"To Be Measured"

"The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows." (Psalms 129:3)

  Be all that you can be; that is the slogan for a certain military service; at least I think it still is. Being your best, in the hard times as well as the good times, requires that you are keeping your guard up and you are living governed by God. Isn't that one of the meanings of the name of Israel, "Governed by God"? Matthew Henry points out that Jesus gave His back to those that smote Him; in this verse, it is not clear whether or not the back spoken of was given or taken by force, but what is clear, is that it was taken advantage of and the "plowers" did as much as they could do. Interesting enough, Pastor Rick was sharing yesterday about Hezekiah and his pleading for God to give him more time upon this earth. One of the points made was about how Hezekiah felt entitled to be given his request, because, after all, he had done some really good things for God. I think this is something that is always an issue with many people that serve God and are in ministry; maybe not the thought of dying, but the thought of being entitled to enjoy a little bit of the world: 'Just a little touch of what I have been missing, after all, I have been so good, I think I have earned it.' This might have been the thing that was in David's heart and why he felt entitled to stay back from the war. There is a real slippery slope that we get on when we start to feel entitled to anything, because nothing could be further from the truth. Which causes me to remind myself why Jesus was beaten so badly before they crucified Him. If I ever think that I am entitled to sin, even just a little, I need to remember why they had to beat my Lord the way that they did: because sin is ugly and tears up so many lives! Any time we think we are entitled to a little worldly pleasure, we are giving in to something that is going all the way back to the very first lie, "Ye shall not surely die." Something about that word, "die," because it was the same word that Eve and the serpent spoke about, that Isaiah spoke to Hezekiah, saying, "Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live." I couldn't help think about when Jesus wept, it was regarding the fact that death is so much a part of sin, and that sin takes away life; especially the abundant life we have in fellowship with God. What was on Hezekiah's mind, and why did he not want to go? The entitlement we think we have coming to us should be measured against the strips Jesus took for our sins; if you actually want to measure...

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid of him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:4-6)