Come With Me 

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pjimgallagher's avatarJim Gallagher

Psalm 122:1

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’”

The writer of Hebrews exhorts us not to forsake the gathering together of the brethren (Hebrews 10:25). In other words; get to church! That is the heart of what David is singing about in this Psalm. He begins by declaring what a blessing it is to have someone invite him to the house of the Lord. Even as the king of a nation, David was still a man, and as a man, it would be wonderful to receive an invitation from someone to attend worship.

Recently, I met a woman at our church who began attending because of an invitation from someone she met at a park. While they were chatting about the kids and the weather, her new acquaintance began to talk with her about the Lord, and invited her…

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Lift Up My Eyes

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pjimgallagher's avatarJim Gallagher

Psalms 121:1-2​

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help? 

My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.”

Life is filled with trying experiences. We are often faced with difficulties we would not wish on our enemies, or with circumstances we would love to change. These experiences can shake us at the core of who we are and cause us to look outside of ourselves for assistance. We can learn a vital lesson from the Psalmist, who, in the midst of his difficulty, chose not to look out to his friends, or back to his old ways, or around at what others might be doing, but instead, he chose to look up to the only One who could truly assist him in his time of need.

When life throws things at us that we cannot handle, we need to remember…

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Everyday 

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pjimgallagher's avatarJim Gallagher

1 Chronicles 23:30

“. . . to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening; . . .”

The Levites were the tribe appointed to serve around the Tabernacle and later, the Temple. Here, we are reminded of their duties. Webster defines duty as “assigned service, obligation or required activity.” Their duty included beginning and ending each day with worship. They were to stand before the Lord, and the people, and offer thankful praise to God.

We understand the covenant has changed. We no long offer goats and bulls at an altar erected to God. The cross has completed the need for sacrifice. Although the covenant has changed, God hasn’t. He is still deserving of thankful praise. It would do us well to begin and end each day expressing worship to the Lord. Sometimes praise is difficult because we are facing a particularly trying time. What…

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The Word Of God Is Greater

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1 Chronicles 22:13
“Then you will prosper, if you take care to fulfill the statutes and judgments with which the Lord charged Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and of good courage; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

As the time of David’s departure drew near he took the time to commission his son to follow and serve the Lord. Solomon would be surrounded by things that would make his task easier but it would ultimately be his own responsibility to choose to live according to the precepts laid down in the word of God. Solomon had the gifts he received from God, the pattern and the resources his father had left behind and he was surrounded by the men who had assisted David in his walk with the Lord. Sadly, the one thing that was missing was a personal desire in Solomon to live a life that pleased the Lord. Instead his life was marked by constant and continual compromise.

There are many pitfalls that make it difficult to follow Christ. We are all constantly bombarded with temptations designed to lead us down roads that take us farther and farther from the paths of God. What we often forget is that we have also been given a roadmap in the scriptures that is designed to guide us through these difficult seasons. When we choose to take the counsel laid forth by David and give care to keep the statutes found in the pages of our Bibles we will find great success.

At the end of the day Solomon had no excuse for his constant compromise. For while the temptations may be great the word of God is greater.

Jim

 

Let’s Battle 

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1 Chronicles 20:1
“It happened in the spring of the year, at the time kings go out to battle… But David stayed at Jerusalem…”

Although the writer of Chronicles does not include it here, this is the time when David compromised, broke his own standards, violated the ways of God and sinned with Bathsheba. This is the lowest point in the life of the sweet psalmist of Israel. While there are many factors that led to his failure the text makes it clear that one of the contributing factors was being idle when he should have been busy in the battle.

The word idle simply means not to be working, busy or active. There are times in life when being idle is the exact thing we need; it was God who established the sabbath for Israel and desired them to take times of rest. Taking a break from activity to rest the body, wait on the Lord or simply enjoy the blessings of following Christ is an important part of life and our walk with the Lord. That being said, we must also realize that there are times when being idle can be dangerous. David’s problem was not that he was resting, but that he was resting when he should have been battling. He was in a season in life when the situation called for clinging to the Lord and stepping out in service, instead he chose to stay home, let his guard down and compromise his standards.

The seasons of life often determine our focus for us. If bombs are falling on the city it is not time for a family picnic. If you are in the midst of difficulty at home or work, or if you are struggling with something in your private and personal life it is not the time to sit back, but to clothe yourself in the armor of God and to battle the fiery darts of the wicked one that so often evidence themselves in thoughts that oppose the word of God.

Jim

 

Full Price

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pjimgallagher's avatarJim Gallagher

1 Chronicles 21:24

“Then King David said to Ornan, ‘No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.'”

When it comes to worship, we can learn much from King David. The longest book in the Bible is a book of praise songs, and David was its largest contributor. In addition to being a king and a prophet, he was also called the Sweet Psalmist of Israel. In our text, we find David bringing an offering to the Lord. Because of his position as king, Ornan offered him the field and the animals free of charge. Instead of accepting the gift, David made a statement that should become a foundational principle in our worship, “I will not offer that which cost me nothing.”

Worship is one of the…

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When Things Go Wrong

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pjimgallagher's avatarJim Gallagher

1 Chronicles 19:4

“Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away.”

David sent a handful of his men, as goodwill ambassadors, to Ammon. They went with a gift, as a way to offer condolences to the king for the death of his father. When they arrived, instead of being welcomed, they were brutally mistreated and embarrassed; their beards were shaved and their clothing cut to reveal their nakedness. These poor men were forced to turn around and make the long journey back to Jerusalem in shame. What should have been a time of celebrating the great opportunity they were given to further the kingdom, became a time of shame and embarrassment.

While we have probably never been sent to a palace with gifts from our president, we have had an experience where we attempted to serve…

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Ashamed? 

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pjimgallagher's avatarJim Gallagher

Psalm 119:5-6

“Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments”

The devil is crafty and a master of deception. Paul referred to him as an angel of light, because of his ability to disguise himself in order to fool the Christian.

When we are first introduced to him in the garden,  we watch as he tricks Eve into thinking the one thing that her loving God has forbidden, is of more value than all the fruit of the garden or the freedom she has been given. He has been deceiving people ever since, fooling us into thinking the ways of God are too restrictive and that sin will satisfy us. Once he has convinced us to walk outside the boundaries of God’s Word and get involved in that which is forbidden, his job is only…

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Surrounded 

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Psalms 118:12
“They surrounded me like bees; They were quenched like a fire of thorns; For in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.”

A few years ago I was part of an outreach in a remote area of northern Ghana. One afternoon a few of us went for a walk along a path that led us to the small river that skirted the village. As we weaved our way through the bush we were suddenly confronted with an odd buzzing sound. At first it was difficult to discern exactly where it was coming from, that is, until, we made our way past a large tree and the obscure noise suddenly made sense. We had inadvertently walked right beside a large bee hive. We could now see what was making all that noise. We immediately turned and began to run as fast as our legs would take us. As we ran a friend reminded us of the B-budget movie from the 70’s about a  swarm of killer African bees that attacked unsuspecting people. All we could think of was to run for a body of water to dive into and escape. 

Fortunately, we escaped unharmed and were able to laugh about our close encounter with the dangers of wild Africa. Apparently,  the psalmist had some bee experiences of his own that he reflected upon when times got tough. He speaks of his trials surrounding him like a swarm of bees. It does not take personal experience to know that this would create chaos, confusion and fatigue. While we may not all have been chased by bees, we can all speak of times when difficulties mounted up against us and made life almost unbearable and all we could think of was how to escape.  During those times it is important to remember that the mercy of God endures forever and that He wants to come to our aid and to provide us with comfort for the difficulty and ultimately deliverance from our struggles. 

If life is like a swarm of bees turning your world upside down, remember that there is a secret place of the most high where you can hide and find comfort, protection and deliverance. 

Jim 

Short But Sweet 

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pjimgallagher's avatarJim Gallagher

Psalm 117​

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!

Laud Him, all you peoples! 

For His merciful kindness is great toward us,

And the truth of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord!”

It is not always the longest, or even the most creative works, that become the most well known. I am not a poet, and cannot speak to the artistic side of things, but I doubt whether any poem is as well known as “Roses are red and violets are blue…” Sometimes, the simplicity of things is exactly what is most needed. In a songbook filled with some of the most elaborate and beautiful expressions of praise, we find a simple song, consisting of only two short verses. It is the brevity of this song that magnifies its content. We find the Psalmist emphasizing two things that make God worthy of the praise of all the nations. He states, God is kind, and His…

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