Praise for God

Where even to start today?  

Zechariah 12:1-9.  Look at how God defends His people.  He makes their enemies look drunk, hurt themselves, be burnt up.  He will so clearly fight for His people that it will be said, "The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through Yahweh of hosts, their God."

v7-8 are cool.  It really seems to me to go with Romans 9-11, and how the new Israel fits with the old Israel.  He gives salvation to us -- the Gentiles -- first, so that their glory may not surpass ours.

BWAH.  BAM!  He saves us -- Jews and Gentiles -- He gets the glory!  [Editing note:  That is seriously what it says in my notes.  I think I've been in the Greek II class for a while.]

AND THEN....

Zechariah 12:10-11.  Arrow straight to Jesus, anyone?

God does pour out a spirit of grace on us.  And pleas for mercy for having pierced Him.  Crazy, isn't it, that the first plea for mercy for us was from the one pierced?  Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Matthew Henry relates the lamentation/mourning of verse 11 as being the same as that in Lamentations 5:16.  

"Woe to us, for we have sinned."

Ai, Lord, so we have.

And Your forgiveness is incomprehensible.

Forgiveness?  Oh, was I getting ahead of myself?  Where is it mentioned here?

Zechariah 13:11

On that day

there shall be a fountain opened

for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem

to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

WOW.  

~~~~~~~~~~~

Revelation 19 grossed me out at the end.  But.  It is part of my God.  He is holy.  He is just.  Defending His people means destroying His enemies.

Look at the reasons given to praise Him.

~because salvation, glory, and power belong to Him

~because His judgments are true and just

~because He judged the great prostitute

~because He avenged the blood of His bondservants

~because the smoke goes up from her [the great prostitute] forever and ever

~because He reigns

~because the marriage of the Lamb has come

~because His Bride has made herself ready

~because she can clothe herself with the righteous deeds of the saints

It's much easier for me to praise God for some of these things than for others.  Easy for my joy in salvation to outstrip my indignation at sin.  But the two must go together.  

I must love what He loves, hate what he hates, and become conformed to His image.

~~~~~~~~~

Psalm 147 was cool too, throwing seeming paradoxes at me, as if to show me that I CANNOT fully comprehend God.  It is also focused on praising God.

~He is intimate (healing brokenhearted, binding wounds)

~He is infinite (determining the number of stars, giving them names)

~He lifts up the humble and casts down the wicked

~He takes care of the whole earth -- from the heavens to individual birds

~He doesn't delight in what men do (strength) but in those who fear Him,  who hope in His steadfast love.

~He chooses some and not others.

PRAISE HIM!

[12.28.08]

That Princely Sum

Then I said to them,

"If it seems good to you, give me my wages;

but if not, keep them."

And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver.

Then Yahweh said to me, 

"Throw it out to the potter" 

--the lordly price at which I was priced by them!

So I took the thirty pieces of silver

and threw them into the house of Yahweh, to the potter.

--Zechariah 11:12-13--

There is more than a hint of irony here.  Thirty pieces of silver have two other very different connotations in Scripture.  But the rather sarcastic irony is first seen in the prophet's words, "The lordly price!" (ESV).  NJKV says, "That princely price!"  NLT says, "This magnificent sum at which they valued me!"

The sarcasm is that there is NOTHING princely about such a sum.  Thirty shekels of silver was the price to be paid in restitution for a slave who was killed (Exodus 21:32).  Magnificent?  Lordly?  Hardly.

The irony is much intensified by the passage in Matthew 27:3-10.  Thirty pieces of silver.  That's what Judas sold Jesus for.

God was sold for the price of a slave.

Paul marvels at this mystery in Philippians 2:5-8.  Jesus did make himself nothing.  He took the form of a bondservant even to the point of humble death.  The price for His death was that of the price for a slave's death.

That makes my mind want to explode.

The Blood and Beauty of God

Zechariah 9:11 is beautiful.

As for you also,

because of the blood of my covenant with you,

I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

Is "the waterless pit" Babylon, as Matthew Henry says?  The flames of hell?  Either way, the prisoners are redeemed.  By blood.  By YOUR blood.  You are good.

It was actually Zechariah 9:16-17 that caught my eye first.

On that day

Yahweh their God will save them,

as the flock of His people;

for like the jewels of a crown, 

they shall shine on his land. (16)

The imagery is glorious.  God's people are like jewels in a crown.  US!  Made from DUST!  Thinking about that makes me smile and at the same time makes tears spring to my eyes.  It's SO much more than I deserve.  It is awesome.  I shiver in the dreadful joy of God's love.

Verse 17 continues:

For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty! 

Grain shall make the young men flourish,

and new wine the young women.

The last two lines, rather obviously, made me think of the end of Psalm 4.  (It's been well-drilled into my psyche at Titus's!)   But Psalm 4:7 clearly says that YOU are greater joy than grain and new wine.

And I rejoice in Your beauty.  You don't need jewels.  You are glorious in splendour, and I worship.

[12.26.08]

Foreshadowing in Zechariah, Thoughts from Revelation 15, and a Look at Psalm 143

Reading Zechariah -- with the perspective of the whole New Testament -- makes me want to laugh.  Of COURSE the Messiah's name was Jesus, a variant of Joshua.  It is SO heavily foreshadowed.  Look at Zech 6:11-13.

Joshua.  The Branch.  (Look at Is 53:2 and chapter 11 -- especially 11:1.)  And then in Zechariah 6:13, He is "a priest on his throne" (NKJV).  Priest AND King.  The NLT finishes that verse, "and there will be perfect harmony between his two roles."

Joshua son of Jehozadak.  Jesus, the priest-king.  I think Zechariah and Hebrews have some fascinating connections, and I want to study them!

Revelation 15:3-4 is an amazingly beautiful song.  I'm glad that I know the Judy Rogers version, but I can't wait to sing it around the throne of God!!

Revelation 15:6 provides a nice answer to the question which came up yesterday in my family about why we think angels are clothed.

And Psalm 143... I looked at it in the NLT, and it is... sweet.

I lift my hands to you in prayer.

I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for water. (v6)

Earlier I was singing

If life is water, I was dry as Tucson dirt... [Newsboys]

To thirst for God that way is BEAUTIFUL.  It's like an amazingly intense love-song to be able to say that.

Then the psalmist goes on with a list of do-such-because such which I thought was interesting.

DO BECAUSE

come quickly, answer me my depression deepens

NOT turn away from me I will die

let me hear of your faithful love (each morning) I am trusting you

show me where to walk I give myself to you

rescue me from my enemies I run to you to hide me

teach me to do your will You are my God

(may your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing)

preserve my life For the glory of your name, YHWH

bring me out of my distress of your faithfulness

silence all my enemies/destroy all my foes I am your servant (and your unfailing love)

True Refuge and True Good

It seems that the psalms speak of God with great regularity as a refuge.  Today it was Psalm 142:5

I cry to you, O Yahweh

I say, "You are my refuge,

my portion in the land of the living."

That verse -- especially looking at it in both ESV and NLT -- brings a lot of things to mind.

You're my Hiding Place

Safe in Your embrace

I'm protected from the storm that rages

And when the waters rise

And I run to hide

It's in You I find my hiding place...

[Steven Curtis Chapman]

There are sooo many false things advertised as a safe hiding place.  Home.  Scholarships.  College.  Friends.  Money.  Power.  Status.  Country.  Having a boyfriend (or girlfriend).  Having a husband (or wife).  A job.  Even church.

A lot of these things are good things -- truly good, blessings from God.  But they are not EVER to be our refuge.  They all have storms of their own, they are all part of a fallen world.  Even all God's blessings to us are NOT our inheritance -- not even on this earth!!  GOD is our portion, our exceedingly great reward.

And I -- I want that to truly be all I am concerned with.  Sure, I want to enjoy the material blessings as well.  My time and chance at college.  Being healthy.  Christmas.  The little things, like joking around with Ahndrew.

But far, FAR too often...

I can't see the sun for the daylight

Can't feel Your breath for the wind... [Jars of Clay]

I get SO caught up in all the glorious greatness of what You have for me now that I get off-track of looking at You!

I am so sorry.

I have wasted a lot of time.

Please help me.  To know You better.  To live for You passionately and continually.

Amen.

[Written 12.24.08 about 12.23.08's devos.  It's been interesting (but not surprising) how often, as I write about what I read, that turns into a prayer.]

Faithfulness

Faithfulness.  The Bible talks a lot about that.  In Zechariah 3, the Lord says to Joshua, "If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here" (Zech 3:7).

Revelation 13 is about war, again, and it sounds rather grim.  In fact, it sounds downright frightening.  Not the news that I want to hear at all.  "Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them" (Rev 13:7a).  And to conquer them?  What then?  Is David*Crowder's triumphant song "We Win!" nothing more than a happy song?

But Revelation doesn't end there.  Authority is given to the beast -- over "everyone whose name has NOT been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain" (Rev 13:8).  Not authority over those whose names ARE written in His book of life.  However, the prophetic foretelling of captivity and death by sword holds me to reality.  Just because the enemy has not ultimate authority doesn't mean that I -- and other Christians -- won't suffer and die.

"Here," says John, "is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints" (Rev 13:10).  A similar call is given in Revelation 14:12.  Do not worship idols.  Keep the faith.  (Isn't all of the Bible about that?  The worship which is due to God -- ONLY?)  "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3).  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30).)

Last night I read the first good reason for getting a tattoo that I remember ever reading.  Something which indelibly marks you as a follower of Christ.  So that, under persecution, you could not deny Him even if you wanted to -- even if your flesh was afraid, it would itself bear witness to what your spirit believes. 

I do not have a tattoo.  But I am Yours.  Because my name is written in indelible ink in Your book.  

[12.22.08]

The Big Picture

[I'm still typing older journals!]

Today the Old Testament passage was Zechariah 1.  I remember about a month ago when we came to this passage in Sunday school and how thoroughly it confused us.

The details confused us, that is.  Who is the man?  Is there more than one man?  Who are the ones "whom Yahweh has sent to patrol the earth"?  What?!?

Then the New Testament section for today is almost as crazy -- Revelation 12.  A woman standing on the moon, a dragon trying to eat her baby son -- what is going on?

Psalm 140 pulls me back to see the big picture, especially in passages such as these where I do not understand the details.

In Zechariah 1, God pronounces judgment upon those who have excessively hurt His people, and He promises His love to His people.  "Thus says Yahweh of hosts:  I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion... Yahweh will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem."  (Zech 1:13, 17)

In Revelation 12, there is war as the accuser is defeated by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of [the brothers'] testimony.  God again preserves His people from their foes and His enemy is conquered.

More than conquerors we are.  Let me love not my life even unto death.

 

Psalm 140 asks God for exactly these things -- that the enemies of the righteous (and thus, of God) perish (and the language is vivid and violent), and that God deliver His people, hearing their pleas for mercy so that they may dwell in His presence.

[12.21.08]