Kyle Fannin

Psalm 112 – Who doesn’t want to be happy? It is the drumbeat of the modern world. Happiness is the centerpiece to everything we do as human beings. Economists call it utils. The amount of utility or satisfaction we derive from objects, possessions and relationships. Happiness has taken on a misplaced position as the means to living fulfilled life. When in reality God says that happiness, really blessedness is the ends of those who fear and obey Him.

How is this possible?

First, our awe of God produces happiness. The original Hebrew word for fear is  yare’. It is a primitive root word that means to stand in awe of a thing or person, or to cause astonishment. It is possible to be happy when we stand back and understand that our God created this world, with a word. It is possible to be happy when recognize that God had a ready-made plan developed for the redemption of mankind, before we even decided to leave Him. It is possible to be happy when we know that our God works everything for our good, because we love Him. It is possible to be happy to be assured that His thoughts towards us are good continually. When we stand in awe of God, each morning happiness follows us that day!

Second, notice that excited obedience to God’s Word produces happiness. The key word here is not so much obedience, but the manner in which we obey. The Psalmist uses the words delighteth greatly or  takes abundant pleasure in doing. Happiness comes as we delight to do His will. It is not a begrudging obedience, but an excited over-abundant thrill in obeying and serving God. This is the obedience of the early church in Acts. This is the obedience of the martyrs of the “Dark Ages” and the Reformation. Sadly, it is not the type of obedience of the modern church. In fact, the opposite is true. We have become a church, a people who “dreads” greatly in his commandments. It is little wonder then that the churches happiness has had to be supplemented by catchy tunes and flashing lights. It should be no surprise that we have “dumbed down” Christianity and “watered-down” God’s precepts.

If we are to be a happy people then we must be a people who stands in awe of God, His presence, His power, His nature, His care, His love, His justice, His mercy and all that He is; and we must become a people eagerly seeking to submit to His Word and Will for our lives. Then true biblical happiness will be evident in our lives!

Psalm 106:4 – It is a remarkable statement made by the psalmist here. God is omniscient, He knows all and remembers all. Yet, the psalmist asks specifically for God to remember him and for a visitation of God’s salvation. Though salvation from sins occurs once and is forever, there is a regular salvation from our self, from this world, and from the devil that we all need. What a daily prayer for each of us to have in our hearts and on our lips, “God remember me today!”

If we were to be a people desiring to be noticed by God, a people striving for His attention and favor, we would live differently. Our choices would not be self- serving or self-aggrandizing. I see this to be true with my two-year old son. He wants “Da-da” to “watch him, watch him” that is until he disobeys, then he wants nothing to do with Daddy or Mommy, usually he wants Nanny and Papaw or Grandma and Grandpa, and so it is with Christians. We desire God’s attention, His presence, His blessing until we want to sin, or until we choose to disobey. Oh, for this prayer, this cry of the psalmist to be our prayer before our Heavenly Father today!

May your prayer today be, “Remember me, O Lord,” and may your life be lived in remembrance of Him.

Psalm 104:30 - The modern struggle for Baptist churches is the place and role of God the Holy Spirit. Salvation is a two rail tract of facts and feelings. I recently had a conversation about this exact topic with a new convert friend of mine, and was reminded that it is easy to emphasize one to the exclusion of the other.

God the Holy Spirit is a real person, who has a real place and a real presence in the lives of believers, yet because of the explosive growth of a “feelings only” movement in American churches (i.e. Pentecostal, Charismatic, Emergents), we Baptist are becoming increasingly empty of the Spirit’s presence. We fear to include genuine Spirit guided emotions in our daily lives, in our corporate worship to the point that ministries and members become cold, dead, lifeless entities unusable by the very God who has saved us.

The Psalmist here (many assume it to be David, thought we’re not told it was him) writes a psalm full of the personhood, power and provision of God, seen in His Creation. It is in v.30 that we find an interesting verse that God directed my heart towards today.

v.30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth. Though this verse is in direct referrence to the creative works of God found in Genesis, it speaks to the place and purpose of God the Holy Spirit for mankind. The Holy Spirit is the life-giver. If the God-head could be divided into three distinctions they would be this: The Father is the Law, The Son is the Love, and the Spirit is the Life. It is therefore imperative for we “lively stones” to be filled with, and directed by the Spirit of God daily.

What does this mean, then? How can this help us, today?  The New Testament is full of passage that speak to living a life full of the Spirit, and what that life looks, acts, and sounds like. There is a place for joy, rejoicing and excitement in the church of God. Just as there is a place for structure and order. Ask yourself, if the “joy of the Lord is your strength?” When we are joy-filled people our faces cannot be sullen. When we are Spirit-filled people our lives cannot be discouraged or defeated. The joy of Christianity comes from the presence of the Spirit in our lives.

It is belief in Jesus Christ which saves us, but it is the Spirit who aids in our sanctification. It is He, who prepares/equips us for service to the Father. God sent forth His Spirit in the beginning to create new life on planet Earth. It is that same Spirit, whom Jesus sent forth to us in John 20:22 and Acts 1:8, to provide new life for God’s new creation, who created in Christ Jesus. Today, don’t neglect God the Holy Spirit, the Life giving source for all believers.