Psalm 75 - 2008.12.27

"The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck." ―Psalm 75:3-5

Our nugget for today begins on a prophetic note, anticipating the dissolution of this planet and its proud and rebellious occupants: "The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved." When and how are not here defined, but the word "dissolved" takes the informed reader immediately to II Peter 3:9-12 ―

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"

Here is the New Testament expansion on this obscure Old Testament passage. There is a terrible day coming when the Lord of glory will execute judgment on this fallen race. All that prevents it from happening today is the grace of God, Who is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentence." Modern science has made remarkable progress in discovering what the creation is made of, but no one yet understands the "glue" (if I may say it reverently) that holds it all together. No one, that is, but the bible believer who recognizes the authority disclosed in Hebrews 1:1-3, where the Lord Jesus Christ is recognized as the Heir and the Author of this creation (v.2) and the One who even now holds it all together "by the word of His power" (v.3). That is in agreement with the statement in our passage for today, "I bear up the pillars of [the earth]," and identifies the Spokesman. Let Him speak another word, let Him withdraw His sustaining power, and the whole creation will, indeed, "dissolve."

He created it by His word (Psalm 33:6), He sustains it by "the word of His power," and one day He will speak a word and bring it all to fiery dissolution!

But with that word of warning comes the manifestation of His grace: "I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck." Though God is "angry with the wicked every day," (Psalm 7:11b), He has not yet abandoned them. (Christmas attests to that!) Here, so long before the manger, the spirit of God pleads with fools (who say in their hearts there is no God, (Ps. 14:1; 53:1)) to abandon their folly and turn to Him. And He warns the proud and stubborn rebel "…speak not with a stiff neck." There is an echo of this in Prov. 29:1, "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."

Christmas and Easter remind us that we have a merciful God. Passages in scripture such as the one before us today remind us that there is a limit to His patience. Sometime later the Lord extends His plea again through the prophet Isaiah, "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon[Isa. 1:6-7]."

"The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein [Ps.. 24:1]." Sooner or later every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God. Why not do it now, when it can eventuate in eternal salvation, rather in the day of judgment when it will preface eternal loss? What better way to begin the new year than to surrender to the Lord of glory and enter the gate that leads to "Life" with a capital "L"?

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which Pπ unto life, and few there be that find it [Mat. 7:13-14]."

For His glory and our good,

"Pastor" Frasier

…and in HIS Name, a blessed Christmas and new year to all

HIS NAME

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his NAME shall be called

Wonderful,
Counsellor,
The Mighty God,
The Everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;
Behold, a virgin shal conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his NAME
Immanuel.
***

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
JESUS:
for he shall save his people from their sins
***

Christ Jesus:
…being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation,
and took upon Him the form of a servant
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him

a name which is above every name:

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
***

The NAME of the LORD
is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe
****

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is
none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
(Acts 4:12)

IN HIM may you have a truly BLESSED CHRISTmas and New Year!

~ “Pastor” Frasier ~

Psalm 74 - 2008.12.20

"The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter." —Psalm74:16-17

Israel had suffered the ravages of her enemies, and that for so long a time that the writer pleads, "Why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth Thine anger smoke against the sheep of Thy pasture?" (v.1) The pitch darkness of a moonless, starless night plunged the people of God into perplexity and despair. It was a spiritual experience not unlike the temporal one Luke describes in Acts 27:20, "And when nether sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away."

It is not unlikely that someone who will read this today will feel a kinship with this situation. God seems far away; the enemy has overwhelmed your soul and there is no help in sight. God's hand is in His bosom, not outstretched to your aid, and the heart cries "O God, how long …?" (See vss. 9-11) The temptation is to give up on God, but to do so is to be left with neither an anchor nor a sail. As the poet put it, "Where could I go, but to the Lord?" And it is from that point of desperation that the Holy Spirit inspired the sacred writer to make the observations of our "nugget" for today.

"The day is Thine, the night also is Thine." God owns the universe, and everything is under His control. When it is "day," we see Him and rejoice in the evidences of His presence and power exercised in our behalf. When it is "night," what one has called "the dark night of the soul," we see Him not and are tempted to think He has abandoned us. But, He is the Lord of every circumstance. As the Psalmist puts it in another place, "If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee [Ps. 39:11-12]." We may be unable to see Him, but He sees us, Who also said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."

"Thou hast set all the borders of the earth." As God defines the limits of the oceans and shorelines of the continents so that however fierce the storm, the sea may alter to a degree the shorelines but will never overwhelm the dry land, so He sets the limits of the storms of life that they will not overwhelm us. "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby [Heb. 12:6-11]."

"Thou hast made summer and winter." As there are seasons in nature, so are there seasons in grace. Winter comes, and seems as though it will never end. But summer is waiting in the wings and when it is time, will come again. So in the spiritual realm. There are those times when in God's peculiar wisdom He exposes us to the seemingly interminable and intolerable blasts of the "winter" of the soul. But, He who makes the winter will make summer again in His own time.

"O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. Have respect unto the covenant…" pleads the burdened writer (v. 19-20a) and we may do the same when "night" and "winter" seem unending. And the covenant is this "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one [John. 10:28-30]."

For His glory and our good,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 73 - 2008.12.13

"For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked… Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end" —Psalm 73:3,17

It is not often that we select our "Nugget," in this fashion, but in this instance it will best serve our purpose to do so, and the reader is advised to give careful attention as well to the verses in between, which describe the Psalmist's struggle with the "the prosperity of the wicked," which may be a timely subject for our consideration. The depth of that struggle may be appreciated by noting v.16, "When I thought to know [understand] this, it was too painful for me…"

What we must note is the condition that gives rise to this consternation; it is his contemplation of the cultural phenomenon. His observation of the prosperity of the wicked was not merely in passing, but had become a fixed focus, with dire results: "But as for me, me feet were almost gone; my steps had well night slipped (v.2)." He lingered over the situation long enough to be nearly consumed by it. In our day it is almost impossible to ignore the strange ways of the culture around us, given the presence and power of the media, but we need desperately to be aware of the danger of allowing the world around us to consume our time and fill our minds.

While transfixed by the prosperity of the wicked the psalmist went into an emotional tailspin that took him nearly to the destruction of his faith. "Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency (v.13). Translated into our time frame, he is saying, "It doesn't pay to be a Christian."

So, where does deliverance come from? "Until I went into the sanctuary of God." It was, in other words, in the place where God revealed Himself that the psalmist found the ability to put things in proper perspective. For you and me that "sanctuary" has to be the scriptures. Unfortunately, God may or may not be found in the local church, given the state of the church today, but He has ever revealed Himself in his word, and it is through "the word of God and prayer" that we can find deliverance from the perplexities which confront us in a world out of order, and where as often as not things "just don't add up."

Strong emphasis must be placed on the word "until." His struggle continued until he went into the sanctuary. As long as he lingered on the fringes and focused on the world, there was not only no relief, but a worsening of the situation, and so will it be for you and me.

It was in the sanctuary that he discovered the answer, when there was revealed to him "their end." It is not how much we have, but how much we will have left when we stand before God that measures true wealth. "Surely Thou didst set them in slippery places: Thou castest them down into destruction (v.18)." It is in the word of God that we discover Jesus' saying, "Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth [Luke 12:15]." And again, "A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. [Ps. 37:16]." The man who, in Jesus' parable, had to buiild bigger barns to store all his worldly goods could have carried his spirituial wealth in a change purse with room to spare!

Let us then be mindful of the importance of fixing our focus not on the world, but upon the Lord and His word so that we may keep things in proper perspective from the divine point of view. In the New Testament context, we are to "look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal[II Cor. 4:18]."

"Though the wicked are in prosperity, and are not in trouble as other men; yet the godly, though in affliction, are in a state infinitely better, because they have God for their portion. They need desire nothing else: he that hath God hath all." —Spurgeon

In the interest of true riches,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 72 - 2008.12.06

"He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." - Psalm 72:6-8

This Psalm begins with reference to the king and the king's Son (v.1.) Many interpret it as referring to David (the king) and Solomon (the king's son.) The scope of what follows, however, is so vast that it becomes immediately clear to the enlightened reader that much more is involved in the Divine intent. Surely the ultimate application is to God, of Whom the Psalmist writes in another place, e.g., "God is the King of all the earth [Ps. 47:7], and to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is called elsewhere "King of kings and Lord of Lords."

It is from that perspective, then, that we approach our meditation on the "nugget" we have selected for our meditation today. And given that perspective, it is evident that the things which are here affirmed must refer to the return of our Savior; a subject not inappropriate as we prepare (as believers!) to commemorate His first coming.

Note first the promise of His coming. "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth." It is a delightful picture that reminds me of the hymn. "There Shall be Showers of Blessing." It is a scorched earth that will be left behind when the savior comes to "judge the world in righteousness," but here He comes to refresh it. It will be the fulfillment of the psalmist's (and every believer's) longing, "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary [Ps. 63:1-2]." He will come not in a torrent which, like the flood of Noah, sweeps everything before it, but with gentle showers of refreshment and renewal.

In fact, that leads us to the prospect which immediately follows: "In His days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth." What a day that will be, when the "King's Son" takes His throne. All that makes this world vulgar and vile and violent will be forever banished. Here is the fulfillment of the Divine plea through Isaiah, "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it [Isa. 45:8]." Then, and not until then, will the earth know universal peace and tranquillity. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea [Isa. 11:9]."

Until He returns, "…the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing/ The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us [Ps. 2:1-3]." But then there will be "abundance of peace," the terms of which will never be broken.

And finally, there is the province of the King. "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." Oh, glorious day! "Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations [Ps. 145:13]." Then will it be made manifest that "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof."

Beloved, the bedrock upon which all this rests is set before us in Paul's commentary, "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death [I Cor 15:20-26]."

Rejoice, Christian; the King is coming!! "For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry (i.e., "will not be late") [Hab. 2:3]."

"Jesus shall reign wher'er the sun Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and wane no more."
Isaac Watts

With Light for dark days,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 71 - 2008.11.29

"Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel." —Psalm 71:20-22

In this, sometimes called "a psalm of old age," the Psalmist reflects upon the path of life over which he has traveled, and the destination which lies not far ahead of him. That is not an uncommon thing with those of us who have reached what some call "the sunset years."

Here, in particular, he sums up in few words the potholes he has encountered on the journey; "Thou hast shown me great and sore troubles." Probably the majority of senior saints could make a similar observation, for, as Job said, "man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward [Job. 5:7]." When trouble comes, however, it serves as the most defining element in our spiritual journey. It is then that we decide whether our faith is real or illusionary. Someone long ago said, "It does not matter what the trouble is; it only matters where the trouble lies. If the trouble comes between you and God, that is not good. If you stand between the trouble and God, trouble only crowds you closer to Him." David's troubles often wrung from his lips a cry for mercy, but never a cry of doubt about God's goodness, grace and power.

So here, his reflection gives rise to renewed confidence; "Thou…shalt quicken me again, and…bring me up again from the depths of the earth." Old age is a brusque reminder that our sojourn here is of limited duration; "It is appointed unto man once to die. "But, for the believer that is not the end. It is, in fact, only the beginning of "the life that shall endless be." As with our Savior, "death could not keep its prey," so with those who put their trust in Him. We can echo the psalmist's confidence, "Thou…shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth." Jesus said, "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." The grave will hold the remnants of 'the house we lived in,' but we will move into a "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens," (See I Cor. 5:1-8) and when He comes again we shall be raised incorruptible and death swallowed up in victory! (See I Cor. 15:42-58!!)

But, there is more. "Thou shalt increase my greatness,and comfort me on every side." No greater prospect can enter the human mind than what awaits the believer "on the other side." The Holy Spirit, through the apostle John, has encapsulated it, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is [I John 3:2]." We will be then forever free of all that here we defined as "great and sore troubles," not the least of which is the tenacious plague of sin. Oh happy day! As Paul put it,"I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us [Rom. 8:18]."

How appropriately, then, does the Psalmist break out into jubilant praise. "I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long… [Ps. 71:22-24]." I am inclined to think that David is here anticipating his heavenly occupation. We are often asked, what will heaven be like, and what will we do there? Biblical information is relatively scarce, but if my judgment is correct, heaven will be filled with God glorifying instrumental music, songs of praise sung by enlightened saints and unending testimony to the righteousness of God; the 'song of souls set free!'

My friends, may we share that grand circumstance together! And perhaps not too far hence!!

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." —Eph. 2"4-7

Singing HIS praises,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 70 - 2008.11.22

"Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha." —Psalm 70:1-2

If we use our wonderful gift of imagination, we may be able to put ourselves at the foot of "the old rugged cross" and recreate the scene that could well have given rise to the words of our text on the lips of our Savior. Above Him, nailed to His cross, a hand printed poster scornfully proclaims, "This is the King of the Jews!" much like those some display at our athletic games today. And beneath the cross, enjoying the entertainment with a raucous crowd, some of the religious leadership scornfully deride Him, "saying, He saved others; let Him save Himself, if He be the Christ, the chosen of God." And nearby out of the duty squad of Roman soldiers one emerges with a vinegar soaked sponge on the end of a reed, shoving it in His face and crying, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!"(Lk 23:36) Then, off to one side, in misery and bitterness we hear one of two thieves crucified with Him growl, "If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us." (Cf Luke 23:34-39)

Nearby some of the soldiers, bored and distracted, are divvying up his clothing and casting lots to see who will win the seamless cloak He was wearing when they stripped Him for His public humiliation. Finally the murmur begins to circulate among the watchers that He has expired. The religious element turn and petition Pilate, who has watched it all with detachment, "Break His legs and take Him away!" As the soldiers begin their cruel duty on the two thieves, someone affirms that Jesus is dead already. One of the soldiers, "just to make sure,"shoving a spear into His side confirms His death. The entertainment over, we watch the crowd break up and wander off to prepare for their Sabbath worship! (Cf. John 19:19-37)

Consider Who it is that is thus mocked, maltreated and murdered. It is, in fact, not the king of the Jews, but the King of kings, the Lord of Glory! It is the almighty Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Commander in chief of the armies of heaven, for Whom during it all no fewer than one hundred and forty four thousand angels stood at the ready, waiting only a word from Him to scatter His abusers beyond the farthest horizon. (See Mat. 26:53) How well He might have cried, "Let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt."

The most astonishing thing is that He did not then so speak. Rather, He prayed for His accusers and abusers, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do [Luke 23:34]." Even the waiting angels must have been astonished at such incredible restraint! And we are taken back in mind to His remarks to Philip and Andrew, "…The hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified…Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour: but for this cause came unto this hour." And then He prayed, "Father, glorify Thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again [John 12:23-28]."

There and then, despite the efforts of His detractors to the contrary, Christ was glorified in grace, being made sin for us to the end that we might have our sins forgiven through His sacrifice. There is a day coming when He will be glorified in judgment, and the words of our text will be upon His lips for those who have scorned His grace and salvation. Of that day we read, "…the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, [will hide] themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And [say] to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

In the meantime, let those who have been saved by His grace heed the exhortation of the psalmist, and the Savior from Whom these words originate, "Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified [Ps. 70:4]."

And let those who hesitate take heed—before it is eternally too late!

For His glory and our good,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 69 - 2008.11.15

"O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel." —Psalm 69:5-6

The sixty ninth Psalm is a challenging one to understand. There are numerous passages quoted in the New Testament with specific reference to Christ. But, there are some passages, such as this one , which seem almost impossible to refer to Christ, Who knew no sin, and did no sin. Some attempt to solve the dilemma by referring these negative references to David. The Son of God is flawless; the sons of men, even believers, are not so. In any event, it is from this perspective that I suggest we reflect upon our "nugget" for today.

The first thing that confronts us, then, is the obvious but often forgotten or overlooked fact that the soul is utterly transparent before God. Nothing is hid den from "the eyes of Him with whom we have to do [cf. Heb. 4:13]." When Sarah in a fit of jealously banished her handmaid Hagar, "the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness." A dialogue followed, at the conclusion of which Hagar "called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me [cf. Gen. 16:7-13]." There is no place where God is not, nowhere one can hide from His eye, no thought that escapes His knowledge. Through the prophet Jeremiah God asks, "Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD [Jer. 23:23-24]." This knowledge is intended of God as a deterrent to sin, for He not only sees, but judges even those things in which we transgress, but are tempted to take lightly because, we think, "no one knows." Remember, God knows!

The next verse confronts us with another sobering thought. Our sins threaten the testimony of God before others. Sensitive to that fact, the psalmist prays, "Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake…" In his indictment of Israel for her national transgressions, the apostle Paul charged, "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written [Rom. 2:24]." The sins God's people commit, when they become public knowledge, are an embarrassment to the cause of Christ; even as the scripture says of some who profess faith "and then fall away," they "crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame [Heb. 6:6]."

Brought down to a practical level, we never sin to ourselves alone. Others inevitably are implicated. Nowhere is this more evident than in Adam's original transgression. It is written, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men…[Rom. 5:12]." Sin is a contagious malady of the first order. How many a child has discredited the gospel of Christ because of evident, unconfessed hypocrisy in the life of a parent? How many a godly wife or husband has been put to shame by the transgression of a wayward spouse? And withal, the cause of Christ suffers as well.

Indeed, sin is foolishness, and every believer is aware of that. But it is more foolish still to attempt to cover our sins and to ignore their devastating influence. God knows our susceptibility to sin and our capacity for failure. He does not, under grace, demand our perfection, but only our honesty. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [I John 1:9]." Let's make David's prayer ours!

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." —Prov. 28:13

For His glory and our good,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 68 - 2008.11.08

"Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them also that hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice." —Psalm 68:20

One of the reasons some people hate the word of God is because of the imprecatory element found in it, such as is illustrated in our text for today. Our moral sensitivity is so dulled that we cannot tolerate the idea of a God of judgment. In such an environment it is important to remember that if there is, after all, a creator God, then the rules of justice are His to call, not ours.

It will be well, too, to remember His dealings with Adam in the beginning. Testing Adam's moral response, God graciously informed him that should he eat of the fruit of the tree that was in the midst of the garden, he would "surely die." That was the word of God, and all Adam had to do to avoid the judgment was to "trust and obey" that Word. There followed the "big lie" of the Adversary, who said categorically, "ye shall not surely die."(See Genesis 3.) God having spoken, and Adam having made a faith-choice, believing the devil rather than God, God had no choice but to carry out the promised judgment; otherwise His integrity and justice would have collapsed.

The issue is precisely the same today, except that we have the issue illustrated and reinforced by ten thousand years of history. God has spoken, giving us His Word and in it His warnings and His gracious invitation to trust the One He has sent forth to deliver us from the wrath to come. Satan, through His spokesmen, continues to deny what God has affirmed, and fools still follow him to their own everlasting destruction.

Let us ever remember that behind the human agency in scripture, David in this case, is the Living Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is, after all, the Lord Who gives the word. The human agent is simply the publisher (See Psalm 68:11). From that perspective we may see this text as uttered by the Son of God in behalf of the Father. And what it foretokens is the inevitable judgment to come. This, too, is predicted and outlined in the revelation of a merciful God:

"We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. [II Thess. 1:3-10]."

There is the precise fulfillment of this terrifying prayer, in a single event the two-edged sword of divine justice bringing the wrath of the Almighty upon the haters of God and the gospel of Christ, and final vindication of the faith of those who recognizing and repenting of their rebellious and lost condition have cast themselves upon the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy.

Decide today, if you have not already done so, whose side you are on. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (see Ezek. 33:11), which is why He sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. But if you reject Him, God has no choice if He is to maintain His righteousness, but to suffer you to perish. When you have crossed what some men call "the great divide," it will be too late to decide for God.

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation [II Cor. 6:2b]."
For His glory and our good,

"Pastor" Frasier

Post Election Note (Prov 16, 21) - 2008.11.05

A post election note:

Yesterday: "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD." (Prov. 16:33)

and today: "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." (Prov. 21:1)

Under HIS wings,
"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 67 - 2008.11.01

"Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him." — Ps. 67:5-7

Do you ever wish that we lived in a better world? Given the state of the world today, as reported to us by the omnipresent media, anyone thus informed must long for a better day, whether some may long for the fanciful "good old days," or, for those with more discernment, look forward to a great day to come.

This psalm, concise and tightly focused, offers us a clue to the realization of that longing. Drawing our thoughts from the selection at hand, we are first confronted with the foundation of hope for a better day in v.5: "Let the people praise Thee, O God; let all the people praise Thee." Praise is the key.

There was a time when Israel faced an enemy, and all the concerns an adversary brings, and God gave counsel through a spirit filled man of God (Cf. II Chron. 20:14ff), "Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's." On the strength of that counsel the godly king Jehoshaphat "appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever."

Imagine sending the choir out before the military! But observe the consequences: "When they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten [II Chron. 20:22]."

Praise is set forth as the prerequisite to blessing. "Let the people praise thee, O God, let all the people praise Thee. Then…" Then what? "Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God…shall bless us!" Here both temporal prosperity and spiritual blessing are predicated upon praise. Let the saints learn the lesson. "Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for Praise is comely for the upright [Ps. 33:1]."

Who has more reason to praise the Lord than those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God? We are numbered among the "upright" and the "righteous" only because of that mercy for which the Psalmist pleads in v.1 of this Psalm, made supremely manifest through the death, burial and resurrection of the Son of God Who loved us and gave Himself for us! Had we this and nothing more, we would still have reason enough to praise Him, for in this there is a future worth anticipating. Temporal "blessing" is, at best, only temporary. The psalmist says in another place, "Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee [Ps. 63:3, my italics]."

Finally our text moves from prospect to promise. "God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him." Standing on that promise, one in our dispensation may look back to God's promise, through the patriarchs, of universal blessing and look forward through the prophets to the same. As bleak as the human scene may look at any point in human history, those promises and prophesies remain unchanged. And they are the word of a God who cannot lie. Their fulfillment, at the return of the Savior, will bring about the occasion for universal praise.

For now that is not the case. Praise is confined to the company of the redeemed, and they are in the minority. It remains both our privilege and our responsibility to praise Him as the scriptures say we should. Variously, in the psalms, the writers promise, "I will praise the name of God with a song [Ps.. 69:30]; "His praise shall continually be in my mouth [Ps. 34:1]; "My tongue shall speak of Thy righteousness and of Thy praise all the day long [Ps. 35:28]; "While I live I will praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being [Ps. 146:2]; "I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart [Ps. 9:1]."

Go thou and do likewise!"Praise is comely for the upright."

For His glory and our good,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 66 - 2008.10.25

"Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul." — Ps. 66:16

It is in the nature of some to speak little of themselves, and that is not a bad thing. However, it is a good thing to give voice to a testimony that brings glory to God. That was David's intention here, and for today I will make it mine. Let me tell you "what He hath done for my soul."

The Psalmist, in fact touches only lightly, here, on the Lord's mercies to him, but elsewhere he enlarges on the subject. He declares, for example, "I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD [Ps. 40:1-3]." Translated into a New Testament context, the "miry clay" is surely the quicksand of sin, and the rock is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. In His wonderful grace the Lord revealed my awful plight to me at an early age, before the clay had hardened and the soul become indifferent to His invitation. Who cannot but praise Him for His redemption and the gracious revelation of His Holy Spirit to a needy soul! "I was lost, but Jesus found me, found the sheep that went astray." He saved my soul!

Then, for the sixty-seven years since the day of my conversion, He has sustained me. The journey is marred with many a failure, but His mercies have been "new every morning," and He has remained true to His word, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [IJohn 1:9]." "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above." He has sustained my soul.

Moreover, He keeps my soul. How precious to the struggling saint are the promises of the Savior. "I will never leave thee , nor forsake thee [Heb. 13:5b]." and again, to those who have trusted Him is the assurance, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one [John 10:27-30]." There the believer rests secure between the the under girding hand of the Father and the overshadowing hand of the Savior. One can possess the confidence of the apostle, "…I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day [II Tim. 1:12]." "He will keep me till the river Rolls its waters at my feet; then He'll bear me safely over Where the loved ones I shall meet." He secures my soul.

And in the interim, He satisfies my soul. In a world of vanity and uncertainty, how wonderful that He has made Himself the sufficiency for my soul. How well the Savior promises, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst [John 6:35]." And again, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life [John 4:14]." "Like a river glorious Is God's perfect peace, Over all victorious In its bright increase; Perfect, yet it floweth Fuller every day; Perfect, yet it groweth Deeper all the way. Stayed upon Jehovah Hearts are fully blest, Finding, as He promised, Perfect peace and rest." He is the satisfaction of my soul.

"Sing forth the honour of His name: make His praise glorious!" (Ps.66:1)

"Filled with His goodness, lost in His love",

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 65 - 2008.18.10

"O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." — Ps. 65:2

Let us consider first today the person addressed: "O Thou that hearest prayer." Clearly, it is the true and living God who is addressed. How He stands in contrast to the "gods many and lords many" of the heathen. Of them the scripture says, "The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them [Ps. 135:15-18]." What futility, what folly to address prayer to gods that cannot hear! And how thankful ought the Christian be that we have a God who not only can hear, but who delights in the prayers of His saints, and finds them a fragrance in His nostrils (See Rev. 5:8b) "The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry [Ps. 34:15]," the Holy Spirit assures us in the Old Testament, and in the New, the writer to the Hebrews encourages, on the ground of the atoning work of our wonderful Lord, "Let us…come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need [Heb. 4:16]." And indeed, the Lord Himself said, "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint [Luke 18:1]."

Let us bear in mind, however, that if it is foolish to cry to a god that cannot hear, it is no less foolish to call upon the true God under circumstances in which He will not hear. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me [Ps. 66:18]." The prophet Isaiah echoes this when he declares to wayward Israel, "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear [Isa. 59:2]." There is no greater privilege on earth than that of prayer to the God who hears and answers prayer, and we are invited to come boldly to His throne. We are not, however, to come brazenly. As there is a protocol for approaching the throne of an earthly king, so is there for approaching the throne of the King of kings. We must come first "dressed in His righteousness alone,"our sins forgiven and washed away in His blood. The Savior alone can open the door that sin has barricaded against us.

For those who come qualified by His grace, however, the promises are rich and rewarding. He waits to hear and grant us forgiveness on an ongoing basis (I John 1:9); He will afford us wisdom (Jas. 1:5); He offers, as noted above, "grace to help in time of need," (Heb. 4:16); our daily bread (Luke 11:3); and so much more. The Savior put it this way: "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened [Luke 11:9-10]." What a cornucopia of blessing is the privilege of prayer!

There remains another thought in our text; "To Thee shall all flesh come." The commentators are inclined to see here the scope of prayer as extended to "all men," that is, without respect to origin, status or gender. Indeed when established on the ground of His grace, "whosoever will may come." The poor has as much access as the rich, the handicapped as well as the able, the young as well as the old, etc. No one is excluded from the throne who is by His grace a child of the King.

But, another application is possible. All men, irrespective of their condition or interest (or disinterest) shall, indeed come before Him; the redeemed into His favor, the unregenerate to His judgment. There will be no escaping this assembly. "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire [Rev. 20:12-15]." Then some will pray, who never prayed before—but it will be too late.

Don't wait! If you have never prayed for His pardon for sin and the gift of eternal life, "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation [II Cor. 6:2]!"

With eternity in view,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 64 - 2008.10.11

"The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in Him; and all the upright in heart shall glory." — Ps. 64:10

A respected professor of mine was in the habit of saying, "It's not how you start that matters most, but how you finish." That truth is illustrated in this Psalm. As is often the case, David begins on a note of anxiety (v.1), but ends on a note of assurance. More importantly, the first six verses of the psalm are focused on the aspirations of "the workers of iniquity" (v.1) but God is introduced in v. 7 and our text is the triumphant climax of His response to those workers of iniquity. It was Shakespeare, I believe, who said, "All's well that ends well," and God's word assures us that all will end well for those who belong to Him.

That is a comforting thought for troublous times or troubled lives. God will have the last word.

Our text affords the key to enjoying the promise of God's ultimate victory. It is "the righteous" who may now, and then, be glad in the Lord. With this before us, it behooves us to note that the New Testament disqualifies all of us, by nature, from traversing this highway, for it is written, "There is none righteous, no not one [Rom. 3:10]." But a few verses further along we are introduced to the Glorious Alternative of God's grace in the passage which begins, "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested… even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe… For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus [Rom. 3:21-24ff]."

Now you may be tempted to say, why reiterate that; it is but basic Christianity. And that is precisely the reason for reiterating it; this is the bedrock of hope, and so fundamental that we may be tempted to take it for granted. This is the only ground which beneath our feet will not give way, and we should wake to joy and gratitude for it every day. Because of this glorious gospel, Christ has become our righteousness (See I Cor. 1:30), "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works [Rom. 4:6]." "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation [Rom. 10:10]." "For [God} hath made [Christ] to be sin for us…that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him [II Cor. 5:21]."

There, dear friends, is all the ground of gladness in the Lord. Are you in Him? Is He "in you?" Then are you insulated from all the fiery darts of the wicked and his minions in heaven and in earth. "The body they may kill: God's Truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever." The righteous are those who have found refuge in the God of our salvation by putting their trust in Him, not in man or materialism. The believer will invest his confidence not in Wall Street or Washington, nor in sophisticated weaponry, but in the One Who died for us and rose again.

"All the upright in heart shall glory" when the King comes back. Till then, confronted with the character of this present world we may well pray with the psalmist, "Hear my voice O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy (v.1)."

Be sure your righteousness is the "righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ." Find your refuge in Him "Who is able to keep that which [we] have committed unto Him against that day," and rejoice in Him here and now in anticipation of that great day when He shall be manifested to reign forever and ever.

With eternity in view,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 63 - 2008.10.04

"Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee. Thus will I bless Thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in Thy name" — Ps. 63:3-4

Men delight to talk about "the good life." What constitutes the good life may be a matter of debate, and will differ from one to another. Whatever the judgment may be, the "good life" is of short duration and uncertain. The Holy Spirit instructs us through the apostle James, "Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away [Jas. 4:13-14]."

David has a wiser assessment of life when in verse 1 he declares, "My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is." This world is a barren place, and life a burden, when rightly evaluated, if we are disconnected from God. It is from that perspective that he declares, "Thy lovingkindness is better than life." Oh, there may be moments of ecstasy and seasons of gratification in this life, but underlying it all, if we will give attention to it, is the relentless fact, "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment [cf. Heb. 9:27]."

God's lovingkindness surpasses all. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed." God's lovingkindness has spared us in this life, and provided us with the assurance of life eternal in an arena where "there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain [Rev. 21:4 see also Rev. 22:3 & 5]." God's lovingkindness is better both for what is is, and for what it has to offer. That is the biblical evaluation of the mercy of God, and it should be ours, if we have been assuredly born again.

There follows, as the logical consequence of this glorious discovery, the writer's declaration, "…my lips shall praise Thee. Thus will I bless Thee…" "Praise," the scripture says, "is comely for the upright." Every born again believer, every heaven-born child of God, should be exalting the Name of the Lord of life. And the supreme evidence of His lovingkindness is the sacrifice of His Son on the cross of Calvary where He gave His life a ransom for many. "By Him, therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto His Name [Heb. 13:15]."

Because His lovingkindness is better than life, our lips should praise Him "in season and out of season." That assessment remains true, whether life in the flesh seems favorable or otherwise. The New Testament injunction is, "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you [I Thess. 5:18]." Are we obeying His will in letting this poor dying world hear His praise upon our lips from day to day, or does our conversation not go beyond the mundane things of this "present evil world?"

The degree of David's appreciation is amplified by the duration to which he pledges himself: Thus will I bless Thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in Thy Name." It is a promise of lifelong devotion. To him it will not matter what tomorrow holds; his praise will be the same. For the discerning committed Christian, worship is not a Sunday thing; every day is the Lord's day, and every day will we praise him. Some time ago I sat with a believer who is going through a profound and protracted trial. Twice during our brief time of fellowship he said spontaneously, "I love the Lord with all my heart." His praise rose above his plight, and in his affliction, he blessed my heart! And that is how it ought to be.

If you are able to see this world for the "dry and thirsty land" it really is, let your thirst be a thirst for God and find rest, refreshment and rejoicing in Him Who is the "fount of every blessing," under the shadow of His wings. (Read the whole Psalm!) Selah!

With eternity in view,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 62 - 2008.09.27

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved." — Ps. 62:5-6

Perhaps one reason my heart is inclined to this "nugget" for today is because the first verse, especially, was one of my beloved wife's favorite and most oft quoted texts of scripture. It was here that, by faith, she positioned herself, and found stability during her long season of illness. It is also a very appropriate counterpoint to our emphasis two weeks ago, "vain is the help of man."

It is worthy of reflection and meditation that these two verses are nearly a carbon copy of the first two verses of this psalm, except for this: in the first verse he makes an affirmation "Truly my soul waiteth upon God." Here he makes that affirmation into the form of counsel to himself that has almost the character of a prayer. "Stayed upon Jehovah" is not something that is to be occasional, nor that can be taken for granted; it is the most fundamental responsibility of the redeemed, and there must be a continual reaffirmation of this position in the inward counsels of the soul. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall [I Cor. 10:12]."

There is another interesting nuance in this verse, disclosed by those who have a better understanding of the language of the original than I do. That is, that the word "wait" carries the force of "be silent," or "listen." Waiting upon God does not mean bringing our basket of self interests to Him for endorsement or fulfillment, but waiting in quiet contemplation before Him, listening for what He has to say. This is something modern Christians do too little of. We are like shoppers, rushing in with our grocery list to get our prayers answered, often without so much as pausing to greet the Proprietor, to say nothing of inquiring whether He might have something to say to us. Check out the average prayer meeting for proof!

Many years ago a man came into the fellowship of one of our churches, who was a German who had suffered much under the Nazi regime. One of our men led him to Christ, and soon he joined our weekly early morning men's prayer meeting. When he prayed, two things always stood out. First, he always prayed for the welfare of our nation; he understood the high cost of tyranny. But more importantly, He would begin his prayer with an awkward, almost embarrassing period of silence. He seemed to understand, much better than the rest of us, the importance of tuning his soul to the frequency of heaven—waiting, keeping silence, listening to God—before he spoke. I always felt he understood prayer better than any of the rest of us.

David makes an inward request, "My soul, wait thou only upon God." He understood the need for an undivided heart. He would have understood the significance of James' declaration, "A double minded (lit., "two souled") man is unstable in all his ways [Jas. 1:8]."

The rationale behind that request immediately follows: "He only is my Rock." In God alone is the believer's sure foundation. That is security; "all other ground is sinking sand." Then, He is "my salvation." In the New Testament we read, "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead… This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved [Acts 4:10-12]." This is the salvation of which the scripture speaks. It is not physical, social, economic nor political; it is essentially spiritual, and is found in God alone. That is the real, ultimate, essential deliverance, from sin and its corollary, "the wrath to come." Again, "He is my defence." Our protection against the enemy as we journey from here to eternity is not found anywhere in the human arena nor arsenal, but in God alone. Precious hiding place!

And what is the result? When the soul leans upon God, and God alone, the heart can say with assurance, "I shall not be moved."

"My soul, wait thou only upon God… " Make it your daily prayer!!

With eternity in view,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 61 - 2008.09.20

"From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I" — Ps. 61:2

Here is a wonderful example of the essential characteristics of a righteous man.

Consider first, his plight. David describes himself as an outcast, overwhelmed by his circumstances. Outcast, to the point where he deems himself on the very perimeter of the earth, in danger, perhaps, of being flung off into the darkness of outer space. And such is his assessment of his situation that he is overwhelmed by it, feeling powerless against it.

Now you may be tempted to say, "That is hardly a characteristic of the righteous." But I think it is, though not all the righteous recognize it. In this present world we are in a situation hostile to us in more ways than one, and devoted to our destruction. Of old the saints were described as "pilgrims and strangers:" "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth [Heb. 11:13]." And the same terminology is applied to believers in our dispensation: "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation [I Pet. 2:11-12]." If we really understood the nature of the situation, we, too, would be "overwhelmed," as sometimes we are.

The second characteristic evident here is evident in his pledge. Here, in the context in fact, is a four-fold pledge. First, his plea: "I will cry unto Thee (v.2)." The man of God knows where to go in his time of need. His expectation is not from Washington, nor from welfare, but from God. Second, his place: "I will abide abide in Thy tabernacle forever (v.4a)." Compare this with John 15:7 for the New Testament principle. Third, "I will trust in the covert of Thy wings (v.4b)." Faith in the security of the Living God is the bedrock of afflicted soul. Fourth, "I will sing praise unto Thy name for ever… (v.8). " Seeking God and finding grace to help in time of need eventuates in singing His praises for ever. To this the Psalmist pledges himself by an act of the will, and you and I as believers should do the same. It will take God to bring it to pass, but the decision must first be ours, dedicating the redeemed will to His purpose and praise.

The third characteristic of the righteous man is made evident in his petition; "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." Recognizing that the world beneath his feet is quicksand, the enlightened believer beseeches the Lord for solid ground to stand on. This Rock is first defined in the Song of Moses; "Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he [Deut. 32:1-4]." Then there is a very beautiful prayer by a humble woman who understood as an individual the significance of this figure: "And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed [I Sam. 2:1-3]."

In the New Testament, of course, the figure is applied to the Lord Jesus Christ (See I Cor. 10:1-3), and He is the ultimate object of the Psalmist's prayer. Be the storms of life many or few, there is but one place where we can find security and hope, and that is in the Lord Himself. "All other ground is sinking sand." Where do you stand?

For assurance in a world of uncertainty,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 60 - 2008.09.13

"Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man." — Psalm 60:11

A number of years ago, in an activist mode, a nationally known preacher coined the term, "moral majority." Unfortunately, it was a misnomer. There is no moral majority, for "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." One cannot be truly moral and out of alignment with the will of God at the same time, and one is not aligned with the will of God who is not in conformity with the Word of God. Never since Adam disobeyed the Word has there been a moral majority among mankind. The righteous have always been in the minority. Nowhere is this illustrated more emphatically than in the days of Noah, when God could find in the entire race only one man's family qualified for the ark.

The scripture says, "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not [Eccl. 7:20]." And again, "… verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity [Ps. 39:5b]." Hence the conclusion in our verse for today, "Vain is the help of man." As believers we seem to have a hard time accepting the fact that man is as bad as God says we are, and that "there is none righteous, no not one."

Not only is man immoral, he is also ignorant, lacking any understanding of what is really needed to solve the human problem. That is made evident in Paul's counsel to believers, "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness [Eph. 4:17-19]."

All of this lays the foundation for the divine injunction, "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes [Ps. 118:8]." And again, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help [Ps. 146:3, my emphasis]." The principle is illustrated at the highest level when we read of the Savior, "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man [John 2:23-25]."

This provides the background for my personal disenchantment with the present political "campaign," and my dismay over those Christians and churches involved in the same. It does not matter, in the long run, which political party one may endorse. All are the victims of the spiritual paralysis sin imposes on the dispensation of human government. None have the answers, because they do not really understand what the problem is; and if they did, they would have neither the authority nor the power (to say nothing of the will) to solve it.

America boasts its aim to "make the world safe for democracy." The need is to make the world safe from democracy, for as long as man rules, whether individually or collectively, the project will end in failure. The ideal form of government is the iron handed rule of a benevolent despot. And the last time He appeared on the human scene, they crucified Him. Should He be up for election this year, they would do it again!

The greatest need in America today is not a new man in the White house, and striving for that is not the church's task. The greatest need is for repentance before a holy God. And, as a wise man said a number of years ago, "Nations don't repent; only individuals do." Let the church get that message out, and leave the rest to those who know not the Lord. As the prophet put it, "Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit [Jer. 17:5-8]."

With eternal values in view,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 59 - 2008.09.06

"But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble." — Psalm 59:16

Our "nugget" for today is taken from another of David's psalms written on an occasion of great distress because of his enemies (v.1). The text, like so much of God's word, lends itself to many applications. Beneath its precise interpretation lie broad principles for our benefit.

Consider first the occasion. David writes "in the day of my trouble." We live in a troubled and troublesome world. Few, if any among us will live life in a trouble free world. Job wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward [Job 5:6-7]." And our Savior candidly declared to His own, "… in the world ye shall have tribulation… [John 16:33b]." In a world where sin has thrown everything out of order, trouble is a way of life, and the righteous are not exempt.

As we work our way backward through this text, however, note the psalmist's observation: "Thou hast been my defence and refuge." Consider Job again; he follows his recognition of the troubled nature of man's condition by saying, "I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number [Job 5:8-9]." He knows, as does David, where to go with his troubles. For such, God is a "defence and refuge." This does not always result in the removal of trouble, but provides adequate reinforcement in trouble; the power to survive the storm, to ride it out. David remarks in another place, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea… [Ps. 46:1-2]." And the Lord Jesus Christ encourages, "These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation,: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world [John 16:33]."

We must understand, however, that no mere religion will suffice to meet the need. What is illustrated here is a a faith that makes God real and moves the heart to take refuge in Him when there is otherwise "no place to hide." For David, for example, this was not an isolated experience. Out of the troubles of that day he could reflect upon past experience and recall, "Thou hast been my defence and refuge… " Previous experience of God's adequacy gave fresh encouragement for today's need.

Finally, consider the outcome. "I will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning." The trusting soul is ultimately the triumphant soul, and the triumphant soul will be a singing soul. "Praise is comely for the upright." This is the proper consequence of finding God's sufficiency in the day of trouble, and may in fact help to explain why God allows trouble in the lives of His loved ones. Distress drives us to Him as no other circumstance will, and when we find Him able and willing to sustain us therein, we are the moved to give Him glory and praise.

Someone has said, "It doesn't matter what the trouble is, it only matters where the trouble lies." If the trouble comes between you and God, then you are in more trouble. But if you stand between the trouble and God, the more the trouble, the closer you are crowded to Him. It is then that we may say with David, "I will sing aloud of Thy mercy… " One singing saint put it this way:

"Though the angry surges roll On my tempest driven soul,
I am peaceful, for I know, Wildly though the winds may blow,
I've an anchor safe and sure, That can ever more endure.
And it holds, my anchor holds;
Blow your wildest, then, O gale,
On my bark so small and frail;
By His grace I shall not fail,
For my anchor holds, my anchor holds." — W.C. Martin

For victory in the storms of life,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 58 - 2008.08.30

"The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth." - Psalm 58:10-11

In the year 1741 in the town of Enfield Connecticut Jonathan Edwards preached his famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," and a revival broke out known today as "The Great Awakening." Given the moral and spiritual state of our culture today, one wonders what kind of reaction would greet such a sermon in our day! Certainly it would not be deemed "politically correct" in this era of compromise and corruption.

In fact, such an emphasis was never more necessary, regardless of how unwelcome it may be. The "Good News" of the gospel is little likely to be heeded until we we are smitten with the bad news of our lost condition and its awful consequences. "Verily He is a God that judgeth in the earth," the Holy Spirit declares through the inspired writer. And that ought to stop us in our tracks and move us to pay attention to the word of the lord.

Many welcome Christmas and the "babe in the manger." We can manage babies. Not a few will enjoy Easter and the promise it brings of life after death by way of the resurrection. And some will delight in the general prospect that "Jesus is Coming Again," clinging to the Christmas concept of "gentle Jesus, meek and mild." What is often overlooked, however, is that the return of the King is not a good day for those who have rejected the Savior. The return of Christ will mark the proof that "He is a God that judgeth the earth,"

In another reference the Psalmist prophesies, "… He cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity [Ps. 98:9]." That prophecy finds its consummation in the last vision of Christ in the New Testament. There He is portrayed as leading His armies to execute vengeance on the ungodly, and John says, " I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great (italics mine)." (See the whole passage, Rev. 19:11-21) While the language is figurative, it clearly anticipates an awful outpouring of divine wrath upon a rebellious world.

And this passage does not stand alone in the New Testament. Jesus declared, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him [John 3:36]." Luke quotes Paul, "[God] hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead [Acts 17:31]." Paul himself writes to the Ephesians, "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience [Eph. 5:5, 6]. "The apostle Peter predicts, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up [II Pet. 3:10 all italics mine]."

These are representative of the numerous passages in scripture that warn of the wrath of God which will come upon the rebellious multitudes of mankind when God completes His prophetic plan for the ages. Let us remember; those who reject the gospel of the grace of God have insulted God twice. Once when they have disregarded His law, and again when they disdain His love.

Indeed, there is a glorious reward for the righteous— those who have placed their faith in, and pinned their hopes on the Lord Jesus Christ. But let us never forget that there is a reward for the wicked, as well; one no intelligent person would ever want to receive! For "verily He is a God that judgeth the earth!" What will your reward be?!

With eternity in view,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 38 - 2008.08.23

"There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long." — Psalm 38:3-6

Recently I heard a challenging message on the question, "Do you really love God?" The speaker's premise was, given the nature and magnitude of God's love for us, we surely ought to love Him. But, the argument was made, we sometimes mistake religious activity for love of God, and this to our detriment. Church attendance, and all that relates to it, is sometimes offered in proof of our love for God, but it can be undertaken as a matter of pride, a mere exercise of religious discipline or for a number of other reasons.

We ought to love God. John declares, "We love Him because He first loved us [I John 4:19]." And Jesus indicated that our love for God is manifested in obedience across the board, not just in "churchy" things. (Cf. John 14:15). And when He declares, "This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you [John 15:12]," it gets even stickier, because our love for God is measured against our love for "one another," insofar as it reflects the unconditional love of God for failed human beings. When contention and strife and schisms characterize our churches, our love for God is surely to be called in question.

There is, however, another area in which our heart condition is tested, as reflected in our text for today: "Do we really hate sin?" This, too, tests our love for God. The scriptures declare, "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil… [Ps. 97:10]." And, since love and reverence are closely associated, consider that "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil… [Prov. 8:13]."

David was not sinless, any more than you or I. But what distinguishes him and manifests his love for God is his attitude toward sin when it overtakes him. Observe first of all his recognition of the seriousness of sin. He saw it as arousing the anger of a holy God (v.3). He does not view sin as trivial, but terrifying : there is "no rest in my bones because of my sin." He does not compartmentalize sin, but sees it as permeating his whole being; "For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh." (v. 7) Here is a man who takes sin seriously and understands its devastating power. It is not that he never sins, but when he does, he cannot rest.

As David opens thus opens his soul to us, it becomes evident how reprehensible sin has become to him. So ought it to be for every believer who has experienced the love of God.

David knows the moral anguish of sin in a true believer's life. But he knows too the magnitude of God's mercy, and as a result his self judgment does not lead to self destruction. He knows where to go with his sin. "Feeble and sore broken (v.8)," he brings his case to the righteous Judge. "For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin (v.18)." He understands the New Testament principle, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [I John 1:9]." And the love of God is magnified again!

Because our adversary is powerful and crafty, we will have to do battle with sin until the day we die. But, there is a way of deliverance. First, there must be conviction. Just as a lost soul cannot be saved until he is convinced he is a sinner, so cannot a sinning child of God be forgiven until he is smitten with a proper sense of guilt. Second, there must be confession of sin to God. That is not just an offhand admission of wrong, but a genuine brokenness over the sin and what it does to our relationship with God. "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy [Prov. 28:13]." Then there follows forgiveness and cleansing from the God of all grace.

"If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." — I John 1:10

For His glory and our good,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 57 - 2008.08.16

"Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up." — Psalm 57:1-3a

Life in the real world can be full of calamities. They come in all shapes and sizes, in surprising times and places. And they come, ultimately from "him that would swallow [us] up." For David, at this time, the would be devourer was Saul. But behind every Saul, in every Christian's experience, there is another who seeks to destroy us, and if not succeeding in that, would seek to destroy our testimony for Christ. It behooves us, not only for our own sake, but for His glory, that we know how to defend ourselves against our adversary, the devil.

David, in this Psalm, goes to the right Person addressing himself to God and prevailing not upon his own merit, but upon God's mercy. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed." Note where he has positioned himself: "in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge." What a refuge! Those who are threatened by life's calamities speak often of the "shadow of death, as does Job many times, and David not infrequently in the Psalms, but here is the triumphant contrast: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty [Ps. 91:1]."

It is a most wonderful thing, in a world of troubles and trials, to have the kind of relationship with God that finds one dwelling where His shadow falls, for there He is in close proximity. And David's God is not a pygmy; He is "God most high," who "performeth all things for me." He is the God of Whom the psalmist says in the concluding verse, "Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Thy glory be above all the earth (v.11)." This is the mighty God for Whom there is no insurmountable challenge. "Is anything too hard for God?" And He is the God of all those who have put their trust in the merits of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you, my friend, know Him thus? Have you placed your unwavering confidence in His mercy and His grace? Then He becomes "a very present help in trouble!"

Out of this relationship and confidence, David experiences a twofold assurance. The calamities, whatever their nature, or however long they last, will not last forever; he says, "Until these calamities be overpast." "Under His wings," he is assured that the trial cannot be more than temporary. Furthermore, he is assured of whence his deliverance will come; "He shall send from heaven, and save me… " God, Who is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think," is the power that works both in us and for us. "Whom then shall we fear?"

How glorious is that kind of relationship with the Living God! Read the rest of the Psalm and observe where such faith inevitably leads us — in praise to "God most high." "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise (v.7, e.g.)." The song that began in a minor key ends with a crescendo of praise. And let it be noted that the scene before him has not changed, but his faith has lifted his vision above the horizon to behold the glory of God and the promise of His sure victory. That is the way the saints are to make the journey from here to eternity.

May David's vision be ours of the Person, power and prospect available to all those who truly put their trust in HIM.

"Under His wings I am safely abiding, Tho the night deepens and tempests are wild;
Still I can trust Him— I know He will keep me, He has redeemed me and I am His child.
Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow! How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing, There I find comfort and there I am blest.
Under His wings, O what precious enjoyment! There will I hide till life's trials are o'er;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me, Resting in Jesus I'm safe evermore.
Under His wings, under His wings, Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide, Safely abide forever! — Wm. O Cushing

With eternity in view,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 56 - 2008.08.09

"For Thou hast delivered my soul from death: Wilt not Thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?" — Psalm 56:13

Here, if you will, we have first, the assurance of the saints. "Thou hast delivered my soul from death." Those who are assuredly born again are those who have first been made conscious that "… It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment [Heb. 9:27]." It is spiritual death that concerns them; not the death of the body, but the "death" of the soul, with the implication of being irretrievably separated from God for ever and ever. This, in fact, is the real "fear of death," and that of which the Holy Spirit convinces those who will become the heirs of eternal life. It is, in the language of the New Testament, the "second death."

Physical death is temporal; the second death is everlasting; thus the abounding joy of those who like the Psalmist here find divine deliverance from that awful bondage. For the Christian this joy is in the discovery subsequent to conviction of sin that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." If one's hope of deliverance rests upon any other foundation, that joy must be diminished by some measure of uncertainty. If hope rests upon good works, one can never be sure he has accrued enough good works. If it relies on religion, he can never be sure he has lit enough candles, said enough prayers, or fed enough homeless to satisfy the requirements of a holy God Who is "… of purer eyes than to behold evil, [and cannot] look on iniquity."

The assurance comes when we understand that Jesus paid our debt in full, and we are delivered through faith in Him alone. It is this deliverance Christ came into the world to provide, accomplishing it through His death on the cross and certifying it by His resurrection. Those who receive Him by faith can share the confidence of the psalmist "Thou hast delivered my soul from death," because it is a salvation that rests solely upon who He is and what He has done, not upon who we are nor on "works of righteousness which we have done." (See Titus 3:5-6)

When that salvation becomes a reality it brings with it a passion to "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing." The believer's apprehension is that he may disappoint or disgrace his Lord. Thus David prays, and prays rightly, "Wilt not Thou deliver my feet from falling? Two things are implicit here; first, that we are prone to "falling," a fact every believer knows only too well. Second, that in order not to fall we need divine reinforcement. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Jude penned this insightful benediction, "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen [Jude 24,25]." It is God's purpose and power to keep us 'on our feet' spiritually; it is our duty to petition Him for that very thing, as David does in this rhetorical question.

The petition arises, of course, from the believer's aspiration to live a life that glorifies God. David's desire is "that I may walk before God in the light of the living," and that should be yours and mine as well. The Holy Spirit urges the same upon us through the apostle Paul when He exhorts, "Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. [I Thess. 4:1]." And there is no greater evidence of God's work of grace in our lives than a desire for holiness in that ordinary routine of life symbolized by the word "walk." We are instructed in Proverbs, "He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him [Prov. 14:2]." And the prophet Jeremiah cried perceptively, "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing [Jer. 10:23-24]."

May our hearts rest in the assurance of His great and glorious salvation, aspire to "walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory", and appeal to His Holy Spirit in continual prayer to enable us to do so.

For His glory and our good,

"Pastor" Frasier

Prayer Needs Update

Miriam graduated to glory this morning (8/3/'08) at 2:30 am.

"Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (II Cor. 5:6-8)

Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. 30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. (Prov. 31:29-31)

Sustained by HIS grace,
"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 55 - 2008.08.02

"Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. — Psalm 55:5-6

There is a concept of spirituality that would suggest that a believer should always be on top of every situation, and that any sign of weakness is indicative of spiritual failure. Such an idea does not arise from a careful study of the scriptures.

David and Job both remind us that the human situation in this present world can be overwhelming for even the most mature believer. The apostle Paul sought deliverance from his "thorn in the flesh," and even the Son of God struggled with the prospect of His affliction, crying, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me."

Just as our physical strength and powers of endurance vary, so it is with our emotional resources. One can bear much and another will struggle with a much lighter load, but all have this in common: there is a limit to our emotional resources and when they are sufficiently tested, it will seem that we have more than we can bear. Like David, we will cry, "I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest (cf v.8)."

What is important is how we react when we have reached that breaking point. Here there is no pretense. David, for example, does not pretend a victory he does not have in an attempt to appear spiritual. Rather, his faith enables him to acknowledge his struggle to the One Who knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. We should be candid with God.

It is important, however, to note that it is to God that David carries his weakness and struggle. He quakes, but he does not quit. The man of faith falters, but his faith does not falter. Job did not understand God, but never did he abandon Him. Lacking wings to fly away, we had best abide under the shadow of the Almighty. If we remain there long enough, relief will come.

David begins with a cry, "I mourn in my complaint and make a noise (v.2)." He proceeds with a confession, "I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest." Finally he emerges with a shared confidence; "Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved (v. 22)."

If perchance you are carrying what seems an unbearable burden, you are not alone. If you are bowed down beneath the weight of it, you have only joined the company of one who says here, "horror hath overwhelmed me." Job's troubles, David's trials, Paul's thorn and the savior's tragic prospect were all different in nature and degree, but they had this in common; each reached a point where he would have liked to "fly away, and be at rest."

When the apostle Paul took his burden to the Lord, he did not experience deliverance. Rather, he tells us, "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong [II Cor 12:8-10]."

Many of life's problems come with no easy answers, and no early solution. While we carry those burdens we may fear collapse. Flight is not an option, and it comes as a suggestion from the enemy, as David recognizes in another place: "In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain [Ps. 11:1]?" Those who find their refuge in God and approach Him with openness and honesty will find Him able to sustain and secure them until the deliverance comes— whether here or hereafter.

Yours for a sustained faith,

"Pastor" Frasier