–Ernest Haycox  (Trail Smoke)

       “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.”

                    –Psalm 16:11 (NLT)
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A couple of songs came to my mind as I was pondering this morning‘s devotion.  Songs from long ago, the first–“Stop the World I Want to Get Off,” second, “Make the World Go Away,” and lastly, “Going 90 Miles an Hour Down a Dead-End Street.”  Have those thoughts ever crossed your mind?  Solomon has been talking in Ecclesiastes about things that are futile like grasping the wind.  Think of some things that are futile:
          “As futile as watering a post.”
          “As futile as plowing rocks.”
          “As futile as singing songs to a dead horse.”
          “As futile as pounding water with mortar.”
Let me get off this crazy, insane world.  But that is not the answer.  William Cowper wrote this,
          “The toil of dropping buckets into empty wells,
          And growing old in drawing nothing up.”
In other words, what are the important things in life?  Are you drawing up empty buckets?  Perhaps then, you are not learning what the Lord would have you learn.  Perhaps you are remaining in the world of childhood forsaking or neglecting responsibilities.  Life is a gift from God, are you enjoying it or dreading each day as it unfolds?  If you are not enjoying it, the problem might lie in the relationship that you have with the Lord.

               “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men.  A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it.  This is vanity, and it is an evil affliction.”
                              –Ecclesiastes 6:1-2 (NKJV)

       We have wonderful blessings, yet we often take them for granted, or do not recognize them.  Somewhere along the way a “foreigner” comes.  Who/What is this foreigner that gains your attention and tries to steal your blessing?  It could be sickness.  Some people are still reeling from the virus; they are still threatened by it and live in anxiety.  It could be a natural disaster.  A storm has come through bringing destruction and you focus on the storm rather than the Lord.  It might be an adversary–someone who is against you, or that dreaded adversary the devil.
       This foreigner is an “evil affliction.”  It draws us away from God.  We focus on the calamity, the destruction, the fight rather than keeping our eyes upon the Lord.  This is 2023, and I will tell you that if the Rapture doesn’t occur each of us will have our share of problems.  The “foreigner” will try to steal our blessings.  I would remind you of the words of that chorus that we sang so often in youth and in church services of by-gone years.

               “Turn your eyes upon Jesus
               Look full in His wonderful face
               And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
               In the light of His glory and grace.”
                              –Helen H. Lemmel

                         –Larry McMurtry  (Lonesome Dove)

       “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”

                         –Psalm 118:8 (NKJV)
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I started reading the Letter to the Hebrews to begin the year.  Now, I don’t consider myself a biblical scholar by any means, but I think that when a word is repeated several times we should look at it.  The term “better” is mentioned nineteen times in the New Testament, thirteen of those times in Hebrews.  I want to take a look at these verses and let you ponder them this Wednesday morning.

      1:4, “Having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”  Think of this–the Creator of the angels, came to earth as a man, and became lower than the angers, and now has gone back to His rightful position in glory.
     6:9, “But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.”  I remember when as a kid I would do something not so pleasing, Dad would give me “that look” that said I thought better of you.  The writer here has that same look however not in an accusing manner, but knowing that we are capable of better things.
     7:7, “Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.”  How are you at blessing others?  
     7:19, “For the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.”  Wow!  We now have a better hope to live this life–Jesus Christ.  We also have that better hope that awaits us in eternity.
     7:22, “By so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.”  For sure!  The Law made us realize that we needed a Savior.  Jesus is that new covenant.
     8:6, “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.”  
     9:23, “Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”  Christ is the better sacrifice–the final sacrifice for sin.  However, we should also be a living sacrifice and better because of the Holy Spirit within us.
     10:34, “For you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.”  
     11:16, “But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”  There awaits for us a home far better than anything here on earth.
     11:35, “Women received their dead raised to life again.  Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.”  Hold on, hold on, no matter what, hold on for there is a better resurrection, a life eternal with God.
     11:40, “God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”  In Christ, life is much better.
     12:24, “To Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.”  The sacrifice of Jesus, is much better; it is final, than any blood offering.

I hope to take more time studying this as I get to that portion of Scripture.  I’m taking it slowly, trying to digest what the writer is saying and how it applies to me.  However, with the word “better,” and what is on the surface of these verses I can begin to understand Paul’s view.  
               “For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.”  (Philippians 1:23, NKJV)

                    –Louis L’Amour  (Mojave Crossing)

       “Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!  Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing.”

                    –Psalm 100:1-2 (NKJV)
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Here’s something that’ll tickle you going into 2023–“Life’s a mess and then you die.”  That’s from Psalm 88, but Psalm 89 has a totally different perspective.  The nation may be falling apart, stupidity may reign, but God is good and is faithful and bigger than our problems.  Look this morning at the first seven verses, oh, and it’s all right if you sing the chorus while you read.

       1 — I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.
       2 — For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”
       3 — I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David:
       4 — “Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations.”    Selah
       5 — And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.
       6 — For who in the heavens can be compared to the LORD?  Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the LORD?
       7 — God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him.   (NKJV)

       How wonderful it is to know that we can always count upon the mercies and faithfulness of God.  He keeps His word at all times.  “God always stands committed to do what He says He will do.  He never forgets His word, never forfeits His promises, never violates His covenant.  Never does He pledge something and then fail to bring it to pass.”  (Steve Lawson)
       If you read the complete Psalm you will see the emphasis on the term “forever.”  God’s is faithful–forever.  God’s mercies last–forever.  F.B. Meyer states, “Mercy is a structure never done, layer on layer, story on story, tier on tier.  God’s faithfulness is sure as the heavens.”  God loves lasts–forever.  Because of the Lord’s mercy and faithfulness “we can live with solid confidence.” (Lawson)
       It is right that we should sing of God’s faithfulness.  I like what George O. Wood says, “Faith shines best when you declare God’s truth even though it contradicts how you feel.  God’s love stands firm forever, and His faithfulness is established in heaven itself.”  That’s one reason why God is greatly feared.  His faithfulness surrounds Him, what He said He would do, He will do.  He did it before and He’ll do it again.  His faithfulness to us is sound and sure.  Wood goes on to say, “The presence of faithfulness means God can be utterly relied upon.  The laws of mathematics, physics, genetics, gravity, and space all owe their existence to the predictability and dependability of God.  Indeed, faithfulness does surround Him.”  He is not going to take a vacation; He neither slumbers or sleeps.
       Throughout the new year make this a song from your heart.  “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing, I will sing…”. Joy rather than despair, victory instead of defeat, peace instead of gloom.  God is faithful!

               “Be still, my soul!  thy God doth undertake
               To guide the future as he has the past.
               Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
               All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
               Be still, my soul!  the waves and winds still know
               His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.”
                         –Katharina von Schlegel