The Winning Game

1 John 5:4-5

          Have you ever entered a contest knowing in advance that you were going to come out on top, that you were going to be victorious? Most of us don’t have the chance to be in a sporting event and know in advance that, not matter what it looks like at the moment, we are going to win. We go onto the field and face out opponents and size them up. We know their record and their team’s strengths and weaknesses. Our coaches have given us plays and strategies during the week to help us overcome any disadvantages. But in the end, we don’t know that we will win. Even the better team doesn’t know. They might be pretty confident, but they still have to get out there and work every play to victory.

          I wasn’t in sports growing up. Instead, I was in the band, and in our school, you couldn’t be in band and in sports. The band took too much time and effort. We had a world-class band, literally. So early mornings and after school were full of rehearsals. In fact, we started about four weeks before the school started in the Fall. We began rehearsing.

          So when we entered a competition, we knew we were the best. And we came out on top. But that didn’t mean we didn’t have to get out there on the field and play. Every step and turn had to be just right. Every note played had to be in tune, on time, and blended. The flags had to spin at just the right speed. They had to be caught when thrown. The music had to be perfectly timed with the various formations that we marched on the field to maximize the effect. Everything had to be synchronized. If a line wasn’t straight, perfectly straight, then points were deducted. And if point were deducted, we could lose.

          We as Jesus-followers are assured of victory. We win in the end. There is no doubt about who will be wearing the victory crowns. We will! But we still have to get out there in life and live the winning strategy. We must make every move according to His plan. His commands keep us exactly where we need to be to keep His coordinated strategy moving forward. We choose to be part of His team and we choose to follow His plan. If we are part of the team, we must follow the plan.

          That is how we know His commands are not a burden. They bring us victory. They are the path to winning the fight. He knows us. He knows our enemy. He knows the challenges ahead. He knows the battles that will come ten years from now and what character must be woven into us in order for us to survive and come out victorious in Him.

          You see, it is our faith in Him that changes us. His power is at work in our earthly bodies. He changes us as we yield to His plan. We will overcome. We are on the winning team.

The Nine’s

Psalm 9, 39, 69, 99, 129

When God seems to be judging our enemies, it can produce relief. I hear the beginnings of relief in Psalm 9. In verse 3, the enemies turn back, a very good sign in battle. The psalmist says they are destroyed and their name has been removed from future history (v5). And then he says that even their memory has disappeared (v6). I think we could learn a good lesson from this. Sometimes we have to let the memory of the past just die. And I think worship and time in the LORD’s presence can help (vv8-10).

There is a time for keeping silent, and a time to speak (Psalm 39). We need to know when it is the right time to let it out (v2). If we don’t let it out, it can eat us up inside (v2b-3). And telling it to the LORD is the right thing to do. We need to remember how short this life is (v5). We need to not place our hopes in this life (v6), but in the LORD (v7).  Somehow he knows that his current distress is due to how own sin. He is not complaining about the discipline, but confesses and prays for reconciliation and relief.

The pictures that the writer paints in Psalm 69 accurately capture the feeling of someone overcome by life. We would call it depression. The feeling of being overwhelmed by life’s events (v1-2), of having no one who listens and helps (v3), and of feeling attacked by everyone (v4) and alone (vv8 & 11-12) are very common depression feelings. These feelings bubble up repeatedly in this psalm. He cries out to the LORD for salvation and protection (v29), for ultimately, it is the LORD who can reach him. He worships knowing that this is what the LORD really wants and it seems to renew his spirits.

In Psalm 99 the image of the earth being the footstool of the LORD is explored in a song of worship and remembrance. There are two different angles at which the writer sees this image: past and present. He looks back to a time when the LORD’s presence there was demonstrated with a physical display of the pillar of cloud and fire. People experienced His presence powerfully. There could be no doubt about His power and authority at that moment. Then the writer draws upon that image and calls his current generation, and our generation, to worship this Almighty God.

Psalm 129 captures the sentiment of a people in captivity. They have kept their spirits up by recognizing the LORD’s deliverance. They have hope in the middle of a situation that could bring despair, because they have the promise of God. Notice the repeat at the beginning of the psalm. It seems as though the worship leader would say verse one and then the congregation would join in. Worship is a corporate activity. It can be done in solitude, but when we worship with others there is a power that can be felt. Sometimes, often in fact, I need to feel my faith. How about you?