Getting A Facelift, Not a Face Full (A Reflection on Psalm 119:22-24)

 The following post is a reflection on Psalm 119:22-24, which reads,

Take away from me scorn and contempt,
    for I have kept your testimonies.

Even though princes sit plotting against me,

    your servant will meditate on your statutes.

Your testimonies are my delight;

    they are my counselors. (ESV)

Since the psalms were the prayer vocabulary of Israel, this is a prayer that Jesus would have likely prayed, for he was faced with scorn and contempt on multiple occasions.

Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash

Have you noticed the faces of those who show scorn and contempt for others? They become ugly and distorted in the process of verbally vomiting their inner brokenness in an attempt to break others. 

Photo by Tom Caillarec on Unsplash

And frequently, when a person receives scorn and contempt, their own face falls into frowns of sadness, grimaces of pain, and may even become twisted in anger. How can we have a facelift in such circumstances? Remember Psalm 3:3-4,

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
    my glory, and the lifter of my head.

I cried aloud to the Lord,
    and he answered me from his holy hill. 

Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash 

God is the one who lifts our head and our face in answer to our prayer. In Psalm 119, verse 22 is likely a lament—a prayer request—asking that God would turn away the scorn and contempt being directed at the psalmist. This request is made in the context of his recognition that he was merely sojourning here on earth; he was not home yet (v. 19). This is God’s world, and as sojourners, we need to follow his testimonies. 

In his commentary on Psalm 119, Michael Wilcock wrote,

God’s people have always needed to be reminded of this. Every day we walk familiar roads; This is our hometown, our home country, we say. Yes and no, says God. This is my world, and you are here as garîm, expatriates. ‘The land is mine, and you are but aliens and my tenants.’ [Lev. 25:23] That means you observe the laws and manners of your host country. We begin to see why the psalmist, a stranger on earth, cries, Do not hide your commands from me. He needs God's handbook for the duration of his residence in God's world.

What creates problems for him, and underlines his need of such a handbook, is the fact that though this really is God's world, there are plenty of people in it who do not behave as if it were (vv. 21-22). On all sides he sees the arrogant and the accursed, and their scorn and contempt for God's principles. He is bound to be affected, and fears being infected, by all this. He does not have to be abroad for rulers to slander him…[1]

I especially love his line about how we are to “observe the laws and manners of your host country.” While it is wise for us to do this at the human and international levels, few realize that this world doesn’t belong to independent people or even to nations; it belongs to the Lord God Almighty. Thankfully, the Lord and Creator is also our loving Heavenly Father!

However, it is also possible that this prayer could be more reflective than that. One of the dangers of law-keeping is that of judgmentalism directed towards those less spiritually mature. Do we need to ask God to take away the scorn and contempt that can rise in our hearts for those whom we consider offensively “other”? It is one thing to disagree with someone, but it is another to demonize and denounce them. Our 21^st-century culture is highly charged, so every spoken reaction, every written statement, every posted opinion, may either attract or repel in an amplified way.

Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

I know that when I look at the behavior of those who hate God and his word, and hear the vain ideas that they would want to enforce upon others, it is not hard to turn their scorn and contempt back on their own heads with an ample dose of laughter. However, that is not likely to win them over to the truth. Jesus said we would be mocked, just as he was. He also challenged his followers not to show scorn and contempt for others.[2] This can be very difficult. We are culturally conditioned to retaliate at some point. However, the psalmist shows us that there is a way that we can limit the risk of our slipping into a scornful, contemptuous attitude. 

Did you notice? Psalm 119 is the longest in the Bible, and nearly every verse points us to the answer we need. In the three verses at the center of this post, we see the psalmist engaging God’s Word in obedience, diligent thought, and heartfelt delight.

v. 22b …for I have kept your testimonies.

v.23b …your servant will meditate on your statutes.

v.24 Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.

It is when we keep, meditate, and delight in the Word of God that we see the personality of God revealed, and it changes us for the better. It is not so much learning the words on the page as it is meeting the one who waits on the other side of the page, for they all speak of Jesus Christ (e.g., Luke 24:27; Acts 28:23; Romans 3:21-26). 

Photo by ROBIN WORRALL on Unsplash 

Is there another testimony that I have committed myself to follow? Are there other ideas, values, and mission statements on which we focus our deepest thoughts? Have we allowed something, or someone, else to become our closest confidants, the ones who help to direct our lives, other than God’s Word? If so, then let this psalm be the light that patiently and persistently sets you back on the path.

Jesus can identify with us in our pain, for he endured terribly scornful mocking at the hands of Romans and Jews alike. He knew that his followers would also face the same treatment. In John 15:19-20, Jesus made this very clear to his followers.

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

Not only should we not be surprised when we are on the receiving end of hateful and false speech, but Jesus also reminds us that, far from being a soul-crushing defeat, such undeserved treatment is, in fact, a spiritual blessing!

“Blessed are you when others revile you

                                  and persecute you

      and utter all kinds of evil against you

                                              falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad,

          for your reward is great in heaven,

                       for so they persecuted

         the prophets who were before you.” (Matt. 5:11-12)

Peter, who once thought of taking up a sword to defend the Lord against scorn and unjust arrest, finally came to understand the Lord’s way and wrote,

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8-9)

The one who meditates and delights in God’s testimonies will embody the qualities of verse 8 and receive the blessing of verse 9.

Let his words be our counselors! They do a better job than Botox!

[This reflection was originally posted on my Psalms blog: Psalms-honest2god]

---

[1] Wilcock, Michael, The Message of the Psalms, 199.

[2] In Matthew 5:22-23, Jesus forbids his followers from even calling others derogatory names out of anger. Paul wrote in Eph. 4:29-32, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

The Sanctified Naysayer (2 Chron 18:1- 20:30)

The following devotional post was initially written as part of a men's Bible journaling group.

2 Chron. 18:4-7, 12-17 (also 1 Kings 22:10-51)

Ahab & Jehoshaphat 

v.4-7 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” 

And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” 

But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” 

And the king of Israel [Ahab] said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” 

And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” 

v.12-17 And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.”

But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.”

And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” 

And he answered, “Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.”

But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” 

And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’”

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” 

A lot is going on in this passage! 

Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went off-script by joining the wicked king of Israel (Ahab) on a military campaign against Syrian forces. He asked Ahab to consult the Lord first. I find it interesting to consider why he did this. If he knew God’s Word, then he would not have had to ask if he should follow Ahab’s lead. Ahab, whose profound wickedness was already under the prophetic judgment of God, would not turn from his ways. He was a man who judged the "goodness" of a message by whether it said what he wanted to hear.

What do we do when the message of the Lord to us is not what we want to hear? Do we hate the messenger, or do we heed the warning of the God who loves us? Ahab hated the Word of the Lord, and despite his schemes and disguise, he took a random arrow, but not to the knee. It pierced his breastplate, and he bled out at sunset, facing his enemies. He didn’t even take the merciful time that remained to him to repent and turn back to the Lord. In contrast, Jehoshaphat, though an imperfect king, “cried out” to the Lord in his fear, and the Lord helped him; and God drew them away from him.” (v.31)

I am forced to consider the dangers of a politically compromised faith. What happens when the government speaks to the prophet, or when the prophets are complicit with and merely rubber-stamping the policies of a wicked government? In this passage, all the other prophets spoke the lies that Ahab wanted to hear. Where was the dissenting voice of truth? What does this mean for my ministry? Am I vulnerable to being owned by the status quo, by the current of popular thought, or will I seek the counter-intuitive and inconvenient but invaluable word of the Lord before I make decisions and before I risk what he has entrusted to me? Jehoshaphat had the good sense to seek, ask, and knock. Ahab, once pushed, also demanded the truth; however, he didn’t heed it but rather tried to circumvent it via disguise and distraction.

As pastors and Christian leaders, do we have a Micaiah who will speak to us honestly in the face of strategic plans and personal passions? 

Do we have a sanctified naysayer who has been given permission to speak freely? Someone who can tell us when we are listening to the wrong voices? I hope so.

This is one of the tenets of the Cupbearers Initiative. It may have become trendy to “speak truth to power,” but who do we allow to speak the truth to our power? For the sake of the Kingdom of God, am I willing to be teachable to the prophetic word of the Lord?

So, if I am to "bring it home," let me ask: will we persist in what we want, asking God to bless our imperfect ideas and desires, or will we sincerely seek the counsel of God? Further, when God speaks, will I harden my heart, or in humility acknowledge my dependence upon him? When was the last time I let God change my plans?

Persisting in poor leadership decisions (without, or despite, good counsel) might not be the end of our lives (like it was for ancient kings), but it might be the end of our ministry. Our lapses in judgment, deficiencies in discernment, and failures in follow-through may result in the loss of many people’s potentially joyful participation in the restorative work of the kingdom.

Allow me to share one last rather haunting thought. Ahab, even when mortally wounded, persisted in his rebellion, slowly bleeding out as the daylight faded, with his chariot facing the Syrians instead of turning towards Jerusalem, and seeking to make peace with the One true Lord...  

“And the battle continued that day, and the king of Israel was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening. Then at sunset, he died.” (v.34)

Ahab refused to repent. Some might say he was authentic, even brave, in refusing to repent. I call it stubbornly self-focused. Instead of making peace with the God who takes no delight in the death of the wicked.  As it is written, 

“Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Eze. 33:11)

Instead of Ahab finding personal peace in repentance, God provided some measure of national peace for Israel through the death of their wicked king. This was one case where “scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd” (v.16) was a good thing since their shepherd had been so evil. Each man could “return to his home in peace” instead of dying as pawns in Ahab’s wicked plans.

O, Lord, may our minds always seek your direction, and may our hearts heed your Word so that we might not fall for wicked appeals that would entice us from your goodness to follow a lie. May we not be persuaded to bend to the status quo just because everyone else is doing so. Open our eyes to see and our ears to hear, and soften our hearts to joyfully respond to your loving plan, and may it result in blessing for many, and may your shalom come upon us. Amen.

Don’t Isolate—Engage!

We have all dealt with people who just want to do things their own way, expressing their opinions unfiltered by any increased understanding. As it is written,

“Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
    he breaks out against all sound judgment.
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
    but only in expressing his opinion.” (Prov. 18:1-2)

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

But the challenge for us, is to not become this person, by neither allowing our understanding to ossify though overindulging in our opinion nor becoming brittle through our stubbornness. Isolation is insidious. It can arise when we feel rejected by others in some way but also when we feel superior to or independent of, others.

There is an example of this kind of foolish behavior among the parables of Jesus,

And [Jesus] told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ (Luke 12:16-19)

Kenneth E. Bailey, in Jesus Through Middle-eastern Eyes, points out that in the culture of 1^st Century Palestine, it would have been unthinkably foolish to make important decisions without wise counsel. Some decisions are too important to be made alone. The Rich Fool doesn’t consult anyone…he is satisfied with his own internal dialogue instead of consulting the advice of others, or more importantly, seeking to ask God what he should do. This is the trifecta of foolishness:

1. thinking he needed no other human counsel or input; 
2. completely failing to involve the Lord in his decision-making process; 
3. assuming that all he had been blessed with was for his own use—to enjoy at his leisure.  

We do well to remember that God is the ultimate source of any true blessing we enjoy, yet even so, it is not intended as a terminal blessing—one that ends with us—but one that can only truly be received and enjoyed when it is shared with others. The Abrahamic blessing was no different. The blessing given to one man would ultimately be extended into a blessing for all the families on earth (Gen. 12:1-3). This should prompt us to consider how what we have received participates in the shared goodness of God. Secondly, we cannot participate in the wonderfully redemptive plan of God if we isolate our individual selves from others or insulate our local congregations from engaging with other groups in our community.

One thing is certain: when we engage with others, we can’t just express our opinion without listening to other viewpoints and potentially corrective reasoning, not to mention caring relationships, that might restrain us from doing stupid and hurtful things.

Unfortunately, too many consider social media outbursts to be engagement. While significant conversation can be facilitated across great distances by various digital platforms (I currently use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn in addition to blogging) we may be shielded by our digital avatars and emboldened, or “disinhibited”, to attack or bully others and thus “breaking out against all sound judgment.”

Photo: Greg Dueker

Are we followers of Jesus Christ? We should remember that while he consistently confronted the sin of the religious leaders (usually in person), of him it could also be said,

“He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
    nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
     and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” 

(Matthew 12:19-21, citing Isaiah 42:2-4)

If we represent him, then our approach should not be one of obnoxious tirades and trolling launched from an insulating distance where our ego can easily dismiss opposing voices as “ignorant idiots.” We would do well to draw nearer to others than ever before—to hear their stories, to celebrate their triumphs, and sit with them in their pain and brokenness. Such relational engagement has mutual benefits (See my pastoral post on "Talking to Strangers"). Others might experience healing and deliverance through our participation in relational gospel ministry, but we will be changed as well! We benefit from having our paradigms challenged, our pet perspectives turned upside down, and our cardboard concepts enfleshed by the Spirit working through the unexpected. Sometimes it is hard to face reality through relationships with less-than-perfect people, but the alternative is that I might never be set free from the prison of my own opinions. 

My application of this passage admonishes me, saying, 

• Don't isolate yourself to pamper your opinions. 
• Don't make major decisions independent of wise counsel. 
• Don't do stupid stuff because you don't have anyone you would allow to change your mind. 
• Do let the Scriptures, taken in context, be the filter on your affections, thoughts, and speech. 

Photo by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash

So, what does this anti-isolation message mean for the way we prepare for roles as pastors, chaplains, missionaries, and other avenues of service? Are we passionate about ministering but self-trained, or tend to form our beliefs in isolation? Maybe we earned a degree years ago and launched out on our own, but now wonder how best to minister to a post-everything culture?

If any of these are the case, I encourage you to become more Biblically orthodox while also becoming more of a bridge-building ambassador than ever before! Find cohort-based learning communities from well-respected seminaries that are designed for those currently serving in ministry roles and leverage the advantages of both classroom engagement and online flexibility. I am pretty certain that your ideas will be challenged, your faith will be strengthened, and your ministry refocused and readied in anticipation of new seasons of fruitfulness!