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Jesus’ I AM Statements: Son of God & Messiah

It’s been possible for me, and maybe for you too, to lose sight of the full picture of worshiping Jesus Christ for who He is as God when studying the Bible because I limit my search of the Scriptures to finding what God gives and provides, rather than looking to learn about the Giver and Provider. The I AM statements of Jesus throughout the book of John can be especially made into personal placations for the soul—receiving them, yet not in worship of the God who gives.

Read the full post at Of Larks >> 

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Since the great truth of justification by faith alone is at the heart of Paul’s letter to the Roman church, the epistle may come as something of a surprise to modern ecclesiastics. We might have expected the apostle to address believers at Rome, a city crammed with social problems, with a social manifesto or, at the least, a recitation of the primary truths of Christianity in their application to the social problems of the imperial city. Rome was a city of slaves, but Paul did not preach against slavery. It was a city of lust and vice, but he did not aim his mightiest guns at these evils. It was a city of gross economic injustice, but he did not thrust the sword of the Spirit into the vitals of that plague. It was a city that had been erected on and that had fed on and prospered by the violence and rapacity of war, but the apostle did not expatiate on its immorality. Apparently, if we are to judge the matter from a strictly biblical standpoint, Paul did not think that social reform in Rome was “an evangelical imperative.” The proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ solved the crucial and urgent need for the society as a whole and for people in particular. It is still the imperative of the Christian church, and the Christian church will advance only to the extent that its gospel advances.

S. Lewis Johnson

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When You Feel Misunderstood

Moses heard God’s voice. He stepped closer, onto holy ground. From what he saw, he hid his face. God spoke, telling Moses he had seen the suffering of his people, and God commissioned Moses to deliver them from Pharaoh.

Moses humbly responded, “Who am I?” Who was he to have authority to spearhead this deliverance?

God spoke, “Certainly, I will be with you.”

Moses knew he was speaking with the God who had shown himself—even in this brief interaction—to be holy, compassionate, and promising of his presence. Yet, Moses’ steps forward in this mission would appear highly ambitious, to say the least. So his second inclination was to humbly ask about how to speak of God. Who would he say sent him?

God spoke: “I AM WHO I AM.”

Moses had little hope of being well-received by Pharaoh. I presume Moses knew that, since he’d return to remove the entire slave labor force of Pharaoh’s economy—not to mention, Moses would be returning to the place where he had killed an Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-15).

We too can anticipate not being well-received, feeling the pressure of being misunderstood. Yet, viewing our feelings through Moses’ story can be helpful toward pursuing a humility that brings freedom and perspective.

I AM: Worthy of Reverence

Moses would return to Egypt ill-received, but to have right perspective, he first needed to receive God well. When we feel misunderstood, we can also start there. We abandon our rights to be fully understood by others because, surely, we have misunderstood God; surely we can benefit from renewing our submission, removing our sandals, and praying that we can approach him with a heart to better understand who he is.

When is the last time we considered our rightful place in view of a holy, just, fearful, and majestic God?

I AM: The Giver of Compassion

With a heart rightly positioned before him, we can then humbly receive his compassion. The God worthy of all reverence and honor is also a God whose character is to listen to his people.

God has compassion toward our hearts’ cries when we have been misunderstood, when we sigh under the heavy pressure, and when we cry from the burden. We may feel that people don’t see what is honorable in our hearts; we may feel that certain characteristics or personality traits are under-valued, though God-given. But he hears these refrains of the heart. And he shows us his care and understanding through who he is.

God must understand our feelings because he is misunderstood. Some examples are not difficult to find: God’s character is misunderstood throughout the book of Job, Jesus was misunderstood by his disciples, the Son of God was crucified, a grave misunderstanding of who Jesus is, and God’s judgment, wrath, and holiness are degraded by those who redefine his love outside the bounds of Scripture.

If anyone understands what it is to be misunderstood, it is our God. Turning our eyes to him puts our pain in perspective, shows us his capacity for compassion, and lets us ache with gratitude that he would endure this for us.

When the Israelites, Moses’ people of heritage, sighed and cried out about their bondage (Exodus 2:23), God heard, saw, and was aware. God wanted Moses to know his compassion as background for his mission (Exodus 3:7).

I AM: Our Source of Present Strength

God’s understanding and compassion don’t mean that Moses would be without further difficulty. While God meets us in the longing places of our hearts and lives, his calling remains— to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey what God has commanded (Matthew 28:19). To Moses, God said, “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12).

Similarly, God promises us: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

God is present. This is what enables us, like Moses, to engage with God’s mission amidst the pressures of being misunderstood. It helps us turn toward our task when it would be far easier to withdraw from due to feeling diminished. His presence is our strength, and he calls us forward.

Trade I Am for I AM

When we feel misunderstood, it’s essential to know how to proceed so that we are not crippled. Moses’ example has taught me an active, heartfelt response to God’s goodness through his question in Exodus 3:13. He humbly wanted to know how to represent God to others on his mission.

Consider your feelings and thoughts that surround being misunderstood. How will others see and understand who I am? Consider the uncertainties you have about being with people who make you feel fragile or haven’t acknowledged what’s good in your heart. Then consider Moses’ extreme example, that his taking the life of an Egyptian guard obstructed others from seeing his concern for the Israelites (Exodus 2:11). Along the lines of Moses, who was in this deeper than us, transfer your concerns to a new question: “What am I contributing to how other people think of Christ in this situation?”

Jesus says directly before commissioning us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). He is worthy of highest reverence and regard without any need of our affirmation. He has all authority—including over what is rightly thought of each of us. Even more importantly, backing who we are and what we are called to do—the Person who we say sent us—is him.

So will others understand who I am? Perhaps, perhaps not. But swapping this question about “who I am,” for “How will others understand I AM?” brings humility that frees me to Christ’ authority and commission.

This post was originally published at Unlocking the Bible.

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Joy in the Monotony, Part 1: Consider the Curse

“Find joy in the mundane.” I hear or read it often and I want to divulge, upfront, that I very much agree. I too am glad that we can find joy in the drudgery of life. But I also believe that finding it begins counterintuitively—by understanding and learning from the curse.

In the third chapter of the Bible, after Adam disregarded God with his sin, God told Adam, “cursed is the ground” (Genesis 3:17). Our strides cover this same ground—each day, we pace across what is cursed. God continues, speaking to Adam, “cursed is the ground because of you” (Gen. 3:17, emphasis added). God says that, in sin, we became suited for each other, this curse and us.

From the ground, through our feet, into our homes, through our hands, and into our work come the effects of it. It causes Ecclesiastes 2:18 to have a familiar, dull ring in our hearts: “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun.” Jobs can be stressful. Relationships can be endless work. Routines can become drudgery. Our efforts can seem to make little progress, and all for what?

This is part of the curse.

Read on at Of Larks >>

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Both Heights and Hollows

A disappointment, a failed hope or expectation—and loss is bent into the heart. An empty space, carved smooth and hollow. A scoop came quick to remove it—from hope to disillusionment, a short, but true despair and sorrow. What once  was a possibility, and was molded into expectation, is lost—but hope? Not lost. 

And I am familiar. I know to fill it with good—in remembrance for the heart’s sensibilities that caused the expectation to first be wanted for joy. And this time, perhaps that’s the purpose. The same wants could eventually ensure that what now is fallow will be seeded. There are ideas—the kind that disappointments unearth. We’re waiting now, for what is coming. We know that compassion takes forming—and the hand that is sovereign uses both heights and hollows.

“…that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction” – 2 Cor. 1:4

“…as grieving yet always rejoicing” – 2 Cor. 6:10

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...Romans 3:10-12: No one is righteous, no not one. No one understands. All have turned aside and become worthless. No one does good, not even one. By nature, all of us resist the notion that these propositions apply to us, but, of course, they do apply. Moreover, we even resist the idea that they apply to all adherents of all religions on the face of the earth. Certainly there must be some people somewhere who seek God of their own accord. Can’t we at least categorize them as “seekers,” if not “saints,” or “good,” if not “perfect”? Can we not call them something other than “abject sinners”? As kind and courteous as is the inclination to gentle down the force of these words, the effect of doing so is both unkind and unscriptural. Such kindness denies what God says and also what he is. He is the merciful "seeking God" who always seeks out sinners (and, in his grace, transforms sinners into seekers before transforming them into sons). Our first inclination is to hide from God, just as did our first parents. Less obviously, however, any attempt to blunt the force of Paul's argument is unkind because it thwarts God's saving purpose. God has "consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all," says the apostle (Rom. 11:32). All are sinners by nature, by choice, and by decree of God. "That's bad," we say. Well, yes, but also, no. Why no? Because in his mercy God saves sinners. That's the only kind of people he saves.

David J. Hesselgrave, in “Paradigms in Conflict”

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Coming into Restful Plans and Dreams

Admittedly, I can catch my plans and dreams being drained on the useless, the temporal, and the outside-of-my-control. But at my best, the subjects of my plans and dreams are lent to another world.

Focusing on dreams over which I have little or no control is wishful thinking. My mind and heart could potentially spin endlessly on what I’d like to happen and what might deliver me to, for example, where I want to live, what I want to do with my time, the family I desire, etc. But when are my plans ever fully accurate? When does it ever all happen in the way I desire? And if it does, when does reaching my imagined goal ever become what satisfies? In purely my own plans, there can be no sure joy because there can be no sure expectation.

But a heart set on Christ avoids that wastefulness.

Continue reading at Of Larks >>

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Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

This post was originally published at Hope Mommies.

The kind of pain we experience as grieving mothers has a way of making a desire for solid, biblical answers for the questions that arise in our hearts take on an urgency—what has God truly said in His Word about why this kind of pain exists in the world?

When this world feels devoid for the loss of our children, our attention can be well set upon knowing how to hope for another world. We need hope because all is not right, and we feel a need to believe that this is not it for us. The Christian hope, such a blessed hope, tells us that there is more—that there is more to know than what only experiences can tell us. And it comes through learning the Bible. And prerequisite to understanding what hope God gives is actually to observe, for example, what kind of mourning Jesus spoke of as recorded in the gospels.

There, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” (Matthew 5:4).

What kind of mourning did Jesus address here in the sermon on the mount with this primacy? Not all causes of mourning are the same. One might mourn for the good that has not been given to her by God, but has perhaps been given to another. It is self-defeating because our help is not found in longingly looking at the lives of others with hearts that will only be happy with what others possess; this is not a blessed kind of mourning. Another cause of mourning we know; it is for the loss of a person—for us, our babies; this is the earthly loss of a good gift (or gifts) we have been given by God. And we trust Jesus’ own tears to validate ours in this (John 11:33-35).

There is yet another kind of mourning in Scripture—spiritual mourning. This is to mourn over our sins. Because Jesus Christ is the One who redeems us from our sins, Biblical hope—first and foremost—is the hope of no longer being held by sin, by its presence, power, and punishment. This is the kind of mourning Jesus primarily spoke of in Matthew 5:4.¹ So it stands to follow that if we do not first understand sin, we cannot understand biblical hope.

The pieces of your heart have shattered—and perhaps you feel as though you hardly have one left. Perhaps also, you feel like the theology contained in your soul is more disheveled than ever—with many different assumptions about God and His character now surfacing. It is likely challenging, at the least, to sort through it all. That is why, today, I want to give you one bottom line. It is not all of the truth that you will need in your grief. But it is needed, and it is a brief theology of sin—and sin’s relationship to death and hope.

Spiritual death came in the garden of Eden when the decision was made to sin. The human race fell from the glory of the presence of God, and death was introduced.

Mankind is now still graciously given opportunity to know God and live in the glory of His presence one day—but a Savior has been needed because the first spiritual death precipitates a death of conscious eternity in the lake of fire, as Jesus and His word teaches (Matthew 25:46; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; Revelation 20:13-15). No mere human can avoid it of his or her own merit. We needed Someone to rescue us from our sin now, and from this future of punishment.

Maybe you have never mourned for your sins or seen your need for a Savior. Perhaps you have experienced this plunging grief, mourning the loss of your dear baby, and that made you interested in the things of God or a deeper level of theology for the first time, or the first time in a long time. And maybe that is when you found us at Hope Mommies. You, dear mom, need to know that the Bible tells us that true, biblical hope can only be known by those who have spiritually mourned (though this is perhaps the first time you have heard it called that). You also need to know that you can truly have hope. Our separation from God in present sin and future punishment is something that He has told us how to avoid.

The grief that we experience when a child goes ahead is a loud cry to us, impaling our hearts with the truth that something is not right—and at the root, what isn’t right in this world is sin, the original initiator of death.

Let me pause for a moment here; I understand it might be difficult to hear that statement because you might initially think I mean that I know a specific sin in your life led to the death of your child. After the experience of loss, the mind so deeply wants to have understanding about the cause of death that it filters what it hears through those terms—yet often times, this kind of understanding about the workings of this world is one that mere man cannot have (Job 38). But I am writing at this point about a theological understanding of sin—the bigger picture that applies to all of us.²

Death is not a part of God’s good plan for eternity, He mourns with us, and He is not glad we experience it; yet, what God said in the garden was true (Read Genesis 1-3). It is impossible for us to live, to be full, to be satisfied, to be whole, to be home, to have joy, to love, etc., without God. He knew it. It could be no other way for His creations; He is God and we are, rightly, His—and only right ourselves when we are living in obedience to Him according to who He is. There is no way for God to be glorified as He deserves in this world without Him being truly God to all of His people and creation.

In the garden, He gave us good commandments. He told us that we would assuredly not fare well without Him—that we would surely die, that because He is God it could be no other way. He told us that, as He is the only God, He merits our submission and obedience. Asserting oneself as “god” ultimately ends in impossibility because there is only One. But we thought we could have goodness and power on our own. While self-sustaining power and self-created goodness are only myth, they are influential myths—and Adam and Eve believed them.

And so many in our day believe them too; how prevalent is the thinking that we can each do our own “good” as we please, and pursue our own path to pleasure—a power-grab—and end up in heaven! But in reality, we are accountable to a holy God who knew there could be no good for created beings without their Creator—and who was righteous and holy such that to disregard Him in following our own path is considered sin that cannot stand before the God. So mankind died spiritually, and physical death was introduced into the human experience.

By God’s mercy, grace, and patience, we did not go to the lake of fire immediately. By His great mercy, He allowed us to live in a fallen—yet redeemable—world and have opportunity to turn from our sinful ways to a Redeemer. Sweet moms, I pray for the Holy Spirit’s help for us all to believe this truth—living on this fallen earth and still having an opportunity for repentance was very gracious of God. For, having opportunity to turn to God on this earth means this does not have to be our state, our experience, our “it” forever! There is an escape from this fallen place, and even more, from the lake of fire, which is far worse.

Now dear moms, let me tell you about the good news in which I believe, in which we all at Hope Mommies believe—this is what motivates us.

“Now, I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, the He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” - 1 Corinthians 15:1-5

There is a Substitute for us, One who died for our sins! Dear moms, when you mourn because you see your sin for what it is, and turn from it to trust in Christ as your Savior and Master for forgiveness, trusting His life, death, and resurrection and appearances that tell us that He, the Substitute, is alive—you become dead to your sin and raised to life, back into good submission to Christ your Lord, and you gain eternal salvation, the promise of God’s future glorious presence, and a present hope in your grief.

Jesus’ words are the comfort for the spiritually mourning soul—for they are from Someone who has the complete authority to say to us—“your sins are forgiven!” (Matthew 9:2; Luke 7:48; Mark 2:5). That joy, life, peace, hope, righteousness and comfort can be yours in Christ, if it is not already! Believe in Him.

And all of this has graciously been given to us who believe!

In the end, no other “hope” will matter but this kind.  So, please do not let anyone tell you that you can have the hope of God if you have not first spiritually mourned before the blessed face of a dear Savior who loves you enough to sacrifice Himself to death for the punishment of your sins, replacing spiritual death with eternal life. Your hope, whether you are heavily grieving your recent loss or whether you are years down the road, is found through the resurrected Lord who enables His people to forsake sin and overcome death.

Once you have come to terms with these truths, you will be able to know and believe, even in your most cutting and overwhelming grief, tears, and pain, that you are truly blessed and comforted by God. For He has saved you from your worst future freely and completely through the good news of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins—of no merit or work of your own—granting you hope eternal, restoration to Him forever.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” (Matthew 5:4).

Better news the world has never known.

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¹Information about these three different kinds of mourning and this understanding of “blessed are those who mourn” may be found in Colin Smith’s sermon Matthew 5:4 here.

²Listen here to a teaching that Hope Mommies endorses on the eternal destination of babies (born and unborn) who die.

[lovelysovereign]

The fact that the glorious, holy Son of God could step through the door of heaven at any moment is intended by God to be the most pressing, incessant motivation for holy living and aggressive ministry (including missions, evangelism, and Bible teaching) and the greatest cure for lethargy and apathy. It should make a difference in every Christian's values, actions, priorities, and goals.

Renald Showers

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Holding Scripture Supreme in Grief

As I reflect upon what past years have held of grief in my life and mourn with those who are grieving newly, I think about how being refreshed by a high view of Scripture affords sweet light that is monumental for the grief journey. Here is a collection of thoughts about holding Scripture, as God’s Word, supreme in grief:

1.) Scripture was my foundation in uncertainty.

“Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.” – Psalm 119:89

When something too precious to describe—the life of my daughter—slipped away from me so quickly, I needed the solidity of Scripture to be my guide and foundation. I knew that—though nearly everything else in life might be subjected to questioning in the upheaval of grief as I asked myself, What do I really believe to be important and true?—I would not need to question the validity of Scripture. As God’s Word, and my guide, it was the single faultless and sure resource available to me that could be the basis for answers to my many questions.

2.) Scripture taught me of my supreme salvation.

“Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and singled out for God’s good news—which He promised long ago through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures—concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh and who has been declared to be the powerful Son of God by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness.” – Romans 1:1-4

There could be no other salvation for me because there is no other God; and there is no meaning given to my life like being one who belongs to Him through the sacrifice of Christ. What kind of God sends His Son to die for the ledger of sin I had accumulated throughout my life? Prior to my loss, I had repented of my sin, and believed in His forgiveness. I was ushered into a marvelous salvation that is strong—even in the shadow of grief. Knowledge of His suffering was my companion, and His powerful, historically true resurrection was the basis of my hope.

3.) Scripture put my days on earth into right perspective.

“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – John 4:14

In grief, I could remember through Scripture that my days on earth were already numbered by God—just like my daughter’s. Yes, I have more days than she will ever have on this earth. Yet, compared to eternity, our number of days here are actually far more similar in amount than they are dissimilar. Endless days—an endless spring of life—is ahead.

4.) Scripture told me the story of my life.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” – Revelation 22:13

Instead of merely telling my own story for my life, or letting grief indefinitely overtake the story of my life, I could see a larger story—one that I was a part of because of God’s grace. The Bible tells of one story from beginning to end, and being able to see myself as a part of a story that brings God glory was humbling and good. How kind of God to include me, and draw praise from me!

5.) Scripture reminded me that God is supreme and blameless.

“For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.” – Psalm 97:9

“As for God, His way is blameless.” – Psalm 18:30

Because God is supreme, good, faithful, loving, and true, I knew that there must be a reason for death, loss, grief, and pain that did not put Him at blame. Scripture reminded me that the reason the world is crooked and fallen is because of sin. God cannot do wrong—in any of His purposes or any of His ways. Toward me, God is pure, just, true, faithful, faultless, loving, and good.

6.) Scripture helped me to see beyond myself.

“For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.” – Romans 14:7

Because God is exalted and there is a story I belong to for this world about God’s glory, I was helped through Scripture to see at a critical time of grief that my life was not my own. It helped me to say to the Lord that whatever my life includes, He is worthy of all my worship and praise as one who belongs to Him by grace. I felt fortunate to have the honor of knowing Him.

7.) Scripture spoke to me of God’s sovereignty.

“You have exalted Your name and Your promise above everything else…The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.” – Psalm 138:2, 8

As I considered Scripture and saw example upon example of God sovereignly working circumstances in the lives of His people for His glory and their good—I knew that He was doing the same in my life. My God was sovereign, and I belonged to the One of power, authority, might, strength, and glory who doesn’t fail and positively does have a God-exalting plan for all He is doing in and among us—every number of days for every one of our lives, including my daughter's. And graciously, His glory is our great good—it is where we who worship Him find our joy.

Scripture is the source of discovering purpose in being set apart for God throughout suffering days. Recall the magnificence of Scripture, and in this, my prayer is that you too can take heart that “the unfolding of [God’s] words gives light,” (Psalm 119:130a).

This post was originally published at Hope Mommies.

For specific passages of Scripture to hold onto in your suffering, read “Speak Scripture into Suffering” here.

[lovelysovereign]

Holy God, you have given us grace, by the confession of the faith of your holy church, to acknowledge the mystery of the eternal Trinity, and, in the power of your divine majesty, to worship the Unity, and bring us at last to see you in your eternal glory—One God, now and forever. Amen.

The Worshiping Church: A Hymnal (#7 Book of Common Prayer)

[lovelysovereign]

Not Charging God with Wrong

“In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” - Job 1:22

Are we aching to know how to not sin in our grief and suffering? Satan accused Job of its opposite: “he will curse you to your face” (Job 1:11, 2:4). We avoid sin through believing Scripture by not charging God with wrong.

Are we aching to know how to please and honor God in our grief and suffering? We believe that all we have was first gifted from Him, that our lives are in His faithful keeping at all times, and we praise His unchanged, blessed name (Job 1:21-22). We remember that our very lives are not, and have never been, our own.

[lovelysovereign]

Sweet girl. I know that I am not enough to guide her heart. So, Lord of eternal love, keep us both near to You.

“I bow down toward Your holy temple

and give thanks to Your name for Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness,

for You have exalted above all things

Your name and Your word...

The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me;

Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.

Do not forsake the work of Your hands.”

- Psalm 138:2, 8

[lovelysovereign]

Coming into Restful Relationship

In the next few weeks, I am taking Of Larks through a series on coming into rest in Christ. This post is the third in a four-part series.

I manage my expectations when interacting with others because I believe the truth that no person can meet all of my needs or desires, in any context. So I guard myself from putting improper weight on others; I keep myself from stacking expectations.  

There is a self-control needed in human interaction—self-control that my emotions or needs are not tied to another's such that if another person close to me is emotionally incapacitated for a moment in this imperfect world, I become unable to function well. We all give sharp responses at times, all speak too quickly, all exhibit a lack of compassion or gratitude—we all carry burdens that can keep us from fully seeing each other. But being in the Lord means that we can be on the receiving end of that and give back from fullness, especially when we never placed our expectations for fulfillment on each other and never gave each other such weight over the stability of our hearts and souls.

From human interaction, there must be a divine reprieve. Of course, this is our God. But I don’t always rest in Him because I don’t always approach Him for reprieve, though He is right there, right here. The habit of properly guarding my expectations becomes the more dominant habit, and I take it with me when I go to the Lord.

Read on at Of Larks >>

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Coming into Restful Concerns

In the next few weeks, I am taking Of Larks through a series on coming into rest in Christ. This post is the second in a four-part series.

I’ve been mentally preparing for the death of my husband for three years.

He’s not sick; there is no disease he is battling or has battled. His job doesn’t require that he put his life in danger or even that he travel very much. I have no reason to especially believe that he will die young. But I have lost someone very close to me.

After way too many times of catching my thoughts at, “If he dies, I will manage by doing this, this, and this,” I finally heard what was underneath, prompting these thoughts. I don’t want to be surprised again. I don’t want to hear the unexpected news that someone else I love dearly is now gone.  

Read on at Of Larks >>

[lovelysovereign]

Comfort from the Uncomfortable Verses in Psalms

The scene in my life is familiar. When something weighs on my heart—a fear, a temptation, or a thought-battle—seeking comfort, I naturally go to the Psalms.

I want to be on the path that is straight and narrow; Psalm 5 is my pick for prayer against temptation today. This Psalm readjusts my thinking about my position in this world, the heartache I’ve avoided by giving my life to Christ, and who I am before him.

My heart resonates with David’s prayers:

Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament… (v. 1)

For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness… (v. 4)

But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down… (v. 7)

But then, I come to this:

Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. (v. 10)

I either skim past it or take a moment to wonder how it could possibly mesh with what Jesus says in Matthew 5:43 about loving our enemies. It’s uncomfortable.

Remember a Previous Covenant

Since there seems to be no solution, I usually choose the former—let’s move on?

Wait.

This is a Psalm of David. David was the king chosen by God, the king after God’s own heart. Well, did God’s heart change from the Old Testament to the New Testament regarding how we approach our enemies?

No, not at all.

David was to serve God and do his part to uphold the covenant between God and Israel. That included a unique mission given to Israel that isn’t given to us: Israel was to continue to carve out the Promised Land by warring against the people groups that possessed it.

What? Aren’t we at an even worse place than where we started?

No, remember one of those first verses: “For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness.” Israel was given the special mission to war against nations who were committed to their wicked ways (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). God is just to judge evil whenever, in his infinite wisdom, he deems it right.

By choosing this mission for the nation of Israel, God sought to prevent the increased evil of Israel’s own disobedience—the disobedience that would threaten their ability to fulfill the conditional aspects of their blessed covenants with God (Exodus 19:5-6; 2 Samuel 7). God was being gracious to Israel with this mission.

Let’s return to the verse that gives some discomfort:

Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.

David is praying that God would cause to crumble what brought wickedness into the nation of Israel; David prayed in alignment with the specific covenant mission God gave him.[1]

Align Your Prayers with the New Covenant

Do you and I have this kind of mission of war today? No, of course not. We don’t have a nation to battle at God’s command; but, like David, we do have a covenant with God. We have a covenant that we participate in through Jesus Christ—a covenant through his blood, binding our hearts to his (Jeremiah 31).

Like David, we can think about what’s present in our daily lives that threatens to lead our hearts away from the depths and joys of this covenant.

I have evil pressing against me from every side. There are lies. There are half-truths posing as truths. There are vanities. There are whispers that tempt me to question the good work God has done in my life. These all threaten my heart; they pose to lead me astray.

With a new perspective on David’s prayer, I return to the reason I first went to the Psalms. Something weighs on my heart: a fear, a temptation, or a thought-battle. Seeking comfort, I naturally go to the Psalms—but now I go through the way of our new covenant. I enter into David’s prayer again:

When I read,

Make them bear their guilt (v. 10),

I pray,

God, bring every evil in my life to light so that I can see it.

When I read,

O God; let them fall by their own counsels (v. 10),

I pray,

God, show every evil in my life for what it is: a path to destruction. 

When I read,

Because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. (v. 10)

I pray,

God, let me hate everything that you hate. Cast it all aside. Defeat it in my life and in the lives of those around me as it is already truly defeated at the Cross.

Rejoice in God’s Promises

The conclusion of Psalm 5 means even more to me now.

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield. (vv. 11-12)

He is our refuge and protection from the temptations, lies, and whispers that threaten our hearts. As David was praying for what threatened his old covenant, so we can equally pray his words against everything that threatens the depths of our joy and participation in our new covenant with God through Jesus Christ.

No longer do I feel uncomfortable with these verses in the Psalms. But, all the more, the Psalms give the comfort I first sought, for I have even more promises to claim and even more of God’s heart to see. We are on the side of Christ—the One victorious over all temptations; he is a shield against them.

As we come to him through the Psalms because we face whispers and lies that might lead us astray, he covers us with his favor and his protection. Let all who take refuge in him rejoice.

[1]Waltke, Bruce. “Psalm 2-3: How To Pray In Christ.” Legacy Recordings. C.S. Lewis Institute. Web (http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/node/1032). 03 Jan. 2015.

Unlocking the Bible is the teaching ministry of Colin Smith that is putting the gospel in peoples' grasp by delivering impactful Bible teaching through a broad array of modern media.

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Coming into Restful Obedience

In the next few weeks, I am taking Of Larks through a series on coming into rest in Christ. This post is the first in a four-part series.

Lately, I have observed a hidden obedience in myself. It comes when I have a good desire, a God-honoring desire for something to be accomplished in an area of ministry. Yet, I begin obeying that desire instead of God. I keep checking-in with it—what am I doing to further the ministry, and how can I pray for it to be established? I feed the desire with my obedience, thinking this to be right. But really, no desire—even a God-honoring one—merits itself my obedience. So instead, the desire grows, fed by the nourishment of my obedience, to become menacing.

Soon, my fidelity to establishing this good desire for ministry becomes the basis upon which I glorify God or not, according to my heart. A reality that confronts me as I make the furtherance of a ministry my basis of obedience to the Lord is that I am not sovereign over the establishment of that ministry; faithfulness to seeing a goal accomplished instead of faithfulness to the Lord means my (supposed) ability to glorify Him is limited by circumstances outside of my control that He might never ultimately bring. Obedience to what is unsure never works well for the heart and is certainly never restful.

Read on at Of Larks >