This week Deanna and I left our favorite place, with grandchildren, to participate in a week of crisis security training with other mission leaders. We came home more hopeful than when we left.
Planning for the Worst
We just spent a week learning what to do when things go wrong.
A missionary team gets into an accident. Something unexpected happens far from home, and someone has to decide quickly what the right response is. That was the focus of a security training intensive we attended in Arvada, Colorado.
The training was led by Christian specialists who help organizations think through how to respond well in emergencies. We were with about thirty friends who mobilize teams and coordinate church planting in many parts of the world, often in pioneering places.
You might think a week of thinking about emergency scenarios would raise anxiety. I came away more encouraged than ever.
The Arvada Vineyard church, in Colorado, let us use their facility for the training.
The Hope in the Room
What kept catching my attention was the hope.
These are not naive people. They know what can happen. The trainers walked us through their best practices for very extreme situations, and nobody pretended the risks were small or that optimal outcomes were a given.
And still, the hope was thick in the room. God is on the move, and these men and women know it. Even while teaching us to plan for the worst, the trainers kept drawing that hope out of us. Near the end, one of them said something like this:
If a group is unreached, or difficult to reach, there’s a good reason for that. Our task is not to shrink back, but to press in. But to do it in as wise a way as possible. And if we have to take risks that are real, blatant risks, we do so with our eyes open.
Then they took us to John 7. Jesus’ brothers, who did not yet believe in Him, pushed Him to go up to Jerusalem for the feast and show Himself to the world. Jesus told them His time had not yet come. Then:
“But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as though in secret” (John 7:10).
John notices that the crowds in Jerusalem were quiet too:
“No one was speaking openly about Him, for fear of the Jews” (John 7:13).
The crowds were quiet out of fear. Jesus was quiet because He was keeping His Father’s time.
Halfway through the feast, Jesus walked into the temple and taught. He said who He was. He did it His way, at His time, so He could do what He had actually come to do.
I left those meetings wanting to do the hard stuff and go to the hard places, and to help others do the same. But prayerfully and thoughtfully, asking:
Is God really telling us to go there? In this way, at this time? And if so, let’s go.
The King Rides Out
Those questions were with me as I meditated on Psalm 45. It fit that room well. Psalm 45 is a wedding song. The poet’s heart is moved, and he writes for the King on His wedding day:
“You are the most handsome of the sons of mankind; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever. Strap Your sword on Your thigh, Mighty One, In Your splendor and majesty! And in Your majesty ride on victoriously, For the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness; Let Your right hand teach You awesome things” (Psalm 45:2–4).
In the ancient world, kings rode out to take land, plunder, and glory. This King is different. He rides for truth. For humility. For what is right. Then the poet looks at the King’s throne:
“Your throne, God, is forever and ever; The scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of justice. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your companions” (Psalm 45:6–7).
A scepter was the king’s staff of office. Think of a sheriff’s badge. The little piece of metal isn’t the point; the authority behind it is. The Hebrew word behind “justice” here pictures level ground, a straight and even road.
This King’s rule is level. It doesn’t tilt toward the powerful.
And His rule flows from who He is. He doesn’t merely enforce righteousness. He loves it. So God pours joy over Him like oil. In this psalm, righteousness and joy belong together. There is music in His palaces, fragrance on His robes, and gladness in the wedding procession.
The King Has a Name
Psalm 45 began as a song for a king in Israel, but its words reach past any ordinary king. A throne forever and ever? The writer of Hebrews tells us who this is about:
“But regarding the Son He says, ‘Your throne, God, is forever and ever, And the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of His kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your companions’” (Hebrews 1:8–9).
The author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 45:6-7 and explains it is about God’s Son. The beautiful King, grace on His lips, riding out for truth, humility, and righteousness, is Jesus.
The Mighty One with His sword strapped on is the same Jesus who slipped quietly into Jerusalem in John 7. He moves at His Father’s time, in His Father’s way. When He did speak in the temple that week, the religious leaders sent officers to arrest Him. They came back empty-handed. Asked why, they said:
“Never has a man spoken in this way!” (John 7:46)
Grace is poured upon His lips.
Princes in All the Earth
Near the end of the psalm, the poet makes a promise to the King:
“In place of your fathers will be your sons; You shall make them princes in all the earth” (Psalm 45:16).
Through Jesus, God is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10). And Jesus sends His people out to represent Him:
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us…” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
And heaven sings over the people He has redeemed from every tribe and nation:
“You have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth” (Revelation 5:10).
The King’s scepter reaches farther than His own hand.
His reign extends through people who carry His authority, reflect His character, and share His joy.
I think that is what I saw in Arvada: people riding out with the King. Eyes open, and full of joy.
Hard Places
Most of us won’t fly into an unreached region next month. But every one of us has a hard place. A coworker who makes every shift harder. A neighbour who is not kind. Children who make difficult choices. A hospital room. A tired church. A village far up the river.
The King rides out there too, and He does it through us. So we can ask the same questions I brought home from Arvada:
Is God sending me into this? In this way, at this time?
If so, go. Go with truth on your lips and humility in your step, and with joy. The oil of joy is on the King, and those who ride with Him share it.
If not yet, wait well. Like Jesus did.
For the Days Ahead
Psalm 45 rewards slow reading. Try one line a day:
Grace is poured upon Your lips (v. 2). Before you speak to anyone today, listen to how Jesus speaks to you.
For the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness (v. 4). What cause is driving you today?
The oil of joy (v. 7). Where has your obedience gone grim? Ask for His joy.
A Prayer
King Jesus, Your words are full of grace, and Your rule is level and good.
Thank You that You love what is right.
Show us where You are sending us, and how, and when.
Give us courage that isn’t careless and wisdom that isn’t afraid.
And let us share Your joy as we go.
Amen.
Earlier in the psalm, the peoples fall under the King’s arrows. By the end, they are praising Him:
“I will make Your name known among all generations; Therefore the peoples will praise You forever and ever” (Psalm 45:17).
The peoples. Even the hard-to-reach ones.
That’s why the room was full of hope.
With gratitude, Rick and Deanna
Next Steps
After Colorado I continued on to Brazil, and Deanna went back to Abbotsford. We are trying to be wise with her recovery and pacing.
I plan to come back to Abbotsford for Christmas.
Please Pray for Our Next Steps in 2027
We’re asking the same questions about 2027: Is God sending us? In this way, at this time? Please pray with us as we:
Sell our house and the mission property in Brazil
Continue working with pastors and leaders who are church planting here in Brazil
Consider next steps about helping church-planters get started in Portugal
Consider going with some Brazilians to Angola for an outreach
Work to advance church planting teams around the globe
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Scripture quotations are from the NASB 2020 unless otherwise noted.
