You Are My Son

Meditations on the Psalms: Kevin Youngblood

I will tell of the decree:

The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;

today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

and the ends of the earth your possession.

Nestled in the second psalm of the Psalter is a memory, a recitation that the Davidic king repeats to himself in the midst of raging nations and quarrelsome kings who are rattling their sabers and breathing out threats. Both in the eyes of these kings and in his own eyes the Davidic king seems small, far from equal to the forces that oppose him. Who is he to confront these super powers? His kingdom is a backwater, a mere midget among giants on the world stage. As the king of Assyria once said to Hezekiah, “I’ll give you 2,000 horses if you can even find enough riders to put on their backs, just to make it a fair fight!” (Isa 36:8; 2 Kgs 18:23).

Intimidated and daunted by what he’s up against, the Davidic king takes a deep breath with the threats and taunts still ringing in his ears and he closes his eyes and he repeats to himself the words that YHWH spoke to him on the day of his coronation: “You are my son. Today, I have become your father. Just ask and the nations will become your inheritance, the very ends of the earth your birthright.”


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Psalm 37

Meditations on the Psalms: Kevin Youngblood

My reading of Psalm 37 this morning revealed to me a connection I had never made before. The psalmist makes two references to those who will inherit the land. The first in verse 9 refers to these people as “those who wait on/hope in the LORD.” The second in verse 11 refers to them as “the afflicted/meek/gentle.” Both of these statements occur in the larger context of warnings not to fret over the deeds of the wicked, not to let them get to you and disturb your peace. In other words, do not let the wicked provoke you to wickedness. Do not let them trigger you to thoughtless sinful reflexes, angry knee-jerk reactions.

What I had never considered before was the connection between “waiting on the LORD” and meekness, gentleness, tolerating a certain amount of persecution for the sake of a greater goal or cause. It would appear that as we wait on the LORD the Spirit cultivates in us our savior’s own gentleness. Of course, these verses are famously recalled in the third beatitude of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount where, arguably, the extent of the inheritance expands to encompass the whole world – the new creation. Wait on the LORD long enough and the world itself becomes yours! Exercise increasing gentleness and the next thing you know you’ve “conquered” the world! Meditating on this psalm reminded me this morning of just how counter-intuitive the psalms are. They reveal to what a great extent the world has messed with my head and challenge me to think differently, to declare my independence from this present age’s conventional wisdom.

Father,

Thank you for reserving the eschatological inheritance for those who in gentleness wait for your vindication and intervention. Teach me not to fret nor to allow my actions to be dictated by the perverse provocations of the wicked. Increase my immunity to such provocations. May they lose their impact on me as I pursue your holiness and love. Through your psalms continue to detoxify my mind of polluted thoughts. Sober me up with the psalms that I may no longer be “drunk with wine” but rather be filled with the Holy Spirit whose fruit is gentleness and patience.

Amen



Psalm 1 and 2

Meditations on the Psalms: Kevin Youngblood
 

but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

I will tell of the decree:

The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;

today I have begotten you.
 

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

and the ends of the earth your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron

and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Psalm 1 & 2 stand in a parallel relationship with each other such that the wicked in Psalm 1 correspond to the conspiratorial kings of the earth in Psalm 2 and the righteous one of Psalm 1 corresponds to the messiah of Psalm 2. In other words, parallelism is not just a line-level feature relating the smallest units of poetry together, it is also a “psalm-level” feature pairing certain (by no means all) adjacent psalms, as well. Psalm 1 & 2 are a perfect example.

One of the clues to this relationship is the fact that the two psalms share a key word: “meditate.” This is obscured in English translations that render the same Hebrew word (יהגה) “meditate” in Psalm 1:2 and “plot” in Psalm 2:1. This technical observation has led me to a powerful spiritual realization. What does it mean to meditate on YHWH’s instruction?


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The Spiritual Power Surge of Revelation 5

I love Pixar animated features – all of them. My favorite one, however, is Monsters, Inc. I love the way that movie tells the story of how the city of Monstropolis dramatically shifted from being powered by fear through the capture of children’s blood curdling screams to being powered by joy through the capture of children’s raucous laughter. It serves as a kind of parable of how we consistently misunderstand power and as a result forfeit real power for a cheap, easy, but ultimately poor, if not downright dangerous, substitute.
 
At one point in the movie, the little human girl who has been kidnapped by one of the monster citizens of Monstropolis and an employee of the city’s power company, Monsters Inc., is tickled by her monster rescuer, Sullivan. She squeals with delight and laughs. Suddenly a buzzing sound fills the air, the lights temporarily brighten, then blink, then everything returns to normal after the girl’s laughter subsides. Sullivan looks at his monster buddy, Mike Wazowski, and exclaims “Wow! What was that?” That was a power surge. The little girls joy overpowered the inadequate power lines of a system that up until that moment had only known the power of fear. The system couldn’t quite handle this new, greater power source and it overwhelmed the city’s circuitry.          
 
Last Sunday our sermon explored the renewed vision of power John received when he entered God’s throne room and encountered the lion-lamb Messiah who conquered the world and overwhelmed worldly power by means of a new kind of power – the power of self-sacrifice, the power of radically other-centered service. Heaven and earth experienced an unmistakable power surge when the lamb standing as though slain took center stage in the vision and proceeded to open the sealed scroll, thus revealing the divine strategy by which the church will overcome sin, suffering, and even death itself.   
       
Church, we need the same kind of power surge John experienced in his vision. The power of humble service, of mutual submission, and of placing other’s needs and concerns ahead of our own is a radically different kind of energy, but is far more powerful and effective than the strong-arming, manipulation, intimidation, and bullying that too often characterizes not only the kind of leadership modeled in the world but also, unfortunately, the kind modeled in the church.          
 
Here’s a suggestion for an activity this week that could well result in a spiritual power surge in your personal life and possibly even in our church. Plan and perform one selfless act this week that will inconvenience you but be a blessing to others. Do it anonymously without any fanfare. Let it remain between you and God so that God can bless it, multiply it, and surge its power. Let’s each commit to performing this activity this week and see what happens. We just might experience a spiritual power surge!
 
Your brother in Christ and fellow disciple,
Kevin


Dear Church

This past Sunday morning we began to look at the personalized messages the risen Christ addressed to each of the seven churches of Asia Minor through his prophet John. We will finish looking at these message next Sunday but in the meantime I would like to recommend a couple of spiritual exercises to help you submit to the loving scrutiny of our risen lord as he prepares us for endurance and victory in the spiritual battles we face day in and day out.

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Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Author: Kevin Youngblood
 
Welcome to WestRidge Church of Christ’s new blog, the Daily Disciple! The blog’s name is inspired both by Jesus’ call to discipleship in Luke 9:23 where he directs us to take up our cross daily and follow him and by WestRidge Church of Christ’s commitment to foster a culture of discipleship within our faith community. This blog aims to facilitate this goal by sharing resources, recommending exercises for spiritual formation, and providing content that stimulates contemplation, meditation, and maturation for every disciple at West Ridge. While I will assume responsibility for ensuring the upkeep and consistency of the blog, I intend to invite guest bloggers (especially members from WestRidge but also experts from various fields related to theology, spiritual formation, evangelism, outreach, and spiritual leadership) to contribute content on a regular basis. I pray that the blog will be a blessing to you and serve as an inspiration to follow Jesus more deliberately, more closely, and more joyfully.

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