Links & Quotes

When there is a misunderstanding between the leader and a team member, insecure leaders want the other person to change. Secure leaders, however, take ownership and ask, “What do I need to do differently?” Check out more from The Craig and Greg Show.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

In elaborating on the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:13 about Christians being the salt of the earth, T.M. Moore wrote, “In Jesus’ day, salt had three primary functions. Most people would have understood two of these, but only those raised in an Old Testament framework would have known about the third.” Read more about what churches should be considering about how they season the community around them.

In his “Look at the Book” series, John Piper expounds on the many ways Paul refers to Jesus in his second letter to Timothy. There are several ways, but Paul’s preferred way is “Christ Jesus.” Pastor John unpacks the Hebrew and Greek origins of these words and titles, and why he thinks Paul especially gravitated toward this title.

Aerosols from penguin excrement may help trigger cloud formation, reducing solar heating and helping stabilize local areas of the Antarctic climate, study finds.” Hmmm, it’s almost like God designed His creation to take care of itself—because He did!

And an article in Science says, “According to secular models of Solar System formation, Earth, as an inner Solar System planet, should have little to no water.” And yet more than 70% of Earth is covered with water!

Aelred of Rievaulx wrote, “In friendship there is nothing more outstanding than faithfulness, which seems to be both the nurse and guardian of friendship. In all of life’s turns, in adversity and prosperity, in joy and sadness, in delightful and bitter circumstances, it reveals itself to be comparable to friendship, holding in the same regard both the humble and the exalted, the poor and the rich, the strong and the weak, the well and the infirm.”

Commenting on Aelred’s words, T.M. Moore observed, “Don’t we all want friends like that, who not only will provoke and prod us to grow in the Lord, but will stand by us in good times and bad, when we’re up and when we’re down? But if we would have such friends, we must be good stewards of their trust. This, again, is why spiritual friendships must be grounded in the Lord and focused on Jesus if they are going to bear the fruit of His indwelling Spirit.”

Evolutionary scientists claim to have made some steps forward in their understanding of the origins of life by using “the last universal common ancestor (LUCA).” But creationists like those at ICR observe that, “This mysterious LUCA is an unknown entity that existed from an unknown time ago at an unknown place by an unknown chain of unknown processes.” Clearly, the hypothesis that is the most straightforward and explainable is that God created the life in our universe just as the Bible states.

Along the same lines, Glenn Schrivener asks, “What do you think was there ‘in the beginning’—before peoples, planets, and protons? If you could hit rewind on the history of the universe and go back as far as possible, what would you find?” Then he gives us four possible things we may consider.

Dehydrated

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

I just came back from California where drought-like conditions cause residents a lot of concern—wildfires, crop failure, what happens if too much rain falls too quickly? Being dry causes people a lot of stress. 

Most people live under-hydrated, if not dehydrated. Depending upon the size of the person, the amount of water in the human body makes up 55-75%. That means that when we don’t get enough water, many complications can arise. So if you struggle with…

  • …headaches, don’t take a Tylenol, but trying drinking more water 
  • …bad breath, don’t swish mouthwash, but trying drinking more water 
  • …being tired, don’t guzzle caffeine, but trying drinking more water 
  • …gut problems, don’t pop an Alka-Seltzer or milk of magnesia, but trying drinking more water 
  • …bags under your eyes, don’t get botox, but trying drinking more water 

The introduction to Psalm 143 only says, “A psalm of David,” but nothing about his actual predicament. But we can see the things that were weighing heavy on David: 

  • he pleaded for mercy, which means not getting the punishment he deserved (vv. 1-2) 
  • enemies were pursuing him (v. 3) 
  • he felt faint in spirit and dismayed in heart (v. 4) 
  • he had a failing spirit (v. 7) 
  • he was lost, asking God to “show me the way” (v. 8) 
  • he prayed for God to “preserve my life…bring me out of trouble” (v. 11) 
  • he felt the slander of his enemies (v. 12) 

All of this must have led to David feeling emotionally and spiritually—if not even physically—dehydrated. 

We have said there are three definitions for Selah, but I think the context of this chapter clearly limits it to just one definition: a pause to reflect. David’s Selah in this psalm is actually a quadruple Selah! A dehydrated David reminds himself and us to…

  • remember or recall to mind 
  • meditate or speak to yourself (also see Psalm 42:5-6) 
  • consider—some translations use the word “muse,” a word meaning an inner conversation, including airing our complaints 
  • Selah—the call to “pause and calmly think of that,” as the Amplified Bible defines that word  

All of these things pressing in on David were getting his full attention, so he forgot to drink deeply of the Living Water of God. As a result, David was dehydrated. This is why he calls for that quadruple Selah to be refreshed. 

But what if there are so many problems around us that we cannot even think of anything that we can “drink” from God? What if there are so many troubles that we don’t know what to thank Him for? 

Let me point you to a tiny preposition: IN in vv. 8, 9 (and also in Psalm 42:5-6). David is not saying he has to get a drink, but that he has to go IN to the Source of Living Water. 

Rejoice IN the Lord (Philippians 4:4) and Trust IN the Lord (Isaiah 26:4). As a result, God will then keep us IN His peace (Isaiah 26:3; Philippians 4:7). [Check out all of these verses by clicking here.]

This is what I think David spoke to himself in his remembering, meditating, and considering—in his inner conversations. Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust IN You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life (Psalm 143:8). 

When you’re dehydrated, it’s hard to think of things to be thankful for, but we can look to the unchangeable attributes of God. David did this and it helped him with his actions and attitude: 

God’s love is unfailing so we can rely on Him (v. 8a)
God’s omniscience is infinite so we can trust His leading (v. 8b)
God’s omnipotence is unmatched so we can be secure in Him (v. 9)
God’s sovereign wisdom is unrivaled so we can confidently obey and follow Him (v. 10)
God’s eternal glory is unending so we can have eternal hope (v. 11)
Again David notes that God’s love is unfailing so we can continue to fearlessly serve Him (v. 12), which takes us right back to the opening two verses of this psalm

The Selah time allowed David to make these connections, or rather, it allowed him the quiet time to drink in the Holy Spirit’s reminders of these attributes of God. David always knew who God was, but in his time of dehydration his Selah re-reminded Him of who God was to him. 

When we are feeling dehydrated, we must Selah to drink deeply of the Living Water. This Selah pause plunges us INTO God’s presence and allows us to make His attributes personal.  

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our Selah series, you can find the complete list of them by clicking here. 

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