Author: Braden Condray

July 11, 2020

For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let’s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!

This is a royal psalm in which the pilgrim disciple expresses confidence in the Lord’s faithfulness to his covenant with David. They would sing this song, saying outright that they were on their way to Jerusalem to worship (v.6-7), and ask the Lord to fulfill His purpose in His people. They reflect on the promises that God made to David (v.11-12) and rejoice in the hope that He will restore the Davidic line (v.17-18).

As we reflect on this psalm, we remember that God’s promises to David were fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ! Jesus is our Davidic King; He has clothed His priests with righteousness and salvation, His saints with joy; He has made His dwelling place (the church) to prosper!

This psalm is a testament to the faithfulness of God to His promises. Every one of His promises to His people are yes and amen in Jesus Christ. Let’s celebrate that truth and trust Him in every circumstance as we worship Him!

Family Discussion Question:

• How does God’s faithfulness to His promises encourage you to live for Him? How does it change your outlook on life to know that not only is God willing and able to deliver on His promises, but He actually does it?

July 10, 2020

For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let’s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!

This is a psalm simply expressing joy and contentment in the presence of God! The pilgrim worshipper is reminded and reminds his companions of the rest and the delight that are to be found simply by being in the presence of the Lord. 

The psalmist begins with expressions of humility, saying that he is not proud or arrogant nor does he occupy his time attempting to understand things beyond his comprehension. The psalmist knows well his own limitations but, just as a weaned child is content merely with the presence of its mother (v.2), he is content merely to be in the presence of the Lord! This contentment and posture of heart towards God is reason for all of God’s people to have hope! 

How many of us waste our time seeking to gain things we will never obtain, be fulfilled in things that will never fulfill, or understand things we will never understand? This song is a reminder and an invitation to simply rest and delight in God’s presence! There is hope and grace and rest to be found when we make God our contentment.

Family Discussion Question:

• What things stop you from being content in the presence of God, from having a soul that is calmed and quieted in His presence? How might you take steps towards this kind of joy and contentment?

July 9, 2020

For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let’s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!

This psalm is a song of penitence for sin and confidence in the sufficiency of God’s mercy. The pilgrim disciples on their way to worship remind themselves with this song that the only right they have to enter God’s presence at all lies in His mercy and grace towards them. We are no different than they in this regard!

This psalm represents the movement from brokenness and conviction over one’s own sin to confession of that sin, and finally to confident hope in the Lord’s promises of mercy towards His people. Because God is a God of forgiveness and grace, we can always run to Him and not away from Him when we have stumbled and fallen into sin!

The psalmist expresses an eagerness to worship the Lord and receive His mercy that surpasses the longing a watchman who had been standing at his post all night would have for the morning to come (v.6). This eagerness to be in the presence of God and to worship Him among His people should characterize every believer because, when we do, it shifts from an individual focus to a corporate one, in which we are all encouraging one another to trust in the Lord and in His mercy!

God has visited His mercy on His people and redeemed them from all their iniquities (v.8) once and for all in the person and work of Jesus Christ. When we fail, let us run to Him and receive mercy, and let us ever be encouraging one another to do the same with confident hope!

Family Discussion Question:

• Do you ever find it difficult to trust in the mercy of God when you have done something sinful? How can you know that His mercy is always enough? How can you encourage your fellow believers to rest in His mercy with confident hope?

July 8, 2020

For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let’s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!

In this psalm the pilgrim disciple recalls the faithfulness of the Lord, that He has not allowed Israel’s many oppressors and enemies to ultimately prevail over them. He then turns and asks God that no such oppressor would ever prevail over Israel but would instead be put to shame in their purposes against God’s people.

This is the story of God’s people! There are many who have come against the church throughout the course of history. Though it is easy for us to not see it in our culture and context, there are many in the world coming against God’s people even now, and there will yet be more in the future. We may be afflicted, but we have assurance that they will not prevail against us in the end. Victory is ours in Jesus Christ because He has gone before us and has already conquered!

The Lord is righteous and He has set us free from the oppression of the wicked. Let’s rejoice in that fact and remind ourselves of this victory no matter what may come against us!

Family Discussion Question:

• How does the victory and freedom that have been given us in Christ change the way that we see opposition or oppression against us on account of our faith?

July 7, 2020

For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let’s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!

This is a wisdom psalm which presents us with the blessedness of all people who fear the Lord and walk in His ways. The pilgrim worshipper sings this song as a reminder both to himself and to others of the divine blessing that comes from living in the blessed way which God has called us to!

In the song the psalmist paints a picture of the man who fears the Lord having an aura of divine blessing which surrounds both his work and his family. Not only is the man himself blessed, but the land he works is blessed with fruitfulness and his family is blessed too! 

The ending of the song extends the reach of this blessing even further: the psalmist proclaims a blessing asking that all of God’s people might walk in this way and experience this blessing, which would lead to prosperity for Jerusalem and peace for Israel. The blessing that the individual experiences as a result of fearing the Lord and walking in His ways extends to his work, his family and his entire community as well!

We see the opposite effect in the Scriptures as well: sometimes the sin of the individual can be the blight which is bringing down the entire community of God’s people (see Joshua 7). Our faithfulness or faithlessness has far-reaching consequences beyond our own lives, and we must remember that our walk with Christ is in some ways communal even more than it is personal!

Family Discussion Question:

• Have you ever considered that your faithful obedience could be affecting the health of the entire church? Have you ever considered that your sin could be affecting it too? How can we respond to take hold of the blessing God promises to those who fear Him and walk in His ways, for the sake of the entire community of faith?

July 6, 2020

For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let’s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!

This psalm expresses the idea that, apart from the Lord’s providence, all human effort is in vain. The pilgrim worshipper reflects on the fact that, though His people are certainly required to be diligent in their work, they must also do it in faith. Apart from the Lord making our efforts useful and beneficial, all human effort is ultimately pointless.

Verse 2 paints a picture of a man working tirelessly and anxiously to establish his efforts, yet it is clear that all his efforts are vain because they are not done in faith. In contrast, the Lord gives rest to those He loves; to practice diligence in faith means to rest when rest is needed rather than anxiously toiling away, to trust in the Lord to provide for us instead of bending over backwards in our efforts to provide for ourselves. This is why God commanded the Sabbath for His people: to cease from work and rest for an entire day is an act of faith in God’s provision!

We need this reminder today as well. So many of us spend our time anxiously trying to prepare for every possible scenario. We work ourselves to death, worry ourselves to death, and labor and toil all in vain when the Lord is calling us to rest! He is calling us to trust that He is enough for us and that He will come through for us. We are called to diligence, yes, but diligence must never be divorced from faith!

Let’s give ourselves, our efforts, and our anxieties over to God, and rest in His provision and care for us. He is faithful and He will cause our efforts to bear fruit according to His purposes!

Family Discussion Question:

• What are some ways that it is tempting for you not to trust in God’s provision and care, His sufficiency? How is the Lord calling you to rest in Him?

July 5, 2020

For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let’s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!

In this psalm the pilgrims recall a past time when the Lord showed His mercy on His people, restoring their fortunes, and plead with Him to do a similar work in their own day! They speak of how they could hardly believe the way that the Lord had come through for them (v.2), and how this act of mercy and restoration even acted as a witness to the surrounding pagan nations (v.3)!

The psalmist then asks the Lord to restore their fortunes once again as He had done in the past. He asks for the Lord to bless the year’s harvest so that weeping will turn into shouts of joy (v.5)!

The church has seen the Lord move in powerful ways to bring revival, renewal, and restoration throughout its history. We have every reason to cry out to the Lord to do it again and, in so doing, to ask in confidence and faith that He will respond! 

God has been faithful and merciful in the past, and because of that we have every reason to trust that He will do so in the present and in the future! Let’s seek for revival and renewal to visit our hearts, our families, our communities, and our churches with this kind of faith!

Family Discussion Question:

• How does God’s past faithfulness and mercy towards us change the way that we approach Him in prayer or the way in which we depend on Him day by day?

July 4, 2020

For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let’s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!

In this song the pilgrim worshipper declares his confidence in the Lord’s protection and vindication towards His faithful ones. He envisions the Lord surrounding His saints as a high wall would surround a fortified city and affirms that He will never cease to protect them in this way. The psalmist expresses trust that the Lord will not allow the unrighteous to rule over His people forever, whether the “scepter of wickedness” (v.3) is in reference to a foreign power or a wicked king in Jerusalem itself, and looks forward with confidence that the Lord will one day “do good…to those who are good” (v.4), but “lead [the unrighteous] away with evildoers” (v.5).

God calls His people throughout history to entrust themselves to His care and to His absolute rule whenever they are under the oppression of unjust rulers. For us this can take many forms: wicked men and women in power over our nation, unjust people with power over our communities, and even corrupt leadership within the church itself.

God is calling us through this psalm, no matter what situation we may find ourselves in, to have unshakable confidence in His protection over us, in His sovereign rule on our behalf, and in the fact that He will one day vindicate His people and expose these powers that be for what they really are. 

Verse 3 presents a dilemma for God’s people: whenever the unrighteous have power over the righteous, it can very easily lead the righteous to act in unrighteous ways. The Lord is calling His people to be maintain their ultimate and supreme allegiance and loyalty to Him alone over any earthly power, to remain faithful to His way. He promises that in the end, when He vindicates His people once and for all, we will find that it was worth it. 

Family Discussion Question:

• What can it look like for us, in our context and culture, to remain faithful to the Lord in the face of corrupt or unrighteous leadership? How might the Lord be calling you specifically to entrust yourself to His protection and His vindication?

July 3, 2020

For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let’s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!

This is a song of thanksgiving because of the victory the Lord has given His people, the deliverance He has shown them when there should have been none! The pilgrim journeying to worship in Jerusalem celebrates the Lord’s deliverance from what was a seemingly hopeless situation. He expresses that they would have perished if it had not been for the Lord, but the Lord was with them and for them, and the Lord made a way!

This is the story of every one of God’s children. Our situation was hopeless; separated from God, dead in our sins, following the prince of the power of the air, under God’s just wrath with no way to change our situation. But God stepped in and made a way for us through Jesus Christ! 

“At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6 NIV) Now we have been delivered and set free, just as the psalmist expresses in verses 6-7. We have been given the victory in Christ not because of anything we have done or anything good in us, but simply because God is for us, and every time we gather for worship we celebrate that victory! Let’s remember today how hopeless our situation was apart from God’s intervention and celebrate the victory and freedom which Christ has won for us today!

Family Discussion Question:

• Why is it so important to understand that, if it were not for God’s intervention, we would be utterly destroyed? How does God’s being for us in such a radical way encourage us to respond to Him?

July 2, 2020

For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let’s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!

Psalm 123 is a psalm of waiting on the Lord, waiting on His mercy and deliverance. This song envisions a scenario in which the pilgrim worshippers are enduring the scorn and contempt of the proud, those who are at ease. Whether these references are meant towards the unfaithful in Israel itself or the unbelieving Gentiles is unclear, but throughout history God’s people have, more often than not, been objects of ridicule and scorn from those in power. 

This psalm is simultaneously a plea for God’s mercy to be demonstrated towards His people and a confident declaration of faith that it will. The psalmist writes in verse 2 “so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy on us” (emphasis mine). There is no question as to whether or not God is going to show mercy on His people; it is only a matter of time!

This is a great comfort and joy to all God’s people who feel the weight of injustice, oppression, ridicule and scorn against them. We can and should cry out to God for His mercy and vindication to be poured out on us as we face the opposition of the world, but as we do so we must do it with absolute confidence that He will indeed do it!

We may not be able to see the mercy of our Lord coming, and our circumstances may tempt us to believe that it won’t ever come, but the nature of faith is to believe that God will come through in spite of the supposed evidence to the contrary which surrounds us. We can have hope that God’s mercy will come, that in the end He will vindicate His people and deliver them from oppression and scorn forever!

Until that day, we wait with confident faith. 

Family Discussion Question:

• What does it mean to “wait for the Lord”? How can God use seasons of waiting on Him to grow and deepen our faith?