Awaken the Dawn

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 13,14; Psalm 57

TO CHEW ON: “Awake my glory!
Awake lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.” Psalm 57:8


An introductory line in my Bible identifies the occasion for the writing of this psalm: “A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave.”

I imagine David beginning to write this psalm in the evening. He’s bone-weary, discouraged, feeling surrounded and overwhelmed by the forces coming against him, and very scared:

“My soul is among lions;
I lie among the sons of men
Who are set on fire,
Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a  sharp sword…
They have prepared a net for my feet…
They have dug a pit before me” - Psalm 57: 4,6.

Then, at verse 7 the feeling changes:

“My heart is steadfast O God…
I will sing and give praise.”

Here’s my guess about why the change: I imagine David resuming the writing of the psalm in the morning, after a night of sleep. He’s made it through the night. The sun will soon rise on another day and he shifts his perspective from his troubles to God.

Since he’s hiding from Saul in a cave, you’d expect he’d be extra careful that no noises echoed through the cave’s chambers and to the outside. But no. He wants his praise to be so loud it will “awaken the dawn.”

There are several lessons for me—for us—in this passage.

1. It’s a good idea to sleep on our problems.
For example, it’s a good plan to  leave making difficult decisions to when we’re rested and have gained perspective by giving the situation a little time and distance and we’re in better physical shape.

2. Praise changes the atmosphere.
From Psalm 57:7 on, when David shifts his focus from his problems to God, there’s not another hint of gloom. It’s all about God’s greatness, attributes and abilities.

3. It’s a good thing to express praise aloud.
David’s praise is loud. It’s expressed with musical instruments and voice, into the open air and to people (Psalm 57:8, 9). I know I tend to praise silently, mentally. I need to do more praising aloud, with my voice, maybe even visit the piano or get out the keyboard.


PRAYER: Dear Father, it’s easy to let problems overwhelm me. Help me to make a habit of meeting with You each morning and to begin the day with intentional focus on and praise to You. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 57

The Bible Project VIDEO: LEV: Heart (Shema word study series)



 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

Help for the Frustrated Leader

Moses helped by Aaron and Hur - Exodus 17:12

Illustration from Treasures of the Bible



TODAY’S SPECIAL: Numbers 11-13; Psalm 43

TO CHEW ON: “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Has the LORD’s arm been shortened?’” Numbers 11:23

Here we see Moses so discouraged and frustrated with the complaints and grumbling of the people, he wants to die.

His cry out to God was not ignored. Here is a short list of how God came to his aid and the aid of other frustrated and discouraged leaders in the Bible.

1. He gave Moses helpers, putting His Spirit—the Holy Spirit that was on Moses—onto 70 leaders of the people so they could help him - Numbers 11:24,25.

2. Before David became king and was on-the-run from Saul, on one occasion his camp was raided by Amalekite bandits. All their stuff and wives were taken. David’s response to his own outrage and the anger of his men: He “strengthened himself in God” - 1 Samuel 30:6.

3. For Solomon, his request for wisdom and God’s reply happened in a dream. The next day he went about his work as usual, perhaps not knowing if anything had changed. However, it was soon evident, by the wisdom with which he judged the people, that God had indeed answered his prayer - 1 Kings 3:28.

4. Elijah, after fleeing for more than a day from Queen Jezebel, fell asleep, awoke to an angel-prepared meal, slept some more, ate again, and carried on “in the strength of that food” for 40 days and nights - 1 Kings 19:5-8.

5. In our reading additionally, God’s way of solving the meat problem was, in effect, to do a miracle. When God promised meat and Moses objected: “Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered to provide enough for them…?”  God replied: “‘Has God’s arm been shortened?’” - Numbers 11:23. (“‘Has the Lord’s hand [His ability and power] become short [thwarted and inadequate]?’” - Numbers 11:23 AMP.) In other words, When was I ever limited by anything, to keep My promises?

These are still some of the ways God uses to bring us out of discouragement and provide help (some He does for us; some we do ourselves).


We defeat discouragement by:

• Accepting help.

• Changing our focus from the situation to God.

• Going about our tasks with faith, confident that God has answered our prayer.

• Attending to our physical needs for rest and food.

• Trusting that God can, and sometimes does, respond with miracles.

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to use the means available to me to dispel discouragement. You and Your plans are never thwarted! Help me to believe this at a life level through up and down times. Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 43

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Tempted to linger

Lot and His Family Flee Sodom - Artist Unknown

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Genesis 19:1-22

TO CHEW ON: “And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.” Genesis 19:16

Lot is an interesting character. If we follow his story, we discover his own father (Haran) died before his grandfather Terah, and that as a family his uncle Abram (& wife Sarai), Uncle Nahor (& wife), Grandfather Terah and Lot moved form Ur to Canaan (Genesis 11:27-31).

When God told Abram to move from Haran (the town) in Canaan to a place He would lead, Lot came along - Genesis 12:4.

When both men prospered so that their herds became to big for the available grassland, Abram offered Lot the choice of where to go. Lot “chose for himself” what looked like the best territory - Genesis 13:10,11.

In our reading today we discover Lot was hospitable and aware of the disturbing social customs of the city’s men, so that he insisted these visitors who came to him from Abram, stay the night with him. In fact, the spiritual climate bothered him (2 Peter 2:7,8). But not enough.

He callously offered his daughters to the lecherous and clamouring men. His sons-in-law didn’t take his warning seriously. And when the angels insisted he come with them, he “lingered” with his family so that the angels had to literally drag them out of the doomed city - Genesis 19:12-16. Lot had become spiritually dull.

Contrast Lot’s behaviour with Abraham’s (name changed by God - Genesis 17:5). He took the angelic messengers so seriously, he risked the LORD’s anger by begging for the preservation of the city and the lives of the righteous with in it (Genesis 18:23-32).

I would submit that the “city” we live in spiritually can also cause us to become spiritually dull or remain sharp and attuned to God. Do we spend time with other believers who help us see life through the lens of faith? Do we regularly read the Bible and meditate on it? Do we listen and watch music, programs, podcasts, and shows that build our faith?  Or do we give all our attention to the natural world around us—the political news, our society’s entertainment and sports, getting and caring for more of this world’s stuff for ourselves?

Let’s do what it takes to stay spiritually sharp—even if that means, like Abraham, we need to live apart from the populated Sodom's and Gomorrah’s of our time.

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to recognize and flee the things of this world that tempt me to linger with them instead of going with You. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Focus, Rules, Perseverance

Image: pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Timothy 2:1-13

TO CHEW ON: “You, therefore must endure hardship…” 2 Timothy 2:3


Paul here is addressing Timothy, a church leader, likening the hardship of endurance he must exercise as a leader to the roles of  the soldier, the  athlete, and the farmer. Each image adds a layer of understanding of the role, not only of church leaders, but all of us “kings and priests" (Revelation 1:6).

Soldier:
If we haven’t been soldiers ourselves, we’ve seen film clips of military training and battle and don’t need to be convinced that soldiers face hardship and need endurance. Soldier-type endurance is highlighted here for its focus. It’s a singular attention to battle, not distracted with everyday life (2 Timothy 2:3,4).

Athlete:
The recent Olympics remind us of the endurance of the athlete. Most Olympic-level athletes have endured the hardship of countless hours of training and carefully controlled what they ate and drank. But they also need to be aware of another angle of endurance—the rules of the game. Those hours of work won’t win them success if they break the rules of competition and are disqualified (2 Timothy 2:5).

Farmer:
The farmer’s hardship is one of patience and perseverance as he nurtures his crop through the cycle of seasons and the vagaries of weather. If he sticks with it, though, he’ll be the first to experience the reward of his work (2 Timothy 2:6).

These three aspects of hardship also apply to us.

Focus: It’s easy to become distracted from the task Paul describes as his (and ours): “…so that everyone God calls will get in on the salvation of Christ in all its glory.” - 2 Timothy 2:10 MSG.

Rules: What would these be for the Christian? Some things that come to mind: Personal holiness, as in living a life that won’t stumble others, and ministry and message integrity as in speaking the message of the gospel—not wealth, or success, or salvation by works.

Perseverance: If we are faithful and patient and persevere, the fruit of our ministry may surprise us with reward at the most unexpected times, not to speak of the heavenly reward we look forward to when we see Jesus.

PRAYER: Dear Father, I need the mentality of the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer. Please deliver me from softness. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.