Hey everybody,
Just a reminder that we won’t be gathering together this coming Sunday. And though we won’t be coming together, we can still be the church, worshiping Him by collectively taking the time to listen to and obey Him.
Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!
Do we live in such a way that reflects that the Lord’s opinion of us is all that matters? Will it be enough to here those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness”? Or do we want more than that? Do we also need the approval of others as well? Or will we play only to the audience of One?
Personally, I’ve found the the most accurate test for this, to see if we play only to the audience of One, is when we’re falsely accused. I’ve been going to church long enough to know that in difficult times, I’m supposed to pray. And most often I do. I’ll usually switch between praying the abject “why is this happening to me?” prayer and the “protect me, save me” prayer.
But my action rarely stops there. I don’t just take it up to God in prayer. I take it up to other people too. I want God and a bunch of someone elses to understand. And so, I try to get other people on my side. I scramble around, trying to get anybody to listen to my side of the story. Often I’ll paint a picture where my accusers look like the bad guys with the hope that I’d look like the good guy.
Now, contrast that with what David did in our reading last week when he was also falsely accused in 1 Samuel 24:1-9. David falls from favor because Saul sees him as a threat to his throne. In response, Saul chases after David with several thousand men. All the while, Saul’s told that David is “bent on harming” him. An outright lie. David then has the opportunity to kill Saul in a cave. But he only cuts a piece of Saul’s robe and spares Saul’s life.
If we simply look at the story in 1 Samuel we’d know the facts, the events in history that occurred but we wouldn’t know what David was thinking, what he was feeling at the time. And that’s where the Psalms come in. It’s believed that David wrote songs, Psalms during this time. I’ll highlight a couple.
In Psalm 140, up to the first three Selahs from verse 1 to 8, it sounds familiar to us. They’re “protect me, save me” prayers. But starting from verse 9, the tone shifts significantly. Suddenly, David wields prayer less like a shield and more like a sword. He goes on the offensive in his prayer. And while this doesn’t sound all that great character-wise, let me put this in perspective. When I go on the offensive, I try to right the wrongs done to me myself. I go around trying to set the record straight. I make the rounds bad mouthing my accusers. When David goes on the offensive, he goes to the Lord to right the wrongs on his behalf. It’s not that time healed all wounds for David. It’s not that David came to the place where we didn’t care if Saul got his in the end. It’s that David trusted that the Lord would act as the judge and dole out the consequences for the wrong done.
And that goes into the other Psalm, Psalm 56. We see a lot of the same themes that we saw in Psalm 140, but what we see even more clearly in Psalm 56 is that theme of trusting in the Lord. In this particular Psalm we see that the opinion that the Lord has of David is sufficient for him. David lives for the audience of only One. While word spreads that David is guilty of treason, seeking after the king’s life, David doesn’t feel the compulsion to go around the country on a campaign setting the record straight. “In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” David only has eyes for the Lord. David came to the place where all that mattered was what the Lord thought of him and he carried that with him for the rest of his life.
Is what He thinks of you all that matters? Because it’s true, He is more than enough. As David later wrote, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” and “Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”
If you’re interested in meeting up with the Kenya team when they come back at SFO, here’s their information:
SFO arriving from LHR @ 5:11PM tomorrow 6/28. United flight #0931.
Let Hideyo know if you can help out with rides.
A final update from Leslie after talking with Mike:
Mike just called–finally! They didn’t have internet or phone access in Garissa and arrived in Nairobi today. They said that the last two days of medical camps went really well–chaotic, very busy, but great. Jonathan, Chris and Mike are healthy, but Dennis has the dreaded “D” now and has for a few days now. Mike asked us to pray for Dennis’ healing and continued strength.
Tomorrow they will spend the day debriefing some with Ken and going on safari, and then will leave on Saturday. Please pray for their safe travel home. MIke said that the team has been like a real spiritual family, taking care of each other and enjoying each other’s company. Thank you for your prayers concerning team unity. The Lord has blessed them so much, and they really feel like brothers and sisters.
Thank you for your prayers!
Love, Leslie for the Kenya team
And here’s a follow up, again from Leslie after talking with Mike on the phone:
The church-planting training was totally awesome on Sunday. In the morning, the team spoke at several different churches and were supposed to work on the iron sheets (roofs for the guest house at Dadaab). They never got to the iron sheets because the Lord showed up in such a powerful way during the training. So Mike is sick with diarrhea and is dehydrated, but the Lord have him strength to teach four hours. But Chris took over in the afternoon and gave a totally God-inspired and convicting talk on passing these things on to the children. Apparently, she is like the pied piper there with children following her everywhere she goes, holding her hands and touching her. She taught them how to sing Jesus Loves Me, and they sang for the training, I think. It was really touching. 
Mike finished up the training Sunday afternoon despite his illness, and the Holy Spirit took over, according to his words. He ditched his material and shared that they don’t need more education but they just need to follow Jesus and obey him. He shared several testimonies of what God is doing all over the world with people who are willing to go for broke with him and the stories of transformation and gospel harvest as a result of their surrender and love for Jesus. He challenged them all to stand up if they were choosing this day to give up their lives for Jesus and be a person that God would use for his Kingdom. About a quarter of them stood up (roughly 40 people, I think). Then Mike led them in prayer to be ready to walk into martyrdom, to surrender their children, etc. Prompted by these prayers, they invited any of the sick to come forward for healing prayer so that all of them could immediately practice “real Christianity.” Tons of people flooded the stage area, and there were much fewer to pray for them. There wasn’t time or opportunity to ask them what ailment they had, so the team and other prayer warriors had to just listen to the Lord and pray according to the Spirit. This time went so long, because God was doing so much. At the end, they invited people to give testimony of how God has just healed them. And five women spoke up and witnessed to God’s healing. I think the team was so blessed to be a part of that.
Tomorrow is the last full day of training. And Mike doesn’t know if the others will do the iron sheets or not. It sounds like the team is doing well though apart from Mike’s sickness. Please continue to pray for them–for miracles and amazing things. Thank you for praying, BayLight family!
Love, Leslie for the team
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