Archive for March, 2010
Junior High Christianity 1
Junior High. It’s a funny stage of life. Junior High Students are definitely NOT kids, but aren’t quite ready to be trusted with the responsibilities and privileges of being “older.” Many junior highers feel the desire to take on the responsibilities that come with more age, but aren’t deemed ready (in many cases for good reasons). And so, in our culture, many Junior High Students are waiting. Waiting for the day that they get into high school. Waiting for the day they get into college. Waiting.
Sometimes I wonder if this attitude of waiting seeps into our thinking about ourselves in our Christian life. Many Junior High Students are waiting to really live for the Lord until they are older. Obeying God and living for Him may be something that I want to do; but I’ll probably do it in the future. When I’m ready. When I’m older.
Two weeks ago we began a study with the Junior High group called “Junior High Christianity.” We saw that that God doesn’t one thing that He wants from adults and a “Junior High” version of that which is lesser. We saw from Matthew 22:37-38 that Jesus says the greatest commandment is to Love God with all our heart, soul and mind. We saw that he was quoting from Deuteronomy 6 in the Old Testament, a passage that Moses had told the Israelites to teach to their children. God wants all people, regardless of their age, to live for Him “all-out.” We also saw that one of the best ways that we can show we love God “All-Out” is to obey Him. Jesus said in John 14:15, “if you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
And so, we’ve begun to look at Junior Highers in the Bible who did just that- loved God all out and obeyed Him.
We first looked at Daniel, and how he lived with integrity. Daniel was taken along with many other of the “youths” of Israel (and some of the royal family) into captivity in Babylon and were told to eat the kings food, which was most likely against the dietary instructions God had given Israel and probably also had been sacrificed to pagan idols first. Daniel 1:8 says, “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.” Daniel was determined to love God all-out in obedience.
As far as we can tell from the text, none of the other Israelites besides Daniel and his 3 friends wanted to obey God in the midst of this difficult situation. Think about this situation- they are in captivity, all of the other Israelites were doing it, nobody back at home would have probably found out. It seemed like such an easy situation to give in. But Daniel and his friends didn’t obey God because it was easy, or because it made them popular. They obeyed because they loved God all-out. And so their lives weren’t lived with different standards when they were in Israel worshipping at the temple or when they were in captivity in Babylon, surrounded by non-believers.
There are so many parallels between Daniels situation and the situation that many of you Junior Highers face every day you step foot into a public school. For the most part, you’re surrounded by other students who don’t love God and by all means don’t want to help you do what’s right. You could probably live differently at school and fit in there and maybe nobody at home or church would even know. We could live our Christian lives on “cruise-control,” where we bring our obedience to the Lord to a comfortable level (based on the “speed” of those around us, which changes) and then stop trying. Or we could live our Christian lives like race-car drivers, where we are going “All-Out” and trying to love and obey our God as much as we possibly can for His glory.
Here’s the encouraging thing. Daniel wasn’t anything special. He was just a guy who God enabled to love Himself and to obey Him. The same God who worked in Daniel’s life is the God that we worship. He is just as powerful to help His people live lives All-Out for Him in a radical way today as He was then! And what He wants from us is a willingness to Love and Obey Him completely.
SOTD Psalm 62
Psalm 62
My Soul Waits for God Alone
To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
3How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse.
Selah
5For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah
9 Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
10Put no trust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
11 Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
12and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work.
SOTD Psalm 61
Psalm 61
Lead Me to the Rock
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Of David.
1Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer;
2from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I,
3for you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
4Let me dwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings!
Selah
5For you, O God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Prolong the life of the king;
may his years endure to all generations!
7May he be enthroned forever before God;
appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8So will I ever sing praises to your name,
as I perform my vows day after day.
SOTD Psalm 60
Psalm 60
He Will Tread Down Our Foes
To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
1O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;
you have been angry; oh, restore us.
2You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
repair its breaches, for it totters.
3 You have made your people see hard things;
you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.
4You have set up a banner for those who fear you,
that they may flee to it from the bow.
Selah
5 That your beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer us!
6God has spoken in his holiness:
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem
and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet;
Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I cast my shoe;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
9Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10Have you not rejected us, O God?
You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
11Oh, grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man!
12With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.
SOTD Psalm 59
Psalm 59
Deliver Me from My Enemies
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me;
2deliver me from those who work evil,
and save me from bloodthirsty men.
3For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
4for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
5You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.
Selah
6Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
7There they are, bellowing with their mouths
with swords in their lips—
for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”
8But you, O LORD, laugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.
9O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are my fortress.
10 My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
11Kill them not, lest my people forget;
make them totter by your power and bring them down,
O Lord, our shield!
12For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13 consume them in wrath;
consume them till they are no more,
that they may know that God rules over Jacob
to the ends of the earth.
Selah
14 Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
15They wander about for food
and growl if they do not get their fill.
16But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me steadfast love.
SOTD Psalm 58
Psalm 58
God Who Judges the Earth
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David.
1Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.
3The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
6O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7Let them vanish like water that runs away;
when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
SOTD Psalm 57
Psalm 57
Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.
1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
2I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me.
Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves.
Selah
7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8 Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
9I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
SOTD Psalm 56
Psalm 56
In God I Trust
To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
3When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
4In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5All day long they injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6They stir up strife, they lurk;
they watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7For their crime will they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
8You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
9Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.
10In God, whose word I praise,
in the LORD, whose word I praise,
11in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
SOTD Psalm 55
Psalm 55
Cast Your Burden on the LORD
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.
1 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness;
Selah
8I would hurry to find a shelter
from the raging wind and tempest.”
9Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.
12For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.
14We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God’s house we walked in the throng.
15Let death steal over them;
let them go down to Sheol alive;
for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
16But I call to God,
and the LORD will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
18He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.
19God will give ear and humble them,
he who is enthroned from of old,
Selah
because they do not change
and do not fear God.
20My companion stretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.
21His speech was smooth as butter,
yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
23But you, O God, will cast them down
into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.