(1) God allows the humble to know Him more intimately. For though the Lord is high, yet has He respect to the lowly—bringing them into fellowship with Him—but the proud and haughty He knows and recognizes only at a distance (Psalm 138:6).
(2) God gives the humble help to overcome evil. But He gives us more and more grace—power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully. That is why He says, “God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace continually to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it)” (James 4:6).
(3) God gives His favor to the humble. …Clothe (apron) yourselves, all of you, with humility—as the garb of a servant, so that its covering cannot possibly be stripped from you…. For God sets Himself against the proud—the insolent, the overbearing, the disdainful, the presumptuous, the boastful—and He opposes, frustrates, and defeats them, but gives grace (favor, blessing) to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).
The bottom line—God mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed (Proverbs 3:34).
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
I don’t know when the last was that you may have tried to get a dozen little kids lined up, but it’s quite an experience! Everyone is vying for their spot. Someone gets mad and yells out, “He cut!” And then the reply is yelled back, “No, I didn’t. She was saving my spot!” This usually results in lots of pushing and shoving as each person tries to reclaim their rightful place in line.
This is the backdrop for Psalm 7. The introduction tells us that Cush is causing David grief. Maybe because Cush is from the tribe of Benjamin like King Saul, and he doesn’t want David cutting in line so he is shoving him back to his proper place.
There’s a musical term David uses, which isn’t used in any other psalm: shiggaion. This means a rhythm that isn’t normal—it’s a freewheeling, irregular, impassioned beat. This also helps set the atmosphere for what’s happening in David’s life. The root word for shiggaion implies a shakeup (or a shoving and pushing) that could lead to someone losing their way.
David tries to do the right thing. He asks for God’s help (v. 1) so that he doesn’t get ripped to shreds (v. 2). He even takes time to ask himself if he has done anything that led to Cush’s shoving (vv. 3-5). But notice these are all David’s attempts to make things right.
Remember that this is a Royal Psalm, but we haven’t heard anything about God as King yet. But now we come to the end of v. 5, which is also the end of David’s own striving. It’s marked by the word Selah.
My little friends push and shove to try to get their place. But all of that stops when I say, “Johnny is my line leader, and this is the way the rest of you are going to line up behind him.” David’s Selah pause was a call to switch from doing things on his own to yielding to the King to sort things out. He was saying, “The King of kings is the Leader and He knows my place in line.”
It’s only after the Selah that we see the royal terms for the Undisputed Leader:
He is the One who will decree justice (v. 6)
He will rule…from on high (v. 7)
He is the Supreme Judge (vv. 8, 11) so David yields his introspection to Him (vv. 3-4, 8-9)
He is God Most High (vv. 10, 17)
Our King has no rival. No one can shove Him. No one can contradict Him. No one can hide anything from Him (vv. 11-16).
We must bow only to the King of kings (Philippians 2:10-11).
We mistakenly bow our knee to man when…
…we aren’t willing to own our mistakes
…we try to administer our own “shove” of justice
…we make our own refuge
So we bow to the King when…
…we acknowledge, confess, and repent of our sins (vv. 3-5; Psalm 19:12, 69:5)
…we follow the example of Jesus when we’re shoved around (1 Peter 2:21-23)
…find our refuge solely in God (v. 1; c.f. 2:12; Ephesians 6:12; James 4:7)
Our best response in troublesome times—when you feel like you are being shoved around—is to fall to your knees in reverence to the King of kings (v. 17)! The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; He covers him all the day long, and makes His dwelling between his shoulders (Deuteronomy 33:12 AMPC).
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Here’s an interesting interaction between King Saul and David—
And Saul jealously eyed David from that day forward. … And Saul cast the javelin, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall. And David evaded him twice. Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. (1 Samuel 18:9, 11-12 AMPC)
This exchange in this well-known story got me wondering. I was thinking howSaul had the position of authority over David and he had a javelin in his hand, but the Bible still says that Saul “was afraid of David.” Why would that be? I think even the most atheistic of people intuitively know there is something other-worldly about those in whom the Spirit of God abides, which makes worldly people lash out at them in fear.
But those who fear God—as David did—don’t fear mortals. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, Who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28 NLT). This reverent fearlessness is what galls those who fear the unknown, so they try to silence confident God-followers.
In these attacks, Jesus tells us not to respond naturally, but supernaturally. “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you” (Luke 6:27-28 NLT).
Peter picked up those words from Jesus and instructed Christians: “Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when He judges the world. … For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in His steps.” (1 Peter 2:12, 21 NLT).
Although Saul feared the presence of God in David, he also had to acknowledge the success that came to David because of God’s abiding presence in him, and also, by extension, the success that came to Saul’s kingdom. On the one hand, Saul wanted David dead; on the other hand, he wanted David close by—
So Saul removed David from him and made him his commander over a thousand; and [David] went out and came in before the people. David acted wisely in all his ways and succeeded, and the Lord was with him. When Saul saw how capable and successful David was, he stood in awe of him. (1 Samuel 18:13-15 AMPC)
When Christians are supernaturally empowered by God, they never have to respond in natural fight-or-flight from those who lash out at them. Let your faithfulness to God be your testimony that points others to Him.
Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would treat you with affection and would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world [no longer one with it], but I have chosen (selected) you out of the world, the world hates (detests) you.” (John 15:18-19)
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Think of the most well-known Christian evangelist you can imagine preaching before tens of thousands of people all over the world, broadcasting his sermons online, selling books, and being invited to pray with the world’s leaders.
Now think of a pastor you may know in a rural community ministering to a small congregation. He has no online presence, no books, and is hardly known outside of his own town.
The apostle Paul would say to both of them, “You are only servants of God.”
“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. … This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servant of Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:5, 4:1).
Only servants of Christ.
God calls His servants to do their servant’s work with care and quality (1 Corinthians 3:10, 14). And he also says, “The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor” (v. 8).
God’s rewards are not for big ministries, but for faithful ministers.
I talk a lot about faithfulness in my book Shepherd Leadership. In the chapter entitled ‘Stick-to-it-iveness,’ I wrote this—
Peter instructs us that our example for the flock must be God-honoring. People do what people see. If I would have arrived on that Saturday bent out of shape that things weren’t working out as I had planned, I would have robbed people of the enjoyment that they should have had that day. Remember that when Jesus told us that He had set an example for us (John 13:15), it was an example of putting others’ needs ahead of His own. Did Jesus want to wash those dirty feet? Probably not. But He not only washed them well, but He also had such a good attitude that its impact is still being felt today.
Peter was there on that day. He heard Jesus say this about following His example of such others-focused leadership: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” So Peter reminds his readers that the Chief Shepherd is returning with rewards for the faithful under-shepherds. Occasionally, we will get some rewards here, but keeping our steadfast focus on the rewards and blessings that are still to come will help us stick with our responsibilities, even on those days when no one else seems to notice or even care.
Let’s listen to the words of the apostle Paul again: “So, then, no more boasting about human leaders!” (1 Corinthians 3:21).
And let me repeat myself—
God’s rewards are not for big ministries, but for faithful ministers.
T.M. Moore has a challenging word for those who are called to preach the Gospel. He writes, “Jesus, like Ezekiel set His face like flint to fulfill His appointed mission. And so must we, for whom the Word is both sweet and bitter (cf. Revelation 10:8-11). We must live and proclaim its sweet and bitter message to an impudent and hard-hearted age, beginning in our churches. It is time for judgment to begin from the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). We must speak to our brethren in the Lord, the household of faith, to teach, warn, direct, and to summon them to revival, renewal, and awakening, for a greater knowledge of the Lord and His love, and a fuller realization of His Kingdom presence, promise, and power.”
“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” —Edwin H. Land
I have written before how significant it is that the New Testament uses the phrase “one another” so many times. T.M. Moore writes about this as well, noting, “The more we love Jesus, the more loving our neighbors will come (super)naturally to us as the Spirit of God works in us to will and do of His good pleasure. So, as in everything we do to take up Jesus’ work of building His Church, loving one another begins with loving Jesus.”
After listing a truckload of verses describing Who the Holy Spirit is, Sinclair Ferguson concludes, “Think about all of that! This Spirit—this one and the same Spirit, and no other—‘dwells within thee.’ He is the very Spirit who dwelled in the Lord Jesus. … There are not multiple Holy Spirits—One in Whose grace and power the Lord Jesus lived, One Who indwells you, One Who indwells me, and a multiplicity of other Holy Spirits indwelling an innumerable company of believers. No! There is only One Holy Spirit; and He who thus indwells me as the Spirit of Christ also indwells every believer I shall ever meet.”
The verb Luke uses here is suggestive of a time when the devil may think he has an advantage over his intended victim. The KJV says the devil departed for “a season.” Just like farmers know the proper season to plant, to weed, to harvest, and to rest, so does our adversary.
Check out how some other translations of the Bible render Luke 4:13—
another more opportune and favorable time (AMPC)
until the next opportunity came (NLT)
lying in wait for another opportunity (the Message paraphrase)
Jesus warned Peter that the devil wanted to sift him as wheat (Luke 22:31-32). Although Peter knew the “opportune time” was coming, he was unprepared when it did come and he failed in his initial time of temptation. Jesus restored Peter and told him that he was going to be the one to help prepare others to be victorious when the devil attacked them.
Peter may have had this in mind when he warned us to be alert for our prowling enemy (1 Peter 5:8). The apostle Paul also tells us to be aware of the devil’s schemes, and to never be without our spiritual armor (2 Corinthians 2:11; Ephesians 6:11).
There is never a time when I am invulnerable to a spiritual attack.
The moment I think I am self-secure is an opportune season for the devil to unleash his attack on me. “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Peter tells us to “resist [the devil], standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:9). In the preceding three verses, Peter tells us just how to do this:
humble yourself before God—no feelings of self-sufficiency
Don’t be caught off-guard by giving the devil “an opportune time,” but stay utterly dependent on God. As James says, we have to first submit ourselves to God and then we will be prepared to resist the devil and watch him flee from us (James 4:7).
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
This whole series of messages is about how God can turn our grief into joy. On Easter Sunday we celebrate the most joy-filled event in all of history: the resurrection of Jesus!
At our Good Friday service, we talked about how the day was anything but good for those who were there. The day is only good for people who have been rescued from eternal, inescapable grief.
The Bible tells us that all of us have sinned and the penalty for that sin is eternal separation from God (Romans 3:23, 6:23a). But Jesus died in our place (Romans 5:8) to turn our eternal grief into eternal joy. Check out this out: God promises to exchange the cup of wrath and judgment with the cup of righteousness and peace (Isaiah 51:17-22). That’s exactly what Jesus accomplish with this death and resurrection!
On Friday, no one was joyful. In fact, it was just the opposite: Grief gripped their hearts and held them in fear. Probably the only one who was happy on that day was the devil.
On Saturday, the clouds of grief and fear darkened even more. It was the Sabbath day, and the Jewish followers of Jesus would still have to attend the synagogue and go through the motions of the day. Can you imagine how hollow and meaningless all of the activities seemed?
Then Sunday morning arrived. Jesus had predicted this (Matthew 12:40), but when some of the women who attended to His needs during His years of ministry came to the tomb, they were completely unprepared for what they found (Luke 24:1-7).
Jesus told them that they would see their grief turned to joy (John 16:20, 22; Luke 22:53), but when these ladies told His disciples, they still couldn’t comprehend it (Luke 24:9-12, 19-24).
Grief can so grip our emotions, that it will effect us physically as well: our eyes are clouded, our mind is fuzzy, and our ears seem stuffed with cotton (John 20:14-16; Luke 24:15-17).
So what finally convinced them? Their own hearts!
Solomon wrote, “He has planted eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The AMPC says: He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds—a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy.
Mary finally saw Jesus and saw her grief turned to joy when she heard Jesus say, “Mary.”
These men on the road said their hearts burned in them when Jesus explained the Scripture to them (Luke 24:31-32, 27).
And when the other disciples were locked away for fear of the Jews (John 20:19), Jesus spoke to them about how His Word was fulfilled in His actions (Luke 24:44-46).
There is a hymn that ends, “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart.” There is something unmistakable and irrefutable when someone knows what it is to have their sins forgiven—to have their grief turned to unquenchable joy!
In fact, the best proof of a risen Savior is seeing a life freed from gripping grief that used to plague them.
If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, the thought of the end of life and what comes next probably fills you with a sense of uneasiness. It doesn’t have to be this way!
If you do know Jesus, please remember that your best testimony is a life that doesn’t get bogged down in the same grief the world experiences. When you can show supernatural joy while everyone else is gripped by grief, people will turn to you (1 Peter 3:15).
Please check out the other messages in this series called Grief Into Joyby clicking here.
The word gospel simply means the good news about the salvation that comes only through Jesus.
Paul loves this word!
Interestingly, although we refer to the first four books of the New Testament as “The Gospels,” the word itself barely appears:
Matthew—4 times
Mark—8 times
Luke—0 times
John—0 times
And even though these four opening books are the Gospels about Jesus, He Himself only uses the word nine times, with the other three times attributed to someone else mentioning what Jesus was doing.
Peter only uses this word twice (Acts 15:7; 1 Peter 4:17). And John uses it just once (Revelation 14:6).
Paul, however, uses this word 64 times!
It becomes such a part of who he is and how he thinks, that he calls it “my gospel” twice (Romans 2:16, 16:25) and “our gospel” three times (2 Corinthians 4:3; Colossians 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:14).
For Paul and for us this Good News is—
God’s promises fulfilled
salvation power
the fullness of God’s blessing
the opening of mysteries
the guide for godly living
glorious light
the expression of God’s grace
the standard of all truth
a key part of the Christian’s spiritual armor
the empowerment for ministry
the anchor of unshakable hope
the means by which we experience Christ’s glory
the only door to life and immortality
For those of us who have been called to preach this Gospel, these thoughts should both humble and empower.
For those of us who have been saved by believing this Gospel, these thoughts should cause us to desire to know more, and more, and more about our Savior.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Last week I shared this thought with you from Pastor Tim Keller: “Your prayer must be firmly connected to and grounded in your reading of the Word. This wedding of Bible and prayer anchors your life down in the real God. … Without immersion in God’s words, our prayers may not be merely limited and shallow but also untethered from reality.”
“Untethered from reality” means that we determine the manner in which we come to God in prayer, the way prayer works, and the way God must respond to our prayer. But what we read in the Bible is the opposite of this (Isaiah 1:11-15).
I think there are two opposite and equal erroneous thoughts about how we approach prayer:
I’m not worthy to come into the presence of an all-holy God
I can waltz right into God’s presence whenever and however I please
Both are wrong and both are strategies the devil has used to keep us prayerless. Either we don’t go to God at all or our prayers are unheard because the Bible says that our arrogance has made our prayer ineffectual.
Our Prayer Book—the Bible—helps us find the balance. George Whitefield noted, “Reading the Bible is a good preparative for prayer, as prayer is an excellent means to render reading effectual.” So here’s what we read about those two errors.
I’m not worthy. God is unapproachable in His holiness, but Jesus has made it possible for us to enter in through His righteousness (1 Timothy 6:15-16; Isaiah 6:1-5; Hebrews 4:1, 14, 16; John 16:23-24).
I can come anyway I want to. Passages like Psalm 15:1-5 and Isaiah 58:2-4 make it clear that we cannot simply approach God in a way of our choosing.
Let’s unpack that second error a little more. We have to be clothed in righteousness in order to come into God’s presence, but we cannot be clothed in a righteousness that is apart from Jesus. When we say that we are praying in the name of Jesus, it means we are praying in the nature of Jesus and through the righteousness of Jesus. We must be wearing His righteous robe (Romans 3:22-24; Isaiah 61:10).
So I think we need to pray before we pray. Let’s try these actions which are tethered to the reality of our Prayer Book.
Worship. This is a deep pondering of who God is; it is humbly assigning Him the highest worth. In face, the Old English spelling of this word (“worthship”) gives us insight into what worship does. It is this kind of humility that God responds to (Isaiah 6:5-7; 57:15; Luke 18:9-14).
Confession. As we are worshiping, we will see our inadequacies (much like Isaiah did in Isaiah 6, or the tax collector did in Luke 18). We then need to confession these shortcomings. Dick Brogden wrote, “Confessed sin opens the portals of heaven into our darkness, and light and glory overwhelm shame. Confession is our glory for it lifts our heads and eradicates shame.” We see this so vividly lived out in the prayers of David (Psalm 139:23-24; 51:1-2; 19:12-14).
Repentance. I think we could also call this Repair. After confession where we have fallen short, we resolve now to both take a different path and repair what was damaged (Matthew 5:23-24; Mark 11:25-26; 1 Peter 3:7).
Petition. After worship, confession, and repentance / repair, our heart’s attitude is now in the place for God to heed our cries for His help (1 Peter 3:12).
Let’s learn to pray before we pray. Don’t just rush in and rush out of God’s presence. Take time to worship, confession any sins the Holy Spirit reveals, make things right, and then present your petitions.
Our hearts need to be prepared to present our petitions. This is how we know that God will hear our voice.
(1) God allows the humble to know Him more intimately. For though the Lord is high, yet has He respect to the lowly—bringing them into fellowship with Him—but the proud and haughty He knows and recognizes only at a distance (Psalm 138:6). 
Craig T. Owens 