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Rest Along The Way
Jon BurgessPsalm 110 is a diamond among jewels when it comes to the Psalms. It's one of 73 Psalms directly contirubuted to David. It's considered a Messianic Psalm about fortelling Jesus and His reign. It's a direct revelation to David about the relationship between the Heavenly Father and the Holy Son Jesus. It's also the Psalm that's quoted more then any other Psalm in the New Testament. 19 times the writers of the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation quote or allude to Psalm 110. It speaks of Christ as King, Priest, and Conquerer for His people! All of this and yet I missed the key to victory until today. At the end of this powerful Psalm we see that the victory of Jesus is directly tied to refreshing along the way. We see the spiritual rhythm of this Psalm throughout the life of Jesus. Luke 5:16 tells us that "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 6:12 reveals Jesus "went out to a mountainside to pray." At daybreak Jesus chose the twelve men that change the world. This balance between conquering and quiet, serving and solitude, taking ground and standing still is something I desperately need to learn.
We have just finished an amazing weekend of celebrating 22 years of God's faithfulness to New Hope Oahu. An amazing worship night on Friday, a power packed presentation for 5 services. A full house for Na'i's memorial service. I'm already running full steam ahead into my Master Course with Pastor Wayne and our Future And A Hope Building Initiative Half Time Celebration on October 28th and 29th. I love it. I have the best job ever. If I'm not careful though I'm going to be a victim of burn-out rather victorious in battle. We are fighting for souls and it is all consuming. Yet, even with all the need around Him Jesus never let it interrupt His time with His Heavenly Father. I can either plow through the river to get to my goal on the other side or I can stop by it's banks and drink deeply. What I like about this verse is that it's not describing a weekend retreat or month-long sabbatical, which are very important as well. It's describing rhthym in the midst of the run. It's describing times of pausing and taking a breath and listening in the middle of the day. It's encouraging me to not simply see each day as a lists of tasks to finish but as a river to both drink from and cross over. It's not just about what I'm getting done, but how I'm getting it done. Am I just doing this for the Father or am I doing it with Him? The path to victory requires pausing throughout the journey.
You have promised and provided for "times of refreshing" (Acts 3:19) that I have been making time to drink from. Forgive me Lord for busyness in place of obedience, for action in place asking, and for the instant in place of intimacy. I want You to lead the way to victory and that means following Your lead in drinking deeply every day.
