Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blessing, delight, god, psalm, righteous
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and is His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Psalm 1
Through the centuries men have displayed many different symbols to show that they are Christians. They have worn marks in the lapels of their coats, hung chains about their necks, even had special haircuts.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with any of this if one feels it is his calling. But there is a much better sign – a mark that has not been thought up just as a matter of expediency for use on some special occasion or in some specific era. It is a universal mark that is to last through all the ages of the church till Jesus comes back.
What is this mark?
At the close of his ministry, Jesus looks forward to his death on the cross, the open tomb and the ascension. Knowing that he is about to leave, Jesus prepares his disciples for what is to come. It is here that he makes clear what will be the distinguishing mark of the Christian:
Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. ( John 13:33-35)
I delight, I delight in you. Jesus.
Beauty for ashes, a garment of praise for my heaviness.
Take this heart of stone and make it yours.
Make it yours.
I delight myself in the riches of fare, trading that I’ve had for all that is better.
Isaiah 61:3
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
The garment of praise for my heaviness.
You are the greatest taste.
It plagues me.
And I let it.
Because it is pleasurable – for a moment.
And when that moment passes, it becomes shame, guilt, denial, apathy.
I am fleshly.
Forgive me.
So it’s been almost one week since we last spoke. It doesn’t really seem that long; sometimes it seems longer. I didn’t really mean to forget you. And I did remember.
But I remembered at the most inconvenient times. Then later I forgot, or pushed our conversation to the back burner.
You are not the back burner. You belong at the very forefront of everything I do and say, of every thought.
I don’t know how to achieve this.
Except through prayer, which seems to be the problem in the first place.
Thou art the God of the early mornings, the God of the late at nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea; but my God, my soul has further horizons than the early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature – Thou who art the God of all these, be my God, I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot trace, dreams I cannot get at – my God, search me out.
