August 17

1 SAMUEL 9
This story of Saul marks the end of the judges. A member of the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest of the tribes, one of Saul’s ancestors would have been one of the few surviving men of the tribe when the other tribes almost wiped them all out in punishment for not bringing justice against the men of Gibeah. One of Saul’s ancestors would have been one of the virgins stolen from Jabesh-Gilead in order to be given as wives to the surviving men of Benjamin. Kish means ‘bent.’ Kish’s father’s name was Abiel, which means God is my Father. Do you suppose Abiel named his son ‘bent’ in memory of the travesty that had taken place in the Tribe? Maybe, maybe not. Saul’s name means ‘desired.’ Why did Kish name him ‘desired?’ Had he been difficult to conceive and thus desired and prayed for? At any rate, Benjamin is the least of the tribes and Saul was desired.
Kish apparently was a wealthy man. The text says that Kish was a mighty man of power. That could mean that he had a small army, or it could mean that he had a small fortune, or both. Saul, the ‘desired’ one, was looking for his father’s lost female donkeys. TWOT indicates, “She-asses are listed among Job’s possessions but not male asses. . . Female asses are mentioned because. . . of their milk and their breeding. They are also better for riding than male asses.” Hence one only needed one male ass in a herd. If you had more than one, to lose a male was no big loss, but to lose several female asses was to lose much. Saul, the ‘desired’ one, was on a journey to recover his father’s wealth.
Israel desired a king like the other nations. God gave them what they desired. Saul was tall, handsome, from a rich family. Everything you would want for a king. So the desired one, on a journey to recover his father’s wealth, finds not the she-asses, but the desire of Israel, the crown of the country. Everybody but God gets what they desired. Kish gets his donkeys; Saul gets a crown, and Israel gets their king. What does God get? He already had it, rejection.
Where is the glory in that? Our Lord works through our rejection to accomplish His will. He would one day reject the desire of the nation to provide a King of His choice, David. He would promise to David to bring of his seed, the Messiah. He provided Jesus as that seed. The nation rejected Him. Yet still as many as receive Him, to them He gives the right to become children of God. Saul was desired and wanted, but evil. Jesus was despised and rejected, but good. Saul was handsome. Jesus was one from whom we hid our eyes. Saul was acclaimed; Jesus was mocked. Saul sought David’s death; Jesus endured the cross and loved us still. It is easy to love those who love you. Jesus loved us even while were yet sinners and hated him. What a contrast in glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 47
Five times we are commanded to sing praises to our God. One of those times, we are commanded to sing praises with understanding. Well how else would one sing praises? It happens every Sunday. People enter into the sanctuary to sing praises. The songs are familiar. The mind shifts into neutral and lets the mood of the music take over. The routine is familiar. As the praises are sung, the words flow out effortlessly. The words enter through the eyes from the screen or hymnal, pass through the brain and are transformed into hopefully somewhat melodious sounds without really grasping the mind or the spirit. It is an age-old problem. It happens to us all more often than we would like to admit. One result of the problem is that the time of praise becomes lifeless without any transforming power.
Another extreme of the problem is to recognize that the understanding is being by-passed and react with great emotion and by the flesh try to stir up the understanding through the music. Its result is just as lifeless. Usually it leaves the participant drained emotionally rather than
transformed spiritually because of his encounter with the God of glory. What is needed is an experience of what Jesus called worshipping in Spirit and in Truth. We need His Holy Spirit to enlighten our understanding and empower our praises. Such worship brings us into the presence of the Father and transforms our lives.
We are commanded to shout unto God with a voice of triumph. Now if I am going to sing praise with a voice of triumph, what is it that I have triumphed over, and how did that triumph happen? In verse 5 the Psalmist says, “God has gone up with a shout!” Now what is that supposed to mean, and why is He shouting? Commentators usually say that the historical context here is referring to when David brought up the ark to Jerusalem with much shouting and singing and dancing. The ark has always been a symbol of the very presence of God obtained through the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of our Lord. When we shout to the Lord, it is shouting with the understanding of these things in mind. It is not mindless excitation of the flesh. It is Spirit empowered will and emotion because we understand what great things He has accomplished to secure our redemption! It will be finally obtained upon His second coming. It no accident that Paul says, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” His redemption is complete but it will not be fully realized until He returns. Yes, He shouts, and so ought we also shout!
As we sing praise, we should remember our inheritance (v.4). I thank God for the inheritance my wife received from her father, but when we die, we will not have it anymore. It will pass on to our children (if I don’t spend it first). Should I not be even more thankful for the inheritance that I receive from God? Peter says that inheritance is, “incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” So when I sing praise with understanding it is with a shout because of what He has done to deliver me (where I came from), but it is also a shout because of where He is taking me (where I am going). It is also a shout because of what I have now. Paul says that the Holy Spirit is, “The guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” I have the Spirit of God living in me, enabling me to live like Jesus lived, hastening the day of His coming! Now there is shouting ground!
Another reason to sing praises with understanding is because He is King of the earth. He is King in his providence over the earth. In His providence He has cursed the earth because of our sin. He is none-the-less in control! Yes, in the curse He permits the tornado, hurricane, blizzard, cancer, disease and maladies out of our control, but He is King! He is in control of the nations. Al Qaeda did not take Him by surprise, and He did permit 911 as he permits every other malady that we hate. He brought the curse to teach us the evilness of sin and our need for redemption. The evils of war and human deprivation are man’s invention, but He permitted it to cause us to turn to Him. He is not only king in providence now, but He will one day rule as King upon the earth bringing an end to man’s evil inventions.
When I consider all the above, I am left in wonder of His glory. I am aghast that I must be commanded to praise Him for His glory leaves me in awe! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

EZEKIEL 16
The ladies of the night were across the street. They were frequently there when we picked up our newspapers. Usually they left us alone, but one night the truck was just a little bit late. Everyone was sitting around waiting and talking, and it attracted the night girl’s attention. One of them wandered over and then the truck came. She watched as all the paper bundles were being tossed out the back of the truck. “Whatcha doing?” she called out.
One of us replied, “We’re working.”
“Working?” she queried, “Oh well I work too. I am just a working girl also.” Each time she put her emphasis on “work.”
“Yeah, well we do a different type of work.” Another replied.
“Oh I just wanted you to know that I’m a working girl also.”
By that time I had found my bundles of newspapers and had thrown them in my T-1000, and I drove off.
I never have quite understood the emotional desperation that would drive a woman to sell herself on the street, but obviously it is a very real desperation. It has been called, “the world’s oldest profession.” Then there are those women who sell themselves for the hope of being loved, usually only finding that instead of being loved, they are just used. I understand that everyone has a deep God-given drive to feel loved. It is just that sex alone does not provide love, so to give oneself sexually in exchange for love usually leads to bitter disappointment.
But every time that I read this parable, I am once again struck by the depravity that the Lord attributes to Judah. She does not sell herself to her partners; she pays them to have sex with her. She does this after having been provided with everything she could want for life and love. What kind of desperation is going on here? Yet it is a desperation that describes the spiritual desperation of every human who has ever lived except for the Lord Jesus.
Then I find an even more amazing thing in this parable

60“Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. . . . 63b when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

As desperate as we are to find love in a person other than the Lord, He still desires that we should return to Him and to find our love only in Him. What a wondrous love is this! Why are we so desperate to turn our backs on Him? What an encouragement it is to us to receive this love and live in it! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ROMANS 16
Jesus is the secret of the gospel. He was hidden in the pages of the Scripture from Gen. 3:15

"And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

until the opening pages of the New Testament. It is all about Him. He is prefigured in Noah's Ark, Isaac, Joshua, Joseph and David. Leviticus is all about Him. The Psalms are replete with His death and rule. The prophets spoke of Him, especially Isaiah 53. Our faith in Him brings us into obedience to Him. Because of this, we are to avoid those who cause divisions, those who draw us away from Him, those who put our attention on things other than the Lord Jesus. That is why we need to learn to speak His glory to one another. When He is the center of attention, then His glory is the center of attention. His glory leaves no room for competition. Gazing upon His glory leads us into obedience to Him.
As the secret of the gospel, He is the one who is redeeming and healing this cosmic rebellion against God. He is crushing the head of Satan under our feet. He is our peace with God. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John