Scripture
Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?
~Psalms 85:6, NLT
Quote
God is not only the Creator, He is creative and full of wondrous surprises.
~Ya’akov
Psalm 85 was written by one of the descendants of Korah, they were the gatekeepers at the temple. Most likely, it was written during the post-exilic era between Cyrus release of the Jews and Nehemiah reviving God’s work and restoring the walls of Jerusalem. Some would even say that Nehemiah was the answer to this prayer and he was to a degree. Verses 9-11 has Jesus stamped all over them: Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, so our land will be filled with His glory. Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed! Truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven. Yes the LORD pours down His blessings. Our land will yield its bountiful harvest. Righteousness goes as a herald before Him, preparing the way for His steps. Jesus is the fulfillment to each of these things: He is Salvation and He brought it near, made it accessible to all who fear God and repent. He brought righteousness and peace together in one life, in one person. No one else could do this. The Jews loved peace but they struggled with righteousness. Righteousness must precede peace because peace is a by-product of righteousness. The fact that Jesus was both man and God brings heaven and earth together in perfect harmony which is symbolized by a kiss.
What amazed me yesterday morning as I meditated over this Psalm is God’s ability to see through us and to give us what we need instead of what we ask. Ephesians 3:20-21, Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. God answered this Levites prayer but He went exceeding beyond what the Levite was able to articulate. God gave him infinitely more than he ask for or could even imagine. Do you think this Levite had any concept of the incarnation, the Son of God and Son of man, Jesus the way, the truth and the life, Jesus the resurrection and life? No, he didn’t have a clue and neither did anyone else. What is the glory of a temple made of stone compared to Temple from heaven, the Son of God? There is no doubt that the Jews had a messianic expectation but God went exceedingly abundantly beyond what they expected. What do you expect heaven to be? It will be exceedingly abundantly more than you can imagine. When you hear these folks who have it all figured out and they tell us what God is going to do; don’t pay any attention to them, they are full of mush. God will fulfill every promise and every prophecy but He will do it His way and it will be a surprise.
- The August Blogs are done in memory of Kaley Greer, my brother John’s granddaughter who was killed in a tragic accident last August.
- Well I love my daughter-in-law and I thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship with Kelvin, Don and my brother John but you could not get me to play a round of golf today if you offered me $1,000. As I was leaving, I saw a man teeing up and walking: I’d never make it. Of course we won, at least we had the highest score. Actually, no one was really close. Hey, I will be ready for them next year: Eastern Gate Ministries is going to sponsor a team and they will be competitive. To top it off, I had four tickets for the door prizes and didn’t win a thing. There were only twenty tickets: I had 1/5 of them and still didn’t win. As my mother-in-law used to say, “If it was raining soup, I would be out in it with a folk.” Hey, I go to these tournaments to be the team clown and to entertain but Kelvin kept me laughing the entire time. It was a fun day but I am spent. It will take me three days to recover.
- We borrowed Lori’s glasses and watched the eclipse: it was something. I thought it would get a little darker but looking at it through the glasses was a sight for sore eyes. It did not cool things down though. Yesterday was a hot one.