Coffee With The Lord

Just read Psalm 91 again this morning.  It’s message?  It pays to trust and serve the Lord in dangerous and difficult times.  Running to Him with your problems is a wise course of action!

In a time when a strong walled city, a secret cave, or a high, defensible rocky cliff were your only defense from a persistent and determined enemy, the Psalmist recommended… “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  This I declare about the Lord – HE ALONE is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God AND I TRUST HIM… His faithful promises are your armor and protection… If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.  For He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go…”

And as if that wasn’t enough, then THE LORD, HIMSELF SPEAKS…

“The Lord says, ‘I will rescue those who love me!  I will protect those who trust in my Name!  When they call on Me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble!  I will rescue and honor them! I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation!” (From Psalm 91NLT)

 One more time… IT PAYS TO TRUST AND SERVE THE LORD IN DANGEROUS AND DIFFICULT TIMES!!

I very rarely do what I’m going to do this morning in my “coffee with the Lord” post (in fact I can count the times on one hand)! … I’m going to quote (and post) the notes from the ESV Study Bible! 

What prompted this was, of course, part of my Bible reading today (Psalm 88) and also what dear friends and colleagues of mine are going through right now… Also disasters and injustices that people are experiencing!  The issue? … How to make sense of – how to deal with – what seems so difficult and painful – bad things that happen to good people (sometimes VERY GOOD people).

This is what the introductory note from the ESV Study Bible says about Psalm 88…

“This is an individual lament, suited for someone who is so overwhelmed with trouble that even their friends shun them, and who wrestles with the dread that comes from suspecting that perhaps even the Lord has shunned them as well.!  The Psalm does not specify the troubles, only that they feel like expressions of God’s relentless wrath; this allows the psalm to be used by ‘the faithful’ for a wide variety of hardships.  Most laments let in a ray of sunshine, usually closing on a confident note; Psalm 88 is distinct from all the rest in that there is no explicit statement of confidence … The psalm instills a tough faith in its singers by reminding them to KEEP TURNING TO GOD (‘The God of my salvation’ – vs. 1) even during those times when it seems that there is no answer being given. (The experiences of Job provide a good example of this kind of suffering.) … THOSE WITHOUT SUCH PROBLEMS SHOULD PRAY THIS PSALM ON BEHALF OF THOSE WHO ARE SUFFERING!”

Here is how the Psalm begins… “Lord, you are the God who saves me!  Day and night I cry out to you!  May my prayer come before You; turn your ear to my cry!  I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death… I am like one without strength…”

I do not know how my friends may feel this morning about their circumstances…  Things right now may seem hopeless.  My heart aches for you!  I know you’re crying out to the Lord!  Keep it up!!!  So am I… I’m praying for you today!!  I BELIEVE HE WILL HEAR YOUR CRY, COME ALONGSIDE, AND HELP YOU!!  I believe that!!  …And I’m praying!!!

I don’t know about you, but it is always a personal delight of mine when someone who is really a humble, a rather obscure “nobody,” is highly honored by someone who is eminently esteemed! It satisfies my sense of justice and reinforces my fundamental belief that some of the most deserving can be highly honored and overcome obscurity!

God has a way of doing that! It’s foundational to His divine code of conduct!

My Bible reading this morning during “coffee with the Lord” reinforced my belief that “GOD’S JUST LIKE THAT!” The story is well-known in Scripture and presents a foundational tenant of Christian faith… Luke 1:26-38 (You really need to read it for yourself)!

So God the Father was about to do something REALLY BIG! He was about to send His “only Son” – the Lord Jesus Christ – into the world as our Savior from sin. He would live a sinless life, demonstrate miraculously the inbreaking of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sin, and ultimately conquer death through His resurrection!

So how did He choose to do it… Well, the archangel Gabriel, was chosen as the appropriate divine messenger! He was sent to a tiny village in Galilee by the name of Nazareth. Who is this divine messenger sent to – someone important and ostentatious? No! He appears before a young girl – a virgin, if you please – who has never known a man sexually. In fact, she is engaged to a guy named Joseph!

And Gabriel’s message? “Greetings highly favored one! The Lord is with you! You have found favor with God! You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus! HE WILL BE GREAT! (now that’s quite an understatement!) HE WILL BE CALLED THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD! The Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, AND OF HIS KINGDOM THERE WILL BE NO END!”

And how would this be incredible thing be fulfilled in the life of this little Jewish virgin? “The Holy Spirit would come upon her, overshadow her” and the result would be she would carry in her womb and give birth to THE SON OF GOD!

Why would that be – why would God choose to do it that way? Why Mary – a virgin? Why Nazareth? Why…Why…Why?!!! Well, Gabriel provided the answer – straight from God, the Father… “NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!”

HEY… THAT’S JUST LIKE GOD!!!