Psalm 40 ~ Steadfast Love †

Psalm 40

 I waited patiently for the Lord;

    He inclined to me and heard my cry.

2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

    out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

    making my steps secure.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,

    a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

    and put their trust in the Lord.

4 Blessed is the man who makes

    the Lord his trust,

who does not turn to the proud,

    to those who go astray after a lie!

5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;

    none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

    yet they are more than can be told.

6 In sacrifice and offering You have not delighted,

    but You have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

    You have not required.

7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;

    in the scroll of the book it is written of me:

8 I delight to do your will, O my God;

    Your law is within my heart.”

9 I have told the glad news of deliverance

    in the great congregation;

behold, I have not restrained my lips,

    as You know, O Lord.

10 I have not hidden Your deliverance within my heart;

    I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;

I have not concealed Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness

    from the great congregation.

11 As for you, O Lord, You will not restrain

    Your mercy from me;

Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness will

    ever preserve me!

12 For evils have encompassed me

    beyond number;

my iniquities have overtaken me,

    and I cannot see;

they are more than the hairs of my head;

    my heart fails me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!

    O Lord, make haste to help me!

14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether

    who seek to snatch away my life;

let those be turned back and brought to dishonor

    who delight in my hurt!

15 Let those be appalled because of their shame

    who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

16 But may all who seek you

    rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation

    say continually, “Great is the Lord!”

17 As for me, I am poor and needy,

    but the Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

    do not delay, O my God!

I heard an interview talking about the historic futility of ordinary life.  And I did vehemently disagree.  If the Scriptures did not tell of such struggles. If life and danger and sadness occur for no reason, we would be as Paul said.

1 Corinthians 15

Now I would remind you, brothers,

 of the Gospel 

I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 

6 Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

 7 Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 

8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 1

0 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 

13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact 

Christ has been raised from the dead, 

the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep

†

† When we bought our house, we were ecstatic. Small boys on a 3 acre pond. The day we came to sign the papers, we brought our sons and the dog, Merit.  We sat by the pond just in joy and love. It was a day to live in our memories forever. Our Realtor, we really enjoyed, was out of town and she sent a Realtor friend, who came from Scotland. We discussed Scottish pronunciation of the name Anne. Couldn't quite say this, odd for me, as 100% UK DNA. But the Scottish Realtors true delight in her profession, bringing us such bliss.

The Christian Community is unique and lives in connection. Almost 2 decades later, a friend, we raised boys together, was displaying a beautiful handbag, one her late friend had given her. Her very best friend. And she was Scottish. As this decades long friend explained, it soon became apparent, this was the Realtor of our wonderful, wonderful day. And as I explained the joy of the day and how kind the lady was, my friend told me that after their 3 decades of friendship - this lady was the rare, rare, rare woman murdered in our community.

She had a son with a terrible, very awful drug problem. And in his rage, he moved quickly one day and shot her to death. I had to cry. The story continued with this decades long friend of mine who said this is what friendship is. Surely, an odd thing to say, crying over the death of a beautiful soul.

My decades long friend said, true friendship is not sharing the problems that would weigh one another down. To find the joy in life and skip the suffering. Because her dear friend had never told her that her 42-year-old son, the killer by impulse and substance abuse, had a drug problem and had been in Federal Prison and wasn't coping with getting out. Now, let me also add, both of these ladies, the friends, are in the top 10% of USA incomes. And know the inside of private jets well. 

Why add in the economic portion, this is to say: all people suffer.  Not just to say, on the jail class of repeat offenders.

It was a conversation to remember. To have tears of grief on my face, to find such an end to such a joyful soul, Scottish lady. And to hear someone discuss the relief not to have been included in such a long tragedy of the friend.  I was going to strive to comfort the anguish on the decades friend's face and think and discuss the other part, again a different day, when the emotions were not in full ocean raging of extremes. But the shocking lesson was continued, ongoing, to being delivered that adult friends are the best, the ones that only promote good cheer. 

The only thing better than good cheer isolation friendship, is the friend who plots to take what the other friend has. My mother lost her husband to a friend of 25 years. One my mother defended on numerous occasions publicly. You believe, I strove to end the conversation quickly.

And as my decade's long friend left the room, another friend came to sit next to me and quietly said, the one speaking of friend isolation had had a year in mental health facilities. Something unknown to me in our group of Christian friends.

If we didn't know the Scriptures, how would we know what we fight to overcome and will triumph over???

On 3 December 1328< Peter Roger was named Bishop of Arras, in which capacity he became a royal councilor of King Philip VI. Peter Roger had a meteoric rise to becoming Pope Clement VI. He was a Peer of France and sought to help France through service to God. He loved artists and dancing. And then... The Black Death arrived. He is the Pope who gave up fur coats and fire and bravely and with valor, waded in to help the people overcome The Black Death. Sweeping 1/3 to 2/3rds of the entire Population. He grew and was a Servant of Christ Jesus. Someone to read about in all his heroic efforts, largely created by impossible situations of great distress. He was a Shepherd to the people.

When reading about this time, it's plain to see, there is the Plague and then, there has been a historic Mental Plague as the physical symptoms of The Black Plague wane and cease.

We have all endured The Mental Pandemic 

of the Post Pandemic.

When it's difficult to conduct business and life as kindness flees and the climb of a scrap heap of dishonesty occurs. We have had business situations lately of plans to cheat instead of provide honest service. I won't name the companies, but we overcame them. And and and, partially because one employee would speak up rather quietly and without fanfare. One had to be listening and aware. Today, we refused to pay a service call because the employee injured the item he came to ... only replace. Finding the part we needed easily after he was asked by his boss to leave without a service call payment.

Speaking up quietly

Just like the woman who completed the circle of the friends, who began just a simple conversation over a handbag and made suffering, understanding and compassion about

the events of real life.

Friends report friendships end over lack of filters to have mercy. Families have 1/3 being separated, like Abraham and his heir, Lot.

Many people report when mortgages claim taxes have increased, and instead it is the escrow being used interest free by the mortgage lenders. Sometimes doubling the cost of the mortgage.

When the news has photos, we don't forget taken at the White House. When all the news repeats only old stories of dismay and irritations growing into dissatisfaction.

Micah 6:5-8

O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised:

    and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him.

And what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,

    that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,

    and 

bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

    with calves a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8 He has told you, O man, what is good;

    and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

    and to walk humbly with your God?

Jeremiah 22:15-16

Does it make you a king to excel in cedar? 

Did not your father have food and drink? 

He administered justice and righteousness, 

and so it went well with him. 

16 He took up the cause 

of the poor and needy, 

and so it went well with him. 

Is this not what it means to know Me?” 

declares the LORD. 

Galatians 6:9-12

And let us not grow weary while doing good, 

for in due season 

we shall reap 

if we do not lose heart.

 Therefore, 

as we have opportunity, 

let us do good to all, 

especially to those who are

 of the household of faith.

Zechariah 3

6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, 

7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: I

f you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, 

then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, 

and I will give you the right of access 

among those who are standing here. 

8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 

9 For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, 

on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, 

declares the Lord of Hosts,

 and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 

10 In that day, declares the Lord of Hosts, 

every one of you 

will invite his neighbor to come 

under His vine 

and 

under His fig tree.”

Almighty God, Abba, Heavenly Father, 

We live in Thee. 
We put out our hands to do the good works You've already planned for us. 

Lead us in Your paths; encourage us,

 let the words of our mouths and the thoughts of our heart 

be always pleasing to You. 

In Your Mercy,

Grow the seed of our faith, to become a mighty tree. 

Put out Your growing branches, 

to give us shelter & we will share in Your goodness, 

fellowship and rest. 

Give us eyes of faith, 

to see the hope of Your promises; 

the eagerness, like a child, 

to see them brought forth. 

In our Heart,

Help us to know we are flowers of the field

You are the Father giving Eternal Life,

Help us to Love

To not be angry, sorrow or have bitterness.

Instead, to have Joy and find You Plan

to Heal and Bring Us

Together.

To trust You 

and find Give us This Day

Strengthen our souls, 

let our lives 

reflect Your Light and Your Love. 

In the Highest name of Jesus Christ,

we pray,

Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †