Submitting to God’s Permissive Will

Posted on May 16, 2023 by Pete

If I’m honest with myself, I’m prone to “kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14). Not like Paul who persecuted followers of the risen Christ despite all the evidence he was aware of which testified of a risen Christ. Instead, I recognize a part of me which instead of acting like a submissive sheep being lead by his Shepherd, too often acts more like a stubborn mule resisting the pointed prodding of God’s will. Like one who, despite the reality of reality, wants to operate under a different reality.

Now, I’m not talking so much about the stuff prescribed explicitly according to His inspired word. Nor am I thinking about the stuff that is received in answer to our needful prayers. Instead, sometimes it’s the stuff which God simply allows to happen that I struggle with. More than once I’ve found myself in a tug-of-war with God’s permissive will. That, despite believing God is sovereign and thus all things are according to His providential will, it’s somehow less the will of God than His prescribed will and so it’s okay for me to try and resist it.

This morning David (or it could have been the Spirit) was both my convicter and my comforter.

Context? Absalom has won the hearts of the people and declared himself king — and Jerusalem ain’t big enough for two kings, so David’s effectively run out of town (2Sam. 15). As he flees with his entourage “a man belonging to the family of the house of Saul”, Shimei, comes out and from the sidelines derides and curses David as he passes by. He purports to speak for the Lord declaring the coup was deserved by David for taking Saul’s throne (not true, by the way). Eventually, after yelling curses and throwing stones at David & Co., one of David’s soldiers has had it and is read to take action. But it’s David’s response which takes action on my heart.

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and remove his head!”

The king replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, do we agree on anything? He curses me this way because the Lord told him, ‘Curse David!’ Therefore, who can say, ‘Why did you do that?'” Then David said to Abishai and all his servants, “Look, my own son, my own flesh and blood, intends to take my life ​— ​how much more now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone and let him curse me; the Lord has told him to.”

(2Samuel 16:9-11 CSB)

If God is sovereign, and He is; if God is overall and nothing happens on earth without it first passing through His fingers in heaven, and it doesn’t; then, while God would never curse the one He had hand-picked and anointed to be king over Israel, and while He would not capriciously determine that David should somehow be made to pay for sins which God had already determined to put away as far as the east is from the west, because God had permitted Shimei to curse David, David knows that God might as well have actually told Shimei to curse him. Not justifying Shimei’s sin, not validating his unrighteous behavior (Shimei would suffer the consequences later); yet, though not God’s will by precept or command (Ex. 22:28), David regarded Shimei’s slander as God’s will nevertheless. And so, even if it was but God’s will because God had permitted it, David would purpose not to kick against the goads.

Instead, David would submit to God’s permissive will. In disgrace he would flee. And in humility he would look to God alone for mercy and justice.

“Perhaps the Lord will see my affliction and restore goodness to me instead of Shimei’s curses today.”

(2Samuel 16:9-12 CSB)

God’s permissive will is still God’s will. Mine isn’t to resist it, but with a heart submitted to God to navigate it. Mine isn’t to whine about what seems unjust, but to walk in a way that honors the One who will bring all things to light in His time in order to fulfill His purposes. Mine is to trust in God. To trust not only in His will as prescribed through His inspired word, but to trust also in His will as permitted by His sovereign hand.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

Posted in 2Samuel | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Gospel Easter Egg

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Pete

In the MCU they are called “Easter Eggs.” In the bible it’s foreshadowing.

Huh?

MCU = Marvel Cinematic Universe. The increasing catalog of superhero films and shows produced by Marvel Studios based on the Marvel comics. I haven’t watched all of them, but I’ve watched enough to kind of know the major themes running through a lot of the story lines. But I’m not so familiar with them that I can spot the “Easter Eggs” they contain.

Easter Eggs? Yeah, that’s the term used for hidden references, clues, or inside jokes within a movie or show, detected only by diehard fans, which refer to another movie or show or storyline. Think of it as a cinematic “Where’s Waldo” where Waldo could be anything from any other MCU movie. I never spot Waldo.

But I am kind of a diehard fan of the Bible. And it contains it’s own sort of “Easter eggs.” Hidden references to great truths in places you might not expect them. Case in point? A gospel Easter egg within the story of Absalom, son of king David.

Context? After Absalom murders his half-brother, Ammon, because Ammon raped Absalom’s sister, Tamar, he flees from his father, David, hiding out in Gershur for three years (2Sam. 13). How’s that for a dysfunctional family and a twisted plot — a dark buffet which puts on the table the wickedness of man’s heart and the evil of sin? But in the midst of it, there’s an Easter egg.

A confidant of David knows how much David misses his son, Absalom, and so he hires a lady to tell David a fictitious story about her two sons who had a fight, one killing the other. She pleads with David to intervene on behalf of her surviving son and rescue him from her clan who want to put him to death for his crime. With the heart of a father, David promises this grieving mother that he will not allow the avenger of blood to increase her grief. “As the LORD lives,” David vowed, “not a hair of your son will fall to the ground” (2Sam. 14:1-11).

And then the woman drops the charade and tells David that her made-up story of her sons is really a parable about David and his sons. And she asks David why he would intervene on her fake son’s behalf but not for his own son?

The woman asked, “Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one. We will certainly die and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be recovered. But God would not take away a life; He would devise plans so that the one banished from Him does not remain banished.”

(2Samuel 14:13-14 CSB)

There! There’s the Easter egg! There’s the “New Testament” gospel hidden in an Old Testament story. God would devise plans so that the one banished from Him does not remain banished.

I know that plan! It’s the cross! It’s the Lamb of God, come to take away the sin of the world. It’s Immanuel, God with us, the Mediator between God and man, the One who through His own once for all sacrifice made possible eternal reconciliation.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace.

(Ephesians 2:13-14a CSB)

I may not be enough of an MCU fan to spot the Easter eggs in their movies, but by the Spirit’s enabling I sometimes spot the hidden glories of the GCU (God’s Covenantal Universe) within my bible.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in 2Samuel | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Failure and Reproof

Posted on May 11, 2023 by Pete

It really must have been an incredible moment. Paul in a face-to-face confrontation with Peter (Gal. 2:11) in front of everyone (v.14).

Paul wasn’t setting himself in opposition to the “impetuous Peter” of the gospels, but the Pentecost preaching Peter of Acts. The Peter arrested by the temple police for healing and heralding within the temple courts the good news of the gospel — that the risen Christ had not only made a lame man whole physically, but spiritually as well, and this by faith. The Peter who stood before the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem and, filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly declared the one name under heaven given to people by which they must be saved — the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The Peter who confronted Ananias and Sapphira for their duplicity — that they had lied to God — and presided over their divinely decreed removal from earth. The Peter who had seen heaven opened up so much so that he went to the house of a Gentile to proclaim the good news delivered to the Jews, baptizing him and his family when they too believed and received the Holy Spirit.

Did I mention it must have been an incredible moment when Paul condemned (CSB) Peter face-to-face in front of everyone?

And how come?

For [Peter] regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

(Galatians 2:12-13 CSB)

I’m gripped this morning by Peter’s failure. Not in a “how could he?” way, but more in a “how could I not?” way. If Peter, who had seen what he had seen, experienced what he had experienced, triumphed in the ways he had triumphed, and boldly walked with Christ in the ways he had boldly walked with Christ, if this Peter could have still succumbed to the fears and weakness of the flesh, why would I think I could not or would not?

Peter knew better, but in this instance, he didn’t act in accordance with what he knew. Whatever the dynamics created by those who “came from James”, it caused Peter to walk in a manner inconsistent with his message. Thus, given what was at stake, in front of everyone Paul reproved the brother for “he was clearly out of line” (MSG).

What a grief — Peter’s failure. What a gift — Paul’s rebuke. If I’m honest with myself, I’m so prone towards the former. And if I’m equally honest with myself, it’s so hard to do the latter. But both are the way of a gospel community who are still a work-in-progress, who are still an unblemished bride in the making. There will be uncharacteristic failure and, for the sake of the gospel, it will require courageous fixing.

That’s why, later in this letter, Paul’s gonna write about that reality.

Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

(Galatians 6:1-2 CSB)

We fulfill the law of Christ when we address the wrongdoing of our siblings in Christ. We carry others’ sin burden knowing well ourselves the weight of the daily battle with the old nature. God uses those who would be like Paul to restore those who unfortunately have been like Peter so that the body of Christ might reflect the beauty of the gospel in action.

Failure and reproof. I’m thinking it’s part and parcel of doing authentic Christian community together — for the sake of the gospel.

This too, by His grace. This too, for His glory.

Posted in Galatians | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Seat at the Table (2009 Remix)

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Pete

Undoubtedly his father had great hopes for him. Like father like son, he envisioned him to be a great man of God. As was the norm, dad named him in accordance with that aspiration; he would be called “Exterminator of Idols” or “Dispeller of Shame.” His name was built around a verb, thus he would be a man of action, a godly man of action. Just as his father had bravely withstood the Philistines and repelled their aggression and their gods, so too, the boy would stand fast and stand firm for the things of God. A mighty warrior. A “dispeller of shame.”

But how things change. That day was absolute chaos. The boy’s father and his grandfather had gone up to battle against the Philistines and both were killed on the battlefield. The army of Israel falling like flies, the enemy advancing, it was time for the people to flee. The boy, now five years old, was taken up by his nanny and she ran for their lives. But as she ran, she tripped. The boy flew out of her arms, crashing to the ground and severely injuring both feet (2Sam. 4:4). There was no treating the broken bones. No setting them back in place so that they would heal properly. The damage was done, and it would be permanent. The boy destined for action was now a cripple — lame in both feet (2Sam. 9:13). Once the grandson of a mighty king of Israel, once the hope of his father’s legacy, now not only an orphan within a dethroned royalty, but also unable to walk. Unable to care for himself much less be a “dispeller of shame.” In fact, his was life was destined to be marked by shame.

The boy’s name? Mephibosheth.

Years later the boy is now a young man. A crippled young man. And a new king enters into the young man’s life. A king determined to show kindness to the man, the kindness of God (2Sam. 9:3). Not that the the young man deserved it. Not that he could repay anyone for any kindness shown him, but it was kindness to be shown for the sake of another (2Sam. 9:1). The young man wasn’t aware that he had a benefactor. He wasn’t out seeking him. Instead, the king sent for the young man (2Sam 9:5). When he arrived, he did what men should do before a king, he bowed and prostrated himself (2Sam. 9:6). With fear and trembling he bowed before this king, the same king whom his grandfather had hated and had sought to kill. The king who had the power to destroy this last descendant of Saul who could contest the throne. Yet, the king at whose feet he lay was also the one his father had loved with a love which was “wonderful, surpassing the love of women” (2Sam. 1:26).

“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “since I intend to show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul’s fields, and you will always eat meals at my table.”

(2Samuel 9:7 CSB)

Oh, what marvelous grace! God’s kindness shown through the king. Kindness not shown because of his worthiness but for the sake of another. The land as an inheritance, great wealth given to one unable to earn even a day’s wage. But beyond the wealth, a place at the king’s table. Four times that fact is mentioned in the account. The man lame in both feet would have that shame covered as those feet were placed by another under the king’s table. He would sit at the place of honor. He would eat at the table “just like one of the king’s sons” (2Sam. 9:11). Not just a single seating at this place of honor, not only when he found favor in the king’s sight, but this was to be his place continually. Always. This was the love-fueled will and the sovereign decree of the king once and for all. What restoration! What exaltation! What amazing grace!

And every time I encounter this amazing story of amazing grace, I can’t help but see in that man with the crippled feet, this man sitting in this chair. I can’t help but identify with this one who was once of an enemy lineage opposed to the King. I can’t help but envision myself facedown before the mighty King only to hear, “Do not fear, I am going to show you God’s kindness. Not because You deserve it, but for the sake of another. For the sake of One who purchased your freedom — and I am that One. I will bless you with spiritual wealth beyond your understanding, every blessing in heavenly places will be deposited to your account. But beyond that, I have reserved a place for you at My table. As a son and heir, you will have full rights to dine at the table. Your defects will be covered. Your lame feet hidden. As far as the east is from the west, it will be remembered no more. For in My sight and in My presence, you are whole, and you are wholly accepted.”

“. . . and you will always eat meals at My table.”

I can’t help but marvel afresh that I have a seat at the table!

Only by His grace.

Only for His glory.

Posted in 2Samuel | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

God of My Praise

Posted on May 9, 2023 by Pete

Psalm 109 is a song written by one who had known betrayal. It is a psalm of David and David knew what it was to be betrayed.

That it is messianic, pointing to Christ, is evident from verse 25 (see Mt. 27:39).

I have become an object of ridicule to my accusers;
when they see me, they shake their heads in scorn.

(Psalms 109:25 CSB)

That it was meant to foreshadow the Son’s betrayer, Judas, is clear as well as the Spirit moved Peter to quote verse 8 (see Acts 1:20).

Let his days be few;
let another take over his position.

(Psalms 109:8 CSB)

But for all the poignancy of the passage, what grabs me this morning are the words which begin this sad song.

God of my praise, do not be silent.

(Psalms 109:1 CSB)

God of my praise. You’re not going to find that exact phrase anywhere else in the bible but here. And that it would be here, in this sort of song, is worth chewing on.

What if I began more of my prayers with God of my praise? What if, regardless of the circumstance, I grounded my petitions with the reminder that my God is the God worthy of exaltation always. Full stop.

God of my praise because of His redeeming grace experienced in the past. God of my praise because of His sure promises for the future. God of my praise because He is ready, willing, and able to rescue me in the present — “because Your faithful love is good” (Ps. 109:21).

Worthy of praise just because. Just because He is God. Just because He is good.

God of my praise only by His grace.

God of my praise only for His glory.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Pleasure in Insults

Posted on May 8, 2023 by Pete

Chewing on some well recognized verses in 2Corinthians this morning. I say “well recognized” rather than “well known” because I think it’s going to take a lifetime to really “know’ these verses. ‘Cause just when you think you’ve gone through what should make these verses known, you go through something else which makes you realize how little you really knew these verses.

Verses about power and pleasure. The power known through diverse sufferings, and the “pleasure” of going through diverse sufferings in order to know the power.

Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.”

Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

(2Corinthians 12:8-10 CSB)

So I take pleasure in . . . insults . . . for the sake of Christ. That’s what caught my eye.

Paul knew what it was to be insulted. He knew what it was to suffer mental injury due to others’ insolence, due to others’ disrespectful and vitriolic behavior. He knew what it was to be unfairly accused and have his integrity not only questioned but cut to shreds. And this, not for anything he did for personal gain, but for what he had sought faithfully to discharge for the sake of Christ.

Me? I’m tempted to want a pound of flesh for such insults. Paul? He would take pleasure in them. He’d be content (ESV) with them. He’d be well-pleased and favorably inclined toward them. How come? So that Christ’s power may reside in me . . . for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Grace sufficient for our physical weakness? I get that. Christ’s power known as we endure hardships, persecutions, and other difficulties? Makes sense. But grace sufficient for insults? Another type of opportunity to know the power of the Christ in me through painful reproaches towards me? Apparently.

If that’s the case — and it is — then this form of weakness, insulted for what you thought you were doing for Jesus, is something to “boast” in as well. Another opportunity, though painful, to know Christ in me at a next level. Another circumstance, another season to come to terms with my great need and His all-surpassing power which is more than adequate to meet such need. Thus, would I say with Paul, “So I take pleasure in insults for the sake of Christ.“

Only by His all-sufficient grace. Only for His all-deserving glory.

Posted in 2Corinthians | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Harvest of Your Righteousness

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Pete

A cursory read might have you think that Paul was the first to preach a prosperity gospel. You know, a “give to God and wait and see how much He’ll give to you” version of the good news.

The financial need among the saints in Jerusalem was great, and as Paul connected with different churches in Asia Minor he wanted them to give greatly to meet that need. And so, Paul urges the Corinthian church toward great generosity. In the midst of that encouragement, Paul seems to play a “you give to God and God will give to you” card.

Now the One who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for all generosity . . .

(2Corinthians 9:10-11a CSB)

Give and it will be given you, Paul says. The One who owns all things and provides all things will take your giving and also provide and multiply your seed and increase your harvest and you will be enriched in every way. Sounds like a quid pro quo proposition to me. But here’s the thing, Paul’s not talking about reaping a physical harvest, but the harvest of your righteousness.

What’s more, he identifies the fruit of that kind of harvest.

Now the One who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone.

(2Corinthians 9:10-13 CSB)

The promised return on investment — the harvest of your righteousness, says Paul — was the harvest of the fruit of thanksgiving to God. It was the abundant reaping of overflowing expressions of thanks to God. Though they might never hear the appreciation directly, their generosity would be credited to their kingdom accounts as the Jerusalem saints gave glory to God for their obedience and generosity because of the gospel.

That’s the promised “prosperity” returned for our generosity; God is glorified. That’s the treasure laid up in heaven for our generous obedience here on earth — God made much of because of our small acts.

So many other motivators that might compel us toward generosity. But is there any greater than that it might bring glory to God? Thinking not.

Oh, that our hearts would be set not on the harvest of material things, but on the harvest of your righteousness. A righteousness found only in Christ. Generously sown in us and through only because of Christ.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

(2Corinthians 9:15 CSB)

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

Posted in 2Corinthians | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Tim

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Pete

For others, they debated Him simply to try and trip Him up (Mark 12:13). But for a group of Sadducees, they had a theological bone to pick with Jesus. For them, the resurrection was problematic. It didn’t make sense. For them, it didn’t mesh with some of Moses’ teaching. Case in point? A hypothetical scenario where a woman who, over the course of her life, ends up married to seven different men, all who die prematurely. Thus, their question; if there really is a resurrection, “when they rise, whose wife will she be?”

And something in Jesus’ answer to those skeptics 2,000 years ago brings tremendous assurance and comfort to this believer concerning the loss of a friend less than a week ago.

Jesus spoke to them, “Isn’t this the reason why you’re mistaken: you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised ​— ​haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.

(Mark 12:24-27 CSB)

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were long gone when Moses stood that day barefoot before the glory of God. Yet, Jesus points out, God was still their God. My friend, Tim, breathed his last on earth this past Saturday morning. Yet, even now, he too stands before the Glory. For God is still His God, as well. For our God is not the God of the dead but of the living.

Nothing pretty about death. Nothing easy about saying goodbye. But, for those who are His, nothing permanent about it either.

Death is defeated. Because Jesus rose from the grave and lives forever, those who have been redeemed through His blood will live forever as well. As Paul would put it, mortality will “be swallowed up by life” (2Cor. 5:4b). Thus, for those who know Jesus, we can say “we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2Cor. 5:8). And that’s because our God is not the God of the dead but of the living.

He is the God of Abraham, who lives. He is the God of Isaac, who lives. He is the God of Jacob, who lives. And He is the God of Tim, who lives.

Oh, to know the Scriptures. Oh, to believe the Scriptures. Oh, to live, now and forever, in the confidence of the Scriptures.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Mark | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Unimaginable Crazy!

Posted on May 2, 2023 by Pete

Thousands! Saul had slain thousands of Philistines with the troops under his command. A reluctant leader at first, he had come into his own, giving the people exactly what they wanted — a king over them like all the nations, one who would judge them and go out before them to fight their battles (1Sam. 8:19-20). He was a success by any worldly standard of measure.

But therein lies the rub. Saul sought worldly fame over God’s pleasure. He was more interested in men’s applause than God’s commands. Thus, he fawned over the press clippings of his military might rather than faithfully worshiping the God of His fathers. While he may have been known on earth for his calculating strategies, he was also known in heaven for his prideful, sin-tainted sacrifices.

So, when the primary measure of a man is found only in the eyes of other men, thousands are only good enough as long as someone else isn’t racking up tens of thousands.

As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments. As they danced, the women sang:
Saul has killed his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands.

Saul was furious and resented this song. “They credited tens of thousands to David,” he complained, “but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?” So Saul watched David jealously from that day forward.

(1Samuel 18:6-9 CSB)

Thousands. Not enough when someone else is credited with tens of thousands. Then, it’s only thousands.

Rather than thanking God for His favor on the battlefield, Saul was consumed with fury that God would favor someone else as well. Rather than rejoicing in the victories he had won, Saul was ravished with resentment towards a young man he could see only as a rival. Jealousy would rule Saul’s life from that day forward.

And here’s the thing that I’m chewing on, how unchecked jealousy can lead to unimaginable crazy.

The next day an evil spirit sent from God came powerfully on Saul, and he began to rave inside the palace. David was playing the lyre as usual, but Saul was holding a spear, and he threw it, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David got away from him twice.

Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul.

(1Samuel 18:10-12 CSB)

Saul knew the Lord was with David. Yet, what does he try to do? He tries to pin David to a wall with a spear, that’s what. Multiple times! Tell me that isn’t crazy!

Discontent with his thousands, Saul becomes irrationally focused on but one — the Lord’s anointed. Nutso!

Disconnected from God, Saul would increasingly become disconnected from reality. Consumed with the need for worldly recognition, he would go to wacko lengths.

Hmm . . .

Oh, to be content to seek but a “well done” from an Audience of One. To look not to others to see how I fair in comparison, but to set my eyes on Jesus alone, that He might count me faithful in whatever my hand finds to do (1Cor. 10:31).

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

Posted in 1Samuel | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Paying Attention in Order to Avoid the Yoke

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Pete

Kind of a powerful one-two combo this morning. Set up with a left jab in the New Testament and then taken out with a right hook from the Old. 2Corinthians 6:14 teaming up with Psalm 101 to remind me that walking in the way of integrity is not just about a momentary decision but about a lifelong determination.

First, the left jab . . .

Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe.

(2 Corinthians 6:14a CSB)

Pretty familiar verse for many of us. However, for many of us it was mostly a “how to date” verse. But in the context of Paul’s letter, it probably is better understood as a “how to live” verse. Be careful not only of who you’re yoked to, but also of what you’re yoked to. Be aware not only of partnering with unbelievers but also of walking in their unbelieving ways. Stay away from allowing your ways and your walk to be informed by those who are idolaters — those whose ways serve someone or something other than God and whose walk is directed by an allegiance and hope outside of God. Don’t do it, says Paul. Don’t become partners with those who do not believe.

But how do you do not do it?

At first, it might seem like a pretty simple, singular act of the will. See an unequal yoke, avoid the unequal yoke. Recognize where a partnership with an unbeliever is being considered and stop considering it. May not be easy, depending on the heart’s desire, but it would seem simple.

Okay. We’ve ducked the left jab, let’s move on . . .

Then comes the right hook . . .

I will pay attention to the way of integrity.
When will You come to me?
I will live with a heart of integrity in my house.

(Psalm 101:2 CSB)

David’s desire above all desires was to know the presence of God. And, though he doesn’t use the term, he knows that an unequal yoke would get in the way of that desire. For, as Paul would put it, “What agreement does the temple of God have with idols?” (2Cor. 6:16a). Thus, in order to be connected to the reality of God’s glory, David would pay attention to the way of personal integrity. Far from a one-and-done decision to not be partnered with the wrong partner, David’s song reveals an on-going diligence and determination to deal with anything that might entangle him with an unequal partner.

I will not let anything worthless guide me.
I hate the practice of transgression;
it will not cling to me.
A devious heart will be far from me;
I will not be involved with evil.

(Psalm 101:3-4 CSB)

Nothing worthless is going to guide me. Practicing transgression won’t cling to me. Involvement with evil will be foreign to me. Far from a one-and-done decision, David readied himself for a now-and-always determination.

Read on and David says he would destroy “secret slanderers”, that he wouldn’t tolerate those propelled by pride (v.5). In addition, he would bar those who acted deceitfully from working for him and wouldn’t hire those consumed by lies to counsel him (v.7).

David determined that every morning he would clean house. To remove all that was wicked and wipe out all that would promote evil (v.8).

Remaining unequally yoked would mean constantly paying attention to the way of integrity. It would mean regularly dealing with the encroaching ways of the world and the enticing allure of idolatry.

The righteous walk, it would seem, is more than just a left jab. In the power of the Spirit, it will mean daily going for the knock out punch with the right hook.

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

Posted in 2Corinthians, Psalms | Tagged , , | Leave a comment