your face to be turned towards him.
As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:
“May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).