A glimpse of heaven

          Yesterday January 13, 2011 was the one year anniversary since my wife died and went to be with the Lord.  Several people called me and many people wrote me e-mails and I appreciate all of them.  It was a good day because we were rejoicing that Minnie is now with the Lord and experiencing the joys of heaven.  And what are those joys that she is experiencing right now?  I posted an article on this blog on November 3, 2010 called "The Glory that is Yet to Come" that tells many things about heaven.  You can find it by looking at my list of articles under "Heaven."  Here are a few excerpts from that article:

 

http://billandminnieburnside.blogspot.com/search/label/heaven

          Our family life should be a little glimpse of heaven on earth as we love one another, help one another, and share in one another’s burdens and problems. Our homes should be a shelter from the world and a place where all learn of Christ and worship and serve Him together. They are not always that way, but to the extent that we show forth the riches of God’s truth in our lives and treat one another in the way that pleases God and we see growth in love and in grace, think of how that closeness will be multiplied in eternity future in heaven.

           Think of a simple meal and pleasant conversation around the evening dinner table. Or of a special feast such as the mother or family prepare at Thanksgiving. We all anticipate those special occasions and thank God for them. What about the delight of participating in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? or of breaking bread together with the Lord in heaven. What will that be like?

            Do you take pleasure in walking through lovely gardens and long walks along a beautiful river or overlooking a seascape? How much greater pleasure will that be when there is nothing to mar its perfection and when the curse has been removed from this old world? God created man and woman and put them together in a garden, the most glorious, perfect garden you can imagine. He gave them a pleasant, but meaningful task to do and the pleasure of each other’s company. And the Lord God walked in the garden in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:8

         How much more wonderful will the garden in the New Jerusalem be? “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. . . . ." Rev. 22:1-5

         Think of your favorite music and how delightful it is. But what singing awaits us in heaven and we will participate in it with a heavenly choir and perfect voices. “And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” Rev. 5:9-10

        “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.” Rev. 15:3
 And if choral music is wonderful, there will be instrumental music in heaven also because several instruments are mentioned in scripture. How much proficiency will we have in music? Remember heaven is a place of perfection and we will have a sinless, glorified body and an attitude much like Jesus Himself. “We shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2

          One of the joys of life is learning and discovering new truths about life and exploring God’s works and rejoicing in the works of His hands and His wisdom and creativity, enjoying the complexity and beauty of what He has made. We will continue to learn and discover new truths as we explore God’s wisdom. We are finite and of course will continue to be finite in heaven. We will no longer see as in a fog or a “cloudy mirror.” “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” He’s talking about fellowship with the Lord; certainly he’s not saying we will be omniscient! We cannot be because we are creatures and creatures are finite and limited. God is infinite and the works of God are infinite so we will never exhaust what there is to learn and enjoy throughout all eternity.

A Year of Happiness

Today--January 13, 2011--is the one year anniversary of Mimi's homegoing, her coronation, her entering eternal life.  Jesus came and took her with Him back to heaven just as He promised in John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."  She often talked about seeing Him "face-to-face" and now she has!

        We're well aware of the sorrow we've felt this year because of her absence and that sorrow remains, but let's focus today on her and what kind of a year she has had.   We don't know what it's like to be spirit without a body but God and the angels are spirits and they manage very well, thank you.  It's a different realm.  Spirits can see and hear and communicate and love and sing praises to God.  They are invisible to the human eye, but not to each other.   This is a mystery which we will eventually understand ourselves when we, too, go to be with the Lord. 

        So what sort of a life has Minnie had this past year?  We can imagine many things, but much of it would probably simply be just that, imagination.  A better question is: what has God revealed in His word that gives us some glimpse of her life--and what eventually will be yours, too,  if you know Jesus as Savior?

        "I go to prepare a place for you," Jesus said.  So Jesus had already prepared a place for Minnie.  And what a wonderful place it must be--perfectly suited specifically for her because "the Lord knows them that are His"--and everything about her.  So the place is wonderful because God created it but it's even more special because it is individually created just for her.  "A place for you"--doesn't that sound welcome?

        That prepared place is mentioned in another passage:  1 Cor. 2:9
    "But, as it is written,    "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
        nor the heart of man imagined,
    what God has prepared for those who love him"—

        Because we know the character of God and the creativity of God and the grace of God and the promises of God and because we see the providential hand of God everyday in our own lives, we are well assured of how well the Good Shepherd of the sheep takes care of those who are His.  But we also have a lot of scriptures that tell us what we have to look forward to, just as Minnie is presently experiencing.   And one of them is Rev. 14:13

    And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!"  God Himself said it twice in the same verse, Minnie is "blessed," she is "blessed indeed."  And what does it mean to be "blessed"?  It means that you are "favored of God."  It means that you are happy, really happy and satisfied and content such as you never fully experienced in this life.  "fully"--that's the word.  We've had a "foretaste of glory divine," but now Minnie is experiencing it in its fulness.  Jesus prayed to the Father that His followers "may have the full measure of my joy within them."   Minnie has that now.

        And Jesus' prayer to the Father continued, "Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world."  John 17:24 ESV  What must it be like for Minnie to see Jesus in His glory?  We've just caught a glimpse of His glory and it's totally changed our lives.   And as we "behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,"  we are "being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory" by the Holy Spirit who lives within our bodies as His temple.  But Minnie has actually seen Him now and scripture tells us what the effect of that was on her:  "we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 

1 John 3:2 "I will behold thy face [and] I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." Psalm 17:15

          Let's do what Minnie showed us how to do every day:  "let us rejoice and be glad in it."

                                                                                              Bill Burnside (for Minnie--and for you)

Today seems an appropriate day to share with you that romantic chapter in "Mimi’s Journey," "Courtship and Marriage"  This is a pdf attachment with a lot of pictures.  Write me a comment and ask for the chapter and I'll send it to you with pictures as a .pdf file.

       

Courtship and Marriage (from "Mimi's Journey" chapter 3) 1955

[I can't post the 8 pictures here, but if you write me a comment with your e-mail address or send me an e-mail, I'll send a .pdf attachment with the pictures.] 

Courtship and Marriage

           Our courtship was only seven weeks long. We met August 5, 1955 and were married

on September 26, 1955. This was the most important event in our lives after knowing Christ

as Savior and we were both well aware of it and joyful and thankful to the Lord for giving us to

each other: “What God hath joined together.” In fact, we took as our “life verse for our

marriage:” Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above

all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the

church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Many times in our

marriage we would tell each other that the Lord had done “exceeding abundantly” more than

we had even thought or asked for. Looking back after 54 years of marriage, I feel that more

strongly than ever. What an amazing privilege to be married to Minnie all those years. How

good and kind she was to me and such an excellent wife and mother. The heart of her

husband trusts in her. . . . She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.”

Proverbs 31:11-12 ESV That was so true of Minnie all her life. As beautiful as she was

physically, her inner beauty of character surpassed even her physical beauty. She knew that

scripture, “let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of

a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.” 1 Peter 3:4 ESV

           How did God in His providence bring the two of us together on August 5

finished my tour of duty in the United States Army on 31 January 1955 and returned to college at Howard Payne College in Brownwood, Texas. My brother was living in San Antonio and was the lay pastor of Alum Creek Baptist Church, a mission church of Richmond Avenue Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas. Alum Creek was a small country church just a few miles north of Stockdale

on the road to Seguin. Minnie usually went to church in town at First Baptist but she had

relatives and friends who attended Alum Creek and they all decided to go to some special

meetings at Alum Creek. When those meetings ended, Minnie was still attending there temporarily and joined other young people from San Antonio for a church ice cream social the night she met me because I was one of those “young people from San Antonio.” I was staying with Bob and his wife Bernice and little 4-year old boy Kenny during the summer of 1955, intending to return to Howard Payne in the fall. I was working for my dad who was an accountant in San Antonio. Listen to how Minnie described our meeting:

"In August 1955 I went to a

church party with a group of girls.

It was a 'tacky' party--meaning

you wore jeans or something that

was not 'dress up.' We were all in

a backyard enjoying a cook out

and home-made ice cream."

"Suddenly I noticed a very

handsome young man standing

over in a part of the yard with no

one near him, so I went over and

introduced myself. He said his

name was Billy Burnside. Little

did I know that I had just

introduced myself to the love of my life!"

      "The following Sunday morning the pastor introduced him and said that Bill would be teaching the young people on Sunday evenings! All the girls were excited--

"After church I asked him what we would be studying. He told me and I went home to study and prepare some questions to ask Bill! I wanted to get his attention! [Note from "Bill": she already had my attention!--riveted on her!] It worked. He asked me to ride back to San Antonio with him and his brother so we could continue the discussion. . . ." [That discussioncontinued for 54 years!] J-88-89

       Minnie had dated other boys, of course, and had one steady boy friend as well as others she liked, but the kids in Stockdale did many things together and she was very sociable. She loved getting together with the other kids but she worked so many hours that those social occasions were all the more special to her. She wrote, “When you grow up in a small town of 1,000, life is pretty simple. We lived near a river so we would sometimes take a picnic and swim in the river. We also liked to go to the movies. Our little town had a movie theater. We also went to all the activities at the local Baptist church.”

       “We also liked to go to Seguin, a town about 23 miles away.Seguin had a big park with a swimming pool, minature gold and lovely walking trails. There was a drive-in restaurant called The

White House where we loved to go to eat. And we loved to go to rodeos and football games.” J-36

      Speaking of dating and boy-girl relationships, Minnie wrote, “I never felt that I was looking for love. God gave me lots of friends– both girls and guys. I was very young and very busy. We often did things as a group. You didn’t need to have a date to be part of things.” J-87 She said, “I dated one guy off and on for several years. From the beginning my mother didn’t like him. She tried to explain why she thought he was bad for me, but I didn’t want to hear her objections. She allowed me to go out with him but she was strict about where we went and what time I had to be home."   

(Later I was very glad that Minnie’s mother approved of me. She proved to be a very good mother-in-law!)

th and 6th 1955? I

Bob's son Kenny, age 4,

with Uncle Bill & Aunt

Minnie in 1956

        One interesting dating incidenttells something about Minnie’s theological knowledge even as a teenager: “A friend once arranged a blind date with a friend of his. I don’t remember the guy’s name but I remember a conversation. I asked him if he was a Christian and he said, “No.” Then he proceeded to tell me that God was just an idea in my head so it didn’t matter whether we agreed

about it or not. I remember telling him that God was real and that Jesus showed us what God is like. I agreed that if God was only an idea in my head, it wouldn’t matter, but I knew that was false as I know the Lord.” J-87

       When I realized that I had already quickly “fallen in love” with Minnie, I also realized “how can two walk together except they be agreed” [as to where they’re going] Amos 3:3 so I knew I needed to find out what Minnie believed about life and God and the Bible and her purposes in life and what she thought about children and work and a whole host of beliefs. So one night after we began going out together, I stopped at a roadside park and began asking her a lot of questions about her beliefs. I hadn’t intended it as an oral exam, but several years later she asked me one night if I remembered that particular night and of course I did. She told me then, “Do you know what I almost asked you when we drove away from that roadside park? I wanted to ask you, “Did I pass?!” Obviously she did! And I’ve always been thankful, too, that I “passed” in her evaluation and decision to marry me.

        Many years later Minnie mentioned our courtship in a talk on Worship that she gave to

the women’s group “Heart and Hand” at Sequim Bible Church, Sequim, Washington on Oct.

9, 2003. These are her verbatim comments: “And then I had various boyfriends of course as

all girls do and then I met one boy friend that was very different because on every date he

wanted to read the Bible together. And I thought, “Oh, this guy is really neat!” And we did. I

don’t think we ever went out that we didn’t read the Bible and pray together. And we’re still

doing that. [She said that with a sweet smile and approving laughter from the audience.] So

the pattern from the time I met Bill of our relationship together was very much centered

around the Lord.”

         Indeed it was because we both knew the words of Jesus, “Whoever loves father or

mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me

is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:37 Obviously the same would apply to husband or wife so

our love for Jesus had to be greater than for each other. In some ways that is difficult to

comprehend because of the intense love we had for each other. But we knew what God

required of us and we sought to be obedient and we taught those same truths to our children.

Minnie posing on car for picture about age 17

“We both loved the Lord Jesus,” Minnie wrote in her journal, and wanted to serve Him. Our mutual love of the Lord and our desire to serve Him drew us very close to each other.” “From the beginning we had very long discussions about our views of the world, what we wanted in life and how our lives could bring glory to God.”

       “We became engaged in early September and were married on September 26–same summer we met! [1955] My roommate [Janet Chappel] had moved out and so we decided to change our wedding date from December to September. God has richly blessed our lives together.” J-88 Minnie was 18 and I was 22.

      In her journal Minnie went into more detail:

“Bill and I were engaged with plans to get married during the Christmas vacation of

1955 but my roommate decided she needed to move back with her parents, so I was left with

an apartment and no transportation. This was on a Friday evening. I told Bill the problem

and we tried to figure something out. Finally he said, ‘Well, I could cut class on Monday night

and we could get married on Monday.’ Sounded like a good idea, but I told him we would

need to talk to Mother. We drove to Stockdale and she agreed to help us get a one-day

license on Monday. We planned to have just our families, but my Aunt put an invitation on the

restaurant bulletin board and the little church [Alum Creek Baptist Church] was full. Bill’s

brother, Bob, married us–his first wedding! We did not have a honeymoon at that time, but I

spent a night in a motel for the first time!” J-90

Illustration1955 September 26 Wedding Picture--taken

a few days later  1955 September 26 Wedding Picture--taken a few days  later

        The church was full and it was a simple, but sweet wedding–although I missed the cue to

come in on the wedding march and Janet had to start playing it a second time. An old couple

who were friends of Minnie’s let us hide our car in their garage so that the boys wouldn’t be

able to tie cans on it. And after all the ceremony my brother Bob followed us in a procession

enroute to San Antonio and then when we got to a narrow section of the highway he began

going very, very slowly, blocking the highway from the other cars behind him. Minnie and I

took off quite fast towards San Antonio and none of them ever saw us again that night. We

stayed in a motel in Alamo Heights and then rented our own apartment the next day. And we

both had to go back to work the next day. My dad arranged for a friend to take this wedding

picture the Friday following our Monday wedding. I took Minnie on what amounted to a

delayed honeymoon to Colorado the next summer. [She was such a cute bride! She has on

her wedding dress while we were wading in that cold Colorado river.]

Minnie 1956 in Colorado wading in the river

wearing her wedding dress

Minnie 1956 Continental Divide in Colorado

Minnie in the Colorado Rockies on our

"Honeymoon" Summer 1956

Is there a "Proverbs 31 husband"??

Facebook has carried a discussion of Proverbs 31. I posted several comments and I thought you might be interested to read what I wrote for the church bulletin when I was bringing the evening messages at Sequim Bible Church in Sequim, Washington--about 10 years ago.

Comparing Scripture with Scripture
“Who can find a virtuous woman?” I hope we have many of them at Sequim Bible! Compare the godly wives in Ephesians 5:22-24, 1 Peter 3:1-6 and Proverbs 31:10-31 and let’s put together a composite picture of a virtuous and godly wife. She also is Christlike because the Holy Spirit is in the process of transforming her “into His likeness with ever-increasing glory” 2 Cor. 3:18. And the Holy Spirit is also producing the fruit of the Spirit in her life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Gal. 5:22-23

Is there also a composite picture in the Bible of a virtuous and godly husband? Not in the same way except that the entire Bible describes the Husband of the Bride of Christ. And each of these passages also has important words for the husband: Eph. 5:25-33; Col. 3:19; 1 Peter 3:7-9

What about the Proverbs 31 husband? He’s there! and it’s obvious he has given his wife plenty of “room” to act with her own leadership, creativity, and energy. She has the freedom to “consider a field and buy it,”; to work hard in creative enterprise; to care for her family; and to help those in need. She has freed up her husband from a lot of the home tasks so that he doesn’t need to “micromanage” the home because he has a diligent and effective “helper suitable for him” whom God has created to come alongside him and help him in his God-given responsibilities. (Gen. 2:18; 1:27-28)

Her husband “safely trusts” in his wife and has confidence in her. He calls her “blessed” and he praises her. This evening at 6:00 PM we’ll do likewise, Lord willing.

“Losing a Tent and Gaining a Mansion”

“Losing a Tent and Gaining a Mansion”
Not to worry. When it comes time for the Lord to take you home, that’s where He will take you. Jesus said, “In my Father's house are many mansions. . . . I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and [take] you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Spurgeon put it this way: “The best help to live for the present is to live in prospect of the eternal future. . . . All we can lose is the frail tent of this poor body. We are losing a tent and gaining a mansion.” “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” 2 Cor. 5:1 NKJ

“The prospect of his heavenly home made his present trials seem very light; for he felt like a man who sojourns for a night at a poor inn, but puts up with it gladly because he hopes to be home on the morrow.”

“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Cor.4:18 Death is but “the removal of a tottering tent that we might enter into a permanent palace.”

John Quincy Adams also thought of death as leaving a temporary dwelling. When asked as an old man how he was doing, he replied, “John Quincy Adams is well, sir, very well. The house in which he has been living is dilapidated and old, and he has received word from its maker that he must vacate soon. But John Quincy Adams is well, sir, very well.”

The Apostle Peter used the same metaphor or picture of death when he wrote, “Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me.” 2 Peter 1:14

What a glorious gain it is to trade in this old dilapidated body of this flesh so that it will be “fashioned like unto his glorious body” Phil. 3:21 and to live in a more glorious place than you can imagine where “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Rev. 21:4

And we will see “the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Rev. 22:1-5 ESV

And what a dwelling place for each child of God because “in my Father's house are many mansions.” John 14:2 And Jesus has gone to prepare a specific place just for you. “The Lord knows them that are His” and He knows everything about you so His choice for your dwelling place will be perfect. 2 Tim. 2:19 & Psalm 139

The Voice of the Lord in a Thunderstorm--Psalm 29

Psalm 29
The Voice of the Lord in a Thunderstorm

“In these verses there are six descriptions of the voice of the Lord, of which the thunderstorm is an emblem. The reader should imagine a magnificent storm coming eastward from the Mediterranean Sea, making landfall to the north in the mountains of Lebanon, and heading south to sweep through Israel, from Sirion (i.e., Mount Hermon, Deut. 3:9) in the northern end to Kadesh at the southern end. The faithful, worshiping in the temple in Jerusalem, see the awesome power of the storm and from it know that the voice of the Lord is even more powerful and even more full of majesty, hence their responsive cry, Glory!”
–ESV Study Bible note, p. 972
With that in mind, read Psalm 29 ESV
A Psalm of David.
Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
[2] Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
[3] The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
[4] The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
[5] The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
[6] He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.
[7] The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
[8] The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
[9] The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
[10] The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
And KJV has the last verse: “The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.” Psalm 29:11

“The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.” Listen to Spurgeon’s comments:
“There is a peculiar terror in a tempest at sea, when deep calleth unto deep, and the raging sea echoes to the angry sky. No sight more alarming than the flash of lightning around the mast of the ship; and no sound more calculated to inspire a reverent awe than the roar of the storm. . . .
“The Psalmist’s ear hears no voice but that of Jehovah, resounding from the multitudinous and dark waters of the upper ocean of clouds, and echoing from the innumerable billows of the storm-tossed sea below. The waters above and beneath the firmament are astonished at the eternal voice. When the Holy Spirit makes the divine promise to be heard above the many waters of our soul’s trouble, then is God as glorious in the spiritual world as in the universe of matter. Above us and beneath us all is the peace of God when He gives us quiet.”
“The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.” “The King of kings speaks like a king. As when a lion roareth, all the beasts of the forest are still, so is the earth hushed and mute while Jehovah thundereth marvellously. ‘Tis listening fear and dumb amazement all.’ As for the written word of God, its majesty is apparent both in its style, its matter, and its power over the human mind; blessed be God, it is the majesty of mercy wielding a silver sceptre; of such majesty the word of our salvation is full to overflowing.”
–Spurgeon, Psalm 29, I, 2, pp. 30-31

"I direct my desire"

“I direct my desire”
What a helpful Psalm we have this morning! Psalm 25 begins with an idiom: “Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.” The ESV Study Bible explains that “to lift up my soul” means to “direct my desire” or “set my heart on.” It’s talking about the affections of the heart and implies a “longing” for something or someone.

Where should you direct your “desire”?? You must “take pleasure” in something or someone. What or who will bring you that deep satisfaction to the longings of your heart? Happiness, pleasure, fulfillment, satisfaction, delight–these are all good words which God alone can ultimately satisfy.

So “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2 As a deer thirsts for flowing streams of water, so “my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. . . .” Psalm 42:2 What a picture of great desire! Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Mt. 5:6 And the promise is still in the Bible, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

The next two verses of Psalm 25 tell us that we will never be “put to shame” or disappointed because we have a solid basis for our faith in the Living God who made heaven and earth. Those who found their hopes on vanity or emptiness and what doesn’t actually exist or is transitory and fleeting will be chagrined or put to shame. But those who trust in the Lord and look to Him will experience His saving grace and sustaining strength.

They “wait for Him” expectantly and He strengthens them in all He calls on them to experience. Our “solid rock” is “the God who is There,” His actual existence and Presence here and now. God is not just a “concept” or merely “an object of faith,” but a real Person who has eternally existed and who created the heavens and the earth and has all power in heaven and in earth.

King David then leads us in prayer,
“Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
“ Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.” 25:4-5
“Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
“The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
“Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.” 25:16-18
I look expectantly to you, O Lord.
–Pastor Burnside