I spent a good portion of yesterday and already some time this morning watching Christmas videos on the internet for a project at the church.  Most of these videos boil down to a single theme – why do we celebrate Christmas? After watching all those videos, I opened my Bible to Psalm 30 and read these words…

Sing to the Lord, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning (vs 4-5).

Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me;
O Lord, be my help.
You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy (vs 10-11).

That is why we celebrate Christmas.  We celebrate Christmas because God has heard our cry for mercy and responded with sending his only son.  We celebrate Christmas because, in Christ, God is our help and will teach us to dance and clothe us with joy. We celebrate Christmas it was at the coming of Christ that we experience that his favor lasts for a lifetime and we can live as objects of his favor forever.

J.B. Phillips wrote a book many years ago entitled, Your God is Too Small. And I wonder if he isn’t right on the mark. When was the last time that you heard about God, thought about God or sang a song about God that made you shudder because you grasped the awesomeness of God. As I read Psalm 29, below, I began to shudder, overcome by how great is our God.

Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Is your God powerful? Is your God majestic? Is he enthroned as King forever? Because my King is. If that’s not your king, watch this video and see if you don’t tremble is some amazing combination of fear and excitement.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upGCMl_b0n4 425 355]

Why are we in such a hurry for non-believers to be punishes by God?  I recently preached a sermon on Jonah where I asked exactly that question.  Why did Jonah, the one who had been the object of God’s kindness and mercy, want anyone to experience his wrath?  In Psalm 28, David asks for the same thing that Jonah longed – that his enemies would be repaid for their deeds.

Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
but harbor malice in their hearts.

Repay them for their deeds
and for their evil work;
repay them for what their hands have done
and bring back upon them what they deserve. (Ps 28:3-4)

At least they stood on the other side of the cross.  For those of us who look upon the cross as our saving grace, our longing should be that all those around us, even our enemies, would escape the wrath of God and cling to the grace of God in Christ.  We should long that they would be the objects of God’s kindness and forever experience the incomparable riches of his grace (Eph 2:7) along with us.  Instead, we long for them to experience the horror and pain that is God’s judgment.  Why is that?

How often do you stop to “gaze upon the beauty of the Lord”?  Yup, me neither.  At least not very often.  But listen to these words from verses 4-6 of Psalm 27.

One thing I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.

Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

If someone were to ask me what one thing I would ask of the Lord, I’m not sure what I would say.  I do hope that it is that I might be near him and see him.  I’ve noticed recently that my heart has been hard.  I’ve been filling my mind with the things of God, yet not letting my heart be touched by the beauty and majesty of God and the hope I have in God.

So I did something about this the other day.  I got out a couple of old CDs that I haven’t listened to in sometime, the Passion worship CDs.  They are great.  It has been a wonderful encouragement as I drive around to hear the salvation of the Lord proclaimed in songs that speak to the heart, not just the mind.  And let me tell you what, it’s pretty cool.

We serve a beautiful God.  I pray that each of us today takes time to seek out the presence of the Lord that we might gaze upon that beauty.

My PhD class this morning opened with a reflection on Psalm 131, so I thought I would skip ahead with some thoughts on that psalm…

Especially noteworthy in this psalm is that it is a psalm of ascent – that is, it was a song for the journey.  The psalms of ascent are the songs the Israelites would sing on their way to the temple as a means of preparing themselves to enter in the Lord’s presence.  With that perspective, consider the words of this psalm…

My heart is not proud, O Lord,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.

But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.

So often, we (myself especially) become proud because we know great things and have mastered understanding of “great matters.”  As I begin a PhD, I am beginning a journey that should result in me studying and understanding something unique, something that has never been investigated quite the way that I will.  The temptation is to become proud, thinking highly of myself because of the “great matters” I have mastered.

Yet humility and quietness before God is the start both of knowledge and worship.  As Psalm 46:10 commends, “Be still and know that I am God.”  As we put our hope in the Lord, we will find knowledge and wisdom.  We will find strength and courage.  We will find humility and brokenness.  We will find mercy and grace.  We will find YHWH.

The journey toward a doctorate should be a journey that leads to insight and understanding.  But beware to think that insight and understanding are of myself, and not gifts from God, to whom belongs all the glory and honor.

“Is this true of me?”  That’s the question that ran through my head continually as I read Psalm 26.  “Is this true of me?”  Consider the statements that David makes.  Are they true of you?

 For I have led a blameless life (vs 1).
      Is this true of me?

I have trusted in the Lord without waivering (vs 1).
      Is this true of me?

For your love is ever before me (vs 3).
      Is this true of me?

And I walk continually in your truth (vs 3).
      Is this true of me?

I do not sit with deceitful men (vs 4).
      Is this true of me?

I wash my hands in innocence (vs 6).
      Is this true of me?

Proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds (vs 7).
      Is this true of me?

I love the house where you live, O Lord (vs 8).
      Is this true of me?

Is this true of me?  Can I honestly claim each of the things that David claims?  Am I blameless and pure?  Do I cherish the love of God and walk always in His truth?  Do I avoid evil and instead spend my days declaring the great things He has done?  Do I love and long to be in the house of the Lord?

Well, the answer is, at least, “Not always.”  But I want it to be true of me.  I want to be found at the end of my life, as David is at the end of this psalm, able to stand and say,

But I lead a blameless life;
redeem me and be merciful to me.

My feet stand on level ground;
in the great assembly I will praise the Lord (vs 11-12).