last shift

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20231217

Photo by Josh Sorenson on Pexels.com

last shift

Psalm 134:1-3 (JDV)

Psalm 134:1 [A song of festival caravans.] Now bless Yahveh, all you servants of Yahveh who stand in Yahveh’s house at night!
Psalm 134:2 Lift up your hands in the holy place and bless Yahveh!
Psalm 134:3 May Yahveh, Maker of the sky and the land, bless you from Zion.

last shift

The last shift of worshippers stands in the temple and lifts their hands in praise. The Hebrew word for praise is taken from the same root as the word hand. Raising their hands is like forming a symbolic link: a connection between themselves and their maker. Blessing the LORD is the last thing they do every night. Receiving a blessing from him is the first thing they do every morning.

LORD, we want worship to be the last thing on our mind … and gratitude for your blessings to be the first thing.

Posted in praise | Tagged | Leave a comment

harmony and success

Posted on December 16, 2023 by Jefferson Vann
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

20231216

harmony and success

Psalm 133:1-3 (JDV)

Psalm 133:1 [A song of festival caravans. Of David.] How good and nice it is when brothers live together in harmony!
Psalm 133:2 It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard onto his robes.
Psalm 133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. Because there Yahveh has appointed the blessing — permanent life.

harmony and success

Harmony is not only beautiful, it also leads to success.

“Being centered means not leaning toward extremes, not becoming unbalanced by an overwhelming predominance of one quality over others. In this way, it is possible to achieve inward harmony within the self as well as outward harmony with the world at large. Inward harmony means your own faculties are working together; outward harmony means people are working together. Both of these are essential ingredients of success.”

Cleary Thomas F. The Human Element: A Course in Resourceful Thinking. 1st ed. Shambhala; Distributed in the United States by Random House 1994. p. 84.

Posted in unity | Tagged | Leave a comment

ministering choirs

Posted on December 15, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20231215

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

ministering choirs

Psalm 132:16-18 (JDV)

Psalm 132:16 I will clothe its priests with deliverance, and its faithful people will shout for joy.
Psalm 132:17 There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
Psalm 132:18 I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown he wears will be glorious.”

ministering choirs

“I believe that we should emphasize ministering choirs rather than performing choirs, in our churches today. We need choirs that sing and minister unto the Lord for just a long enough time to stir the congregation up to minister to the Lord also.”

Brant Roxanne. Ministering to the Lord. Whitaker House 2000. p. 87.

Posted in worship | Tagged | Leave a comment

making my home here

Posted on December 14, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20231214

Photo by Miki Czetti on Pexels.com

making my home here

Psalm 132:13-15 (JDV)

Psalm 132:13 Since Yahveh has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his home:
Psalm 132:14 “This is my resting place forever; I will make my home here because I have desired it.
Psalm 132:15 I will abundantly bless its food; I will satisfy its needy with bread.

making my home here

I have a choice. I can constantly complain and criticize where I am and always look for opportunities to go somewhere else and do something else. Or, I can trust that God wants to be here where I am, and so determine to be here and bless this place as my home. I can look around for ways to serve God and serve others in his name — here.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a missionary and I praise God that He has brought me to serve Him in many places. But if I cannot serve him where I am now, I am not fit to go somewhere else in his name. My first loyalty is not to my suitcase. It’s to my Savior.

Posted in servanthood, will of God | Tagged | Leave a comment

a pledge to David

Posted on December 13, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20231213

Photo by Gianluca Grisenti on Pexels.com

a pledge to David

Psalm 132:11-12 (JDV)

Psalm 132:11 Yahveh pledged to David, a promise he will not abandon: “I will set one of your offspring on your throne.
Psalm 132:12 If your sons keep my covenant and my warning signs that I will teach them, their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”

a pledge to David

This promise had a conditional element and an unconditional element. The conditional element was a promise conserning each of David’s descendants. Each was responsible to obey God’s word. The unconditional element was a promise to put a particular Son on the throne. That promise was “I will” not “if.”

Thank you LORD for setting David’s Son on the throne.

Posted in Jesus Christ | Tagged | Leave a comment

being anointed

Posted on December 12, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20231212

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

being anointed

Psalm 132:10 (JDV)

Psalm 132:10 For the sake of your servant David, do not reject your anointed one.

being anointed

There are days when I don’t feel very confident in myself. I sometimes pray like this, asking God for his support, not because I deserve it, but because God has put me where I am through the inflence of others, and I don’t want to let him — or them down.

Posted in prayer | Tagged | Leave a comment

reverence his presence

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20231211

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

reverence his presence

Psalm 132:6-9 (JDV)

Psalm 132:6 We heard of the ark in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Yaar.
Psalm 132:7 Let us go to his residence; let us worship at his footstool.
Psalm 132:8 Rise up, Yahveh, come to your resting place, you and your powerful ark.
Psalm 132:9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness, and may your faithful people shout for joy.

reverence his presence

The wording of verse 6 reminds me of the parable of the treasure hidden in the field. As a pastor. I am tempted to treat worship as an ordinary event, a service to be organized and performed. Lord, give me the wisdom to reverence your presence in my worship.

Posted in presence of God, worship | Leave a comment

embedded promises

Posted on December 10, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20231210

embedded promises

Psalm 132:1-5 (JDV)

Psalm 132:1 [A song of festival caravans.] Yahveh, remember David and all the humbling he endured,
Psalm 132:2 and how he pledged to Yahveh, making a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
Psalm 132:3 “I will not enter my house or get into my bed,
Psalm 132:4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep or my eyelids to slumber
Psalm 132:5 until I find a place for Yahveh, a residence for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

embedded promises

“This Psalm is built upon two great events in the life of David, viz., his bringing the ark from its exile up to the hill of Zion (2 Sam.6), and the promise made to him of a kingdom in the line of his family, made perpetual through the Messiah, as recorded in 2 Sam. 7. Upon the basis of these great events and the promises of God imbedded in them, the restored exiles rested their whole movement—their hopes in God and their endeavors to re-establish the institutions of their fathers. Hence those events of David’s history were naturally full of religious inspiration, and were pertinently wrought into this sacred song, in all points appropriate to the times of the restoration.”

What promises of God are embedded in the great events that you have experienced?

Cowles, Henry. The Psalms. Place of publication not identified, 1872. p. 512.

Posted in relationship with God | Tagged | Leave a comment

like a weaned child

Posted on December 9, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20231209

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Psalm 131:1-3 (JDV)

Psalm 131:1 [A song of festival caravans. Of David.] Yahveh, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not get involved with things too great or too miraculous for me.
Psalm 131:2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted my throat like a weaned child with its mother; my throat is like a weaned child.
Psalm 131:3 Israel, put your hope in Yahveh, from now and permanently.

I have a busy day today. There are lots of things that I could be worrying about — lots of things that I could be occupying myself with. But here I stand. I wait on God to feed me. I trust in him. I am like a weaned child before a loving mother. Just being in God’s presence is enough.

LORD, someday you will explain all the mysteries that have puzzled me during my lifetime. Today I wait quietly, confident in you. Someday you will guide me into the greatness you intend for me. Today I wait humbly, content to take my small part in your plan. My eyes are not raised too high. They focus on you.

Posted in trust | Tagged | Leave a comment

watching nothing until morning

Posted on December 8, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

20231208

Photo by Tom Fisk on Pexels.com

watching nothing until morning

Psalm 130:1-8 (JDV)

Psalm 130:1 [A song of festival caravans.] Out of the depths I call to you, Yahveh!
Psalm 130:2 Lord, listen to my voice; let your ears be attentive to my cry for help.
Psalm 130:3 Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
Psalm 130:4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be feared.
Psalm 130:5 I wait for Yahveh; I wait and put my hope in his word.
Psalm 130:6 I wait for Yahveh more than watchmen for the morning — more than watchmen for the morning.
Psalm 130:7 Israel, put your hope in Yahveh. For there is covenant faithfulness with Yahveh, and with him is abundant redemption.
Psalm 130:8 And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

watching nothing until morning

Theoretically, a night watchman’s job is to look for possible threats to the field. Mostly, a night watchman just watches nothing and waits until morning. The psalmist picks up on that reality to describe his hope for redemption. Out of the depths he cries for mercy from God, and waits in hope for God to act. It may be a long wait, but he has nothing else to do. Salvation is not coming from anywhere else.

LORD, we wait for you, and we trust in your forgiveness. Our hope is in your plentiful redemption.

Posted in dependence upon God, patience | Tagged | Leave a comment