Jeff Lark

                                                                                                 Orbon Alija/E+/Getty Images How long? God, unlike irritated parents on a road trip after hours of relentless “How much longer” from the back seat, you seem to invite that question. Actually, it is so much more than a question, it’s a heart’s cry. Fifteen times in the Psalter, this question is asked of you. And four of those times are in this psalm alone. For David, it’s not just that the road trip is taking so long, but he’s literally wondering if dad even knows where he’s going. And like a four-year-old who can’t take it anymore, he’s wondering if he’ll even survive this trip. God, if I were honest, ...

God, if there is one universal thing - from politicians to toddlers - it's that we lie. We deceive to gain an advantage or to get out of trouble. We exaggerate to look better or to make someone look worse. We hide the truth to not get caught. We flatter to make someone like us, and then we stab them in the back. And, we do all of this because, in our pride, we are most concerned about the triune kingdom of me, myself, and I. God, in this psalm, you speak once.  But once is enough.  It's like a dad of a child who has been relentlessly maligned at school by bullies. Day after day, the child comes home and cries to his dad about the false accusations, how others have turned against him now, and how he now sits by himself at the lunch table as others snicker. And how, after weeks of this, this once energetic son can barely get out of bed in the morning to get ready for school. And then, one morning, the dad tells him, "Son, I have hated having to watch what the lies of...

God, the temptation is real. In fact, it doesn’t even feel like a temptation because it is so second nature. Even in Psalm 55, we see David wrestling with the same temptation. And, as in this psalm, it doesn’t make it any easier when others’ advice is to just give in to the temptation. The temptation is to flee. It’s one of the two primal responses to danger - flee or fight. So, God, since you created us with this instinct to preserve our life, how could it be wrong? God, as I think about this psalm and as I think about my own heart, I see how this natural instinct can actually lead to the very thing that I’m fleeing from - danger. God, I confess that fleeing can lead to a dangerous place in my soul: When I look to myself to provide comfort, protection, security, and safety; When I believe that you exist for my comfort; When I forget that you are both sovereign and good and orchestrate all things for my good and your glory; When I forget that you “test” (v. 5) the righteous with hard t...

God, as I read this psalm, my heart goes to two places. First, ever since I heard the reading of this psalm from the Bible Experience , I can’t help but imagine a slave woman in America 200 years ago. As she finds a moment of solace under the night sky, I hear her pleas. I hear her affliction. I hear her cry in the face of injustice. I hear the anger. I hear the pain. I hear the wickedness of oppression. I hear the evil of those that seek to steal, kill, and destroy. And God, when I read this psalm, I can’t help but think of the spiritual battle I face every day. Peter would say that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Much of this psalm is a personification of the evil one - who seeks our very life (John 10:10). God, evil lurks in the shadows looking for an opportunity to seize and overcome the helpless. The problem for me, though, is that I go through life unaware of evil’s lurking presence. Sometimes evil truly takes on a face. We se...

God, there are two words in this psalm that I love about your character. You are a STRONGHOLD (v. 9), and You DO NOT FORGET (v. 12, 18). But, God, there are three words in this psalm that I just don’t love (to put it mildly). These are words that I would rather not be true of me - OPPRESSED (v. 9), AFFLICTED (v. 12), and NEEDY (v. 18). God, I would rather live my life as a non-needy person. I would much rather not be on the underside of power and privilege. I would rather be the one making the rules, and all the rules would benefit me. I would rather not have persecution, and I would rather not have any of my privileged rights stripped from me. I would rather control my own life and create a life of ease, comfort, and security for myself. And so, God, I don’t like these words. In fact, in all honesty, I spend much of my life trying to avoid these words. But, God, I can’t have it both ways. I can’t hate these words and love the words about you. This psalm makes it clear that y...

  God, this psalm is a celebration of your majesty. The refrain of praise for your majestic name bookends this psalm. But, what is so utterly astonishing (and praiseworthy) is why you are celebrated as majestic. David certainly has in mind the glories of all creation - the work of your hands, the heavens, the stars, and the moon. But, it is in the light of this majesty that you are seen as even more majestic - it is a majesty of condescension. In your all-powerful strength, you would condescend to find strength over your enemies in the praise of babies and infants (v. 2). What? Are you serious? That the creator of billions of galaxies would find strength in the unintelligible praise of a baby? And God, you are also seen as majestic because, as the creator of all, you would actually give those very babies dominion to rule over your creation. God, who are we that you would give us that kind of authority, power, dignity, and dominion? But, really the question is, who are you - that y...

God, verses 11-13 don’t make it into my scripture memory verses.  They certainly don’t make it onto any cute pillow or inspirational picture I can decorate my home with.  And, to be honest, even if these verses showed up on a pillow at my nearest Hobby Lobby, I wouldn’t buy it.  I would rather ignore this side of you.  I would instead buy the picture of you tenderly shepherding your little lambs.   But God, like a defibrillator that jolts the heart back to health, I know there is something incredibly jolting when I am reminded that we are sinners in the hands of an angry God.  Peace, security, comfort, and a cultural mindset of love and acceptance have lulled me to sleep.  I need to be awakened to this reality.  There needs to be some substance to what it means to “fear the Lord.”  And God, to be honest, I wouldn’t want a God who is so cuddly that he didn’t have a fierce hatred toward injustices that hurt his children.  And today, on thi...

God, this Psalm is filled with such raw emotion.     Words like languishing, troubled, moaning, tears, weeping, and grief fill this Psalm.     God, thank you that your word never gives the impression that Christianity is a trouble-free life.   A t the same time, though, I pray this while sitting in a comfortable home and relative peace and security. Yet, God, there have been many tears in this home in the last six months.    There has been weeping and grief and even moaning.    And there have been sleepless nights. And God, I know these tears pale in comparison to those crying out to you in Ukraine.    Or, the tears of nearly 6,000 who were killed for their faith worldwide in 2021 (and probably more than that in 2022). God, thank you that you are a God who allows, invites, and hears those cries.    How do I know this?    Because Jesus, you wept like this during a sleepless night in the garden.    J...

God, while Psalm 4 appears to be a nighttime psalm, Psalm 5 is a morning psalm. God, for me, Wordle and a morning workout are the first two things on my mind when I wake up. Not so for David. Instead of watching his news feed or Instagram reels while he wipes the sleep from his eyes, he groans his prayers of lament to you and waits, watching expectantly (v. 1-3). And God, what is he waiting and watching for? What was the first thing on his mind? Where did his mind go immediately when his alarm went off? It seems that he was lamenting the fact that Psalm 1 wasn’t a reality in his world. He laments the fact that unrighteousness and injustice seemed to be reigning. He seemed to grieve over how the righteous were not experiencing your rich blessing. And God, as I read this Psalm, I know that I deserve to experience the destruction of the wicked (v. 6) instead of the blessing of the righteous. In fact, Paul would quote part of this Psalm in Romans 3 to make the point that ALL stand condemne...

God, this is a nighttime psalm. It’s a prayer of peace and rest amid distress at the end of the day. It’s a prayer of confident security amidst mocking, shame, and accusation. And it’s a prayer of joy after winning the lottery. God, to be honest, if I were to win the mega millions, I truly wouldn’t give a rip if I was mocked, shamed, or accused. I wouldn’t be jealous if others prospered. I would rest in security, not having to make sure I wasn’t going to bounce a check. And, though I am naive, all my distress would be relieved (let me enjoy my naivety for a moment). God, David won the lottery. It’s right there in v. 6 - “Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD.” The King of all creation was smiling upon David - and for David, this was like winning the lottery. That smile turned his distress into relief. That smile gave David security. That smile gave David more joy than wealth and riches ever could. And that smile let David sleep like a baby.  And Lord, I know I...

God, when David looked at life, he saw You and life with a different set of lenses than those that I wear.   David had the strength and the military prowess to put an end to those who rose up against his kingdom. But, instead, he fought on his knees.  He viewed his battles through the lens of faith.  In our day and age, we like to fight by lobbing word grenades - a one-liner on social media to make our “enemy” (or really anyone who just disagrees with our superior perspective) look stupid, or a full-blown verbal tear down of our “enemy” among likeminded friends who are glad to add their two cents. Either way, God, make me a man like David, who cries to YOU when my beliefs, morals, worldview, and identity come under attack. And God, David's faith led him to be so thoroughly dependent upon you. So much so that he even acknowledged your sustaining hand to give him life for a new day. It seems the tenor of v. 5 is, “Lord, you preserved my life yet again while I slept, and ...

God, ever since the call of Abram in Genesis 12, you have made it abundantly clear that the nations have been on your heart - the very people who gathered in rebellion against you at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 are the very people you have desired to bless through Abram and his family.   And now, in Psalm 2, you are inviting the nations to take refuge in the anointed son who sits on the throne in this nation. God, in one sense, we know this to be David - the anointed king whom the nations were to come and find refuge. But, we also know that this is ultimately the Son of David/God whose kingdom is now and not yet.   But God, as you seek to provide “refuge” (v. 12) to the nations, they are “raging” (v. 1) against your sovereign rule. And in their raging, the thing they want the most is to be free of your “chains (v. 3). To submit to your sovereign rule feels like slavery. God, how often I can feel like this - to obey you feels like a death to my freedom, my sovereignty, my ...

God, I know that Psalms 1 and 2 are the Pillar Psalms upon which the rest of the Psalter is built. While Psalm 2 will establish that there are two types of Kingdoms, Psalm 1 establishes that, when boiled down to its essence, there are two types of people - the righteous and the wicked - and that the one is blessed and prospers while the other is like dried and useless chaff.   But God, what is at the essence, doesn’t always appear this way in reality. In other words, life isn’t always as clean as Psalm 1 would seem to indicate. It doesn’t make the essence of Psalm 1 untrue, but like the rest of the Psalter would make abundantly evident, life doesn’t always look like Psalm 1. We are frustrated because we oftentimes see the wicked prospering. And we are (and should be) equally frustrated as we see the righteous on the losing side of life - mourning death, mourning loss, mourning, injustices, mourning financial instability, mourning disease (and countless other losses).   In fact...