"Putting the horse before the cart"...thoughts from Psalm 28:7...

Many "quaint old sayings" get carried on over time, while their original meaning gets completely lost.  One such saying is..."that's putting the cart before the horse."  Obviously, the intent of the original saying was to identify the fact that the order in which someone was doing, or about to do, something, was completely backwards...just the opposite of what it should have been.  It wouldn't work that way...it couldn't work that way.

Unfortunately, not many people today see horses pulling carts through their streets, let alone actually attempt to hitch a horse to a cart.  As a result, I once heard a man exclaim, in a very loud and serious voice, "...that's putting the horse before the cart!"  He hadn't simply misspoken...he was quite serious.  He was familiar with the expression, but, completely unfamiliar with the meaning of the expression.  As a result, his emphatic statement was as inappropriate as the situation he was applying it to.

Even though his comments were not directed towards me...I couldn't help but overhear his statement.  The clear contradiction caught my attention...I immediately thought to myself, but...that's where the horse belongs...before the cart!  How absolutely silly he sounded.

I was very quick to recognize that man's error.  Unfortunately, I'm not always quite so quick to recognize my own.

Putting things in their proper order...doing things in their proper order...is the only way we can reasonably expect a proper outcome.

It's a good thing to desire to know and experience joy in the Lord.  It's also a good thing to desire to trust the Lord...especially in the midst of difficult and trying situations.  Too often, however, we're prone to fall into the trap of expecting our experience of joy in Him to provide the motivation...the strength...the courage...to trust Him.  That, I believe, is putting the cart before the horse.


One brief verse in Psalm 28 is very helpful here.

      The LORD is my strength and my shield;
         my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
      My heart leaps for joy
         and I will give thanks to him in song.
                                                   Psalm 28:7

Having cried out to the LORD in his time of distress, and having seen the LORD respond in faithful provision...just as He has so faithfully in the past...David then offers his praise and thanks.  The sequence here is extremely important.


First, David restates a truth about the LORD...He is David's "...strength and shield."


Second, David responds to that truth, with trust.  "...my heart trusts in Him."

Then, David exclaims that his "...heart leaps for joy."

Finally, David determines that he will now, and in the future "...give thanks to Him in song."  David will worship his LORD.

David meditates on a truth about God, and is moved, based on that truth, to trust in God.  His joy in God is the result, as is his determination to praise God.  Some translations make this even more evident by including the conjunction "therefore," immediately before "...my heart leaps for joy."

I should not seek to be strengthened to trust God by, and because of, the joy I have in God.

Rather, it is right and proper to trust Him simply because of Who He is.  What I will find is that true joy will follow...not simply because He answers, but because I am living in light of the truth.

But, isn't it true that Scripture says that the joy of the LORD is my strength?  Absolutely.  This, however, is part of an ongoing process of growing in Him.  The joy David experienced as a result of his having trusted his LORD, then becomes a strengthening factor in his next time of trial...and, so too for each one of God's children.

But, isn't it also true that Scripture says that it was "...for the joy set before Him..." that Christ endured the cross, despising its shame?"  Yes.  But, Scripture also makes it clear that His matchless and unfathomable love, was His motivation...not His own joy.

Trying to get someplace by putting the cart in front of the horse would be a frustrating and futile undertaking.  So, too, trying to depend on my feelings of joy in the Lord to enable me to trust Him, will also prove to be frustrating and futile.

However, seeing Him for Who He is...meditating on the truth He's revealed, and acting on that revelation in humble trusting obedience, will, surely bring me to that place of true joy in Him, resulting in praise to Him, and He will be glorified, as He alone deserves.

A "blessed contradiction"...thoughts on true freedom...

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.    Galatians 5:1

We must be ever grateful for, and vigilant over, the blood bought freedom we are blessed to enjoy as citizens of this country.  It is even more important, however, that we are even more mindful of being grateful for, and vigilant with regard to, the freedom provided in Christ, for the blood bought citizens of His Kingdom.

Admittedly, to make that statement on the fourth of July is to run the risk of being seen as unappreciative of all that is being celebrated today.  If that is your initial response as you read this, then, to borrow someone else’s phrase, “you infer what I do not imply.”

My acknowledgement of and appreciation for the once-for-all Sacrifice made on my behalf by the Son of God, need not, and does not, imply a lack of appreciation for the multiple sacrifices of the sons of men from which I now benefit.  My acknowledgement of and appreciation for His deliverance from the yoke of slavery to the tyrant sin, need not, and does not, imply a lack of appreciation for the freedom I have from any earthly tyrant.

That said, my thoughts this morning are simple, and quite simply focused on the awesome nature of the blessed freedom we have in Jesus Christ, inspired by the words of the Apostle Paul in that brief verse from Galatians 5:1.

Because, and only because, of my Heavenly Father’s indescribable gift of His Son, I can experience and enjoy, eternally, true freedom.  It is, at one and the same time, a freedom from…and a freedom to…

In Christ, I have freedom from...

• the fear of death...
• the fears of life...
• the fear of man...
• the bondage of futile human effort and attempts to somehow make my sinful self right with, or acceptable to, a Holy God...of futile attempts to be good...to be good enough...to keep His Holy Law, that reveals His character and nature and Holy standard for His children...
• the penalty I rightly deserve for my sinful rebellion against my Creator...
• the power of sin over my soul...
• the presence of sin, ultimately and eternally...

In Christ, I have freedom to... 

• see, and experience, and enjoy, and be ever growing in the wonder of His love and mercy and grace...
• see, and experience, and enjoy, and be ever growing in the knowledge of Him, in all the beauty of His holiness...
• see, and experience, and enjoy, the wonder of relationship with Him...
• see, and experience, and enjoy, the wonder of relationships with others who, by His grace, share His life...
• experience the confidence and hope that come from His promised presence...knowing He will never leave me, or forsake me...
• look forward to an eternity in His presence...
• present myself to Him, unreservedly, to serve Him faithfully in unchallenged and unrivaled obedience, by His grace, and for His glory...

Paul’s words, inspired by the Holy Spirit, are at once both encouraging and challenging.  I am reminded of the wonder of the freedom I have in Christ, alone.  But I am also reminded of the very present danger of being drawn back into a yoke of slavery.

When God sets me free in Christ, it is not simply so that I might be free from the bad stuff that results from my slavery to the evil, tyrannical master, sin.  Rather, He sets me free that I might now willingly present myself to Him, to serve Him, my loving Master…my Lord…my Savior…my King.

The “blessed contradiction” of this life is that I experience true freedom only as I willingly submit myself as a slave to my Heavenly Master…my God…in and through my Lord Jesus Christ.