The Names of God - The Glory of Their Strength

The Glory of Their Strength

Psalm 89:15-17 (ESV)

Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face, who exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted. For you are the glory of their strength; by your favor our horn is exalted.

Everything presented to our senses is filtered through our experiences. Our brains are programmed to view our world (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) a certain way from data we have collected during our life. You know when you see a small black animal with a white stripe down its back that you need to run the opposite way. The scar on the tip of the finger is a reminder not to touch a hot skillet or glowing ember. These are static experiences that will always be true. The ones that cause us the most grief are the encounters with other people because the responses are so varied based on the experiences of the other person.

We call this pre-programmed response to people “prejudice,” which usually has a negative connotation because it means, “to prejudge.” Your senses give you a narrative of what another person is like before you even hear a single word from their mouth or observe a single action. We do this out of reflex based our previous experience.

Others do the same thing with us. We know who we are and totally understand our motives, but others do not. Occasionally, my wife and I will go to a place (store, restaurant, recreation area, etc.) and are amazed that it is crowded. We exclaim, “We know why we are here, but why are all of these other people here?” The truth is, each of us do this every time we encounter another human. “I know what I'm doing, but what are they doing?”

As children we are taught to fear the stranger. We are instructed to “be careful” when attempting even the most menial task. As we grow we encounter “bullies” or “mean girls” that wreak havoc on our self-esteems and cause us to begin digging the foundation for the walls we will construct over a lifetime of experiences. However, there is a different way!

The psalmist that penned Psalm 89 knew something about the character of mankind and found a remedy for the dreadful predisposition toward pre-judged actions based on experience. It requires conscious effort, but the rewards are worth every bit of energy expended. Look at his words again:

Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face, who exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted. For you are the glory of their strength; by your favor our horn is exalted.

God created you to have interaction with those around you in a good way. When we know the “festal shout,” or as the King James Version says, “joyful sound,” it becomes a new point of reference for us. The affect of God's love and forgiveness in our life allows us to erase many of the life experiences that cause us pain and allows us to see others with a fresh perspective. We can see them as God created them, not what their life-choices has created.

When we “walk in the light of Your (the Lord's) face” we can trust in the “glory of their (those who know the festal shout) strength,” which is the Spirit of God abiding in us. God's Spirit is the great “neutralizer” when it comes to human encounters. Through Him we can love the unlovable, enjoy peace with warmongers, and live a life of freedom because of the righteousness given to us through salvation in Christ. This is not a panacea. It is the reality of the life reconciled to God.

If Christians- those transformed from darkness to light, from death to life, from hopelessness to faith - do not reflect this “glory of their strength” then the world we touch will be unaffected by the sacrifice of Jesus. We must allow the reverberation of the “festal shout” that changed us to be heard by everyone we have opportunity to engage. Let us be intentional in our transparency so the “light from His face” will be seen instead of our own prejudice or fear.

We do this by remaining in the posture of those who “exult in Your (the Lord's) name all the day.” It's a choice we must make. As we do, God will meet us there with grace.

Women in the Bible - Mary, the Mother of Jesus

Mary, the Mother of Jesus

Luke 1:34 (ESV)

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

The story of Mary has been told and re-told for thousands of years. Elizabeth spoke the prophetic words that, “You are blessed among women!” Mary certainly is.

Whenever I share the story of Mary I tell it from a little different perspective. Most, especially artists, portray Mary as an almost deified person dressed in white with beams of light radiating her angelic face, awaiting the arrival of the news from the angel that she would become the mother of the Son of God. This is not the image that I see when I think of Mary.

Based on what we know about Jewish customs of the day, Mary was most likely a teenager. Like most women of that period, her day was likely filled with chores, either for her family or working for others. It is quite possible that she was down at a nearby brook washing clothes, or at the well drawing water, or in the stable shoveling manure, or a myriad of other duties necessary to maintain a household.

We also know from Jewish tradition of the day that young women like Mary knew the words from the Prophets that, “a virgin would conceive and bear a Son, the Messiah, who would save the world.” It is possible that she was hoping, like many others, that she would be the one chosen to become the mother of God.

Regardless of which of these you choose (I’m sure there are many other scenarios to be made) Mary was surprised by a visit from an angel. The primary reason I believe my view of this is based on her response to the angel. In the Old Testament writings, whenever an angel appeared, most immediately bowed down in fear, or even fainted. After hearing the greeting of the angel and the words he came to deliver, Mary responded with a question: “How can this be?”

She did not go off on a tear of false humility (as many of us would do) and declare, “I am not worthy.” Instead, she sought more information, saying, “I know how babies are made, and it is biologically impossible for me to be pregnant.”

I consider this story “The Forgotten Chapter from The Wonder in the Wilderness.” I recently published a book describing several characters from the Bible and how they dealt with wilderness experiences. I was actually surprised when I realized I did not include Mary’s story.

To use the imagery from the book, Mary just entered into a wilderness. Her normal life of very-close-to-indentured-service, being engaged to Joseph (most likely a financially-beneficial arrangement for the family), yet still hoping for a chance to know God in a way that no other human ever had, or has since, was about to change as she encountered the angel. She did not consider any of those things, only the strange words that the angel spoke.

One of the first things she did after this encounter was to go and visit her relative, Elizabeth, who was living in her own wilderness. Elizabeth and Zacharias had been childless when they miraculously conceived a child, later known as John the Baptist, the forerunner to the Messiah. The encounter with Elizabeth ended Mary’s short time in her wilderness.

As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, John jumped in the womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to prophecy. This totally independent (of any human knowledge) confirmation of Mary’s pregnancy gave Mary peace in knowing the encounter with the angel was not simply a dream or mirage. She was now carrying the Savior of the World inside her, even though she had no physical proof (yet) that she had conceived by the Holy Spirit that which the angel had promised.

Mary’s wilderness immediately changed from wander to wonder. There would be hard conversations in the days to come. How could she explain this to Joseph? What would others say about her? None of this was considered before she said, “Yes!” None of this mattered now because Mary had the ultimate Promise inside her. She was literally carrying the Prince of Peace, the Wonderful Counselor, the Savior of the World.

Years ago I heard a recording of a message by T. L. Osborn that described the response of the Believer to prophecies read in scripture. He said of Mary, “Don’t read that and get excited for Mary’s sake.” He said, “Read that for yourself and declare, ‘I’m blessed and highly favored!’” Dr. Osborn went on to say, “Whatever God did for anyone He can do for you.”

Jack Hayford describes this incident in his book, “The Mary Miracle,” as “the fountainhead of all miracles.” Because Mary said, “Yes,” each of us can now “carry” the Prince of Peace inside of us. As Believers we can be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, the Comforter that Jesus sent to abide in us forever.

I hope this Christmas you say, “Yes,” to God’s request to come near to you. Become identified with Christ. Move from wander to wonder. Your life will never be the same.

Wander or Wonder - Israel in Egypt

If you know anything about the Old Testament you know that Israel spent time in the wilderness – 40 years in fact. Most also know that Israel spent time in Egypt. Do you know how long they were there? Four hundred and thirty years!

Israel’s time in Egypt started on purpose. You may know the story. Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers. He wound up in Egypt and became the second in command to Pharaoh himself. God gave him a vision about a coming famine. The famine is what brought Isaac (who’s name was changed to Israel) to Egypt. The family was reunited with Joseph and they stayed there.

However, their journey to paradise soon turned into forced servitude. After Israel (Isaac) died and Joseph died and the Pharaoh was gone that knew Joseph, the new leadership of Egypt felt threatened by Israel’s presence and forced them into slavery. In essence they entered their first wilderness experience. It is not known exactly how much of the four hundred and thirty years were spent in slavery, but it was a long time.

Long enough that most Israelites did not even see it as wilderness. They forgot about Jehovah. They forgot about the promise made to Abraham. They forgot that they did not belong in Egypt. They came to accept the wilderness as normal; separated from everything they were supposed to possess.

The reason I call this a wilderness is because Israel lost their wonder and began to wander. In simple terms, I believe that defines the difference between a journey and roaming in the wilderness: you lose your wonder and begin to wander. Stay focused while you travel through life. Keep your wonder!