O Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that You think of him?
Man is like a mere breath;
His days are like a passing shadow (Psalm 144:3-4).

David reflects on his mortality, even on the extreme brevity of his days. How truly insignificant is the life of any man. Yet, God dignifies him by thinking about him, by listening to his prayers, and by delivering him from all manner of harm. 

Exactly two years ago my daughter prayed to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior. She was just four year old. In my insignificant existence, I find nothing so stirring as thoughts of that day. Till that day I was often plagued with the thought, "What if my child does not trust in Jesus?" I praise God for her salvation! I know that it was God alone that did the saving, but He gave me the soul-stirring privilege of sharing the Gospel with my daughter and leading her to faith in Christ. 

Friends, I reflect on my nearly forty-five years of life and all that God has given me the privilege to experience. They seem to me just one blink of an eye. Who will remember it when I barely remember myself? It all seems futile as I consider my mortality, except for this thought: I am His. And my child is His too. Then, all of a sudden, the limitations and vanity of mortal life seem to burst open as God's eternal promises come into view. Death is swallowed by life, mortality by immortality, and what is passing away by what will endure beyond the ages. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts (Psalm 145:4).

The other day my four-year-old daughter told me that she wanted to go to heaven. She asked me how she could go to heaven. I told her that she had to believe in Jesus, that He died for her sins and rose again. She asked me why He had to die. I explained that God is holy and good and that sin had to be punished, and so death, even eternal death was the punishment for sin. She interrupted to say, "So we should have died because we do bad things?" I told her "Yes, but Jesus died in our place. If we believe this, we will go to heaven, you, mom and dad."

Then, she asked, "What about grandma?" [I had on another day told her that Grandma did not believe in Jesus as her Savior.] I told her grandma would not go to heaven unless she believed in Jesus. She said that she wanted grandma to go to heaven too. I encouraged her to pray for Grandma. She asked, "Why doesn't she believe in Jesus?" I told her, "I don't know, but we can pray that God will open her heart to believe." 

Then, I asked her, "Do you want to pray and tell God that you believe in Jesus?" She said, "Yes." And so she prayed after me, as I led her in a prayer to trust in Jesus as her personal Savior and Lord.

When I look into her eyes and listen to her ask, "Why doesn't grandma believe," I think this may have been what Jesus meant when He said,

Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3).

I pray that she understood enough and her faith was real enough such that she was truly saved in that moment, but I look forward to continuing this journey of faith her. We just completed Exodus 30, which would now make 80 days of unbroken quiet times together. I remember that early in Genesis it was simply me asking her questions and supplying answers, but now she is asking me questions as well. 

Friends, this is my baby step in passing on the heritage of faith from my generation to the next. I am taking her on a biblical journey from creation, the fall, the flood, and Babel to God's covenant with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. She understands how Israel was taken by God from Ur, around the Fertile Crescent, into the land of Canaan, and finally to Egypt through Joseph.

She also understands why and how Pharoah tried to suppress the growing population of Israel in Egypt and how God used Moses to deliver them out with mighty wonders. She can trace the journey of Israel out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, to Mt. Sinai, and onward to Canaan, the Promised Land.

She knows that the Ten Commandments were given on Mt. Sinai to teach people how they were to obey God. She knows the tabernacle was designed as a place for people to worship God and that Levi was the tribe chosen to lead in this worship. She also knows a lot of details in between that helps put these larger movements in their historical context.

I have also been able to show her through these biblical events the nature of human sinfulness, as well as God's absolute faithfulness to His covenant promises. She readily sees Jesus in creation, and in the burning bush, and in the tabernacle of God. When I ask her why we don't need to worship God at the tabernacle, she answers, "Because God is inside us." And so, I tell her, wherever we are, God is also there. And we can worship Him anywhere.

She has also started memorizing the Gospel of John with me. Over the past couple of weeks she has been practicing with me every day, and she has memorized the first nine verses of the first chapter. Through this she is learning how Jesus is the Word and the Light, that Jesus is God and that John bore witness to Him, and that Jesus is the source of all life.

I urge every parent to encourage your child to memorize Scripture, and not simply verses extracted from their proper context, but verses in context, so that they can clearly understand what was meant.

Friends, these are the most precious times for me with my daughter. I believe I am teaching her eternal truths, which by God's grace will bear spiritual fruit within her and help her to become a faithful woman of God. 

If you too, like me, are taking baby steps to obey God, please share with me, so that as iron sharpens iron we may sharpen one another. In this way we will not fail in our generation to declare God's truth to the next. 

Let burning coals fall down on their heads. Let them be thrown into the fire or into watery pits from which they can’t escape. (Psalm 140:10 NLT)

Friends, as you read the Bible through year after year, you will likely begin to make connections between passages and make fascinating discoveries. Consider Psalm 140:10 above. The highlighted sentance may remind you of a more familiar passage in the New Testament:

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." (Romans 12:19, 20 NIV)

This passage in Romans has been interpreted in various ways, but the predominant understanding of it is that the the phrase "heap burning coals on his head" is used metaphorically of shame and remorse rather than physical harm. It is almost an exact citation of Proverbs 25:21-22,

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21, 22 NIV)

The passage in Proverbs does not help our understanding because it merely restates what we find in Romans. However, when we compare the context of Psalms and Romans, we gain this insight. When David writes "Let burning coals fall down on their heads," he is not speaking metaphorically of remorse leading to repentance but rather of judgment by fire, for he also writes in parallel, "Let them be thrown into the fire..." 

Furthermore, when Paul writes, "In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head," we must consider his immediately preceding citation regarding God's wrath, where he cites God saying, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay." What significance would this have if the intent of "heaping burning coals on his head" refers to remorse? It is not repentance that is in view but God's judgment. Paul's instruction is to clearly delineate our role vs. God's role. Our role is to love and bless, even our enemies; however, it is God's prerogative to avenge and punish them in due time. 

Many commentators disagree about the meaning of Romans 12:19-20, and most seem to favor a metaphorical interpretation of coals as "coals of shame;" however, none cite Psalm 140:10, where David clearly has a literal understanding of coals as "coals of fire' or "coals of judgment." A basic rule of thumb in Bible interpretation is to use the clearer passages to explain the more obscure ones.

When we do this here, we understand that Paul's instruction in Romans has this meaning. Even though you want to take revenge, be kind instead, leaving room for God to avenge you. You are not holding back your anger here to win them over by making them remorseful, but in the expectation that your enemies will get their just punishment by God. And while your acts of kindness will be rewarded by God, it will draw even heavier punishment on your enemies. 

This is consistent with other passages of Scripture that teach against gloating over God's judgment on people:

Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them. (Proverbs 24:17, 18 NIV)

In the case of David, when Saul was out to kill him, David could have killed Saul a number of times and would have been justified in doing so, but he does not it. David waited for God to judge Saul. He even mourned over Saul when God eventually took his life. In doing this, Saul received his just punishment, but David was greatly blessed. 

In the Book of Revelation, the saints of God that were martyred for their faith cry out:

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" (Revelation 6:9, 10 NIV)

They are not crying out for mercy upon their enemies, nor are they asking God to make these enemies remorseful and repentant, but they are calling God to avenge them. 

In our preaching of love and kindness I think we have gone beyond the bounds of Scripture. The image of "burning coals" in Proverbs, Romans, and Psalms seems not to carry different senses but one and the same, namely, the expectation of the avenging judgment of God. 

I share this also to encourage you in your daily reading of Scripture, for by doing so you will gain insights that exceed even professional Bible commentators, preachers and teachers. The chief source of meaning is context and comparing Scripture with Scripture, and this is available to everyone, professional and layman alike, if you are willing to give the time and effort. It is certainly worth it. 

Psalm 143 hit me hard today. David prayed to God for justice to be carried out. He knew that the only God could implement the ultimate justice on earth because He is the only one righteous, omniscient, and omnipotent. David didn't ask God to give him some form of power to bring justice upon his enemies' head but instead, confessed that he's nothing but a sinner and that God is the one who sustains him among the living and his existence depends solely on his God. He was in distress to an extent that he had nowhere to turn to and might have wanted to end the suffering by committing suicide. Even though he'd been anointed as a king, his circumstance was even worse than a mere slave. He felt as if he was a prisoner without any punishable crime and no one was vindicating him. His eyes were fixed only on God. He could've easily taken the matter to his own way because he knew his suffering was not of his fault or evil. Instead of feeling entitled for avenge, He prayed and waited patiently for the morning bring him word of God's unfailing love. Being surrounded by enemies could not discourage him in his determination to follow God's guidance and instruction (verse 8 through 10). O, Lord! Let us learn David's undivided,immovable trust in You!

Friends, as you read these almost pitiable psalms of David, where he cries out to the LORD for deliverance, have you noticed that many, if not most, of these were likely written during the time of his running away from King Saul? Remember that even though David had more than one opportunity to kill Saul, he chose not to do so because he feared God. This explains the language of these psalms, where David calls on God to deal with the wicked through His might rather than by the hands of David. God is "the Lord, the strength of my salvation" (Psalm 140:7). David humbles himself before the LORD with many appeals: "Deliver me..." (Psalm 140:1), "Keep me...Preserve me..." (Psalm 140:4), "Hear the voice of my supplications" (Psalm 140:6). He appeals to the LORD in keeping with God's Name, His justice, righteousness, and mercy toward the upright poor and weak (Psalm 140:12-13).

David perserved Saul's life, even though Saul sought him harm. He avenged those that boasted of killing Saul. He mourned Saul's death. David did good to Saul, even though Saul sought to kill him. Why? It was not because David was such a nice guy. He was certainly not afraid of shedding blood, even the blood of warriors and kings. Then why? It was because David feared God, and Saul was God's anointed King of Israel.

In the New Testament, we are commanded to "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). Why? Let it not be because we want to be "nice" or because we are afraid of them. Let us love because we fear God, and God commands us to love. So let us allow God to be our Avenger, while we overcome evil with good (Romans 12:17-21). Let us focus our prayers not particularly on our own interests or the defense of our own rights but rather on God's Name and on His will.

As I think about the majority of prayers at our church and in our meetings, we have largely lost the proper focus for our prayers. We pray for the success of our business, safety in travel, rest and fun in our vacations, health for the sick, etc. And these are fine, as they fall within the purview of "in every situation...present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). But do you notice that throughout the New Testament, the prayers of the Lord Jesus, of Paul, of Peter, and the predominant instructions regarding prayer, do not center on these often self-centered wants and needs? Instead, they are very God-centered, and even when personal requests are in view, they are always in respect of God's Name and in keeping with His larger purposes. I can only surmise that the reason that our prayers are so self-centered is because we are not adequately trained or versed in the larger purposes of God, nor much concerned with the reputation of God's Name.

In Psalm 143 David asks God to "teach me" (v. 10) and "show me the way I should go." (v. 8).  We often ask God for material things or to do things for us so how much greater is asking God to show us his will and what he wants for and from us.  This is a huge change in perspective that many Christians have not consistently taken.  Not without reason.  Church tells us to "pray big" and "nothing is impossibe with God".  Therefore lots of petitions are prayed for things like a better job or financial security or a new car or healing.  Not bad things by themselves but not necessarily contributing to what God wants from us.  I am also reminded that God will not do or allow anything that does not fit God.  He is loving, holy and righteous and all that he does and allows reflects this.  He loves everything he's made (Psa. 145:9).  I believe a perspective that combines these two thoughts (praying big and God's sovereignty) yields great things for God - not necessarily for us here and now though.  Living each day with this glorification perspective as our motivation can be difficult when we want something other than what God wants but especially when we overcome this it surely makes God smile.