King David

The Lord is My Light

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 KJV

Back in my hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania is a place called the Lackawanna County Coal Mine Tour. What makes it special is that it is a museum that is entirely underground. The only way to enter is to hop aboard a coal car, and travel hundreds of feet below the surface to where the miners once worked. To those of us who have never been in a mine, there are many interesting and amazing sights, but to me the most impactful was at the end of the tour. There, in the far reaches of the tunnel system we came to a large chamber, our guide unexpectedly came to a stop and then turned off all the lights. There in the pitch darkness he asked us to observe a silence moment and remember the miners, especially those who never made it out. Now, I have been in some pretty dark places, but in all my life I have never seen anything as black as what we experienced in that moment. It is very likely that as David was writing the words of today’s verse, he was hiding deep in a cave. Outside, as the army of King Saul was searching for him, with orders to kill him, David sat in inky blackness. But even in the darkness, David remembered how God had been with him all through the years. Whether he had faced a lion, a bear or a giant named Goliath, God had shown him what to do and David became confident that God would help him even in that cave. In that same way, God will be with us in our darkest places, when all other sources of light in our lives have been extinguished. So, let’s put our trust in our God, who had romised to shine around us, give us courage and strength and be our light forever!

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
Psalm 139:14 NKJV

Probably few of you remember my brief but illustrious career as a sculptor. Yup, back in thigh school I created several clay sculptures that inexplicably sold, (which might have a lot more to do with the fads of the 60’s than with artistic talent.) I am pretty sure these have all fallen apart by now, but during that time I learned a valuable lesson that has stayed with me. Working with clay is a process and says a lot more about the processor, than the processee, and this verse is not about seeing ourselves as a skillfully finished masterpiece, but about pointing to the Master who can make a silk purse out of anything! Instead of looking at today’s verse, as a way to build a healthy self-image, why not come away with a clearer view of how amazing God is? After all, if David were talking about himself, then we would need to figure out which part of his life was fearful and wonderful. So, let’s take a look at a few: David defeats Goliath – Yay! Fearful and wonderful. David is a jerk and sleeps with Bathsheba – Boo! Not wonderful at all! David writes the twenty-third Psalm, is crowned king of Israel and makes Jerusalem its capital – Yay! David is a big hypocrite, because after supposedly forgiving his enemies, he tells his son Solomon to wipe them out after his death – hmmm, not fearful or wonderful at all.

But before we think that we are somehow better than David, maybe we need to look in the mirror today. The encouraging part of this verse isn’t about how great we are, but about how fearful and wonderful is the one who is still in the process of working on us. Our hope is that when we look up on the shelf of those things that He has finished we can see how marvelous are all the works that He has completed – He touched the lepers and healed them, washed His diciples’ feet, calmed a storm, raised Lazarus from the dead and gave His life on the cross. Now those are fearful and wonderful works and to top them all off, Jesus walked out of the tomb on the third day to offer eternal life to all those who trust in Him. Right now, He is still able make our lives into something beautiful, if we will only believe in and yield to our sculptor’s hands. He is the one with the name that is wonderful, and He as the Master Artist, is willing to sign His name on us, the moment we fall at His feet and surrender our lives to Him!

Photo by Korhan Erdol on Pexels.com

A Legacy of Praise

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The Humble shall hear thereof and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. Psalm 34:1-3 KJV

We won’t have read far into the Bible before we realize that our Sunday School hero; that giant killing boy named David, grew to be a man with plenty of moral failures. Yet in spite of his sins, weaknesses and mistakes, God tells us that David was, “A man after my own heart” Acts 13:22. What makes David so special? We could point to His courage as He faced the giant, His humility in the way He obediently continued taking care of sheep even after He had been chosen to be king or even His musical ability. Yet there are other people in the Bible who also had these characteristics, but what makes David unique is his legacy of praise. Praise is a part of our prayer life equally as important as intercession and without it we will just drift along between problems, wondering what crisis we will need to intercede for next. But if we like David, we begin to praise God when we get victory in battle, then God will also teach us to worship when we are being hunted down by people like the jealous King Saul. (See Psalm 52 and 63). And just as David worships when the ark is brought into Jerusalem, we ought to be praising in church. But David also worships after the death of his child who Bathsheba bore as a result of their adultery, and we he leaves us His heart-rending cry for forgiveness and renewal in Psalm 51.

Our real, honest to goodness legacy of praise is not just “Hip-Hip Hooray, I am so blessed!” when we are nicely dressed and singing in church. We hear David praise the Lord “At all times” even when those all times are hard times. Even in those times when we fail most miserably, we can turn to God in humble repentance and praise Him for His wonderful and undeserved mercies. In Psalm 118:24 David tell us that, “This is the day that the Lord hath made.” That means every one of our days is made by God. Our good days and our bad – successes and failures – our greatest celebrations and our deepest moment of grief all belong to God. But if we praise God at all those times, moment by moment and day by day we become more like the person most like God’s own heart – His Son Jesus Christ. And as His praise remains continually in our mouths, we leave behind for others a true legacy of praise.

I love the Mullett family’s rendering of “Though You Slay Me” and it gives us just a peek into their story and how the God who has kept them through it all is worthy of all our worship, our trust and our praise. I pray you will be blessed as you listen, and that God will help you with whatever you are facing today. He is always worthy of our praise!