Tag Archives: Character

Singing with the King (84) – Fans, Yelling and Gentleness

He trains my hands for battle,  so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great. (Psalm 18:34-35)

Kid Soccer2It’s a beautiful, warm Saturday morning, and the soccer fields are jammed with little kids swarming around a soccer ball trying to make headway—one way or another. Surrounding the field are the onlookers: parents, family, friends; yelling and jumping, waving and screaming, urging the tide to turn toward one goal or the other.

But as I watched less and listened more, I heard some voices—which I thought were enthusiastic—but were actually more angry. And other voices I thought were encouraging, were demanding. Now here are these precious little ones learning cooperation and coordination, following directions and team play. Meanwhile highly invested and motivated parents have moved from building up to tearing down in their verbal and visual salvos.soccer parents

So what does all this have to do with King David? This part of Psalm 18 has to do with David going into battle, and I’ve always found it intriguing that it was the LORD’s gentleness that made him great in battle. You see, gentleness has nothing to do with tactics. It has everything to do with character. And if you want your child to be great in the classroom or the war room, the board room or the court room, it’s their character that will make them great.

Kid SoccerWe all want our kids to be great, but that means loving them, and living out before them the character of Christ. Things like gentleness and humility are not typically sought out, but consider there two passages:

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29)

Think the same way that Christ Jesus thought:£ Christ was truly God.  But he did not try to remain equal with God. Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us. Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

Have you ever thought that were it not for Christ’s humility, you’d still be stuck in your sins?

ShhhOf course being humble and gentle like Christ is going to have more that an impact on your kids. It will change your life.

Usually it takes as much time to find a song that speaks to what I have written about, as it does to write it. But God laid this song on my heart by Steven Curtis Chapman, and it goes far beyond the point of yelling at your kids (or your wife, or your husband). What if that anger was the last thing that was said, that was seen, and then you lost them?

Whatever field your on with your child, celebrate their successes, encourage them in the failures. Be gentle. Love them with the love of Christ.

Singing with the King (65) – Hope

And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you. (Psalm 39:7)

Waiting5I had a chat with a friend at work and we were talking about the word hope. And as is often the case, our culture has diluted the meaning of the word. It now has to do with wishes, wants, and desires—things which may or may not happen. And I suppose that makes sense. If your hope is based upon the character and nature of someone (or something) other than God, then hope is little more than a crap shoot.

But when you put your hope in God, hope is much greater than a wish. Consider:

God is not like people, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever He promises, He does; He speaks, and it is done. (Numbers 23:19)

I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. (Isaiah 46:11)

Whatever He promises, speaks and purposes, it is done. And when you have that kind of consistence and trustworthiness, you then have a sure hope; a hope that does not disappoint.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.   And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;   and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

Did you see what we must hope in? Not in our circumstances, but in Him. Because we exult in Him which is eternal, we can then exult through our tribulations. Our hope is not driven by wishful thinking or possibility, for it would fail in the midst of trouble. Rather, it is driven by the love of God through the Holy Spirit, which allows us to push past the tribulation and into His glory.

God’s character ensures our hope, empowers our hope, enlivens our hope and enflames our hope. But hope is much more personal than an attribute, or trait, or motivation.

To whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope. (1 Timothy 1:1)

Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. (Titus 2:13)

So back to David’s question: And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My hope is not only in Christ alone, but Christ Himself is my hope.

May your hope be that personal.

 

Singing with the King (15) – Promises, Promises

I will sing your praises forever and will always keep my promises. (Psalm 61:8)

I PromiseAlways is a pretty tough word to keep. When was the last time you broke your promise? The punishment for such a breach is quite severe:

The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.   The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you.  (Deuteronomy 19:18-20)

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will perish. (Proverbs 19:9)

It could be weeks, months, or years; or just in the last few minutes. It could have been huge, or it could have been small. Maybe you ran out of time. Or it got too complicated. Or it was hurting too much. Or maybe, you had no intention of keeping your promise in the first place. Consider the following:

Who may stay in God’s temple or live on the holy mountain of the Lord? Only those who obey God
and do as they should. They speak the truth and don’t spread gossip; they treat others fairly and don’t say cruel things. They hate worthless people, but show respect for all  who worship the Lord.
And they keep their promises, no matter what the cost. (Psalm 15:1-3)

He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out. (Proverbs 10:9)

Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass. (Joshua 21:45)

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Whether keeping your word, or your promises, may your character reflect the Lord Jesus Christ.

Singing With the King (7) – God is Good

Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. (Psalm 73:1)

standing tallDo you have a foundational belief on which you stand? Something you can cling to regardless of what is going on around or within you? The Psalmist did—he made a declaration—and made his stand: Surely God is good to Israel.

The Hebrew word for surely has two uses: one is emphatic, the other is restrictive. So you can put an exclamation point behind the emphatic version: Surely God is good! Or because we understand Who God is and how He works, we use the restrictive version: Only God is good.

Christ Himself, the Son of God spoke to this: “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” (Luke 18:19)

The Hebrew word for good has numerous translations; the most frequent are: better, best, pleasing, and favorable. It describes excellence of quality, excellence of character, and that which is of a higher nature (a vague way of saying God…).

This verse has the only occurrence of God is good in the OT. However, the Lord is good occurs seven times:

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. (Psalm 34:8)

For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:5)

Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. (Psalm 135:3)

The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. (Psalm 145:9)

Give thanks to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good; his love endures forever. (Jeremiah 33:11)

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. (Lamentations 3:25)

The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. (Nahum 1:7)

So, how can you experience God’s goodness? In His refuge. In His love. In His faithfulness. In His mercy. In His care. And when you do, you will sing His praises—forever.