Author Archives: reveds

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About reveds

Occupation: Pastor, Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Lennox, SD Education: BS - Christian Education, Sterling College; MDiv. - Princeton Theological Seminary Family: Married, with Four children. Hobbies: Running (will someday run a marathon), Sci-Fi (especially Doctor Who and Sherlock), Theater, and anything else my kids will let me do.

Not in Vain…

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What does a man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 1:3

There are times when I really agree with the Preacher of Ecclesiastes.  Lately it seems that the more work I do, the further behind I get.  Trying to find a way to balance all the plates I have spinning, and all the hats I have to wear, the “woe is me” inside of me cries out, “It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.  I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after the wind” (Ecc. 1:13-14).

Still I know that there is meaning and purpose to life.  I was not put here for vanity’s sake.  I was created and called to glorify God, and so were you.  He has put eternity into our hearts (Eccl 3:11) so that we would long for God.  He has created us to know Him, to praise Him, and He has made us to know Him.  God has created us in such a way that we will not find our rest until we rest in Him, that we will have no lasting joy until our joy is found in Him. 

The way we live sometimes tries to deny this reality, but God is the center of the universe, all things were made by Him and for His glory.  When we scramble around frantically we act as though we are the center.  We soon find, though, that when we put ourselves in the center, we are merely in the eye of the hurricane – and we are powerless to still the winds.  The sooner we remember that this life is to be lived for God, we find He has the power to calm the storms we face.

Wonderfully, the flip-side of living for the glory of God is that we also get to enjoy His presence.  When God is at the very center of our lives, we our ultimate fulfillment is in honoring Him and living for His glory, we quickly discover the joy and blessing of God’s awesome presence.  We are overcome by His love.  We are stilled by His peace.  We are comforted by His mercy.  We are strengthened by His might right hand. 

What a promise we’ve been given.  This world is not “Vanity, Vanity!”  In spite of the busyness of our lives, we have a purpose and promise from God.  Maybe we simply need to stop and hear Him say again, “Be still and know that I am God.”

 Almighty God, bring our busyness to a crashing halt.  Remind us of the purpose and promise you’ve given.  My we find you in the center of our being, that we might live for your glory and know the joy of your presence.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

SDG

Do I really need the Lord?

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“Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Psalm 124:8

I read this week that this verse was read by John Calvin, as well as many other reformers, at the very beginning of every worship service, as a “solemn declaration of man’s helplessness.”  Calvin wrote of this verse in his commentary:
“The church cannot continue safe except in so far as she is protected by the hand of God.  The contrast between the help of God, and other resources in which the world vainly confides is to be noticed, that the faithful, purged from all false confidence, may rest themselves exclusively in his assistance, and depending upon it, may fearlessly despise whatever Satan and the world may plot against them.”

I read this verse, I read of our “solemn declaration of man’s helplessness, and I wonder, “Do I really need the lord?”  As I reflect on the things I faced yesterday, I ask myself, “Did I need God’s help?”  As I start out this morning I wonder, “What will I face today that demands His help?”

In my heart I know I need the Lord for my life and salvation, but has this dependency reached my head?  Are you convinced of your absolute dependence on the Lord, or do you still feel, like me, that there are some things for which we just don’t need the Lord?  Our rugged Midwestern independence, our stubborn Iowa pride, forbids us from admitting weakness, from confessing our dependence on someone else.

Maybe we just don’t want to bother God with the little things in our lives.  You know what I mean: the coworker who makes life miserable, the strong-willed child, the emotional rift between you and your spouse.  We say, “I’ll pray for you, but you don’t need to bother to pray for me.”  We’ll seek the Lord’s help on behalf of those around us, we’ll pray for world peace, but we don’t need God’s help for our day to day affairs.  Or do we?

How much of our lives are spent fretting and stressing over the things that we should in fact trust to God’s almighty hand?  The whole purpose of this passage, and the reason behind its frequent usage in worship, is to fill us with an assured hope that our lives are absolutely safe and secure in God’s care.  The Psalm reminds us that our help, in every situation, is in the name of the Lord.  Everything we face is subject to the sovereign and providential care of our loving heavenly Father.  The aid of this world, and the strength we possess, pale in comparison the help that the Lord provides.  Knowing this should purge us form “all false confidence [till we rest] exclusively in His assistance.”

Calvin goes on to write:
“Although all men freely and loudly confess that God is the creator of heaven and earth, so that even the most wicked are ashamed to withhold from him the honor of this title, yet no sooner does any crisis present itself to us than we are convicted of unbelief in hardly setting any value whatever upon the help which he has to bestow.”

Do I need God’s help today?  More than I know.  I believe God has and will help me through this day, to face with grace and peace all that I will encounter.  The problem is, I get so full of myself that I fail to rely on God’s strength, until a great crisis comes along to convict me of my unbelief, to purge me of my self-reliance, and to teach me to trust in God’s provision even more.

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

SDG