Psalm 75 – Approachable

I’ve enjoyed being married to an author and communicator. It’s interesting to me to see how people interact with Jen depending upon how they know her. If you were to watch those who first met Jen through one of her books or from the audience of a conference she was speaking at, you’d think she hung the moon (Which I’m pretty convinced she did). It’s fun to listen to the emails that come to her saying “I know Jen probably isn’t the one who checks all the emails” as if she has a team of assistants doing it for her. It’s flattering to see women at the “signing” table, wanting to grab a quick picture with her, and give their 15 second expression of how much they appreciate her work.

It’s fun to hear the stories because to me, to her kids, and her friends, she’s just Jen. The gal we love, adore, and appreciated just as much even before the first book was published. To us, it’s no surprise her fan base is growing. We’ve been fans for years. The more you know her, the more comfortable you are around her, the more you know you can be yourself, the more you know you can trust her, the more you know… she’s just Jen. (Sorry Jen, if you somehow found this, I know you’re embarrassed that I’m even writing this.)

Each of us has experienced our own level of “celebrity status”. Most of us with crowds like our third grader’s classmates, because we brought the cup cakes. Regardless of who’s expressing it, it feels good to be appreciated. And it feels good to express appreciation to others… especially those we hold a high opinion of.

In Psalm 75, the Psalmist gives us some insight to how we can interact with a really big God. It reminds us that we don’t have to be star-struck or deal with a personal assistant whose job is to keep you from wasting His time.

“We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds.” – Psalm 75:1

I was captured by this phrase, “Your Name is near”. So I did some research on why the Psalmist chose to use the word “near”. What I found is that it’s also the Hebrew word commonly used for “neighbor” and is meant to communicate a close physical proximity in where we intentionally take residence. Its root means “to cause to approach” or “to be approachable”. So it’s not just talking about a neighbor… it’s talking about a good neighbor… an approachable neighbor.

This is the gift of God. That who He is… all He has done… and that His name literally represents a close proximity and personal presence. That closeness is because HE caused it and because He willed it. No wonder Jesus calls us to remain in Him. It’s His very nature to do the same. It’s the reason He came to earth and put on skin.

I’m thankful today that we don’t just have a God of the universe, we have a personal God, who is close and who we can call daddy. A God who is approachable. What does that change? Everything. And as the Psalmist says (twice in one verse), we should give thanks.

Psalm 49 – Threatened by Love

Over the past year and a half (or so) I’ve been approaching the Bible in a different way. I’ve been reading it looking for the answer to the question, “God, in what ways did you love us?” It initially came from Jesus’ command, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

I’m reminded of this search today as I read Psalm 49. I really hope to not only understand the instruction of God’s word but also to hear the utterance of His heart.

“My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the utterance from my heart will give understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb; 
with the harp I will expound my riddle” – Psalm 49:3-4

What’s behind this for me? I’ve come to a place where I’ve embraced the reality of struggle in the Christian journey. I'm not talking about the struggle of comprehending doctrine or truth, more so the struggle of not understanding our own flesh and our battle to actually do what’s right. Paul addressed this struggle in detail in his “I do not understand what I do” speech.

As a church leader, there is an added pressure to “have it all together”. Reality: I don’t. None of us do. There are things we are convinced of, but what about the things we’re not? What do we do? How do we act? How do we lead with confidence?

My answer? “Read with love and lead with love”.

What do I mean by that? First, we should always read scripture through the lens of love. I believe it was written with this lens. When we do, it changes everything. If God is love, why wouldn’t we? If we’d do so, we’d see the “why” behind every mandate, recommendation, suggestion, and hope of the Bible.

Second, always lead with love. This should be the motive and the “how” we do all things. Even when we decide something should be done because of love (even tough love or discipline) in our application, we often let our flesh take over, and leave love at the door. Not a good idea.

It’s interesting to me how much this attitude is being criticized even by many believers. I’ve heard others say it sounds too much like the “social gospel”, or some kind of watered down “new age” movement. Honestly, if we find ourselves resisting love as a real, viable, and holistic answer, we need to take a look at ourselves and ask why we’re so threatened by it. What tradition, personal bias, insecurity, or fear do we have? We should ask this if we hesitate to offer love, even more so if we find ourselves criticizing it.

I guess here’s my point. Love never fails. Love casts out fear. Jesus said the greatest command is love. Paul said that even compared with faith and hope, that love was the greatest. When we don’t know what to do, when we’re confused, when we’re threatened, when we’re offended and even hurt… love. And we can’t go wrong.