Bridges or Barriers

Posted on January 28, 2021 by Pete

It irritated Paul. My bible says it “provoked” his spirit within him. It riled him up. He couldn’t keep from being exasperated by it. He couldn’t stem the rising anger. Love the way Peterson puts it:

The longer Paul waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy, the angrier he got—all those idols! The city was a junkyard of idols.

(Acts 17:16 MSG)

Paul was placed among the pagans and it provoked him. He found himself standing amidst the secular and it stirred something within him. Who doesn’t get that? Especially in light of this last year. How many things have we seen, how many things have we heard, how many unbelievable things have been done which stir within us a righteous wrath? More than a few, I’m thinking. But it’s not just the connection with Paul’s vexation that grabs me, but the example of Paul’s response of mediation.

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

(Acts 17:16-17 ESV)

Paul was disgusted by what he saw, yet he determined to discuss it with those who would engage. He reasoned with them. My Greek lexicon indicates he mingled thought with thought with those who thought different. He conversed with those of contrary mind. Entered into discourse with those of a differing worldview.

He talked about the idol problem with the religious folks, those inside the synagogue — both Jew and Greek. He also engaged those outside “the church,” those in the public square. And what hits me is that Paul’s irritation at idolatry didn’t become a barrier but a bridge. Rather than a reason to rail against those who walked in spiritual darkness, he used it as an on-ramp to direct them to marvelous light. He addressed divergent viewpoints by arguing from a common ground.

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”

(Acts 17:22-23 ESV)

I can’t help but think how many divergent and disputable matters have been presented to the church over this past year and how many times we’ve thrown them up as barriers rather than leveraged them as bridges. Rather than look for the on-ramps in the irritating, sinful ways of a secular society, we denigrate, escalate, and alienate rather than try to engage in constructive debate. We rail at those who are dead in trespass in sin for being dead and trespassing in sin rather than reason respectfully from whatever connections we can make from our common human experience.

We should be riled up by sin. We should be grieved by spiritual darkness. We should be vexed by pagan practices. We should be choked by secular pseudo-intellectualism (“Claiming to be wise, they became fools” – Rom. 1:22). But Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He came to bring into light those who were once in darkness. To change wrong behaviors through right belief. To take those wise in their own minds and transform them, through the renewing of their minds, into those who have the mind of Christ. And that only happens as people hear the gospel. And that only happens as we leverage bridges to a lost world rather than throw up more barriers.

Provoked yet prepared to reason. Recognizing the barriers yet seeking to find the bridges.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Ask and Seek

Posted on January 27, 2021 by Pete

The songwriter, apparently, was a “one thing” person. Laser focused. Knew what he wanted above everything else. And this morning, as I hover this one thing, I think I’m seeing two things which are vital towards achieving the goal. Ask and seek.

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple.

(Psalm 27:4 ESV)

To be where the glory dwelt. That was David’s over-arching one thing. To be as close to the majesty as the majesty would allow. That’s where David wanted to be. To dwell in the house, abiding in the place where the LORD said He would reside. To gaze upon His beauty, beholding all that God would be pleased to reveal of His soul-capturing character. To inquire in His temple, looking to pick up whatever the LORD might lay down of His will and His way. That was the psalmist’s one thing.

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after.

I have asked for one thing. I will seek after one thing. I suppose you can read that not as doing two things, but as communicating a longing for the same thing in two different ways. A way of emphasizing the depth of desire for the one thing of knowing the near and abiding presence of God. Fair enough.

But this morning, it strikes me as two actions towards the same end. Asking and seeking. Petitioning and pursuing. Entreating God’s favor and exercising one’s own initiative. Believing that God would answer the songwriter’s lofty prayer, behaving in a manner consistent with his desired outcome.

Sure, God is powerful enough and sovereign enough that if we ask Him to settle us on the west coast, but determine to set our GPS toward the east coast, he can override our misdirection and land us where He wants. But what if that isn’t the normative way supernatural outcomes happen? What if, instead, God delights in us realizing our heart’s heavenly desire because it is also our heart’s earthly determination? The expression of our longing to abide with Him, coupled with the effort of drawing close to Him?

Ask and seek. Desire and determine. Pray and proceed. I’m thinking that’s what one thing people may be inclined to do.

Only by God’s grace. That they might know God’s glory.

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Invitation or Imperative?

Posted on January 26, 2021 by Pete

Hovering over some well known verses in Matthew this morning. Noodling on whether they are an offer to avail oneself of or, a command to obey.

“Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” ~ Jesus

(Matthew 11:28-30 ESV)

Come. Take. Learn. Three actions to be taken. Invitations or imperatives?

Maybe it doesn’t really matter. Maybe it does.

When it comes to “coming”, if it’s the way to restoration and recovery, who wouldn’t be in? Invitation or imperative, if it means finding some respite from weariness, some lifting of the heavy load, thank You, Jesus, for the invitation. Yes Lord, I’ll obey. Just as I am, I come!

But then I start to chew on, “Take My yoke . . . learn from Me.” Honestly, this sounds like work. After all, isn’t that what a yoke was for, to harness a beast of burden to a cart or a plow they were supposed to pull? To make sure they stayed focused on the task at hand? To provide a means by which they could be steered in the right direction? Bearing a yoke and finding some rest doesn’t strike me as intuitively compatible. Not an invitation I think I’m quick to RSVP to in the affirmative.

And then learn? Listen up and be informed? Pay attention and gain knowledge? Keep practicing and become proficient? Sounds like more work to me? Besides, I’m not an academic. After all, there are so many other things that capture my attention more. If learning is just about my preference, then maybe I’ll pass on that, too.

So, come, take, learn . . . invitation or imperative?

The context of these verses is Jesus’ denunciation of those cities that had seen His mighty works but refused His call to repent. Those that had ample evidence that the kingdom had come but chose instead the world that was. Those who would rather “enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Heb. 11:25) rather than walk in forever allegiance to the Savior. So, is come, take, learn the antithesis of reject, refuse, and remain in your own way?

Could Jesus be saying that to tether oneself to the world is to eventually be worn out and wasted? But to voluntarily, obediently, come and be yoked to the great Shepherd really is to be led “beside still waters” and eventually “lie down in green pastures” (Ps. 23:2)? That to determine to learn the way of Jesus, and walk in the manner of the Son, is in fact to find rest and restoration of the soul as He leads us “in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Ps. 23:3)? So that, should we walk even under the heavy load of “the valley of the shadow of death”, we really can fear no evil? And that , because we are bound together, neck to neck, with the One whose rod and staff, “they comfort me” (Ps. 23:4)? I’m thinking He could be.

Invitation or imperative?

Maybe it doesn’t matter. As long we accept the invitation or, with holy determination, seek to obey the command.

Maybe it does matter. If, rather than waking every morning and taking on His yoke, we instead see it just as a “go to” when things get wearisome and heavy. Then, I wonder if we are not missing out on a supernatural rest which is available 24/7. The rest of abiding in Jesus. The respite of walking in His ways. The repose of side-by-side fellowship even as we sojourn through an upside down world.

Come. Take. Learn. An invitation. An imperative.

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Friend of God (A 2011 Rerun)

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Pete

A bit dry this morning. My brain’s in more of a “take it in” mode than a “type it out.” So, as I often do on these types of morning, went back through previous meals from this day in my reading plan. This one, from 10 years ago, was good to chew on again. Hmmm . . . a decade since I started reading the ESV . . . who knew? Hmmm . . . a friend of God since the day I believed . . . who could have imagined?

This year I switched Bible translations for my morning devo’s. I’ve been a New King James (NKJV) guy for quite a few years. This year though, I decided to use the English Standard Version (ESV) as I work through my reading plan. Not a big departure really from what I’m used to, but I do find myself coming across phrases or ideas that I’d never “discovered” before in my reading . . . little “surprises” . . . “ah-hahs” . . . and in the case of this morning’s “unexpected finding”, a bit of a “Thanks be to God!” blessing.

The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant.

(Psalm 25:14 ESV)

Friendship with the Lord. Now how’s that for a phrase to noodle on? In the NKJV and NASB it’s rendered “The secret of the LORD” . . . in the NIV it’s “The LORD confides”.

The idea behind the word is that of being part of an inner circle . . . a council of familiar conversation . . . an assembly of familiar friends . . . those who are confided in . . . those who are privileged to be “brought into the know”.

You can see where both translations are accurate, though each emphasizes something a bit different. The NKJV emphasizes the evidence of the relationship, the “secret” . . . the ESV emphasizes the relationship itself . . . the secret is for the inner council, those who know “friendship” with the Lord.

A friend of God. Friendship with the Lord . . . friendship with Jehovah . . . friendship with “the existing One”. That is the intimate relationship available for those who fear Him . . . for those whose sins are remembered no more (25:7) because of redeeming grace . . . for those who have been pardoned of their guilt (25:11), having been justified by faith. These are brought into intimate relationship with God.

To them He makes known His promises (25:14) . . . to them He makes known His ways, teaches them His paths, leads them in truth (25:4-5). “Who has understood the mind of the Lord?” asks Paul. “We have the mind of the Christ,” comes the response (1Cor. 2:16).

Brought near through the blood of Christ, we have entered the inner council . . . and the inner counsel . . . of Jehovah . . . of I AM . . . of the Creator of all things. His secrets, to the degree He has chosen to reveal them to men, have been made available to those who believe. And not to be left to ourselves to “decipher” the high and holy ways of a God who is beyond fully understanding, we have been given the very Spirit of God as a permanent, resident instructor concerning the things of the secrets of the kingdom of God. Yeah . . . that’s a good indicator of friendship.

And while “the secrets” are evidence of “the friendship”, the friendship goes so far beyond Revealer / receiver . . . more than Teacher / student . . . deeper than Master / disciple . . . but within this inner council there is fellowship . . . communion . . . a heart of God to heart of man connection . . . as He knows our frame (Ps. 103:14) and is familiar with our frailty and weakness (Heb. 4:15) . . . and as we come to know His heart and the full dimensions of His love for us (Eph. 3:18-19). And so, the relationship grows, as do all healthy relationships. “The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows!”

Oh, to be a friend of God. Not to presume on the relationship . . . but to ponder the privilege . . . to respond with a holy determination to remain faithful by His power and grace . . . to bow down and worship with a thankful heart. Thanks be to God!

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Receive and Reward

Posted on January 22, 2021 by Pete

One of those musings where I launch out but I’m not sure where I’m going. Hovering over the last verses of my reading in Matthew this morning. Sensing they are profound, yet not sure I can really articulate why.

“The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” ~ Jesus

(Matthew 10:41-42 ESV)

Receive and reward. There’s a connection between these two in the kingdom of heaven.

Receive. Take by the hand. Grant access to. Give ear to. Embrace. Make one’s own.

Reward. Wages. Dues owed. The fruit naturally (or, perhaps, supernaturally) resulting from toils and endeavors.

Receive and you will receive a reward. Apparently a kingdom cause and effect dynamic. Action and reaction. Do the one, expect the other.

Prophets, highly esteemed within Israel. Messengers of God. Often miracle workers of God. A widow of Zarephath received Elijah (1Kings 17:9-24), and a wealthy Shunammite woman received his successor, Elisha (2Kings 4:8-37). Both received a reward. The former, miraculous provision during a drought. The latter, a baby after being barren. Both, their sons brought back from death after succumbing to illness. Received a prophet, received a reward.

A righteous person. What comes to mind is Psalm 1. One who “delights in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:2) — the antithesis of those who counsel wickedness, lead in the way of sin, are marked by the propensity to scoff. Hang with the righteous and “Blessed is the man.” All that he does prospers. Like a tree which flourishes by streams of water, bearing fruit with perpetual vitality. Receive a righteous person, receive a reward.

Making sense so far.

But a “little one?” An every day, run of the mill, struggling disciple? A nobody? A reward there as well? Hmmm . . .

Jesus is pretty specific on what “receive” means for these frail followers: give them a cup of cold water just because — just because they’re Mine. Extend compassion, consideration, and a pretty mundane act of kindness not because of what they have done, but because of who they are, a disciple. And there too, just as with the prophet and the righteous one, there is promised a reward.

Pause and consider. Are we eager to receive disciples? What’s our view towards these other little ones? Would we extend to them but a cup of cold water for no other reason than they too are followers of Jesus, regardless of how they align with us on any number of issues or inclinations on how to be a follower of Christ? And, in so doing, would we think there’d really be a reward for such a mundane act, given they are not of our particular theological persuasion or ideological tribe?

I know there are those who don’t think we should be motivated by rewards. But I think too much is taught in Scripture about rewards to ignore them. At the very least it tells us what’s valued in the kingdom. At the very most, who doesn’t want to lay claim on promised treasures in the kingdom?

Jesus values His disciples receiving His disciples just because they are His disciples. Values it so much in the kingdom economy He’s willing to pay for it.

How come? I think there’s a clue, at least one reason, in the verse I didn’t quote, the verse that proceeds these two.

“Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

(Matthew 10:40 ESV)

Receive a disciple, receive the Master. Receive the Master, receive the One who sent the Master. Grant access to a little one, embrace the Son, give ear to the Father. And in just that, isn’t there great reward? I’m thinking.

No wonder Jesus said, “Love one another” (Jn. 13:34, 15:12, 15:17). He who first loved us, and received us, knows that in receiving one another we will “by no means” lose our reward.

For our good. By His grace. For His glory.

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The Power of Promise

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Pete

Finished Genesis this morning. Found myself trying to do the math. Trying to piece together how many years between Abraham receiving the promise of land when he was 75 years old (Gen. 12:3), and when his grandson, Jacob, dies at the age of 147 (Gen. 47:28). Isaac was born to Abraham 25 years after the promise (Gen. 21:5), and Jacob was born to Isaac when Isaac was 60 (Gen. 25:26). So does that mean between the time Abraham was promised Canaan and the time Jacob was buried there, 232 years had passed? I’m thinking. (Let me know if you think differently).

So why am I doing the math? Here’s what I’m noodling on . . .

When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. . . .

And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.'” And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.”. . .

Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.

(Genesis 49:33, 50:4-6, 50:12-13 ESV)

Abraham dies 100 years after receiving the promise of enough land to house a great nation, and what does he have to show for it? A burying place. A cave in a field.

Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, a recipient also of the same promise from God (Gen. 28:13-14), dies 130+ years later and still the only acreage (if it was that) in the family, the only place for his body to return to, is a field with a cave suitable as a tomb. That’s a lot of time waiting on the promise without a lot to show for it.

And here’s the real kicker, when Joseph, Jacob’s son, still in Egypt living at the top of the food chain, is about to die years later (not sure how many years later, gotta do that math), he says to his brothers,

“I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. . . . God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”

(Genesis 50:24-25 ESV)

What!?! You have had full command of the pomp, power, authority, and wealth of all Egypt, but you wanna be buried in a cave in a field in Canaan? All because of a promise that really has seen very little produced?

And I think to myself, “Self, you are so impatient.” And then I think some more to myself, “But self, this is what the power of promise evokes in the people of God.”

We live as children of promise. Promise which fuels hope. Promise which provides strength. Promise which requires faith and patience.

Regardless of how meager the cave in the field might look now, “we feel sure of better things — things that belong to salvation” (Heb. 6:9). Ours is the inheritance of promise. Promise already realized through new birth. Promise yet to be fully realized in a new heavens and earth.

So we keep on keepin’ on. With “full assurance of hope until the end” (Heb. 6:11).

. . . so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

(Hebrews 6:12 ESV)

Do the math. Anticipate the answer.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Two Prophetic Words

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Pete

Two prophetic words rattling around in my head this morning. The first the dying words of a patriarch, the second the desperate words of a king. The first enveloped with an anticipation of glory, the second enduring the agony of humiliation. The first talking of One who would reign forever. The second? Same thing.

Cue Jacob . . .

“Judah, your brothers shall praise you . . . Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between His feet, until tribute comes to Him; and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

(Genesis 49:8a, 9-10 ESV)

Jacob blessing his son, the Spirit of God looking beyond his son. Jacob given the vision of a kingdom to come, a forever rule yet to be, a sovereign, one day, for all the peoples. The Spirit foretelling of Messiah, a descendent of Judah, coming as King over all.

Then, cue David . . .

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see Me mock Me; they make mouths at Me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the LORD; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, for He delights in Him!”

(Psalm 22:6-8 ESV)

Some situation prompting David to express such extreme feelings of degradation. And this too, but a portal used by the same Spirit of God to foretell the sufferings of a son of David. And what is mind boggling is that, in both prophetic utterances, the Spirit is looking to the same Person. Jesus the Christ.

Who could have conceived such a path for One who would forever hold the scepter over the kingdom of God? Who would have required a cross before the crown? Who would have determined that the inaugural path for a coming King would find its way, first, by becoming a suffering Servant?

Cue Sunday School answer 101 . . . God!

Hovering in awe afresh this morning as I consider these two prophetic words. Wonder, the only appropriate way to describe it. Worship, the only appropriate response in light of it.

And then, another prophetic word comes to mind, bringing these other two together.

Cue John . . .

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

(Revelation 5:5-6 ESV)

The Lion of the tribe of Judah. The Root of David. The Lamb of God.

O’ what a Savior! O’ what a Sovereign!

From Him we’ve known such abundant grace. To Him only must be everlasting glory!

Amen?

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Illumination not Confirmation

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Pete

It’s not what he taught that choked them, but all who had listened. The synagogue leaders didn’t object to Paul’s teaching after that first Sabbath when he proclaimed Jesus as the Savior promised through the line of David. They didn’t get their shorts in a knot when Paul said their brothers in Jerusalem had condemned Messiah to death “because they did not recognize Him nor understand the utterances of the prophets.” They didn’t even scoff when, on that first Sabbath, Paul testified to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead as the defining sign proving He was the Son of God. But when, on the next Sabbath, crowds of people gathered again to hear Paul’s good news, then their blood started to boil.

The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.

(Acts 13:44-45 ESV)

A week earlier they had welcomed the visiting Paul & Co. into their gathering and onto their pulpit, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” (13:15). And did they ever!

Ask me about great sermons in Acts and Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2) comes to mind immediately. Think a bit more, and I’d come up with Paul on Mars Hill (Acts 17). But Paul at Pisidia in Acts 13? Honestly, not top of mind. But should be.

Paul’s word of encouragement for “you who fear God” (13:16b) is a masterful summary of Israel’s redemptive story. A chosen nation. Flourishing under the hand of God while oppressed under the hand of Egypt. Delivered from bondage, cared for in the wilderness, given a land as their inheritance. Ruled by judges, then by kings, but in need of a Savior. A Savior promised from the line of David. Jesus.

Paul preaches the word and the word points to Jesus. And the people listened. They got a taste of the good news and they wanted more. The people “begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath” (13:42). And that’s when it started to come apart. When the Jewish leaders saw the crowds gathering to Paul and his message on that next Sabbath, they were filled with jealousy and began to oppose them.

They didn’t object to Paul’s truth but to Paul’s popularity. They didn’t refute what he said because it was misaligned with Scripture, but because it threatened their power and authority. It wasn’t Paul’s error that compelled them to thrust aside the gospel and judge themselves unworthy of eternal life (13:46), but their own envy. It wasn’t Paul’s facts but their filter. Not his beliefs but their bias. Not the seed he sowed but the soil they presented.

As I hover over this dynamic of minds made up so as to protect their own cozy worlds, far from judging these religious leaders, I sense one of those “beware” sort of things. “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1Cor. 10:12).

How I need to beware of filtering Scripture through self and not fully submitting self to Scripture. Aware that the flesh has a way of corrupting truth to suit it’s own desires. How I need to determine, as much as lies within me, to open my Bible each morning with an open heart. How I need to desire the Spirit’s illumination and not settle for my own confirmation.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Standing Firm in Simple Truth

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Pete

Hovering over the familiar this morning. Chewing on stuff that’s been chewed on before. Sometimes you just need to pause and reaffirm that which has been reaffirmed again and again.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

(Psalm 20:7 ESV)

Lot going on in this song. A day of trouble (v.1), a calling out in prayer (v.9). A plea for God to send help (v.2), to remember faithfulness (v.3), to respond to the desires of a needy heart (v.4). An anticipation of raising up the victor’s banner and shouting for joy over the LORD’s salvation (v.5). All sourced in an unfailing confidence in the Person of God and the Promises of God.

Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer Him from His holy heaven with the saving might of His right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

(Psalm 20:6-7 ESV)

I read “chariots and horses” and it triggers images from the news this past week of a fortified Washington D.C. Armored vehicles our chariots and horses, the National Guard our hope and strength for avoiding scenes like those of two weeks ago. And honestly, it strikes me as so simplistic, so cliché at times, to believe that trusting in the name of the LORD our God is ultimately what will cause us to “rise and stand upright” (v.8).

I’m tempted to think that, somehow, it must have been “simpler” in ancient times. But I guess that’s at the heart of any “day of trouble.” That somehow, the current “day of trouble” is the most troubling yet. That somehow trusting in the name of the LORD there and then was easier than it is here and now. That the bottom line of faith may need some supplementing in the complicated, nuanced, post-modern, post-truth, techno-media driven 21st century.

Or, maybe not.

As I’m chewing on simply trusting in the name of the LORD our God, a song comes to mind. Written almost 50 years ago, it too reminds me of a simpler age. Simple music, simple lyrics, evoking a nostalgic remembrance of the “good old days” when a phone was actually just a phone. Pulled up a 1983 performance of the song — talk about a blast from the past. Jesus is the answer for the world today . . . Above Him there’s no other, Jesus is the way . . . (you can pull it up here).

Jesus is the answer. Sounds trite to some. The more cynical might say, “Yeah? What’s the question?” But I’m reminded this morning, “Doesn’t matter.”

He is the answer. The redeeming work of the cross is what’s needed. The reconciling work of Lamb of God given as the once for all peace offering, removing the enmity of sin between man and God, is the only way to peace between men. The regenerating work of being born again is the only thing to restore a recognition of transcendent, absolute moral truth. Thinking that it doesn’t matter how complex the question is, the answer, simple or not, is still, “Jesus!”

Deploy your chariots. Take prudent measures with your horses. Engage in the public square. Be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1Pet. 3:15). But at the end of the day (and at the beginning), call out in simple prayer about complex matters.

Standing firm in the hope of this simple truth — our trust is in the name of the LORD our God.

In need of His grace. In anticipation of His glory.

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Omni-Condescendence

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Pete

In Psalm 18 David has a song to sing! Words penned “on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul” (Ps. 18 Intro). It’s a victory song. An I-was-down-but-now-have-won song. And David has no doubt as to the Source of his triumph. That’s why he begins his song with,

I love you, O LORD, my strength. (Psalm 18:1 ESV)

Though things looked bad, though the cords of death encompassed him, in his distress David cried to God for help. And from His holy temple God heard his voice. And God took up David’s cause.

The LORD bowed the heavens and came down. He rode on a cherub and came swiftly to David’s aid. The heavens thundered as the Most High uttered His voice. Departing His temple, the God of heaven planted His feet next to David’s on terra firma so that, by Him, David could run against a troop. By Him David could leap over a wall. By the God who equipped Him, his feet were like the feet of a deer, able to stand securely on the heights. The God of heaven drew alongside this shepherd boy of the field, and trained his hands for war and provided him the shield of His salvation.

It really is quite a stirring tale. I can only imagine the music suitable for such lyrics (Something along the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah anyone?) Could the crescendo of the song be found in the following verses?

The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation — the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me, who delivered me from my enemies; yes, You exalted me above those who rose against me; You rescued me from the man of violence.

For this I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations, and sing to Your name.

(Psalm 18:46-49 ESV)

And as I hover over the psalm the greatness of God is evident. His Omniscience. His Omnipresence. His Omnipotence. And, one other attribute I didn’t expect — one that I’m pretty sure isn’t even a word — His Omni-condescendence.

You have given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand supported me, and Your gentleness made me great.

(Psalm 18:35 ESV)

And Your gentleness made me great. Wasn’t expecting that.

Literally, the original word means “humility” or “meekness.” Thus, the idea of God lowering Himself, or condescending to come alongside David. And I guess that’s what happens whenever the God of majestic glory and power determines to aid men and women made of dust (Gen. 2:7), those who are as frail as the grass of the field (Isa. 40:6-8) — He does so in gentleness.

He humbles Himself in a sense. Binding His great strength in meekness. Every time the Creator allies Himself with His creation He lowers Himself in order to be their strength, their rock, their fortress, and deliverer. Thus, in addition to all the other “omni” attributes of God, couldn’t we say He’s also Omni-condescendent? I’m thinkin’ . . .

He’s gotta be! This is how Spurgeon puts it:

It is God’s making himself little which is the cause of our being made great. We are so little that if God should manifest his greatness without condescension, we should be trampled under his feet; but God, who must stoop to view the skies and bow to see what angels do, looks to the lowly and contrite, and makes them great. — (The Treasury of David, Spurgeon)

God humbling Himself in order to deliver His people and make them great. Hmmm . . . has a familiar ring to it, doesn’t it (Php. 2:5-8). Requires Omni-condescendence I think.

An attribute of His amazing grace. An attribute for His everlasting glory.

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