Boilerplate
I’m Harold Dykstra. I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story. My time is well spent. A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel. I did not know she was an angel at the time. The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone. And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy. She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others. She changed my life.
In her leaving, she said someone would come. I had thought that was Jesus, in His second coming, but a new Babs, a little older, the model for the posable action figure arrived. While I had no desire to start over with romance, Morrie helped her move in, thinking she was the other Babs who had returned.
This Week’s Question
One day last week, Babs threw a party for the young men who have been mowing our lawn all year.
This week Babs was praying.
I asked, “What is the subject of your prayers, Babs?”
Babs sighed, “Well, Harold, every day, before I even get out of bed, I pray for the Lord to help me today.”
I shrugged, “Don’t you know that God is always helping us?”
Babs nodded, “Harold, He is always with me, helping me. Maybe my prayer isn’t a prayer for help as it is an acknowledgement of His help.”
I smiled, “What did God help you with yesterday?”
Babs replied, “My back was hurting after I carried so many cases of canned goods into the food bank and stocked the shelves. I sat down and prayed and a few minutes later, I was ready for the next few cases.”
I laughed, “Okay, that could have been your rest that helped you, but God created that in us that rest makes those muscles relax a little bit.”
Babs asked, “But I didn’t feel like getting out of bed this morning, it seemed that everything in my body was hurting.”
I sighed, “Babs, it only gets worse in that regard as you get older.”
Babs sighed, “Harold, you are so helpful with a word of Hope, when I need it. … Not!”
I shrugged, “Ask God for help. He can help. ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 4:6-7).”
Babs smiled, “But that’s it, Harold. I go to God in prayer, but sometimes I leave out the thanksgiving part. I would not go to God if God had not proven that He could, but did I thank Him enough for the last time?”
I nodded, “Matthew 7 seems to not have a condition, but then it does. ‘“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.’ (Matthew 7:7-12). It says ask, seek, and knock. And God will give, find, and open. Jesus then makes absurd comparisons, argumentum absurdum. Of course, we know what a good gift is. So, God will give us good gifts. Then, Jesus adds the verse about doing unto others. Some could argue that He changed the topic, but I do not think so. We need to do good for others. Then, at that point, do we need to ask, seek, or knock?”
Babs growled, “But Harold, we both do for others, especially those less fortunate.”
I smiled, “You need some Psalm 46 in your prayers ‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.’ (Psalm 46:1-3). I had a friend who started every prayer with that first verse. First, it praises God for who He is. Second, the next two verses tell us to not be afraid regardless of the circumstances. God can handle anything. Once you have said all that, then we know God is listening. He may not respond how we wish for Him to respond, but if He does all that for each of us, He is listening.”
Babs smiled, “Harold, I know He listens. I just don’t know if I thank Him enough, if I praise Him enough, if I glorify His Name enough.”
I laughed, “Babs, I see the joy in your face every day. I know you praise God. ‘Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights above.’ (Psalm 148:1). ‘Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.’ (Psalm 149:1). ‘Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.’ (Psalm 150:1).”
Babs asked, “Why did you hammer me with the first verse of the last three psalms?”
I laughed, “Babs, in just 29 verses total those three psalms combine to tell you who should praise, maybe who and what should praise God, because they mention angels, the star, the mountains, all that stuff. Then, they say in what ways we should praise God. We should sing our praises. We should play every instrument in the orchestra. All of that together. Then, we should praise God all the time. And why? That is where we get back to Psalm 46:1. He is there for us all the time. But why should we ask God for help? Matthew 7:7 says to ask and He will deliver. And let’s look at Joshua. ‘Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”’ (Joshua 14:12). God promised Joshua. Joshua knew what was coming was impossible unless…”
Babs groaned, “Unless the Lord was helping him. But it doesn’t seem Jephthah asked God for help. When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?”’ (Judges 12:3).”
I smiled, “God had already told Jephthah to drive out the Ammonites. It was not the will of God for Jephthah to have the aide of the Ephraimites. Both Ephraim and Jephthah would brag about how wonderful they were. Ephraim, by not being part of the battle was doing that here. But in defeating the Ammonites with a smaller army, Jephthah publicly recognized that God gave Jephthah the victory. And Ephraim refusing to help and then arguing that they deserved some of the spoils happens more than once, in just the book of Judges.”
Babs said, “What is this about in 1 Samuel 14? ‘But the men said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die—he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.” So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.’ (1 Samuel 14:45).”
When I asked her if she read the entire chapter, she said she did. “Saul did not want his men to stop and eat anything. He felt the time was right then. He swore that whoever ate anything, they would be put to death. Then, Jonathan, not knowing what Saul, his father, had said, dipped his spear into some honey and ate it. Jonathan argued that Saul’s command was silly. If they did not get some nourishment, the enemy would turn on them, and they would be too hungry to fight. Still, Saul did not want to go back on that vow. Saul made another vow that Jonathan had to die – the old ‘May God deal with me, be it ever so severely thing.’ But then, it was Jonathan’s brilliance in battle that had saved Israel that day. Sure, Jonathan was the only one that ate anything, the only one that had the strength to fight. So, Saul did not follow through with the doubled down vows. We focus on the straw that broke the camel’s back in the next chapter. God told Saul to destroy everything. Saul did not. Samuel declared a curse on Saul and his family. Now Jonathan had to die to cement the reign of David, even though Jonathan would gladly have been the leader of David’s army. But if we look at 1 Samuel 14. Jonathan should have died due to Saul making a foolish vow, and Saul should have died by doubling down on that vow without following through. Both died so that God’s will would be done. Jesus was supposed to come from the stump of Jesse. Judah was blessed by Jacob with kingly terms. ‘“Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.’ (Genesis 49:8-11). A lion is a regal animal. The scepter, the ruler’s staff, the nations being obedient? All that says king. Then the donkey and his colt is a prophecy of the Triumphal entry. And his garments stained with the blood of grapes is referring to the Last Supper and that Jesus died for us, relating blood and wine as the same.”
Babs said, “So then King Asa asked God for help. ‘Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.”’ (2 Chronicles 14:11). So, King Asa was one of the good kings. And in this one request of God, he says there is no one as powerful as God and then he asks God to help him.”
I laughed, “It’s often there, but rarely all in one verse. It is good to pray the Bible, but we need to do it in context. And in that verse we have praise and a plea for help.”
Babs smiled, “Before you give the idea that 2 Chronicles is the only one. I know, you said rare. How about this? ‘The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.’ (Psalm 28:7). That one has praise and a profession of faith. It does not say ‘Help me,’ but it says that God helps me. God knows what I need, so that should count for something.”
I smiled, “Absolutely, Babs. And Psalm 30 has a couple of verses about God’s help. This is the first. ‘Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.’ (Psalm 30:2). Then later in that psalm… ‘Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.’ (Psalm 30:10). Here we have God healing and God being merciful, which is a special kind of healing in a way. David wrote this song for the dedication of the temple, even though he would not live to see the temple built.”
Babs scrunched her nose, “So, if I use… ‘Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.’ (Psalm 38:22). I should also read from something like Psalm 146. ‘Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.’ (Psalm 146:1-2).”
I shrugged, “That is great, Babs, but remember that God listens to all our prayers, even those that don’t sound like poetry.”
Babs giggled, “Okay, so tomorrow, when I wake up and my body says to not move, I can have a few verses memorized. And I can say those verses before getting out of bed.”
I sighed, “Or you could say something from your own heart and then roll over, and I will help you out of bed.”
Babs asked, “And how would you help me?” She read my intentions. “No, Harold, you will not tickle me. No, you will not do that.”
I did not do as she said.
I said, “And as we usually do, after a little tickling and after a little laughter, we take a shower … together.”
Babs laughed, “Harold, you are such a smooth talker.”
Credits
All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife. We would talk about anything and everything. And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.
Babs is not old enough for those days of everything hurting, but since she had carried so many cases of heavy canned goods, opened the boxes, and stocked the shelves, she has a right to have a lot of muscles complain about it the next morning.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Leave a comment