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Numbers 1:44

When The Chips Are Down

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 16, 2025

In the first chapter of Numbers, God commands Moses to number the fighting men. You might notice that God is looking for people He can “count on.” The phrase “able to go to war” is used fourteen times in the first chapter alone. Numbers 1:44-46 tell us the final total of the census.  It says, “These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his father’s house. So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— all those listed were 603,550.”

That’s a lot of people that could be counted on.  It has been reasonably estimated that a population capable of producing that many men of fighting age would probably be around 2.5 million people or more.  At the beginning of Exodus, we see about 70 of Abraham’s descendants going down to Egypt to escape the famine in the land. Many commentators have observed that this number represents, at least to some degree, a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to make the “number” of his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.  There were literally millions. Yet, they were able to count them. God told Abraham that he would have more descendants than there are stars in the sky or grains of sand on the shore. The literal fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham is yet to be fulfilled.

As we will read later in Chapter 14, however, when the chips are down, God finds that out of all these men, there were only two who could really be counted on: Joshua and Caleb. There’s a difference between being “counted in” and being “counted on.” Wiersbe asks an interesting question in his commentary on this section. “If God were to number the believers in the church today according to their ability to wage spiritual warfare, we wonder how big the army would be.” One writer suggested, “God is more interested in how many can be counted on when the chips are down than how many are included in the census. When loyalty is put to the test, not everyone comes through. In Proverbs 20:6, Solomon writes, “Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?” Like many politicians of our day, there is a discrepancy between their promises and their performances. Aitken goes on to say, “When the chips are down, actions and not words are looked for. Loyalty and faithfulness become much rarer commodities than was supposed.” Proverbs 25:19 likens the reliance that is placed on the one who only talks to a decayed tooth or a lame foot. They are utterly useless.

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2 Samuel 10:13

The Wicked Flee

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 15, 2025

In chapter 10 of 2 Samuel, we read of several encounters David has with his enemies. The enemies of the Israelites combined forces and came against Israel, but when they engaged David’s army, they fled from them. The Army listened to Joab’s exhortation. He told them, “Be strong. We must fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God.” Then again, a larger coalition gathered against David’s army. David himself led the charge and completely destroyed the advancing enemy.  Verse 18 says, “David killed seven hundred Aramean chariot drivers and forty thousand Aramean horsemen. He also killed Shobach, the commander of the Aramean army.” The enemy forces then fled from David and his men. All his enemies turned tail and ran. I wonder if David’s Psalm 21 is about this. He writes: “Although they scheme and plan evil against you, they will not succeed. They turn their backs and flee because you aim your bow at their faces.”

The wicked flee in the face of being discovered in their sin. This is a theme that’s been instilled in the life of all mankind since the beginning of creation. In Genesis chapter 3, verse 10, we read how Adam responded to God’s call to him after eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He knew then that he was evil. Adam said, when God asked him where he was, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Sin may bring some momentary pleasure, but in the end, fear soon replaces the pleasure.

David’s son, Solomon, probably said it best in Proverbs 28:1. He writes,  The more modern version of the movie “True Grit” upgrades the older John Wayne movie from the ’60s. I like the new one much better because the basic soundtrack from the beginning to the end is the musical version of the old hymn, “Leaning on the everlasting arms.” It’s about a young girl who is determined to avenge the murder of her father. The killer is always just a little bit ahead of her hunt. He runs with other criminals and doesn’t stay in any one place for long. He’s running, not from the law, but from a guilty conscience. The movie opens with Solomon’s words in Proverbs 28:1.  He writes, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” After watching that movie, I recorded in my journal that it holds a Hollywood record. It was nominated for the most Academy Awards in one year but didn’t win any of them, but I still think it was a great movie.

 

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Psalm 32:1

Put On A Happy Face

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 14, 2025

Paul tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord.” He wasn’t coining a new phrase! He was quoting Psalm 32:11. It says, “Rejoice in the LORD and be happy, you who are godly! Shout for joy, all you who are morally upright!” The Hebrew word has as its root meaning to shine, to be bright. So the biblical phrase “Rejoice in the Lord” could well be translated Brighten up in the Lord. In today’s language, it might say, “Put on a happy face.” The reason for putting on our “happy faces” is given to us in verse 1. It says, “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”

I grew up in the rebellious decade of the 60s. Moral standards were cast aside, and “All you need is love, love…” became the theme song for us with flowers in our hair going to San Francisco for the summer of love in 1967. If you go, you better wear some flowers in your hair because there are many gentle people there. (I like to say now, in 2025, that if you go to San Francisco, you should make sure you put bullets in your gun because there are many criminals there.)  But the boomers of the 60s were plagued with guilt for the loose lives and meaningless existences. At the end of the sixties, in the “Born to be Wild” era, a high school choir recorded a song. The song was a remake of a hymn that was over 200 years old. The choir named themselves the Edwin Hawkins Singers. It was sent to a couple of radio stations, and a San Francisco disc jockey played the song as a joke. He made fun of its lyrics and joked about it. But it backfired! Phones began ringing and demanding the song more and more! The “Generation lost in space” longed for meaning, significance, and purpose, but more importantly, they needed a God who would forgive. The super hymn began its stupendous climb all the way to #4 on the Rock & Roll charts in June 1969 and sold over a million copies.

It contained a message we all needed to hear. The message itself is over 3000 years old and can be traced to Psalm 32. The message was oh so simple. It was one phrase repeated over and over. That phrase was: “Oh, happy day when Jesus washed my sins away.” According to Wikipedia, it became an international hit in 1969, reaching No. 4 on the US Charts. It reached No. 1 in France, Germany, and the Netherlands and No. 2 on the Canadian Singles Chart, as well as the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart.  It has since become a gospel music standard, selling over 7 million copies worldwide, making it the second best-selling gospel song of all time.

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Psalm 28:7

Count Your Blessings

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 13, 2025

The New English Translation (NET) renders Psalm 28:7 like this: The LORD strengthens and protects me; I trust in him with all my heart. I am rescued and my heart is full of joy; I will sing to him in gratitude.” Just think about how grateful you would have to be to sing about it. We’ve become so accustomed to singing praise and songs of thanksgiving that we miss the significance of them and we tend to lose the intended expressions of gratitude in our music. It’s also true that we often take our many blessings from God for granted.

You might remember the old hymn by Johnson Oatman, a Methodist preacher. It’s entitled “Count Your Blessings.” It goes like this: “When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings—name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings—every doubt will fly, and you will be singing as the days go by. When you look at others with their lands and gold, think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold; count your many blessings—money cannot buy your reward in heaven nor your home on high. So, amid the conflict, whether great or small, do not be discouraged. God is over all; count your many blessings—angels will attend, help, and comfort you to your journey’s end. Chorus: Count your blessings—name them one by one; count your blessings—see what God has done.”

Counting my blessings serves as an antidote to life’s discouragements. It can also be a means of placing material possessions in proper perspective compared to the eternal inheritance that awaits me. When I review my personal, individual blessings, my problems and disappointments seem insignificant. I could spare myself a lot of misery and dissatisfaction if I applied this hymn to my daily life. I keep remembering the Psalmist’s exhortation to himself from Psalm 27:14. He urges himself, “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)

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Psalm 30:5

Joy In The Morning

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 12, 2025

Psalm 30:5 says, “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Commentators see the context of this Psalm of David referring to the plagues that befell the nation after David’s arrogant numbering of the people. Sickness came, but with confession and repentance came forgiveness, restoration, and healing. Like David, we all find ourselves with consequences for actions or words we wish we could take back. The Scriptures are clear on the reality of “sowing and reaping.” Yet, God’s anger with our sin and arrogance is much like a loving parent’s displeasure with his child. He might chide, discipline, or even spank the child, yet this does not diminish the love for that child. Discipline is brief, but God’s love is for a lifetime.

Mrs. H. B. Stowe wrote, “It is said that gardeners sometimes when they would bring a rose to richer flowering, deprive it for a season of light and moisture. Silent and dark, it stands, dropping one fading leaf after another and seeming to go down patiently to death. But when every leaf is dropped, and the plant stands stripped to the uttermost, a new life is even then working in the buds, from which shall spring tender foliage and a brighter wealth of flowers. So often, in celestial gardening, every leaf of earthly joy must drop before a new and Divine bloom visits the soul.”

Our hurts and sorrows, whether we bring them on ourselves by bad choices or hubris of spirit or not, are destined to pass. In our personal walk with the God who loves us, we can be sure that forgiveness is ours as much as it was David’s. We can be sure that the sorrows and sufferings of life will come to pass. In the night hours, things look bad. Everything looks worse at night. But, wait on the Lord. The morning is at hand. Fanny Crosby wrote many hymns. Among them are these words:

O child of God, wait patiently when dark thy path may be,
And let thy faith lean trusting on Him Who cares for thee;
And though the clouds hang drearily upon the brow of night,
Yet in the morning, joy will come and fill thy soul with light.

The Psalmist tells us, “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14)

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Hebrews 13:5

Honor Your Mother

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 11, 2025

One of my sermon illustration books tells us about Mother’s Day. It says, “The “Mother’s Day” concept has a long history of religious connections that seem to have been predominantly Christian in modern times. In ancient Greece, the idea of paying tribute to motherhood was given expression with a regular festival tantamount to mother-worship. Formal ceremonies to Cybele, or Rhea, the “Great Mother of the Gods,” were performed on the Ides of March throughout Asia Minor. For Christianity, the concept seems to date back to the establishment of England’s “Mothering Sunday,” a custom of the people that required one to attend the mother church in which he was baptized on Mid-Lent Sunday. Gifts were to be offered at the altar to the church and to worshippers’ mothers. The concept was divorced from any “mother worship” but nevertheless perpetuated its religious association.U. S. observance of Mother’s Day, too, has been characterized by church ties from the start. The first general observance of the occasion was in the churches of Philadelphia after Miss Anne Jarvis campaigned for a holiday for mothers more than 50 years ago.”

I remember a Mother’s Day card I saw that was really cute. It was a great big card written in a little child’s printing—little first-grade printing. On the front was a little boy with untied sneakers. He had a wagon, and toys were everywhere. He had a little cut on his face, and there were smudges all over this card. It read, “Mom, I remember that little prayer you used to say for me every day.” Inside was the prayer: “God will help you if you ever do that again.”

Like all of us, I remember my mother’s favorite sayings. I’m sure all mothers used the same sayings. “There’s always something with you,” she would say to me. She wouldn’t just say it, though. She would “sigh” it. I suppose because it was true. There was always something I had done to make life a little more difficult for her. Like the time I knocked down the wasp nest and my cousin Steve was stung a dozen times. The second thing she’d say was, “If it’s not one thing, it’s another.” Right? Like the time I shot Dickey Jones with a pea shooter, and the pea went up his nose, and they had to take him to the hospital to get it out. Or when we were wrestling in the basement, Billy Foxhoven broke his arm. Or the time Butch and I shot holes in the front of the kitchen cabinets with a bow and arrow. Or the time I got caught stealing candy from the Cliff’s Corner store on 30th & Laurel. Or the time I got caught sneaking into the Orpheum, she had to come down and get me. Or the time… Well, I could go on! I was not an easy child, and I often think back to those things with regret that I caused my mom so much grief.

But Mom never threatened to stop loving me, or stop feeding me, or stop clothing me, or stop putting band-aids on my cuts and bruises. Somehow, I knew she’d always be there for me no matter what I did! Looking back now, I see that she was. She taught me a lot about God, who said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

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Exodus 20:12

Honor Your Mother

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 10, 2025

God is chiefly concerned about our attitude toward our parents. He even made sure that the command was included in the top ten. It was either the fourth or fifth commandment, depending on the denomination you listen to. But we can say that it is not only in the top ten but one of God’s top five commandments. Exodus 20:12 says, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” As we approach Mother’s Day, I’m reminded that, as a son, I have not been that good at honoring my mother. My sons, on the other hand, have always been great at honoring their mother on Mother’s Day. They would often write their own Mother’s Day Cards. I wish I had kept all of them, but unfortunately, we don’t always think things are going to be important at the time they are happening. But I have a few of them.

Chuck 3rd was ten years old when he wrote this one. “MOM, I got the greatest one of all. Better than the rest. She comes whenever I call. She’s better than the best. Whenever I am hungry, whenever I get hurt, she’s always there to feed me and pick me up from the dirt.”

JD was eight years old when he wrote this one. “Dear MOM, You are a better mother than the rest. But everyone says theirs is best, too. But that’s only because they haven’t met you.”

I don’t have any cards that I made for my mom on Mother’s Day, and I’m sad about that. I know we made some for our moms in school, but for some reason, we didn’t keep them. However, I do have one Mother’s Day card written by my dad in 1925, when he was 11 years old, to his mother. It just says “Mother’s Day” and has hand-drawn flowers all over it. My dad could draw pretty well, and these flowers are well done. You can see the detail he went into for each pedal. I remember my dad talking very favorably about his mother a lot. She died in 1936, so I never got to meet her. The more I learn about her, the more I admire her.

God even added a promise to his instructions regarding our parents. He promises that honoring them will be good for us. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12). This promise seems to relate to the Israelites specifically regarding their control and possession of the land of Israel. But Paul adds to this promise as he repeats the instruction to believers in the New Testament. He applies the promise to all of us. Ephesians 6:1-3 says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”Paul adds to this in Colossians 3:20: “Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.” All of God’s commandments are given for our benefit, but God especially highlights this one for the blessings it brings to the individual, the family, and society in general. Happy Mother’s Day, Ladies!

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Ephesians 6:1-2

Honor Your Mother

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 9, 2025

When Paul exhorts children to “obey” their parents, he is simply asserting an inherent obligation. Obedience to parents is not the sole teaching of the scriptures. Every ancient and contemporary civilization commands obedience from children to their parents. It’s part of the natural law of the universe. We need no special revelation for this truth. It’s readily apparent to everyone. But God goes out of his way to instruct us according in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. We see the command to honor your parents in the Ten Commandments themselves and then again in Paul’s writing to the Ephesians.

But the Bible adds a new dimension to children’s relationship with their parents. Both Moses and Paul say we are to “honor” them.  The Hebrew word “kabed,” for honor, means to be heavy or weighty. We still use terms like this today. When we talk of people who “carry a lot of weight,” we are talking about those who people listen to and have influence.  Weighty people are important people in our lives. In Scripture, there is an antonym to honor, and it is all. It means “to curse.” Literally, it means to “be light or of little weight.” Again, today, we think of people who carry no weight with regard to certain situations. We might even refer to them as “lightweights.”

To honor our mothers is to regard them as highly valued and make them “heavyweights” in our lives. I think it was Smalley & Trent who said, “Some people treat their parents as if they are a layer of dust on a table. Dust weighs almost nothing and can be swept away with a brush of the hand. Dust is a nuisance and an eyesore that clouds any real beauty the table might have.” When we treat our mothers as lightweights, it is not only wrong, but it is also dishonoring to God. God calls us to value them deeply. I don’t think I’ve lived up to that as well as I should have in my younger years, but after becoming a Christian, I took my role as a son more seriously. I’ve lived most of my life away from my parents. For much of that time, I would ignore them. Later, I determined to Honor my mother, so I would write to her at least once a week and try my best to call her on her birthday and Mother’s Day. It wasn’t much, but she often told others how important my letters were to her. Now that my mother has been gone for many years, I think of so many ways I could have honored her. I often wish I had given this command more attention in my life. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother – this is the first commandment with a promise.” Ephesians 6:1-2

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