Readings: Psalm 119:9-16 (NRSV, The Message); Isaiah 44:1-8 (NRSV, The Message); Acts 2:14-24 (NRSV, The Message)

How can young people keep their way pure?
By guarding it according to your word. Psalm 119:9 (NRSV)

I’m single-minded in pursuit of you;
don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted.
I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart
so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Psalm 119:10-11 (The Message)

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my spirit upon your descendants,
and my blessing on your offspring. Isaiah 44:3 (NRSV)

The scriptures in the daily lectionary continue to remind us of God’s promise of blessing to us. Isaiah asks “What other God is there?” Here is this God that wants to quench our thirst, and keep our heart pure, and bless our offspring.

“But, but…” we may protest. But what, really? What else is there, who else is there to follow? One could definitely do much worse than “banking your promises in the vault of my heart.”

What does it look like to be “single-minded in pursuit of God?”

Readings:  Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 (NRSV, The Message); Daniel 12:5-13 (NRSV, The Message); Ephesians 1:7-14 (NRSV, The Message)

In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.                Ephesians 1:13-14 (NRSV)

It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. Ephesians 1:13-14 (The Message)

And you? Go about your business without fretting or worrying. Relax. When it’s all over, you will be on your feet to receive your reward.  Daniel 12:13 (The Message)

When I first read these passages, I wasn’t quite sure where Daniel fit in. I would have to read the passage in context to know for sure. However, it seems to be a reminder amidst all of this talk about blessing and freedom that sometimes we have to wait. Sometimes we don’t experience everything promised right now. But we do have the freedom to go about our business without worrying, knowing that in the end “we will be on our feet to receive our reward.”

And in Christ we have the “first installment” as Peterson translates it. This is from where our confidence comes.

Readings:  Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 (NRSV, The Message); Genesis 9:8-17 (NRSV, The Message); Ephesians 1:3-6 (NRSV, The Message)

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
   those he redeemed from trouble…   Psalm 107:2 (NRSV)

Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.     Ephesians 1:4 (The Message)

God isn’t angry.

Sometimes I beat myself up and convince myself that it is God beating me up. God’s purpose isn’t to tear me (or you) down. God’s purpose is to redeem me, to love me, to make me whole (and you too!).

The Genesis passage is repeated, I imagine for emphasis, from a couple of Sundays ago. God is covenanting with all of creation that the world would never again be destroyed by a flood. In Ephesians, Paul begins his letter with a reminder to his readers that God loves and blesses them. And I am looking forward to spending time with this Psalm for the next few days, being reminded that I am redeemed and loved. I hope you do the same!

Readings: Psalm 84 (NRSV, The Message); Ezra 6:1-16 (NRSV, The Message); Mark 11:15-19 (NRSV, The Message)

What a beautiful home, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! I’ve always longed to live in a place like this, 
   Always dreamed of a room in your house, 
      where I could sing for joy to God-alive!

And how blessed all those in whom you live, 
      whose lives become roads you travel; 
   They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, 
      discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!             Psalm 84:1-2, 5-6 (The Message)

The passage from Ezra speaks of the rebuilding of the temple after the Babylonian captivity. The reading from Mark is an account of Jesus’ clearing out the temple of money changers and merchants.

Psalm 84 is a song of praise about the temple and it is beautiful as that. But as I have read it this week it has become more. How wonderful it is to dwell in God and to be indwelled by God! Yes, sometimes it is lonely (but really isn’t all of life sometimes very lonely?!). However, the springs and pools encountered make it all worthwhile.

Readings: Psalm 19 (NRSV, The Message); Exodus 19:9b-15 (NRSV, The Message); Acts 7:30-40 (NRSV, The Message)

Readings: Psalm 19 (NRSV, The Message); Exodus 19:1-9a (NRSV, The Message); 1 Peter 2:4-10 (NRSV, The Message)

Readings: Psalm 105:1-11, 37-45 (NRSV, The Message); Jeremiah 30:12-22 (NRSV, The Message); John 12:36-43 (NRSV, The Message)

For he remembered his holy promise,
   and Abraham, his servant.   Psalm 105:42 (NRSV)

“This is God’s Message:

   ”‘You’re a burned-out case, 
   as good as dead.
Everyone has given up on you. 
   You’re hopeless.
All your fair-weather friends have skipped town 
   without giving you a second thought.
But I delivered the knockout blow, 
   a punishment you will never forget,
Because of the enormity of your guilt, 
   the endless list of your sins.
So why all this self-pity, licking your wounds? 
   You deserve all this, and more.
Because of the enormity of your guilt, 
   the endless list of your sins,
I’ve done all this to you.

Jeremiah 30:12-15 (The Message)

In Psalm 105, the psalmist is recounting the work of God in the history of the people of Israel. God did not forget the covenant made with Abraham. Then in Jeremiah, the prophet, speaking for God, says nobody loves you and “I have delivered the knockout blow” (in The Message’s translation) all because you deserve it. Jeremiah goes on to say that God will then punish those who have hurt Israel.

Imagining God in terms of relationship can be helpful. But in reading these two passages together this morning it dawned on me that if someone sought my counsel on a human relationship that looked like this, I would encourage them to consider it carefully. “Because of the enormity of your guilt, the endless list of your sins, I’ve done all this to you” borders on abusive.

However, on further reflection, I have never felt like God has delivered to me a “knockout blow.” I have suffered from my own mistakes. To a significantly lesser degree I have suffered from the unkindness of others. But, I have never felt like I have suffered at the hand of God, not yet anyway. And if or when I do suffer at the hand of God, I know I can (but will I?) trust that it is for my good, for my best. The difference between human relationships and our relationship with God is that God’s intentions are always pure, based on God’s love for us. It is amazing to know there is one I can trust and rest in completely.

Readings:  Psalm 105:1-11, 37-45 (NRSV, The Message); Genesis 21:1-7 (NRSV, The Message); Hebrews 1:8-12 (NRSV, The Message)

Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually.     Psalm 105:4 (NRSV)

The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised.        Genesis 21:1 (NRSV)

Earth and sky will wear out, but not you; 
      they become threadbare like an old coat; 
   You’ll fold them up like a worn-out cloak, 
      and lay them away on the shelf. 
   But you’ll stay the same, year after year; 
      you’ll never fade, you’ll never wear out.       Hebrews 1:11-12 (The Message)

Today’s passages continue to offer testimony and make the case for the covenant we have been talking about for the past two Sundays. Genesis 21 confirms that Sarah did indeed have a child. Hebrews speaks to the steadfastness, permanency, and steadfastness of God.  Psalm 105 is a song of praise to God for keeping God’s covenant with the people of Israel and an encouragement to “seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually.

The promises of God are good. Sometimes they are hard to see and much harder still to remember, especially when we find ourselves in the difficult times of life. It is hard to remember the rainbow in the rain. But, for me, it is still better to live with the promise tan without.