“After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said. And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?” And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.” So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on. As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!” But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” Luke 19:28‭-‬40 NLT

We’re stating a new book of the Bible today and we’re going to prepare our hearts and minds for this book by working thru the last few chapters of its sequel (sequels in the Bible? Yep!)

This week we are going to look at the last few days of Jesus’ life. We are going walk thru this week that led to Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and glorification.

Today is Sunday and our story starts on Sunday, the one week before what we call Easter Sunday. We call this Palm Sunday.

So, Jesus and His disciples are headed to Jerusalem for the annual Passover Feast. The text tells us that while He was approching there, He sent a couple of the disciples ahead to find a specific donkey that Jesus described and to bring it back ro where He and His followers were. What happens next is crazy, yet predicted! The text says, “So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on. As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of Him. When He reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of His followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!” Wow! The crowds are actually acknowledging, even chanting and singing Jesus’ praises as the King (in their minds, the Conquering King)! NO DOUBT, they are recognizing Him as their Messiah!

This day had been predicted by the prophet Zechariah when he said, “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.” (Zechariah 9:9)

The religious leaders knew what was happening as well! They told Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” They thought it was blasphemous, but in reality, it was totally truthful and glorifying to God!

Jesus’ response was amazing too–He eludes to Isaiah 55:12 when He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”(vs 40)

Liturally ALL of creation was longing for Him to come! Now look at Romans 8:22-23, “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.” All of the chaos we see playing out in our world today is proof that we all long–groan for Him! We long to take our places in His Kingdom. We long for His Kingdom to come!

So, celebrate your own Palm Sunday today! Humble yourself and kneel before Him as King! Acknowledge His authority over your life, your state, nation & world!

Just like during the days of Jesus and the disciples, the world is crazy! Knowing the King is very calming!

Think about it!

“O Lord , our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O Lord , our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!”
Psalms 8:1‭-‬9

King David spent lots of time outside as a boy and young man. Befote he was a king or even a king’s assistant, he was a shepherd. His earliest psalms reflect nights spent under the stars. This is one of them.
“Oh Lord . . .how MAJESTIC is You name!” Your splendor is displayed above and from the heavens! This theme continues in vs 3, “when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars . . .” David in amazement asks “when I see all this beauty, what am I, a mere man among billions of humans living on earth, that You think about me?” (my trans)
David continues, “You have made man a little lower than Yourself, yet in Your own image, ‘crowned with glory and majesty’ (compared to other creatures-again, my trans). “You make him (humans) to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.” God has given us, as humans, dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:27-29, 2:15). He positioned us to thrive on the earth, not mearly survived. He’s made us stewards of all that’s around us!
David than makes a list, “sheep and oxen, beasts of the field, birds of the heavens, fish of the sea –everything around us!
David finishes where he started: “O Lord , our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth.”
Here’s the amazing thing, even among all the humans on earth, God cares specifally for you! He has a specific plan and purpose for you! His beauty and splendor surrounds us, from the little baby in vs 2, to all that David lists off in vss 2, 7 & 8. God shouts His love for us thoughout all of His creation! Are you listening?

Think about it!

“Hallelujah! How good it is to sing to our God, for praise is pleasant and lovely. The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem; He gathers Israel’s exiled people. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;.”
Psalms 147:1‭-‬3

Psalm 147 was obviously written after the Babylonian exile. It begins with a resounding “Hallelujah!” This word expresses the essence of one the words for “praise”, whose word picture denotes what happens at a football game when the whole team scores! People yelling, cheering, clapping, jumping up and down-hands in the air, whooping, high fiving . . .you get the picture, only this is a church setting where people are cheering look crazy for God! The psalm then states that its a good and pleasent thing to sing praises to God.
Then in vs. 2, the psalm shifts gears. The writer clearly begins to speak of the return from the Babylonian exhile to Jerusalem (appx 539 bc). Vs 2 states, “The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem; He gathers Israel’s exiled people.”
The next vs is my favorite of the chapter because it speaks to us as much as does to them! “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
The Israelies were a broken people. They had strayed away drom God and had sinned by embracing other gods, their country had split, their capital city was destroyed, many of them had been exhiled to their conquorer’s land and they were desperately homesick. They were brokenhearted and wounded, but God had the cure-He healed them! In fact, vs 18 of this chapter says He sent His Word and healed them!
Somedays it seems we are surrounded by struggle, sorrow and evil. But I have incredible news-no matter how far we’ve fallen, no matter how arrogant we’ve become in not wanting to ask God or anyone else for help, no matter how broken and emotioally wounded we’ve become-God STILL HEALS the broken and broken hearted, He still sends His Word to heal us! He’s only waiting on US to PERMIT HIM to do so. Reach out to Him today!

Think about it!

“By the rivers of Babylon — there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. There we hung up our lyres on the poplar trees, for our captors there asked us for songs, & our tormentors, for rejoicing: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” How can we sing the Lord ’s song on foreign soil? If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.”Psalms 137:1‭-‬5

Psalm 137 was written during the time after Israel’s Northern Kingdom, Judea had been exhiled to Babylon (605ishBC).
Appearntly, Israel’s captors would ask them to sing songs (psalms), specifically about Zion (Jerusalem). The Israelites were so homesick & depressed that they had liturally hung their harps up (on trees, vs 2). “How can we sing the Lord ’s song on foreign soil”, they would ask. They even compared forgetting Jerusalem, the capital city of their homeland to forgetting their skill or job, performed by their right hand.
Sometimes we become so overwhelmed & despressed by the circumstances we face that we forget where we came from. For some, remembering is good & comforting; for others, it may be sad & difficult, but for all, its necessary, because, where we’ve come from is a big part of who we are. At the core of who the people of Psalm 137 were was the fact that though they were presently Babylonian captives, they were still God’s people-they were always hopeful for the day they’d get to go home!

In our lives, when things get tough, whether we’ve just hit a rough patch or we’ve screwed things up ourselves, we can find hope in the fact that we too are God’s people! Jesus died on the cross to give us a new identity. He rose from the dead to defeat death & the curse of sin on our behalf. He returned to His Father in Heaven to prepare a place for us to spend eternity with Him.
Our identity should be wrapped up in the fact that we are His. He paid a huge price to make us His again, and our hope is in Him.

Don’t hang your harp on a tree in despair–instead sing a song of hope!

Think About It!

“Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain. In vain you get up early and stay up late, working hard to have enough food — yes, He gives sleep to the one He loves.” Psalms 127:1-2

Psalms 127 was written by King David’s son, King Solomon. Solomon, upon taking the throne, was told by God to ask for anything he wanted and God would give it to him. He could have asked for money, fame, fortune, women . . .whatever he wanted, but he asked for wisdom to rule God’s people with and God gave it to him. Solomon’s reputation was that he was the wisest man on earth! God was so impressed at how he answered that He also made him the richest man on earth! Among other things, he built the temple that Israel worshipped in, which was valued at $22,199,076,000, by today’s terms! That’s a lot of temple!

But in Psalms 127, Solomon lays down some of his wisdom that is still relovent for us today. He says the same thing 3 ways:
1. If the house you’re building isn’t being built by God, you’re work is in vain! In other words, we can work and build all we want, but if God’s favor is not in it, eventually, we’ll lose it!
2. The watchman on the city wall, guarding the city while it sleeps, can stay awake and watch, warn of approching danger and even fight on our behalf, but if God doesn’t protect us with His favor, they do all that in vain because without God’s favor, we will fall anyway!
3. You can work day and night–get up early to work and work until late, working, working, working to have enough, but without God’s favor, you’ll be poor anyway.

Wonderfully, Solomon than shows us HOW God wants to favor us–vs 2 ends with: “yes, He gives sleep to the one He loves.” Properly translated, that could read, “Yes, He gives such things to His loved ones while they sleep”. (HCSB translation note)

Here’s the point: you can live life your way, do everything “right” and then some, to BUILD a reputation for yourself, GUARD what you’ve built and your family by yourself and WORK, like a dog, day and night to aquire everything that you have for and by yourself, without God, but eventually lose all of it OR you can REST with God’s favor upon you and let God give you ALL of these things Himself! You’re choice!

Remember Matthew 6:19-34? Jesus said, instead of seeking to supply our needs by our own means, that if we’ll “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, than ALL THESE THINGS will be ADDED unto you”!

If God is your priority, you’ll soon realize that you’ve been His priority all along!

Think about it!

“Praise the Lord , all nations! Glorify Him, all peoples! For His faithful love to us is great; the Lord ’s faithfulness endures forever. Hallelujah!”
Psalms 117:1‭-‬2

The shortest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 117 is entitled, “A Universal Call To Praise”.
Psalm 117 is a short and simple call for everyone from every nation to praise God. It suggests that all people glorify Him. Why? The answer is found in verse 2–because God’s love for us is great- immeasurably great, in fact!

Romans 8 asks rhytorically, “who (what) can separate us from the love of God that we have in Christ Jesus? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” The answer follows: “not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!”
(Romans 8:35‭-‬39)

THAT’S ALOT OF STUFF THAT CAN’T KEEP US FROM GOD!
You never have to doubt God’s love for you–that was settled on the cross!

Vs. 2 of Psalms 117 also reminds us that “God’s faithfulness endures forever”.

The Psalm ends with the most universal word found in almost every language: “Hallelujah”, meaning, “give praise to God”!

Its amazing how so few words can say so much!

Think about it!

“Give thanks to the Lord , for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim that He has redeemed them from the hand of the foe and has gathered them from the lands — from the east and the west, from the north and the south. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He rescued them from their distress. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for all humanity. Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things and consider the Lord ’s acts of faithful love.”
Psalms 107:1‭-‬3‭, ‬6‭, ‬8‭-‬8‭, ‬43

Psalm 107 is credited to King David for authorship and is one of my personal favorite psalms. Its very cleverly written song containing sections that are “call and response” (where the worship leader sings a scripted “call” and the congregation sings back a scripted “response”) as well as what we call “strophic” song form, where a series proclaiming verses or statements are followed by a repeated chorus.

The leader would sing: “Give thanks to the Lord , for He is good;” to which the worshippers would answer, “His faithful love endures forever.”

David then encourages the redeemed to “speak- up” or “sing-out” about how God has rescued them from whoever or whatever their foes were, and how God is calling all of His people to follow Him from every corner of the earth.
David then tells his story in strophic song form.

Vss 4 & 5 tell of desert wonderers who were homeless, hungry and thirsty. A chorus common to all of David’s verses is the congregation’s response, “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble: He rescued them from their distress”. David next tells of how God led them to a city they could live in.

The congregation responds with the chorus: “Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for all humanity.”
On the song goes, each time the leader telling the story of people in desperate situations, some of no fault of their own, others totally as a consequence of their own bad choices and behavior. But in EVERY case, they CRIED out to God and He RESCUED them!

The Psalm ends with, “Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things and consider the Lord ’s acts of faithful love.”

The point of the song? God’s love is extravagant, faithful and unwavering and He cares about us, no matter what situation we find ourselves in or how we got there. If we’re willing to acknowlege our need for Him and ask for His help, He’s willing, able and even delighted to rescue us! He’s a loving Father, Who has paid the price for our sins with the very blood of Jesus, His only Son, on the cross. All we have to do is admitt we need Him and ask Him for help!

What’s holding you in what you’re facing today? Please tell me its not you, cause He’s already made a remedy for you . . . Call on Him to help you today! His promise? “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

Think about it!

“The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coasts and islands be glad. Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him and burns up His foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord — at the presence of the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His righteousness; all the peoples see His glory. For You, Lord , are the Most High over all the earth; You are exalted above all the gods.”
Psalms 97:1‭-‬6‭, ‬9

Have you ever been in the presence of someone who was truly awesome? Maybe they were someone who was a famous athelete, musician or actor. Maybe they were a hero, a great writer or someone who seemed really wise. If this person is truely awesome, they’ll be as awesome off of their “stage” as they are on it!

I have met and conversed and have even been privileged to be freinds with some truely awesome people–people who commanded your respect immediately upon encountering them-people who literally usher the Presence of God into a room when they show up!
The writer of Psalm 97, veiwed God this way. Look at the verbage:
▪”clouds and thick darkness surrond Him”,
▪”righteousness and justice are what His Soverign throne is built upon” ,
▪”consuming Fire proceeds Him”
▪”His lightning illuminates and startles the world and causes it to tremble”
▪”the mountains melt away like wax in a fire in God’s Presence”

The writer continues with “The heavens-meaning the sheer beauty of the stars in the night sky- proclaim God’s “rightness” (righteousness) so all the world can see His glory!”
AND
“For You, God are exalted above all the earth and all other Gods!”

I have to admit, I sometimes forget how awesome God is. He alone deserves our praise and reverence. He alone is worthy of our praise!

Think about it!

“He has founded his city on the holy mountain. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, city of God: “I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me— Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush — and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’ ” Indeed, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.” The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.”
Psalm 87:1‭-‬7

Israel was and is a State where nationalism and patriotism are a really BIG deal. So big, in fact that some of Israel’s worship songs were written about the capitol city of Jerusalem. How is this a matter of worship? Because the Nation of Israel was committed to remembering where they came from and doing that involved remembering all that God had rescued them from and all the miracles He did for them and favor He showed them while their nation was young and basically helpless. For example, Israel exited Egypt as people who were used to being slaves, not soldiers. They owned tools, not weapons. Yet on more than one occassion, God intervened on their behalf–sometimes fighting for them, sometimes confusing their enemy so that they turned on and destroyed themselves and sometimes pulverizing city walls while Israel simply marched around singing praise songs (ALL of these events are not only recoreded in the Bible, but validated in secular historical writings, as well as geologically)!

God favored this Nation in a very public way and they remembered that fact on purpose!

Israel’s attitude about its Nation’s founding was a matter of public praise and thanksgiving to God! It should be ours as well! It’s gratitude for the favor of God in perserving the City of Jerusalem was something the entire nation acknowledged in thanksgiving to God and our should be as well!

We as people have enjoyed God’s favor, a benifit that’s historically come from founding our laws and government upon the principals taught in the Bible and by acknowledging Who God is and how we, as a Nation are dependant upon Him. I know there are those who have tried to deny America’s origins in Christianity but an honest, objective look at our constitution, declaration of independance or even researching the prayers of our presidents will prove otherwise.

We as a Nation, should thank and worship God for who He’s created and allowed us to be! Like Israel, we should remember that to humbly remember where you came from will undoubtedly help secure where you’re going!

Think about it!

“I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me. God, Your way is holy. What god is great like God? You are the God who works wonders; You revealed Your strength among the peoples. With power You redeemed Your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah”
Psalms 77:1‭, ‬13‭-‬15

Authorship of Psslm 77 is given to Asaph and it’s entitled “Confidence In A Time Of Crisis”. As we’ve seen time and again through the book of Psalms, this psalm’s author is making a conscience choice, despite how he feels, what he sees or what seems to be true in his life, to trust God. In vs 1, he cries out to God, Whom he’s sure will hear and answer him. Why? Not because of what he sees, not because of how he feels, but based on God’s Word, His power and upon what He’s done in the past, the psalmist is CHOOSING to trust God.
Speaking to God he states to Him, “Your way is holy”–in other words, You’re not going to do an unholy thing or act in an unholy manner. He then asks God (rhetorically) “what (other) god is great like God?” “You’re the One Who works wonders, shows Your strength and redeems Your own people”. The writer is asking for evidence of how another god has acted so benevolently on the behalf of his people. He finds none.
The writer spends the rest of the psalm assuring himself that God has not changed, that He still cares for and will rescue His people, whether they deserve it or not!
Why is it that when we are experiencing the blessings of God, we find it so easy to praise Him, but when we’re experiencing hardships, sometime that are direct consequences for our own poor choices or actions, we become eager to blame God? God’s not changed! He’s Word’s not faltered! Sometimes, just like this author, we have to make the CHOICE to trust God.
In a sense, this psalmist was saying “I’m going to call upon You God to save me based on what I know You’ve done in the past, not based on what I see and how I feel right now!”
Call out to God based on Who He Is!

Think about it