Psalm 143 opens with a prayer for deliverance (again!)

A PSALM OF DAVID.

Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. (Psalm 143.Introduction, 1 – 3, ESV)

Many (most?) of David’s psalms are for deliverance from enemies. What does that tell us?

• That having adversaries and adversity is normal
• That David’s response to adversity was to write a psalm! Did he write more under duress than “in the sunshine”?

And he writes not just about the situation but about how he felt:

Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled. (Psalm 143.4, ESV)

There’s a lesson for those of us who aren’t feelers. Who say, “Why worry? God will take care of you! Why are you so down in the dumps?” No. Godly people suffer emotionally.

But David knows a cure:

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah (Psalm 143.5, 6, ESV)

Meditating not just on the word but on God’s actions. “I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.”

The prayer continues. Prayer for deliverance, assurance of God’s love, and guidance.

Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. (Psalm 143.7, 8, ESV)

Repeated prayer for deliverance and guidance:

Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! I have fled to you for refuge. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! (Psalm 143.9, 10, ESV)

He bases his prayer on the character of God:

• “I have fled to you for refuge” – verse 9
• “For your name’s sake, preserve my life” – verse 11

As we move through Advent season, it’s useful to remember why Jesus came:

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19.10, ESV)

Jesus said that in the context of an outcast, Zacchaeus, the tax collector.

Another outcast would have been Mary Magdalene. There’s a nice piece floating around FaceBook without attribution that’s worth the read. I offer it without further comment:

Mary Magdalene is the girl. I don’t care what anybody says—she was ride or die for Jesus. And y’all, don’t skip over her story just because it makes religious folks squirm a little. Some say she was a prostitute, some say she wasn’t—but what we do know is this: she had seven demons cast out of her (Luke 8:2). SEVEN. That’s not a bad day… that’s a spiritual ICU.

But here’s the part that wrecks me: Jesus didn’t avoid her. He delivered her.

He didn’t shame her. He saved her.

And after He set her free, she never left His side.  She wasn’t just around for the miracles and the crowd—she followed Him all the way to the foot of the cross when everybody else was bailing out and hiding. And when they laid Him in the tomb, she stayed close. And on resurrection morning? She was the first person He appeared to. Not Peter. Not John. Mary. The one with the past. The one nobody saw coming. The one He called by name in the middle of her heartbreak (John 20:16).  And I say all that to say this:

If you’ve been through hell…

If you’ve battled addiction, abuse, trauma, shame…

If you’ve ever thought you were too far gone to be used by God… Remember Mary.

Because Jesus didn’t just clean her up—He trusted her with the message that He was alive. Let me tell you something: that same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in YOU (Romans 8:11). He can heal what tried to destroy you. He can restore what was stolen. He’ll meet you in your lowest place and call you by name. So don’t you dare let the enemy use your past to quiet your calling. If He used Mary Magdalene—He can sure enough use you.

My friend David Shropshire, one of the godliest, Spirit-filled men I know, wrote a provocative comment about Artificial Intelligence (AI) from my blog that included a comment about AI music artists:

I hate to admit this, but recently my college-freshman, godly, grandson recently asked me what to do in a situation. I prayerfully thought what would be the wise thing, and offered some things to consider. Just before hanging up, I suggested he ask AI.  The second I hung up the phone, I realized the foolishness of my suggestion.  I told him later I was wrong, and that I should have told him to ask the  Holy Spirit what He wants him to know and what He wants him to do.

When I wrote David to say I used AI for book and article summaries or to “write a short bio,” he responded with:

I use AI daily and appreciate the time it saves, especially for things like writing code for MS Word macros, and asking it questions I asked Google in the past.

So what are we learning? AI, like any tool, can be useful. We just have to know what to use it for.

He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”…No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” (Isaiah 44.14 – 17, 19, ESV)

Shall I ask advice from 1s and 0s?

There’s a lot to write about: we’re finishing the psalms, it’s Advent Season, and there always observations about life like Spreading Joy about the smiling employee bussing tables and It’s Daily about a veteran NFL kicker completely missing the ball. But I don’t want to miss one of the best known and loved psalms: 139. I offer it without much comment. It’s hard to improve on the inspired text, which begins:

TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID.

O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. (Psalm 139.Introduction, 1 – 6, ESV)

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” True. This is a hard concept to get hold of. God’s infinite and intimate knowledge of all of us as individuals. We can’t get away, we can’t hide!

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. (Psalm 139.7 – 12 ESV)

God’s detailed knowledge of me started in the womb?!

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139.13 – 16, ESV)

Compare the Apostle Paul’s observation:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2.10, ESV)

David summarizes…

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. (Psalm 139.17, 18)

And concludes with a prayer:

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139.23, 24, ESV)

Our God is infinite…and intimate:

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isaiah 57.15, ESV)

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. (Luke 1.39 – 44, ESV)

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2.10, 11, ESV)

The fruit of the Spirit is…joy. (Galatians 5.22, ESV)

We laughed, we sang, we couldn’t believe our good fortune. We were the talk of the nations— “GOD was wonderful to them!” GOD was wonderful to us; we are one happy people. (Psalm 126.2, 3, MSG)

I don’t like to write about sports “too” much, but when something happens that’s never happened before and is unlikely to ever happen again, it’s worth nothing.

Did you see the Monday Night Football game between the Giants and the Patriots on December 1? The Giants are having a terrible year: 2 – 10 when the game started, 2 – 11 after. But while the game was up for grabs, they had an opportunity in the second quarter to close the gap from 17 – 7 to 17 – 10. A makable field goal. Except, wait for it, the kicker completely missed the ball!

That’s his kicking toe embedded in the turf. In the next frame (not shown), the kicker is in front of the holder, and the holder still has the ball.

Earlier, bad kicking  by the Giants was a factor in Denver’s historic comeback.

…backup kicker Jude McAtamney cost the team a potential win by missing kicks during the collapse in Denver and Koo now missed the ball entirely. – Matt Ehalt, NY Post

The guy who missed two extra points in Week 3 is long gone. But Koo?

Koo, 31, is a veteran kicker. He began his career with the Los Angeles Chargers. Koo is best known for his multiple seasons with the Atlanta Falcons (2019-25). He was the NFL’s scoring co-leader in 2020 and made the Pro Bowl that season. – Andrew Olson, Saturday Down South

A veteran kicker. Formerly the NFL’s leading scorer. All-star. Now he’s done something he will never live down. I don’t know if it’s related, but when the Giants scored a touchdown in the second half, they went for two instead of letting Koo attempt an extra point.

So what’s the lesson? Maybe it’s this: my friend Fisher DeBerry, former head football coach at the Air Force Academy, had a sign in his office:

You’re only as good as your last play.

Ezekiel said something similar:

The soul who sins shall die…If a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live…But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die. (Ezekiel 18.20 – 24, ESV)

For perspective, please review two blogs on backsliding from a few weeks ago.

But take a lesson from Koo. Yesterday’s successes don’t count. Ask anyone in AA. Yesterday’s discipline doesn’t count. Ask any elite athlete. It’s daily intentionality.

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. (Psalm 5.3, NKJV)

When June and I went to the Celtic Woman concert in Denver last week, we stayed overnight at the downtown Hampton Inn. As is my custom on such occasions, I went downstairs to fetch June some coffee, and I was pleasantly shocked by one of the brightest smiles I’ve ever seen. A young black man lit up when I came into his field of vision. Huge smile, “Good morning, sir!” His job? He was bussing tables.

Later, when we came down to breakfast, he was still hard at it and still smiling. We called him over, thanked him for his service, and complimented him on his cheerful attitude. His name is McCullough, and he comes from the Congo. He was probably in his mid-30s. He’s been in country for six years, but his wife was just able to join last year. He was a war refugee.

So there he is, with a harder life than most of us will know, and he’s serving at what some consider a menial task, but doing it well, bringing joy to all of us.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3.23, 24, ESV)

As we move through the Christmas season (yes, I’m well aware that for Christians, it’s “Advent,” but I’m focusing on everyday life in the world), I want to give thanks for a once-a-year phenomenon: you can hear the gospel preached anywhere! And that’s something to give thanks for.

June and I heard Celtic Women in concert – they’re an Irish female musical group with three singers and a fiddler. Accompanied by the Denver Symphony Orchestra, it was a great show.

But what was remarkable was what I heard during the concert. Here’s a sample:

• Joy to the world, the Lord has come!
• Glory to the newborn King!
• God and sinners reconciled.
• Christ is born in Bethlehem.
• Jesus is “the heaven-born prince of peace.”
• Jesus is “the son of righteousness.”
• Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings.
• Mild he lay his glory by. (Compare Philippians 2.5 – 8)
• Born that men no more may die.
• Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.
• King forever, ceasing never over us all to reign.

In short, people paid real money to hear the gospel! Sure, there were sentimental Christmas themes mixed in and a bit of Santa Claus, but the truth was there for the hearing, and for that I give thanks.

What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, (Philippians 1.18, ESV)

It’s after Thanksgiving, but we can still give thanks, yes? The Thanksgiving blog quoted Psalm 136, which opens with:

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. (ESV)

Psalm 138 opens with thanksgiving:

I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. (Psalm 138.1 – 3, ESV)

“You have exalted above all things your name and your word.” If that’s the case, best we spend time in the word and honor it, along with God’s name.

May the glory of your name be the center on which our lives turn. (Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6.9, TPT)

Psalm 138 closes with this promise:

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. (Psalm 138.7, 8, ESV)

God preserves me in the midst of trouble – he doesn’t promise that I’ll never have trouble.

Finally, “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me.” God fulfills his purpose for me, I don’t fulfill my purpose for him.

Here’s an example in the Christmas story:

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1.38, ESV)

One more observation about angels from Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth.

Here’s Gabriel’s appearance to Mary:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary…And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God…For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1.26, 27, 34, 35, 38, ESV)

And now the angels’ message to the shepherds:

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them…And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord…And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” (Luke 2.8 – 15, ESV)

Did you see it?

• “And the angel departed from her.”
• “When the angels went away from them…”

Messenger angels don’t hang around. They deliver the message and leave. We’d like them to hang around, yes? Explain the message in more detail. Maybe provide visible protection for us while we carry out the message.

Even the angel who rescued Peter didn’t hang around to tell Peter what to do:

Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. (Acts 12.6 – 11, ESV)

Most of our lives are lived “in the ordinary,” not the spectacular, and if an angel does appear or we have a definite experience with God, it’s likely to be short-lived. As Eugene Peterson entitled his book which we used for our meditations on the Psalms of Ascent, it’s not the spectacular, it’s

A long obedience in the same direction.