Psalm 6 - 2.26.26

SCRIPTURE: PSALM 6:1 - 10

1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.

2 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

3 My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?

4 Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.

5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave?

6 I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.

7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.

8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping.

9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer.

10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish; they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.

OBSERVATION

This psalm comes from a grieved heart of David. While I felt like I needed to add a light hearted and chipper revelation to this devotional, my heart has not been able to move away from how encouraging this psalm itself is because it beautifully encaptures the heart of God and the compassion of the son of man himself. As you read this psalm, I encourage you to read it from the perspective of understanding more the heart of God towards us, one eager to enter into every detail of the human experience and be our cornerstone in every emotion and challenge.

David is someone who understands the heart of God and understands it so well, He knows that what grieves his heart has a place in God’s courts. 

When David’s heart is stirred up with joy, He acknowledges this joy has a place in God’s courts through His writing of psalms of praise.

When his heart is stirred up with anguish, He acknowledges their place in God’s courts through His writing of lament and transparent anger. 

David knows God’s heart and knows that His deepest and truest thoughts belong there, all because he knows that God’s heart is invitational to these deep and complex areas of ourselves. He even says, The Lord hears my prayer AND accepts it.

I love to think about how Jesus went to the places God’s heart goes. Jesus acted in unison with God’s heart, being His only son and the divine revelation of God on earth, so He went where God’s heart would be compelled.

Throughout scripture we see Jesus, and well, God’s heart, enter into many different contexts. We see Jesus entering into areas of worldly suffering, into spaces of death, into spaces of grief, into times of joy, into atmospheres of celebration, into mundane moments, and into tense moments, just to name a few. 

The point is, Jesus entered where God’s heart wants to be. And in this psalm, we see that God’s heart is to be with David in the grief and complex anguish He is currently living in.

APPLICATION

There is a scary truth that frightens me a bit that we can live our whole lives as followers of Jesus without truly experiencing His fellowship in our grievances and our sufferings, all because we have not offered our truest experiences to Him, out of a lack of understanding they are what He desire.

As you read this Psalm, where David invites God into his suffering because David knows that is where God wants to go, I want you to see this as an invitation and an example on how to live a divinely intertwined life with Christ’s character and God’s heart.

This week, as emotions rise and if grievances surface, see them not as interruptions — but as invitations. Invitations for God to meet you there. Express the deepest and truest emotions to your heart through practices like honest journaling, the practice of intimate and true prayer, and in turn see God’s presence meet you there - showing you the mystery of Christ that He enters into suffering as a perfect and relational LOVE that nothing in this world and no one in this world can taint, but every single person desperately needs.

To live in full fellowship with Jesus Christ is to understand His heart: He enters into suffering with us. He enters into delight with us. He enters into every corner of the human experience with us.

He went first. He stepped into our humanity fully so that when we walk through valleys and stand on mountaintops, we would never walk alone. David acknowledges this through His true expression of anguish towards God in Psalm 6. David knew that it is His creator's delight to be in suffering with Him. He is the only thing that can enter into darkness and bring unchanging and unaltered light.

PRAYER

Jesus,  I am sorry for how I have hid the parts of my heart from you, not thinking you want to be there. Right now, I give you permission to enter into every space of my being that you know and want to be in - come into my existence and my human experience and show me your heart towards every area of my life. Every thought, every emotion, every experience is yours. Today I want to live in that truth and truly invite you into each deep and complex thing. Would you show me your love for every aspect of my heart and your desire to be with me in every experience? Thank you for moving in David’s heart in a way that shows me how you want to move in mine. I love you Jesus, thank you for deeply loving me first. Amen.

- Tess Shrupp

Ephesians 4 - 2.25.26

Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-13, 16

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Observation

The title at the top of Ephesian 4 says, Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ. In verse 1, Paul opens with, As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received, and throughout the rest of the chapter, he follows up with on instructions on how to live in unity and help one another grow in maturity in Christ. Before we explore the specific ministry gifts outlined in this chapter, I want to point out that Paul is writing to everyone when he references the calling you have received. We all have a calling on our lives – to love Him and make Him known, to continually grow in maturity in Christ, to live in unity, and to serve others. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Application

I wasn’t sure what the differences are between apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. I did some searching and although I’m sure this isn’t exact, I think it’s a good summary:

Apostles go out (think missionaries), establish and build churches, Prophets hear and reveal God's will and message, Evangelists preach the gospel to win souls, Pastors shepherd/nurture the local flock, and Teachers explain and instruct in the Word.

Paul says the purpose of these ministries is to equip the body of Christ. I contend that even though we might not be called to full time ministry in one of these areas, God has placed one or more of these giftings on many of us. I could name so many people in our church! And even if we don’t think we have one of these five specific ministries, God has given each of us unique gifts to serve the body of Christ. If your gift is to encourage others, then go all out – we all need encouragement. If you are a prayer warrior, support us in prayer. If you love to serve others, serve lavishly. We shouldn’t feel that God can’t use us because we aren’t a prophet or evangelist. And we definitely shouldn’t use that as an excuse to sit back! From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Prayer

Thank you that each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made, designed specifically by You with different strengths to be used to grow the Body of Christ. May no one feel less than, but instead learn to grow in their unique giftings and calling. May we all continue to grow in unity and maturity as we set our focus on You. Amen

- Debbie Dunn

Ephesians 3 - 2.24.26

SCRIPTURE:  EPHESIANS 3:14 - 21

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

OBSERVATION

I love how Paul goes into this scripture by kneeling – in reverence and worship – to God. He begins with prayer for the Ephesians that God, out of his riches, to strengthen with power in the Spirit, in our inner being, that Christ will dwell within us. He then moves to praying the Ephesians will be rooted and established in love, to have the power to understand the love of Christ. It’s not just to have the basic understanding of his love, but to fully grasp “how wide and long and high and deep” is the love of Christ. To me these words paint a picture of the cross that Christ endured to save us from our sins. His sacrifice on the cross was wide, long, high and deep. His love and sacrifice transcend all dimensions, heaven and earth, all people – Jews and Gentiles. Paul wants us to be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Praise God!!

According to Expositor's Bible Commentary there is another understanding on the meaning of  “how wide and long and high and deep”:

“It is "wide" enough to reach the whole world and beyond (1:9-10, 20 Ephesians 1:20 NIV he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly...).  

It is "long" enough to stretch from eternity to eternity (1:4-6, 18; 3:9).  

It is "high" enough to raise both Gentiles and Jews to heavenly places in Christ Jesus (1:13; 2:6).

It is "deep" enough to rescue people from sin's degradation and even from the grip of Satan himself (2:1-5; 6:11-12). The love of Christ is the love he has for the church as a united body (5:25, 29-30) and for those who trust in him as individuals (3:17).

Paul ends his prayer giving God all the glory – highlighting that God can do immeasurably more than we ask or think. God’s ways are above anything we could ever imagine. The best part is it’s all  “according to his power that is at work within us.” God has completely equipped us with the power that we need to understand and live in the Spirit.

APPLICATION

It’s important to always begin prayer like Paul, in submission and worship to God. Kneeling is noted in this scripture but any posture of reverence (bowing your head, open hands up to God, etc.) is an important part of prayer.

This scripture highlights that we can pray for strength in the power of his Spirit to dwell in our hearts. We can also pray for power to grasp His great love. Our minds can’t really wrap around the depth of God’s love. It takes Godly power to really understand all aspects of His love. This scripture says his love  “surpasses knowledge” yet we can pray to “be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” I say YES to His love and to being filled of all the fullness of God.

Imagine for a moment that any thought or prayer that you ask, God can do immeasurably more. It’s all from the “power that is at work within us.” Positionally, God can do anything!  Recognizing and worshiping God for what he can do through us can take us to a different level of faith.

PRAYER

Lord, I bow down before your throne. You are the one and only God. You alone are worthy of all honor and praise. Thank you for this wonderful scripture and prayer from Paul to the Ephesians. You alone provide glorious riches, strengthen us with power through the Spirit, all to worship you, strengthen our faith, and truly understand your great love for us through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Lord, fill us all with the fullness of God. Help us to live in your Spriit always. In Jesus name. Amen!

- Mary Oberg