Psalm 134 ~ Come, bless the Lord, all you

Psalm 134

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
2 Lift up your hands to the holy place
and bless the Lord!

3 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth!




Alice Roosevelt famously said, "If you have nothing nice to say, come sit next to me."

The Christian community is community and while we just might not buy into pet rocks, we sure spent money on books and t-shirts on the Prayer of Jabez, what, about twelve years ago, or so. In the 1980s, there was a run on angels and from the pulpit, you heard pros and cons on that topic.

Well, there is a slightly new trend with t-shirts and bumper stickers saying, "Sure Jesus loves you, but HE loves me better."

I love a good Christian discussion and apologize to our Pastor sending out his email on the Sunday sermon which really made me respond like Arnold in Mr. Carter's old tv-series. Oh me! Oh me!

We saw this kick off in Jacob's family - Joseph had a beautiful coat and stood up to say, "And When I am King of the Foooooooorest!" Didn't go off well for Joseph. Or maybe that did, it sorta depends if you are looking at it this way down Highway Six or that way. That's an Aggie reference, if you know what I mean. Mississippi Queen.

Okay, seriously now. Does God Almighty the Alpha and the Omega have favorites? We can trust God to tell us.

Malachi 1

1 The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob's brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.

Evidently, we see God's favor by adversity and prosperity. Um, not exactly, just as there is no one answer to any circumstance, God is explaining His Heart to us. So, if we are pinging this argument around, maybe it's another grim example of the outrageousness of the Old Testament. And let's smile together, because the Old and New Testament have a few similarities.

Acts 13:22
And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

Acts Thirteen is quoting to us, by extrapolation, 1 Samuel 13:14.

We clearly see Joseph had adversity, David and Joseph had both adversity and prosperity.

Okay, maybe you aren't convinced yet. I'll try some more.

Jesus spoke of defining people, in their walk on adversity and prosperity.

 Luke 13
 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ² Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” 

1 Corinthians 2

“What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him—

¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.

Do we have any Christian flawed and loved saints in the New Testament with this topic? We do. And the topic is discussed by Paul. Who loved Timothy, as his son.

1 Timothy 3
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Puffed with conceit.

John's Gospel starts Chapter 21 this way:
After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.

And towards the end of the Chapter we find out this:
24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

And the same disciple tells us this:
John 13:23
One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus' side


Why do we say not to be a recent convert?

Because when Jesus tells us He overcomes the world, there is a time of transfiguration. Love blossoms. John saw the transfiguration and was never going to leave Jesus behind. Being adopted as Jesus carried the Cross for me.

And for you. God wants to save the Whole World. Jesus adopted Mary right after the Cross He carried for us. She was the first person He encountered rising and overcoming death. Who records this?

John 20
7 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Adoption. Into the Family of God.

Favorites? Do we favor our children? I'm flawed, when I favor one of my two sons -then they act human and I'm off to the next child. I see my children have different gifts and abilities - they need encouragement to see they are uniquely made, gifted, to be themselves. The people God created them to be. And talking to them, my heart sometimes breaks a little, they can't be more blessed knowing the unique, beautiful person they are and be more grateful.

People who LOVE want to share HIS Love for others. Just was we want our children to be in healthy love with themselves. Working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Not singing "Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble, when I'm perfect in every way."

Our Father God is Father. He is Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ the Risen Lord. He is Three in One. We set HIM first. And love others as ourselves. This community keeps us connected in gratitude, humility - the awe and inspiration of fellow believers drawing near to Worship and Praise Him.


Our deepest relationship with our Hero Jesus Christ starts as personal relationship and grows to become this... we rejoice to see Him Love and bless others.

Ephesians 4
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.


Lord Jesus Christ, go with me today... I need Thee. Much more than You shall need me. Let us count together, the blessings You have given me. Amen.

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