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When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted. May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth. May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great. Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.

There are two things the Lord honors above all else, His name and His word. When He promised to restore Israel in the last days, He said, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 36:22-23) It’s not because they’ve proven themselves worthy, but because His name was at stake. They besmirched it, and He had to restore it because He’s made big promises to us as well.

And where His word is concerned He said, “For this is what the LORD says—he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.” (Isaiah 45:18-19) And “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (Isaiah 46:8-10)

For those of you who were taught that the New Testament canceled or superceded the Old, Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matt. 5:17-18) In the idiom of the day, the phrase “the Law and the Prophets” referred to the Old Testament. God’s word is final, infallible, forever.

Why is this so important to us? Well, in the first place it’s because God uses prophecy to validate Himself.

“I foretold the former things long ago,” He said, “My mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’ You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them?” (Isaiah 48:3-6)

Of all the world’s so-called Holy Books, only the Bible does this. In fact, God uses prophecy as the standard for evaluating anyone’s claim to be God.

“This is what the LORD says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come—yes, let him foretell what will come.” (Isaiah 44:6-7)

All anyone has to do to prove that he’s God is to answer two questions. First, tell us everything that has happened. And second, tell us everything that will happen. God has been doing this very thing for nearly 6000 years now and He’s never been wrong. No one else can make that claim.

So, His word is so important because it’s His proof that He is Who He claims to be. You don’t have to wonder if there’s really a God. Just study His word. You’ll find more proof that He’s who He claims to be than you can muster up to prove that you’re who you claim to be. It doesn’t take any faith to believe there’s a God. It just takes the application of your God-given intellect in a search for Him. That’s why in the New Testament, one of the Greek words translated unbelief also means disobedient. There’s simply too much evidence to deny the existence of God, so the people who do so have to remain consciously ignorant the facts. They have to refuse to know Him.

The second reason this is so important is that we’ve been asked to stake our eternal destiny on the fact that God is reliable. It’s good to know that someone who has asked you to take His word for something so critical values His word so highly, because by the time we find out if He was telling the truth, it’ll be too late. But when Paul wrote “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” in Romans 10:13 the One standing behind his promise had a 4000 year track record of honesty and integrity, and nothing has happened in the 2000 years following to diminish that record. If anything we have more supporting evidence now than then.

So where your salvation is concerned, God has placed the two things He values most highly on the line, His name and His word. You have every right to feel secure in His hands.

to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.
who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
who made the great lights— His love endures forever.
the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.
to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, His love endures forever.
and brought Israel out from among them, His love endures forever.
with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.
to him who divided the Red Sea asunder, His love endures forever.
and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever.
but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.
to him who led his people through the desert, His love endures forever.
who struck down great kings, His love endures forever.
and killed mighty kings— His love endures forever.
Sihon king of the Amorites, His love endures forever.
and Og king of Bashan— His love endures forever.
and gave their land as an inheritance, His love endures forever.
an inheritance to his servant Israel; His love endures forever.
to the One who remembered us in our low estate, His love endures forever.
and freed us from our enemies, His love endures forever.
and who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

In my younger days I was a runner, and even ran a couple of marathons, 26.25 mile endurance runs. After the last one I developed a sharp pain in my right knee and went to a podiatrist who specialized in sports related injuries for a diagnosis. He pointed out a slight deformity in my right lower leg that caused my right foot to point out at a more pronounced angle than my left one and prescribed a pair of orthotics. These are specially formed inserts I wear in my shoes to correct for this difference. He said the problem only presented itself because of the stress of running and suggested that I try brisk walks instead. I took his advice about walking and wore the orthotics. Sure enough, the pain went away and for 20 years I thought nothing more about it.

Then, about 4 years ago my knees started hurting again. Not nearly as bad as before, but noticeably. I thought it was just a sign of aging, so I increased my daily dose of a natural supplement that helps restore deteriorating joints, and asked the Lord to heal me. As long as I took it easy and took the supplement the pain stayed away. But recently it’s been getting worse again and I began to consider another trip to the podiatrist, throwing in more prayers on those mornings when my knees really hurt. Moving into a single story house helped, since I could hardly get down the stairs in the mornings. But taking long walks became a problem and even standing on my feet to deliver an hour long Bible Study caused real pain the next morning.

Out of the blue my wife became convinced that I should try a pair of shoes she had heard about, before doing anything else. I did, but they didn’t help. Then she insisted on a different model of the same brand, one that had something called negative heel technology. Since the first pair hadn’t helped I was really hesitant but finally agreed. Meanwhile I hobbled around waiting for them to arrive in the mail.

On the day they arrived, I put them on. The instructions said to only wear them for a little while because my feet would need time to get used to them. So I wore them around the house for a few hours before going to bed.

The next morning I awoke to pain free knees. No stiffness or soreness at all. I went around telling everyone how great these shoes are. The only problem is that they’re dress shoes, and Sunday is the only time I have occasion to wear dress shoes. Not wanting to go back to the orthotics, I tried wearing slippers and sandals and other shoes I haven’t been able to wear for years. No pain, and it’s been three weeks now.

Believing that wearing those special shoes for a few hours one night took all the pain away forever was one thing. But there’s no way that it can explain why I can suddenly wear any old shoes or even no shoes and still be pain free. I’m convinced that the Lord answered my prayer for healing and getting those shoes was like Elisha’s servant telling Namaan the Syrian to wash in the Jordan seven times to cure his leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-19). Or like Jesus rubbing mud on the blind man’s eyes and telling him to go wash it off. (John 9:1-7). They were just something for those being healed, in this case me, to do to supplement our weak faith, to make us think we were really contributing to the process.

Just like Naaman was skeptical about washing in the Jordan and only did it to accommodate his servants, I only agreed to try the shoes to accommodate my wife’s suggestion. Naaman didn’t think there was anything special about the Jordan’s waters and I didn’t think a new pair of shoes would do any good for me. Turns out we were both right. It was just something for us to do as an act of faith.

The Lord has healed countless numbers of us over the course of human history and He continues to do so to this day. The fact that we don’t give Him the glory anymore, crediting instead the methods He uses, is irrelevant. But I’ll bet that there are thousands of you out there with a story similar to mine. Now you have an explanation. And from now on when something like this happens to you, give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

A. We take the first step toward salvation when we hear a simple gospel message spoken with the power of conviction and it prompts us to seek the Lord.  He said everyone who seeks Him will find Him.  Along with salvation we receive the faith to believe.  Both are gift’s of God’s grace. (Ephes. 2:8-9) We also receive His Holy Spirit, and the Bible finally begins to make sense to us, because it’s a supernatural document that requires supernatural ability to understand.  It’s the Holy Spirit who gives us that ability.  Through study we gain understanding and our faith grows.  Far from being a Catch-22 situation, the Lord makes salvation, faith, and the Holy Spirit available to all who seek Him.

A.  James 1:5-8 says,
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Many never ask for the wisdom to understand.  Others who ask for wisdom don’t receive it because deep down they don’t really believe what the Bible says.  Those who ask and receive are those who believe wholeheartedly that God is who He claims to be, has done what He claims to have done, and will do what He has promised to do.

Put another way, the Bible is a supernatural document and can only be understood by those who have been granted supernatural ability.  (1 Cor. 2:14)  All believers have been given this ability.  Faith is the key that unlocks it.   When you increase in understanding, it means you’re increasing in faith.

If the priests working in the Temple needed reminding to praise the Lord, how much more do we? Some of us spend a half hour or so on Sunday mornings praising the Lord and that’s it.

Yet the Lord blesses us all day every day. Shouldn’t our praise in some way approximate His blessing? And so what if you’re in a bad place right now? He’s gotten you out of bad places before and will do so again. Besides, you’ll soon be in Heaven with Jesus where you’ll be blessed forever. Praising the Lord is just the thing you need.  Praise The Lord!

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:4-7)

Since you can only think one thought at a time, the time you spend praising the Lord is time you won’t be able to spend feeling bad about your situation. The Lord knows the trouble you’re in and He knows how He’s going to get you out of it. If you start praising Him now, who knows, He might deliver you sooner. So make a “contrary to feelings” choice. Put your favorite praise CD in the player or turn to your Christian radio station and start praising Him. I guarantee you’ll soon feel much better. Praise the Lord!

And if you’re in a great place, you shouldn’t need reminding. You should already be praising Him. It wasn’t your brilliance that got you here, but His blessing. There are plenty of brilliant folks in the world who never get anywhere. Look at the path you’ve taken to get where you are and pick out the unexplained coincidences. Those are where God got involved and decided to remain anonymous. Praise the Lord!

Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

The fact of God’s forgiveness is as old as the Bible. I’m convinced that if Adam had just confessed when God asked him what he’d done the world would be a far different place today. Same with Cain. In all the Old Testament’s writing about God’s wrath and His judgments, it’s easy to overlook the fact that all He ever asked us to do is to confess our sins. He gave us the Law, not to make us behave, but to show us that we’re sinners. (Romans 3:20)

To me the bottom line in defining our relationship with God comes from Micah 6:8. He has shown you O man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. He could have said, “Do the right thing by one another, be merciful in your treatment of others, and recognize that you’re a sinner in need of forgiveness.”

In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14) the Lord didn’t commend the efforts of the Pharisee, who in all likelihood devoted every waking moment to keeping God’s law, but the humility of the tax collector, who knew he couldn’t do it.

One of the things that most frustrates God in His dealings with us is our stubborn refusal to admit that we’re sinners. We clean ourselves up on the outside, we make a good impression on those around us, sometimes even fool ourselves into thinking that we’re better than we are. But in our hearts we’re sinners in need of forgiveness. Every one of us.

When we come to the Lord in sincerity, even our most outrageous sins are always forgiven. And this isn’t some New Testament advantage, enabled by the cross. It’s always been true. Take David’s sin with Bathsheba. He took another man’s wife and then had the man killed so he could marry her. He went into the Holy of Holies expecting to be punished, knowing he deserved it. He had recently seen a man die for touching the Ark so he put his hand on it, ready to be struck down. Instead he was forgiven, because his heart was humble.

If God kept a record of our behavior, none of us could stand. We would have all pushed the relationship too far by our ongoing sinfulness. But His mercies are new every morning. Each day is a new beginning. No matter how many times we’ve done it before, if we sincerely confess our sins he is just and faithful to forgive and will purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD. May the LORD bless you from Zion all the days of your life; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem, and may you live to see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel.

There are so many places where we’re told that walking in the ways of the Lord will bring peace and prosperity. Our enemies will live at peace with us, (Prov. 16:7) wealth will come to us absent the problems it can sometimes bring, (Prov. 10:22) and whatever we plan will end in success. (Prov. 16:3)

Contrast this with what we’ve seen and been taught, that the enemy lies in wait for us and as soon as we step out for the Lord he’ll attack, that money is the root of all evil, and that planning our lives is a symptom of self-determinism rather that submission to God.

When the Israelites were finally ready to enter the Promised Land, the Lord had them make provision for the poor. One of these was the cancellation of all debt every seven years. “However,” He said, “There should be no poor among you, for in the land I’m giving you I will richly bless you if you follow my commands.” Imagine that. A whole nation without any poor people.

He went on to say that they would lend to other nations but never borrow from anyone. They would rule over others but no one would rule over them. (Deut. 15:1-6) These promises came true for Israel and dignitaries traveled from the far corners of the known world just to see with their own eyes the blessings that God had showered down upon them.

These promises carried no expiration date and were not restricted to Israel alone. The USA has experienced similar blessings and it’s still true that even those who hate our country prefer to live here than anywhere else. Achieving and maintaining these blessings requires only that we walk in His ways.

And, as the psalm says and history has shown, God also blessed His people on an individual level, even when their country was being disobedient. But one of the problems with the age of grace is that we still expect Him to do all these things for us even though we no longer do our part for Him.

“I’m not going on some works trip,” we say. We don’t realize that a “works trip” is what someone does in an effort to earn their salvation. Walking in His ways is how we demonstrate our gratitude for having been given it.

God has promised to bless us with Eternal Life just for believing that Jesus paid for all our sins with His life. But he has also promised to bless us with peace and prosperity in the here and now for walking in his ways. It has always amazed me that we cling so tightly to the part of His promise that we can’t see and won’t be able to verify until it’s too late, and ignore the part that we could easily prove just by adopting the behavior He suggests.

A. Put in its simplest terms, it’s a cause and effect relationship.  Faith is the cause of our salvation and good works are the effect. Put another way,  faith precedes salvation and good works follow it.

As long as you maintain this distinction there’s no problem.  But if you ever try to make our good works part of what it takes to qualify for or maintain our salvation, then you’ve rendered the Lord’s death on the cross insufficient to save us, and  ultimately made yourself responsible for your own salvation.

The opinion that Paul said both faith and works are required in Ephes. 2:8-10 is incorrect in that it makes his statement self contradictory, saying that works are not required in verse 9 and that they are required in verse 10. But when you see faith and works in a cause and effect relationship the contradiction disappears.

Of course God created us in Christ for good works.  Not so we could save ourselves, but so we could bring glory to Him after He saved us.  Over and over the New Testament makes it clear.  We’re saved because of what we believe, not because of how we behave.

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil.

Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.

This Psalm has its New Testament counterpart in a verse from 1st Corinthians. God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Cor 10:13) Just as He knew that leaving His people under the influence of their wicked neighbors for too long would cause them to fall into wickedness themselves, so He knows the limits of our ability to resist temptation. Accordingly, He will not stand idly by watching us try to endure more than we’re capable of.

There’s an old law that said, “A master who knowingly subjects his slave to temptation that exceeds his ability to resist has no recourse when the slave succumbs.” The Lord derives no pleasure in watching us fall. That’s a lose-lose deal. If the truth be known, He isn’t the author of our temptation at all. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. (James 1:13-14)

A friend of mine jokingly says, “I can resist anything but temptation.” It’s our own evil desires that cause us to be tempted, and our enemy knows just which strings to pull and just when to pull them to trigger those desires.

When we were little, our earthly fathers often watched closely as we learned lessons about our capabilities, always ready to step in and help to keep us from injuring ourselves, or becoming so discouraged that we’d stop trying. Just so, the Lord watches as we learn the limits of our ability to resist temptation, and will always have an escape ready to prevent us from exceeding those limits.

Some learn that their ability to resist drunkenness is shattered after one drink and learn to depend on Him to help them say no to the first one. Others realize that one throw of the dice, one puff of a cigarette, one hit off a joint, or one look at a pornographic picture is one too many, and trust Him to help them turn away before it’s too late.

But no matter what the level of our tolerance is, the key to resisting temptation is found in one simple verse, masterfully demonstrated for us by its Author in the Wilderness Temptation. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7) It worked for Him and it’ll work for us.