God of My Righteousness

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Pete

You can deduct from David’s lyrics that the occasion which spurred his writing of the fourth Psalm was a time when he was on the wrong end of a smear campaign. His honor was being turned to shame (4:2a). Those who opposed him loved speaking vain words and spreading lies in order to call into question whether the king was fit to lead (4:2b). To say the least, it seems the public shredding of his integrity was causing David some internal distress.

You can’t undo slander. There’s no following in the wake of harmful words spoken with the hope of neutralizing or reversing what’s been communicated. No cleaning up a name that’s been soiled after it’s been dragged through the mud. When character is questioned and reputation is blackened, to a large degree you’re just gonna need to live with it. Did I mention it can be distressing?

So how do you sleep at night? By turning constantly to the God of my righteousness.

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! . . .

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

(Psalms 4:1, 8 ESV)

God of my righteousness. That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

First, He is the God who knows my righteousness. The God who is omniscient, the God who searches the depths of the heart, the God who is just and will judge righteously. David could rest in the assurance that God knew the truth and God could be trusted with the truth — whether or not the truth was ever proclaimed among men as was the slander.

This is not to say that David was a man of no faults, or even of only minor faults, but that God, knowing the sin David would need to own, also knew the sin that wasn’t his to own.

But more than that, God of my righteousness is the God who is my righteousness.

Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.

(Psalms 4:5 ESV)

Ultimately, David’s righteousness lay not in how much, nor in how little he failed but in the reality of his faith. For, says Paul, “Faith is counted as righteousness” (Rom. 4:5b). Paul then goes on to quote David where, in another psalm, he puts it this way:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

(Romans 4:7-8 / Psalms 32:1-2 ESV)

Sins forgiven. Sins covered. Sins not counted against us by the God who is both just and the justifier of the sinner. And beyond this, a righteousness freely credited to the sinner by faith. All from God of my righteousness.

That God is our righteousness is what brings the peace which allows us to lie down and sleep at night, the peace that passes understanding which brings true rest. It is this righteousness — the imputed righteousness of Christ, God of my righteousness — which ultimately makes us dwell in safety as we no longer live in the perpetual fear, nor the constant disappointment of our actual and inevitable failure for we abide beneath the shadow of the cross.

O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress . . . In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

By His grace. For His glory.

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The Gift of God

Posted on December 28, 2023 by Pete

I know that the nativity scenes around my house (yes, there’s more than one . . . been a tradition in our house since I don’t know when), though they are meant to remind me of “the reason for the season”, are in reality a muddled portrayal of the historical facts. A baby, a mother, a menagerie of animals, and some magi didn’t actually all congregate around a manger — but it makes for a heart-warming, and even a praise-invoking scene. And ask me about the magi — the wise men (not necessarily three) from the east — and I would have said they arrived in Bethlehem a couple of years later and that they were led there by a star. And I would have got part of that wrong too.

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship Him.”

(Matthew 2:7-8 ESV)

And he (aka Herod) sent them to Bethlehem. For some reason that’s what captures my imagination this morning. Not the account of Noah entering the ark which I read in Genesis. Not the account of the Spirit descending at Pentecost which I read in Acts. Not even the account of the LORD sustaining David who’s surrounded by his enemies which I read in one of his psalms. No, instead I’m led to chew on the hardness of heart of the man who directed to Bethlehem those seeking “the king of the Jews”.

The wise men’s trip could have been a “direct flight” with the star leading them straight to “the place where the child was” (Mt. 2:9). Instead, by God’s sovereign determination and according to His providential purposes, it led the wise men to stop first in Jerusalem and to inquire of the king there so that he might ask too “where the Christ was to be born” (Mt. 2:4). They were seeking the promised Messiah, and now Herod was as well.

He calls the chief priests and the scribes and wants to know where the promised Branch was to be born, where the foretold Lion of the tribe of Judah might lay. And the king’s counselors did their job well for they knew their bibles well, telling the king that God had revealed to the prophet, Micah, that from Bethlehem in the land of Judah would come “a Ruler who will shepherd My people.”

Bethlehem, just a few miles down the road from Jerusalem. Herod could have gone there that day had he really wanted to “come and worship Him” too (Mt. 2:8). But among the kaleidoscope of reactions evoked by the birth of the promised Messiah, Herod’s would be included as an example of what an anti-Christ response to the good news might look like.

Think of the arrogant audacity to inquire after “the Christ” when he knew all along he would seek to put to death the foretold Son of Man who would come to reign. Think of the hypocritical hardness of heart which portrayed a religious interest only to protect his self-interest. Think about the deception as he faked submission to bowing before the King of kings. Oooh . . . you’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch! (Oops, got my Christmas stories mixed up).

But as I noodle on Herod, what hits me is how quick I was to skip over Herod. To pass quickly over his story because I want to think of my story as somehow more like the shepherds’ in my serene nativity scenes. I want to think that I would rejoice at the news, run to the inn, marvel at the stable. I want to gasp in disgust at Herod and wonder how his heart could have been so stone cold to such good news of Immanuel’s coming.

Well, I should gasp, but in amazement. Not that Herod rejected Jesus, but that anyone else received Him. Not that Herod was so evil, but that anyone might be counted as wholly righteous. Not condemning his failure to believe but pausing to consider their faith which was gifted.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

(Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV)

The gift of God, wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger at the center of my many nativities. The gift of God, evident in every heart that came to Him, that were opened to believe the truth that the Christ had come, and that His name was Jesus, for He would save people from their sin. The gift of God, found even in Herod as a reminder that there but for the grace of God go I. A reminder of not how different he was from me, but of how scarily similar. A reminder of why I bow in wonder and worship.

“You think they are decent only because your standards are so low. You thought you were decent until you saw the chasm, did you not? . . . By thinking men better than they are, you make the King’s grace seem less amazing than it truly is.”

(Alcorn, Randy. Edge of Eternity. The Crown Publishing Group.)

O what wondrous grace to behold the King of glory.

Amen?

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The Heart-Knower

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Pete

I’m no expert in Greek, not even an amateur. But I know enough to take a run at translating this word: kardiognostes.

Kardio . . . aka cardio . . . aka having to do with the heart. Gnostes . . . aka gnostic . . . aka having to do with knowledge. Thus, to have kardiognostes is to have heart-knowledge. I’m reminded this morning as I read in Acts (and as is evident in my other readings in Genesis, Psalms, and Matthew) that our God has heart-knowledge. That He is the Heart-Knower.

Context? Finding a successor for Judas.

Jesus has ascended and His small band of believers are back in Jerusalem praying (Acts 1:12-14). But the twelve chosen to be part of Jesus’ inner-circle before the cross and commissioned to be His first cohort of messengers of the good news concerning His resurrection, number but eleven. Judas, the betrayer, has taken his own life (Matt. 27:3-5, Acts 1:18) and has left a hole in their ranks. Peter divinely connects Judas’s vacated position with one of David’s psalms: “Let another take his office” (Ps. 109:8). So, from those qualified — those who had followed Jesus from His baptism by John until His resurrection from the dead — two are short-listed, “Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias” (Acts 1:21-23).

And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two You have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

(Acts 1:24-26 ESV)

They could short-list but the Lord needed to select. They could assess against the qualifications but only the Lord could effectuate the calling (after all Judas was qualified as well). And so they prayed and they cast lots, confident that the Lord knew the heart.

You, Lord, who know the hearts of all . . . That’s what I’m chewing on this morning. My God is the Heart-Knower.

He knew the heart of Cain, and so “had no regard” for Cain’s offering (Gen. 4:3-5). He knew the heart of Joseph, thus intervened via an angel-gram, preventing Joseph from quietly divorcing Mary before she started showing (Mt. 1:19-24). He knows the heart of nations that rage and of people who plot in vain, of kings and rulers who set themselves against the LORD, wanting to cast off the cords of common grace for their own selfish, sinful agendas — and knowing their hearts, the One who sits enthroned in heaven laughs, “amused at their presumption” (MSG), even as He’s grieved by their rebellion (Ps. 2:1-4). Our God is the Heart-Knower.

And, says the inspired text this morning, He knows the hearts of all. All . . . as in everybody. As in the whole — every individual and every collective. Every self and every tribe. Without exception, without exemption, You, Lord, know the hearts of all.

That includes the guy in this chair this morning noodling on this verse. The Lord who knows the hearts of all knows my heart.

There’s an “ugh” that can follow in response to such a reminder, for what I know of my heart is not all that I would want my heart to be. The remnant heart of the old man still fights for control. You know, that old heart which is “deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). The Lord knows the heart . . . even that one. Yet knowing that heart, He knows too the price He paid to redeem that heart, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus which continues to satisfy the debt incurred when my old nature’s heart goes rogue, the blood shed on Calvary which continues to cleanse from all unrighteousness.

But then He knows, as well, the new heart. The heart He promised, the heart He gave. The one He said He would transplant within me as part and parcel of being made a new creation (Eze. 36:25-27, 2Cor. 5:17). He knows that heart, enlivened by the Spirit as it is being conformed wondrously and graciously and increasingly to the heart of the Son. The heart of Jesus beating within me, for “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).

He is the Heart-Knower.

Search me of God and know my heart . . . and lead me in the way everlasting (Ps. 139:22-23).

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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In the Beginning

Posted on December 26, 2023 by Pete

I’m not waiting for the new year. This morning I jump into my 2024 reading plan, reading from Genesis, Matthew, Acts, and Psalms. And the common theme I’m considering as I chew on this morning’s readings? As the year comes to end, I’m thinking about beginnings.

In Matthew, there’s the beginning of Jesus as I read again through His family line. Acts is getting me ready for the beginning of the church as it sets the stage for a power to come from heaven which will enable and compel the followers of Jesus to go into all the earth. And Psalms talks of a tree’s beginnings, one that yields its fruit in season because it has been planted by streams of water. Sown with the seed of “the law of the LORD” and watered as the word is meditated upon “day and night.”

But it’s the beginning I read about in Genesis for which I am particularly thankful this morning. For without that beginning there’s no reason to believe in any of the other beginnings I’ve read about this morning.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

(Genesis 1:1 ESV)

In the beginning, God . . .

What a difference those four words make. What a foundation they lay. For if in the beginning anything else but God, then it’s really hard to make sense of what’s happening now. To make sense of what’s happening in a world where wars, famine, and new calamities each day make you wonder if things will ever get better. To make sense of what’s happening in our culture, where truth is increasingly whatever suits the individual best and yet must be the standard by which everyone else must be judged. To make sense of what’s happening in our own lives, so often far removed from the script we might have imagined for ourselves. If, in the beginning, there wasn’t God, then what’s left to make sense of anything today?

But if, in the beginning, God, then blessed indeed is the man, and the woman, who delights in Him. Blessed because they are tethered to a transcendent reality and to an objective truth — a truth which remains as the plumb line by which we can measure all other truths.

If, in the beginning, God, then we are His idea, and He is not ours. We are His creation, formed for His purposes, and God is not a result of our imagination, made up for our own sense of well-being.

If, in the beginning, God, then we can rest assured that the work begun by Almighty God — King of kings and Lord of lords — is a work that will be completed. A work accomplished perfectly according to His purposes, precisely according to His plan, and permanently according to His promise. For if, in the beginning, God, then truly, “It is finished.”

In the beginning, God. An anchor for the soul as we look back and process the year behind even as we wonder about the year ahead. The reality which brings about a sure hope, independent of what may transpire on any given day, as it is built upon the unfailing intentions of Him who created the day.

In the beginning, God. Thus, whatever has transpired in ’23 — whether good or not so good — He has known it all, blessed through all, and has sustained through all. And whatever lies ahead in ’24 — whether good or not so good — He remains sovereign over all.

So, I am comforted, and encouraged as I’m reminded that in the beginning, God.

Rejoicing in His eternal grace. Rejoice for His eternal glory.

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A New Proximity

Posted on December 22, 2023 by Pete

Hovering over Revelation 21 this morning and the new Jerusalem. Will it be an actual place? Sounds like it — its measurements are meticulous, and its description is very detailed. Or is it to be understand as a symbolic portrayal of a people, “those written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:27b)? It is, after all, referred to as “a bride adorned for her husband . . . the wife of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:2, 9), and I’ve read about a bride somewhere before where it talks of a people and not a place (Eph. 5:25).

But as I scan the chapter, something pops. As I chew on it, the flavor changes — maybe it’s not about discerning whether the new Jerusalem is a new place or a nuanced picture, but perhaps about knowing that the new Jerusalem is about a never experienced before proximity.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them and will be their God.

(Revelation 21:1-3 CSB)

Whatever the new Jerusalem is, it will be this: God’s dwelling is with humanity. Whether a physical place or a spiritual portrayal, know this, He will live with them. Be it a big cube or an inhabited cosmos, God Himself will be with them.

I’m not saying that it’s not important to try and figure out whether the composition of the new Jerusalem will be physical or if it will be experienced as something more metaphysical, I’m just thinking that the most important thing about the new Jerusalem is that God will again dwell with humanity in a way He hasn’t since the beginning of time. It will be Eden restored.

But Eden 2.0, a better Eden. In the context of a new heavens and a new earth, this Eden will be a new city rather than an ancient garden. A place where there will be no need for a sun and a moon to be created to shine on it “for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev. 21:23). A place where our proximity to God and His presence among us will allow us to not just hear the sound of the LORD God walking in our midst in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8), but more than that — oh, so much more! — we “will see His face” as we worship before “the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:3-4).

A place? A picture? I can only imagine! (After all, isn’t that kind of what apocalyptic prophecy is all about?).

But a proximity, a new proximity? I can only anticipate! Eagerly awaiting that day when faith gives way to sight, when knowing in part becomes being fully known. When the old Eden is recast as the New Jerusalem and God’s dwelling is with humanity . . . He will live with them . . . God Himself will be with them.

He who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
  Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

(Revelation 22:20 CSB)

Until then . . .

We await by His grace, even as we desire to live for His glory.

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Like Jewels in a Crown

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Pete

I’ve never undertaken the exercise, but I wonder how many different ways the people of God are described in Scripture, other than as the people of God. What comes to mind immediately are the metaphors of a flock and a bride. Then there’s a family, a body, and a building. I noodle a bit more and that we’re God’s inheritance comes to mind. And I think if I spent some more time trying to search the archives of my memory, I might come up with a few more. But I doubt I would retrieve from memory the image which every year stirs my soul when I encounter it in Zechariah’s prophecy.

The LORD their God will save them on that day
as the flock of His people;
for they are like jewels in a crown,
sparkling over His land.
How lovely and beautiful!

(Zechariah 9:16-17a CSB)

They are like jewels in a crown. I know the strict interpretation points to a specific subset of God’s people who are rescued on the day God judge’s Zion’s enemies, saving His own, and establishing them in His holy city under His personal rule. But I think there’s reason to think of ourselves too as part of that crown, as one of those jewels, a different type of “living stone” than perhaps we usually think of.

For just as the crown points to a victor’s crown, with the jewels as the demonstrable glory and beauty of that crown, we too, like those precious gems, are the tangible evidence of Christ’s triumph over sin and death. Trophies of grace, we are the spoils of His conquest on display for all heaven and earth to behold. Just like jewels in a crown . . . how lovely and beautiful.

Our loveliness not in ourselves, our beauty the imputed splendor of Another. Not intended to draw attention to the crown but to the One who alone is worthy to wear the crown.

One reason this verse so stirs my heart is because it always triggers a hymn I learned well before I knew what the hymn was referring to. A hymn learned as a young Christian with limited knowledge of the written word, but one which evoked a sense of well-being and wonder, of awe and adoration, because of the Living Word. You can listen to it by clicking here.

When He cometh, when He cometh
to make up His jewels,
all His jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning,
His bright crown adorning,
they shall shine in their beauty,
bright gems for His crown.

He will gather, He will gather
the gems for His kingdom,
all the pure ones, all the bright ones,
His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning,
His bright crown adorning,
they shall shine in their beauty,
bright gems for His crown.

Little children, little children
who love their Redeemer,
are the jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning,
His bright crown adorning,
they shall shine in their beauty,
bright gems for His crown.

William Cushing (1856), Public Domain

Like jewels in a crown . . .

The evidence of God’s amazing grace. A declaration for God’s all-deserving glory.

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The Day of Small Things and The Big Picture

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Pete

“Return to me.” It sounds like something one of the prophets would say on behalf of the LORD of Hosts — and it is. This morning it’s Zechariah who’s the conduit for God’s call to His people to repent.

But what I take note of is that the call is not to those who were in rebellion during the days of the monarchy before God’s discipline and the exile. Nor is it directed to those in Babylon who were left to process God’s discipline during 70 years of exile. Instead, it is directed to those who, 20 years or so after the exile, have returned to Judah to rebuild the temple. To those we might consider to be “the obedient ones.” The first to leave the bleak rivers of Babylon and embark on a mission to restore the glory of God in Jerusalem. It’s to these saints that the LORD through the prophet says, “Return to Me . . . and I will return to you” (Zech. 1:3).

Huh? How come? Aren’t these the good guys? Aren’t they doing the right work? What’s this return and repent stuff?

Well, first there’s no one good (Rom. 3:12). But yeah, they were working on good stuff. However, years of hard work, constant opposition, and relatively little to show for it was causing these post-exiles to become somewhat discouraged and thus a little distracted. The work on God’s house had stalled. Their hands had found other stuff to do which resulted in more immediate benefits — like building their own houses (see Haggai). Basically, they were struggling to keep on keepin’ on.

Cue the prophet. Send in a guy to stir things up. To recast the vision and do so with a whole bunch of weird visions. Visions not only of the immediate future, but of the far distant future as well. Cue the prophet, because that’s what’s needed to encourage faithfulness in the day of small things.

Then the word of the LORD came to me: “Zerubbabel’s hands have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you. For who despises the day of small things? These seven eyes of the LORD, which scan throughout the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the ceremonial stone in Zerubbabel’s hand.”

(Zechariah 4:8-10 CSB)

Noodle on it a bit and you can kind of get why it may have been easy for the remnant who returned to look at what they were doing and conclude that theirs was the day of small things. Even though the temple had begun to be rebuilt, though some rejoiced at what was rising from the ruins, others wept to see that what was taking shape was but a shadow of its former glory (Ez. 3:12). This was no Solomon building program. What’s more, locals in leadership who feared the Jews return to the land opposed the building program and sought to subvert the work (Ez. 4:1-2). When that didn’t work, they out-and-out got in the faces of the returned remnant and “discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid” (Ez. 4:4). So, what’s the point, they may have thought? Faithful obedience seems useless. Maybe it makes more sense to live our best lives now and not keep banging our heads against a wall (aka the temple wall).

So, what’s the remedy for discouragement in the day of small things? Like I said, cue the prophet and repaint the big picture. Shift the focus from the work on earth to the purposes and promises from heaven. Expand the vision from what they’re trying to get done this week and turn their gaze upon the work God has said He would do in a coming day. Or, as Paul writes to the Colossians, the Corinthians, and the Romans:

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

(Colossians 3:1-2 CSB)

Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

(2Corinthians 4:16-18 CSB)

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

(Romans 8:18 CSB)

The big picture is the counterbalance for the day of small things. Heavenly insights, the antidote for feelings of habitual insignificance. God’s promises, the offset for today’s pressures and problems. Remembering what the Father has purposed and His power to accomplish it, the energy boost which keeps us faithful.

Praise God for the day of small things. For in them we get to build as we wait for the day of His return.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Think Carefully

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Pete

Not many of us have a prophet by our side interpreting the seasons for us. We don’t have someone linking together for us an under-performing harvest with our failure to have put first things first. We don’t have someone connecting the dots between a lack of fruit for our efforts with a lack of focus on God’s commands. Nobody to point out, “Your home is looking pretty fine after all your reno work but did you notice the Lord’s house remains in ruins? That’s why ‘you have planted much but harvested little.'”.

So no, we don’t have a prophet interpreting for us the signs and times and how they may be related to our sin and failure. But we have the prophet’s words preserved. Inspired words. God-breathed words. And we have the breath of God, the Holy Spirit, present within us — His Spirit hard-wired to our spirit. And so, while we don’t have an audible prophet, we do have an internal Teacher and Revealer of truth.

I’m reading Haggai this morning and can’t help but think of how timely it is. I’m not a New Year’s resolution sort of person, but I am an end of year reflection and renewal sort of person. That’s why I think the prophet’s words which echo throughout the book resonate so deeply within my heart. Think carefully about your ways.

The word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while [the house of the LORD] lies in ruins?” Now, the LORD of Armies says this: “Think carefully about your ways . . . ”

(Haggai 1:3-5 CSB)

Haggai is writing to those who have returned to Judah from the Babylonian exile. Those who acted upon a Persian ruler’s decree that any of God’s people who wanted to could “go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the LORD, the God of Israel” (Ezra 1:1-4). So they went. They moved back to the land of promise and were gung-ho to move forward in rebuilding the temple. But, home improvement projects evidently started taking priority over temple rebuilding projects. The time, treasures, and talents that should have been funneled to the work on the holy mount were instead first funneled to work on the homefront.

Nice houses, says Haggai, but check out your fruitless fields — there’s a connection. Think carefully about your ways.

Five times in these two chapters and thirty-eight verses, the LORD of Hosts’ prophet exhorts God’s people, “Think carefully” (vv. 1:5, 1:7, 2:15, 2:18). “Consider” (ESV), “Give careful thought to” (NIV), “Take a good hard look . . . think it over” (MSG).

Whether in a season of bounty or barrenness, I’ve got to think that pausing every so often to think carefully about my ways has benefit. That taking some time to step back from the rigor and routine of what seems to be working might be beneficial in order to assess the alignment of my ways with God’s ways. To consider my daily walk and calibrate it against the daily work I know God has asked me to do.

Think carefully. It can be an uncomfortable exercise, especially when the “prophet within”, the Holy Spirit, starts pointing how much has been completed on our own “to do” list while so much is left undone on God’s “to be” list.

Only as we trust the gospel are we ready to see things in ourselves that we’d rather not see. Only as we believe the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin — past and present — would we be willing to be shown how we have left the Lord’s house unfinished because we’ve channeled the best stuff into building our own house.

Only as we truly believe that Jesus wants us to return to our first love and first works (Rev. 2:4-5), only as we trust Him that He alone can provide what we need to truly be rich, clothed, and able to see clearly (Rev. 3:18), are we able to ask the Spirit within, “Search me, O God” (Ps. 139:23) and help me to think carefully about my ways. Only as we believe that we are loved of the Father will we be ready to be rebuked and disciplined by the Son, so that, by the Spirit, we would repent and recommit (Rev. 3:19).

Think carefully about your ways.

I may not have a prophet chirping in my ear, but I do have the Spirit speaking to my soul.

Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts . . . (Hebrews 3:15a).

Trusting in His grace. Wanting to live for His glory.

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The God in Our Midst (2008 Rerun)

Posted on December 15, 2023 by Pete

Going back 15 years and pulling something from the early archives — the days when my morning posts were morning e-mails. What triggers it? The CSB’s alignment with the NASB, both speaking of a God in our midst who not only rejoices over us and delights in us but who, sometimes it would seem, is also content to just be quiet over us. Here’s how I noodled on it in 2008 . . .

So . . . because my reading plan has 4 different passages to read each morning, it’s not uncommon that each year something different will “grab me” from the readings so that one year I might jot down a few thoughts from one of the passages and the next year a few thoughts from another. But, in some cases it’s the same passage, year after year, that ignites my imagination. I checked back on today’s reading and sure enough, for the third year now, it’s Zephaniah 3:17 that impacts me from my set of readings.

“The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

(Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV)

The NIV translates it very much the same. But the NASB, which is reported to be the most literal of the major translations, is slightly different:

“”The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”

(Zephaniah 3:17 NASB)

Now, I know that there is some danger in “mixing and matching” from different translations in order to convey the meaning that suits your particular bias, but I also think that, removing bias to a single translation allows you to gather from a wide range of insight as to how the original languages might be set forth in English. With the little “behind the scenes” work I did this morning with my handy dandy Bible program, the NASB rendering of Zephaniah 3:17 has a lot of merit. Enough with the academia . . . onto the wonder . . .

The context is God’s promise to establish a faithful remnant out of His judgment of Israel, “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord . . . a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord” (Zeph. 3:9, 12). And that’s my connect point . . . part of a people chosen by God . . . given a new song . . . calling upon the name of the God I once shunned . . . desiring to serve Him . . . humbled by His great love and the sacrifice paid for my sin . . . trusting in His name.

And to such a people the Word says, “The LORD your God is in your midst.” And that in and of itself is amazing enough. That God would seek to “hang out” with His creation. Paul tells the Ephesians that, as God’s people, they were being formed into a holy temple in order to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit (Eph. 2:21-22). God in the midst . . . we often are seized with awe at the thought of entering the holy of holies to be in His presence . . . but to realize that He desires to come into our presence starts to open up just how much God loves us. But Zephaniah’s prophecy gets better . . .

And here’s what really impresses me this morning . . . sometimes this victorious warrior — this Mighty One who has done battle to save us — sometimes His love for us causes Him to “be quiet” . . . I know the NKJV and NIV say His love will “quiet you” but the word “you” is not specifically in the original . . . the idea of God quieting Himself in His love is also a possible rendering. And so, could it be that God sometimes sits back in awe of His people? Not that we command any “awe factor” in and of ourselves . . . but that the Mighty Victor is captured by the wonder of the prize purchased by the blood of the Lamb. Or as an earthly father will sometimes sit back and dote over his children, “That’s my girl!” . . . could God in the same way be so overwhelmed by His love for us that He simply just quiets Himself and enjoys just being in the midst of those who He has called out of darkness and into His marvelous light?

And, if God will from time to time be quiet in His love, check out the contrast as the prophet also says that He will rejoice over us with shouts of joy or with singing. Oh, that God is so crazy in love with His people that He would shout to the heavens with joy . . . that He would sing a song of gladness . . . it’s almost too much to imagine. What does it sound like when God shouts? How beautiful the voice of God must be when He sings! And it’s all over His people . . . amazing!!!

He deigns to be in our midst . . . He quiets Himself as He loves on us . . . He lifts the roof off of heaven with shouts of praise and with singing because of His joy and exultation over us . . . oh, if God be for us! . . . who can be against us!

Father, I really don’t fully grasp the meaning of this small verse hidden within this somewhat obscure prophet’s writings . . . but it does capture my imagination . . . and lifts me to respond . . . to desire to come into Your presence . . . to quiet myself as I consider Your love for me and price paid for my redemption . . . and to shout the song of a redeemed soul, offering glory and honor and adoration to the Godhead who alone is worthy of my sacrifice of praise . . . be in the midst, O God . . . thank You . . . amen!

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I Will Wait. I Will Celebrate.

Posted on December 14, 2023 by Pete

Can I summarize Habakkuk this way: I will complain; I will push back; I will stand; I will watch; I will wait; I will celebrate? I guess so, I just did.

Ask me yesterday what I know about Habakkuk and I would have been pretty quick to talk about the first four “I will”s in that list. But it’s the last two that I’m chewing on this morning.

Habakkuk starts out with “How long must I?” and “Why do You?” How long do I have to keep calling for help and You are silent God? Why do You put up with the wickedness among Your people (Hab. 1:1-4). And God condescends, answering the prophet’s questions in order to provide the prophet’s message. Your right, says God, enough’s enough! I’m going to deal with it . . . but in a way that you will find unbelievable. I will raise up the Chaldeans, “that bitter, impetuous nation”, and they will be My rod of discipline for My people. (Hab. 1:5-6).

Wait a minute, responds Habakkuk. Them? Those guys? Really? “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing” so how can You judge Your rebellious people with an even more wicked people? I don’t get it. (Hab. 1:12-17).

Nuff said. You are God and I am not. While I might know some things, You know all things. So, I will stand, and I will watch. Stand where You’ve called me, when You’ve called me, for what You’ve called me to. And I will watch to see what You have to say about “my complaint” (Hab. 2:1).

And God has something to say. After I have disciplined My people, says the Almighty, I will judge the Chaldeans (Hab. 2:2-20). Though it might not happen fast enough of you, Habakkuk, wait for it. It will happen for sure according to My perfect timing (Hab. 2:3b). Justice will prevail. Sin will be silenced. My right will overrule man’s might. For “the LORD is in His holy temple” (Hab. 2:20).

Message received, says Habakkuk (Hab. 3:1-15). How will I now respond?

Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress
to come against the people invading us.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though the flocks disappear from the pen
and there are no herds in the stalls,
yet I will celebrate in the LORD;
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

(Habakkuk 3:16b-18 CSB)

I must wait quietly . . . I will celebrate. How’s that for a response to knowing that, though things are eventually gonna get better, first they’re gonna get worse?

I will wait. In a sense, Habakkuk didn’t really have much of a choice. Sure, he could continue to “how long?” and “why do You?” at God but knowing that he was but a man and that God was the Most High God, at some point you just hunker down, buckle up, and hold on tight. As the psalmist put it, you try and calm your soul and quiet your mind and settle into the arms of God “like a little weaned child with its mother” because matters of global justice and infinite grace, of coming judgment and merciful patience, are matters “too great or too difficult” for us to really get too involved with (Ps. 131). So, you wait.

And I can kind of get that. That’s what hope in God’s faithfulness does, it anchors the soul, enabling you to wait out the storm. But I will celebrate?!?

Though everything tanks, though nothing goes right, though bad goes to worse, yet I will celebrate in the LORD. In my quiet waiting You will assure my soul, and, by faith, I will know that what You have said will be, will be. It is finished. Wrong will be set right, sorrow will cease, and every tear will be wiped away. The victory is won, we’re just waiting for the parade. Thus, says Habakkuk, I will celebrate. I will “jump for joy”, at least on the inside, because I know that in You we win.

I will wait quietly. I will be still and know that You are God. And through Your Son, and by Your Spirit, I will also celebrate knowing by faith that Your love is steadfast and Your promises are sure.

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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