Last night we looked at Psalm 57, one of the psalms written by David when he was in a cave, fleeing from Saul. The historical background to the psalm is found in 1 Samuel 17-24: how David was anointed king by Samuel, found favour with Saul through his musical skills and through the slaying of the giant Goliath, how he lost favour with Saul who was jealous of the people’s love for David and fearful of his own loss of favour with God (see 1 Samuel 15 for the story of Saul’s disobedience and 1 Samuel 18:7 for the root of his jealousy and irrational hatred of him.) David ended up fleeing for his life, confused and bewildered by Saul. There seemed no rhyme or reason to what he was going through, and certainly no chance that Samuel’s prophetic word would come true in his life. There are often times of great confusion in our lives, but we need not despair in those times.

Faced with this situation, David wrote a song. He showed us strategies for coping with trouble in this psalm which can help us today. He could look trouble directly in the face (verses 4 and 6 explicitly mention the trouble he was in and the pain this caused him), but he could also see God beyond the troubles (see verses 1, 3, 5, 10). He was able to acknowledge God’s character: providing mercy and refuge (verse 1), a God who sends forth love and faithfulness (verse 3), a God who delivers (verse 3 & 6). He was also able to focus on his own response to God: taking refuge in the shadow of God’s wings, crying out to God for mercy, singing and making music to God, having a steadfast heart before God, praying for God to be exalted even in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Being in a cave is an apparently restricting experience. But David knew that God was a solid foundation beneath his feet and that He was exalted above the heavens. There are no restrictions, no ‘glass ceiling’, on what God can do in our lives. David discovered, as Paul did later, that God’s grace was sufficient for Him (see 2 Cor 12:10). The wilderness wanderings can teach us much about the all-sufficiency of God!

As you will see if you look at the previous post, that was published at 9.51 a.m., just minutes before I actually left the house to go to our morning meeting. There was a real sense of God’s presence with us this morning. The songs we sang meshed with the theme the preacher spoke on. There was variety in how we approached Communion this morning, serving each other as we all stood at the front of church (not something we normally do.) God is clearly stirring and moving people in so many different ways. I really shouldn’t be surprised, but I still am rather awed by all this!

Kevin spoke this morning on the ‘two Ps’ of protection and provision. His text was Psalm 119:65-67. He talked about how we all come to church in different states and to do different things: to thank God, to remember Jesus’s example, to remember His death for the whole world and for our sins, to open our hearts to God. Through everything, we see that God has ‘dealt well’ with us.

Protection
The psalmist prays ‘keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge.’ (Ps 16:1) Church members have recently testified about God’s protection when they have encountered accidents but have not suffered serious injury or harm. God has our best interests at heart and looks after us. Is 41:10 reminds us “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” As the old hymn says:

“Be not dismayed whate’er betide,
God will take care of you!
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you!” (W. Stillman Martin)

Provision
John 3:16 reminds us of God’s provision for the whole world in sending His Son to save us. We often like to be able to categorise things and explain them in a structured way (rather like scientists picture the double helix of DNA):

God’s love can’t be categorised in this way, but it can be accepted! Jesus was wounded for us and we can be awed by His great love (see 1 Sam 12:24, Ps 36:7, Ps 68:19). God daily bears our burdens and provides refuge for us. He has done great things for us, which we should remember with thankfulness, but we also need Him to do something new and fresh in our lives. As Jimmy Cricket used to say, ‘There’s more!’ We need God to revitalise and re-energise us and to do new things in our lives, our churches and our communities.

It’s Sunday morning. You’re about to go to church. What have you been praying for before you leave the house?

In this month when we are praying for our local churches, it’s good to examine our prayers for our churches. I don’t just mean for the buildings themselves, but for the people inside them and for those who perhaps at the moment wouldn’t dream of setting foot in them.

Are we praying for those who will be leading us this morning? For those leading worship to be anointed by God’s Spirit and to have ears that hear what the Spirit is saying to them? For them to catch the wind of the Spirit and lead us to the throne room of God? We don’t just go to church to sing cheerful songs that will make us feel good or wake us up a little! As we sing, our hearts are gripped by the truth of the words we sing and our eyes are lifted to see the Holy One, mighty and majestic. Are we praying for each worshipper to come into God’s presence and be transformed into His likeness?

Are we praying for those who will minister the Word of God to us? Are we praying for them to be anointed, to bring us the bread of life, to bring us living words, to bring us food that will sustain us and nourish us? Just as we don’t need ‘junk food’ to eat, so we need nutritional food from God’s Word. We need more than milk. But then, if we are praying for meat, are we praying that we have the teeth to chew it? James warns us not to merely listen to the word and walk away from it unchanged. Are we praying for ears to hear beyond the voice of the preacher and the courage to do what God stirs us to do?

Are we praying for all those who will minister to people and to the Lord in whatever form? For those who greet people at the door? For those who make drinks? For those who minister the bread and wine to us? No job is menial; no job is unimportant. All that we do is holy, set apart for the Lord.

Are we praying for people who may not usually come to church? Are we praying for those we can invite to join with us? Are we asking God to remove all the barriers and excuses that people put up as defence mechanisms and move them to accept the invitation? Are we praying that God will speak directly into people’s hearts and lives and astound them with the fact that He knows us and loves us?

Let’s keep praying and let’s come to church expectant and obedient!

Tonight’s Bible study looked at James 5:7-12. In the first section, James looks at the need for patience as we wait for the Lord’s coming and likens this to a harvest, warning us against grumbling against each other; in the second section, he looks at the example of patience set by the prophets and concludes by warning us that our speech should be full of integrity and character.

Perseverance has been a recurring theme throughout the letter, with James 1:1-5 in particular looking at counting ourselves blessed even when we suffer because we know that the testing of our faith develops character. James has also looked at the importance of speech (James 3:1-12, James 4:11-12). We need to be careful how we speak about and to each other, because God is listening to every conversation. As the old plaque says:

God is the only rightful Judge and we need to be careful not to let criticism and grumbling poison our conversations and mar our witness (see also Ps 73). He is at the door, always close (just as sin is always crouching at the door: see Gen 4.)

Suffering in this life is inevitable and James gives us further advice on how to deal with it. There are numerous examples in the Bible of those who suffered and persevered. The life of faith is not always easy! The prophets suffered, but their example helps us to see that perseverance is necessary if we are to receive God’s promises (see Heb 10:36). James then talks about the example of Job, surely the greatest example of faith in adversity in the Old Testament. Despite great suffering and opposition, he clung on to God and was rewarded by God. All these things were written as examples to us (see 1 Cor 10:6-13), with the promise that God will never give us more to carry than we can bear and the knowledge of His character (He is full of mercy and compassion) to sustain us through difficulties.

This section concludes with a reminder that we do not need to swear oaths in order to be trustworthy. James quotes Jesus’s own words in Matt 5:33-37 here, a reminder that we should be people whose word can be trusted. As Paul reminded the Corinthians, our plans should not be made in a worldly manner, but we should think carefully before we speak or make promises (2 Cor 1:15-22). It seems ironic that in today’s law courts, oaths are sworn on the Bible by those who do not even believe in God, when many Christians believe there should be no need for them to swear on anything because their word should be honest and upright all the time!

In all of this, James is keen for us to see the connection between our current situations (difficult though these may be) and the presence and character of God. It is easy to doubt God’s goodness, mercy, provision and kindness when we are going through trials, but James reminds us of the facts. “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” (James 5:11) As Kutless sing,

“Sometimes all we have to hold on to
Is what we know is true of who You are…

Lord, we know Your ways are not our ways
So we set our faith in who You are.
Even though You reign high above us
You tenderly love us
We know Your heart
And we rest in who You are.” (‘Even If’, Kutless)

One of the most encouraging verses in the Bible for me is 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which says “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I often feel I struggle to know what God’s will is and so I take hold of this verse and think ‘at least I can do this thing and know that in doing so, I am doing God’s will!’ Thankfulness and thanksgiving are things we can cultivate and make a daily habit.

No wonder, then, that I love this song ‘Thank You, God, for saving me’! Not only does it feature two of my favourite Christian songwriters (Chris Tomlin and Phil Wickham), it captures perfectly the gratitude I feel towards God for all He has done for me.

“What can I give to you?
What can I offer to the King?
For all the love you’ve shown,
For all Your mercy over me,

You gave your life upon the cross
You suffered once for all
You made a way
Jesus in victory you rose
You made us all your own
Now we are saved.” (‘Thank You, God, for saving me’, Chris Tomlin & Phil Wickham)
‘Thank You, God, for saving me’, Chris Tomlin & Phil Wickham

I find it exciting when I realise that God is saying the same things to different people in different places, when there is a sense of the amazing foreknowledge of God! Dave spoke to us yesterday about how the topic of prayer has also been burning in one of the local churches where he preaches, just as it is becoming a recurring feature of our church life! Similarly, the topic of ‘dry bones’ in the family service has not only been high on the agenda of our church for some time now, it is clearly a topic that God is stirring in others, if the number of songs on this theme are anything to go by!

We sang a ‘golden oldie’ on this theme at the family service (‘Dem Dry Bones’ by Delta Rhythm Boys), but there are many more recent songs:

‘Awake My Soul’, Chris Tomlin
This song features the rapper Lecrae and combines the very simple idea (‘Breathe on me, breath of God, breathe on me. Speak to me, Word of God, speak to me. I come alive, I’m alive when You breathe on me… when You speak to me’) with a reading from Ezekiel 37 itself and the rapper’s interpretation of this (‘I realise You breathe out, I come alive; Your word gives life to my dry bones; Your breath tells death it can ride on!’) The chorus goes:

“Awake, awake, awake, my soul.
God, resurrect these bones.
From death to life,
For You alone,
Awake, my soul.”

Sometimes, it just takes one idea to stir the imagination; for me, it was the connection of the word ‘resurrect’ in the chorus with the resurrection of Christ and a firm belief as I walked the streest of Goldthorpe in January that God will bring new life to these desolate places.

Another song on this theme which was written in 2011 is ‘Fires’ by Matt Redman. I preached on the theme of God keeping our fires burning last April. The song starts with the image of the valley of dry bones:

“We’re standing in the desert of dry bones
But still we see Your life
Walking through the valley of shadows
But holding onto light.”

A very pertinent song on this theme, connecting the historical narrative of Ezekiel 37 with a modern-day parallel of how our churches need God’s life in them today, is Casting Crowns’ song ‘Spirit Wind’.

“A pastor stands before his congregation
Once a mighty army for the Lord
But now he stares into the lifeless eyes
Believers leading carnal lives
He wonders what they’re fighting for
But driven by a calling on his life
He spoke God’s word like he’d done a hundred times before
But this time he comes broken and weeping
With tears of a broken heart
And he cries out to the Lord.

Oh Lord, send Your wind into this valley
And breathe the breath of life into their souls
And raise them again a mighty army
For soon these arisen warriors will battle again
For they have been filled with the Spirit Wind.”

The last song I’d like to mention is Nikki Fletcher’s ‘Dry Bones’ (due to be released on the Worship Central Album ‘Let It Be Known‘ on March 11). This again takes the theme of God changing us and transforming us as He breathes on us:

“We are here
Longing to be changed
Breathe into our lives again
Don’t let us leave the same.”

What other songs do you know on this theme?!