The Psalms are realistically honest prayers, sharing people’s experiences and showing us how to integrate God into every aspect of our lives. Dave looked at Psalm 73 last night, which details Asaph’s struggles and how he came through a time of great despair.

The psalms begins with a declaration of triumphant truth: “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.” (Ps 73:1) God never varies. He is good and His love endures for ever. But Asaph has been in a place where he doubted that truth. He was living a godly life, avoiding sin, meditating upon the things of God and spending his time in prayer. Yet he was plagued and afflicted (vs 14), troubled because as he looked around at those who were ungodly, he saw them living a carefree, easy life. In verses 4-12, he gives a description of their arrogance, violence, disregard for God and disregard for righteousness. In comparison, his life seems full of trouble and woe.

This has been a problem faced by God’s people throughout the ages. The ways God deals with people, the question of fairness, the apparent inconsistency of God can baffle us at times. We need to understand that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; His ways are not our ways (Is 55:8-9). The ways of the Lord are inscrutable (Romans 11:33); His mind is infinite and eternal; His purposes are so great that they are beyond our understanding.

Being puzzled is not sinful. It can lead to sin, for temptation is always crouching at our door, but how we deal with our puzzlement is crucial to our spiritual walk. We should not underestimate the power of the devil, but we should also look at Jesus overcame temptation. The key to overcoming temptation is found in the truth declared in the first two verses of the psalm. We need to stand on the truth and be sure of that when we are faced with other things that we do not understand. Even Jesus, at Gethsemane, wrestled with God’s ways and wanted an alternative scenario, but He submitted to God’s will and so must we, so that we make the Sovereign Lord our refuge and tell of His deeds to others.

We also had another birthday to celebrate:

Mark preached from James 1:12-25 this morning, looking at three sections:

(1) James 1: 12-18
Everyone faces temptation in their lives and sometimes we give in to it. It’s important to recognise that God does not tempt us, as v13-14 make clear. We are tempted by our own sinful natures and by the enemy and can either give in to it (which leads to sin and ultimately death) or resist. The enemy seeks to deceive us and it’s important also that we recognise that our own desires are not necessarily God’s desires for our lives. God is the source of every good thing (v17) and can be trusted to give us the good things we require (which may not be the same as saying He gives us everything we want!) God chose us and shapes our lives.

(2) James 1:19-21
Mark summarised these verses by telling us “Shut up and listen! Don’t get angry!” Sometimes we spend so much time talking (even to God) that we don’t leave any time to listen for His voice. Sometimes we respond to others and to God with anger. We need to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Waiting before God is the way that we can fulfil this command.

(3) James 1:22-25
We need to receive God’s word with meekness and then do something about what we hear. The NKJV talks about the ‘implanted word’. God’s word is faithful to minister to us, but again, we need to be listening and then we need to acknowledge that we have to do something about what we hear. Sometimes that is a word which will require immediate action from us; at other times, it’s a more gradual process, but if we fail to act on what we hear, we are like a man who looks in a mirror, moves away and then forgets what he looks like. The promise of these verses is that if we hear God’s word and do it, we will be blessed by God.

God is a listening and a doing God. We, therefore, if we are to be imitators of God, have to be a listening and a doing people.

Except for God (who is without beginning or end), everyone has a birthday. We might all have different ideas of what the best age is or debate what ‘age’ we think we might have in heaven, but birthdays are common experiences to us all and the date of our births is recorded in all manner of official documents (passports, driving licences, on job applications and in NHS documents, to name but a few.)

Mark preached not so much on the importance of our earthly birthdays, however, but on the importance of us all having a second birthday which will determine whether we have everlasting life with God or not. John 3:1-7 is the famous passage where Jesus talks to Nicodemus about being born not only of water (which represents our natural birth) but also of the Spirit (which represents our spiritual birth). Nicodemus struggled to understand this teaching, but Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit must be involved in new spiritual birth and that without being born again, no one will enter the kingdom of God.

Our second birth is even more important than our first, for here we receive God’s gift of eternal life. For some, that birth was gradual and a specific date can’t be remembered. For others, the date is vividly edged on our memories as we recall when we finally surrendered to Jesus (for me, that second birthday was 27th October 1983, and I remember that ordinary Thursday afternoon when I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Saviour with immense gratitude and joy all these years later.) We may have very little to do with our first birth, but our second birth only comes as we receive God’s gift of life by faith and accept Christ as our Saviour; we are active participants with God in this birth!

Do you have a second birthday to celebrate? If not, today could be the date you will always remember: 12th June 2011. Mark it well, for there are those who will enter the kingdom of God on this date, thanks to His amazing grace!

The family service tonight took as its theme ‘Birthdays’ and the quiz asked us to match up a set of birthdays to famous people who were pictured. How would you do? Do you know when these people were born?
(1) Joan of Arc

(2) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

(3) Galileo Galilei

(4) Alexander Graham Bell

(5) Albert Einstein

(6) Johnny Depp

(7) Angelina Jolie

(8) Tom Cruise

(9) Kylie Minogue

(10) Eden Taylor-Draper

Answers below:
(1) Joan of Arc, born 6th January 1412
(2) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, born 27th January 1756
(3) Galileo Galilei, born 15th February 1564
(4) Alexander Graham Bell, born 3rd March 1847
(5) Albert Einstein, born 14th March 1879
(6) Johnny Depp, born 9th June 1963
(7) Angelina Jolie, born 4th June 1975
(8) Tom Cruise, born 3rd July 1962
(9) Kylie Minogue, born 28th May 1968
(10) Eden Taylor-Draper, born 27th October 1997

Another tough quiz from Tony Burgin!

Stephen preached from Psalm 31:14-15 this morning, timely verses for us all.

But I trust in You, O Lord.
Where do we put our trust? It’s so easy to trust in things (relying on the alarm clock to get us up, relying on that cup of tea to get us going in the morning, needing that shower to get us clean…) and even to trust in our own righteousness and ability to get us through each day (as the Pharisee did in Luke 18:9-14). Nonetheless, we need to trust daily in the Lord.

You are my God
The psalmist declares this truth and we must too. Only God is constant and certain. He is our Father. This relationship needs to be personal.

My times are in Your hands
This was not just true for David, but is also true for each one of us. We can rest in the security of knowing that our times are in God’s hands: He has a timetable for each one of us and that includes good plans (Jer 29:11).

Deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me
As in the Lord’s Prayer, where we ask God to deliver us from evil and not to lead us into temptation, so we acknowledge that life is not always easy but understand that the Lord is the only One who is able to deliver us.

I invigilated an English GCSE exam today, where one of the writing questions was to describe a difficult decision you had made and the consequences of that decision.

I sat and thought of all the difficult decisions I have made or friends of mine have had to make and the aching consequences of those decisions. Parents who have had to turn off the life support systems of their newborn child. A husband who was asked by doctors about to perform an emergency Caesarean on his pregnant wife who was dying from cystic fibrosis “Who do you want us to save – your wife or your baby?” Real-life situations which make you weep and which once again bring home to me the penury of the human condition, the sheer powerlessness and helplessness we face at times, when nothing we do or say can actually make the pain go away.

Later today, after the exam was over, after I’d spent a lot of time reflecting on the fact that at least the difficult decisions I have to make can be made within the framework of faith in a God who is not powerless or helpless (though that doesn’t automatically remove suffering from our situations), I listened to the song “Rest In The Arms” by Aaron Shust and I made it my prayer for all those people currently facing the consequences of their difficult decisions:

“When you’re broken, when you’re weak.
When you’ve turned the other cheek.
When you cannot speak,
Of the bitter sweet,
The bitter sweetness.

When the floor gives out beneath,
And everything that you believe
Cannot bring you peace.
You’re broken inside, broken in pieces.

You can
Rest in the arms of the One who holds you
Rest in the arms of the One who knows you
Rest in the arms of the One who won’t let go
You can
Rest in the arms of the One who holds you
Rest in the arms of the One who loves you
Rest in the arms of the One who won’t let go

When the water starts the rise
And you’ve lost the will to fight,
When you’re losing light,
Just close your eyes,
Close your eyes now

Have no fear
I’ll be here.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVt55n9As2w

I pray that all those who don’t know that love will find the Lord and that all those suffering and in anguish will find rest in His arms. This offering seems so small and inadequate, but I rest in the plenitude of God. He is able to comfort and lift up those who are broken.