The cool twilight breezes made their way gently through the rugged hillside.

It grew still. The men sitting there looked down.

Nobody said anything.

It had been another day of eager and curious crowds; demanding questions and puzzled faces - stressful, exhausting - and confusing.

Though in the natural life’s shortness and our true essence as sojourners might seem like negative thoughts – they should give us hope and peace. I personally think David is bringing them up because of the comfort it was giving him.

Life in view of eternity with God makes sense. Without God in the picture – it doesn’t make sense.

David is experiencing what all of us must go through in our steps to come to God. We must see our sin and realize that we need a Savior.

Salvation needs to be priceless to us. It has to be something that we couldn’t earn on our own. This is where the value of Jesus comes in. We need Him!

The key verse is the last one – “Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” (verse 22)

Mrs. Powell asked him a thought-out question about the proceedings inside – “Well, doctor,” she asked, “what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?”

Dr. Franklin shot back – “A republic, madam – if you can keep it.”

Never in the history of the world had a nation set up a system of government that would REQUIRE the people to govern themselves. It was unheard of.

How could the founders have trusted the people of America to keep our system of government strong? Ultimately in this republic – “We the People” are tasked with being the governing authority.

Judge Gus Jones was the circuit judge in Eldorado, AR, for many years. He was also my grandfather and my father frequently reminded me of this aphorism of his. Now by equity, he did not mean the contemporary idea that if you have something I don’t, then you are oppressing me and equity demands I get it. Equity in the traditional sense means: Justice, what is right. As Noah Webster reminds us:

In practice, equity is the impartial distribution of justice, or the doing that to another which the laws of God and man, and of reason, give him right to claim. It is the treating of a person according to justice and reason. (Webster 1828)

Justice and equity are attributes of God. In His Word, He repeatedly demonstrates that justice and equity are important to righteousness.

After a week of carrying burdens for our nation – peace flooded my heart as I read these words. This feeling on contentment in His promises is exactly why I need Jesus and the communion with Him in His Word.

This is true living!

Over and over again in Psalm 37 – God speaks these powerful words to our souls – “Do not fret!”

Heavens, clouds, mountains, and the deep of the ocean are all pictures of God’s vastness and how LARGE His ability to save really is. God is completely able to “preserve man and beast.” His salvation is transformative even against the most heinous evil.

Though the world may look dark, with no hope, and impossible to overcome – here is the promise of the Lord for us TODAY -

“Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” (Psalm 35:27b)

David spends the whole of Psalm 35 detailing out all of the hardship that he was experiencing by the hand of his adversaries. They were fighting against him, pursuing him relentlessly, gathering against him, and mocking him - so why is he singing?

It is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States.

Few are more prestigious anywhere in the world.

It is sweeping in its academic presence, comprising ten scholastic facilities.

It boasts the largest academic library system in the world - 79 individual libraries, containing over 20 million items.

It has an endowment of $42 billion, the largest of any academic institution on earth.

Are you stuck in “ordinary church life” participating in a church service-based existence? Does the modern way of doing church leave you wanting something more?

Do you say to yourself, “Where is the love? Where is the community?”

Or maybe you are someone who knows in their heart they are supposed to be interacting more with the Body of Christ, but you don’t have any motivation to really get to know people or serve them the way Jesus talked about?

There is something more.

There are treasures in the body of Christ, but we have to pursue them…and when we find them in each other, we will find the fullness of Christ!

In Psalm 34, David poured out a Psalm about the happiness of those who trust in the Lord after he pretended he was crazy in front of King Abimelech and was driven away from the Philistines.

Thinking of politics and civics, I would argue that the dire situation in which we find ourselves today in the United States, stems largely from the passivity of the Church.

For almost 100 years, the Church has withdrawn passively from confronting the encroaching tyranny of the state. Church leaders invoke Romans 13 out of context and instruct their flock to “stay in their own lane”. When the Church passively fails to speak truth to power, the powerful will inevitably seize more and more power for themselves.

When the foundations of our nation and the nations of the world seem to be unraveling – God calls us, as believers in Himself, to look higher and see the eternal nation that He is building.

We see things.

We discern things.

We know something is not right.

When we watch the news and see corruption, political games, or injustice in our cities - we shudder.

Our eyes are wide open.

Uniquely clear and to the point – Psalm 32 contracts the heaviness and sorrow of sin versus the lightness and joy of God’s mercy. It is a passage of how freedom is found in confession and acknowledgement of sin and God’s true desire is for us all to be liberated from iniquity and transgressions.

There is a secret place in God that few people know. The way is narrow. It seems like it is hard – but it is really about being diligent to find Him in stillness, worship, thanksgiving, and rest.

He detested typewriters.

He wrote all his personal correspondence - and it was extensive - with a pen. He believed the noise of a typewriter interfered with the flow of creative thought.

When we feel that our life has gone down into a pit – this is not the END of our story.

In God’s heart – there is always redemption!

To understand the pain within David’s life, yet the ultimate redemption – we need to start with the end of the story first. This Psalm was written as a dedication of the house of David.

God has instituted government among men to praise good and to punish evil. When government functions properly, then the disgrace of sin is minimized and the nation which seeks to practice righteousness is exalted. While, each citizen is subject to the governing authorities, those authorities have been established by God, and exist to govern the affairs of man in submission to their delegated authority.

God has the final word. There is no one more powerful than Him. His majesty and holiness are unmatched. There is no one like Him.

When He speaks – the waters tremble. When He speaks – we should listen.