The world is a brutal thing.  Full of scoundrels and made up of torment.  There is a curse upon it, made by men.  The race of man is small.  We’re nothing better than ticks scattered in the sage.  Maybe we started clean but now we’re livin’ in filth made by ourselves and we breed upon our own ignorance and vice, the smell which rises to heaven.”
              –Ernest Haycox  (The Wild Bunch)

    “But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you.”
              –2 Peter 2:12-13(NKJV)
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When I read Psalm 35, I am reminded of the old hymn made famous by Ira Sankey, the words written by John H. Yates.  The chorus goes like this:

         “Faith is the victory!
          Faith is the victory!
          Oh, glorious victory
          That overcomes the world.”

When you seem to be fighting the world, whether it be those at work, your neighbors, or the demons that seek your soul, go to this Psalm.  Someone said that this Psalm should be titled:  “David’s Reflections on Human Skunks.”  Look around you, people are constantly preying on other people’s lives one way or another.  Human skunks, they give off an odor that is unmistakable.

    1 – Oppose my opponents, Lord; fight those who fight me.
    2 – Take Your shields—large and small—and come to my aid.
    3 – Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers, and assure me: “I am your deliverance.”
    4 – Let those who seek to kill me be disgraced and humiliated; let those who plan to harm me be turned back and ashamed.
    5 – Let them be like chaff in the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away.
    6 – Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
    7 – They hid their net for me without cause; they dug a pit for me without cause.
    8 – Let ruin come on him unexpectedly, and let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it—to his ruin.
    9 – Then I will rejoice in the Lord; I will delight in His deliverance.
   10 – My very bones will say, “Lord, who is like You, rescuing the poor from one too strong for him, the poor or the needy from one who robs him?”

I’ve been around my share of skunks, both human and animal.  There was one time we were camping in Pennsylvania many years ago.  Just as the dark overtook the gray of the evening a “herd” of skunks invaded the camp.  They knew because of their delicate aroma that they were victorious upon entering.  We dared not throw anything at them; we could chase them out–the camp was theirs for as long as they wanted.  We went in our tent waiting for them to leave.  Even after they left their smell lingers and it was upon anything they rubbed against.
    Such were the people after David.  Such may it be in your life.  Hmmm, maybe you are the skunk and can’t get rid of your own odor.  Thomas a’Kempis said that verse three was the changing point in his life.  He had been struggling with his sinfulness and the perplexities of life when he was assured that God is his deliverer.
    Do you have weary bones?  When the rains are a day away can you feel it in your bones.  When someone dreadful has happened people have said they knew it because they could feel it in their bones.  The literal translation of verse 10, “I know it in my bones.”  Your bones will feel it, your bones will cry out–the Lord is my salvation!
    Horatius Bonar wrote, what may have come from the marrow of his bones, the following:

         “‘Tis everlasting peace!  Sure as Jehovah’s name.
          ‘Tis stable as his steadfast throne forevermore the same.
          I change, he changes not; for Christ can never die;
          His love, not mine, the resting place; his truth, not mine, the tie.”

Seasons come and go…each new season has its challenges and its beauty.  You can’t predict the exact dates and you can’t keep it from happenin’.  I guess I’ll just take what comes and look for the good parts.”
              –Stephen Bly (One Step Over the Border)

    “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
              –Revelation 3:21-22
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I enjoy looking at photos and paintings of stagecoaches.  One of my favorite movie scenes is when the stage for Lordsburg goes around a curve and there in the middle of the road is the Ringo Kid (John Wayne), standing and waiting for the stage driven by Andy Devine.
    Until the railroad, stagecoaches were the means of travel across country.  Even after the railroad stages were used until spurs from mainlines could reach other communities.  I have several books about stagecoaches in the Old West, and I was glancing through one and came across the following story.  There was a holdup and the passengers were herded out of the coach where they were searched and were told to keep their hands up.  Here is an account of what happened by Ben Holladay:

         “‘Keep your hands up!’ was the reply, while a second robber took my watch and money.  Then a search was made for the express company’s box, but the double-barrel shotgun did not move.  Its muzzles were within a foot of my nose.  For my life, I did not dare to stir.  My nose began to itch.  The stiff hairs of my mustache got up and one after the other tickled it, until the sensation was intolerable.  I could stand it no longer.
          ‘Stranger,’ I said, ‘I must scratch my nose!  It itches so bad that I’m almost crazy.’  ‘Move your hands,’ he shouted, ‘and I’ll blow a hole through your head big enough for a jack rabbit to jump through!’
         I appealed to him once more.  ‘Well,’ he answered, ‘Keep your hands still and I’ll scratch it for you.’  ‘Did he scratch it?’ asked one of the man’s interested listeners.  ‘Sure, said the man.  ‘How?’ asked the breathless listener.  ‘With the muzzle of the loaded gun,’ said the great overlander.  ‘He rubbed the muzzle around my mustache and raked it over the end of my nose, until I thanked him and said that it itched no longer.'”

There is much more to the story, but needless to say there could be some unique and interesting experiences along the journey.
    There had to be protection and on most stages there were “shotgun messengers.”  They were to sit next to the driver and look for possible danger along the route.  Whenever the stage had to slow, or where there were places where ambushed could likely take place they were ready for any danger that might occur.  They carried “coach guns” or “messenger guns” and were usually short-barreled 10 or 12-gauge double-barrel shotguns.
    As we travel along our journey to our final destination we have a driver who knows where He is going.  He has traveled the journey before; He knows the perils along the way.  Alongside Him is the shotgun messenger, we’ll call Him the Holy Spirit.  He is watching out for our safety.  He is along with us for protection and to be ready to come to our aid in case of ambush.  Because of His diligence, loyalty, and love we will make it to our final destination.

How cheap are the principles for which we do not have to fight, how easy it is to establish codes when all the while our freedom to talk had been fought for and bled for by others.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (North to the Rails)

       “Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away.”
              –Mark 14:50 (NLT)
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In the Book of Colossians, Paul writes that Luke and Demas greet you (4:14) and then in the last letter written by Paul, one of the saddest commentaries is to be found, “for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world…”  (2 Timothy 4:10, NKJV).
    Here is a person who has known the Lord, has traveled with Paul to present the Gospel and now–he left Paul because of his love for the world.  Desertion!  Paul disliked deserters.  When Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them on their second journey Paul was adamant in his decision of “NO!”  He didn’t go as far as to say that John Mark had left the faith, but he wasn’t doing his duty while traveling with them and thus had “deserted” the mission.
    Talk is cheap!  Desertion is rampant.  When the word comes up, our first thoughts go to soldiers in the time of war.  Men who swore an oath, now leave their post, shirk their duty and run away.  However, the more rampant kind of desertion if that of a spouse, usually the husband.  There can be desertion at home, career-minded parents often desert the needs of their children; deadbeat fathers are present but are not truly “dads”.  What is abortion if not desertion?  Desertion causes us to have feelings of disgust for desertion speaks of failure in the face of challenge.  Consider the following:

         “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him.”
              –Luke 14:27-29 (NKJV)

    In any endeavor we are told to count the cost.  This is speaking of military, home, marriage, career–count the cost.  I get so sick of college creampuffs whining about how much they owe in their college debt.  True, the cost is out of sight, but–count the cost.  They knew their financial responsibility upon taking out the loans, now they want to get out of repayment–desertion to their responsibility.
    I like what Mort Crim wrote several years back.  

         “Desertion is a detestable word.  It suggests courage defeated by cowardice, fidelity fallen victim to fear…  Desertion is the ultimate dereliction of duty.  It is not always premeditated; often it is a reaction to some immediate threat…  Devotion is costly.  But so is desertion.  To desert a person or a principle can destroy self-respect and bring spiritual death to the deserter.”

    Yes, there is a cost, a high cost to being a disciple.  There is a cost of devotion, but when the duty is fulfilled, ah, the joy that it brings to the soul.  There is fulfillment.  The cost of desertion is the opposite.  The person becomes scorned, their name is recorded and they are shunned.
    Two things in closing:  remain true in your devotion.  Stay devoted to the cause so the words will ring out when that final day comes, “well done, good and faithful servant.”  Second, look at Jesus.  He is the supreme example of devotion.  When the disciples fled, He remained obedient to His mission and true to them.  Jesus took on the cross, He became sin–He never deserted the will of the Father or the mission set before Him.

Our hearts were beating together, our blood pulsing together, our faces touched by the gentle hand of the same wind.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Silver Canyon)

    “I am my beloved’s, And his desire is for me.”
              –Song of Solomon 7:10(NASB)
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Along this trail called “LIFE” there is a time when a person comes across what is known as “love.”  We have some foolish notions about this thing called love:  folks fall in and out of love, vows made to each other don’t mean much any more, yet they should be the things that bind two people together.  Couples make prenuptial agreements, a contract, just in case.  They have a written contract that is more binding than the vows at the altar–crazy.
    Last Friday was a day of flowers, chocolates, and candlelight dinners, and pity the poor man who forgets any of those.  Then I look at them, and I say if those things represent love we are a poor person.  Yet, there are things that have become symbols of love.  However, it is a real shame if the only time of the year you bring your sweetie flowers or sweets is on Valentines.
    Sure there is young love, what might be called “romantic love,” the love of the heart palpitating with those giddy thoughts toward the person who is loved.  But what is more important than flowers or chocolate is what is expressed above–“hearts beating together” as one for in truth the marriage represents that two have indeed become one.
    A man wants a woman’s hand to hold as they go through the trials of life.  He wants a soothing hand to cool his feverish brow; he wants soft hands to hold and nurture their children; he wants capable hands to work accomplishing the daily chores of life.  Ah, but society and modern culture is trying to change all of this.
    Perhaps the days are gone when a man was a man and women were glad of it.  “Where is my feminine side”?  Right here next to me; part of me for we are one.  I have been truly blest that it was this time of year back in 1970 that I found the gal for me.  Yes, for sure, the Lord was plenty good to me.