“And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade …’” Judges 9:15. We must be careful of the alliances we make. We must not be unequally yoked in this life. We cannot compromise with the world. For if we do … terrible consequences will follow. Abimelech was bad news from the start. The jealous and ambitious son of Gideon’s concubine, he got into the hearts of the people that were already corrupted by the worship of Baal to be their leader. After they’d justified this bad idea by saying, “He is our brother,” he killed all seventy of his half-brothers from his father’s wives. He was, after all, a bramble with long thorns—probably like the crown the soldiers wove for Christ. What did they expect when they took refuge in his shade? And what do Christians expect when they identify more with the values of the world than they do the church? And their lives resemble celebrities more than Christ? When they can name every player on the field or every song in the countdown but aren’t having private study or family devotional time? The brambles are plentiful—and sharp. Whose shade are you taking refuge in?  

“To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me” Psalm 25:1-2. That this is one of nine acrostic poems in Psalms isn’t readily evident in English translations of the Bible, but each line begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, similarly organized to 9, 10, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119 (most famously), and 145. Perhaps the sentiment is better known in the 1971 song, “Unto Thee, O Lord,” by Charles Monroe: 1. Unto Thee, O Lord do I lift up my soul, 2. Yea, let none that wait on Thee be ashamed, 3. Remember not the sins of my youth … O my God, I trust in Thee. Let me not be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me. While the psalm has the tetragrammaton LORD (YHWH), the song uses Lord (Adonai), which for an audience in the New Testament time often refers to Jesus, who is one with the Father (John 10:30). In both, the psalmist is entrusting that which is most precious to him to God who will care for him and protect him from all harm. How good it feels to be held in the arms of the Creator (John 1:1-3) who loves and sustains if we truly and willingly submit to Him fully. He promises to care for you if you do. 

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” Romans 12:15. There was a Sunday afternoon in June 2021 when I was between ministry jobs that I “cleaned house” with my Facebook friends. All those from high school or college that I hadn’t interacted with in several decades—gone! Acquaintances from the area I was leaving—gone! But, the real criteria was how much they had “been there” for me in the five months that my wife had been on hospice leading to her death the year before. Visits were hard during Covid, but if there was nary a call, text, or card—gone! And I didn’t feel bad about it but rather betrayed by them as I realized that they meant more to me than I had ever meant to them. Isn’t that the very definition of a fair-weather friend—one who is only by your side when times are good? We should never be like that as the church. Ra-ther, because God so loved us sinners that He sent His Son to die in our place, we are united by the bonds of that love. Blood is indeed thicker than water. So, while we rejoice with those who rejoice, celebrating as any family would, we also weep with those who weep as any family should. Are you there for those who need you?

“Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!” Psalm 24: 7-10. Though not stated in the ancient title, some believe that this psalm have been written as David moved the ark of the covenant from Obed-edom’s house to the tabernacle in Jerusalem. That occasion was full of rejoicing that God’s presence was entering the city that God had said He would choose for Himself even before His people entered the Promised Land with Joshua many centuries before (Deuteronomy 12). But what had happened just before this that led to the ark staying at and the LORD blessing the house of Obed-edom for three months? David, by his own wisdom and might, put the ark on a cart and, when the oxen stumbled, poor Uzzah died when he reached out his hand to steady the ark from falling off. David took that time, not to wallow in frustration or sorrow that he couldn’t do something that he intended to do for God, but to seek what God intended. Then he could bring the ark to Jerusalem with the rejoicing for the King of glory we read about in this psalm. How many things we think we’re doing for the LORD are really to satisfy ourselves? Do you seek Him?

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” Psalm 23:1. When I was a kid and heard this psalm, I wondered why anyone would not want the LORD. This language, I think, is a holdover from older translations though. Perhaps today we might say, “I shall not be in want.” Someone older might think this song is only for funerals. These six verses are certainly often heard at funerals and can give the comfort that people are seek-ing it during those times. But it is giving help to those who are struggling to live. It was my job as the oldest kid to take food scraps out to the edge of a dark woods to our compost pile, and after dinner in NYS for most of the year it was dark. Having memorized this psalm, I would recite it as I slunk across our backyard, scanning the shadows for creatures. My faith grew as I trusted that God would give me everything that I would need. More than provision, however, was His protection and His presence. Now, our trailer in a clearing was far from the valley of the shadow of death, but even as a young child I learned that nothing would happen to me that God wouldn’t allow and that God was good. Moreover, God taught me through this psalm that He held my future.