The Riches of Full Assurance

Posted on June 25, 2021 by Pete

They were in a battle. Not against flesh and blood, but against thoughts and ideas. Paul referring to them as “plausible arguments” (Col. 2:4) and empty philosophies “according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world” (Col. 2:8a). Thoughts and ideas “not according to Christ” (2:8b). Can’t help but make the connection between them and then with us and now.

Seems to me there’s a very similar battle around us today. We’re bombarded with voices telling us what we should think. Thoughts and ideas on how we should think politically, how we should think historically, how we should think sexually, how we should think conservatively, how we should think progressively. But if I’m picking up what Paul’s laying down this morning, we need to prioritize thinking christianly.

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

(Colossians 2:1-4 ESV)

Truth dispels error. In the absence of being filled with the truth, the vacuum will be filled with the best (or the worst) of what this world has to offer. So, as Paul struggled to contend for the minds of the saints at Colosse and Laodicea, he did so by encouraging them to load up on understanding and knowledge. Not the understanding and knowledge of the political pundits, not the understanding and knowledge of 24/7 newsrooms, not even the understanding and knowledge of favorite blog sites and popular social media platforms — but the understanding and knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ.

Jesus really is the answer!

Yesterday Paul talked about the mystery. The mystery is Christ in you (Col. 1:27). The mystery is integrally linked to new creations in Christ brought together into the body of Christ to make known the glory of Christ. And to this body has been made available understanding and knowledge through Christ. To such an extent, and through such a supernatural dynamic, that we can cash in on the riches of full assurance. Literally, we can experience “entire confidence” in what is true and what is not so true. In what is of the world, and what is of the Way. In what is spiritual, and what is carnal. In what is founded in heaven, and what is conceived of in ignorance on earth. And that, through the understanding and knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

How we need wisdom. Ergo, how we need Christ.

How we need discernment. Thus, though we should be informed by credible news feeds, we must be infused with God’s word. Certainly true individually, as we read and study at home. But, if the mystery Paul refers to is the church (see yesterday’s post), then through community as well. Learning together, studying together, even, as Paul says, struggling together to plumb the depths of the understanding and knowledge God has made available to us in Christ.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

(Colossians 2:6-7 ESV)

Beyond receiving Christ we are to walk in Christ. And that as we are rooted and built up in Christ through the things we have been taught. Confident we are thinking correctly because we have availed ourselves of the riches of understanding and knowledge which are in Christ.

Full assurance. Not because we’re so bright, but because we have access to the words of Christ, the mind of Christ, and the active agency of the Spirit of Christ — all in the context of the body of Christ.

Ours is to determine, by His enabling and provision, to battle against thoughts and ideas which may sound plausible and seem to make sense according to human reasoning. And we do that with a passionate pursuit of understanding and knowledge to reach all the riches of full assurance.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true . . . think about these things.

(Philippians 4:8 ESV)

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Glorious Mystery

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Pete

It sits in the shade, as it should. But glorious truth in the shade of “glorious-er” truth should still be jaw-dropping. But sometimes we become accustomed to that which should evoke awe, too familiar with that which should foster praise, perhaps even weary of hearing again about that which should be a catalyst for worship.

As I reflect on it, ask me what’s the magnum opus of Colossians 1 and I’m immediately going to Christ, the image of the invisible God, the creator and sustainer of all things. The One in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (1:15-21). Strike up the band! Cue the choir of angels! That’s the apex of awe and wonder.

But this morning I’m chewing on what’s in the shade of Christ, the Head. While no less marveling at the Head, it’s the wonder commanded at His Body which spikes the awe-o-meter.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

(Colossians 1:24-27 ESV)

His body, the church.

The mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed.

The riches of the glory of this mystery is Christ in you.

For all that was foretold and foreshadowed of the promised Messiah in the prophetic records of Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets, nobody would have guessed all that it meant for Messiah to come.

That He would deliver a people out of bondage to the flesh, freeing them from sin and death, just as God had delivered a people out of Egypt from slavery and oppression? That was hinted at pretty clearly. That the eternal Heir to David’s throne would govern over a people of His own? Yup, it’s there — even though the kingdom come was established in the hearts of its subjects rather than in visible structures. That the promised Deliver would be God incarnate? Perhaps a bit more hidden — still, it’s there in the prophets. But that He would live in His people and through His people? And that His people would include Jew and Gentile? Nope, didn’t see that one coming.

The church, born at Pentecost, was something totally new. A mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to, and through, His saints. Jaw-dropping. Rich and glorious pale to fully express the nature of this mystery. To the Ephesians, Paul declares that the church makes known “the manifold wisdom of God . . . to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10). Really? The multi-faceted, broad and full intelligence of the Omniscient Creator? That’s what the church provides insight to for the heavenly beings? Oh, the glory of the mystery of His body, that is the church.

But how easy it is to become complacently familiar with the church. I can complain about her. Feel overworked by her. Rationalize away why I should be gathered to her. But I should be gripped by her. Blessed to be part of her. Privileged to serve her, as I get to be part of the mystery hidden for ages and generations, a mystery which makes known the riches of God’s glory. Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

No shade this morning. The glory of this multifaceted diamond making known God’s wisdom is on full display as I chew on these verses. Awe has returned. Wonder is at work.

Not that I would put on rose-colored glasses when it comes to some of the realities of Christ’s Bride in her “work-in-progress” state. But in living with the realities, might I also never cease to wonder at the eventualities for His Bride. Christ having loved her, giving Himself up for her. Committed to sanctifying her. That He might present her “to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27).

A glorious mystery! A beautiful mystery! O, to be part of the mystery!

All by His grace. Only for His glory.

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If It Had Not Been . . .

Posted on June 23, 2021 by Pete

Some readings in my reading plan seem new every year. Sometimes because there’s a hidden detail never seen, or unfathomed depths yet to plumb, or, as often is the case, a brain defect that somehow minimizes memory.

And then, there are readings which are like old familiar friends. Passages which penetrate the heart, again and again, year after year. Verses very well known that evoke comfort, calm, assurance, and a whispered, “Amen. Thank You, Lord!” This morning, I’m hovering over such a passage.

Yet, this passage has a way of remaining new every year as well. Not for any of the reasons listed above, but new and fresh because there’s another year of life to validate its truth. Another year of experience providing context to apply its reality. Familiar yet fresh. Truly, “if it had not been the LORD who was on our side”, I can’t imagine how this pilgrimage would play out.

Went back and read some thoughts from 2018. Reminded me that while the LORD has “been on my side” for another year, helping me as I try to fight the good fight and keep the faith, the greatest victory He’s granted was decades ago when He brought me to faith. Blessed at the reminder. Thought I’d post it again.

An Escapee

Singing a song of ascent this morning, literally, to a tune I heard on a Gaither video (both likely written around the same time 🙂 ). An if / then song. If this had not been true, then that would have happened.

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—
let Israel now say–
if it had not been the LORD who was on our side
when people rose up against us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone
the raging waters.

(Psalm 124:1-5 ESV)

Repetition in the Scriptures is amplification. It’s a way of putting up a big sign post and saying “Look here!” Take note! Chew on this!

David’s sitting on the other side of the threat of a people who had risen up against him as a fierce enemy. Like a flood that would have swept him away. A raging river that wanted to steamroll him. With such opposing vitriol that they wanted to eat David alive. And, on the other side of the battle, knowing the sweet spoils of victory, he ponders, “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, where would I be?”

And to be honest, most often, and certainly most recently, when I think of this song of David I think about going through the trials of life. The raging waters associated with this pilgrim journey. But the reality is, I really have only one enemy like David’s enemy. Someone who so hates me that he sought to trap me in an eternal snare so that I might be prey in his teeth.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

(1Peter 5:8 ESV)

An adversary who had ensnared me in sin. Bound by iniquity.

And the wages of sin is death. Apart from deliverance, only to be swallowed up by destruction. Without rescue, dragged under and drowned in a flood of righteous, fully-deserved, holy wrath and judgment.

But then, more repetition, more emphasis, another great truth to take note of.

We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped!

(Psalm 124:7 ESV)

We have escaped. We have escaped.

That’s who I am this morning in Christ. An escapee.

An escapee, delivered, because the LORD was on my side. On my side even when I didn’t know I had a side that needed to be on. On my side before I even realized I was in a battle. On my side even while I ignorantly and willingly followed the enemies enticing bread crumbs into his eternal trap.

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, where would I be?

Blessed be the LORD,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth!
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

(Psalm 124:6, 8 ESV)

A sinner saved by grace. Once prey for a mortal enemy, now a trophy for the King of Kings.

An escapee.

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

Blessed be the LORD!

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Somebody Wasn’t Praying!

Posted on June 22, 2021 by Pete

I don’t know if the people who put together my reading plan did it on purpose, but to have both 2 Kings 24-25 and Psalm 122 on the same day, to read them back to back, is to say the least, ironic, and, to say the most, so tragic.

The 2 Kings passage details the taking of Judah into Babylonian exile. In addition to assassinating certain leaders and hauling off the rest of the people (except the very poor . . . hmm, didn’t Jesus say, “Blessed are the poor?” . . . that’d be worth noodling on), at the center of the exile is the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem.

They carried off the treasures of the house of the LORD. The holy furniture of gold in the temple they cut up and exported. They burned to the ground the house of the LORD. They broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

Desecrated. Decimated. Destroyed. Welcome to Jerusalem, home of the throne of David and the temple of God — the place where the glory once dwelt.

Okay, finish reading that and then go to Psalm 122.

Jerusalem — built as a city that is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

(Psalm 122:3-6a ESV)

Somebody wasn’t praying!

The city “bound firmly together” had come apart at the seams. The place to which the tribes would go up had been torn down. The thrones of judgment were jettisoned to a foreign land. Security had disappeared, smoldering rubble lay in its place. And peace? Not so much. All that was left to pray for was pieces. So what happened?

I hear from time to time that today we Christians should be praying for the peace of Jerusalem. I think I get what’s intended by that. But what hits me is that the peace of Jerusalem is really dependent upon the hearts of God’s people. Less about trying to protect an earthly location and more about the need for revival of a heavenly pursuit. Less about preserving a place on the map, more about rekindling a passion for the presence of the glory of God from on high. The key, I’m thinking, that unlocks the peace of Jerusalem is found in the opening verses of the song.

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!

(Psalm 122:1-2 ESV)

I was glad, declares the psalmist. I rejoiced at the thought. I exulted in the anticipation. My eyes brightened, my heart started to race, I couldn’t wait to go to the house of the LORD. Though I’d been to Jerusalem a million times before, the anticipation of my feet standing within the gates of Jerusalem, on the doorsill of the place where the glory of God dwelt, evoked a certain euphoria deep with my soul. I was glad when they said, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

That’s what I think we’re to pray for when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. For God’s people to be overjoyed with the prospect of being in God’s presence. Glad to go as they anticipate the wonder of worship, the awe of being able to participate in praise, and the opportunity of being with God’s people to offer afresh to God, in person, the sacrifices with which He is pleased. That’s what I’m thinking might be behind the psalmist’s prayer for the peace of Jerusalem.

There would be peace in Jerusalem as long as people loved to go to Jerusalem (v. 6b). Hearts set on Jerusalem because that’s where the glory resided. And where hearts seek Him, where people rejoice to be near Him, God will steel the walls of the city, such that even the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray for the peace of your church.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Face to the Wall

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Pete

The news was devastating. “Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.”

Not what King Hezekiah wanted to hear. Though at the point of death, how he had hoped that the prophet’s visit would have been with a different word from the LORD.

And it’s Hezekiah’s response that has me thinking.

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD.

(2Kings 20:2 ESV)

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall. That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

Face to the wall. Must be an important detail, not just because it’s recorded here, but because the Spirit makes sure it’s recorded in Isaiah’s parallel account in Isaiah 38, as well. So what am I to pick up from what’s being laid down?

Hezekiah may have turned his face to the wall so that the attendants in the room wouldn’t see that he was blubbering like a baby (20:3b). The dignity of physical strength had already been stripped away as those in his house witnessed daily his deteriorating condition. So, he may have been trying to maintain some emotional dignity by trying to keep his household from also seeing his crushed soul.

Or, perhaps he turned his face to the wall because that would have had him facing toward the temple. Did Hezekiah know the story of Solomon’s petition before God when Solomon first dedicated the temple?

. . . listen to the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.

(1Kings 8:30 ESV)

Maybe Hezekiah went face to the wall so that he could pray toward this place. Dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s when it came to the proper way of approaching God.

But maybe Hezekiah’s posture reflected the reality of where your hope is when there is no more hope. The reality of the singularity of where you’re forced to go when there’s no other place to go.

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:6 ESV)

I’m wondering if going face to the wall wasn’t the manner in which a man who was physically unable to get off his death bed could go into “his room” and shut the door. An acknowledgement that the power of his place atop the kingdom had no benefit in this situation. That the pomp and circumstance of having once paraded about as king, now provided no promise or certainty of surviving his malady. Only his room. Only with the door shut. Only before the Father who is in secret.

The Father who sees and rewards, in fact, granted Hezekiah’s request for an extended life — 15 years (2Ki. 20:6a). But we know there are other ways the Father may choose to reward when we go face to the wall.

He rewards with grace that is sufficient. With Spirit-infused power experienced in our weakness. Mercies new every morning. A peace which passes all understanding even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. And other encounters of the divine kind as we go face to the wall.

Continuing, ever-present evidence of God’s amazing grace. All for God’s glory.

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Concluding With Confession

Posted on June 18, 2021 by Pete

I know I’ve observed it before. Looking back on my journal, I know that I’ve written of it before (last time was 2017). But I’m captured afresh this morning by the manner in which the songwriter concludes the longest of his songs. The way in which he goes out, and what he leaves his listeners to ponder.

It’s been 175 verses of variegated tributes to the word of God. The songwriter loves the Word. The songwriter stands in awe of the Word. The songwriter has sought the Word. The songwriter has meditated on the Word. The songwriter has clung to the Word. The songwriter, until this closing verse, has expressed repeatedly that he has kept the Word. But check out his final lyrics.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.

(Psalm 119:176 ESV)

I can’t say this for sure, but I’m thinking this may be the first time, thus the only time, the psalmist confesses sin in the psalm. He has declared repeatedly that he hates sin (119:104) and is grieved by sin (119:136). He has called out his enemies’ sin (119:85). He has even acknowledged the propensity to sin (119:11, 37). But, I think this is the first time he confesses sin.

For all that he believes about the Word being truth, for as much he loves the Word and delights in the Word, for as determined as he has been to walk in the way of the Word, this Spirit-filled lyricist concludes his ode to the Word by humbling acknowledging his failure, at times, to keep the Word.

He confesses he is apt to get sidetracked. That he is “prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” To find himself as a sheep gone astray.

Now, while a lost dog can find his way home, a lost sheep just keeps getting more lost apart from a faithful shepherd who seeks the wayward lamb and brings it back. And so, the lowly songwriter pleads to the Mighty God of Creation, “Seek Your servant.”

Ultimately, though striving to walk in obedience, he depends not on his own ability to turn things around, but on the Good Shepherd’s ability to lead him by still waters. His hope is not in his own will and resolve, but in His God’s determination and faithfulness. His confidence not resting in his ability to maintain goodness, but in God’s inexhaustible well of grace. Seek Your servant.

And even in this acknowledgment of failure and need there is tribute paid to the Word.

. . . for I do not forget Your commandments.

It is the word of God which keeps the child of God tethered to the nature and work of God. For in the Word is the promise, the reminder, that a lost sheep can pray to a great God knowing He will leave heaven’s glory to seek and save the lost (Lk. 19:10).

Concluding with confession. Acknowledging our tendency to stray. Petitioning God that He would continue to pursue. All because we trust in His word.

Hmm . . . Kinda’ makes sense.

So we continue to draw on God’s grace, even as we desire to live for God’s glory.

Amen?

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A Caution About Imitating the Wrong Stuff

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Pete

It seems he was an innovator. A collaborator. An imitator. Ahaz, king of Judah, took the things of God and thought he could improve on them. He visited other nations and partnered with them to bring the best of their religious practices back to Israel. He saw what his neighbors had, liked it, and told his priest to replicate it. Oh, did I fail to mention that this king of Judah was also a desecrater?

When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.

(2Kings 16:10-13 ESV)

Wrong on so many levels. A new and improved altar based on the latest design from the pagan nation next door. A priest who seems to be quick to do the king’s bidding without much concern for the LORD’s building. And, if I’m reading it right, it looks like the king himself is the first to try it out, supplanting his priest in order to be the first to christen his new, avant-garde sacrificial platform. Interesting that while he tests it with a burnt offering and a grain offering and a drink offering and a peace offering, there’s no mention of a guilt offering or a sin offering.

Not being judgmental, but I don’t think I ever really noticed Ahaz’s improvisation with the things of God. New altar, new location, new procedure. And the old altar, the bronze altar? Well, says Ahaz to Uriah, “The bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by” (16:15). In essence, he re-purposed it as his very own Ouija Board!

In adding the things of the world to the ways of God he diluted, distorted, and desecrated the things of God. I’m thinking that’s why it’s recorded “he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God . . . but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel” (16:2-3). The kings of Israel had innovated as well, centering their place of sacrifice around the two golden calves created by Israel’s first king, Jeroboam (1Ki. 11:25-33).

Speaking of Israel, the next thing I read is that, while Ahaz may have been captivated by Assyria’s altar, Israel was taken captive, literally, by Assyria’s army (2Ki. 17). And here’s a summary of why: they feared other gods (17:7b); they walked in the customs of the nations (17:8a); they built high places just like those around them (17:10); and, they went after false idols and became false themselves, following the nations that were around them (17:15b). Thus, they provoked the LORD to anger (17:11b).

I’m thinking there’s a caution here. Ahaz didn’t abandon the things of God he just tweaked them a bit. Took the best of heaven and added in some of the best of earth. But it was indicative of a heart becoming entangled with idolatry, a heart drawn toward false gods. And, when you go after false gods, you become like those false gods.

Nothing wrong in being an innovator. No inherent evil in being a collaborator. But how we need to be careful of becoming an imitator of the wrong stuff.

Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. (3John 1:11a ESV)

By His grace. For His glory.

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An Inferior Brand of Righteousness

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Pete

If anyone had a legitimate reason to boast in their own righteousness, Paul says, it was him. And I think he was right. I don’t think he was blinded by pride, but provided a realistic assessment of pedigree.

When he talks of his heritage, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; and of his formal education and religious attainment, a ranking Pharisee; and of his integrity and authenticity, sincerely persecuting the church for what he believed was its heresy — when Paul contends he was blameless and righteous under the law, I think he contends correctly. Though his righteousness may been misdirected, it wasn’t hypocritical. His righteousness, according to the prevailing standard of righteousness, was the real meal deal. But as Paul came to realize, his was an inferior brand of righteousness.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. 

(Philippians 3:8-9 ESV)

A righteousness of my own. That’s what Paul says he had. That’s how the ESV translates it. But Peterson in The Message, with his flare for embedding commentary within translation, calls out Paul’s works based righteousness for what it was, an inferior brand of righteousness.

While this Hebrew of the Hebrews might have ranked at the top of the food chain when it came to integrity, honesty, and authenticity concerning spirituality, his eyes were set on the wrong food chain. A fallen food chain. A food chain compromised by the fact that all within the food chain were born in iniquity, by default walking in darkness because of a wicked and deceitful heart. So that, even the best of the best of this food chain, were but the best among the worst of all sinners.

. . . all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. (Isaiah 64:6 ESV)

But, says Paul, through God’s divine, merciful, and gracious intervention, Paul was able to exchange his own righteousness, an inferior brand of righteousness, for a righteousness which comes through faith and depends on faith — the righteousness from God.

He would toss everything worth boasting of in life, he would gladly discard any claim or ego concerning his own good works, and count them as garbage in order to “boast” of a righteousness apart from himself. A righteousness credited to his account based on the merit of Another. A righteousness ready to “move in” and take over because sin had been dealt with, the old man could now be crucified, and he had been Spirit enabled to walk in true righteousness — the righteousness from God.

How the old nature still wants to find some righteousness for which to take credit. To chalk up some meritorious work in some imaginary win column in which it can boast. But any such “righteousness” won’t survive the test of eternity and pales in comparison to the righteousness that comes through faith and is by faith. No other righteousness but Jesus’ righteousness is real righteousness.

I need to be reminded of that from time to time. To not be duped into settling for an inferior brand of righteousness.

By His grace alone. For His glory alone.

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To Them, On Them, Toward Them

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Pete

A verse in 2 Kings pops this morning. I know it’s because of a book I’ve recently listened to on the heart of Christ, Gentle and Lowly, by Dane Ortlund. Ortlund, in the manner of the deep meditations of the Puritans, helps to lead his reader, or his listener, to explore the depths of Christ’s self-identified nature, that of being gently and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29). At one point in the book, Ortlund leaves the New Testament and hangs out in the Old Testament for a few chapters to demonstrate that like Son, like Father. That the Son isn’t some different, New Testament manifestation of the God of the Old Testament, but is the perfect representation of the nature of God who is unchanging, the same yesterday, today, and forever.

One of the most impactful points Ortlund makes is that — and these are my feeble words and not his most eloquent contention — God has, in essence, a default disposition (if I can use that word). That there is — again my words not Ortlund’s — a “normative” supernatural context from which God operates. For example, if God is love, then in acting out of who He is, to love is His “default.” God needs to be incited to act outside that divine default (though He never acts outside of His divine nature). In considering that God is slow to anger, Ortlund says:

It takes much accumulated provoking to draw out his ire. Unlike us, who are often emotional dams ready to break, God can put up with a lot. This is why the Old Testament speaks of God being “provoked to anger” by his people dozens of times (especially in Deuteronomy; 1–2 Kings; and Jeremiah). But not once are we told that God is “provoked to love” or “provoked to mercy.” His anger requires provocation; his mercy is pent up, ready to gush forth. We tend to think: divine anger is pent up, spring-loaded; divine mercy is slow to build. It’s just the opposite. Divine mercy is ready to burst forth at the slightest prick. (For fallen humans, we learn in the New Testament, this is reversed. We are to provoke one another to love, according to Hebrews 10:24. Yahweh needs no provoking to love, only to anger. We need no provoking to anger, only to love.)

Ortlund, Dane C.. Gentle and Lowly (pp. 148-149). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Case in point, the verse that popped this morning.

Now Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them, because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has He cast them from His presence until now.

(2Kings 13:22-23 ESV)

Jehoahaz was another in the long line of the kings of Israel who “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD” leading Israel deeper and deeper into sin and kindling the LORD’s anger (2Kings 13:2-3). And yet, when hard-pressed by the king of Syria, Jehoahaz seeks “the favor of the LORD” and “the LORD listened to him” (13:4). And how does God respond? He is gracious to them. He has compassion on them. And He turns toward them. That’s how our God rolls. For our God is, by nature and according to His name, “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6).

Sinners, even ones like Jehoahaz, who turn to God seeking His unmerited favor, find a God who is quick to turn towards them because He is gracious and compassionate.

My sin may not be exactly like the sin of Jehoahaz, but it is enough, more than enough, to offend, and even provoke a holy God to anger. But God receives the penitent heart freely because of His covenant — a better covenant than the one with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a covenant whose guarantor is Jesus Himself (Heb. 7:22).

A better covenant which promises that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is an eternally sufficient atonement for our sins, such that God can justly forgive us our sins when we confess our sins. Which promises that God is ready, willing, and able to faithfully cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Which promises that the work which a God who is love has begun in us through redemption and regeneration, is a work which a God who is love will complete in us on that day of perfected reconciliation.

God was gracious to them. He had compassion on them. He turned toward them.

That’s how our God rolls. Because that’s who our God is.

He is the God of grace.

To God be the glory.

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Well Tried

Posted on June 14, 2021 by Pete

Can misinterpretation still yield good application? Noodling on that this morning.

Reading still in Psalm 119, day 18 of the 22 day, 176 verse mega-psalm, and observed something that caused me to nod my head and whisper to myself, “Amen! Thank You, Lord.”

Your promise is well tried, and Your servant loves it.

(Psalm 119:40 ESV)

Psalm 119 is a tribute to the word of God. The songwriter is moved of the Spirit to state, again and again, in way after way, the excellencies of God’s precepts and the ways in which His commandments, testimonies, and promises have impacted the songwriter’s life — often through times of trial and affliction.

So, when I first read, “Your promise is well tried” this morning, my immediate “Amen!” came from processing that as: Your promises have been really well tested in Your servants life. Claimed repeatedly. Often trusted in, desperately. Always found true, completely. Never found wanting, thankfully.

I know the sufficiency of the promises of God because I’ve drawn heavily on the promises of God. So, His promise is well tried and I love it! Amen!

But dig a little and the intent of the songwriter is more to say that God’s word is “completely pure” (CSB). That it’s been “thoroughly tested” (NLT) in the sense of a fine metal being tried. Smelted and refined such that, if possible, there’s no impurity to be found within it. That God’s word is better than fine gold.

So as I chew on it, like the psalmist, I love the Word because it is God’s perfect word. His living word. His unfailing word.

And, I love God’s word because it’s been well tried in the crucible of life’s experiences and found to be His all-sufficient word. A living word. An unfailing word.

So, I may not have connected with the right interpretation on the first swing, but it’s true, His promises have been well tried and have stood the test of time. And that’s because they are His pure and perfect promises given for all time.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

(Hebrews 10:23 ESV)

Still thinking it’s worthy of my “Amen!”

Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.

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