O Come Let Us Adore Him!

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.” ­– Psalms 103:1 NASB

When’s the last time you expressed your love and adoration to God? I mean, really let Him know how much you love and appreciate Him? These two familiar and incredible Psalms of praise to God ought to remind us just how infrequently we verbally let God know how much He means to us. In both Psalms, David speaks to his soul. He reminds himself to praise God because of who He is, for all that He has done, and all the myriad ways He shows us His love, mercy, and grace each and every day. Because God is out of sight and out of mind for most of us as human being – in other words, we can’t see Him – we have to make an effort to think about Him and look for His activities and actions in and around our lives. For David, it was to put it in song. For you and me, it might be a favorite CD with some songs of praise to God that we listen to regularly and that remind us of His goodness and grace. It might be that we start each day by reading these two Psalms

Let’s fact it, most of us take God for granted. We rarely think about the fact that each breath we take is a gift from Him. Unless we happen to be standing at the brink of the Grand Canyon looking out over its majestic landscape, we probably don’t get blown away by God’s creative handiwork too much as we drive to work or mow the yard. But if we could train ourselves to think “Godly” thoughts, to look for Him each and every day in the world that surrounds us, we would probably be more grateful and a lot less grumpy!

So come let us adore Him. Sing His praises. Shout about His incredible mercies. Remind one another of His limitless love. We have a lot to adore, and there’s more to come.

Father, give me eyes to see You, lips to praise you, ears to hear you, hands to serve you, feet to follow you, and a lifetime that is filled with adoration for who You are and all that You have done. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org



Some Things Never Change.

“But You, O Lord, abide forever, and Your name to all generations.” ­– Psalms 102:12 NASB

This is one of those Psalms most of us can relate to. We’ve all had times in our lives where we felt just the Psalmist did. He is crying out to God. He is asking God to hear his prayer, but he feels as if God has turned a deaf ear to his plight. Things are so bad, he can’t sleep, he’s lost his appetite, and he feels like everything is caving in on him. Sound familiar? It does to me. The fact is, we all go through moments like that, because it is part of living in a fallen world. We are surrounded by hurt and heartache. People do mean things to other people. Difficulties and trials come, and seemingly, always at the wrong time. It was true in the Psalmist’s day and it is true in our day. Some things never change.

But right in the middle of this Psalm of lament, we read the word “But,” and with it, the Psalmist takes a slightly different direction with his message. He reminds himself and us that God is also unchanging. In the midst of all the suffering and sorrow of life, God is a consistent and constant presence. For the Psalmist, the temple in Jerusalem was the dwelling place of God’s presence. It was there that He met with His people. But God is also enthroned on high and from His unique vantage point He can look down on the sufferings of mankind and act. He hears the groanings of the prisoner. He sets free those doomed to death. God is not bound by time or limited in how He can deal with the difficulties we encounter in this life. The Psalmist compares the brevity of his own life to the eternalness of God. He is finite. God is infinite. God will outlast the very world He created. He will be around long after we are gone. His years will not come to an end, but ours will. And while my life may end, God will still be there faithfully and sovereignly interacting with those who follow after me. Suffering is a part of life. So is the sovereignty of God. So when we think everything is out of control, we need to remind ourselves that He is not.

Father, help me to continue to learn to focus on You and not my surroundings. You are the unchanging one. You are the ONLY thing I can count on in this life. You are consistent and constant, faithful and unfailing. And Your eternalness reminds me that I have a secure future – forever. This is NOT all there is. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org



A Right Response To A Righteous God.

“O LORD, what great miracles you do! And how deep are your thoughts.” ­– Psalms 92:5 NLT

Thanksgiving. Singing. Declaring His lovingkindness. Gladness. Joy. Fruitfulness. Recognition of His sovereignty.

These two Psalms paint a clear picture of how the people of God should respond to Him. As we learn to reflect on all that He has done in the past and all that He is doing around us in the present, we will see life from a different perspective. As we read the Word and discover His character and learn about His great acts of goodness and righteousness to His people over the years, we grow in our optimism and trust. We are more apt to rejoice even when things do not appear to go the way we would like them to go, because we know and understand His character. Thanksgiving and praise come more readily and freely because we see life from God’s perspective. He is powerful, loving, righteous, just, and causes His people to live fruitful lives even in times of difficulty.

One of the things we tend to forget is that God is ruler over everything and everyone. Because we see the world as out of control, we tend to believe that God is somehow a powerless spectator to the events going on around us or, worse yet, a disinterested deity who could do something about it, but just chooses not to. But the Psalmist reminds us that God reigns and rules on high. “The LORD is king! He is robed in majesty. Indeed, the LORD is robed in majesty and armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken” (Psalms 93:1 NLT). God is in complete control. And He is powerful. “But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore––the LORD above is mightier than these!” (Psalms 93:4 NLT).

Praise and thanksgiving come naturally when we truly believe these things about God. But when we are filled with doubt about His power and majesty, when we don’t recognize His faithfulness and love for us, then we find it hard to thank Him in times of difficulty. But where do we learn about God? How can we grow in our confidence in His character and power? One way is through the reading of His Word. As we read the Scriptures, we are given a glimpse into the incredible character of God as it is exposed in the stories of God’s interactions with mankind. We see His love, mercy, kindness, and righteousness, but we also see His anger, justice, holiness, and hatred of sin. We also see God’s redemptive nature. How He wants to rescue mankind out of their slavery to sin and gave the life of His own Son to make it happen. The Bible is a picture of who God is. The stories are reminders of His character. He is the same today as He was then. But we also can learn of God’s character as He works in and around our lives today. We can see His character revealed in our lives and in the lives of those around us. But we have to know what to look for. We can see His faithfulness and love as we encounter other believers who come alongside us in times of difficulty. Their love is an expression of His love. We can see God’s power when we see marriages restored or sicknesses healed. We can see God’s provision every time we eat a meal, deposit a paycheck or pay a bill. He provided the means to do them all. We can see God’s matchless mercy and grace every time we find ourselves falling into sin yet again. Each time we do, we can go to Him for forgiveness and He always extends it. We can see God in our lives, but we have to train ourselves to look for Him. And when we learn to see Him, we begin to thank Him, to sing His praises, to declare His goodness and mercy. Just like the Psalmist.

Father, it is good to give thanks to You. I spend far too much time complaining and far too little time being grateful. And You have given me much to be grateful for. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org



The Dark Night of the Soul.

“You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths. Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me.” ­– Psalms 88:6-7 NLT

Dark nights of the soul. We’ve all experienced them. Those moments in life where everything seems to be caving in on  you. When God seems distant and your prayers appear to go unanswered. The two Psalms in today’s reading stand in stark contrast from one another. Psalm 81 has God Himself crying out to His people to remember and repent. He reminds them of His faithfulness and of His redemption of them from slavery in Egypt. He also reminds them of their rebellion and disobedience. Then He gives them the key to restoration. “But oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths! How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon my hands would be upon their foes! Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him; their desolation would last forever. But I would feed you with the best of foods. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock” (Psalms 81:13-16 NLT). Listen. Follow me. Walk in my paths. God is looking for obedience. He longs to bless, but His blessing requires obedience. In verses 8-10 God makes it clear that their disobedience had to do with following after other gods. They had replaced Him with the false gods of Egypt and the land of Canaan. He required fidelity and faithfulness, but they had failed to remain true to Him and Him alone. Yet He longed to restore them and bless them.

Where Psalms 81 seems to give a view of life from God’s perspective, Psalms 88 is totally from man’s view point. In it, the Psalmist describes the dark night of the soul in which he find himself. His world is collapsing around him. He is under extreme pressure. He is even close to death. Yet he keeps crying out to God. He begs for Him to listen to him and rescue him. He even seems to believe that it is God who has brought all of this upon him. “You place me in the lowest regions of the pit, in the dark places, in the watery depths. Your anger bears down on me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves” (Psalms 88:6-7 NET). He feels completely rejected by God. And unlike most of the other Psalms, this one ends in sadness, with no resolution or declaration of God’s righteousness or faithfulness. There are no statements regarding God as his rock, fortress, redeemer, or rescuer. It ends as it began – in despair.

So what do we do with these two Psalms? How do we resolve the apparent conflict? I think it is all in how we view them. It’s all about perspective. One Psalm gives a horizontal view of life – from man’s limited perspective. The other Psalm gives us a view of life from God’s vantage point. During the dark nights of the soul, it is easy to lose sight of God’s bigger perspective. While the write of Psalm 88 seemed to have an understanding of God’s sovereignty, it was fairly negative. Yes, he believed that God was in control, but that God only brought bad things into his life. God brought punishment and nothing else. Since God was in control, all the pain and suffering in his life had to come from God. And God does allow pain and suffering to come into our lives. Sometimes He even uses it to admonish us or get our attention. But Psalm 81 reminds us that God always has a method to His seeming madness. He has a reason for and a plan behind the events that take place in our lives. But we have to look beyond and behind those vents to see His perspective. He has our good in mind. Even when He punishes us, it is for our own good. The writer of Hebrews understood this concept. “And have you entirely forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his children? He said, ‘My child, don’t ignore it when the Lord disciplines you, and don’t be discouraged when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as his children'” (Hebrews 12:5-6 NLT). Correction and discipline do come from the Lord at times. But sometimes the suffering we encounter is a result of living in a fallen world. Death, disease, and disappointment are part of the result of the fall. And they impact everyone – the saved and the unsaved. As believers we are not immune to these things. The economy affects us just like everyone else. We are susceptible to disease just like everyone else. We can be hurt and disappointed just like everyone else. But we know that God loves us. He sent His Son to die for us. He has our best interests in mind. He is in the process of transforming us into the likeness of His Son. And He uses these events in and around our lives to do just that. We just have to see life from His perspective. Is He punishing us? Perhaps. But it could just be that we are experiencing the affects of the fall on our lives. And He is allowing this dark night of the soul to remind us of our need and dependence upon Him. He wants us to do just what the writer of Psalms 88 was doing – to call out to Him. To wrestle with Him. To even blame Him if that is what it takes to get us to call out to Him. It is okay to ask Him “Why?” and “When?” But when we learn to see life from God’s perspective we will learn to patiently wait for His answer to our questions because we know that He loves us and has our best interest in mind. Our questions will begin to be “What?” and “Where?”  What are you trying to teach me? What are You wanting to do in my life? Where can I see Your hand at work? It’s all about perspective.

Father, give me Your perspective on life. Help me to see the events of my life from a higher vantage point. It’s hard sometimes, but I know You are willing to open my eyes and give me Your divine perspective. When I enter those dark nights of the soul, help me to see Your light shining in the midst of them. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org



Perfect Recall.

“But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago, they are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.” ­– Psalms 77:11-12 NLT

There is a pattern to many of the Psalms. They start out with the Psalmist questioning God’s presence. Where is God? Why does He seem to be nowhere to be found? From the Psalmist’s perspective, it appears as if God has vacated the premises and left the inmates in charge of the asylum. From all appearances, things look out of control. The world appears to be falling apart and our lives seem surrounded by pain and suffering.

But just as suddenly as the Psalmist began, he takes a turn toward the positive. He begins to speak of God’s faithfulness and unmistakable reliability. What brings about this radical change in perspective? A brief review of God’s actions on behalf of men. Just about the time he finds himself whining over his lot in life, the Psalmist remembers all that God has done. He begins to remind himself of God’s holiness and redemptive power. He takes a look back and gets renewed hope for the present. The God who was is the God who is. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And sometimes we just need to be reminded of that fact.

Psalm 78 reminds us to remind our children of all that God has done. We are to tell the next generation about the mighty works of God. How will they know if we don’t tell them? If we fail to tell them, they will grow up stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God (Psalms 78:8). Psalms 78 is a picture of God’s faithfulness despite man’s unfaithfulness. It is a reminder of God’s sovereign rule over man. He sent … He gave … He destroyed … He abandoned … He loosed … He led … He drove out … He rejected … He abandoned … He routed … He chose … He took. God was involved. He was in charge. And remembering His unquestionable sovereignty over the past should remind us that He is just as much in control over the present.

Just about the time we begin to think God has forgotten us, we need to remember Him and all He has done for us. He CAN be trusted.

Father, increase my capacity to remember. Especially when things are looking scary. When I can’t see you at work in my present circumstances, help me to recall Your past mercies. You have never let me down and You never will. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org



Losing Our Focus.

“But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.” ­– Psalms 73:2-3 NLT

I like to run. Mostly outdoors, but if it is rainy and cold I will sometimes resort to running on a treadmill. But it can be a dangerous experience. There is something about me and treadmills that make for a dangerous combination. If I lose focus, I can fall. If I find myself distracted in any way from the task at hand, and start looking around at what else is going on in the room, I can end up stepping off the center of the mat and running right off the treadmill. Believe me, it’s happened – one time in a crowded YMCA in the middle of the lunch hour workout crowd. I was running along at a nice pace, when I decided to check out who was running on the treadmill next to me. I wanted to compare pace, running style, see if he was as tired as I was. That’s when it happened. As I turned to look, my body slowly followed my head and I stepped right off the side of the treadmill. The next thing I know I was laying flat on my face at the back of the treadmill where the belt had deposited me when I fell. I was unhurt, but highly embarrassed. I had lost my focus. I had gotten distracted. I had forgotten why I was there in the first place.

That is what I think of when I read this Psalms. The Psalmist writes that he almost lost his footing. Why? Because he started looking around at his surroundings. He became distracted by the proud and their lot in life. He started to compare himself with others. And as soon as he did, he began to lose focus. He lost his perspective. This is a dangerous game that all of us play from time to time. Forgetting why we are here, we begin to compare our lot in life to those around us. We start looking around at the “wicked” and begin to notice that they seem to be better off than we are and we’re the good guys. They seem happier, healthier, wealthier, and all despite their blatant disregard for God. All our efforts to live righteous lives start to look like a royal waste of time. We begin to second guess ourselves and doubt God.

That’s when we need a new perspective. We need to get back on track. For the Psalmist it meant getting back in touch with God by going to the sanctuary of God. In other words, he had to get back into God’s presence. He had to take his eyes off the world and put them back where they belonged – on God. When he did, his perspective changed. But as long as he kept his focus on the perceived inequities of life, his heart grew hard and his thinking clouded and distorted. Perspective changes everything though. Keeping our focus on God helps us view life from His vantage point, instead of our own. We have limited perspective, which is why we need to see things from His point of view.

When he turned his attention back to God, the Psalmist realized just how good he really had it. He could say, “Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever” (Psalms 73:25-26 NLT). “But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign LORD my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do” (Psalms 73:28 NLT). Now that’s a change in perspective.

Father, I want to see the world from Your point of view, not mine. Forgive me for the many times I get distracted by what I see going on around me. I take my eyes off of You and I fall. I lose my sense of balance and begin believing that what I see taking place around me is the truth. It is reality. But only You are reality. Only You can be trusted. May I learn to trust You despite what I see going on around me. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org