Save yourself. 
I want to write about my experience in prayer and meditation. I do not believe there is anything that we think about or talk about that is not influenced by a spirit. God has made us body and spirit. We are made as one so we say that I am body and spirit. In the original creation we were never purposed to have our bodies separated from our spirits. So we are naturally motivated by wanting to experience the full unity between our body and spirit.

  This really is part of being saved. Salvation is being holistically changed. You will see the Psalmist express his experience by complaining that his body was in pain and his spirit was weak. And sometimes he will complain about a restless spirit and experiencing tight- ness in his body. He would say that his bones were on fire. Kind of like we feel when we experience inner turmoil.

Almost all of the time that the Psalmist complained about being irritated by his sin it was because he had a bodily wound from war. Ive hardly ever heard someone talk about sin in this way. But this body to spirit order really a very important part of the Psalms/ I believe that one of the very important reasons of being saved is to experience this renewal of oneness in spirit and body.

The Psalms open up describing a man who prays and meditates. But if you go through the first part of the Psalms it is showing the proper way to approach God. A lot of people teach that when we are saved , being freed from ourselves is looking away from ourselves. But this is not entirely correct. In this American culture we seem to be fixated on selfless teaching. Of all the teaching I hear in private conversations, in media, over the radio is the teaching of self denial.

But if we begin to think about how we relate to the world and the creation we will see that everything that we interact with is real to us by our view of it. Calvin says there are two things we must know..We must know God and we must know ourselves. In all my years of meditation in the Psalms Ive found that its not just a book on how to pray or live a wise life. But its a book in which the human expression of emotion is put in such a way that it unifies the soul. The first application here is that unless we save ourselves there is no hope for anyone else. Ill show some of the scriptures and try to explain this meditative renewal.

Christian repentance 
Psalm 103 NIV
Of David.
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children--
18 with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

The Psalm in my post before this one is our view as we look outward. This Psalm is our self examination. Its a Psalm that teaches christian repentance. Let me make a few remarks for each verse. The Psalm follows the Psalm above opening with a personal praise to God. The expression is more than just a simple praise but the Psalmist says " with all my inmost being". So the Psalmist has been expressing his understanding of God by paying close attention to Gods promises in His covenant. The weight of the pleasure is according to the Psalmist prior meditation of this psalm. You will see that some of the Psalms are inverted...vs 1 starts with Praise and vs 22 ends with praise. Like Psalm 139:1Oh Lord you have searched me....vs 24"search me"So you can say this over again with more understanding because your acknowledging that your petition was answered. And this is the way these inverted Psalms describe Gods way of adding strength to our souls and being able to express that with more experience.
This christian repentance is really sweet because it involves our rehearsing how God has dealt with us according to our sin. And you see that the expression of strong praise is toward God as our Father. This Psalm teaches how a Father deals with his sinful son. We have an inheritance or benefits. Redeems you life from the pit. He protects us from going down to the pit. We never get in over our heads so that we cannot be delivered ...we just get our feet stuck in holes. "works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed." Speaking of God dealing with us as a son who is provided with a secure and successful life by God upholding His covenant. We have someone who is solid that we can fall back on. Also it speaking of being chosen to a path where we are not overcome by the schemes that have trapped other men. We understand Gods language of grace and there is no threat that God doesnt overcome. Moses delivered the people of Israel by Gods wonders. A comparison of a wicked government being opposed by Gods government through the curses. The Lord is compassionate etc... this is Gods covenant promises to Abraham. The Psalmist always starts with Gods words of covenant faithfulness and then describe how God creates our success according to His covenant. This whole phrase can be summed up as describing Gods unfailing love

He will not always accuse. My opinion is that its like a analogy that when we experience pain and sorrow we feel like God is dealing with us according to our sin .. so when the Psalmist talks about experiencing the anger of God its not really God acting angry but its the Psalmist expression of the trouble as if the Psalmist was saying I am experiencing something that the wicked experience. So in my opinion over many years of cursing and blessing it is God lowering Himself and saying " Ive given you expressions so that you can pour your heart out to me even tho I havent been accusing or angry. tiil another time..

We belong to a new kingdom
Psalm 9

1 I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.

2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3 My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you.

4 For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.

5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

6 Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished.

7 The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.

8 He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.

9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.

12 For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

13 O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,

14 that I may declare your praises in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and there rejoice in your salvation.

15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

16 The LORD is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. "Higgaion." "Selah"

17 The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God.

18 But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

19 Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence.

20 Strike them with terror, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men. "Selah" 

This Psalm is one of my favorites. It is a Psalm that I spoken a million times through out my 30 years of meditation. I think we must first of all understand the approach that David takes as he rules over Israel. I think ive presented this accurately throughout my years of writing. But the Bible describes the awful state of man in sin. Because sin has created man as his own god. Man was originally one with all that God created. Man enjoyed fellowship with God and was given rule over the earth. This details of mans original position before the fall is seen in the God- Man. In Christ ministry we see Him controlling the created elements and healing everyone with disease. As Christ walked from one city to another He acted perfectly toward His Father in a face to face relationship. Not only did the exalted Christ work all things together as God but He acted as a man to bring salvation and deliverance through the same creative hand. 

You see this in the Psalms in the usage of the anthropomorphism's. Simply describing God who is a spirit who had no parts in a language that we can understand. These human descriptions are put in the context of describing how God creates something from nothing. And this distinguishes God from man in that every tool that man has, even the language is borrowed from God. When we are talking about the law, it is a distortion to present it as just a tablet of ten things that we are to do in order to prove that we have faith. God cannot act with the hand, arm, feet etc without acting according to His law. So when I say that God has already established His law, I am saying that all things are being held together because Gods law is established through the Psalmist use of these anthropomorphisms.

This is how the Psalmist approaches God in this Psalm. I do not think this is taught clearly but when we are saved we get Gods desires. The desire is "My heart says seek His face...His face I will seek." I do not think we do service to the unity of God when we divide these desires in the elect between righteous and unrighteous. The struggle with desires in the psalms is between the righteous and the wicked.  This description of the new man, which is each elect, is written down in the Psalms in a language that is a creative way that Christ thought , spoke and acted. When we think this way and speak this language it is different from any other cultural language on this earth.We really are not presented as trying to get out of the former kingdom and into the new kingdom by keeping the law or doing certain things but we just adopt this language and we are in this future kingdom. I will talk more about this Psalm.  

Gods peace is a kingdom peace. The quality of eternal life is not really a greater power from God overcoming the evil that we experience in our lives. But the quality of eternal life is tied the communication that defines who we are in the culture. The experience of eternal life is Gods perfect description of the perfect society. There is no disunity. Part the heavens Oh Lord ,...touch the mountains so that they smoke...send forth your lightening and scatter the enemies... shoot your arrows and rout them...reach down your hand from on high and deliver me and rescue me...from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies whose right hands are deceitful. The foreigners are described as mouths full of lies. This is interesting because this Psalm is describing how God establishes His government in Israel. But the foreigners who are soldiers of the nations are not necessarily lying like a kid in a moral sense but they are making war with Gods description in this Psalm of Gods peaceful kingdom...

So you see that God judges every word...not only words but every intent of the heart. But if you understand the context of this struggle you will find that Gods people are not really pleading here that God will make people more moral through the law but they are observing this struggle as if they are caught in the middle. So I believe that our part in this struggle is understanding the scripture as it is revealed in light of knowing that Gods ordering of society is in a language that we could never fathom. This is what I call finding the kingdom peace through finding mystery. got to go

"The light from Your eyes"

God glory is depicted in the Revelation. In chapt 4 John enters into the throne room where Christ is seated in between the cherubim. This chapt is describing the purpose of God in working out all of history from beginning to end with this chapter as a snap shot of Gods response from heaven in the history of redemption. The chapter unifies Gods purpose in the history of redemption with His actions as the governor over the history presenting layers upon layers as truth as if as we meditate on chapt 4 we get flashes of our own history coming together in our being overcome by the glory of the description of Gods heavenly creatures. Ive memorizes 5 chapts in Revelation and this chapter in my opinion is filled with so much wonder that its vision has an multiple effects upon the reader. Every time Ive tried to memorize this book I end up being attack by the Devil. In could spend the rest of my days meditating on this chapter and not get to the limits of experience from the meditation.

But the point is that God has upheld His law by doing the work necessary to satisfy His justice. How has He satisfied His justice? He has pre ordained a certain number of men to be part of the price of His judgment upon sin and wickedness. God has decided to judge evil and reward His elect not according to their suffering but according to the suffering of the Lamb. When John is taken to the throne of Jesus He is too weak to find mystery in opening the book of judgements.  This this book is really an analogy of Gods collection of the suffering of His saints that have been expressed in tears, prayers, and physical suffering. When the book is opened the judgements are much greater than the suffering. It is exactly what we feel like when we are led to certain psalms to shout them out like we are going to war. You cant explain the terrible destruction in experiencing these curses. God has opened the book from before the world began. Just as the chapt describes the opening of the book it is in the context of the history of redemption uniting all of the history of the earth. It brings pain and suffering together with glory and bliss.

Saving faith

Faith is defined by a persons doctrine. So in this sense faith has a personality, built on pre suppositions that are set in motion. This is the great part about possessing saving faith is that it was gifted to us." Oh Lord the king rejoices in Your strength, How great is the joy in the victories that You give, the king trust in the Lord , through Your unfailing love of the Most High..{.God as supreme governor}  he cannot be shaken. Your hand will subdue Your enemies"...etc You see that faith is actually all of Gods work on our behalf. In the Psalms when the king takes the credit for the work it is pre supposed that God has done all the work and the king is successful.

But it is a message that is passed down from one generation to another. The message of faith has a history of success. If God has pre ordained whatsoever comes to pass then He cannot fail in describing His work in history ,providing all that we need in the present , and because our salvation is  all a gift then He cannot fail in bringing Himself pleasure through His creatures. This is why the leaders would pray "We have heard with our ears and our fathers have told us what You did in their day, in days long ago... With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers, you crushed the people and made our fathers flourish. It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory, but it was by Your arm, Your right hand, and the light from Your eyes for You loved them. Heard with our ears...Gods word is a spoken word of creation.....fathers are the prophets who speak Gods creative word that brings victory....in their days...the parting of the Red Sea..etc....nor did their arm bring them victory...speaking of the government of man and his military might- in other areas of the psalms this is always the context...But it was your arm, right hand...this is possibly a reference to the angel of the Lord who was present in the battles...Hebrews says that angels are ministering spirits..."with the angel of the Lord pursuing them" "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and he delivers them"...speaking of military encampment. The Prophets called on God to pursue their enemies with the angel of the Lord.  "For you loved them"...Gods love is eternal and it cannot fail...once we possess it we can always argue for our cause on the basis of Gods unfailing love. Here the king is extolling God for upholding his causes.

So you see this personality of faith and how all of these presuppositions are practically worked out in the history of redemption. In the ot commitment really is in the military context. All males in Israel were part of the military. Not all of them went to war. When the Psalms talk about servant hood its talking about Gods soldiers. The analogy to faith is the piercing of the ear which is a mark of loyalty as a servant. But its a confession that is related to God as the Most High or the governor over the earth who acts from the heavens in response to events on the earth with His angels and cherubim. The confession is" If I forget you oh Jerusalem may my right hand forget it skill, may my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy". Only two options...blessing...or eternal life...cursing or the pronouncement of death.You cant separate Gods eternal government from you political views...its in how the Psalmist describes his faith and drawing a parallel to government.  Its a masterpiece of poetry.

We act according to our one desire. 

We are not to hate anyone. The bible teaches that God protects us from hate by destroying destruction. A lot of people teach that we can control hate. But I want you to think of what happens to you when you get mad. You experience a physical change and you begin to think "How can I get revenge?" So the truth is you have a hateful heart. Can you control hate so that you can be genuine in the sense that love has no bias toward any person or object? Ive never seen any man control hate like the bible describes short of Christ.

We are taught that we act because we desire what is most pleasurable to us. The bible never teaches that we act by opposing a desire that we know is wrong. There is no such thing as acting under constraint in the sense that we are controlling the wrong desire with more weight than we are pleased to act with the weight of the good desire. No listen this is non sense. Every good desire that we act from has only one weight.. one purpose and one experience. We never act because we are under the tension of equal forces. We must understand that if we are to act with the freedom that the bible describes the bad desire must be destroyed.

This is why salvation is our only hope. Salvation is described in the bible as being delivered from our old life.  We are delivered from our old desires. Some people teach that we are completely delivered when we are saved but under sanctification God takes that back in the sense that He needs to use force to purify what has already been accomplished. But the bible teaches that Christ took the effects of the curse...hate, fear, sorrow, and pain ...took it upon Himself and suffered the consequences as if we were suffering from our own consequences. God destroyed destruction by Christ death. Christ rose again and was given power over all things. So Christ destroyed the effects of the curse that we suffer.

Is our salvation incomplete in the sense that we are under the obligation to thwart the power of the curse by opposing it? Is the law a power that keeps us from being obligated to be ruled by the curse? Or is the law a declaration of our innocence by defending us against the curse? This is a big distinction here. This really is the cornerstone that gives grace teeth. If God only gave us potential by overcoming the curse through law keeping then He really is not that serious about grace. If God only hated sin just enough to give us tension against the curse then we have the potential of possessing hate that rises up in us so that we must subdue it. If the law is not an instrument of destroying destruction then there is no hope of being free from the tension between hate and love.

But God gave us a communication that destroys whatever is destroying us. We have the water of salvation that we throw on the wicked witch. The law pronounces death on those who oppose salvation by grace. We believe that anyone who opposes grace embraces destruction and hate. There are only two groups. Those who are under grace live in the kingdom of love because Gods pronouncement of destruction is our protection from the tension of hate. But those who are not under grace live under the domination of hate and destruction. The law is their school master.

  Psalms 35

1 Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.

2 Take up shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid.

3 Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to my soul, "I am your salvation." 

 Real freedom

The scariest truth to most people when you talk to them about the gospel is that they have been freed by Christ. So I believe that all the opposition to our salvation is to try to describe salvation by putting us back under bondage. I think this comes from our fallen condition. And I believe that it so ingrained in our Adamic nature that we naturally prevent each other from being completely free in Christ. Not just actively trying to place someone in bondage but because we share in corruption it is impossible for us to allow this total freedom in other people. 

This is why the Psalms teach that we should not put our trust in man. Each man has a corrupted view of the other guy. We always excuse ourselves while at the same time accuse others. We are always lenient to ourselves and hard on others. So I purposely do not tell someone what to do or how to do something unless it is for their benefit. I mean I will explain why the danger is not as bad as everyone says it is because we are free in Christ. I find that it makes people uncomfortable. This whole chapter of Psalms has helped me obtain a sense of freedom through fighting against my flesh. You see the flesh always teaches us to do the opposite of what grace has made us. But the problems with corruption are so bad that we must fight to understand just how free we have been made. 

We hear so much that the christian life is two lines... Gods sovereignty and mans responsibility. That we must think both theologically and practically if we are gonna accept counsel. But if you were to memorize this Psalm and think deeply about it you would find that given an equal choice between doctrine and practice you always gonna have a disposition that lives by the law. Your gonna talk as if the law keeps grace from being good enough to give you just enough rope to be tempted. 

But psalm teaches that corruption has made us all kind of like zombies who cannot help but try to control someone else. We are unable to allow someone enough freedom to feel that we have encouraged them to sin. But our first urge is to speak as if the danger is there to keep the person from sinning. 

But the byproduct of this Psalm is that we change when we are so free that we have become careless about our personal protection and we lose ourselves so much that we are madly in love with Christ. You see freedom in Christ is being so pleased with Him that we feel controlled when the sorrow from our sin and corruption keeps us from focusing on Christ. In other words the kind of freedom this Psalm teaches is seldom obtained or demonstrated because it takes a violent fight with our flesh to come to this kind of self forgetfulness. But the only way that we are gonna love someone completely is when we experience this kind of freedom and they find it easy to be human in the relationship.   

 

4 May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay.

5 May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them away;

6 may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.

7 Since they hid their net for me without cause and without cause dug a pit for me,

8 may ruin overtake them by surprise-- may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.

9 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.

10 My whole being will exclaim, "Who is like you, O LORD? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them."

11 Ruthless witnesses come forward; they question me on things I know nothing about.

12 They repay me evil for good and leave my soul forlorn.

13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me unanswered,

14 I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother.

15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee; attackers gathered against me when I was unaware. They slandered me without ceasing.

16 Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked; they gnashed their teeth at me.

17 O Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my life from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.

18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you.

19 Let not those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; let not those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye.

20 They do not speak peaceably, but devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land.

21 They gape at me and say, "Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we have seen it."

22 O LORD, you have seen this; be not silent. Do not be far from me, O Lord.

23 Awake, and rise to my defense! Contend for me, my God and Lord.

24 Vindicate me in your righteousness, O LORD my God; do not let them gloat over me.

25 Do not let them think, "Aha, just what we wanted!" or say, "We have swallowed him up."

26 May all who gloat over my distress be put to shame and confusion; may all who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and disgrace.

27 May those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, "The LORD be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant."

28 My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long

 Our Fathers pronouncing of blessing upon us.
Psalms 111

1 Praise the LORD. I will extol the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

2 Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them.

3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever.

4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate.

5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.

6 He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the lands of other nations.

7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.

8 They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness.

9 He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever-- holy and awesome is his name.

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

This Psalm is a description of Gods covenant of redemption that He made with Israel. If you study this Psalm you will find that God is speaking as a father to a child and explaining how good it is to be a part of this family. God is describing His desire for us as He has designed our experience in this world as we experience salvation. 

This Psalm is a prophetic message from a king to his subjects that explains the purpose of God saving us .As we meditate on this Psalm it is like a future prediction that we receive that overcomes all the bad prophecies that we hear from the world. This Psalm is suppose to create a disposition of confidence as we meditate on it because we receive it as if God our Father was placing His hands on our head and pronouncing a blessing on us. 

God has made a covenant of redemption with us in which He has provided everything for us. Not only has He provided these promises but in this Psalm He is the one who works on our behalf. In this promise He only  prophesies good to us. 

God has created everything by the word of His mouth. God has designed everything through His knowledge and has ordered it by speaking it into existence as if He was describing all the parts of the design functioning in a holistic way. The Psalmist is describing how God produced the success for His covenant people within he Nation of Israel.  

Even tho Israel faced opposition to Gods design for their success ,He describes how He budgeted for them in facing this opposition. Not only did God personally work for all their blessing but He acted alone not only to prevent the nations from being success but He took from the nations and gave it to His people. This is a Psalm that describes our lives in total as God works His redemptive plan. It is wise to receive this blessing as we go about our daily lives. We meditate on it in order to be fully assured that we will be delivered unto the end.  

Gods kingdom is a kingdom of peace.

Now listen the gospel is always been about two kingdoms. Its not really about democracy, theocracy, or dictatorships.  The philosophy of freedom is not different in distinguishing these kingdoms in time and the new kingdom and new earth. So salvation is not going to a place of bliss where we sit around and praise God. We are gonna be on the earth with all these created things we have now but there is not gonna be any corruption. Everything will be perfect. But we will conduct our lives...ie work, recreation etc like we do now. This present world is not hell on earth. Its a place in which God recreates the new kingdom in some sense in us and in our lives as a taste of the future kingdom. The future kingdom breaks into our time experience.

Now listen there is only one definition of freedom. There is no difference between spiritual freedom and political freedom. This is the message of Psalms. This is why there is violence that marks the flourishing of spiritual freedom. I know we have been taught that the church is a mother, a lamb, the poor, and helpless but how can love be part of the kingdom of God if there is a Goliath standing over us and mocking us? But the truth is that the Psalms only teach two kingdoms on the earth.

There is Gods kingdom and mans kingdom. We sometimes talk about Gods relationship with the Israelite s as dealing with a nation of people who believed like they did in the dark ages. But the truth is that the law that God gave Israel had more respect for the poor and the citizens than we have today. In fact they would treat the sojourner better than their own brethren when they were confronted with that situation. There is a reason for this..

The reason is that the Psalms teach that Gods kingdom rules by His word. God is the only one who is a peace maker. So God establishes His word so that He can establish peace on the earth. When His word flourishes there is harmony in all areas of the kingdom.

How does God define the opposition? He says that anyone who does not speak His words will speak violent words. But we come from a view in this time where we divide love and hate, forgiveness and judgement. We say that love is spiritual and therefore God doesnt allow us to hate someone. But love in the bible is a word that means we speak Gods words and therefore there is no violence that comes from our mouths. We do not have a right to divide people, label them, or treat them with distinction in the flesh. When we speak our own words we do not love because we are loved by God, but we love because we have made a distinction. But the reason there was so much attention in the ot to the sojourner is because they were taught not to make distinctions. I can explain this more. It all ties together in the gospel of grace. And I know there is a place for distinctions, mocking something evil etc...but we are talking about the main thing and not these side issues. As part of the mixture of sovereign grace for defensive purposes.

There is only one place for hate and that is in defense of the helpless and those who have been taken advantage of. Now the reason that we do not consider this in its full teaching in the bible is because we have not been taught about the curses. The curses are not for violence but protection. Understanding this is to understand Gods love correctly. Actually the curses are Gods expression for us as hate or anger. In the Psalms to love the idols and idol worshipers is to hate oneself. Because there are only two kingdoms and two kinds of language. So to love idols is to embrace violence. This is why freedom involves salvation or deliverance. No one understands any kind of freedom, political or religious unless they can describe grace correctly. Because the opposition to grace...no matter if it is in religious words or political words is violence.  True grace is true freedom. So grace is the total communication of all of Gods word  that brings peace to His kingdom and is opposed by all other authorities through violence. So God must defend His kingdom through pronouncing death and turning the opposition to what the Psalms describe as chaff.. or erasing the memory of them.

The work of the Spirit and the word.

In Psalm 1 we are taught that the man who meditates on Gods word will grow to be like a tree planted by streams of water who yields its fruit in its season. What kind of analogy is the Psalmist describing when he describe this tree? He is saying that we are given Gods kingdom to dwell in us and as we meditate on His word the Holy Spirit provides the success for the word to work in us and in our circumstances. The Holy Spirit recreates our lives by walking before us redeeming everything that is corrupted in us and in our world.
The tree is Gods kingdom produced in us. We see this in Psalms 2 which is the description of an earthly King who has been chosen by the Father to rule with a rod of iron...or putting all things under His feet He smashes all the kings of the nations who do not bow down to Him. This kingdom in us cannot fail because we rule by Gods word. The kingdom flourishes in us by Gods word and Spirit. The Spirit is our Paraclete- an advocate or helper- who makes our paths smooth by eliminating the corruption that would bring danger to us. It was by the power of the Spirit that Christ overcame the devil, weakness and sin so that HE conquered death and ascended to heaven to become the ruler over all things.
The apostle said that it was by the grace of God that He was able to obtain victory at the end of his life. It was not by his own power but it was by the grace that was in him. The apostle was talking about the work of the Spirit being an advocate...one who speaks on our behalf ...so that our purposes are not miss understood because we are worthy of blame. But even tho sin defines us because we are corrupted the grace of God overcomes sin. But this is not describing something like stain or liquid but in the sense that every man judges according to the flesh or every man has a government in him in which men seek to define everything according to their own moral compass. The grace overcomes all opposition because the Holy Spirit uses creative speech that overrules mens opinions. I need to write more on this.

The language of the Holy Spirit " May your good Spirit lead me on level ground...For Your name sake preserve my life-{ its Gods nation with Gods weapons and Gods battle for our protection.}... In Your righteousness bring me out of trouble...in Your unfailing love silence my enemies...destroy all of my foes...for I am Your servant"-{ speaking of the Psalmist quest to protect the poor through military conquest. We fight spiritual foes. }

Finding mystery

Out of all the activities the Psalmist does in the psalms are put into two categories.  We find in that the Psalms are not really a practical instruction of the law. Some people think that the christian message is divided into different instructions. ie practical and theological. But I do not believe the book of Deuteronomy is a description of the daily life and the interior work on the elect. But the Psalms bring us into how they thought and lived in their practical lives. And these other books are describing how God created stability as the basis of  the success of their Psalms activities. Kind of like a back bone. Gods law was a gift that was the back bone of giving the people value in order that Israel would live in unity.

These two activities are absolutely essential in creating a holistic experience to heal their wounds and overcoming the opposition to their success. History is the total number of ideas that are used in the description of history and is how the language devolves into creating a culture of eliminating God. The Psalms are the words that prevent the elect from becoming pragmatic and being deceived
 by the present culture of words.  

The government of God is His perfect description of everything that He created and the end for which it was created. If there was no sin or corruption there would be no need to be met by God because everyone would be satisfied with their purpose in the world at the most pleasurable experience. But all sin really is present because of a lack of ability. If we had ability then we could in some way atone for our own sin. But to believe in a real substitute we must acknowledge that sin is no longer marked on our account as we are too weak to perform Gods standards , because God alone did the work that was necessary to end our blame. We enjoy a relationship with a Father who no longer keeps a record of our sin.

So now the question is what is preventing us from being successful? It is that we are in the world. We are subject to the description that is moving the world in a direction that is opposed to God. There really is only one focus and it is not our sin. It is to glorify God. We believe that when we are saved we are given eternal life. We become part of a kingdom in which the language is complete. This language is a language of praise. As we praise God we live in the kingdom of peace that is spoken by God that keeps us safe from the description of the world and its opposition to Gods spoken word. Our communication is our walk.

As we praise God we ascend up to His holy mountain. Which is an analogy of the sacrifice in which the smoke from the burnt offering ascended to heaven and was a sweet aroma unto God. Now listen to me ...the sacrifices were not purposed to get relief from guilt but they were practiced so that Israel would be successful to have dominion over the earth. If you look in Revelation you will see that the curse was part of this heavenly sacrifice. The balls of fire hurled to the earth were judgements to protect Gods purposes.

We ascend to look on the light of the glory of Christ when we glory in God and we rise up above the problems on this earth. I call this finding mystery. When we experience mystery we rest in Gods presence. But the other side of experiencing mystery pouring out our troubles before God in the form of cursing. As we unburden the weights that we have felt from the worlds communication we free ourselves from being the ultimate judge. To find real mystery we must find that line between blessing and cursing.

Gods word recreates all things. 

Psalms 119:18-19, 32
"Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law.
I am a stranger in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me. I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart."

Its interesting that the Psalmist analogy of Gods commands are a spoken word that creates meta physical wholeness. You will find this usage in Ps. 19 where the working of creation is compared in the use of Gods law is the creative hand of God upon the heart.  This is why I believe that the Psalmist in pronouncing Gods commands, laws, statutes, decrees, and covenants is acting as a god on this earth. I mean god in its usage in the Psalms speaking of a judge.

How can a king who sits in the seat of the highest political authority also take his seat among the judges? In my opinion there is a distinct difference of Gods governing from mans. Ive used these Psalms for 30 years and I find no where in them where God does not scrutinize the governments of men and find them wanting. So the question is what is the ultimate authority that judges the earthly authorities? It is Gods spoken word.

We make a big mistake by making clear division between these different institutions. ie church, government, family and recreation. Because the Psalmist in these verses is acting as a governor ...an agent who creates the exterior wonders in his culture by an interior work of the word upon his heart. Anytime we divide people, things, or purposes in the bible we lower God by saying that He is slow to act and therefore we allow pragmatism as a form of abuse. To divide any principle and apply it differently to each man is to do Gods work in counseling. The Psalmist here is speaking about the work of the word unifying his experience with all the created things as the basis of his wisdom. As he is enlarged by Gods word he becomes the agent for Gods creation and recreation. So Gods word stands over every occupation in this world and is the cause of all the success of every thing that we do. "They will learn that my words were well spoken." Speaking of the reasons why the Psalmist was successful in overcoming the opposition in war..."As one plows and breaks up the earth so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave."He is talking here about the success of Psalms 19..."May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight ...Oh Lord My Rock"- Gods name for showing up in the battle and overcoming the opposition..."and my Redeemer"- speaking of God recreating his corrupted work to make it complete in this world and in the final judgement.

God does a secret work on his heart so that the poor become Gods governing agents as God over turns the power of men.  It will be revealed in the final judgement. Its no wonder that the earth is strange to him. lol

David spoke of his well being in terms of feeling holistically connected to Gods purposes. And you see this is a kind of poetic expression as a way of pouring out his heart to God. It was not just a petition to God but David wanted to talk to God face to face. Have you ever prayed in a commanding way...Oh God do not hide Your face from me... I mean as if your well being depended upon it. Do not turn away Your servant in anger! For You have been my Saviour! You see these are paternal words from a child to a Father. Do not forsake or reject me oh God My Saviour! You see this stern demand.. a kind of desperate plea...there is more than just wanting this special favor from God. No this is a desperate demand for David to experience healing and connection to people and all of Gods creation. This is a plea for us to experience something that is healthy that we need by we cannot control it.

In this plea we find there are levels of the depth of the plea. And this comes with how we a greater understanding of receiving this mysterious meta physical connection to pleasure that God receives from His work in creation. This pleasure is like the deep calling to the deep. The weight of the pleasure is like digging for water and as we go deeper we get down to the spring. The water begins to shoot up out of the deep well. So when David has a greater understanding of this mysterious weight of Gods pleasure the cry for a face to face meeting kind of swallows him up in mystery.

Maybe I can explain it this way... I remember the movie an officer and a gentleman... when Geer had taken some clothes and belt buckle and his commander found out...the next scene the commander confronts him and demands Geer to write the letter of resignation. The commander would say...I want your dor and Geer would respond in a desperate plea... no ...and the commander repeated himself... I want your dor ... and after they go back and forth ...Geer finally breaks and then he cries... I aint got no where else to go! Then the next day he not only gets to return to his barracks but the stolen items are in his locker folded up as a gift ... and this is the way God answers our prayer but He doesnt ask for our dor.. He draws us into these desperate pleas for something good that we could never earn. 

God has created us for a purpose. He created each one of us with attributes both physical , emotional, and spiritual that are distinct from any other person. Our survival is depended upon our understanding these distinct characteristics. The more we understand ourselves that more we will understand the individual purpose that God created us for.

When we understand ourselves the more value we create that separates us from the other species of animals and plants that God created. God has created all things by His spoken word. He has ordered all things in His eternal counsel from before time began. God sees everything that He has ordered in perfect unity. Every thing has a value according to the returns God gets from the working of all things. We are created in the likeness of God. When we understand our individual purpose then we experience the unity of all things because we understand our purpose that fits together with everything around us that He has created.

Because of sin we experience a disconnection from everything that God has created. When we experience this disconnection we do not understand who we are and what our purpose is. This is the result of sin. Our natural experience on this earth has been cursed. With the experience of the curse comes a desperate attempt for us to fit in to Gods order.

The way that God meets us where we are is that He gives us His words so that we can align ourselves with His creation. He has given us His word in spoken form. In His word He commands us but He has also given it so that we command ourselves and God. Now this is really important. God has made all things to work together in perfect unity not only in the physical sense...ie like parts on a machine but also in a meta physical sense. The meta physical sense is Gods perfect description in words in describing everything and how it fits together. The word of God is given to us to reorder everything by Gods meta physical description.

But Gods descriptive language is both revealed and mysterious. There is not enough paper in the world to write down Gods total description of everything that exist from the beginning of time to the end. It is too much for us to handle. So God has given us a language in which we speak His word and it is a kind of parenthesis of His mysterious description. He basically simplifies His play book so that we can participate in His creating.  In this sense God lowers Himself to our level so that we can talk in this face to face way.

The Psalms describe Gods standards that are too wonderful for us to imagine and too awful for us to contemplate. In our view we always hold onto our lives  in trying to work things out that  lowers the standard of experiencing Gods goodness. This is why Israel was faithless. Because they would not trust God as God promised but wanted to a government that they could control so they could get what they worked for. So instead of trusting God as their only source of protection and sustenance they complained that God was too slow in making them a Nation. So God judged the unbelievers and they wondered in the desert not being able to enter the promise land.

God always starts off with showing us that everything we have is a gift of grace. This is exactly why He made the day a 24 hour day. He separated the days into morning and evening because He wanted the people to have a view that each day was His new creation and it was different from all the other days. He wanted His people to live as if Christ was raised to life in them each morning. This is exactly what the apostle said when he exhorted them to wake up from their sleep and experience the power of the resurrection. When the sun comes up in the morning the glory of Christ brings us into an experience that is genuinely new.

But faithlessness is when those who are wicked wake up and try to prove that they are worthy by planning their own lives. They look to themselves for their rewards. This is the natural experience of a person who is under the power of the curse. The law pronounces judgement on all law breakers. In our natural selves we hear the law as a school master. We are attracted to the challenge the law gives us. If we meet the challenge then we are satisfied with the returns of our efforts. But this satisfaction is mixed with condemnation that we did not meet the challenge successfully. We are motivated by our guilt to do better the next day. Our attraction to the law and the course of our lives is leading us to embracing death. We learn to settle in admitting that we enjoy our lust. Because we have made the reward for our efforts our god. Our returns fulfill our lust.

But God has a much better way of living. Each day we get up it is a new day and God has something planned that is much greater than we could ever imagine. We will not settle with making deals with God. Instead we want to be united to Gods view of His creation. We want to experience life in the order that God has established. This way is a way of grace. God gives one day and will not stop giving. God promises us everything and He will hold onto us even if we fail to believe how good it really is. God overcomes our pain and struggles with proving that He is better than He was the day before. As each day passes God gives us more strength to trust Him more. As each day passes God is coming to us and overpowering us with His goodness.

How does He motivate us by always being good? He proves Himself to us by unifying our experience in His experience of pleasure that He gets from His creation. We are always settling for the scraps that fall from the kings table. We are always settling for a lower form of unity with a little disjointedness. But God wants to overpower us with His unity so that we will experience our full rites as His sons. As our Father He wants us to ask for big things, to use arguments for our welfare and the welfare of others. God wants us to experience the control, gifts and unity that His Son earned on our behalf. He has made a way for us to overcome all things so that we grow to experience greater unity as if we ruled the earth.

Justification by faith is describing our status as kings and priest of the Most High. When we are saved we are freed from the bonds of sin because we are definitively sanctified. The Psalms teach that our view of ourselves is argued from our position as already enjoying the identity that we will have in eternity. The curses are implemented to keep these other lesser images into recreating the old life in us. The old life was our being controlled by guilt, fear,shame, worry etc.

Salvation is described in the Psalms on the standard of a personal relationship with Gods king. If we are gonna have a claim to our inheritance, all the promises in Gods covenants and Gods declaration of innocence because of Christ work on our behalf then we are gonna trust in a communication of these images that is an imaginary reality to those who not believers. Why would we lower ourselves to the communication of process Christianity that teaches us to have possibilities of being back under the power of the curses? If we have been freed from the curse by Christ substitution atonement and ascension of absolute control then it would be as foolish to let a non believer tell us who we are as a blind man telling us where to go.

In this way Gods salvation is like our constitution. If we do not know who we are as citizens then our ignorance will only harm our practical lives. This is how God has communicated to us in constitutional words. He has given us gifts that are in the words of law-the pronouncement of death on the guilty who are not under the atonement, the covenants- that pronounce blessing on us in waring with the curse, and the decrees that are promises to work all things for our good and for His glory. These are written declarations for us to have on our lips at all times. It would be wise for us to start acting like kings instead of using fleshly methods in our preservation.

God has established His kingdom. He has not really opposed the kingdoms of the world through force. God doesnt need any man to fight His wars. Gods judgements are absolute at all times. There is no power that even comes close to Gods judgements. God doesnt win through opposing. He simply pronounces judgement and destroys. It is an imagination to think that we are essential in opposing evil. Our opposition is shown in the course of history as all the kingdoms of man become obsolete. Do not put confidence in the flesh...I repeat ...do not put confidence in the flesh but in Gods declarations that are absolute.  We have chained the curses to the pulpit and look at all our cultural destruction that we must overcome now.

Psalm 12^[a]

For the director of music. According to sheminith.^[b] A psalm of David.

¹ Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore;
    those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
² Everyone lies to their neighbor;
    they flatter with their lips
    but harbor deception in their hearts.

³ May the Lord silence all flattering lips
    and every boastful tongue—
⁴ those who say,
    “By our tongues we will prevail;
    our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”

⁵ “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord.
    “I will protect them from those who malign them.”
⁶ And the words of the Lord are flawless,
    like silver purified in a crucible,
    like gold^[c] refined seven times.

⁷ You, Lord, will keep the needy safe
    and will protect us forever from the wicked,
⁸ who freely strut about
    when what is vile is honored by the human race.

This is a Psalm that teaches how important the tongue is in creating value in the course of history. The Psalms teach that everything that has ever been born into existence comes from God speaking it into existence. When the Psalms talk about Gods will not being thwarted it is talking about Gods perfect description of all things that are in existence, both His creative word and His re-creative word cannot fail in bringing Himself good in the end. 

A lot of people teach that we are a product of a two line universe. If there are two lines then we face tension because these two lines do not always unify but they are two perspectives that happen in the same event and at the same time. They teach that this tension is taught by the apostle when he is talking about the war with flesh. 

If there is tension then our resisting is described as our having more power than the object that we are struggling with. If the powers on one side are potentially able to be strong enough to over come our existence then it is the same thing as saying that God and Satan have equal power in us. Do you know why you feel more frustrated and divided when you hear this? Because this is teaching that the christian life is divided into the secular and the religious and you wont experience real kingdom authority until you die. You really are two people who will be joined together in eternity. 

The danger in thinking that we oppose Satan through a struggle by our being controlled by the Spirit is to communicate a lower view of God than the bible teaches. If  I were to teach two line in this way then I could control God and in controlling God I could control you. Because short of destruction I could describe your struggle any way I wanted to with one verse here and one verse there. 

We see in this Psalm that we are not identified as a person who is a product of our own mind and choices. But the whole course of history is created by man in speaking an image and is judged by God and overturned by His description of the perfect history. These patterns of speech that form our world view are more powerful than we think. We see that man in redefining Gods world has destroyed Gods creation by giving the present generation an imaginary way to create their lives by presenting arguments that allow people to redefine Gods creative word. What is allowed in the human experience will always be the basis of how we communicate and create. This Psalm is a war Psalm asking God to silence this dangerous world view that is even deceiving the elect.  ill stop here but there is so much more to understand.

Ive wanted to write about trying to control God by our systematic explanations of doctrine that we use in our speech and in our writing. Because when we are trying to speak about God we should be equipped with the boundaries of what we are writing about, the boundaries from our understanding of the doctrines of grace. But this communication that we have from the words of scripture is really compared to a way of walking. In some sense doctrine is simply the back bone that gives us confidence that we can present something that is fresh that we have heard from God and we are able to express our full humanity as from our personal world view.

In this sense the scripture is really an instrument in which we find the genuine connection to the God -Man. As to God we find that His word never changes. He never acts toward us by reacting to us. But as the the Man we find someone who has an experience in this world that is far beyond our understanding. He is connected to His circumstances, creation, and to people in which the meta physical weight is as powerful as dynamite. We have been united to this Man in our salvation who has experienced pleasure, peace, joy and power that is an emanation of the understanding of who He is in its fullest. In our human experience He has experience that connection of the communication of all things that far surpasses our understanding of how we are connected to all things...those things of creation and our horizontal relationships. In this way we are only united to each other as we experience His value as He is connected to others. How can we describe this abundant life in theological terms without adding something of our own as if we can control it?  

If you study the Psalms you will find there are very distinct terms in identifying Gods people from the wicked. Let me give you a sample of one of the uses of this identity we enjoy. Psalm 94¹ The Lord is a God who avenges.
    O God who avenges, shine forth.
² Rise up, Judge of the earth;
    pay back to the proud what they deserve

In this Psalm we see there is a complaint about these governments that are ruthless. In our definition these are  totalitarian governments. Here the psalmist is praying in a cursing way..."Pay back the proud what they deserve. " First we do not explain the context of the Psalms exclusively by Davids personal experience as he wrote the specific Psalm but the Psalms are using the identities of different men within the context of the over all teaching about salvation in the bible. The "proud" are not just those men who seek to over throw the government of Israel, but the Psalmist is making a doctrinal statement about a universal struggle between Gods people and the wicked rulers. If you separate the identity of the "proud" in saying that it is in the context of this political psalm then you have a social gospel. Its obvious in such a dogmatic statement that the Psalmist is speaking of the wicked as the group that is identified as the "proud."
 We can also see that this is very much related to justification by faith. Gods government on this earth is absolute. This all ties into how we view Gods relationship with the king who represents Gods elect. God provided Israel with His presence by going before them as a fire by day and a light by night. You have this peculiar relationship that describes this legal innocence of Gods people as the Lord going out before Gods people to be their defense against all of those who oppose them. This analogy is really a teaching of justification by faith.  The righteous by declaration are opposed by the nations who are populated by men who are proud. We see this heart in the Psalmist to protect the elect by decreeing victory over the proud as the analogy of our position of justification by faith. 

Two line reasoning is not a staple in historical reformed theology. I believe that two line is teaching a contradiction. Reformed theology is a defense of the gospel of justification by faith. We believe that as we apply justification by faith in its proper context that we are describing true faith. Our objective is to defend justification by faith in teaching that salvation is not a work of man but it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
But the word justification is not just a term that describes faith but it is a legal declaration of innocence. In defending justification by faith we believe that before God we are free from blame. But the two line teaching is that we can still be blamed because we are also under the tension that sanctification brings.
Let me give you a few reasons why we are already blameless. I do not believe that God in speaking about His relationship with Israel in the ot was pointing to His elect when He addressed His people as stubborn, disobedient and dull of hearing. This is where I draw the line when I defend Justification by faith. I can see where people who believe in two line can draw this conclusion by how you have God addressing His people in the law in Deuteronomy and demanding compliance to the law as the basis of covenant faithfulness. You have the specific laws stated and the requirements for compliance. But I believe that we are obligated to see the Deuteronomy teaching in the context of how they applied it in their worship. So I believe that the law was taught in the words of the Psalms as the culture that we see describing the way they thought in their daily lives.
In memorizing the book of Psalms and becoming proficient in the use of the phrases you will find the Spirits teaching in the rest of the ot within the applied order of words that are in the Psalms. It is very obvious to a person who has this kind of head knowledge. I do not believe it is accurate to teach an OT passage without understanding the culture of words that are in the Psalms. I believe as we are unfamiliar with this culture that we water down the way that they approached God in a personal sense.  I will explain this further.

The bible addresses all the problems that we face that are in this world. There is only one answer to these problems. God has made man to rule the earth. When man is frustrated it is because he is facing opposition to subduing the earth. So God has placed a government in the heart of man.

This is why God worked with a nation to establish His kingdom upon this earth. From the beginning God created man for the purpose of showing that He is a saving God. God establishes His salvation on this earth through overcoming all opposition to His kingdom. God has placed His kingdom in mans heart.

When God created the heavens, earth and mankind He told Adam to name the animals. As we read further in the book of Genesis we see man creating a government and culture. When God established the nation of Israel He established the nation through circumcision. Circumcision was the birthright to receiving all of the privileges of  citizenship. Circumcision was a sign that God would be faithful to the Nation through His covenants. But not all of Israel were faithful. Even tho they were chosen to be included in receiving the benefits of Gods covenants they were not part of Gods elect within the nation. "Jacob I loved, Esau I hated" ..."Not all Israel are Israel"So God had a remnant of people within the nation who enjoyed His fatherly care. So salvation has always been Gods display of His covenant faithfulness that cannot fail because He picked His own for Himself.

But salvation has never been according to race..sex or color. From the beginning of time God has purposed to bring salvation to Israel so that it would spread to the nations. We read about this expansion in a limited way when Israel went into exile. The gospel was spread as Israel was in bondage to the surrounding nations. "Then it was said among the nations the Lord has done great things for them and we are filled with joy."

But it wasnt until we get to the NT and the fall of Jerusalem that we find a serious spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth. And yet Gods salvation has never changed. It has always been according to His special choice of His people. But we find these expressions of the gospel spreading to the ends of the earth in the NT in the words all, everyone, the world etc.

When we are born again we receive new life.  This new life is eternal life. The way this life is communicated to us is through one deliverance to another. Our new eternal life is said to be Gods implanted word that is like planting a seed in the ground so that it grows into a tree.

In the Psalms God gives His gifts to us through communication. The reason that God doesnt just decide to gift us without our understanding it , is because even tho salvation is in God alone it is not for God but for us. God doesnt need saving. lol This implanted word is communicated to us as a word of salvation.

God has given us a gift that is two dimensional. To explain this very simply it is that we have the ability to go from word to Person in a form of euphoric mystery. The Psalmist prays that God will speak the word of salvation to him as if he is a non person who is seeking for his place in this life ...and in the assurance of his deliverance he finds himself ...his purpose and his identity ...what the apostle calls Our spirit uniting with Gods Spirit so that we cry Abba Father. The ultimate voice of dependence upon God is His spoken word of salvation that we hear in overcoming our circumstances in this life. This is what I call being converted as having these experiences in the past that are like markers where we hear God speaking His word of salvation to us and we are reduced to a child like dependence as we go from His word to His Person. We know He is with us.

When we are a child in the faith our prayer and seeking Him to speak His word to us is more of going from desperation to euphoria. But as we are converted more and more in time the word becomes a Person to us that is always fellow-shipping with us. We go from being empty because of our lack of experience to always being full. This is what the bible describes as His life in us that springs up as living waters. Another analogy would be like waves of love crashing upon the shores of our souls.  The end result of being implanted by His word is not really to understand all the bible better but its so that God Himself can abide with us in experience.

Our personal space is a blessed state in which Christ enjoyed in His oneness with our Father. This blessed state that we enter into was obtained by Christ by taking the curse upon Himself. To believe in a full substitution we must accept that we are legally protected from the former cursed state that we were under. The Psalms use judgement language of the curses as the edicts that provide for our safety. I call this cursing the curse. If Christ is a full substitute then in His identifying with us He provided us a new specific language that opposed guilt, fear, sorrow and shame. If He is actually our substitute than He is our friend who opposes the language of the curses. Christ cursed the curse so that we might rule over the earth. We cheer Him on in this defensive language.


 ^{Isaiah 45
 11} Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask me of the things that are to come; concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me.
 11. Ask . . . command--Instead of striving with Me in regard to My purposes, your wisdom is in prayer to ask, and even command Me, in so far as it is for My glory, and for your real good ( 11:24 , John 16:23 John 16:13 , latter part of the verse; 1 John 3:22 ). Bible study tools.

This is a prophecy that God will deliver Israel from Babylonian captivity. In the Psalms God provides the nation with a prophetic utterance through the prophets. The prophets represented Gods elect within the nation of Israel. God put the coals on Isaiah's lips as a sign that he would be given the power to create disaster and blessing by "commanding the Lord." When God says He is gonna act to deliver Israel , a wayward people,  He is addressing the national Israel. When God uses the language of creation to explain His way of delivering Israel He is addressing His covenant elect.

You find this same creative language in the Psalms. Ps 10 18That man who is of the earth may be terrible no more.17 2 Let my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right.Ps 39 13Oh spare me, that I may recover strength, Before I go hence, and be no more.60 5That thy beloved may be delivered, Save with thy right hand, and answer us. etc... These creative phrases  are spoken throughout the Psalms as if Christ was walking on this earth in a path in which He created success. This legal language was given to the Prophets to protect Gods elect when they suffered under these national judgements or when they went into captivity. God spoke prophetic words in creative language ...a kind of poetic creative language in responding to the Prophets declarations as they pronounced the curses and blessings as Gods expression of His Shepherd care over His elect.
The Psalms are written in the language of war in order for the people to use it to endure persecution and national apostasy. It is the prayer language for Gods people.  This is the context of our relationship with Christ.

If you have read any post of mine on KLF ive been explaining the problems of hard line Calvinism and on the other side of the theological spectrum two line theology. Ive reacted to these two ways of presenting the gospel because I believe they are teaching a form of psychosis. The Calvinist who says that God proves His sovereignty by doing anything He wants and the two line guy who teaches that salvation is a free gift but after getting through the door we are under the obligation to prove our justification is a contradiction are both delusional. We make the mistake of presenting God as saying and doing things to us both as a friend and as an accuser. The only way that we can teach this is to have no feeling in teaching violence because for us it is a doctrinal issue.

Ive been involved with religious organizations for all of my life. I ve sat under teaching for many years. Most of the time and I do not want to talk about who or where because I ve sat under good teaching at different parts of my life as well. But most of the time ive been taught one thing about salvation and then the teacher has given me the impression that all that he said on this one side was nullified by this other side. lol

Ive also been told that God does as He pleases and it is really evident when we go through suffering. I can only say that I am not naturally a psychotic personality. I fall under the weak and dependent group. lol It wasnt until I memorized the Psalms that I began to see that God only had one purpose and it was for my benefit to believe.

The Psalms teach that God acts to save us because He is faithful, long suffering, gentle, kind, patient and forgiving. This gave me the context of His absolute right to do as He pleases. If God is absolutely sovereign then He only has one purpose not two. This is why ive even denied the modern day teaching of justification by faith. If you read any thing ive written ive taught one purpose in justification by faith. My understanding of this is not that we are saved and declared righteous and the proof of our justification is our works. But that God declares us righteous and then proves it by defending us in the use of His law which speaks death. If God speaks His covenant to me as a promise that He has acted toward me out of the tender care for my well being and then on the other hand disciplines me by destroying me through pain and your teaching that its part of Gods tender care for my soul then you are psychotic.

But we must examine Gods word because it explains God unifying all things according to His pleasure in the use of His law that backs up His covenant proclamations. The swearing of God to provide us success by His covenant proclamations is to save us so that we are safe and in experiencing this rest we are free to act as He gifts us. Ill discuss this more. 

The law of God is really given as an instrument for Israel to justify their war with the nations. The purpose of the law was to destroy anyone who it was addressing as violators of Gods government upon this earth. The reason that God required Israel to destroy every person and burn every thing in making war with the nations was that God saw those who violated His law as having the potential of spreading evil through rebellion. Rebellion was a violent act against Gods government. This is why God compared the teaching of the Pharisees as the presence of leaven. It was required of Israelite to remove the smallest particle of leaven from his house. This was an analogy of the danger of false teaching. God saw that even the presence of a rebel would ultimately lead to a violent insurrection.

This protects all people from being judged by their fellow man. Because Gods law was not given so that men could judge pragmatically. The law does not allow for good tries or sliding scales. The smallest violation of the Gods law requires instant death. The law is really an instrument of destruction. Gods wish for violators is death. This is why God spoke the punishment of breaking the law in language of curses. The reason that God spoke the curses was so that we would not be deceived about the power of destruction that the law enacts upon those who violate it. The curses raise the bar of destruction that we cannot understand. When we get angry because we have been sinned against the curses set the standard of Gods judgement so high that they consume our personal anger. 

From Gods view there is no in between acceptability. Every day men die and face judgement. There is no argument at the last minute that will work to get past the gates into heaven. In Gods view there are only the blessed or the cursed. At every tick of the clock in the history of the world Gods judgements at all times are absolute. We really never face this God on the level of His judgements. If God were to show sin, mankind, our own hearts as He sees them we would be evaporated in a second. The reason we do not really believe that we are saved by the sheer choice of God is because we do not hear Him speaking the destructive voice of the law and we just assume that God is pragmatic like the world we live in.