Fleeting vs. Lasting Treasure

In my Through-the-Bible readings, I came to Psalm 17 today.  Psalm 17 is a lament of David, crying for vindication against the unjust accusations of the wicked.  At the very end of the Psalm, David contrasts the hope of the wicked with the hope of the righteous:

Deliver me... from men of the world whose portion is in this life.

You fill their womb with treasure;

they are satisfied with children,

and they leave their abundance to their children.

As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness;

when I awake, I shall be satisfied with Your likeness.

~Psalm 17:14-15

The portion, treasure, and satisfaction of the ungodly is in this life.  At first glance, it doesn't seem like they've got it too bad; in fact, it looks a lot like the American dream.  Treasure, children, abundance.  A four-bedroom house, a two-car garage, and a white picket fence.  These are gifts from God (You fill...), yet their only portion is in this life, and at the end, they leave their abundance to their children.  It's treasure, yes; but it's the kind that moth and rust destroy and thieves steal.  They are satisfied, yes; but with something temporal and less than they were made for.  Even though their children are a blessing from the Lord (Psalm 127:3), they are missing the One who blesses.

Contrast that to the hope of the righteous: they shall behold the very face of God in righteousness, and they will be satisfied with His likeness.  This is a better hope, an enduring satisfaction, and a glorious joy that will overflow for eternity.

This is what Jesus means when He tells us to store up treasure in heaven; we are commanded and invited to forsake earthly treasure for a better and lasting possession.

May we never get caught up with blessings, even the wonderful blessing of children, at the expense of losing sight of the One who blesses.

Valley of Vision prayer

In my devotions today, I read a Valley of Vision prayer titled "A Minister's Bible."  But it's certainly not just for ministers.  This is my prayer, and my hope is that this would be your prayer too.

O God of truth,

I thank Thee for the holy Scriptures,

their precepts, promises, directions, light.

In them may I learn more of Christ,

be enabled to retain His truth

and have grace to follow it.

Help me to lift up the gates of my soul

that He may come in

and show me Himself when I search

the Scriptures,

for I have no lines to fathom its depths,

no wings to soar to its heights.

By His aid may I be enabled to explore

all its truths,

love them with all my heart,

embrace them with all my power,

engraft them into my life.

Bless to my soul all grains of truth garnered

from Thy Word;

may they take deep root,

be refreshed by heavenly dew,

be ripened by heavenly rays,

be harvested to my joy and Thy praise.

Help me to gain profit by what I read,

as a treasure beyond all treasure,

a fountain which can replenish my dry heart,

its waters flowing through me as a perennial river

on-drawn by Thy Holy Spirit.

Enable me to distill from its pages faithful prayer

that grasps the arm of Thy omnipotence,

achieves wonders, obtains blessings,

and draws down streams of mercy.

From it show me how my words have often been

unfaithful to Thee,

injurious to my fellow-men,

empty of grace, full of folly,

dishonoring to my calling.

Then write Thy own words upon my heart

and inscribe them on my lips;

So shall all glory be to Thee

in my reading of Thy Word!

The Fear of the Lord

I'm up late tonight writing Daily Verses for next week, and I spent some time researching for help with the devotional on Acts 9:31- "So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up.  And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied."  Now there is a good recipe for church growth-- the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit!  But as I pondered on that I started to wonder, what exactly is "the fear of the Lord?"  

Fearing God is not about being afraid.  In fact, it's often associated with lack of fear.  For example, Exodus 20:20- "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin."  And Matthew 10:28- "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

Fearing God is about opening our eyes to the reality to which sin blinds us.  We are inclined to be afraid of many things-- the future, the past, enemies, insecurity, money, relationships, death.  But we are not naturally inclined to fear the One in whose hand all things fearful rest.  To fear God is to recognize Him as the holy, righteous, omnipotent, sovereign Creator and Judge before whom every knee will bow.

Fearing God, as I learned in my word study tonight, has many promised benefits.  Here is a partial list of them, just from Proverbs (I think I've stumbled across a key theme of Proverbs here):

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge."  ~1:7

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil." ~8:13

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom."  ~9:10

"In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence." ~14:26

"The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life." ~14:27

"Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble without it."  ~15:16

"The fear of the LORD keeps one away from evil."  ~16:6

Can you see how awe of God's holiness and glory brings about all those promised results?  True wisdom and knowledge begin when the solar system of our lives is reoriented around God at the center.  A realization and love of God's holiness shows sin to be what it really is-- an affront to the character of our Creator.  To fear God is to see Him as the Sovereign One, in whose hands are all human events, and therefore we have a basis for a life of strong confidence.  Fear of the Lord, it turns out, is the fruit of faith, and therefore a fountain of eternal life.

Most importantly of all, fear of God doesn't just lead us to our Judge; it also leads us to our Savior.  The more we become aware of the great holiness and glory of God, the more we despise our sins and daily seek refuge at Calvary where the wrath of God was absorbed.  The fear of the Lord allows us to see our holy Judge as our glorious Savior.

"The fear of the LORD is Zion's treasure."  ~Isaiah 33:6

John Piper on the Economy

Over at the Desiring God blog, they posted a 7 minute video of John Piper responding to the difficulties of the recession and how believers should react to economic hardship.  It was such a comfort and encouragement and exhortation to me, since as a senior in college about to be married, the job market weighs heavily (a bit too heavily, I'm afraid) on my mind.  The Holy Spirit used this video to give me a welcome infusion of faith, and I'm grateful.

Watch the video here.