We Were, We Are, We Rejoice

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Pete

Not gonna lie . . . something about working your way through the book of Romans that can’t help but generate some joy. Paul’s precept-upon-precept treatise on “the power of God for salvation” (1:16) builds wonder and worship as it builds its argument. The gospel, which reveals a righteousness “from faith for faith” (1:17), shown just how good of news it is even as Paul delivers first the bad news that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23). The acknowledgment of our sin giving way to the awe of our salvation.

And as I’m hovering over the first part of Romans 5 this morning, it’s the word “we” that jumps off the page. Fifteen times in twelve verses. And I’m reminded of what we were, what we are, and why we rejoice.

We were weak (5:6). We were sinners (5:8). We were enemies of God (5:10). That’s what we were when we were in our transgression. No power within ourselves to “get right with God.” No goodness within ourselves that could offset our uncleanness before a holy, holy, holy God. No humility within ourselves compelling us to bow the knee and repent of our rebellion against God.

But while we were still weak, while we were still sinners, while we were enemies, Christ died for the ungodly. Christ died for us. And we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.

And that’s what we are. We are reconciled to God (5:10). We are justified by His blood (5:9). We are free from His wrath (5:9). And so, we are at peace with our Creator (5:1) and, through faith, we are standing on the solid ground of His unfailing, abundant grace (5:2).

That’s what we are, child of God! The ungodly declared not guilty. Sinners called to be saints. Enemies now brought near into relationship. That’s what we are.

So how could we not rejoice? And rejoice in all things?

. . . we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

(Romans 5:2b ESV)

. . . we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

(Romans 5:3-5 ESV)

. . . we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

(Romans 5:11 ESV)

Because of what we were, and knowing what we now are, we rejoice. Rejoice in hope. Rejoice in our sufferings. Rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our boasting found in the glory that will be ours because of the work He has finished on our behalf.

Glorying even in our seasons of suffering as they provide opportunity to know deeper the love of God. Experiencing the sustaining power of God, as He uses times of trial to conform us increasingly into the likeness of God.

Able to rejoice at all times and in all situations. And this too made possible through the Son of God.

We were enemies. We are reconciled. Therefore we will rejoice.

Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.

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Beware the Rabble

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Pete

I have before hovered over Numbers 11 wondering how a people literally fed by the hand of God could complain about the food they were given. “Nothing but manna?” That was their complaint. These earthly people had grown tired of heavenly food. God’s daily provision had for them become dully predictable. And while God in His graciousness would provide meat to eat, His anger would also “blaze hotly” (v.10) and for many it would be their last meal (v. 34).

But this morning what grabs my attention is less the sin than the source. Focused less on their crazy cry for Egypt’s good food and more on the catalyst that started it all. In my bible, it’s called the rabble.

Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

(Numbers 11:4-6 ESV)

It started with “the rabble that was among them.” The foreign rabble (NLT). The contemptible people (HCSB). The riff-raff (MSG). The mixed multitude (NKJV).

The “strong craving,” the lusting for Egypt, that ignited the manna rebellion began with some of “the mixed multitude” that walked out of Egypt with the people of God (Ex. 12:38). People who really had eaten of the best of the land, but bailed on the land when the firstborn of the land were destroyed during the tenth plague. People who believed enough to flee the wrath, but not enough to follow in faith. It might be argued that though they were with the people of God, they were never really of the people of God.

This doesn’t excuse the people’s rebellion. They were the ones who complained and cried out against God. But it is a reminder that, among the people of God, there has always been wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15). That among the wheat there has always been the weeds (Matt. 13:25). That not everyone “of us” is really “of us” (1Jn. 2:19).

It is amazing that this rabble were permitted to walk out of Egypt. That they too waded into the Red Sea on dry ground. That they witnessed the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. God in His sovereign determination allowing them to masquerade as though they longed to follow the God of Israel when, in fact, they lusted after the ease of Egypt. Perhaps, in His patient kindness, wanting to provide maximum time for their hearts to be turned toward Him.

But their hearts remained with Egypt. And their “strong craving” for the world spread like yeast among the people of God igniting a discontent for the way of God and a desire for the way of bondage.

No excusing the chosen people. But wouldn’t it be foolish to ignore the rabble, the catalyst for crying out against God?

How we need to be discerning of voices within the midst of the congregation that long for the ways of this world and complain against the God of heaven. How we need to be on guard against those who would turn aside the hearts of the people.

. . . the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck down the people with a very great plague. Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving.

(Numbers 11:34 ESV)

Beware the craving. Beware the rabble.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Me, Me, Me

Posted on March 1, 2019 by Pete

I get it when we say, “It’s not about me” . . . until it is. David did too.

After Nathan the prophet had confronted David exposing his adultery with Bathsheba and his murderous duplicity with her husband, when David’s spirit was broken and his heart crushed with contrition, it had to be about him.

His sin had been great. His need even greater. His desperation, greater still.

And out of such awareness of his own sin he pens a song, Psalm 51, about “me.”

Have mercy on me, O God . . .
Wash me thoroughly . . .
Cleanse me from my sin . . .
Purge me with hyssop . . .
Let me hear joy and gladness . . .
Create in me clean heart . . .
Renew within me a right spirit . . .
Cast me not away from Your presence . . .
Take not from me Your Holy Spirit . . .
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation . . .
Uphold me with a willing spirit . . .
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness . .

It’s a song about me which declares a wholly dependence on Him.

Nothing David could do could right the wrong. Nothing David could say could alter the fact that he had sinned against God and God alone and deserved God’s judgment. Nothing David could give could pay the debt owed heaven. Nothing David could build could breach the chasm of broken fellowship with the God he longed after. Nothing he could do, and so, it had to be about what God, in His mercy and grace, would do for him.

Reading also this morning in Romans 3. And reminded that I am like David.

. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God  

(Romans 3:23 ESV)

Having sinned against God and Him only. Unable to bring any offering or sacrifice sufficient to atone for my own sin but the offering of a broken spirit and a contrite heart that cries out to God, “Have mercy on me!”

Needing to be justified, to have the debt paid and the stain of sin removed. Knowing that it can never be on on the basis of what I can do for Him. Believing afresh, and acknowledging anew, that it can only be on the grounds of what He has done for me.

. . . justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.

(Romans 3:24-25a ESV)

Washed thoroughly. Purged completely. Delivered fully. Renewed daily. Only because of what God in His grace has done for me.

A clean heart. A willing spirit. His abiding presence. An everlasting joy. Only because of what His Son is doing in me through His Spirit.

Not about me. Except when it is.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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That He Would Be Glorified

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Pete

Okay, so when you encounter a command in a passage of Scripture, it’s probably a pretty good idea to seek to obey it. But when you find that command repeated within a few verses, put your ears on! Get your head in the game! And, as much as lies within you, respond to what the Holy Spirit’s trying to tell you. Check out this double command in Psalm 50:

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

(Psalm 50:14-15 ESV)

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies Me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

(Psalm 50:23 ESV)

A couple of things to note. Both passages speak of thanksgiving as a sacrifice to be offered. And both speak of how we should do life. Oh yeah, one more thing, at the center of both these commands is the opportunity to glorify God.

A double command? Glorify God? Perhaps I should listen up!

If I’m picking up what is being laid down, God desires a heart primed to thank and praise Him. Sure, we can offer Him a disciplined devotion time, or offer Him our attendance at church every Sunday, or ten percent out of our wallet, or any number of things, but, it seems to me, at the end of the day, if at the heart of it all there isn’t a sacrifice of praise or an offering of thanksgiving, then those other “offerings” have very little meaning or impact before our God.

In this double command the Father says, “Offer Me praise. Place thanksgiving on the altar. Even when circumstances aren’t so good, acknowledge that I am good. Even when others fail you, declare that I will never leave you nor forsake you. Even when you don’t know the way, praise Me because I have set in motion your path and have promised to direct you.”

I don’t know exactly why God so values our thanksgiving, but I do know He is worthy of it. I know He deserves it. That He would delight to receive it from such as I, well, that’s kind of amazing.

So why wouldn’t I delight in offering such a sacrifice? The sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies God, and I want to be a God glorifier.

Something else glorifies God. In addition to the offering of thanksgiving from our hearts and lips, God is glorified when we determine to do life in a manner consistent with His calling to live for Him and to depend on Him. I am to “perform my vows.” I am to “order my way rightly.” And I am to “call upon Him in the day of trouble.”

What mom always said really is true–it is so much about making wise choices. Choosing to direct my energies in pursuit of the kingdom. Choosing to do all things as unto the Lord. Choosing to cry out to him when the going gets tough rather than trying to do it on my own.

And the promise is that, when I make those choices, He will show me the way and deliver me from the trial. It may not be my way. It might not be deliverance according to my desired outcome or timing. But, at the end of the day, I’ll know it was my God who delivered me in the day of trouble. That it was Him who faithfully directed my path. And I will thank Him. And in so doing, I will glorify Him.

Oh, that I might bring before Him the sacrifice of thanksgiving more continually. That my heart might overflow with an offering of praise more consistently. That He would be glorified.

Oh, that I might, out of a heart of praise, seek to order my steps after His. That I might respond to His call to be holy for He is holy. That I would have a holy determination to live for Him and yield to the Spirit’s sanctifying work in me. That I might live in dependence upon Him and know His deliverance. That He would be glorified.

By His grace . . . that He would be glorified.

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Eternal Economics

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Pete

Hovering over Psalm 49 this morning. A song, it seems to me, about economics. Eternal economics. The songwriter solving a riddle with lyrics and melody (v.4) as he considers the ultimate advantage of wealth. (Spoiler alert . . . none).

The conundrum he contemplates? “Why should I fear in times of trouble?”

Apparently his time of trouble involved being cheated by the hands of “those who trust their wealth” and “boast of the abundance of their riches” (v.5-6). Those with the means to make his life miserable. Those with the money to mess things up. Those who espoused their own version of the golden rule–we have the gold, thus we’ll make the rules. Those who, from a natural perspective, had a lot of leverage because they possessed a lot of the loot.

But the songwriter considers further the natural and reminds himself that it is temporal. That even the wealthiest man eventually dies. That when all is said and done, nothing ultimately distinguishes the rich from the poor. That both the wise and the foolish end up in the grave. That boasting is ultimately buried. That whatever one possesses, and whatever power that might seem to allow him to wield, “his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish” (v.12).

And consideration of the temporal leads the psalmist to consider the eternal and the economics that dictate life after the grave.

Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. . . . But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me.   Selah

(Psalm 49:7-9, 15 ESV)

No man can redeem another from the power of the grave. No amount of earthly riches can reverse the stranglehold of death. But God is able to ransom the soul. He is able to bear the cost to pay forever the price of mortality. He alone has the power to break the bondage of Sheol.

His heavenly riches able to secure earthly resurrection. And in that, “He will receive me.” Death’s chains broken so that we might live bodily in His presence.

And while the ancient songwriter was led by the Spirit of God to be assured of such a ransom, today we know the One in whom those riches are found.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. . . But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

(Ephesians 1:7, 2:4-7 ESV)

God ransoms the soul from the power of Sheol with the riches of His grace manifest in the finished work of His Son. Though once dead in sin, though once with no hope of a future beyond the certainty of the grave, He has made us alive. He has raised us up with the resurrected Christ, and reserved for us a heavenly seat which is ours by faith today and will, one day, be ours to possess for eternity.

That’s eternal economics.

And so the songwriter answers his own riddle.

Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.

(Psalm 49:16-17 ESV)

But when the beloved of God die, those who by faith have believed in His ransom and received of His pardon, we will be carried away. It is then that true glory will be ours. The glory of the redeemed. The glory of the resurrected. The glory of our imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance in Christ.

The glory purchased according to the riches of His grace.

The glory that will be for His glory alone.

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The Company We’ll Keep

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Pete

Spend some time thinking about them, even just a bit, and you can’t help but getting frustrated. Their insincerity, their duplicity, their hypocrisy . . . it’s enough to drive you nuts!

The chief priests and elders came to Jesus with a fair enough question, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority” (Matt. 21:23). Even if there was a bit of skeptical challenge in their collective voice, it was a good question. A discerning question. Potentially, a life-changing question. After all, His teaching was scandalous. The signs and wonders, miraculous. So where was it all sourced? We gotta know!

But it wasn’t an honest question. They were trying to trap Jesus. To trip Him up. To bring accusations of either being a blasphemer or a charlatan. They weren’t interested in the truth. They were only interested in protecting their own agenda.

Frustrating! Because these were the religious elite. They were to be the truth-holders. If anyone should have modeled righteousness it should have been them. If anyone was going to line the halls of heaven, you’d think it would be those who said they knew and represented the God of heaven.

And so Jesus tells them a story. “What do you think,” He began. He then tells them of two sons. One refused his father’s call but then had a change of mind and obeyed. The other said he’d do as his father wished, but didn’t. “Which of the two did the will of the father?” Jesus asked them. No brainer, they said, “The first.” And then Jesus drives home the point of the story.

“Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”

(Matthew 21:31b-32 ESV)

And here’s what’s grabbing me this morning. That tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God. That’s the company we’ll keep.

Those who, at first, refuse the call of righteousness but then repent, rather than those who see themselves as righteous with no need to change a thing. Those considered the bottom of the societal food chain, rather than those who are self-published on the top ten lists. Those aware of their failure and shame, rather than those consumed by their pride and arrogance. That’s the company we’ll keep.

We’ll be among those considered “the least of these.” The broken and contrite in spirit because God has given them eyes to see their true and lowly condition.  To see their desperate need for redemption. Though once content to live in darkness and walk in sin, to at first refuse the Father, they then, by His grace, hear His voice and respond to His call and believe in the Savior. They are the company we’ll keep.

And the amazement is not that I’ll be rubbing shoulders one day with such at these, but that, even at my best, I’m nothing more than such as these. Like them, a sinner saved by grace. With them, a brother brought to His senses by God’s Spirit so that I too might respond to God’s call. People I wouldn’t naturally want to associate with here on earth, my people washed in the blood of the Lamb with a place reserved alongside them in heaven.

Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1Corinthians 6:9b-11 ESV)

That’s the company we’ll keep. The washed. The sanctified. The justified.

Spend some time thinking about them, even just a bit, and you can’t help but feeling blessed.

By His grace. For His glory.

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The King’s Desire

Posted on February 22, 2019 by Pete

It is an irrepressible song for a king. Lyrics that cannot be contained. Sourced in an overflowing heart, the songwriter’s tongue “like the pen of a ready scribe” (Ps. 45:1).

This king is “the most handsome of the sons of men”–inside and out (45:2-3). While his appearance conveys might, splendor, and majesty, every word from his lips is “sheer grace” (MSG).

And that this king is a foreshadow of THE KING is apparent as the God-breathed commentary of Hebrews claims the Messianic prophecy of the songwriter as belonging to Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.

But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

(Hebrews 1:8-9 citing Psalm 45:6-7 ESV)

So, if Jesus is the king of this ancient, prophetic song, then who is “the daughter” (45:10-15)? Who is the glorious princess arrayed in “many-colored robes” who is brought to the king? The one who, with joy and gladness, enters the king’s palace? If Jesus is the King, then mustn’t the bride speak of the church? I’m thinkin’ . . . (Eph. 5:25-26).

And here’s what I’m chewing on this morning: the King’s desire.

Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father’s house, and the King will desire your beauty. Since He is your Lord, bow to Him.

(Psalm 45:10-11 ESV)

Girl, says the songwriter, don’t you know who you are betrothed to? Lift your head up and take a look? Stop fussing around for a few minutes and behold your Bridegroom. Knock the wax of distraction out of your ears and hear the voice of Him who sits on the throne yet calls to you. Forget about holding on to your maiden name. Cease to fear leaving the safety of your father’s house and your comfortable surroundings. Know that He is your Lord. Worship Him.

And this, because He desires your beauty. The King longs for your radiance.

Desires it so much, He Himself clothed you with His own robes of salvation and righteousness–purchased at great cost with His own blood.

Longs for it to such a degree that even now, the makeover work He began in you when He called you to Himself, He longs to complete, as He has promised, so that He might present you to Himself “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,. . . holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27).

The King’s desire . . . it’s you!

Desiring the beauty He placed in you when He created you in His own likeness to be evident to all. The beauty He bestowed upon you when He redeemed you from the slavery of sin and death to witness to His saving power for eternity. The beauty He has purposed will emanate from you on that day when the Lamb takes His bride to be His joy and pleasure forever and ever.

The beauty that is found through Him, and in Him, and for Him. Beautiful because He has made it so.

O, to be the daughter called to forsake all others that we might be His alone. What amazing grace!

To be the bride the King desires! Clothed in His righteousness. Made ready through His Spirit infused, sanctifying power. What abounding love!

Since He is your Lord, bow to Him.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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A Sour Psalm

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Pete

Some psalms are sweet. The taste they leave in your mouth after chewing on them is pleasurable. Psalm 23 would be a case in point. Oh the satisfaction of being reminded that the Lord is my shepherd. But it doesn’t even necessarily have to be a “happy psalm” in order to leave a sweet taste. As hard as it is to read of the Servant’s sorrow and suffering in Psalm 22, at the end of the day, “the afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him shall praise the LORD . . . they shall come and proclaim His righteousness . . . that He has done it” (Ps. 22:26,31). Sweet!

But this morning, I’m reminded that some psalms are kind of sour. That the aftertaste is somewhat bitter. No real closure. No nice, neat bow used to tie everything up in a way that makes sense to the mind or seems satisfying to the soul. Just a stark, honest reality that seems to raise more questions than provide nice, clean answers. Such is Psalm 44, it seems. A sour psalm.

It’s not a self-centered song. In fact, the song’s pivot point is nothing if not theo-centric.

In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah

(Psalm 44:8 ESV)

God receives all the glory for their privileged position (Ps. 44:1-8). They knew it was His mighty hand that had driven out the nations. That through Him, and Him alone, they were able to “push down our foes.” That through His name they had successfully “tread down those who rise against us.” Their trust wasn’t in the bow, nor did they think it was their sword that could save them. But their boast was in their God. He had planted them. He had set them free. And the light of His face shone upon them for no other reason then He delighted in them. Sweet!

But that’s not all God had done. It also seemed He had abandoned them (Ps. 44:9-16). Their current circumstance indicated that He had rejected them, had disgraced them, choosing not to go out with their armies before their enemies. He had made them “like sheep for the slaughter.” He had apparently “sold His people for a trifle.” The omnipotent, sovereign God had made them “the taunt” of their neighbors, “a byword among the nations”, “a laughing stock among the people.”

And maybe the songwriter could have made some sense of this if he could have pointed to some cause for this effect. Some sin which deserved such a situation. Some transgression that demanded such terrible treatment. However, to the best of the psalmist’s knowledge, such was not the case.

All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You, and we have not been false to Your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from Your way; yet You have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For He knows the secrets of the heart. Yet for Your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

(Psalm 44:17-22 ESV)

The songwriter’s not trying to hide anything. Yet, he’s not finding anything, either. Not finding a cause for God’s apparent absence, yet still not finding His face. To the best of the songwriter’s knowledge, they were suffering not because they had forgotten; not because they had been unfaithful; not because they had turned their back; and not because they had departed from God’s way.  So why were they suffering?

Yet for Your sake we are killed all the day long.

They suffered simply because they were the people of God in a hostile land. And God, for a reason known only to God, allowed it.

And so, with nothing left to do, the psalmist does the only thing he can do. He cries out to his God.

Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! . . . Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of Your steadfast love!

(Psalm 44:23, 26 ESV)

He calls on a seemingly, sleeping Sovereign to wake up. Appeals to the One he has boasted in of past redemption, to redeem again. Not on the basis of their faithfulness, but solely on the grounds of His–for the sake of His steadfast love.

And that’s it. End of song.

What began in the major key of victories past, ends in the minor key of lingering lament. Kind of leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

Suffering only because they are the people of God. No easy next steps toward resolution. Nothing they can do to alleviate the pain.

Nothing to do but trust. To trust and wait. To trust and wait and cry out.

Desperately clinging to His steadfast love.

And maybe that’s the sweetness in this sour song–hoping in His steadfast love.

By His grace. For His glory.

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His Possession with A Promise

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Pete

If you think about it, if Paul’s identity had been found in Paul’s occupation or position of influence, Paul’s self-esteem and sense of self-worth should have been taking a major hit. Maybe the transition from being a Hebrew among Hebrews to the Preacher to the Gentiles might not have been so bad. After all, while Paul no longer possessed prestige status among the majority of his countrymen, he was quite the noted itinerant among the quickly growing start-up church. Though prominence among the majority may have been traded for prominence among this upstart minority, it was still prominence.

But this morning I’m reading of Paul the prisoner in Acts 27. And this man who once directed Jews as a Pharisee, who had once planted churches as a Preacher, couldn’t even persuade a centurion or the pilot of ship to discern the weather. Like I said, if Paul’s identity was wrapped up in his influential abilities, you might expect that Paul the prisoner was hitting rock bottom.

But Paul’s identity wasn’t wrapped up in his position. His self worth not dependent on his sphere of influence. His self image less about himself and more about the image he bore. Created in the likeness of God, he was also the possession of God and believed in the promise of God.

. . . Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.”

(Acts 27:21b-25 ESV)

It had been a dumb move to set sail from Fair Havens. Getting there had been with difficulty and, as the prime season for sailing had past, leaving there wasn’t going to get any easier. Everyone knew that continuing the voyage at this time would be dangerous. He had tried to warn them but, as already noted, Paul the Pharisee turned Paul the Preacher, who had become Paul the prisoner, no longer was Paul the prominent voice.

But when the weather turned, and the ship was tossed, and the situation seemed hopeless, this seemingly uninfluential victim of other’s bad decisions became the voice they all heeded. Not because the prisoner had once commanded the platform, but because he belonged to God, and he believed in what God had told him. That was Paul’s identity. That was his position of power. He was as a possession of God who believed the promise of God.

The God to whom I belong. How’s that for a label? That the God of creation, the One who fashioned me in His own triune likeness (Gen. 1:26-27), also determined to purchase me for His own, though I had sold myself into sin’s slavery. Ransoming me “not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ” (1Pet. 1:18-19). Though once an enemy of God, claiming me as the spoils of the victory won over sin and death through the cross of Christ. While I might find many things to identify me, when all is said and done, my true identity is found in the God to whom I belong.

What’s more, beyond being His beloved possession, I have been given His unfailing promise. Not to appear before some Caesar in Rome, but to one day stand face-to-face before the King of kings and Lord of lords in heaven. And though, while I sojourn to that place my lot on earth may shift, and the journey might seem hi-jacked by unexpected storms along the way, “I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.”

Because I am His possession and He is faithful concerning His promises.

And that by His unfailing grace. And that for His unceasing glory.

Amen?

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Hope for the Future

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Pete

Don’t know exactly the nature of the trouble the songwriter was experiencing which inspired him to pen Psalm 42, but you sense it was trouble with a capital T, and that rhymes with D, and that stands for despair.

Relentless, flooding despair. As if “deep calls to deep” and invokes the waters of a “roaring waterfall” to crash over the songwriter as “breakers and waves.” Drowning the soul. Taking away its breath. Causing it to flail as it struggles to break the surface of the overwhelming flood in order to catch a breath (42:7).

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?

(Psalm 42:5a ESV)

And the floods of despair resulted in a drought of desire.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

(Psalm 42:1-2 ESV)

Waters of despair can create a desert for the soul. The only liquid the songwriter consumed served but to create a more arid and desolate condition.

My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

(Psalm 42:3 ESV)

Tears day and night. Such was the normative state of this season in the psalmist’s life. How does one survive such a season? What’s the anchor for such a storm? When all you can manufacture are tears day and night what’s the counter? What’s available to water the dry and desperate soul so that its life is not left completely withered and depleted?

By day the LORD commands His steadfast love, and at night His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

(Psalm 42:8 ESV)

Daily tears are countered with the daily reminder that each day there is a fresh dispatch of God’s steadfast love ordered out of heaven. That His steadfast love never ceases. That His mercies never come to an end and are new every morning. The reminder that God’s faithfulness is great (Lam. 3:22-23). And that His grace if sufficient, His power made perfect in our weakness (2Cor. 12:9).

Nighttime waterworks are supplanted with nightly melodic memories of deliverance. God’s Spirit reminding the downcast soul again of God’s past deliverance. Songs of victory sourced in the finished work of the cross. Tunes of remembrance, the lyrics of which are inspired by themes of past redemption and reconciliation.

And along with these “golden oldies,” the playlist also includes fresh songs based on the promises for a new beginning in a new place. For a deliverance yet to be realized. A time when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).

And where do these daily provisions and these nightly supplies come together? How are they converted into nourishment for the downcast, thirsting soul. For the songwriter it came through prayer. A prayer to the God of my life. A prayer finding form in a song. A song acknowledging the reality of a dry, dry season, a tear-filled time, and yet taking God’s steadfast love and His never ending song, and converting them into life-sustaining expectation.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.

(Psalm 42:11 ESV)

Steadfast love by day. His song at night. Hope for the future.

By His grace. For His glory.

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