Coffee With The Lord

What can you do if you’ve made a “royal mess” of things because of your own foolish decisions? Who can you go to that can help you out of your predicament? There is a Psalm that answers that question – Psalm 130. On more than one occasion I’ve turned it into a prayer! Check it out below… and if need be pray it!

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared [reverenced]! I wait for You, O Lord! My soul waits, and in Your word I hope! My soul waits for You more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning! I hope in the Lord! For with You there is steadfast love, and plentiful redemption! You will redeem us from all our iniquities!” (Psalm 130 with slight adaptations for prayer)

Hey it works! He (the Lord) is the One who can help us in the mess we’ve made of things!

If we’re not careful, we can begin to think of “revelation” only in terms of the words we find in the Bible! Granted, the words we find in the Bible are special and function as revelation. I affirm with complete conviction Apostle Paul’s declaration: “All Scripture is inspired [breathed out from God…” (II Timothy 3: 16-17 – i.e. it comes from God). But very often the “revelation” that we find in the Bible is the record of a God-encounter – a revelatory experience with God Himself – that is more than simply words! God reveals HIMSELF to someone in some profound way! It may be visual, it may be auditory – and it certainly is sensory and very real!

I think that is the kind of experience Apostle Paul had and recorded for us in I Thessalonians 4:13-17 when he shared what will happen to Christians who have died (and those who are still alive) when the Lord returns! He speaks of it as “a word from the Lord” but the words he used to describe it are very visual, even auditory – I believe Paul saw something and heard something vivid and real – a revelatory drama played out before his very eyes! More than simply words – it was a revelatory reality that will occur one day for those who follow Christ! Here read it that way and see if it doesn’t bring your comfort and living hope!

“And now… I want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. WE TELL YOU THIS DIRECTLY [A “word”] FROM THE LORD: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet Him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.” (From 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 NLT)

Wow! What an awesome “revelation” Paul must have had! Imagine it! And it’s a reality! All of those who are believers – dead or alive – will one day be a part of it! I want to experience that reality – don’t you?

Hey, let me clear something up… When the Bible speaks about “the fear of the Lord” it is NOT talking about dread or terror of God!  A much better way of processing that phrase is to think “reverence of the Lord” when you encounter it in Scripture!

What is “reverence?”  Well here’s the way Webster defines it:”Honor or respect felt or shown.  Profound or adoring awe or respect.”  Combine honor, high regard, deep respect, awe and love together, and you have “reverence!”

This morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord” I read and reflected on Psalm 128 which addresses this very topic!  Just let me say after reading it… There are wonderful promises for those who “reverence” the Lord (i.e. “fear the Lord”)!  It pays to reverence Him (and then as a result of that live for Him – obey Him (i.e. “walk in His ways)!  You’ll be blessed in every way – materially, vocationally, physically, emotionally, socially…and most of all spiritually.  Your family will be blessed!  Blessed!  Blessed!!  BLESSED!!!

Here’s how Psalm 128 puts it (and it doesn’t get much better than this!)…

“Blessed is everyone who fears [reverences] the Lord, who walks in his ways!  You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you!  Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. ⁴Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears [reverences] the Lord!”

Gotta tell you, I want to live a life that in every way exhibits and expresses “reverence” for the Lord!