Before anything else… A continuation to my look into Psalm 44.
Psalms 44:9-26
9 But You have cast us off and put us to shame, And You do not go out with our armies.
10 You make us turn back from the enemy, And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
Here we’re seeing a perspective into who we were before Christ ever changed us and saved us – Ashamed as Adam and Eve were ashamed the instant they ate and saw they were naked. Ashamed – and not that God cast us off, but we were the ones who hid, as Adam and Eve hid.
And here we also see that on top of shame, we aren’t just hiding from God, but we run and hide from those who call themselves our enemies, as well. And we’re that fearful that we don’t care about what we leave behind.
11 You have given us up like sheep intended for food, And have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell Your people for next to nothing, And are not enriched by selling them.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and a derision to those all around us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples.
We were divided, both in our inner thoughts, and amongst ourselves. We were worthless; A hassle to care for, scorned by those who have us. By being a ‘byword’ I understand that as us being permanently looked down upon with shame and pity.
Clearly, the wages of sin is death, and out of this death comes shame, chaos of mind and heart, fear (as in terror).
15 My dishonor is continually before me, And the shame of my face has covered me,
16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the enemy and the avenger.
And it’s not like we address it with virtue or valor – no, far as I remember, if it doesn’t cause any immediate alarm to any part of my being, I wouldn’t care, and go about my own way, seeking ‘good’ according to my severely limited, solitary mind; scheming, also according to my flawed and disconnected heart.
All this time, somehow, I was aware of the shame and falling from grace – and if it isn’t too small to ignore, I’d try to find reasons to respond with justification or rationalization, and/or double up with self-pity… And even then, if I somehow find my way to some semblance of repentance, well, there was the enemy of our souls, screaming at us, roaring at us this entire time.
When I thought I was over my own condemnation, the accuser lies in wait to tear me down.
You know, I’m glad I did go through this second half of the Psalm. Here I realize that repentance is not ‘just believing’ – there’s a lot of walls that have to be broken: Walls of ignorance, rationalization, ‘covering’ as Adam and Eve did; And even if we see these, and even more walls of hiding and self-pity torn down, there’s the enemy waiting to prey on us.
Repentance is believing beyond all these things… and, praise God, because this is where we realize that even our repentance is actually not something we do alone – it’s the Holy Spirit that comes through to us, and we let Him work in us.
17 All this has come upon us; But we have not forgotten You, Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back, Nor have our steps departed from Your way;
19 But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god,
21 Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.
Through all of this, we are loved by our God, and known by our Father – that we would only call out to Him, going beyond the condemnation and the accusation.
We find ourselves beaten, or in the verge of further brutal conflict and trial, but it’s in these moments that our defenses our down, that the Holy Spirit walks in.
22 Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever.
24 Why do You hide Your face, And forget our affliction and our oppression?
We may have our own share of toil and trouble, even to the point of dying daily; But we give God the glory, here and now, because none of these things separate us from His love.
None of these things would hold us back in saying that we are more than conquerors – And it’s not out of hubris, not out of our own confidence, not out of any achievement of ours… But it’s all because of Jesus Christ.
Only sharing this because that verse 22 was cited in one of my favoritest, if not THE one and only favorite set of Scriptures in the entire Bible, Romans 8 – yeah, the citation was sandwiched in those wonderful truths of our salvation.
Here and now, after Christ’s finished work, we are bold to say: Our Father is our Help.
Today, in the New Covenant, we are glad, for our Father never sleeps, and He never slumbers. He does not hide His face; No, He lifts His countenance upon us;
He makes His face shine upon us; If He does forget anything, He remembers our sins no more; And, we can cast all our cares upon Him, because He is always thinking about us.
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; Our body clings to the ground.
26 Arise for our help, And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.
Let us call upon the Lord. Let us run to Him in our time of need – Yes, let us run to His throne of grace, and cast all our burdens upon Him.
He is our Help – our very present Help.
Sorry. I could have easily posted that yesterday… But, well, here we are. Playing catch-up.
I had a bit of trouble sleeping last night. Had a lot of things in mind.
There are things that need priority, things that need expedience and things that need to be done as part of routine.
What I’m realizing here is that it’s not really deciding what comes first that holds me back – no, it’s more of just taking the first step.
So far, today, We’re doing routines. And, see, it sort of lays itself out as you keep taking step after step because after this, I’ve decided to tackle what needs expedience.
And with that said…
Thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.
Back during the days of the scamdemic Covid-19, I didn’t find it too hard to hit 10000 steps a day. All I needed to do is walk around the neighborhood. There weren’t any people around, and in case the police were making their rounds nearby, I had a mask on, or at least in my pocket.
Little did I know that starting around 2021, a dude named Rick Bhullar didn’t just post his workouts, but he also posted follow-along videos, particularly for folks who wanted to hit their step goals within the comfort of their homes. Well, now that I recall, I was following the legendary Art Schvartsberg (correct spelling unknown because he put down all his Iron Wolf videos) with his own insane burpee follow-alongs.
But my point here is, it never fails – whether I was walking outside, or walking at home, with background music, a video to keep my eyes on, and other distractions present, realizations always accompanied the endorphin high.
Realizations, such as last night, between 10-11pm, when I was recklessly going through one of Rick’s 30-Minute videos to hit 5000 extra steps (I want to go above and beyond 10k a day as much as I could this week):
That I am not an old guy with bitterness as part of my identity – No, I am a man with responsibilities, over my house, over those in my household, over a congregation entrusted to me, over people I am fortunate to be associated with.
…and, with great responsibility, comes great power. Yes, Ben Uncle told this to Parker Peter (who would eventually become the manSpider).
I go through this intro because that’s what came into mind as I gave this Psalm a once-over.
If Proverbs 31 was the go-to Scripture for the ideal woman, here’s what I think is a picture of the ideal Man…
…but He’s not to imitate, more than to trust.
Psalm 45
Your Throne, O God, Is Forever
TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO LILIES. A MASKIL OF THE SONS OF KORAH; A LOVE SONG.
1 My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
2 You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and majesty!
4 In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!
5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
10 Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father’s house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him.
12 The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people.
13 All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
14 In many-colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her.
15 With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.
16 In place of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.
I read all this again and think, the Man is who this Psalm says He is because of righteousness. He rides out for the cause of righteousness. He loves righteousness, and hates wickedness.
Righteousness, in this regard, is seen in how God has blessed Him forever, and anointed Him with the oil of gladness.
He is not who He is because of His own merit; BUT He goes forth victoriously and does what He does because of His own uprightness before God.
If it’s not made clear, I’m referring to Jesus here. He was born as one of us, He lay down His body and blood for us, He proved God’s grace and glory by rising from the dead, and He guaranteed the salvation and reconciliation of one and all who would believe in Him by ascending to heaven for the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon us – He was the One who rode out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness.
I believe He did all that He did from righteousness – that is, from being intimately loved and so openly favored by God, His (and eventually, our) Father.
It is by this that I say that a man is a man, not by who he is or what he does – but because of his Father, who is primarily, expediently, routinely, no less than the Creator of all things seen and unseen.
And the only way I could say this is through seeing what Christ has done, and also in appreciating what He has done for us. Because He is loved with the Father’s love, so He loved us and did the Father’s will; Now, we are able to love one another, we are able to esteem each other as better than ourselves, in the name of truth, meekness, and righteousness, all because of Christ. All because of the manger, the cross, the empty tomb, and the (currently) vacant Mount.
Only by the righteousness we have in and through Christ do men have real favor with people – from the daughters of kings, to merchants (the people of Tyre – a major trade post in ancient times), to the next generations.
…and only by the absolute salvation and righteousness I have with God through Christ am I able to take on any and all responsibilities – priorities, expediencies and routines – for when my family wins, I win.
When I was promoted at church, memories of my final moments with my Dad came up… and I felt it was just natural for me to tell those now under my watch (from said promotion), the same thing that my Dad told me when said to him, ‘You’re the man!’
He told me, ‘You all make me the man’.
Now, I say Christ made him the man.
Back in my days in High School there was a huge tarpaulin in display for everyone to see in the school gym – ‘Character makes a man’, it said.
I say Christ makes the man.
God bless you.
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