One is the Only-est Number

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Pete

Normally, I’d just kind of skim these verses. And, actually, I did . . . the first time through. But then something (Someone?) made me go back and hover a little . . . and do a little math.

In Joshua 12 a roll is taken, a summary listed of the peoples defeated by Joshua & Co. west of the Jordan. Whether it was in the hill country or in the lowlands; whether on the slopes or in the wilderness; Israel defeated king after king. How many kings? Thirty-one kings. How’d they do it? One at a time. Making me think this morning that, when it comes to taking on our own battles, one is the only-est number.

And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites): the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; . . .the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.

(Joshua 12:7-10, 24 ESV)

One . . . one . . . one . . . one . . . Get the pattern? Feeling the rhythm? Is there something this repetition is laying down that I should be picking up? I’m thinkin’!

Let’s be honest, taking the land — even when it’s promised land — can be a somewhat daunting task. A big undertaking. A lot of unknowns. Fierce enemies ready to fight because, at least in Joshua’s situation, they were fighting for their lives. So how do you move into a land with a lot of enemies? How do you take territory that’s bigger than you know? Reminds me of the modern proverb: “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer: One bite at a time. Applying that answer: One king at a time.

Sure, a few of them ganged up together and tried to create some critical mass in order to defeat Joshua’s entering army, but God had determined in advance their destruction and Israel’s deliverance (Josh. 11:19-20). So, when all was said and done except for doing the math afterward, the counting was done one at a time. ‘Cause one is the only-est number.

I don’t have a land to possess, but I do have a world to resist (1Jn. 2:15). I’m not called to destroy cities, but I am commanded to die to self (Rom. 8:12-13). I may not be a warrior, but I am a wrestler, and I’m not wrestling against flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12). I may not be at war, but there always seems to be tribulation (Jn. 16:33). So, how do I go forward and take on what God has put before me to take on?

I meet each challenge, I enter each battle, one at a time. In the name of the LORD. No confidence in myself, but confident in the one who has promised to complete the work He’s begun (Php. 1:6). No strength in myself, but my weakness actually being the “secret sauce” for displaying the power of God (2Cor. 12:9). Not always sure of what’s ahead or how I’m gonna get through it, but assured that the God who saved me is the God who is with me and will never leave me nor forsake me (Joshua 1:5, Heb. 13:5). So, I enter the fray and stand fast against whatever the opponent, and I do it one by one by one by one by one . . . (you get the idea).

Overwhelmed? Sometimes. But if God is for us who can be against us (Rom. 8:31)?

And so, by faith and loaded up with mercies that are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23), we’ll take on whatever needs to be taken on, reminded that one is the only-est number.

But also reminded that, in Christ, one isn’t the loneliest number — for Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20). And that’s one thing we just can’t ever forget. Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.

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Cutters of Wood, Drawers of Water

Posted on April 1, 2024 by Pete

Hovering over Joshua 9 this morning. Familiar territory (no pun intended . . . well maybe a little). But this morning I find myself chewing on something I’ve not chewed on before.

Context? The inhabitants of Gibeon, a large and royal city, see the writing on the wall after Israel’s defeat of Jericho and Ai. They’re doomed too — unless they can somehow get the Israelites into making a covenant of peace with them. So, they set up a scam, tricking Joshua & Co. to believe they are people from a far-off land wanting to be Israel’s allies. The Israelites bite, and the Gibeonites are spared.

Before, when reading this, I’ve always focused on the folly of the Israelite leaders who “did not ask counsel from the LORD” (9:14) before entering into a pact with the sly Gibeonites. But this morning, I’m wondering if there isn’t something to be considered about the faith of the Gibeonites.

Unlike the people of Ai, who had heard about Jericho but decided to fight anyway, the Gibeonites heard of Israel’s victories and believed they could not stand against their God, the God who had delivered Israel from Egypt and was now giving them a promised land. Like Rahab (Joshua 2), they were convinced of God’s power and took action in order to cast themselves upon God’s mercy, even if it meant a little trickery. But did they fully foresee the consequences of being spared?

Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us? Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you— so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing. And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.” So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place that he should choose.

(Joshua 9:22-26 ESV)

Cutters of wood and drawers of water . . . that’s what I’m chewing on this morning. Their “curse” avoided the curse of death. While their “curse” connected them to the covenant people as servants, at least they were living servants. Sure, they weren’t their own anymore, but at least they could be someone’s evermore. They may have lost the right to a personal agenda, but they had gained the privilege of living within proximity of the Almighty.

Don’t think I can take this too far, but I’m kind of relating to the Gibeonites this morning. Not to justify their tactics, but they knew that Israel’s God was a God to be feared — and that’s the beginning of wisdom, isn’t it (Prov. 9:10)? Granted, their motives for “coming to God” were kind of self-serving, but how many of us came to Jesus because we believed He would save us from the wrath to come (Rom. 5:9)? And though we were adopted as sons and daughters of God (Rom. 8:15), didn’t we, like the Gibeonites, also became slaves of God (Rom. 6:22). While we too became no longer are our own (1Cor. 6:19-20), yet he had life — and not just life, but life abundantly (Jn. 10:10)!

Don’t know how those Gibeonites thought about where they ended up. But for me, thinking that it’s better to be a doorkeeper than an enemy.

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

(Psalm 84:10 ESV)

Better to be doorkeepers, or cutters of wood, or drawers of water . . .

By His grace. For His glory.

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You’ve Never Been This Way Before

Posted on March 26, 2024 by Pete

For the past 40 years it had become pretty routine, “whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle the people of Israel would set out” (Ex. 40:36). When the glory got up and got going, the people packed up the tabernacle in the wilderness and followed. When the cloud hovered, they set up camp, each tribe bedding down in their prescribed proximity to the tabernacle. When the cloud moved out again, they moved out again in the precise order of departure determined by the Lord (Numbers 2).

For 40 years, whether it was coming or going it was always the same — they could do it almost without thinking. For whatever journey the clouds departure brought, it too was the same old journey — another day doing laps in the wilderness. The scenery the same. The mileposts way too familiar. Lap after lap, year after year, day in and day out, the same old same old — pick up the manna, break camp, follow the ark, stop when the cloud stops, and set up camp. Yawn! We’ll do it again tomorrow.

That’s what came to mind as a result of noodling on an obscure verse in Joshua which popped off the page this morning. Heads up, says the Spirit, you’ve never been this way before.

Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. At the end of three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”

(Joshua 3:1-4 ESV)

Rise early as you’ve always risen early. Follow as you’ve always followed. But today, be careful to maintain an extra distance, for there’ll be no nose-to-butt, do-it-in-your-sleep, marching by rote stuff today. Hang back a half mile so that you’ll know the way to go, cause this ain’t just another lap around Sinai. I’m taking you down a new path today, and you have not passed this way before.

Huh! Something to chew on, me thinks.

For a guy who likes routine, I might just have to remember that following Jesus isn’t necessarily about finding my well-worn rut and mindlessly sticking to it. As a guy who likes repetition, I might be wise to remember that doing life as usual shouldn’t lead me to expect that I can “do Jesus” as usual. Because sometimes, you’re gonna be going down a path you’ve never been down before. Then, keying into the glory will be key. Keeping your distance in order to see His leading will be vital. Not presuming that Jesus is going to lead just as He’s always led, just smart thinking.

When you’ve never been this way before, routine’s out the window. Longing for the monotony of “been there, done that” is totally messed with. The illusion of self-sufficiency goes up in smoke. When you’ve never been this way before, you need to follow Jesus consciously, clearly, and completely dependent on Him to lead.

So, isn’t it another aspect of God’s goodness and grace when He takes us to places we’ve never been before — even places we’d rather not go? I’m thinkin’. For it’s on those unfamiliar paths where we can know Jesus like we’ve never known Him before. Aware of His presence in a way we may have not been aware of it for some time.

It’s on those unknown paths where we tend to re-focus on the reality that we real need to be following in the trail of glory. Where we’re aware of the need to ensure our eyes are fixed from a holy distance on our holy God. And we need to believe that on this never traveled path, we can know the way we should go because He knows the way we should go.

They were about to cross the Jordan, to enter into a battle to possess a land they had been promised. And on this day, they were to rise early, awake to the reality they were walking down a new road, and follow at a distance, making sure they didn’t take their eyes off the glory which led them.

Good counsel, I’m thinking, when you’ve never been this way before.

Yes?

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Plea to Be

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Pete

Repetition does its work again this morning. What I’m chewing on is a phrase served up multiple times — 4 times to be exact. And yet it isn’t the fact that these phrases are all the same that has me thinking this morning, it’s that — to coin something I learned from Sesame Street — one of these things is not like the other.

Operation “Take the Land” is soon to commence. The big game is about to begin. And God serves up a pre-game pep talk to His quarterback, Joshua.

After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, . . . “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

(Joshua 1:1, 6-9 ESV)

As Joshua gets his head in the game before leading God’s people in taking the land that God has promised, at this moment, there’s one command above other commands he needs to take to heart — Be strong and courageous. If Joshua was going to lead the people to occupy the land promised to their ancestors, God knew Joshua would need strength and courage.

Okay, Pete. Three repetitions in short order, pretty important command to obey from God’s perspective. Got it. But you said the phrase was repeated 4 times.

Yup, and here’s where one of these things is not quite like the other.

And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses! Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

(Joshua 1:16-18 ESV)

There it is, the fourth be strong and courageous. But this time it isn’t spoken by the Almighty and All-Powerful LORD of heaven, but by the flesh and blood people of Reuben, Gad, and half-tribe of Manasseh, those who would settle east of the Jordan after helping their kinsmen take the land promised west of the Jordan. And this time it isn’t so much spoken as a command to obey by One with the authority to command Joshua to obey, but it comes across to me more like a plea to be — to be what the people are counting on their leader to be. Be strong and courageous . . . cause we’re depending on you.

God had placed leadership over His people. The people were committing to place themselves under God’s chosen leaders. So, what did they need from their leaders? Strength! Courage!

Isn’t that kind of what we need today among God’s people? I’m thinkin’ . . .

We need leaders who, by God’s grace and with the Spirit’s enabling, will lead, by faith, with strength and with courage. Those who will stand for the Word, contend for the faith, and faithfully shepherd God’s people. And we need people who, by God’s grace and with the Spirit’s enabling, will follow, by faith, trusting that God has raised up those set in leadership over them. And that they’ll do so with strength and with courage.

How we need strong leaders in the church — strong while being submitted to the Lord. How we need courageous leaders in the church — courageous while being committed to their people. Ready to take the land while standing fast against the allure of land. Determined to be faithful while always aware of their frailty and need for gospel power to do gospel work.

Strength! Courage! I’m thinking that’s the plea to be which God’s people need to be praying over those God has placed over them in the Lord (1Thess. 5:12).

According to God’s grace. Always for God’s glory.

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In the Lord

Posted on March 22, 2024 by Pete

Identity. For those who have ears to hear, there’s a lot of talk these days about identity. Who we are. What we is.

As I wrap up Romans this morning, a couple of short, repeated phrases remind me of my identity.

Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus . . .

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.

(Romans 16:3, 7-13 ESV)

In the Lord . . . That’s what I’m chewing on this morning. ‘Cause that’s what I am, that’s who I am — In the Lord.

What defines me, first and foremost, is that I am “in Christ.” What marks me, above all things that could mark me, is that I am “in the Lord.”

As the “credits” role at the end of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he lists friends and fellow workers. Men and women. Jews and Gentiles. Some of worldly repute, others not so much. But for whatever might have distinguished them from one another, what bound them together — beyond their common relationship with Paul — was their identity as those who were in the Lord.

They were chosen in the Lord, approved in Christ, and beloved in the Lord, only to then become fellow workers in the Lord.

It wasn’t their talents that distinguished them. It wasn’t their standing in society. It wasn’t what they accomplished. It wasn’t who they knew. When all was said and done — when the final chapter of the letter was written (literally) — what marked this cast of “bit players” was that they were in the Lord.

That’s who this “bit player” sitting in this chair this morning is, just a guy in the Lord. And, at the end of the day — at the end of my day — that is what will mark me. The only label that will make an real difference is that label. That will be my only boast — that I was in Christ.

Nobody in particular. But somebody in Christ.

Chosen. Beloved. Approved. A worker. In the Lord.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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Where’d That Cow Go?

Posted on March 19, 2024 by Pete

Continuing to work my way through Deuteronomy. Lot of commands to obey. Lot of to do’s. A fair number of to don’t’s as well. Some dealing with pretty weighty (aka sinful) matters. Some dealing with pretty weird (aka cultural) matters. Some I get. Some, like not boiling a goat in its mother’s milk, not as much. But the one that jumped off the page this morning was a bit surprising.

As part of the behaviors catalogue communicated by Moses as to what marks a set apart people — “a people holy to the LORD” (Dt. 26:19) — this command to obey seems, at first, kind of mundane. And yet, if it was heeded intentionally and consistently, it truly would serve to distinguish from the nations surrounding them a people who know they are “His treasured possession” (Dt. 26:18).

“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him. And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it. You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.”

(Deuteronomy 22:1-4 ESV)

You may not ignore it . . . you shall help. Those are the commands to obey I’m chewing on this morning.

You’re out for a morning walk and some “me time” and you see an untethered cow coming at you. You’re rushing to the neighbors to get a cup of sugar and there, by the side of the road, is a stray sheep. Whaddya’ gonna do? You must not ignore it . . . thus saith the LORD through Moses. Don’t look the other way as if you didn’t see it . . . so says Peterson in The Message. You shall help him.

Okay, but what if the owner’s nowhere to be seen?

Take it home. Feed it. Care for it. Protect it. And when someone comes looking for it, restore it to him.

Take on someone else’s burden? Even when they’re the ones who couldn’t keep things corralled? And on my nickel?

Yeah, now you’re getting it.

How prone am I to be too busy to be my brother’s keeper — or at least his livestock’s keeper? Pretty prone. How self-absorbed to not come to the rescue of a sister when I come across an opportunity to come to her rescue — or at least to the rescue of her sheep? Too self-absorbed, I fear. Too often, if I’m honest.

But how amazing would it be to find a community that is constantly watching one another’s backs — or at least their livestock? How inviting a people who, because they are set apart to God, are set toward caring for each other — or at least each other’s sheep? Pretty inviting.

Just an Old Testament thing? Nope. Came across it in my Romans’ reading this morning, too.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

(Romans 13:8 ESV)

You may not ignore it. You shall help.

Because of God’s grace. For God’s glory.

Now, where’d that cow go? . . .

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Love Unfeigned

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Pete

According to my handy-dandy online lexicon, the four word command-to-obey which catches my attention this morning, is but two words in the original.

Continuing to read in Romans 12 this morning. After 11 chapters of intense theology, Paul shifts (as Paul does in most of his letters) to answering the “so what?” After laying out what we are to believe, he lays out the implications for how we should behave. So, after appealing to the saints “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” as the right response to the “mercies of God” laid out in the previous chapters, he proceeds to paint a picture of what presenting your body as a living sacrifice looks like. It’s one of those “looks” that I’m chewing on this morning.

Let love be genuine. (Romans 12:9a ESV)

Four words in my English translation, but two words in the original.

Love unfeigned. Or, love undisguised. Or, love sincere.

Other English translations render it:

Let love be without hypocrisy. (CSB)

Love must be sincere. (NIV)

Don’t just pretend to love one another. (NLT)

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. (MSG)

Those who desire to offer their bodies as living sacrifices will love sincerely. Not with some veneer of pretense, but with a deep desire for authenticity.

Loving authentically not presupposing loving perfectly. For, it seems to me, loving without hypocrisy will require recognizing those times we haven’t loved as we should. Those attempted acts of love when the old man gets in the way of the new commandment (Jn. 13:34). When the old nature within prevents the fullness of Christ’s love from flowing without. When what we sincerely intended for good, somehow gets lost in the translation. In those instances, it seems to me, love unfeigned will manifest itself in repentance unconstrained. Not pretending will mean openly confessing. Not faking evidenced by admitting we failed.

Love unfeigned. When we get it right, and when we get it less than right.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Not Just a King Thing

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Pete

God knew the day would come, the day when His people would ask for a king (1Samuel 8:5-7,19-20). It would be inevitable that they would eventually want to layer in a man-on-the-throne monarchy over their God-in-the-midst theocracy. And so, knowing the day would come, God graciously provides a section on “How to Be King” (chapter 17, verses 14 to 20) within His “Promised Land Preparation” guide (Deuteronomy).

He would be a king of God’s choosing. He would be a king from among one of the tribes of Israel. What’s more, there were certain things he wasn’t to do, “lest his heart turn away”, and one pretty big thing he was to do, “so that he may continue long in his kingdom.”

I’m chewing on that big thing, this morning. And, it’s not just a king thing.

“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”

(Deuteronomy 17:18-20 ESV)

After writing out his inauguration speech, the new king’s first job was to write out a copy of the law. Before penning any new legislation, he was to pen a bible. And that copy of God’s word was to be with him, to be read by him, and to be kept by him. It would be the guiding source of his reign all the days of his life. It would be the protecting groundwork for his heart for all the leading he was to do.

I’m no king, but there are certain things I’m responsible for. No regent, yet a certain sphere of responsibility. No grand power, though a fair amount of freedom to exercise my prerogative. And this as a child of God, a follower of Jesus, and an ambassador for a heavenly kingdom. How do I faithfully discharge my duties then? What’s going to keep me on the rails so that I don’t “turn aside.” Perhaps I’d be wise to take a cue from God’s “So You Wanna Be a King” handbook.

I know of a man who wrote out the bible by hand (King James version no less) — he was the father of a friend of the family who had the three-ring binders on display in a little bookstore she ran out of her home. Wouldn’t that be an undertaking? A good exercise, but glad it’s not a required expectation.

But to have a bible “with me”, to “read in it”, to “keep its words”, now that’s something I think is paramount to leading whatever life I’ve been graced of God to lead. Critical for staying rightly aligned with the King of kings. Vital for learning to the fear the Lord. Essential for being transformed by the renewing of my mind. Critical for being conformed to the likeness of my Savior. Foundational for flourishing, whatever the realm I’ve been given by God to operate within.

And it shall be with him . . .

Not just a king thing.

Word of God speak.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Humbled

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Pete

Been talking about humility with some guys from my church over the past few weeks. Brother! You’d think that by now — after so many years of seeking to follow Christ — holding up that mirror would not still be revealing so many blemishes. Apparently not.

I’m guessing that’s why something repeated in Deuteronomy 8 caught my attention this morning.

“And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

(Deuteronomy 8:2-3 ESV)

“Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His rules and His statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.'”

(Deuteronomy 8:11-17 ESV)

Would it be fair to say that if leaving Egypt is meant to be a picture of salvation, and entering the promised land foreshadows something of glorification, then perhaps the wilderness is a hint of what’s entailed in sanctification? That while the people had been brought out of Egypt, before entering the land of promise Egypt needed to be pried out from the people? That before they could fully possess what was ahead of them, they needed to learn to stop longing for what lay behind them? And so, they did laps for forty years. And during that time God humbled them, testing them to know what was in their hearts. Reminding them again and again of their need for Him as the pangs of hunger again and again unsettled them. They were humbled. Not so much as a punishment but as preparation. If that’s true (and I’m thinking it is), then boy am I being prepared!

As a man disciplines his son, so God disciplines His people (Deut. 8:5). The Lord disciplines those He loves (Heb. 12:6). Humbling is part of that training. Humiliation a tool in the Potter’s hand. The constant reminder of the earthen vessel’s weakness the means for revealing the actual source of the cracked pot’s power (2Cor. 4:7).

Being humbled doesn’t feel so good. Humiliation is hard. It’s painful, not pleasant, as it tests the heart. But we gotta believe it readies the man and it prepares the woman as it ultimately “yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:11).

Humbled? Yeah. Still? Yup. Ouch? Yes sir. But for my good as I continue to journey in this wilderness on the way to the land of promise.

Another facet of God’s amazing grace. Another means by which God gets all the glory.

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Silence & Out-Pouring (2009 Remix)

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Pete

After my readings this morning, went back into the archives to help prime the pump for a brain feeling a little like molasses. Came across these old musings from 2009 . . . they spoke to me in a fresh way. Passing them on . . .

I’m not sure that Psalm 62 and Matthew 26:6-13 would normally be compared and contrasted with each other . . . but they’re both part of my reading plan this morning . . . and they both deal with silence and out-pouring.

In Matthew 26 a woman comes to Jesus as He dines at the house of Simon the leper and, without saying a word, takes “an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table” (26:7). John 12 identifies the woman as Mary, the sister of Lazarus . . . the Lazarus who had been dead, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. John tells us it was a pound of very expensive spikenard perfume . . . that after pouring it on His head, she also anointed His feet . . . wiping them with her hair . . . and the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil (John 12:1-3). Mary is silent . . . not a word spoken . . . just the outpouring of extravagant worship . . . and Jesus is honored.

Psalm 62 is a very different situation . . . a completely unrelated context . . . but here too you find silence . . . and you find an out-pouring.

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from Him comes my salvation. . . .
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from Him.

(Psalm 62:1, 5 ESV)

As David so often experienced, the pressure is on . . . times are tough . . . the battle is going in the wrong direction . . . his enemies are many . . . his victories, at this time, are few. What to do? What’s the strategy? What’s the “plan A” . . . and if that doesn’t work, the “plan B” . . . “plan C”??? The plan? . . . wait silently for God alone . . . still all that is within me . . . focus it solely on the God who is the immovable rock . . . quietly direct my total being on the One who has promised to be my salvation. In so doing, I will not be moved.

Really? My tendency when things are going south is to do something . . . anything . . . try a little of this . . . work a little of that. Is my stability in chaotic times really found in my soul silently waiting on my God? David thought so. And in this silent determination to look to God to be God. David stood on the Rock and with confidence declared, “I shall not be moved.”

Mary knew that Jesus’ death was imminent . . . she didn’t understand how or why Messiah could die, but she believed that Jesus’ predictions of His death were soon to be fulfilled . . . her world was about to shaken . . . her hopes to be tossed upside down . . . what to do? . . . go to the Rock . . . silently, quietly . . . come to Jesus.

Mary brought some oil to pour out . . . David, his heart.

Trust in Him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah

(Psalm 62:8 ESV)

Jesus was honored through Mary’s sacrificial out-pouring of costly perfume . . . isn’t He also honored when we pour out our hearts before Him . . . when we break open the alabaster box of our inner desires and feelings and anxieties . . . when we trust Him with all our troubles and trials . . . when we anoint Him with our most intimate struggles . . . when we run to Him as the only refuge that is sure. Tender, broken hearts freely flowing . . . their target the feet of God . . . their fragrance of faith and trust filling the portals of heaven itself . . . believing His word when it invites us to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

Father, when I think of extravagant worship, I think of what I can say . . . what I can give . . . offerings of joy. But this morning, I wonder if quiet confidence in You, trusting all the circumstances of my life, pouring out a heart filled with un-certainly and anxiety is equally an act of extravagant worship. When I turn to You first . . . when my soul waits silently before You because You are my rock . . . when my heart is poured out to You because my hope is in You alone . . . does it fill the room with a sweet smelling aroma? . . . are You honored my God? . . . are You exalted Lord Jesus? . . . I’m thinking so. May I be quick to bring such offerings . . .

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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