Tag: Psalms

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God and Body Image – Psalm 139:13-16

Paul prayed for the Thessalonians:

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

This prayer gives us the promise that God cares about and addresses all of us “through and through… spirit, soul & body”.

This goes back to the story of creation and the fall. God calls us and all He created good, but the serpent comes in and tells us the lie that what He made us and gave us is insufficient.

Psalm 139 tells us more of this truth. Verse 13, makes it clear that we are carefully, individually crafted. We are handmade, artisan, made-to-order, small-batch humans.

Verse 14 echoes this, putting it into the context of all God’s marvelous creation. We see the creation and know how beautiful it is, but question it when it comes to ourselves.

Verse 15 emphasizes how special we are, carefully crafted in the deepest, the most sacred place. We are made to be one of a kind and precious.

Verse 16 stretches this promise out, beyond only our bodies and out to our full lives rolling out ahead of us along the paths God has laid out.

As a people, however, we struggle mightily with what we look like. This cuts across men and women, all ages and ethnicities. Body dysmorphia, eating disorders, plastic surgery – all of these can come against the beautiful truth that our bodies were created by God. Social media has multiplied these issues exponentially even though filters, editing, AI and of course full time health & beauty regimens by models and celebrities mean that reality and image are farther away than ever.

The response to this is to seek the truths of God, over and over again. We need to hear the truth that we are His beautifully crafted creation multiple times to let it sink in. We need to let the Holy Spirit speak to us, making it clear that we are beautiful and we are loved.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, July 14, 2024

Images created with Midjourney.

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Healing Shame

When we feel hurt we often run from the church, which is traffic because that is the one place where we should feel safe. One reason we often do not is because of shame.

The word shame itself has its roots in the ancient word for “to cover” and is deeply rooted in notions of privacy. There are physical aspects to shame – humans are the only animals who blush. But beyond these intellectual understandings of shame, we want to understand what God has to say about our shame.

The past has a way of bubbling up like hives. Shame that is hidden well reemerge. We hide in at least two ways.

First, we hide from God. That is silly of course, because we cannot actually hide from God. It’s an ancient story, though – we see Adam and Eve going from feeling no shame to hiding their bodies from God and from each other. But more than its impossibility, it is also unnecessary. God forgives – Jesus himself forgave the crowd and the soldiers and the politicians who murdered him, and he will forgive you for anything you may have done.

There are two basic forms of shame. Genuine Shame is that shame we feel after having done something truly outside of morality. It begins as guilt and evolves into shame – moving from feeling bad about what we have done to feeling bad about who we are. This is where confession and repentance comes in.

There is also False Shame – shame put on us by our surroundings, shame put on us by others even when we have not done anything wrong. This is the shame felt by the abused, put on by abusers, or the shame of family expectations unmet – shame that does not stem from wrongdoing but mismatched expectations or manipulation. This shame, too, must be brought to Christ.

Going back to Genuine Shame, though, scripture gives clear direction. Psalm 32 says:

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Psalm 32:3-5

There will be times, though, where we do not know whether we are feeling genuine shame or false shame. Is this real sin, or shame brought on by society or those around us? In those times, we can fall back on the Holy Spirit. John writes:

As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in him.

1 John 2:27

We feel shame about sex, we feel shame about money, we feel shame about how we treat our children, we feel shame about lies we tell, we feel shame about drugs & alcohol, we feel shame about having been abused. If you feel shame about any of these things, know that you are not alone. Many of us have either struggled with the same sins or felt the same false shame for many of the same reasons.

In all these cases we need community, we need to share our burdens with others. You may be burned by this at some point but true healing happens in community.

If you have shame buried deep – and nearly all of us do – bring it to God and bring it to your brothers and sisters. We are the beloved of God and He wants us to bring healing to each other of all our shame, false, genuine and that which could be either.

— Sermon Notes, Alison Robison, Renew Church Lynnwood, WA, July 7, 2024

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God Your Protector – Psalm 121

Why doesn’t God take away our problems and suffering when we ask Him to? Why does God tolerate so much suffering in the world? We heard last month about God as Immanuel, this notion that God through Christ is present with us in that suffering.

But the question remains – if a chef makes terrible soup, does it make it better if he comes out of the kitchen and eats it with you?

But then, the soup isn’t always bad. In fact, often the soup is incredible – but when we are in the midst of those bouts of “bad soup” out makes us question God. Academically we can recognize that we are not in a position to question the nature and decisions of the creator of the universe. But if we are His children, as He tells us, maybe we do have a relationship where that kind of question is ok to ask. Maybe He even welcomes it.

We can all agree that a good parent does more than be present in the pain of their children, but they do what they can to take away that pain. So if God can do that, why doesn’t He always?

Psalm 121 sure makes it seem like there is more of a role for God to play. The word “Protector” or “protect” appears six times in the eight verses. The single word šāmar or “your protector” appears at the exact syllabic middle of the psalm.

The psalm begins with a question and is followed with an unambiguous answer. The psalm includes multiple “merisms” or contrasts between two opposites in order to demonstrate the totality of something. God protects by night and day; from the physical danger of the sun and the emotional danger of the moon (i.e. lunacy); in the going out of the city walls to work to the returning from the fields to our home. And not just now, but from now until eternity.

But what does this protection entail? It doesn’t mean we won’t be hurt. It never has – no ancient worshipper singing this song on the way to the temple thought they would never see any problems. So what does it mean? As a child we definitely see it as a simple protection, but as we mature and faith matures.

Losing that simpler understanding is a real loss, and we do need to work through the “tasks of grief” and reassess our relationship to what has changed for us.

So what does that protection mean? It’s not protection from pain or sadness. It means, for one, that he will not let us get lost. No matter how far we wander, he will not leave us. He knows how he will bring us home, no matter how far we go or how long it takes. This is the heart of the gospel – no matter how lost we are, we are never lost to Him.

When we are in dark seasons of loss, that is probably not what we would pick. We would want the pain gone and the loss restored, right away! But God’s protection means that the doubt and pain will not take us away from Him. We don’t need to be afraid of our feelings – we can feel our feelings and God is still there right beside us.

It also means that there is no journey to God out of grief. God is there with us in the midst of it, and the moment we need Him, He is right there.

— Sermon Notes, Denise Lindberg, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, April 21, 2024

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The Lit Way – Psalm 119:129-136

Like a moth to a flame
Burned by the fire
My love is blind
Can’t you see my desire
That’s the way love goes

The great poet & philosopher Janet Jackson sang these words, bringing to mind the bug zappers that lure in the moths and other insects with a bright shining light, then zap them into ash. The light and glitz of the Superbowl today also serves as a temptation and a lure for darker things, from human trafficking to gambling to exploitation.

But Jesus said that He is the true light, and here in Psalm 119, the psalmist says “the unfolding of your words gives light”. John tells us that Christ Himself is the Word made flesh, so we can understand this at both the commands, precepts and law (all terms used in the passage) and the living, breathing Word that is Christ.

The physical imagery is stark in this passage, as the psalmist pants for God’s word like a ravenous beast slavers over food. Streams of tears flow from his eyes because of the sin and darkness of the world.

God’s word is the embodiment of God’s truth, and the light of God is a picture of that truth and love. Echoing the Priestly Blessing, the psalmist asks that God’s face shines on him. This is the light that outshines the bug zappers of the world, the Lit Way that guides us in the paths God has set out for us.

And when we follow that way, when we consume that food, when we bask in that light, we are changed. And when we do all this in community as a church we get that light beautifully refracted through the diversity of all of us together, giving new understanding and new perspectives, molding us and changing our desires. We aren’t to kill our desires as other philosophies charge, but rather let our desires be molded by God and His servants around us, so that we seek the light that gives life, and not the flame that burns.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, February 12, 2023

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The Wonder of the Torah – Psalm 119:17-20

Eugene Peterson who created The Message paraphrase version of the Bible also wrote a book called Eat This Book, referencing John’s actions in Revelation 10 when he eats the scroll an angel gives him. The argument is that we are often too analytical and systematic about our study of scripture, when we should be consuming it like food. “He put away his notebook and pencil. He picked up his knife and fork. He ate the book.”

We should be consuming scripture for sustenance, sucking the marrow out of it, absorbing all the bitterness) nutrients and tasting every nuance. We should be chewing the cud of scripture!

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

That’s what the psalmist expresses here, deeply desiring the instruction and laws of God. This is not natural! We typically react against rules and constraint, but the psalmist sees wonder in the Torah of God – not only the words, but the living ethos of life with God.

We see this attitude also in Psalm 1:

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

We know we should seek God’s word in this way, but often this is a struggle for us.

It is notable that the psalmist calls himself a stranger or immigrant in the land, out of place, unrooted, in a transitional state. Where do our roots come from, then? This is what drives the deep desire for God’s commandments our dependence on God’s word like a tree depends on the streams of water.

Let us feel that need, that wonder deeply into our bones. Let us consume the scripture not as a textbook or instruction manual but as the transformational word of God.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, November 13, 2022

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Truat the Shepherd’s Goodness – Psalm 23

As noted previously, this is probably the most well-known psalm – we may associate it with death and funerals, where it is used frequently. But psalm 23 is for the living.

The psalm walks us through a whole variety of ways God’s goodness is applied to us – guidance, comfort, protection, presence and more. And these are applied to us corporately, but also to each of us individually.

The shepherd is an excellent metaphor for guidance, protection, and there is no better metaphor for need than a sheep. Sheep are dumb and helpless. But as the psalm state up front, the sheep lacks for nothing when cared for by a good shepherd.

The shepherd knows where the green pastures are in all seasons, where the brooks and ponds are. These still waters are not just a source of refreshment but a place of restoration, where rest can be had, wounds can be cleaned and solved) stillness can be found in the midst of chaos.

In verse three, we can see guidance. God leads us, and never takes a dubious shortcut with our life. He doesn’t take us anywhere on a hunch, and never gets tired, distracted or misled. He will never sacrifice our good for His glory. In fact, the glory of His name’s sake is directly tied to how He leads His sheep. Your welfare is directly connected to the glory of God.

It does not always feel that way. But David acknowledges this – we still see the Shepherd’s goodness in dangerous places. In this next section, starting with verse 4, it changes from third to second person as David speaks directly to the Lord: “you are with me.”

Verses 1-3 speak broadly of the Shepherd’s care. Verse 4 addresses what it means when he leads us down a path that is treacherous, through the Valley of Death. What David has in mind here is not a broad green basket between two hills or mountains, but rather a wadi, a common feature in the middle east, a deep ravine created by seasonal rains. The sides are steep, the terrain is treacherous and the crags provide lairs for predators. But this is not a story of a sheep wandering off into dangerous places. Rather, it is the Shepherd who leads the sheep there – sometimes, the “right paths” include the valley of the shadow of death.

David does not say “I will fear no evil because I understand where you are going” but rather because “you are with me.”

This section also introduces the tools of the shepherd, the rod and staff used for both protection and guidance. We can trust in the protection of the shepherd.

At this point, the imagery changes from sheep to people – guests at a banquet, with tables loaded with food and cups overflowing with wine. The imagery of dangers also changes, now addressing enemies directly. To David, these would have been both outside enemies and those within his own court. To us, those who oppose the gospel, those who threaten us personally. David leaves this open, but Paul points us to our ultimate enemies, the “powers and principalities” of the spiritual realm. Regardless, we can stand in their presence because we are within the House of God.

In fact, it is not the enemies that pursue us, but rather the mercies of God, which pursues us like an army, bringing us into the sheepfold, the final home, the place we were made for. We will dwell there, with Him forever. Life is short, but our time in His house is not.

Are we trusting this best of shepherds? Are we being led astray by other voices? In the midst of everything we are going through, let us trust the Shepherd.

– Sermon Notes, Sean Harrelson, Seed Church, Lynnwood WA, September 26, 2021

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Unity – Psalm 133

This is a short but good psalm describing the blessings of unity. It’s ultimately two verses sandwiching two metaphors.

The overall message is that it is good for people to live in unity, and God will bless that unity even into eternity.

The first metaphor is that of Aaron and the Aaronic priests being consecrated with oil, a symbol of the relationship that God has created with His people.

The second metaphor is that of the dew on Mount Hermon, the source of the waters that give life to the whole realm of Israel – the same dew falls on God’s holy mountain in Jerusalem, where the temple is representing the true life given from God, ultimately by Christ.

Christ Himself also calls for unity, praying for it for his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, in John 17: “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”

Paul writes to the Ephesians about unity as well, giving instructions on how to promote unity – humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love.

What is this unity? It’s not the unity of affinity, around hobbies or interests. It’s not even the unity of theology, where some items are interesting but unimportant, some things are important but not essential. There are unifying doctrines that we do all need to agree on, and those are points of unity – the trinity, the sacrifice of Christ and the truth of the Gospel.

When we disagree with each other, we should take the commands Paul gives in Ephesians around gentleness and love. We can also look to what he writes in Romans 14 specifically about opinions. Do not quarrel, and recognize that those who are doing things differently than you would prefer are doing so because they see that as the best way to please God. We aren’t to stand in judgement on them, but rather to trust God to correct.

If we don’t do this, we can easily slide into the mistrust of our brothers’ and sisters’ motives and even relationship with God. Instead, we need to interact with each other in love – as Paul writes in Romans 12, we are to love each other and “outdo over another in showing honor.”

Our policy in matters of opinion in the church must be rooted in love. We need help with this because we are often incapable of seeing our own perspectives in the proper light. There’s a simple test – does it build up the church, or does it tear it down?

-Sermon Notes, Bart Hodgson, Seed Church, Lynnwood WA, August 9, 2021

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The Good Shepherd – Psalm 23

This is probably the most beloved of all Psalms, bringing comfort to so many in times of fear and difficulty. Henry Beecher wrote of it,

The twenty-third Psalm is the nightingale of the Psalms. It has charmed more griefs to rest than all the philosophy of the world. It has remanded to their dungeon more felon thoughts, more black doubts, more thieving sorrows, than there are sands on the sea-shore.

Henry Beecher

The first line opens the metaphor of God as shepherd and the writer, David, as a sheep. As king, David could have seen himself as a lion or an eagle, but instead he lands on the simplicity and vulnerability of a sheep, and compares the King of Creation to a blue-collar shepherd.

This metaphor sees its fulfillment in Christ, who calls himself the Good Shepherd. The catacombs where the early church met in secret are littered with images of Jesus as the good shepherd.

The picture painted here is of God as provider, echoing the promises of God to Israel as they wandered in the desert, keeping them safe often without them knowing. How often do we receive these material blessings without even realizing it? The illnesses we do not get, the car accidents we do not have.

But more than that, even in the midst of illness, injury and difficulties, God Himself is our portion, he is our sufficiency.

Aristotle provides the broad ancient view of sheep: “The sheep is said to be naturally dull and stupid. Of all quadrupeds it is the most foolish: it will saunter away to lonely places with no object in view; oftentimes in stormy weather it will stray from shelter; if it be overtaken by a snowstorm, it will stand still unless the shepherd sets it in motion; it will stay behind and perish unless the shepherd brings up the rams; it will then follow home.”

All that to say, the sheep need the shepherd. Isaiah 53:6 says “We all like sheep have gone astray.” We need to be brought to the still waters and the pasture. We see a picture of this in how David treats Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan who had beg crippled. David, if he had been like other kings, would have had him killed. But instead, he brings him out of the town of Lo-Debar, which means “no pasture,” to eat at the table of the king.

Then verse 3 echoes what we saw in psalm 85:13 – “Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way.” It’s not the God carries us, per the Footprints poem, but he makes our way forward in righteousness plain.”

Then in verse 4 the psalm shifts – from speaking about God to speaking to Him directly. It does so at the same time as another shift, from green pastures and blue waters to darkness and danger – where else do we turn when in fear?

It refers to the staff and rod used by shepherds. The staff, broadly, is a support, something to lean on. The rod can mean the same thing, but it can also mean branch or tribe. There may be a connection here between the branch and tribe six Israel with whom God made His covenant.

Then the metaphor shifts from us being sheep to us being people at his table – as Jesus says, “I have called you friends.” Our ultimate destiny is not as sheep, but as guests of the king of the universe, and we will dwell in His house forever. Spurgeon writes, “While I am here, I will be a child at home with my God. The whole world shall be his house to me; and, when I ascend into the upper chamber, I shall not change my company, nor even change the house. I shall only be in the upper story forever.”

Is Christ your shepherd? Do you hear His voice? He loves you and is calling you to join his flock and to be His friend in His house forever.

-Sermon Notes, Bart Hodgson, Seed Church, Lynnwood WA, August 1, 2021

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A Prayer for Revival – Psalm 85

This Psalm is a heart cry for revival, possibly written as the remnant of Israel return from captivity. It may come earlier, but either way it is a call for revival among God’s people.

Revival has come to mean for many a planned and scheduled event focused on conversion or rededication. But in reality, it is a movement of God in the hearts of His people.

In the psalm, the word “restore” or, maybe more accurately, “turn” in verse 4, point us to the notion of revival, as does “revive” in verse 6.

It opens with a prayer for the conviction of sin, a development of awareness of our thoughts and words and actions that are in opposition to the desires of God.

Next, the Psalmist pleads for God’s salvation, ultimately for God Himself to turn us from that sin. And he does so with a fear of the Lord, a turning from all the other things that spark fear in our hearts and rather letting all that anxiety be swallowed up by the awe of God and his power, an awe that is also deeply embedded in His steadfast love.

That intersection of God’s attributes is seen clearly in verse 10, where love and faithfulness, peace and holiness meet. This intersection is exactly what drove Christ to the cross, the ultimate fulfillment of the truth the psalmist saw centuries before.

And the result of that intersection is revival, as faithfulness springs up and righteousness looks down. It is God’s goodness that brings this about, with all the blessings that our entails.

– Sermon Notes, Bart Hodgson, Seed Church, Lynnwood WA, July 25, 2021

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The Righteous vs. The Wicked – Psalm 37

This is an imprecatory Psalm, seeking retribution on the wicked. This presents a quandary, because Christ calls us to love our enemies. But there are two things to consider – first, the New Testament has plenty of imprecatory pieces as well, but perhaps more importantly, there is a difference between seeking justice on the wicked and seeking our own personal retribution. We, like God, should desire all people to be saved – but we can also seek and desire evil to be punished and justice to be done.

The psalm is a contrast between the righteous and the wicked, in particular when it seems like the wicked are prospering and the righteous are not. How do we know which side is this we are on? As Christians, we know that our righteousness ultimately comes from Christ – we have been given the righteousness of Christ Himself. We seek to live out lives of righteousness to claim the name we have already been given.

This Psalm provides many imperatives to show us what that life of righteousness looks like. “Fret not,” “be not envious,” “trust in God,” “befriend faithfulness,” “delight yourself in the Lord.”

Much of this is about your thought life – where does your mind sit? Does it sit on worry and envy? Or does it dwell on the Lord and the trust that we can have in Him? Do we delight in God like a child delights in the things that bring them joy?

Rather than being overwhelmed by evil around you, or rushing out to just do something about it under your own strength, we’re called here to rest and wait. To do good, certainly (verse 3), but without anger and wrath (verse 8).

Verses 10-26 dig deeper into the contrast between what God has for the righteous versus the wicked. There’s an emphasis on what is coming, not always on what is right now. The section starts with an emphasis on the wicked but shifts to the righteous, noting that even when the righteous fall, God holds their hand like a parent holds up a child.

The next sections start again with imperatives: first, turn from evil and do good. Then, wait for the Lord and keep His way. God’s timing is not our time, but His justice is just. Finally, “mark the blameless and behold the upright.” They are the ones who have the future, even if their present seems filled with persecution.

– Sermon Notes, Bart Hodgson, Seed Church, Lynnwood WA, July 18, 2021