On the Psalms of Ascents and Holy Week

One of my favorite books of all time is my well-worn copy of Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. He depicts the journey of the Jewish Pilgrim–he even suggests families traveling together–to the three religious or “pilgrim” feasts in Jerusalem (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles). Psalms 120-134 are known as the Songs of Ascents. Because Jerusalem is almost 2500 feet above sea level, much of the journey was “going up.”  Ultimately, the pilgrims physically ascended Mount Zion to Jerusalem and finally to the Temple to worship. 

The Pilgrim begins his journey far from God, far from Jerusalem, far from the Temple. Psalm 120 is a lament, a cry of distress. He feels distant from his Creator, and he cries in distress. Psalms 121–my favorite–causes me to imagine a father instructing his children as (in Peterson’s description), they look to the hills where pagan sacrifices are being offered and rhetorically asks where his family’s help comes from. He answers his own question (perhaps for the benefit of his children) and then speaks specifically about God’s protection. In Psalm 122, he looks at a different hill–Mt. Zion–and declares his trust and hope. The next three read like a prayer journal: Psalm 123 is a prayer for mercy, Psalm 124 is thanksgiving for deliverance (help) and 125 is adoration, affirmation that God provides, protects, and blesses. 

As the pilgrim gets closer the joy increases: I can hear him shout of the great things Yahweh has done (126) and in Psalm 127, the destination seems to be in sight as the family arrives for worship. It is about the Temple and is authored by Solomon who built it. The poetry turns from the Temple to the home in Psalm 128–perhaps the dad is overwhelmed with gratitude that his family is there for worship and he expresses joy for what we call discipleship.

Psalms 129 and 130  back away to a more global plea that God would help (129) and redeem and restore Israel (130)–maybe reminding me to continue to pray for our nation and for the nations. Psalm 130 is one of the seven major penitential psalms.

Psalm 131 is a prayer of humility, trust and childlike surrender. The father models for his children that he is resting in God with a soul at peace, even as they journey on. Psalms 132 expresses trust in God’s plan for His people (and for this family?)  and 133 makes me think of seeing other pilgrim families as they all arrive at the Temple to worship. Psalm 134 closes the collection with a call to worship and an expression of gratitude for those who serve. 

Holy Week is our pilgrimage. We pray that families are on a spiritual journey to worship on Easter. Palm Sunday speaks of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the fickle affections of the crowds (and us).  Maundy Thursday recalls the meal Jesus had with His disciples as He tried to prepare them for a new paradigm of salvation–one that involved His death, burial, resurrection and return.  Good Friday is a sobering reminder of the extent of the suffering–the price for our sins. Easter–resurrection day–is like the families have arrived to celebrate that the story didn’t end with a trial or torture or a tomb, but with the glorious message that our crucified Savior has risen indeed. Let’s put on our best, get the kids in the car and journey to church on Sunday to “lift up our hands to the Sanctuary and bless the Lord.” (134:2). 

On Raising Up a Joshua

Last Sunday in church, I preached my third-to-last Sunday as full time pastor of Dunwoody Baptist Church. In the church was my mentor of half a century. Dennis Rogers identified something in me when I was in high school and challenged me to develop it. In high school, I preached my first sermon. In high school, I served on a pastor search committee. He allowed me to volunteer with students when I was home from college on breaks or summers that I came home. We met at a Mexican restaurant in Stone Mountain every week. He challenged me to make a difference in college. Dennis took me (literally, in the car) to New Orleans to meet professors and apply to seminary. And I was not the only “Joshua” that Dennis raised up.

In Gen 15, Abraham is promised that his descendants will inherit the promised land. This promise is fulfilled not by Moses, but by his protégé, Joshua son of Nun from the tribe of Ephraim. Joshua shows up in one of my favorite (and quirky) episodes in Exodus 17 where Joshua is appointed as field commander of the army of Israel when the Amalekites attack them. The quirky part is that Moses stood on a hill with his arms supported by his brother and his (maybe) brother-in-law while Joshua won the battle.

From the beginning of their relationship, Moses let Joshua try things, lead things, learn things. Moses encouraged and nurtured him to follow God’ teachings, accomplish God’s plans, and join him (in protecting the people from themselves and moving them towards the promised land. Moses corrected  Joshua twice applying wisdom and knowledge. Near the end of Moses’ story, God tells Moses that it is time for him to die, and that Joshua, “a man with spirit” would be his successor. 

Although he is to share the power with the high priest Eleazar, Joshua will be the one to lead the Israelites into Canaan and conquer the land. Joshua’s story ends with his death and burial, some eight decades later (Joshua  24:29-30). Joshua succeeded in leading Israel into the Promised Land, but he didn’t raise up a Joshua to follow him.  Within a very short period of time, lacking in leadership and in a culture that was hostile to the ways of Yahweh, “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” 

I wish the story had ended differently. I wish Joshua would have identified, trained, encouraged, poured into a successor like Dennis poured into me. As I approach retirement, I pray that I have raised up a team who will lead DBC well, but will also lead well wherever else they serve in the future. I am also convicted that I have a little Joshua to raise up in Texas.  I pray that God will grant me the wisdom and opportunity to pour into my grandson as he begins to understand the ways of God and the ways of the world. He has a great mom, a great community, an incredibly sharp mind and a tender heart.  

May we all have the courage to raise up a Joshua.

On the Holy Spirit and DBC

 A Prayer for DBC

God as we prepare to take communion, we have been reminded that Your Spirit in us produces character traits that make us more like Jesus. Many of us learned the Fruit of the Spirit as a list, a rhyme, or a children’s song. But You meant it to be so much more. You meant it to be a description in terms a human could put on paper of the richness You intend to invest in us. You meant it to be a gold standard of good qualities that You produce to compare with a list of bad decisions we make on our own. 

Thank you that You care for us. You have placed us a little lower than the angels, have filled us with Your power and Your glory. You put us here to care for Your creation and to establish relationships with other people and to work productively for the good of our homes, church, community and world. You have shown Yourself in amazing ways here at DBC and we thank You. You are present among us still in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Thank you that You comfort, encourage and guide us. Thank You–painfully–that You rebuke, admonish, and correct us. 

God forgive me when I–when we--reduce this mighty work of Your Spirit to a list of self-improvement goals. I bow before you in worship and thanks that You choose to work this way through us. As the Spirit works in us, we want to see growth in all these areas. Love AND joy AND peace AND patience AND kindness AND goodness AND faithfulness AND gentleness AND self-control. 

You wish for us to love as You loved us, sacrificially and without regard to a person’s appearance or background. You love us so much that You sent Jesus. You love us even though we can’t stop making bad choices. You love us yesterday, today, and forever. May we be filled with such love that seems to fertilize all the other fruit of Your Spirit.

You wish to fill us with joy, the inner contentment that does not depend on circumstance, but allows us to see some things as You see them. You showed such joy in your laughter with Your followers and with those whom You healed. You desire for us a joy that is not dependent on circumstance but on the presence of Your Spirit in us, giving us a quiet confidence that You are working in us for our good and Your glory. 

You wish for us to have peace, a deep inner tranquility that is beyond the comprehension of many around us. You demonstrated such peace, even as you were misunderstood, persecuted, and crucified because You had such confidence in the sovereign plan of the Father.

You want us to have patience in other people, in ourselves, in the timetable of Your plans for us and for our church. You modeled such patience with children, with persons with challenges, and with us. May we be patient when we are cut off in traffic, when we are misunderstood at work, and when we think You should do this or that in our world. Jesus, come quickly, but let us have patience and understanding as You delay in order to invite more people into Your Kingdom. 

You desire for to be kind as You were kind and to embrace that it is Your kindness that led us to repentance. Your kindness drew unlikely skeptics to Yourself, some who eventually believed and some who did not. Your kindness tolerated people who did not, do not and will not allow Your love to break through to have one more chance, two more chances, hundreds more chances to repent from sin and follow You in obedience, worship, and community.

You are a good God and Your Son is the Good Shepherd and goodness and generosity is what You desire for us. We pray to be filled with it. We pray that as we are filled, we would reflect Your goodness as we relate to those around us. 

You have been faithful through the ages and you are faithful now. You will be faithful to complete the good work You began in us.  We pray for that faithfulness to be in us as we relate to You and to the people around us–both those whom we love and those whom we are learning to love.

You wish for us to have the controlled strength that is called gentleness, so that we can face adversity and challenge even as our Savior faced the trials that led to His earthly death. You said we were blessed if we were meek, that we would inherit the earth. You want to fill us with humility and gentleness, not thirsting for power, but for righteousness and that as strange as it seems, we would see You at work. 

Perhaps hardest to pray honestly that we would receive is self-control. We enjoy our temper tantrums, but we read of the self-control that You showed as Satan tempted You in the wilderness. You remained on the cross because it was the Father’s plan. You did not lose Your temper with the slowness of Your followers then and now to understand what You came to earth to do. You put up with our questions and our self-righteousness and our reluctance to do the next right thing. May we be self-controlled because Your Sprit controls us, and to understand that as we give up control, we yield to Your control. 

Father, we know that the ways of the world will always present us with tempting, and sometimes very convincing, counterfeits to this Fruit of Your Spirit. We know in our heads that this fake fruit will leave us empty. Fill us with each of these fruits. Cultivate them, let them build on one another. Let them ripen to the point that they bring love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control to a world that desperately needs them. May they produce in us a deeper love for Your kingdom and for the souls that You love so deeply. 

We want to make a difference in our families, influence our communities, and provide hope for our world. We know that as You fill us with these character qualities we will become better people, but better is such a small goal when what You desire is that we become like Your Son. May we be passionately more like Jesus. May we empty ourselves so You can fill us with the Fruit of the Spirit so that we can be instruments of change. May we be filled with the Spirit so that our words to “Love God, Love People, Make Disciples, and Make a Difference” can be much more than words. May we see Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. May Your will be done.

May we be wise with our time, our talents, our resources. May we welcome our new pastor because he is the one whom You sent to lead us and teach us. May we see greater things because You promised that we would. May persons who are trying to decide what to do with You jump in with both feet, acknowledging You as Lord and Savior. May our baptistery be filled, our ego be emptied and our worship be pleasing to You. As we take this Holy Communion, may it remind us of the ultimate demonstration of love that You expressed by sending Your only Son to provide a forgiveness for our sins so that we can even have this conversation with You. 

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

Amen