This journal entry has taken a long time to complete. As you can see, I began this entry on the 5th of June, and it is now July 2nd. There were several reasons for this - fatigue, research time figured largely in the delay, but the most significant factor was probably the vacation I took at the end of June. I left to see my kids and grandkids on Friday, June 22nd and returned this morning. Tonight I have edited and put the final touches on it. I hope it is coherent and edifying.
June 5, 2018
Worship: Already All I Need by Christy Nockels
Asking where You are Lord, wondering where You've been
Is like standing in a hurricane trying to find the wind
Hoping for Your mercy to meet me where I am
Is forgetting that your thoughts for me outnumber the sand
You fill the sun with morning light
You bent the moon to lead the night
You clothed the lilies bright and beautiful
You're already all I need
Already everything that I could hope for
You're already all I need
You've already set me free, already making me more like you
You're already all I need
Jesus, You're already all I need.
Walking through this life without your freedom in my heart
Is like holding onto shackles that You have torn apart
So remind me of your promises and all that You have done
In this world, I will have trouble, but You have overcome
And every gift that I receive, You determined just for me
But nothing I desire compares to You
You're already all I need
Already everything that I could hope for
You're already all I need
You've already set me free, already making me more like you
You're already all I need
Jesus, You're already all I need.
In your fullness, You're my all in all
And in your healing, I'm forever made whole
And in your freedom, Your love overflows and carries me
You carry me, yes You carry me, You carry me
You're already all I need
Already everything that I could hope for
You're already all I need
You've already set me free, already making me more like you
You're already all I need
Jesus, You're already all I need.
Already all I need
AZLyrics Christy Nockels Lyrics
album: "Into The Glorious" (2012)
Witness:
I am sitting here before my computer and eating dinner. Feeling drained, not because I did anything strenuous today, but because of a sense of loss. Loss of sleep as always, but much more than that. I reread an entry from August 21, 2015. It was the year anniversary of my father’s death, so I felt the sense of loss over loved ones (living and dead). I also sat here thinking about my faith and how weak it was. The devil (or me, or one of his minions) sought to make me give up. The sinister lie spoken in my mind said, "After all, you always have and are fighting against doubt. Surely the Lord will say to you, 'Depart from me, I never knew you.'” But I quickly rebuked those thoughts. Above all these things, there was a sense of the loss of God’s presence in my life.
Driving back from the store earlier, I caught the tail end of a sermon by John Piper. The title of his message was, “A Generation Passionate for God’s Holiness.” Even though it was the end of the sermon, it was all I needed to hear to prick my heart and my memory. Here is a small excerpt from it:
I’ll say it again. The love of God is his passion to sustain and uphold and exult his holiness and his Son for your everlasting enjoyment. If you put yourself at the center, you’re suicidal. Because it robs you of the very glory of God and his enjoyment. Now if this happens and I pray it happens that God would turn this generation into a generation passionate for the holiness of God, everything would change. Everything would change. Your view of sin would change if he gave you a passion for the holiness of God. You would no longer think in terms of sin as the damaging of man, but as the dishonoring of God. You would no longer think of sin as the choice of pleasure, but the lust of pleasure. It would change the way you view the righteousness of God, you would no longer think of the righteousness of God as simply doing what is right by you. You would think the righteousness of God is his unswerving allegiance to always be right by himself, that is to exalt what is definitively worthy, namely his holiness and his glory. It would change the way you look at the cross. Oh, it will be precious. You would think “I love the cross. I love the cross.” But you would think about your love for the cross not like you’re told in so many books and so many sermons that there you can see how much you are valuable to God. But rather you would stand at the cross and see two things. You would see how infinitely valuable the holiness, the righteousness and honor of God is that when you trample it under foot by your sins, God knew the only way to vindicate his righteousness was to slay his own Son. That’s how serious your sin is. That’s how glorious God is. It’s not about your worth. And the other thing that you will see at the cross is that this is how much he was willing to pay to make you happy in his holiness — if you will be changed.1
Thoughts flooded my mind. I remembered how I was saved. Not by recognizing that I had offended the holiness of God, but because I didn’t want to go to hell. I knew I was a sinner and fear of an eternity in hell did not appeal to me. I realized that God’s holiness was not the means in my life to joy and happiness then, nor was it now. That being happy in His holiness was not what I sought now, but happiness in the lack of pain and suffering and loneliness. I was looking for signs and wonders. I was looking for God to show up and rescue me. But that’s the point. He did, it just wasn’t in the way I was looking for. Who would think of God’s holiness as the way to my comfort and happiness? That making God the center of my joy and not myself was the answer to my woe. Yet all the way home I kept saying, “God I don’t feel that way, please make me feel that passion that You have for Your holiness. Let me love the thought of Your holiness.” I am still praying for the change of mind and heart and understanding in all this. In the meantime, I will sing the words that were being sung when I sat down to write tonight.
Waiting here for You
With our hands lifted
high in praise
And it's You we adore
Singing Alleluia
|
Lord, I am waiting
for You to change my heart and mind.
To wean me from myself.
and wed me to the love of Your glory and holiness.
To find my joy primarily in who You are
and not ultimately in what You can do or provide for me.
To find, above all, my happiness in what You did
to make a way for me to revel in all that You are
and be satisfied in it throughout my life and for eternity.
~ Amen
|
11 Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence. *
13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.
NIV (1984)
* spouting malicious accusations
NIV (2011)
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Ps 27:11-14
11 Teach me how to live, O Lord.
Lead me along the right path,
for my enemies are waiting for me.
12 Do not let me fall into their hands.
For they accuse me of things I've never done;
with every breath they threaten me with violence.
13 Yet I am confident I will see the Lord's goodness
while I am here in the land of the living.
14 Wait patiently for the Lord.
Be brave and courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
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Ps 27:11-14
11 Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
KJV
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Ps 27:11-28:1
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
ESV
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“Teach me” is a prayer that David alone in the Bible seems to pray, with one exception. These words are found on the lips of Moses as recorded in Exodus. Regarding the actual words used that are the same in each verse only the phrase “your ways” are the same.
Below I have the verses where David is seeking to know God’s ways and paths. I have also included the passage from Exodus. I have highlighted the words that appear in a verse that also are used in the others. I have color coded each word so you can see where the same word (in Hebrew) is used in each of the verses. The phrase “your ways” is used in 4 of the 5 relevant verses.
The word for “teach” in Exodus 33:13 is “yada” literally means “to know.” It is the same word used in the phrase that immediately follows – “I may know You.” It is the same word used in the preceding verse where Moses testifies to the fact that God has said, “I know you by name, and you have found favor with me.” (Ex 33:12 NIV). Moses seems to be saying, “Lord you know me, now please make me know Your ways so that I may know You.” What a difference between how Moses and David prayed and much of the prayers prayed today. I include myself in this. Why we pray should be first and foremost theocentric, as opposed to anthropocentric and self-gratifying. Moses wanted to know God’s way to know God Himself and to stay on the path of favor. This calls to mind what the Apostle Peter said:
Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
2 Peter 3:17-18 NIV
In David’s case, at first glance, one might see David’s prayer as focusing solely on his plight and pleading for help. David is pleading for help, but he is asking for guidance from God so that he would not give his enemies ammunition nor break the covenant he had with God. One might think that David is merely asking for God to guide him geographically, but I believe that David asked for something deeper than just that. I believe David saw in God’s providential protection a spiritual and ethical dimension of guidance that he desired. He didn’t want to lower himself to the depraved level of his enemies. Instead, he sought to rise above them in his manner of conduct and character.
Ex 33:13
If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways, so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."
Ps 25:4
Show me your ways, O Lord,
teach me your paths;
NIV
Ps 26:12
12 My feet stand on level ground;
in the great assembly I will praise the Lord.
NIV
Ps 27:11
11 Teach me your way, O Lord;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
NIV
Ps 5:8
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies —
make straight your way before me.
NIV
Ps 86:11
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
NIV
Final Thought:
Even though the word for “teach” may vary in each passage, the phrase “Your way” is the same in all. No matter how we approach the Lord in prayer petitioning Him for guidance, the penultimate goal is the same – to know and do His will. And the ultimate goal is found in the answer to the first question in the Westminister Larger Catechism:
Question 1: What is the chief and highest end of man?
Answer: Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
(from Creeds of the Church, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved
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