The Fruit of Righteousness

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Pete

Started in on Paul’s letter to the Philippians this morning. And what hits me pretty quick is the familiarity of his “laboring” language. Back in Galatians Paul talks of being “again in the anguish of childbirth” because of his consuming desire that the Christ who had saved these believers would be formed in these believers (Gal. 4:19). Not satisfied only with saved souls, Paul was driven to see sanctified lives. Not content to rack up numbers of people who were now “in Christ,” he wanted to see Christ actually living in and through more and more people.

Though the Philippians were in a very different place than the Galatians — though Paul was not contending for the fundamentals of the faith and the groundwork of grace — Paul, just as he did with the Ephesians as well, conveys his aspirations for these believers. He prays for them. With deep emotion and longing, he expresses similar thoughts, but emphasizes different facets, of what it would look like for Christ to be formed in them.

For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

(Philippians 1:8-11 ESV)

From the depths of his gut, Paul wanted to see love overflow from these believers. And not just some flighty, emotional fueled love, but love founded on knowledge, discernment, and the pursuit of what is excellent. The Word received, the Word applied, the Word in action.

Not just students of the Word, but stewards of the Word. Buying for themselves the truth advertised by Paul in his letters, and then investing it in the kingdom. The Word not only penetrating their minds with facts and data, but permeating their hearts as well, enabling them to navigate their world as disciples of Christ. Not just taking in precepts about the life gifted them in Christ, but then having a filter, a worldview, that manifested itself in practical principles for living that life in a manner consistent with Christ in them.

Knowledge and discernment. Not just focused on what might be “good” or “better”, but able to test, examine, scrutinize, and recognize what is excellent.

Big ask. Paul’s prayer for these believers at Philippi is certainly aspirational, but really, is it achievable? I’m thinking . . .

How come? What makes me think that Paul’s prayer isn’t just some pie in the sky, sweet by and by, sort of motivational speech? Because what Paul is asking for is the fruit of righteousness that come through Jesus Christ.

The power of the gospel is that “in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith” (Rom. 1:16-17). A righteousness not demanded of us in order to be saved, but a righteousness credited to our account because, by faith, we were saved. These Philippians already possessed the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. They were already holders of the raw material which could be used of the Spirit to form Christ in them and unleash Christ living through them.

Thus, Paul’s desire is that the seed of Christ’s righteousness in them would result in overflowing fruit through them. And such fruit would be manifest in love that abounded more and more. And such fruit would be borne as they pursued the knowledge of the kingdom, and as they applied that knowledge through Spirit informed discernment as to how to conduct themselves in the world. All the while purposing in their hearts, to approve not the way of the world, but the way of the kingdom of heaven. The way of what is excellent.

Seems to me, at least in part, that’s what the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ looks like.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Authority

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Pete

Read the end of Ephesians 6 this morning. Took note afresh of the promise of being able to stand firm with the armor of God given that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12a).

And I can’t help but wonder if some element of that wrestling match isn’t playing out in our land. While I’m not one to see the devil behind every evil thing on earth, nor wanting to give his legion “credit” for stuff that itself is able to flow freely from man’s darkened heart, you can’t help but think that where there is unfathomable disregard for image bearers of God, and where there is chaotic violence under the pretense of productive protest, the fingers of the destroyer may very well be at play.

And maybe, because of this mindset, that’s why I’m particularly taken with my reading in Luke this morning.

Setting: a synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath. And there Jesus is teaching. And the people are marveling.

. . . they were astonished at His teaching, for His word possessed authority.

(Luke 4:32 ESV)

He didn’t just parrot truth, He sourced the truth. Something in the way He spoke conveyed He was more than just a scribe, but that somehow He was, in fact, the Author.

And then, a hissing voice breaks the hush of awe that filled the place. The voice of a son of Adam possessed by a minion of Satan.

“Ha! What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are —  the Holy One of God.”

(Luke 4:34 ESV)

The cry of a “spirit of an unclean demon” (4:33). One from the ranks of “the authorities . . . the cosmic powers over this present darkness . . . the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” breaking the silence and calling out the Holy One of God. Arrogance. Defiance. Not of flesh and blood. But no match for the One who created flesh and blood.

Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.

(Luke 4:35 ESV)

And here’s what I’m chewing on this morning: the response of the spectators in this supernatural “wrestling match.” The second time the peanut gallery gasps. The second time they are compelled to draw the same conclusion.

And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

(Luke 4:36 ESV)

They were astonished that His word possessed such authority. They were amazed that His commands were rooted in such power.

And I’m reminded that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8). That the authority He had on earth against the principalities of the air back then, is the same authority He possesses seated at the Almighty’s right hand in heaven over the deeds of darkness here on earth today.

And it is this same Jesus who, by faith, lives in me and through me (Gal. 2:20). Not that I have authority to speak chaos into calm, nor compel riots to rest, but I know the One who does, should He choose.

What’s more, I have been fitted with the armor He has provided so that I “may be able to stand . . . able to withstand . . . and having done all, to stand firm” (Eph. 6:10b, 13b). Not that I might preserve self, but that I might be a bold witness of “the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19). Not that I can do it myself, but in the One whose word possesses authority.

Crazy times we’re in. But whom shall we fear?

. . . for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

(1John 4:4 ESV)

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Thin Silence

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Pete

The LORD was not in the great and strong wind that pulverized the rocks. Nor was He in the quake that shook the ground. And though you couldn’t take your eyes of the blazing fire, the LORD wasn’t in that either. Thinking this morning how we need to hear the sound of a thin silence.

Hovering over the story of God tending to the depressed prophet, Elijah, even as my mind can’t stop processing this morning’s news of last night’s continued violence in the land. And though I can’t identify with Elijah’s prayer to “take away my life”, his words, “It is enough!” seems to resonate. As does the Lord’s response, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you” (1Ki. 19:4-7).

That Elijah was done, is pretty evident. That the prophet of God who defeated the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah was spent is pretty clear. To say that he “lost courage” after Jezebel put out a hit on him would be an understatement. And so he runs. But he runs to the mount of God at Horeb, Sinai. And there he holes up in a cave.

And there God asks the kind of penetrating question that God is prone to ask. In the garden, the LORD God called to the man and asked, “Where are you?” Here, on the mount, the searching, seeking God of His people asks the weary prophet, “What are you doing here?” (19:9).

Elijah, you’ve come to the place where the bush once burned without being consumed. You’ve sought the holy ground that compels you to put off your sandals. I have thundered on this mountain before. From here I have revealed my will and my ways for my people. So you’ve come. So you’ve holed up in a cave. What do you want? What are you doing here?

And, as is often the case with so many of us, Elijah, the man “subject to like passions as we are” (James 5:17 KJV), focuses on himself. The world around him has descended into chaos and Elijah boils it down to, “I, even I only, am left.”

And God knows just what His weary messenger needs.

And He said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, . . .

(1Kings 19:11a ESV)

Stand on the mountain before Yahweh. Post up before the LORD’s presence. Firmly plant your feet, fix your eyes, open your ears, and behold anew My glory.

Thinking that’s what you need sometimes amidst the overwhelming chaos. A fresh look at God’s glory.

And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

(1Kings 19:11b-12 ESV)

The sound of a low whisper. Three words in the original, a voice still small. Or, as the rendering in my margin reads, a thin silence.

Need to take a breath after last night’s news. Need to refocus amidst the continuing collateral damage of a world-wide pandemic. Need to get my thoughts off myself. Need a fresh glimpse of the glory of God. Thinking this morning, it’ll be heard through His word in a thin silence.

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

(Psalm 46:10a ESV)

By Your grace. Show me Your glory.

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Let’s Walk

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Pete

Reminded this morning about walking. Three times in the first twenty-one verses of Ephesians 5. Less about getting my steps in but more about putting my salvation on. Redeemed not because of my good works, nevertheless, redeemed for good works (Eph 2:10). Called not because I am worthy, but gifted a new nature so that I may walk in a way worthy of my calling (Eph. 4:1).

To walk: to regulate one’s life; to conduct one’s self. And the Spirit, through Paul, reminds me how I should be thinking about regulating my life.

Regulate it in love.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

(Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV)

Really, how many problems does this solve? How much stress does this reduce? If I’m walking in love like Jesus loved, how many answers does that provide for how to respond in any given situation? Christ gave Himself up for me, I should regulate my life with a view of giving myself up for others. Ready to release my own claims, relinquish my own rights, and realign my own will for the sake of another. Sacrificing for them, perhaps, but more so offering myself to God, for His glory.

Regulate it in light.

. . . for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

(Ephesians 5:8-10 ESV)

Gotta be who I am, a child of light. So, in a world under the rule of the darkness, I’m probably gonna stand out in different situations. They’ll be going left but, discerning the will of the Lord, I probably shouldn’t be surprised that often I seem to be going right. While the world around me is driven by what is self-satisfying, ego-building, and go-with-the flow convenient, as a child of light my drivers should be what is good and right and true. And who’s to say what is good and right and true? The Creator. Communicated through His written word. Communicated by His living word.

And finally when it comes to regulating the affairs of my life, I’m to regulate it thoughtfully.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

(Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV)

“Walk circumspectly”, that’s how the King James version translates it. Watch your step. Pay careful attention to what you’re doing. Have you’re head in the game. Be intentional — intentionally aligned to the ways of God and the will of God. Redeem the time. Live for the kingdom.

So, conduct your lives in love, in light, and with heavenly-minded intentionality. Tall orders to begin the day with. And really, knowing who we are and the weakness of our frame, who’s up for such high and holy commands to obey? Who is sufficient for such things? Uh, we are.

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God . . .

(2Corinthians 3:5 ESV)

The Christ who loved us is the Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20). The God who authored light has infused us with light (2Cor. 4:6). And the careful walk is possible because of the indwelling Spirit who is ready, willing, and able to lead us (Gal. 5:16, 18, 25). Our sufficiency is from God, the Triune God of our salvation.

So, let’s walk.

By His grace. For His glory.

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The Root Cause

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Pete

Her parents named her Loveliness. And I’m sure she was. Beautiful. Attractive. Alluring. Wonder if Solomon perhaps had her in mind when he described the “forbidden woman” of Proverbs. Lips dripping with honey, speech smoother than oil (Prov. 5:3). Intoxicating to look at (5:20), flattering to listen to (7:5), wired to be irresistible. Naamah, Loveliness, the Ammonite.

Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. . . . Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his place.

(1Kings 14:21-22, 29-30 ESV)

Never noticed her before. But as I wrap up 1 Kings 14, there she is mentioned twice. As if punctuating the crazy section of God’s word that precedes her name. Almost as if the divinely inspired author of Kings is saying, When you think of Rehoboam, when you think of Jeroboam, when you think of the divided kingdom and the explosion of idolatry, don’t forget that it all began with Loveliness.

You pause at the end of 1 Kings 14 and you gotta ask yourself, “What just happened?” Just four chapters ago the Queen of Sheba is traveling to Jerusalem to see if the kingdom under Solomon’s rule is all it was reported to be — the reputation which preceded Solomon seemingly too good to be true. And when she gets there? Mind-blowing! “Behold, the half was not told me” (1Ki. 10:7). But now, at 1Kings 14:30, the kingdom has imploded. It’s divided. At war with itself. Worse yet, unfaithful to the God who called the kingdom into being. What just happened?!?

Loveliness. Naamah the Ammonite.

One of many foreign woman Solomon loved. An attractive lady “from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, ‘You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods'” (1Ki. 11:1-2). Her alluring beauty and enticing words a picture of the siren nature of the world around us. Catching our eye, winning our heart, drawing us in, ship-wrecking our faith.

Naamah was just a woman. But a woman who turned the heart of a king away from his God. A woman who primed the pump of idolatry. A catalyst for high places of worship. Freely offering cisterns to drink from which led a delivered people down the path of unfaithfulness to their Deliverer.

Loveliness was a little leaven that leavened the whole lump (Gal. 5:9).

Solomon played loose with the ways and warnings of God, and before his son died, the kingdom was dismantled. The wisest man in all the world thought he knew better than the One who gifted him with wisdom, and all that his hand had built, and the peace he had known, were, within a generation,well on its way to being destroyed.

And I can’t help but wonder if the author of Kings wants us to be reminded of the root cause. Loveliness, Naamah the Ammonite.

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” — Ravi Zacharias

O, to heed God in the small things. To believe God in the first things. To remain faithful to God in all things.

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Head Scratcher

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Pete

Hovering this morning over 1Kings 12, the account of how the kingdom of Israel is divided. And you don’t have to chew on the details very long before the whole thing becomes a bit of a head-scratcher.

That Solomon defaulted the promise of the throne because of his sin — because he allowed countless women of beauty to turn his eyes toward them and his heart away from God — is understandable (1Ki. 11:9-12). That God, for David’s sake, would do so after Solomon’s death, and not rend the entire kingdom from the house of David, you can chalk up to God’s gracious prerogative (11:13). That Solomon’s dodo son, Rehoboam, listened to some bad counsel when good counsel had already been given, thus causing the northern tribes to say, “We’re outta here”, is interesting, especially when the writer of 1Kings records, “for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the LORD that He might fulfill His word” (12:15).

But that God would hand the northern tribes over to Jeroboam? Well, that’s the head-scratcher.

Hand-picked before Solomon died, through a prophet God tells Jeroboam what He’s going to do. That He’s going to “tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon” and give Jeroboam the northern ten tribes (11:31). And God even tells Jeroboam why: because Solomon and his kingdom had forsaken God and followed other gods; because they had not walked in God’s ways; because, unlike David, they were not “doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My rules” (11:33).

Shouldn’t Jeroboam have got it? Follow God, good. Follow other gods, not so good. Evidently not.

And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

(1Kings 12:26-28 ESV)

What?!?! He just was given a kingdom because of another king’s idolatry and what does Jeroboam do? Makes his own idols. Demonstrates some one-upmanship with the southern kingdom as in effect he says, Look at these two golden calves ! Judah has only one God who delivered them from Egypt, behold, we have two! Head-scratcher!

What’s more, didn’t God know what this guy was likely to do? After all, “the Lord looks on the heart” (1Sam. 16:7b). More head-scratching.

But though I don’t totally get the why, I’m struck by the where. Though God’s ways are higher than my ways, Jeroboam’s heart is probably representative of my heart. And that’s where Jeroboam’s sin all began, in his heart.

The heart which, though it had been promised a kingdom and given a kingdom, did not trust God for the kingdom. A heart which lifted up self-preservation over God’s glorification. A heart which co-opted true worship for political prudence.

Jeroboam said in his heart, I need to do something. And so, he made his own idols, he built his own temples, he appointed his own priesthood, and sacrificed on his own altar. O, beware the heart.

The heart can cause us to go where the head knows it shouldn’t go. Can lead us to do what we never thought we’d do. Can make wrong things seem right. Can convince us that our ways are more sure than God’s ways. Even convincing us that following the many idols of our own making is a better bet than following the one true God who created all things. Head-scratcher!

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

(Psalm 51:10 ESV)

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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A Song for Every Season

Posted on May 26, 2020 by Pete

Assuming it was David who wrote Psalm 119, I wonder what season he may have had in mind when he penned the fifty-forth verse.

Did he think to his time as a boy in his father’s house tending sheep while his brothers were at war? Or of the time in Saul’s house as he waited to see how God would fulfill his anointing as Israel’s future king? Maybe he was thinking of that season when he was on the run and living in caves, hunted by Saul’s house as they sought to remove him as a threat to the throne.

Perhaps, it was after he became king. Could it have been his season of sin, when his bones wasted away within him as he sought to hide from God his sin with his soldier’s wife? Or, was it the other time he as on the run, after Absalom’s coup attempt? Or, could he have been considering those years when his reign was going well and his armies were winning wars but he knew there was still a better kingdom to come?

What season of life was David thinking of when he wrote the following? Or, could he have been thinking of every season?

Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.

(Psalm 119:54 ESV)

What season was David calling to mind as he thought about “the house of my sojourning”?

Seems to me that the very nature of sojourning is change. That pilgrimage involves permutation — nothing today is quite the same as it was yesterday. To trek is to transition. To keep moving is to keep morphing. But that, along the way, there will be times where the pilgrimage seems to be put on pause. And residence is taken up in a house of sojourning.

Could be a place of peace and rest. But, just as likely, a den of difficulty and despair. A time of knowing where you’re going, but just as easily a time of having no clue what’s next. A house of ease, or a house of toil. Depending on the season, the house of our sojourning might look very different. A dwelling place of our choosing, or a desert we would have avoided if we could.

But while the nature of sojourning is change and unpredictability, what strikes me this morning is that there is always a song for every season.

Your statutes have been my songs . . .

My Bible is a God-breathed Psalter for my pilgrimage. Always providing words for the way. Lyrics for life. Songs for every season of sojourning.

Living and active, not only can the word of God cut deep, but it can also create a chorus and make a melody. His statutes providing the inspiration for a song of hope, a song of encouragement, a song of praise, and yes, sometimes even providing the lyrics for a song of lament.

The nature of pilgrimage is change. Of sojourning, different seasons. But the Word of God is unchanging. And it’s songs always ready to be sung.

No matter the house of our sojourning, there is a song for every season.

Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.

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The Power At Work Within Us

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Pete

Wrapping up Ephesians 3 this morning. For three chapters Paul’s been laying down truth after truth concerning who these Ephesians are, and what they possess, in Christ.

And twice he prays for them. At the end of chapter 1 and at the end of chapter 3, he prays that, more than just giving mental ascent to these truths, that they would know and experience these truths. That the facts of what has God has done for them, and in them, would fuel the depths of their faith. That what he writes to inform their minds would penetrate their hearts and souls. So that, as we’ll get to in the remainder of Paul’s letter, what they believe would profoundly impact how they behave.

And, as is so often the case when it comes to preaching the ways of God, Paul can’t help but breakout in praise, declaring the wonder of God.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

(Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)

But, while I know this is about Him, I am almost overcome with what it says about us. That while God is able “to accomplish infinitely more” (NLT) than we can come up with, though He can “do above and beyond” (CSB) anything we might imagine, He does so “according to the power at work within us.”

That’s the phrase I’m chewing on. That’s the truth I’m tasting again for the first time. That’s the full-meal deal spread before me this morning. That God, who is able to work in ways beyond our “wildest dreams” (MSG), does so according to the power at work within us.

In chapter 1, Paul wanted these Ephesians believers to know “the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe.” The power that raised Christ from the dead. The power that seated Jesus at God’s right hand in heavenly places (1:19-20). And now, in chapter 3, he prays that they would be “strengthened” with that power, and that would happen “through His Spirit in your inner being” (3:16).

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . .

(Acts 1:8a ESV)

The active agency of the power of God is the Spirit of God. And we have been sealed with the Spirit (Eph. 1:13).

The Spirit of the God who raised Christ from the dead and gives life to our mortal bodies is the Spirit that “dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11).

Sealed by the Spirit of God of unfathomable power. Indwelt by the Spirit of God of unimaginable purposes. Empowered by the Spirit of God “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.”

And so, we can know things beyond what the mind of mortal man can know. We can do things beyond what the natural man thinks he can do. We can walk in a way that is worthy of our calling. And all this, according to the power at work within us.

Mind-blowing truths to ponder. No wonder Paul breaks out in praise.

Thanks be to God for the wondrous works of grace.

. . . to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen

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Incline My Heart

Posted on May 22, 2020 by Pete

Hovering over my reading in Psalm 119 this morning, verses 33 thru 40. A number of asks here by the songwriter as he continues his ode to the word of God. Teach me . . . give me understanding . . . lead me in the path . . . confirm to me Your promise. But one ask in particular causes me to pause and reflect.

Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!

(Psalm 119:36 ESV)

It’s a competition, it seems. His testimonies or selfish gain. The witness concerning Himself or the ways of the world. His covenant or my covetousness. Kind of the way our hearts are wired — ready to cling to something. Ready to pursue something. Ready to get in line behind some god or idol. Lord, says the songwriter, would You bend my heart towards Your word?

Incline my heart to Your testimonies. Turn my heart to Your decrees (CSB). Give me a bent for Your wisdom (MSG). Give me an eagerness for Your laws (NLT).

As I chew on this verse, a line from a song comes to mind that I’ve often enjoyed from a few of my Gaither videos: “I can’t even walk, without You holding my hand.” It occurs to me, “Lord, I can’t even desire Your word without Your gracious work of inclining my heart.”

Born in sin. Wired naturally to worship the creation more than the Creator. Instinctively ready to desire that which benefits me more than that which blesses Him. So where does a longing for the way of heaven comes from? What causes the propensity to want to live for self to be pushed out with a desire to live for God? What inclines the heart to the wisdom of God? Number one Sunday school answer: God! God inclines my heart to His word.

Just grateful this morning for any desire I have to get up and start my day in His word. Not my natural inclination, but His supernatural inclining of my heart.

Thankful for whatever measure I think I’m actually understanding this God-breathed revelation. Not because of my intellect, but only through the Spirit’s illumination.

In awe that I see what I see, . . . and pick up what I pick up, . . . and feel what I feel, . . . and want to respond the way I want to respond, not because I’ve made some grand, self-disciplined decision to live according to the Word, but because it’s actually “no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).

It’s because God answers the songwriter’s prayer, “Incline my heart to Your testimonies.”

My prayer too. Because I can’t even walk, without You holding my hand.

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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Suffering, Supplication, and Scripture

Posted on May 21, 2020 by Pete

The songwriter had “chosen the way of faithfulness” (Ps. 119:30). He had opted for “the way of truth” (CSB, NKJV). Looked at his options and picked the path of fidelity to His God. Opted for “the true road to Somewhere” (MSG). So, how was that workin’ for him?

My soul clings to the dust . . . my soul melts away for sorrow . . .

(Psalm 119:25a, 28a ESV)

Hmmm . . . evidently the way of faithfulness is no guarantee it will bypass the way of heavy affliction.

But as I hover over the fourth stanza of the songwriter’s twenty-two stanza love song for the Word of God, I’m struck by how he reacts to a dust-clinging soul. Moved by his response, even as the heat of his current situation melts away his strength from the inside out.

He prays to the God of the Word. And desires the word of God.

My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to Your word!
When I told of my ways, You answered me; teach me Your statutes!
Make me understand the way of Your precepts, and I will meditate on Your wondrous works.
My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word!
Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me Your law!
I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set Your rules before me.
I cling to Your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of Your commandments when You enlarge my heart!

(Psalm 119:25-32 ESV)

Whatever had put him facedown in the dirt, whatever had turned up the heat so much that he felt like he was puddling-up inside, even though the songwriter knew that God knew all the details, he still told the One who knows all things what was happening. Laid out his situation. Confessed his part in it (119:29a). Asked for God’s help through it.

And God answered him. How? The songwriter found that help in God’s word. That’s where he knew his help would come from.

He knew life would be found “according to Your word.” And so he cries out to God, “Teach me Your statutes . . . Make me understand the way of Your precepts . . . Strengthen me according to Your word . . . Graciously teach me Your law!” Only then was he confident that God would “enlarge his heart.” That God would free it up, would broaden what the songwriter knew to be true in the past, and make it wide enough to thrive in what he was enduring in the present. And then, says the songwriter, watch me run!

While the songwriter calls on God’s help through God’s word, he also “comes to the table” ready to do his part. I will meditate on Your works. I will set Your rules before me. I will cling to Your testimonies. And, because of the reserve I know I will find through Your revelation, I will run in the way of Your commandments.

Enduring suffering? Offer up supplication. Take in scripture.

Not to be too simplistic, or too formulaic, but I’m thinkin’ that’s how it works.

By His grace. For His glory.

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