The Psalm 23 Adventure, Part 54
August 25, 2017
We were blessed to
have Bruce Allen in our home a couple of weeks ago. He came to spend a few days "just to
take a break" from his busy traveling schedule. We had a great time sharing back and forth and
bouncing things off each other for the whole time he was with us, but also in
our Sunday gathering. He insisted that I
need to assemble all of these Coffee Breaks on the 23rd Psalm and put them into
a book. We've talked to a publisher, and
it looks like we will be doing just that.
Of course, I have to finish this series, first!
David
begins his wrap-up of this 23rd Psalm adventure by stating, “Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” There’s a whole lot wrapped up in that, so
we’ll see how far we get in sharing today.
Take
a look at something that happens to Moses while he is in the mountain top with
the Lord and asks this question:
Exodus 33:18-19: And he said, I
beseech thee, show me thy glory. And
he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the
name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,
and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
It’s an unusual way of expressing things, and
the KJV really doesn’t get it. The word,
“goodness,” is an oversimplification of the Hebrew word, áeè, toob.
Here’s
how it comes out when you amplify the Hebrew:
And He answered, I will cause the entirety of My
self, My Kingdom, My fairness, beauty, joy, prosperity and goodness, and
My discernment, to transition in phases by and upon you; I will address and
pronounce the nature, the character, the makeup the personality of Yod Hey Vav
Hey (Jehovah) to you personally; I will [demonstrate to you that I] bestow
favor, acceptance and mercy on whom I choose to show my love, favor, acceptance
and mercy. (Exodus 33:18-19,
RAC Translation & Amplification)
Sure
changes the picture, doesn’t it?
Consider
where we’ve been and what has been developing in our character and nature during
the growth processes as we’ve walked with the Lord in the Paths of
Righteousness. The Lord has been
developing Himself in us over these years.
Anyone that thinks this is something that happens quickly in us is
living in a fantasy land.
What
God does is careful. It is
methodical. It is precise. It is purposeful. There is design and destiny in what He is
doing. And let’s not forget that this
whole transformation process is designed to develop us into fit, compatible,
counterparts for the Lord Jesus Christ.
After
all (and we’ll get into this in more depth later), His purpose is for us to
dwell with Him forever, functioning like Him, operating fully in His character,
His nature, His likeness, His authority and power — ruling and reigning with
Him forever!
If
indeed we’ve followed where He has led us, if we have responded — and not
reacted — to every situation we’ve encountered, every experience has been
designed to develop All that He is in us.
I’ll
say this — and keep saying it: there is no option but for goodness and mercy to
follow us wherever we go if we’ve responded properly to the Lord at every stage
of His development in our lives. Many
years ago, during the Charismatic Renewal, Bob Mumford was teaching on the 23rd
Psalm and he put it like this.
“Goodness
and mercy are like two puppy dogs that follow us around. They hang at our heels. They won’t leave us alone. They’re always there!”
It’s
a humorous metaphor, but you get the picture.
Here,
again, is what He has been developing in us:
I will cause the entirety of My self, My
Kingdom, My fairness, beauty, joy, prosperity and goodness, and My discernment,
to transition in phases by and upon you.
This
is exactly what has been happening. He
has been “transitioning” Himself in phases within us. One does not suddenly become all of
that. Look at what He did with Abraham!
We
know from Acts, chapter 7, that the Lord called Abraham while he was still in
Ur of the Chaldees. From all I’ve seen
and know, Abraham was roughly 50 years of age when God first called him. Having been raised in a home where his father
was a maker of idols and a Babylonian priest, there was nothing in Abraham’s
upbringing that would lend itself to an understanding of the Lord God Almighty.
Hearing
that voice of God calling him to something that simply didn’t fit his paradigm
brought about a partial obedience.
Notice how Stephen puts it as he is describing things to the priests and
Pharisees.
Acts 7:2-3a: And said unto him,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which
I shall show thee. Then came he out of
the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran:
What
we see is partial but progressive obedience. Abraham was instructed not only to
leave the country, but his father’s house as well. The following narrative tells us what happens
next.
Acts 7:3b: and from thence, when
his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
The Genesis narrative gives us a little more
clarity.
Genesis 12:1-5: Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a
land that I will show thee: And I will
make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great;
and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will
bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall
all families of the earth be blessed.
So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went
with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out
of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife,
and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and
the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land
of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
So
25 years elapsed in Abraham’s life between his first obedient response to the
Lord and his finally leaving his family household behind. He waited until his father was dead before he
would actually follow the Lord into “a land that I will
show thee.” That land, of course, was Canaan. There was a progressive change taking place
in Abraham, but it demonstrates the patience and mercy of the Lord as He
brought Abraham along towards a destiny that would eventually affect every one
of us. What is clear, as well, is that
Abraham saw in his spirit, the promise of God.
His nature had yet to be completely transformed, but there was a
yearning in him for God’s best.
That
same thing has been happening to us.
None of us have been totally obedient to the Lord when He first spoke to
us and gave us direction. Each of us has
had to be faced with our need for deliverance from one or more of the families
of fear in this walk — and it is why our obedience to the Lord is, or has been,
compromised during the years.
Notice
that even now, Abraham’s obedience is still compromised. Instead of totally leaving all of the family
behind (with the exception of his wife, Sarah, of course) he allows his nephew,
Lot, to come along. That’s not going to
be an immediate issue, but it is going to become a thorn in Abraham’s side in
the years to come, and ultimately give rise to two nations — the Moabites and
Ammonites — who would become enemies to Abraham’s descendants through his
covenanted son, Isaac.
Abraham
is a long way from true responsiveness to the Lord, however. He is still reactionary to his surroundings.
Genesis 12:10-15: And there was
a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the
famine was grievous in the land.
And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he
said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman
to look upon: Therefore it shall come to
pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is
his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister:
that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of
thee.
And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the
Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and
commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Oops! See what happens when you react in fear to
your surroundings? There was a famine in
the land. Instead of waiting to see
God’s provision in the midst of famine, Abraham heads for Egypt. Bad move!
Now he is in the camp of the Enemy, and the Enemy sees his wife. There’s a whole lot more to this story that I
won’t get into. I was there and watched things
develop during that period in 1996 when the Lord took me in the Spirit and
transported me back to see the unfolding of events in Abraham’s life.
God
has a purposed destiny for Abraham and the Enemy is doing his best to defeat
it. And Pharaoh gets wind of this beauty
and decides that he’s going to have Sarah (she is still known as, Sarai, at
this time because an ongoing transformation in her life has yet to be
completed) for himself. Reacting again
in fear, Abraham tells his wife to say that she is his sister lest the Egyptian
Pharaoh decides to just kill him and take her.
And that’s exactly what happens.
Sarah tells the Egyptians that she is Abraham’s sister.
It’s
a funny thing about God! We screw up in
our obedience to the Lord. We miss it badly
and yet the Lord still manages to pour out His blessing on our lives. Before I continue, allow me to say one thing
here.
Just
because we have the blessing of God unfolding in our lives at different times
is not necessarily a sign of His approval.
We’re His kids. He loves us. As such, He is going to bless
us as time goes by. But the sign of His
approval is going to come when our obedience and responsiveness
to Him is complete and total. And the
sign of His approval will be markedly demonstrated!
Genesis 12:16:
And he (Pharaoh) entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had
sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she
asses, and camels.
See
how God is blessing Abraham? In spite of
the reactionary place in Abraham and the way he is reacting in fear to things,
God is still blessing him — enormously.
His deception, however, is going to be found out, and when that
deception is discovered, he is going to be driven out of Egypt, back to where
God intended for him to be in the first place.
Genesis 12:17-20:
And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues
because of Sarai Abram’s wife. And
Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done
unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why saidst thou,
She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore
behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way. And Pharaoh commanded his men
concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
There
is a progression taking place in Abraham in his relationship with the Lord, and
it is the same progression that God does with us. Each of us faces one or more of the families
of fear in our walk with God. It is
absolutely mandatory that we be free from all fear if the
goodness of the Lord is going to be manifested in our lives.
Abraham’s
principal fear is the fear of death. We
see it exhibited time and time again.
But the progression that is taking place in him is God’s deliverance,
once and for all, from that fear.
Again,
we see the blessing of the Lord on display.
In spite of Abraham’s screw-up by going into Egypt, and the deception
with Sarah, as he departs Egypt, we see the following:
Genesis 13:2-4:
And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in
gold. And he went on his
journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been
at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he
had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
The
Hebrew phrase that describes Abraham’s state goes like this: ãàÊîÀ ãák. The phrase is, kabad meh
ode.
Kabad describes wealth in unbelievable
abundance; to be weighted down with it. Meh ode is an expression
of vehemence. Hence, Abraham is being
described as among the wealthiest of all people. We’ll come back to this later.
When
he first came into the land of Canaan, Abraham established an altar to the Lord
which he called Beth el: “the house of the Lord.” It became a pivotal place for him and his
descendants. It marked the fact that God
was with him, that God had indeed brought him into a land populated with multiple
nations who were enemies of God, and that God had given him enormous favor with
those enemies.
Before
God can continue with his development in Abraham’s life, however, there must
now be a separation between he and his nephew, Lot. Lot is not part of the covenant, and Lot
cannot participate in what God is about to unfold.
As
we see what happens, it is clear why Lot could not be a participant in that
covenant and the blessing and approval of God that would come with it. As is always true when you have a
relationship — particularly a family relationship — with someone who is unresponsive
to the things of God, strife and division take place.
We'll
stop here and pick up this narrative in Abraham's life next week. We are just getting into the picture of the
goodness and mercy of the Lord, and how it follows us.
For those of you who’ve been participating in
our Monday night Healing Prayer Conference Call, we just want to let you know
that beginning with the month of July and continuing until the first Monday
night in October, we will be taking a break for the summer. We’ve found during the past three years of
doing this call that participation during the summer months drops significantly
because of folks taking their vacations, and being involved in other
activities. That said, we will resume
our prayer calls on Monday night, October 2nd.
At the same time, in
case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our
Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about
10:45AM Pacific. That conference number
is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#. We are now making these gatherings
available by Skype. If you wish to
participate by video on Skype, my Skype ID is regner.capener. If you miss the live voice call, you can dial
(712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in
later. The video call, of course, is not
recorded – not yet, anyway.
Blessings
on you!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76504
Email Contact:
CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com
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