The New Song of Zion

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. Psa 137:3  

Thoughts by the River Bank

Sometimes it is not just the water flowing under the bridge. Sometimes a river is a memory album.

It is a time capsule.

Conversations are fleeting.

Songs are hewn in the heart by the scythe of time.

They are the visceral cups we drink from.

“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (Joh 4:14).  

By the Rivers of Babylon

First, this singer wasn't home.

He missed it. It wasn’t just the body which pined. Even his soul was famished.

God had given them the true drink once.

But they disdained it as they chased broken cisterns.

Babylon can never replace the true home, no matter how glamorous and chic it looks.

Sin always takes one far from home, and one never truly arrives. There is always another corner to turn; another bridge and river to cross.

But one never arrives.

God is Good all the Time

It wasn’t God who was bad.

It was their heart.

It wasn’t God who oppressed them.

It was sin.

So they wept.

When they remembered home.

Home carried the memory of the Father.

And that is always heavier.

“Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 

And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.” 

They wept, because of memory.

Even a palace can begin to feel like a jail when the soul hasn’t got something hard to steady it against the currents.

Home was where songs held meaning.

Home is where God is, where daily prayer is, and where the harvest is. Home is where the fire never goes out.

Home is where even the ashes hold meaning.

“How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?” (Psa 137:4).  

 The Pilgrim Travels Light

A song has to come from the heart, it is vain to force it.

It is God who gives songs, the lasting songs.

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exo 20:2-3  

The soul craves stability, not uncertainty.

It requires stillness, not chaos.

It requires a fixed mark, a single life, and not numberless.

A single decision.

A single pursuit.

A single purpose.

Heaviness sets in in a purposeless life.

But we are not of Babylon, of many gods, many purposes, and many sorrows.

When Love Will Not Let Go

If sin oppresses, the love of God even more.

We shall not take their little ones and dash them against the stones.

But that was then.

Not so now.

Love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Mat 5:43-45  

Sin oppresses to kill.

Love oppresses, so it might save.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isa 53:3-5

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Joh 3:16  

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Rom 8:32 

Thank you, God, for Babylon.

Yes, if sin oppresses, the love of God even more.

Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. 

Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. Son 8:6-7  

At home we can grow at ease.

We can be soaked in the familiar scent until we can smell nothing strange.

Babylon opens the eyes.

They did not just see God clearly, but (perhaps for the first time in their lives) they saw themselves much clearly. “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jer 29:13).  

Babylon has a purpose.

River banks have a purpose.

We just have to sit there and see it.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. Rev 5:9-10  

And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. 

And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: 

And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. Rev 14:1-3  

Heaven is close now.

Let all the saints march in proudly carrying their banners.

 It Takes God to Grow A Man

 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 1Co 16:13  

Watch Ye

Behaving like a man every day is not easy. There are days when it can feel like a cruel joke. Days when it feels like it's over. Days when the soil starts to drift back to the ocean.

 And it is exactly in such moments that the believer is called to be on guard, to watch ye.

It is an encouragement. It is an exhortation.

Watch ye. Take care. Consider.

It is not a call to overthink. Or to worry.

It is a call to cast your cares upon God.

For we cannot be a man (or woman) after God’s heart without him.

 Christ said “Without me ye can do nothing.”

And every day, every morning, and every evening we are invited to be a witness to that truth.

It may be in a faint sigh, or a joint growing stiff, or the silence darkening the room.

 But the amazing thing is that God always proves himself faithful in the end.

Always.

Watch Ye

It is a cooperation.

He gives the word and we act on it.

Watch.

Look.

Remember.

Because the devil prowls about waiting to devour.

To devour means to tear. It is a merciless attack.

And the devil is doing that every day.

He wrests, he twists, he accuses.

Resist him.

But how do we resist a spirit?

He is your enemy.

Call him out.

Remind him who you are, where you are, and how you are.

You are the son and daughter of a living God.

Rejoice always. Count it all joy, wherever, and however you are.

Resist being dragged into despair. Cast out the melancholy face. Overwhelm him with your praises for your God.

Watch Ye

Watch out for distractions.

The devil will distract you.

The world will distract you.

Your own flesh will distract you.

Be circumspect.

Because you are sanctified.

Chosen.

Set apart.

Called to be a saint.

Travel light. Take a walk in eternity.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Heb 12:1-3  

Stand fast in the faith

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 1Co 15:58  

Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Col 2:6  

If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister. Col 1:23

  

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Eph 4:14  

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind. Eph 4:17  

Quit you like a man

Yes you are a man.

You are also a child of God.

A man.

But a child.

It is in that synthesis that he makes us men and women after himself.

Be strong.

Be courageous.

Be strong and of a good courage. Jos 1:6 

Only be thou strong and very courageous. Jos 1:7 

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Isa 40:29  

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isa 41:10  

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. 2Co 4:7-9 

Pain will happen. Let it not distract you.

Suffering is a must on this side of heaven.

That is not strange.

Rather rejoice.

You are not hated but loved.

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 

But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 

Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? Heb 12:5-9

Now drown that pain with praise!

Watch ye.

Stand fast.

Quit yourself like a man.

Be strong.

 

The Problem of Shame

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God…

And hope maketh not ashamed. Rom 5:1-5  

Shame is a Condemnation

The answer of shame for the believer rests in the above verses. In the previous chapter of Romans 7 Paul speaks volubly of the indwelling nature of sin.

I know good.

I want to do good.

But a lot of times I fail in my effort to be good.

And part of the reaction I feel is shame.

True there is a time when shame is deserved, and there’s a time when it is misplaced.

Sin and Shame

Shame in its depth is a work of sin.

It is the condemning voice of the devil.

Sin distorts the mind.

Sin is wont to exaggerate things.

Sin shifts the blame.

In Adam I can detect the early awakening of shame. He had loved God, and he had failed God. Sin gives birth to shame. We are left naked. And only the skin of God can cover our sin. A son of God has no shame. There is no shame or fear in love.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 

Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Psa 32:1-2  

Shame and Pride

Shame may be the work of pride.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

It can be a refusal to believe God.

It can be the sin of limiting God.

It is when I feel the urge to measure things by my own standard and not that of God.

It can be born of the temptation to be over righteous. When a man feels God’s salvation work is not quite enough, but that he must add to it by, for example, extreme self-mortification.

I can convince myself that I have failed and I am completely beyond salvation. And the result is the rising millstone of shame.

Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? 

Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? Ecc 7:16-17 

Other times we feel shame because we feel we did more, or we feel we did less. And the result is always a rollercoaster of warring emotions.

But God has shown us the way to overcome shame. It is in every word he has spoken. It is there in every instruction on how to combat sin.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 

For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 

But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Joh 3:17-21  

And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 

Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 1Jn 3:19-21  

Shame and Self-Loathing

I pray that I am not passing judgment here. In writing this piece I may as well have been writing about myself. Personally, there are instances when I feel like an emotional springboard. I feel shame right and left. I feel shame when I am standing up, and I feel shame when I am sitting down.

It is the evil day Paul famously spoke of in Ephesians 6. And there’s no way of winning that battle except through the taking up the whole armour of God.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 6:10-13  

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Rom 8:33-34

Shame and Doubt

Shame can easily become chronic if left untreated, and that can impede the development or growth of the whole person. Shame can literally stop life. It will happen if we listen to people, if we worry about people, if we fear people, if we make lies our refuge…

True salvation must involve death. Dying to the world and dying to self. When we fail to do that we open ourselves to the relentless attacks by the devil.

When that happens remember your position in Christ. Remember God in his promises. Cheer up! You are a child of God, and you are of more value than many sparrows.   

 This is Why We Cry

The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. 

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. Isa 40:6-8  

Crying is Good

In one sense we cry every day. But not all tears are from the eyes. On the surface everybody hates lies. Lies sting. We love truth instead, we affirm it, we crave it, we swear by it. Yet it’s not the lies that produce the most tears, but the truth.

Hence every day we juggle with hard facts. The greatest, and sorest, and the bloodiest battles that we fight, are not fought in the open, but they are fought inside us.

Their scars leave a permanent mark.

But we are adept at covering them.

That’s why we laugh, when in truth, what we want is to cry. Then there are days when we act bold and say what is in our mind, and that act we shall remember it from day into night, and again in the day… until the heart is torn from the body, it is lifted, and it is thrown down into the dust.

We juggle, and tremble, because we are not in control. We feel light, whereas what we want is to hold onto something heavy, like a rock.

We want to be steady.

We want stability.

But what we feel is chaos.

God is that rock. Thank God for that rock!

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 

For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 

I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. 

For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. Psa 61:2-5  

Life Ought to be Easy

Life is easier when you have someone you know, someone you trust, someone you fear; I mean the fear which is wrapped tightly around the heart, and which the great God calls wisdom.

We are a roller-coaster of contradictions.

And yet we want to be loved as we are.

We want to be taken home, but it is to the house we know, and the house which we have built with our own hands.

But the weather changes. The wind huffs and screams. The dust turns into mud, and the trees are shorn of their leaves. The rivers swell, and the clouds blanket the earth.

So is the weather of the mind. And deep in the subterranean a voice cracks: God!

Now there are two ways of reacting to such a scenario: one, inferring it to a bad dream (or a bad day), and two, uttering “This is from God.”

As when Jacob owned “God has been in this place, and I knew it not.”

God is still here.

For A Times Like This

God is speaking.

He speaks when we are sleeping. He speaks when we are awake. He speaks when we are walking, and he speaks when we are dancing. He speaks when the coffers run dry, and when the auctioneers carry everything. He speaks when the fountain in the house breaks, and he speaks when the sick bed goes silent. God speaks especially when a mold of fresh earth rises from the ground.

God begs to be worshipped in truth and spirit. You remove one from the other and that is when chaos reigns.

But we are here to defeat being overwhelmed.

We are here to be imbued with his joy every day.

We are here to have a foretaste of heaven.

This is our joy.

And no man taketh it from us.

There's no greater love than this.

There's no greater comfort than this.

There's no greater truth than this.

Because he lives, I shall also live.

Therefore whether I live, or whether I die, I am still his.

And this is his word according to his gospel.