Coffee With The Lord

There will be days for all of us when everyone and everything seems to be against us. King David in the Bible had some days like that. In fact, when your own children are the culprits it seems like a really bad day! The introduction to Psalm 3 says it was “a psalm of David written when he fled from his Son Absalom!” Imagine… a coup led by your own son! That’s a bad day!

Here’s in part what David said on that “bad day!”

“Lord, how numerous are my enemies! Many attack me! Many say about me, ‘God will not deliver him!’ But you, Lord, are a shield that protects me; you are my glory and the one who restores me. To the Lord I cried out, and he answered me… I rested and slept; I awoke, for the Lord protects me… Rise up, Lord! Deliver me, my God! … The Lord delivers! You show favor to your people!” (From Psalm 3 the NET Bible)

So, if you’re having a really bad day… why not make King David’s prayer… and the confession of his heart your own… “To the Lord I cried out, and He answered me!”

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n my Bible reading during “coffee with the Lord” today I began reading the Psalms again. I don’t know how many times I’ve read Psalm 1 over the years but today it was as fresh and refreshing as any time I can remember…

I’m going to try to capture the wonderful nuances of just the first phrase… Here’s my stab at it…

The NET Bible (a translation done by wonderful scholars and available free online) says this about the word “blessed”: “The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce.”

So you could say something like this… “Oh the wonderful, bountiful blessings that come to the person who… refuse to live by the advice of the wicked, or follow the path of sinners, or hang out with those who mock God and laugh at righteousness… Instead? They find great pleasure in living by God’s word and constantly thinking about the wonderful things it teaches!”

And the imagery to illustrate it… Oh the wonderful imagery! … “That person is like a green, flourishing, fruit tree – heavy with fruit. It never fails to yield a bountiful crop – does it when it should – and does it in spite of difficult circumstances or hot weather. Its roots are deep beside a nourishing stream!”

My paraphrase… But hey, I want to live like that don’t you?! Believe me, I don’t want to be like the other image in the Psalm… “The wicked are not at all like that! They’re like ‘chaff” which the wind drives away!” Look up the word! It’s a farm term for stuff that is thrown or blown away!

Oh, I love God’s word! Don’t you?!

Got someone who has “ticked you off” – someone who has treated you unfairly? You’re tempted to try to “get even”… to make ‘em pay? My advice based upon what I read in the Bible this morning? Resist that urge! Pray for them instead!

This morning during “coffee with the Lord” I was so impressed by Job’s obedience… Job’s response to those who had wrongly, unjustly (and viciously) accused him… (And it’s pretty clear as you read the account in the Bible he wasn’t very happy about it!)… Here’s what God said…

“After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. AND MY SERVANT JOB WILL INTERCEDE FOR YOU, AND I WILL RESPECT HIM, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.’ … And the Lord had respect for Job… So the Lord blessed the second part of Job’s life more than the first… After this Job lived 140 years.. And so Job died, old and full of days.” (from Job 42:7–17 the NET Bible)

Reminds me of what Jesus urged us to do to those who have wronged us… “I say to you, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you… and your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (from Luke 6:27-36) And the echo from Apostle Paul? “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good!” (from Romans 12:14-21)

God, give me the grace I need to do it! … Supernatural enablement!!