Psalm 67

Christian, do you want to labor?

Then labor to enter His rest. (Hebrews 4, and Hebrews 4:11 specifically)

Christian, do you want to do God’s work?

Then believe in the One He has sent. (John 6, and John 6:29 specifically)

I’ve quoted Seneca the Younger every now and then, particularly where he says, ‘If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable‘

Since earlier this morning, it personally feels as if I’m wanting to rest, but I’m not knowing how to rest, or where this ‘rest’ can be found… and no idle time is favorable.

I tried getting my mind busy with a session of Rome: Total War, but I couldn’t go as long as I used to – I mean, sure, decades ago I’d intentionally wake up early on a Saturday morning to fire up the PC, and play Starcraft literally all day. Nowadays I’d hop in, play an hour, two hours straight at most, before I feel my mind drained – in a game like Rome, I notice this when I become sloppy with tracking my Agents’ movements and when I get sloppy with the maintenance of settlements and armies.

Here, as in anything, my own approach to the Pomodoro effect takes place – 1-2 hours of focus, and 30 minutes of something else. 1-2 hours of gaming, then I fire up a YouTube video to shadow box, or to do a walking workout, to add to my daily step count. Or, heck, it could be an hour’s worth of focused exercise, and a 30 minute gaming session, or 30 minutes of doomscrolling on Instagram or YouTube.

Heck, I’d probably also be writing this, working on it for an hour, and then when the brain cells need some novelty, or ultimately an F5 refresh (Cmd-R if you’re on a Mac), I may go back to Rome.

But going back – I should be resting and allowing the Lord to minister to my entire being, but the world and the old flesh is taking advantage of the idle time, by way of temptations towards the old approaches to pleasure, ever so advertised by this reality.

What’s nice about it is that even in the idle time, God is with me. Yes, it’s not only during the high-tension situations – God’s as much with us in the boring and idle times, as He is with us during the high-stress or high-pleasure moments. He’s with us in the tunnels, just as much as He is with us in the peaks and the valleys. He’s with us in the bullish times, in the bearish times, AND during slow, sideways movement.

God be praised, He is faithfully, truly at work in us, with us, through us, by us – Faithful to finish the work He began in us, in the idle times and the active times.

Yes, let’s build on that – Christ is the Author, Finisher, AND ongoing Writer of our faith, whether we are stimulated, or are bored. His Word is Spirit and Life, poured out upon us – new every morning, as His mercies – no matter if we find ourselves intentionally seeking Him, laboring to enter His rest, or just, well, in our ‘nothing’ boxes.

Faithful and True, in the infinite and in the noise, the Son speaks to the winds and the waves:

Peace! Be still! And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Great and glorious, in the null and in the silence, the Father speaks His Word over the chaotic depths:

Let there be light! And there was light.

And, well, this is what gets to me. You just start writing, you just start typing, and you eventually arrive at gems and revelations, just like that. The Son spoke to the chaos, and there was calm. The Father spoke to the depths, and there was light.

We read about His Word, we write on His Word; We meditate on His Word, and sure, there’s a great chance we eventually come out praising. To clarify, in the light of what we’re discovering here, I wrote yesterday that it was a guarantee – but here I see the guarantee is, and the guarantee is calm. Peace.

We meditate on His Word, and we go deeper into His peace, further into His light. Amen.

With all this in mind… Indeed,

thank You, Lord, for the reading of Your Word.

An Invocation and a Doxology

To the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

1 God be merciful to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us,

Selah

I read ‘invocation’, and I remember: Light was only the FIRST thing that came forth from God’s Word. His Word INVOKED Creation into existence… and, here, we read the Psalmist’s composition, an invocation – speaking God’s mercy and blessings, God’s praise and will, just as He spoke us into existence.

2 That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.

3 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.

4 Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, And govern the nations on earth.

Selah

We’re reminded; Rather, I’m personally reminded of how, in our idle times, and when we don’t know how or where to rest – we should seriously consider meditating on His Word, and consequently praising Him, OR vice versa: Praising Him (even if it feels like we drag ourselves into it), and eventually receiving revelation after revelation.

This is certainly one reason why we absolutely must have musical praise in our contemporary, corporate worship services – if so much can happen when one person sings, how much more revelation is received, how much more reminders are issued, how much more of the Word is revealed when we gather together, and sing of God’s praises together?

Today’s takeaway:

Even when we don’t feel it, sing His praises.

Even when we don’t see it, meditate on His Word.

Even when we don’t feel it, He’s working.

Even when we don’t see it, He’s working.

He never stops, He never stops working.

Moving us from glory to glory. Causing all things to work for the good of those who love Him. Finishing the work He began in us.

He never stops, He never stops working.

Convicting the world – including family, friends, enemies, loved ones, leaders, influencers, and so on – of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Revealing His glory in all creation, that we are without excuse.

In this way, He works in hearts and minds – by the power of His Spirit, the Truth that sets us free, and His goodness that leads to repentance, is exposed to each and every sense of each and every person, constantly, consistently, faithfully.

Even in this reality infected by sin, death, and the flesh, there will always be opportunities for faith to come by hearing the word of God, for us to taste and see that the Lord is good, for us to behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

There will always be opportunities for us to edify each other, as we remember the gathering of believers, and come together to meditate on His Word.

There will always be opportunities for us; By the power of His Spirit, we are diligent to ensure that we are ready, in and out of season, to preach the Word, and to reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

There will always be opportunities for us; Because of Christ and His finished work, we always overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of our testimony.

He never stops, He never stops working.

In us, with us, for us, through us, by us.

5 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.

6 Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us.

7 God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

When in doubt, seek Him. Meditate on His Word. Labor to enter His rest. Believe in Christ.

I pray that our gracious, glorious Lord would continue to bless us this weekend. Amen.

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