Psalm 121

In the1960’s a style of music emerged that would help define the Civil Rights movement. Freedom Songs, as they came to be called, were spirituals and hymns which encouraged people during some of the darkest times of our nation’s history. 

Do you remember the song “We Shall Overcome?" This spiritual became the unofficial anthem of the Civil Rights movement. The lyrics are easy and the tune is so simple it allows anyone to lend their voice to it. For several years it was the one song you could hear bellowed at marches, rallies, and churches. Martin Luther King began to quote parts of it in his sermons and Pete Seeger and Joan Baez each recorded versions of it. What very few people knew was where this song came from. 

In 1942, Louise Shropshire, a musician at a Baptist church in Cincinnati, Ohio wrote a song entitled “If My Jesus Wills”. The opening lyrics were "I'll overcome/I'll overcome/I'll overcome someday/If my Jesus wills". Those words, her words, were the genesis for a song that would unite and inspire national change.

There are several Psalms known as the Psalms of Ascent. These special Psalms where sung traditionally as people would travel to Jerusalem. Several times a year you were required to make sacrifices or attend religious festivals. As people would take the roads, climbing up to Jerusalem, these were some of the songs they would sing. Each Psalm was sung at different stages of the trip. Each was meant to lift the pilgrim’s spirits as they got closer and closer to the temple.

1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;

From where shall my help come?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

I read these first words, and given the state of our world, I just have to pause. I have to admit my own need of help. My own issues with trying to solve my own problems. My own doubts in God's interest in my little life. How easy it is to lose sight of God’s sovereign rule in my life?

Maybe you have asked the question “where will my help come from"? Maybe you were asking this about your marriage, your children, your finances, your job, or just life. 

The author declares to look up to the mountains. This I love. This simple reminder that there are times when all you can do is look Up. There are times when all you can do is remind yourself - “God has this”.

With this Psalm maybe find a verse or two that really speaks to your heart. Put them on sticky notes where you will see it multiple times - maybe on your bathroom mirror, car dash, or even the fridge. Each time you see it stop and sing those words of faith.

~ Pastor Jackie

Psalm 120

In 2001, I was on the pastoral team at Forest Lake Academy in Orlando, Florida as one of the chaplains and Bible teachers. One day in early 2002, during freshman Bible class, we were talking about the Biblical views of grace and forgiveness. 

That morning we spent the majority of the class wrestling with the questions of who deserves to be forgiven - how to extend grace to an enemy or just someone who hurt you - knowing or unknowingly? what does it mean to be a Christian? what does it mean to see grace in action?

Finally, after this discussion, we sat down to define the terms grace and forgiveness. Once we gave the words definitions, it was much easier to apply them to the situations we were wrestling with. 

For the student whose parents had recently divorced and was struggling with the loss, grace and forgiveness took on new life. For the student who had recently come to admit their childhood sexual abuse, grace and forgiveness took on new life. For their pastor who had recently separated from his wife, grace and forgiveness took on new life.

Last week we began our summer series on the Psalms of the Ascent. Psalms 120-134 are a collection of songs, poems, and thoughts which were recited as people would journey up to Jerusalem for various feasts. This first Psalm reminds the traveler of the true state of their heart, and more importantly, of God's invitation to be in their presence. It's also a reminder of God's willingness to show up - no matter what. 

This is the core of both grace and forgiveness; God’s willingness to show up no matter what.

God's willingness to forgive what I believe is unforgivable. 

God's willingness to love me when I can’t love myself.

Psalms 120:1

"I cried to the Lord in my trouble, and He answered me."

~ Pastor Jackie

Psalm 27:1-3

"The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me

to eat up my flesh,

my adversaries and foes,

it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,

my heart shall not fear;

though war arise against me,

yet I will be confident."

As we look at the Psalms 27:1-3, I am drawn back to last week's sermon.

After Abishai defeated the giant Ishbi-Benob, there must have been a ton of questions. 

The reason he gave for standing toe-to-toe with a living death machine is found in II Samuel 21:17 … "Then David’s men swore to him, 'You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the Lamp of Israel.'"

They called David the Light of Israel. Simply put, they saw David as too important to the nation. David was seen as the source of their identity, the source of their strength, and he was their purpose for being a nation.

David however, must have seen things a little differently. As we read Psalms 27, it appears to be a reflection of those events and David's thoughts on being called the Light of Israel. One simple question I have from this Psalm and II Samuel 21 is about the "why’s" in our lives.

Abishai stood up to a giant. Why? Because David was the light of Israel. 

David stood up to a giant. Why? Because God was the Light of his life.

Both men are victorious, but the reasons why they fight are more important than we think.

~ Pastor Jackie James

Sabbath

“On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times.”

Joshua 6:15 ESV

Sometimes the Bible quietly throws a monkey-wrench into our theology. As a Seventh-day Adventist I do not remember anyone in my tribe talking about this aspect of the story. We talk about Rahab and the spies, we talk about the Ark and the water, we talk about the wall coming down, but we do not talk about how this happens on Sabbath.

God has told His people Jericho will fall. All they have to do for the next six days is walk around it once, and on the seventh day walk around it seven times.

The problem in our theology comes here in the story. For many in my tribe they would see something missing here. What did they do on Sabbath? Where is the day of rest?

No matter how you count it, their interaction with Jericho involved either one or two Sabbath days. This causes me to ask - "Is this in contradiction with the Fourth Commandment?"

Or does it expand the Sabbath in a way we have never really considered?

At the beginning of the Exodus experience, God explains to the Israelite's what it means and looks like to be His people. They had to learn that YAWEH, the living God, was an entirely different God in every way, from the Egyptians idols and deities they had observed being worshiped in Egypt.

The Fourth Commandment instructed them that God wants a day where their routine is totally different and their focus isn’t on walking, crops, animals, and work. Sabbath is a day to focus on God and each other.

The Fourth Commandment says that God values relationships as the fuel of life.

How does all this impact the taking of Jericho?

Getting dressed and war ready for seven days was an Act of Worship. It was an Act of Worship to march and not react. It was an Act of Worship to be silent, when you know they are being yelled at and taunted. It was an Act of Worship to just show up and trust God when they didn’t see how all that marching was going to do anything.

Sabbath invites us to just show up and be a part something greater.

~ Pastor Jackie James

As we finished our sermon series on the Great Controversy, one of the points I wanted for us all to wrestle with was in Matthew 25 - the sheep and the goats. Jesus declares that these two groups are identified and divided by their deeds. These passages stand in harmony with what we read in Revelation 20 about the books being opened.

As Seventh-day Adventist's, our tradition has leaned heavily on our theological uniqueness: Three Angels Message, The Sanctuary, State of the Dead, and The Sabbath. These are our pillars and a potential crutch.

I love these pillars of our faith and how they push and pull me each day. Theology is meant to give us deep roots so that we grow into true disciples of Jesus Christ.

Paul pleads with believers to allow scripture to do its work within us. 2 Timothy chapter 3 reminds us that all scripture is God breathed. That helps me remember that just as God put life into Adam and Eve, so scripture does within us.

In these final days of earths history, or just another Monday or Thursday, I urge you to not let a day go by without God's word giving you breath.

~ Pastor Jackie James

The Great...

Matthew 13:27, 28a

The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ 

After an awesome Youth Ignite Program, we are diving back into our new sermon series on the Great Controversy. We are exploring the grand narrative of God's story, in which we have a part to play, and I wanted to share with you the Bible texts we used as the starting point of our journey so you could study them for yourself.

• Tares and the Wheat Parable (Matthew 13:27-30, 36-43)

• Creation of the World (Genesis 1 and 2)

• War in Heaven (Revelations 12:7-9)

• Pride of Satan (Isaiah 14:12-15)

• The Fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-7)

• Declaration of Satans End (Revelation 12:10-12)

Some additional texts to consider:

• Ezekiel 28:12-15

• Romans 5:12-21

• John 3:16, 17

We invite you to pray along and study along with us as we continue this journey with "The Great . . . Tribulation" this week.

–Pastor Jackie James

A Great Future

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will."—Matthew 24:42-44

Jesus takes His disciples aside and begins to share what will be the complete scope of God's plan. The question is, do they get it yet? Jesus’ return will not set up an earthly kingdom but instead will end the question of God's sovereignty and character. His return will not be something that can be predicted, but, must be planned for and anticipated. 

As Christians, we see the entire scope of the Bible as the backdrop to explain God’s love and desire for us. The story of Jesus, His incarnation, ministry, execution, resurrection, and second coming become the linchpin that holds it all together. 

In our next sermon series, “The Great . . .,” we will be looking into what the Bible teaches us about the war in Heaven, the need for the Bible, the time of trouble, end-time events, and the second coming. This past year we have seen and experienced the world change. Is this art imitating reality or is this God shaking the world awake to the reality of His love? 

We invite you to pray with us, study with us, and hope with us as we lead in our next study.

–Pastor Jackie James