draining the cup

Posted on March 28, 2022 by Jefferson Vann
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draining the cup

Psalm 75:6-10 (JDV)

Psalm 75:6 Lifting high does not come from the east, the west, or the open country,
Psalm 75:7 because God is the Judge: He brings down one and lifts another high.
Psalm 75:8 You see, there is a cup in Yahveh’s hand, full of wine blended with spices, and he pours from it. All the wicked of the land will drink, draining it to the dregs.
Psalm 75:9 As for me, I will tell about him permanently; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
Psalm 75:10 “I will cut off all the horns of the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted high.”

draining the cup

The wicked become victims of their own arrogance, draining the cup thinking that it is a result of their own reward, when it is punishment instead.

The righteous focus on the greatness of God, and sing his praises instead. They stay away from the cup.

LORD, you are great. We seek your kingdom, not our own.

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monitoring all channels

Posted on March 27, 2022 by Jefferson Vann
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monitoring all channels

Psalm 75:1-5 (JDV)

Psalm 75:1 We give thanks to you, God; we give thanks to you, because your name is near. People tell about your miraculous wonders.
Psalm 75:2 “When I choose a time, I will judge fairly.
Psalm 75:3 When the land and all its inhabitants shake, I am the one who steadies its pillars. Selah
Psalm 75:4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift your horn high.
Psalm 75:5 Do not lift up your horn high or speak arrogantly.'”

monitoring all channels

I hear an encouragement to trust in God’s sovereignty here. There will be many who exalt themselves and will need to be humbled. God is monitoring all channels and will act at a time of his own choosing.

Thank You LORD, for bringing balance to us.

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he calms the clamor

Posted on March 26, 2022 by Jefferson Vann
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he calms the clamor

Psalm 74:12-23 (JDV)

Psalm 74:12 God my King is from ancient times, performing acts of deliverance inside the land.
Psalm 74:13 You divided the sea with your strength; you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the water;
Psalm 74:14 you crushed the heads of Leviathan; you fed him to the creatures of the open country.
Psalm 74:15 You opened up springs and streams; you dried up ever-flowing rivers.
Psalm 74:16 The day is yours, also the night; you established the moon and the sun.
Psalm 74:17 You set all the boundaries of the land; you made summer and winter.
Psalm 74:18 Remember this: the enemy has mocked Yahveh, and a foolish people has insulted your name.
Psalm 74:19 Do not give to beasts the throat of your dove; do not forget the lives of your poor people perpetually.
Psalm 74:20 Consider the covenant, because the dark places of the land are full of violence.
Psalm 74:21 Do not let the oppressed turn away in shame; make sure the poor and needy praise your name.
Psalm 74:22 Rise up, God, champion your cause! Remember the insults that fools bring against you all day long.
Psalm 74:23 Do not forget the clamor of your adversaries, the tumult of your opponents that goes up constantly.

he calms the clamor

Our God calms the clamor. He created by bringing order to chaos. So, it is right for us to pray for him to restore us from the violence and disorder that plagues us. That is what he wants to do.

LORD, come to us this day, and calm the clamor that distracts and disturbs your children.

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protest song

Posted on March 25, 2022 by Jefferson Vann
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protest song

Psalm 74:1-11 (JDV)

Psalm 74:1 Why have you rejected us perpetually, God? Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?
Psalm 74:2 Remember your congregation, which you purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe for your own possession. Remember Mount Zion where you dwell.
Psalm 74:3 Lift your feet high to the perpetual ruins, to all that the enemy has destroyed within the sacred place.
Psalm 74:4 Your adversaries roar in the meeting place where you met with us. They set up their emblems as signs.
Psalm 74:5 It was like men in a forest of trees, wielding axes,
Psalm 74:6 then smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.
Psalm 74:7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they utterly desecrated the dwelling-place of your name.
Psalm 74:8 They said in their hearts, “Let us oppress them together.” They burned every place throughout the land where God met with us.
Psalm 74:9 There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer a prophet. And none of us knows how long this will go on.
Psalm 74:10 God, how long will the enemy mock? Will the foe insult your name perpetually?
Psalm 74:11 Why do you hold back your hand? Stretch out your right hand and destroy them!

protest song

These are the words of a believer who has seen his faith trampled and his God mocked, and cannot understand why God does not respond. The words resonate with believers today. We know God will bring about justice eventually, but long for justice immediately.

LORD, they have smashed — they have burned.

It sounds like a protest song, doesn’t it? Come to think of it, don’t many of our protest songs come from our religious heritage?

When we cannot make sense of the world’s wrongs, we look to another sphere for answers.

LORD, we know you are watching, and your truth is marching on.

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his presence is my good

Posted on March 24, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

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his presence is my good

Psalm 73:25-28 (JDV)

Psalm 73:25 Who do I have in the sky but you? And I desire nothing on the land but you.
Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion permanently.
Psalm 73:27 Those far from you will certainly be destroyed; you silence all who are unfaithful to you.
Psalm 73:28 But as for me, God’s presence is my good. I have made the Lord Yahveh my refuge, so I can tell about all you do.

his presence is my good

Last May, I travelled after morning worship to an ordination service — one which I had been asked to give the welcome and invocation. The Lord led me focus on his presence — a presence we can feel when we encounter people who are committed to him.

Asaph knew this. He said that God’s presence was his good.

Lord overwhelm us with your presence this day, and may we all come to the place where we can see your presence as our good.

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holding hands with God

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Jefferson Vann
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holding hands with God

Psalm 73:21-24 (JDV)

Psalm 73:21 When I became embittered and my innermost being was wounded,
Psalm 73:22 I was stupid and didn’t understand; I was an unthinking animal toward you.
Psalm 73:23 Yet I am always with you; you are holding my right hand.
Psalm 73:24 You are guiding me with your counsel, and after glory you will receive me.

holding hands with God

This section highlights the psalmist’s troubled past, in which he could not understand why his enemies could get away with what they did, and he was an unthinking animal toward God. Now, he has learned to trust God, and is always with him. His God is holding his hand, guiding him with his counsel. Later — at the resurrection — (after glory), God will receive him.

Where are you in this continuum? Learn to trust your creator. He has a future for you.

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only a dream

Posted on March 22, 2022 by Jefferson Vann
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only a dream

Psalm 73:18-20 (JDV)

Psalm 73:18 In fact, you are putting them in slippery places; you are making them fall into ruin.
Psalm 73:19 How suddenly they become a desolation! They are finished, swept away by terrors.
Psalm 73:20 Like someone waking from a dream, Lord, when arising, you will despise their image.

only a dream

Unbelievers are living their lives under the illusion that they exist, but are only a dream. Soon our God will arise and put an end to their existence by his final judgment. They will be only as a dream.

Don’t let this happen to you. God in his grace offers you a chance at a permanent life. He pleads with you to accept his Son — our only way of deliverance from sin and its consequence.

LORD, rescue the perishing from the horrible fate of permanent destruction.

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his holiness and hell

Posted on March 21, 2022 by Jefferson Vann
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his holiness and hell

Psalm 73:15-17 (JDV)

Psalm 73:15 If I had decided to say these things aloud, I would have betrayed your people.
Psalm 73:16 When I tried to understand all this, it seemed hopeless
Psalm 73:17 until I entered God’s sanctuary. That was when I understood their destiny.

his holiness and hell

God’s sanctuary reminded Asaph of the holiness and power of God. That got him to thinking about what this holy and powerful God has in store for his enemies.

We owe God worship, and he owes himself a restoration of his universe, currently flawed by sin. If God were not holy, he could overlook sin, and hell would not be necessary. But he is, and it is.

LORD, we are in awe of your holiness. Teach us how to cling to our Savior, and be rescued from the second death in hell.

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overflowing words

Posted on March 20, 2022 by Jefferson Vann
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overflowing words

Psalm 73:10-14 (JDV)

Psalm 73:10 Consequently his people turn to them and drink in their overflowing words.
Psalm 73:11 The wicked say, “How can God know? Can the Most High know everything?”
Psalm 73:12 Look at them – the wicked! They are permanently at ease, and they increase their wealth.
Psalm 73:13 Did I purify my heart and wash my hands in innocence for nothing?
Psalm 73:14 You see, I am afflicted all day long and punished every morning.

overflowing words

Be careful little lips what you drink. The psalmist reveals how the mockers tempt the righteous to turn away from God. They start with arrogant overflowing words, which the righteous drink in. They look at the wealth and carefree living of the wicked and rethink their own choice to walk in purity. They look at their own lives and wonder why they chose holiness.

This is all temptation. It is the enemy’s way of undoing the faith of those committed to God. It would do us all well to stop drinking so heavily at the flowing fountain of ungodly words. We need to get back to the fountain filled with blood, and focus on what God says.

LORD, keep us away from the overflowing words of the enemy, seeking to make us doubt you.

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untouchable mockers

Posted on March 19, 2022 by Jefferson Vann
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untouchable mockers

Psalm 73:4-9 (JDV)

Psalm 73:4 They have an easy life until they die, and their bodies stay well fed.
Psalm 73:5 They are not in trouble like mortal humankind; they are not afflicted like Adam.
Psalm 73:6 Consequently, pride is their necklace, and violence covers them like a shirt.
Psalm 73:7 Their eyes bulge out from fatness; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
Psalm 73:8 They mock, and they speak maliciously; they arrogantly threaten oppression.
Psalm 73:9 They set their mouths against the sky, and their tongues strut across the land.

untouchable mockers

Psalm 1 had counseled the godly not to sit in the seat of mockers, now this psalm tells us what those mockers go about doing. They are the untouchables — gliding through life without a care, and criticizing the rest of us — the mere mortal humankind. Their bodies are plump from overindulgence, their minds running wild with fantasy of their own making. Meanwhile, they set their mouths against the universe in a steady stream of criticizing and arrogance.

But these untouchable mockers are not really what they claim to be. They die like the rest of us, and their arrogance dies with them. There will be a judgment day. It will stop all those mocking mouths.

LORD, give us the wisdom to stay away from the seat of mockers.

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