David Bahn - Reflections

We sometimes teach a This is That technique in our training of pastors and spouses with PLI. It's a way of helping people to remember past events and see how the church has navigated those events and changes. This [change, event, plan,] is that [past event] all over again.  But in the case of a tyrant, fire and brimstone, judgment and smiting (only) god, That is not This. 

Our God is no wimp. He is all powerful. Mighty. Holy. A consuming fire. But he is also merciful and gracious. Loving and kind. He is the God who inspired St. Paul to write, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20). We rightly both fear and love God above all things.

God needs no permission to make the laws of physics, morality, or spirituality. He reigns. He is above all things. "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne," says the Psalmist. He rules the world with truth and grace goes the sanza from Joy to the World. This is our God who is above all. He is in charge. So we say:

Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
    and give thanks to his holy name!

The Psalmist says, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!" Then he adds, "Give thanks to him; bless his name!" Our worship is not an exercise in mere thankfulness. It is a practice of honoring our Redeemer and Lord. It is a matter of blessing Yahweh. It is a matter of coming in to God's presence. 

God is everywhere. But he has promised specifically to be present where two or three are gathered in his name. He is delighted to receive us when we come. When we show up, we hear him gladly say, "Come on in!"

When I pray to God, I pray to the One who is able to answer decisively and powerfully. It also means that when I pray to the LORD (Yahweh), I don't pray to a generic deity. I pray to the One who has bound himself to me through a covenant that has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ.

Why must we remember that God is good? Because we are his people. We did not make ourselves. We did not choose him to be our God. He created us and chose us for his eternal good pleasure and our everlasting joy and blessing. We are sheep. He is the good shepherd. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But our Good Shepherd, Jesus, came to give us life. Abundant life. More than enough life. Life that overflows our being into eternal praise.

If God is good - and he surely is - praise him!

We are children of God and moved to praise God, and to serve him. Martin Luther connected that when he offered this explanation to the second article of the Apostle's Creed: 

"I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him [emphasis added] in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true."

We are loved by God. We are children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. We praise God also by serving him through serving our neighbor - with gladness!

The purpose of praise is two-fold. First it's a proper thing to do. God is worthy of our praise. When we praise God we're not gilding the lily. We're not engaging in flattery. God doesn't need our praise. He is not insecure or needy. He is worthy of all our praise. It is good, right and salutary that we should praise God.

We also praise God as a witness to the nations. We're calling attention to God, that he is above all powers, all other gods, and beyond any other source of good and blessing. It may be that people will dismiss our praise as emotional froth. But it is not. And honorable women and men will recognize the truth of what we proclaim. God is good. His steadfast love endures forever. His faithfulness spans generation after generation.

Praise honors God - always appropriate. Praise puts our problems in perspective; they cannot separate us from God. Praise puts us in our proper place; we are not in charge. Praise sends the devil fleeing. Praise is always proper - especially at the end of our lamentations.

Yay God!

I like to think of hope as a three-way dance with trusting and waiting. Paul says, "If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Corinthians 15:19). We do have hope in this life, but not only in this life. We have an eternal hope secured and founded upon the steadfast love of God in Jesus. We do not live without hope. It grows out of trust. It will never disappoint. In this psalm of lament we turn to God in trust, hope, and love.

The answer to our prayer for help may come by way of divine intervention. When it does, we rightly praise God. Sometimes it arrives as a helper, a fellow traveler along the pathway of life. And sometimes it takes the shape of strength of the Holy Spirit who helps us grow in our faith through the struggles we face. As James also says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).

God hears us when we call. He will help us. We can pray confidently, "Help, O Lord! In Jesus’ name. Amen."