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Epiphanies In The Psalms

Insights Revealed With Startling Clarity

Have you ever had an epiphany when reading the Bible? One of those moments when something becomes so suddenly clear that it almost catches you by surprise? That happens to me occasionally, and it’s always an exciting moment for me.

Epiphanies In The Psalms

First of all, let’s define the word “epiphany.” According to dictionary.com, and epiphany is “a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.” In other words, in a normal, everyday reading of God’s Word, something can jump out at you so suddenly, and with such insight, as to catch you by complete surprise.

That happened to me a few days ago. I have been reading through C. S. Lewis’s book, Reflections On the Psalms, and I had an insight that I have never thought of before. It caught me off guard, and it has been bouncing around in my mind ever since. I’m not certain I understand it completely, and will probably have to reflect on it for some time before I do. But I feel like it is one of those nuggets of truth that I just can’t seem to let go of.

The Psalms were written before Christ obviously, and are included in the Old Testament. As such, they were a primary part of the Hebrew Scriptures. Throughout them, you can find the concept of God’s judgment all over the place. This idea is common in the New Testament as well, and pervades almost every page of Scripture to some degree. It’s a very integral theme of God’s narrative with mankind.

For the Old Testament Jewish reader, the judgment of God brings to mind the scene of a courtroom, just as it does for us today, but with one very significant difference. In our minds, we see that scene as a criminal court, and we are the ones on trial, about to experience the judgment of God. For the ancient Jew, the scene wasn’t a criminal court, it was a civil court. An ancient reader would see the courtroom scene in a very different way, with himself as the plaintiff. For us, we seek God’s mercy, and an acquittal. The ancient Jew would have sought justice, punishment for those who have wronged him, and damages paid to make it right.

Between Two Trees

Between Two Trees by Shane Wood (Abilene, Texas: Leafwood Publishers, 2019)

The Bible is a narrative that begins and ends with two trees. There is the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, and then there is the tree with leaves that heal in the book of Revelation. All of the rest — God’s entire narrative for our lives — is found between these two trees.

The problem with the first tree is that it is surrounded by the Fall and the Curse. The second tree removes the Curse and restores us to a right relationship with God. And that reconciliation happens because of the cross of Christ.

Shane Wood is a professor at Ozark Christian College, and shows us both the bad news of our sin and the Curse, and the Good News that provides our restoration. Between Two Trees promises to be full of hope and encouragement. You can find a copy for yourself at Amazon.com.

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Gardens, Weeds And Lawn Mowing

How A Broken Elbow Can Help You Grow In Your Faith

Our church took a bunch of guys on a Men’s Retreat a couple of months ago to Discovery Ministries, near Eminence, Missouri. While we were there, I slipped and fell, and cracked a bone in my elbow. The recovery has been teaching me some important lessons.

Lawn Mowing

I really don’t have a very good story about how it happened. The state park at Johnson Shut-Ins was open, but the roads in the park were closed to vehicles because of the high waters. Park staff told us we were able to walk back to the shut-ins, though, so we decided to go.

At one point, there is a marshy fen area, which was flowing over the roadway. It was mossy, and I tried to gingerly step through it, but slipped on that moss and went down. I landed on my elbow, giving it a slight fracture, and some further injures that didn’t show up until later. As it turns out, that fall caused some nerve damage that may take several months to fully heal. In the meantime, my left arm is weak, lacks precise motor functions in a couple of fingers, and is either numb or on fire with that “pins and needles” feeling.

It’s actually kind of frustrating and annoying more than anything else, because I can’t do all the things that I’m used to doing.

In the meantime, it’s spring, and we have a yard full of grass, and a garden full of vegetables… and weeds. And I can’t really do anything about it. I want to mow the yard. I want to weed the garden. I want to get outside and do those kinds of things but I can’t right now.

And yet, those things are still getting done. Several people have stepped in to help me out with those things. A couple of guys from our church have been over to help my son with the lawn care, and my wife has been maintaining the garden on her own.

I love coffee. I enjoy drinking it. I enjoy brewing it. I enjoy roasting. I have even painted with it. It’s a big part of my day, and a hobby that I greatly enjoy. But I think it is misunderstood. Coffee contains caffeine, which many people think is some all-inclusive wonder stimulant. But it’s not exactly that. It has some great properties, to be sure. But just how does it affect our body? This video gives some insight to that, and is kind of amusing as it does so.

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Memorize Scripture: Psalm 119:121-124

Hiding God’s Word In Our Hearts

This passage begins the the third stanza in a trio that focuses upon walking in God’s Word. The writer’s main thrust in this stanza however, is keeping our focus upon God intently at all times. We will look at the first half, which you can find in Psalm 119:121-124:

Psalm 119:121-124

Because of what God has done on our behalf, we need to keep our gaze focused completely upon him. Where sin is concerned, we must look to God’s Word for help and strength and hope. Where danger and spiritual threat is concerned, we must look to God’s Word for deliverance.

This is where the writer finds himself now. Those who threatened him, of whom he wrote in verses 110 and following, are oppressing him so much that his only hope can be God’s deliverance. The writer is looking to God for his help.

This is a low point for the author of this Psalm, and is perhaps indicated by the fact that this is one of the few verses in the entirety of Psalm 119 that does not contain a reference to God’s Word. The depths of despair are evident in the feeling of the psalmist, and it seems as if his focus might be distracted for the moment.

But that does not last for long. The writer identifies three reasons why God will save him. Two of those are in the latter half of the stanza, and we will examine them next week. But the first is found in verse 124, and is probably the strongest of them all.