A King and His Bride

Psalms 45:6-7

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions

...............

This chapter stands out in the Psalms for several reasons. The first and most obvious is that this song is not primarily directed to God. We have gotten used to these prayers and petitions addressing God directly, and then we are greeted with this romantic love song about a king and his bride. Why is it here and what does it mean for us?

Surely we can relate to a love song. Our culture today is filled with pop radio hits which linger on the emotional and physical details of lovers. We are built for relationship and every culture and people have given voice to their love through song. The Hebrews were no exception.

This Psalm first addresses Israel's king. The writer gushes with admiration for this mighty leader. What strikes me most is that the king is praised for both his meekness and his military strength, for both loving righteousness and hating wickedness. The takeaway: a good leader and a good government is marked by this twofold character. That every act of strength against an enemy must have a heart of love and righteousness behind it.

The second half of the psalm addresses the king's bride. She is encouraged to leave her family and commit herself completely to him. Her clothing and her companions are described in turn, rich adornments for her beauty. Like the king, the emphasis is on how blessed and how glad she must be. This is a celebration of the bride and their committed relationship.

As we've seen throughout the Psalms, while there is a clear meaning rooted in the writer's own time and place, there is also a secondary reference to our own Messiah and King: Jesus. I can say that with confidence because verses 6-7 are quoted directly by the author of the letter to the Hebrews hundreds of years later (Heb. 1:8-9). The New Testament writer used this Psalm along with several other passages to highlight Jesus' authority, power, and worth above all angels or earthly powers. His kingship is the government par excellence, taking the characteristics that the psalmist praised to the ultimate degree.

Likewise we can project the praises for the bride onto the ultimate bride of Christ, the Church. For what is the image that the book of Revelation uses to picture the final culmination of redemption history? A wedding! A great feast where our bridegroom finally reunites with the lover he purchased with his own blood. May we learn to revel in this cerebration and marvel at his grace and majesty.

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

"Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God."
(Revelation 19:6‭-‬9)

Slaughtered yet Loved

Psalms 44:20‭-‬23

If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!

...............

On first glance, this Psalm appears to be a simple cry for help. The psalmist is clearly in the depths of despair, feeling abandoned by God. There is a familiar pattern we see in many of the laments. The structure of the poem breaks down like this:

A recounting of God's past faithfulness (v. 1-8)
An accusation of God's present rejection (v. 9-22)
A plea for God's future deliverance (v. 23-26)

Granted, no painful crisis is simple, and pleading for God's intervention is not all that simple either. We are reminded again of the importance of remembering God's real intervening actions in times past. We are reminded that great men and women of faith had times of real doubting and even voiced honest accusations in prayer to God. God can handle our honesty, and that is often the path of reflection that reconnects us to our merciful Savior in the midst of deep pain. He empathizes with our weakness and temptations because he too bore them in Christ.

But compared to other Psalms, this does not appear to break new ground or reveal anything new about who God is or what he has accomplished. That is, until you recognize how this Psalm is quoted by Paul in Romans 8. Let's focus there for a moment:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

"For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35‭-‬39)

This passage in Romans is one of the richest promises in all of Scripture. The assurance and permanence of the love of Christ is described with absolute certainty, no matter the circumstance. And here we find that the more we grasp the depths of Psalm 44, the more rich and relieving this promise becomes.

That must have been Paul's intention. His Jewish audience should have been familiar with this painful Psalm and the emotions it would invoke. And despite the sense of rejection the persecuted Roman Christians felt, God had not fallen asleep or forgotten his precious children. Nothing, absolutely nothing in all creation, could separate them from the love of God now fully revealed in the finished work of Christ.

Lord, help me to bring my crisis to you in honest prayer. I am weak and short-sighted. Help me to see and believe that you remain faithful even in this hard time. And I know this is true because you have offered your Son who has conquered death and now lives in me. All I have and all I will ever need is found in you:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31‭-‬32)

Talk to Yourself

Psalms 42:9‭-‬11

I say to God, my rock:
"Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?"
As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
"Where is your God?"
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

............

Psalms 42 and 43 together form one song with a repeating refrain. This is one of the few Hebrew poems with a chorus, making it suddenly familiar and similar to our modern pop songs and worship ballads. What makes it a little different than most Christian worship songs is that the psalmist is talking to himself. Rather than addressing God directly or even addressing fellow believers, he is talking to himself. And since he repeats it three times, it's worth focusing on this verse as the key phrase in the passage:

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

Notice there is a question and an answer. This reflects the turmoil the psalmist is experiencing within himself. The surrounding verses include reference to feeling desperate for God's help, thirsty for God, aching for relief. Verse 8 describes a man so oppressed by enemies that he goes around mourning, wondering why God has abandoned him. But the chorus turns the question from God to himself. It is a turning point, a step away from despair and toward resolution. And the resolution is an effort of faith:

Hope in God for I shall again praise him.

I call this an effort of faith because believing in the midst of trials can be a real effort. Some circumstances can be so loud that they drown out other voices. His enemies are asking "where is your God?" And he is tempted to ask himself that as well. But, notice that the psalmist instead chooses to remember times past when he felt closer to God and enjoyed his blessing (verse 4). This is part of the effort to fight despair and believe in God's goodness. When we recall better days, we can hope for future blessings with more confidence.

For another example of this practice of talking to yourself, consider Lamentations, where Jeremiah was facing terrible trials of his own:

But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
(Lam. 3:21‭-‬23)

So, talk to yourself. Instead of just listening to your surroundings or your own doubts, fire back with the objective truth of the gospel. Once you've voiced your fears to God, go a step further and choose to remember the truth of God's goodness and preach it to yourself. This is more than the power of positive thinking. This is exercising real choice in what you think about and applying the truth to your own heart when you need it most. Call him your Rock, your salvation, your God. Sing along with the saints the words that your heart desperately needs to hear.

Here's another example from the hymnal to keep you talking to yourself:

Arise, my soul, arise,
shake off your guilty fears:
the bleeding Sacrifice
in my behalf appears:
before the throne my Surety stands,
before the throne my Surety stands,
my name is written on his hands.

My God is reconciled;
his pard'ning voice I hear;
he owns me for his child,
I can no longer fear;
with confidence I now draw nigh,
with confidence I now draw nigh,
and "Father, Abba, Father!" cry.

(Charles Wesley 1742)

Repaying Evil with Good

Psalm 41:9-10

Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. 
But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!

...............

At first glance, Psalm 41 appears to endorse revenge - you hurt me, now I will hurt you. Many of the psalms lament the injustice of bloodthirsty men and include prayers for God to bring relief and repay the evildoer. In this case, the evildoer is a said to be a close friend of the psalmist, adding further insult to injury. The writer is clearly asking for God's help so that he can repay his betrayer. So, what makes this different than the typical Tarantino movie? Is the Bible allowing or even encouraging revenge?

First, we should remember that the Psalms are poetry. And while that doesn't mean we can reinterpret them however we want, it does mean they are often very honest and personal in nature. Not everything uttered by the psalmist is necessarily an example for us to follow, since he too is a sinner struggling with faith in the midst of great trials. With some statements, we should mimic the honesty before God, but also mimic the overcoming of doubts, fears, and hate with patient faith in the One who will act on our behalf.

Second, this particular verse is actually referenced much later by Jesus himself, during the last supper.  Jesus gives us a bigger picture and a clearer example to follow when it comes to betrayal and revenge:

And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.  For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." (Mark 14:17-21)

When faced with betrayal by one of his closest friends, Jesus conveyed the psalmist's honesty and emotion. He stated that this man whom he trusted will indeed see vengeance. But that revenge doesn't come with an immediate show of force from Jesus, though he had every right and the power to do so. No, Jesus held his peace, accepted the will of God, and trusted that God would bring the vindication he so powerfully desired. Rather than draw his sword, he washed his disciples' feet, wore the crown of thorns, and hung on the cross, while praying for those who killed him. What a display of trust in the justice of God!

Thirdly, and similarly, the early church gave specific instruction on the topic of revenge, apparently because it was a common temptation we all would face:

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)

Do we see how this does not contradict what we read in the psalms? Both parts of the Bible are actually conveying the same truth: vengeance belongs to God. After we make our honest prayers for God to bring justice, we must trust God completely. Then, we must overcome evil with good and even be willing to bless our enemies rather than curse them. That is the fullest expression of trust in God's timing and justice. And that act of trust may even turn that enemy into a friend.

The psalmist takes the desire for revenge and redirects it to God in honest and emotional prayer. The Savior modeled for us the patience and trust we will need to overcome evil with good. And the early church fleshed out these truths in direct application in the midst of injustice and trials.

Lord, see the injustice that we face each day, especially in cities and nations where your Word is forbidden and your name is dishonored. Look upon your children who are victims of violence and persecution. Have mercy and bring justice, for your glory and for the good of those you love. For only you have the wisdom and patience to respond to evil and overcome it with good. Fill us with that same spirit as we face today's temptations to take revenge into our own hands.

Praise & Lament

Psalm 40:10-11

I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. 
As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!

...............

As many lament psalms do, Psalm 40 follows a basic structure. Cries for help are interwoven with declarations of God's character and promises. It is not simply a lament followed by an affirmation of faith, nor the reverse, an affirmation followed by a plea for deliverance. These two realities go back and forth in the life of the believer. Sometimes in the same breath. We make bold professions of faith in the real power and goodness of our Savior. And at the same time, we wrestle with very real circumstances that shake this faith and make us desperate.

On the one hand, the psalmist is confident in the mercy and kindness of God. More than once he points to the thoughts of God toward us and the deeds of God toward us. It is astounding that God thinks of us! He cares for our daily needs. He has shown himself kind in a multitude of ways, if we would but slow down and count them.

Food on the table
Money in the bank account
Clothes on our backs
A job to work each day
Friends to share laughter with
Family to share burdens and joys
Breath in our lungs

Each day becomes a precious gift as we remember that life is so fragile and yet filled with incredible potential.

You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.(40:5)

And we are called upon to proclaim the many blessings and signs of God's kindness so that others will know. This psalm is calling us to sing loud and sing proud! And it is an example for us to follow as we encourage others in our lives to do the same. May we count our blessings and call others to do the same. It may be the very thing they need to remember that day.

On the other hand, the psalmist is clearly walking through hard circumstances. The call to boldness co-mingles with cries for help! In fact, it is the very goodness and promise of God that grounds our request for help. The reminder of his character bolsters and amplifies our prayers for assistance because this sharpens our focus on the One to whom we pray.

Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!(40:13)

Let us be deeply encouraged that our prayers do not rise into the air in vain. There is a mighty and gracious God listening, giving thought to our situation and working it out for good. As we cry those tears, he is catching them one by one. And the pathway to our deliverance is to integrate praise into our prayers for help. As we proclaim his past deliverance, his present character, and his future promised care, we find new faith swelling in our hearts.

One last thought: as you read the Psalms, notice the punctuation marks. The pauses. The question marks. And in this case, the exclamation marks! Even in times of trial, may our faith shine and our words exclaim something clear and true. God has not changed and his promised salvation is but moments away.

Prayer of the Consumer

Psalm 39:4-7

Lord, reveal to me the end of my life
and the number of my days.
Let me know how short-lived I am.
You, indeed, have made my days
short in length,
and my life span as nothing in Your sight. 

Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor.

Selah

Certainly, man walks about
like a mere shadow.
Indeed, they frantically rush around in vain,
gathering possessions without knowing who will get them.
Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.

...............

Materialism. 

According to this passage, the root cause of materialism is that we think we are eternal.

We typically do not number our days. We think we are permanent, destined to live on and on, never having to say goodbye to the things and accomplishments we have accumulated. We make plans and dream dreams, assuming that tomorrow is guaranteed to us. We create hopes for doing, buying, building, traveling, saving, spending, and on and on.

We are practical materialists, even against our knowing better. If you asked a stranger to examine our lives from the outside, what would they see? Do we show by our choices and our budget line items that we believe only in the visible material world? That we have bought into the promises that this world so readily makes to us? That the next house or car or vacation or job opportunity will finally fulfill us? That we are one purchase away from knowing true peace?

Before I create any unnecessary guilt trips, it is important to note that the Bible does not endorse poverty over riches per se. In several places, Paul exhorts the rich to beware being proud and to be sure to be generous, but he never condemns the riches themselves. In the most quotable of these places, notice that money is not the root of evil, but rather the love of money:

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root  of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith  and pierced themselves with many pains. (1 Tim 6:9-10)

It is the want of riches and the love of money that leads our impressionable hearts into many other vices. We crave what we don't have and that craving ends up justifying our discontent, anger, and resentment of others who happen to have it better than us. Notice also that this heart condition could apply to the rich and poor alike. You could have very little and still be enslaved by the empty promises of riches, thinking if only I had this or that, then I could finally be happy.

Paul continues in the same passage to give a positive alternative to this craving:

Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God,  who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good reserve for the age to come, so that they may take hold of life that is real. (1 Tim 6:17-19)

In this positive way forward, riches do not have to be a pathway to evil. They can, in fact, lead to enormous opportunities for good and glory for God. Riches can become, like in the parable of the talents, a test of our faithfulness to God and an investment that pays off for the good of others and ends in a warm welcome in heaven, where our true treasure-house grows with every act of faithfulness.

Taken together with Psalm 39, Paul's words and all of Scripture present us with a challenge, whether we are rich or poor. The challenge is to:

- examine our hearts

- number our days 

- realize the impermanence of this material world

- make God himself our greatest hope and treasure

- realize our responsibility before God who owns all things

- and start using our resources to invest in real treasure - the growing kingdom of God and its many faceted blessings. 

I am reminded of another of Paul's challenges which sums all of this up rather nicely:

Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you  to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)

From Judge to Savior

Psalms 38:1, 4, 9, 15, 18, 21-22

Lord, do not punish me in Your anger
or discipline me in Your wrath...

Without a Savior, there is only judgment. My approach to my Maker can only be fear. I know what I am. I know what I've done. And I know that He sees and He must right every wrong. He will punish every wicked thought, every wicked desire. He must do so, for the sake of his name and the good of his children. Without a savior, without someone to make things right, he can only be to me a frowning Judge.

For my sins have flooded over my head;
they are a burden too heavy for me to bear...

The weight of guilt is inescapable. That feeling I get when I'm hiding something from a friend or family member. I've broken a prized possession of theirs, or forgotten to keep a promise I made. My tail goes between my legs. I know it's time to eat crow/humble pie/my words (pick your figure of speech). The burden of guilt can only be lifted through the painful pathway of exposure. The scalpel must come before healing.

Lord, my every desire is known to You;
my sighing is not hidden from You...

And why do I hide, when he already knows my deepest thoughts and desires? I don't trust that he knows best, that he can handle whatever I need to tell him. I must repent of the hiding before I can repent of what I am hiding.

I put my hope in You, Lord ;
You will answer, Lord my God...

The only alternative to hiding is to turn completely to face my Maker and start trusting that he can make good out of my foolishness. Hope implies that I believe he is good and trustworthy and he will respond in the best way possible, even if it might hurt my pride. I am Eustace the dragon, and it will take strong claws to tear away at the iron flesh I hide behind.

So I confess my guilt;
I am anxious because of my sin...

Simply speak and the scalpel can begin. There will be anxiety, no doubt. I have hurt others. I have hurt myself. I have hurt my Maker and grieved his holy heart. But with confession, the judge begins to become a savior. He can only give the mercy I need once the crime has been exposed. A lifeguard cannot rescue me while my arms are flailing around. I must rest in his arms completely.

Lord, do not abandon me;
my God, do not be far from me.
Hurry to help me,
Lord, my Savior.

And finally I am his. Seeking to be near the very one I was hiding from. I have turned 180 degrees. I even ask him to hurry, because by faith I am finally understanding the depth of good that he has planned even for a fool like me.

Hurry to help me Lord!
You are my only hope!

Inherit the Land

Psalm 37:4, 9, 11, 22, 29, 34

Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.  

For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. 

But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace. 

...for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off. 

The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.  

Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

...............

Its likely that verse 4 is the most well known part of this psalm. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. This is a rich and thrilling promise. But notice that the only reference to this psalm in the New Testament is to verse 11, mentioned by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. I would like to submit that these two parts of psalm 37 are closely connected and shed light on one another.

This psalm is a great example of Hebrew parallelism and repetition. There are several references to the threat of wicked men and that our response to injustice should not be fretting, but rather a deep trust and delight in the Lord. To bolster this call for trust in the midst of adversity, the psalmist presents several promises from God: that he will grant our desires, that he will not forsake us, that he will not let his children go hungry. And then the ultimate culmination of these promises - inheriting the land!

The passage in Matthew 5 reads "the earth," and you could say this is merely interchangeable with "the land," for the Hebrew "eretz" means both and typically refers to the promised land of Isreal. But I do not think it is an accident that Jesus broadens this word's meaning for the new covenant audience. What once was a promise and hope for material comfort and political protection has now become something much grander in scope.

For truly, those who trust in Christ with a meek heart can now expect an inheritance that encompasses the whole earth. We are given glimpses of what this will be in passages that describe our inheritance and what place we will have in the new heavens and new earth:

Our salvation: 1 Peter 1:3-4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you...

The indwelling Spirit of God: Ephesians 1:11-14

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

An incomparable welcome home: John 14:1-3

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

The judging of the world and the angels: 1 Corinthians 6:2-3

Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

A seat with God on his throne: Ephesians 2:4-7

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

There are other passages too, but these provide a powerful link between the salvation from sin that we typically focus on and the inheritance of a place in God's kingdom, of which we are now chosen citizens. There is a unique delight and trust that comes from looking ahead to our inheritance, over and above merely looking back to what we once received.

Can I say that it is easy for me not to fret because I am so confident in God's promised inheritance? Do I anticipate his coming and his reckoning more than I worry about my security and reputation? If this new earth is given to the meek, how can I repent of every proud and self-righteous thought that may keep me from it?

I think the psalmist may tell us to delight in Him, for that is the mark of a meek heart who has confident hope in a rich inheritance. Lord, help me to delight in you and look to my inheritance, for it is bigger and grander than anything I can imagine. Let it captivate my thoughts and bring meekness to this heart. Amen.

Private Sins, Public Grace

Psalm 36:1-12

Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God before his eyes.  
For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 
The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
He plots trouble while on his bed;
he sets himself in a way that is not good;
he does not reject evil. 

Lord, you see and know the atrocities of evil men. You see them plotting in the night, and daydreaming of what they secretly desire. You see their hypocrisy as they justify themselves. You know every secret deep in our hearts.

Your steadfast love, O Lord,
extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.  
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O Lord. 

 

Father, you contrast the dark hearts of men with a love that stretches from eternity to eternity. You offer your kindness publicly and without shame.

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge
in the shadow of your wings. 
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink
from the river of your delights. 
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light. 

God, your vast heart of love overflows in blessings poured out on the heads of all men. Even those who despise you are daily drinking of your gifts and enjoying your patience. If only they would see the fountain from whom all these delights arise - then they would truly have life.

Oh, continue your steadfast love
to those who know you,
and your righteousness
to the upright of heart! 
Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. 
There the evildoers lie fallen;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.

Not one day of life is promised to us, so those who know You ask for a continuing of your kindness and protection. Let the bodies of evil men lie motionless so that injustice and sorrow may finally cease. Bring your judgment and spare those who trust you, by your grace alone!

Loving Vengeance

Psalm 35:11-14

Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.
They repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft. 
But I, when they were sick—
I wore sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed with head bowed on my chest. 
I went about as though I grieved
for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
I bowed down in mourning.

...............

In the TV series House of Cards, congressman Frank Underwood is a picture of vengeance. After losing a promised place in the new president's cabinet, he concocts an elaborate plan to systematically sabotage his political enemies. He feeds half-truths to the press. He blackmails characters into doing his dark errands. He feins humility to manipulate, and he preys on the humility of others. All for power, all for winning, all for the feeling of control and superiority over others.

There is a strain of vengeful confidence that runs throughout the Psalms, especially in the words of David, who frequently calls down curses upon his enemies. The first ten verses of Psalm 35 include such a strain, complete with passionate appeal, a list of reasons, and even a promise to rejoice when destruction finally comes upon his foes. But then, verse 11 begins a very different tone:

Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.
They repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft. 
But I, when they were sick—
I wore sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed with head bowed on my chest. 
I went about as though I grieved
for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
I bowed down in mourning.

We were just settling in to a nice cozy bout of righteous indignation, when all of a sudden, the writer switches gears and starts grieving for his enemies, like one would mourn for a lost loved one. The wells of justice were about to brim over with acts of revenge, but then tender compassion emerged from the very same heart.  What changed?

I'd like to consider that David's prayer for swift destruction and his prayer of mourning and grief are one and the same. They occur together here, as if we should not be at all surprised by this blending of justice and mercy, of fury and tenderness. I'd like to argue that we must pray this way as well, because it is the very heartbeat of our perfectly just and loving Father in Heaven.

In Genesis 6, we see one of the greatest illustrations of this holy heart. At the moment of mankind's greatest wickedness and God's most sweeping sentence of judgment in the floodwaters, there is an ache. The heartache of a loving and grieving father:

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:5-7)

Now, it is very clear from several passages that God holds the role of judge in a way that we are not exactly to emulate. Jesus modeled compassion and mercy in the face of injustice, and he taught us to likewise love our enemies. Paul summed up this Christlike ethic with these penetrating words to the Roman church:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:14-21)

So, if we cannot avenge ourselves, how can we apply the imprecatory tone of Psalm 35 to our own lives? Not by our judgment or vengeful actions, but instead by our prayers. David is modeling a life of honest prayer in which God welcomes our desperate cries for justice, while simultaneously softening our hearts to even plead on behalf of those who threaten and hurt us. Again, Jesus models this on the cross, praying his enemies would find forgiveness, even as they are watching him be executed. What love! What mysterious mercy in the face of hatred!

Lord, grant me the honesty and trust to bring my cries for justice to you. Vengeance belongs to you, and yet you turn even that into moments of mercy. Let my indignation more easily shift to grief and mourning even for my enemies and those I don't like or care for. Let me plead for them like they were my own family. For you have pleaded for me in just the same way.

Provision of the Richest Kind

Psalm 34:8-10 ESV

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 
Oh, fear the Lord , you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!  
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

...............

No lack.

Its hard to imagine what that is really like. In our day, we get into conversations with friends and coworkers about winning the lottery jackpot. Everyone daydreams about what it would be like to be independently wealthy, free to purchase any desire. Or, if we are being extra spiritual, daydreaming about having sufficient resources to give generously or invest in some meaningful dream project. It is enticing to fantasize about what it would be to have no lack.

But believers are abundantly aware that God's promise of provision is often realized in times and ways that run counter to our daydreams. Psalm 34 seems to promise that those who fear God will taste, see, and experience a rich blessing of protection and security in this life - something like immediate deliverance from inconveniences and obstacles. Some churches in the prosperity gospel movement even make these very promises, regularly leaving confused, disappointed, and faith-shattered people in their wake.

How does Psalm 34 and the rich promise of provision fit with other passages of Scripture which clearly highlight the afflictions of the righteous? In other words, how can I personally have much hope in this life that God will protect me when godly men and women are regularly persecuted, mocked, and struggling with the daily trials of life in a fallen world? The story of Job and his mistaken friends shows the folly of thinking the righteous will never suffer. The words of Jesus even include seemingly contradictory promises: that we will undoubtedly suffer if we are truly faithful and unashamed of the gospel.

Fortunately, this psalm itself contains several clarifying verses that keep us from taking verses 8-10 out of context. For one, the preceding verses put this promise in the context of a particular deliverance in the life of David, rather than a general guarantee that goes without exceptions:

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.  
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
(34:6-7)

For another, the subsequent verses admit clearly that the righteous are bound to suffer, even while God's promise of nearness and deliverance is true:

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.  
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
(34:18-19)

So, if the Lord is promising to be near, to show up and do something to rescue those he loves, how can this good God allow "many afflictions" to continue haunting us? What good are such promises, which seem either empty, or at best simply too little too late?

The Christian knows the answer is in Jesus. Among world religions, even those that claim divine incarnations, there is no other faith that has a suffering God right in the center. No other faith can claim that God is "near to the brokenhearted" in the way that Jesus embodied - a Savior who wept over the death of friends, who bore the insults of fools, who was betrayed by all those he trusted. When Hebrews says we have a high priest who can sympathize with our every weakness, that is no exaggeration (Heb. 4:15).

Could it be that our lottery-winning fantasy of comfort and ease is missing the obvious? What could protect and provide for our deepest desire more than having the nearness of God himself, present in our very being by His Spirit, bringing sweet fellowship and rich satisfaction, in spite of any trial or weakness? While the trials of life "slay" the enemies of God and leave them "condemned," (34:21) those same trials pass over the believer as he clings to the Mast who is ever-present and faithful in the storm.

I pray that I can trust the promise of provision as completely true, but maybe not true in the small trivial way that I expect. Maybe it is true in a much richer more eternally valuable way. Maybe it is the riches I need most, the treasure where neither moth nor rust destroy. Lord, give me eyes of faith to see this provision in every trial and claim the riches of your presence and love as my very own.

*Here is an article describing the common phenomenon of lottery winners regretting their dream-come-true.

The Psalmist and Carl Sagan

Psalm 33:10-15

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; 

he frustrates the plans of the peoples. 

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, 

the plans of his heart to all generations. 

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, 

the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! 

The Lord looks down from heaven; 

he sees all the children of man; 

from where he sits enthroned 

he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, 

he who fashions the hearts of them all 

and observes all their deeds. 

Isaiah 40:13-15

Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,

or what man shows him his counsel? 

Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? 

Who taught him the path of justice, 

and taught him knowledge, 

and showed him the way of understanding? 

Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, 

and are accounted as the dust on the scales; 

behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. 

...............

"The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot."

-Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot

The Psalmist, Isaiah, and Carl Sagan draw a line between the vastness of the observable universe and the absurdity of man's vain attempts to control one another. Nations make bold claims, even messianic claims, but they are a vain hope, a faint flicker of hope, compared to the surpassing permanence and power of our Maker who sits enthroned in the heavens. Nations fight and quarrel over land that appears like a postage stamp next to the light years of cosmos that exists under the rule and reign of Almighty God.

And it does our souls good to stand in wonder and consider our fragility, our finitude, our tiny blip on the cosmic radar compared to the long arc of time that stretches before and after us. We are better men for considering our humble state and letting that awe and wonder shape our confidence in God. 

Sagan and his contemporaries thought that Science did a better job than religion at provoking this awe and humility. Sadly, there are just as many atrocities derived from atheism (Soviet Russia, Maoist China) and science (Nazi eugenics, modern abortion) than there have been wars of religion. This speaks to the universal corruption of man, which bleeds through our best efforts and brings us to our knees before our Maker. Sagan stopped short of true humility, ironically claiming himself to understand man's place in the universe, as if he could stand above it all and see the forest for the trees in a way the rest of us could not. Pride masquerading as humility.

True humility will lead individuals and entire nations to trust not in laws, bureaucracies, executive orders, or political promises but to trust in the God who sees them as drops in the bucket. True humility cannot stop at a vague mystical feeling of smallness or nothingness. It must go on to turn its eyes to what is truly great and permanent - the living God who reigns over us with meticulous attention to every detail of our lives, even numbering the hairs of our heads and each day of our lives before they happen. Look to him, hope in his personal love for you, and your humility will turn from nothing into something:

The king is not saved by his great army; 

a  is not delivered by his great strength. 

The war horse is a false hope for salvation, 

and by its great might it cannot rescue. 

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, 

on those who hope in his steadfast love.

(Psalm 33:16-18)

My Hiding Place

Psalm 32:7

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

...............

Sometimes I hear people talking about their "life verse" - a passage of scripture that has been the theme of their life, or perhaps gives them a perpetual sense of motivation and purpose. I have heard people use the Golden Rule of Matthew 7, or the Great Commission of Matthew 28, or perhaps some quote from Paul that talks about God's calling in their lives. Jesus himself often summarized his life and ministry in one verse sayings, like "I have come to seek and save the lost" or "the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you may have abundant life."

This verse from Psalm 32 has been about the closest in my experience to a "life verse." It has followed me through several seasons of life and never fails to comfort and recenter my view of life and understanding of God's love.

The first season where this verse met me was in college. I was studying Hebrew in a mostly nonreligious Religion department (yes, I said that right). I translated this passage from the Hebrew and was drawn into the beauty of this psalm by the hidden rhyme found in this verse, which does not carry over in the English translation:

Atah seter li
Mitzar titz-raini
Ra-ney fallet tisovivani

I enjoyed this verse so much that I painted the Hebrew words on the wall of my small apartment bedroom. I wanted to be reminded that God's love and protection were always around me, that God himself was my hiding place.

The second season where this verse appeared in my life was in seminary. The last phrase of the verse includes the word "shouts" but this can also be translated "songs." I had always loved music, grew up playing my dad's guitars, and from early in my christian life helped to lead others in youth groups to worship in song. The idea that God the creator was singing over me and that this was part of his deliverance was very comforting.

This comfort took on new meaning in seminary when I met a lovely young lady who shared my love for music, worship, ministry, and all things beautiful. Her name was Donna, and when we started dating, it was just before Christmas, which put me in the fun position of finding a present for her that was special but not TOO special. I decided to make a framed picture montage with snapshots of our brief time together. In the center was one simple verse of scripture, written in Hebrew - Psalm 32:7.

This verse would continue to comfort and remind me and Donna in the coming years of God's song of deliverance, through times of both joy and sorrow. The frame still hangs in our living room to this day.

Today, I was driving to work, feeling particularly tired and discouraged. I have every reason to rejoice: a family that loves me unconditionally, a job I enjoy with an upcoming promotion, a Savior who forgives and provides. But my fears and self-hatred often overwhelm these obvious realities. So, like I've done hundreds of times, I put Andrew Peterson on the stereo and proceeded to sing my heart out, crying tears of joy and gratitude as I preached the words of God's grace to myself yet again. 

These are words that I will never fail to need reminding of. They are God's song of deliverance to me, and I hope to continue singing these words and others like them for many seasons to come:

High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the deep of the valley was bright
When the mouth of the tomb
Shouted, "Glory, the Groom is alive" 

So long, you wages of sin
Go on, don't you come back again
I've been raised and redeemed 

You've lost all your sting
To the victor of the battle
At high noon in the valley
In the valley of the shadow

Redeemed!

Psalms 31:1-5

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; 

let me never be put to shame; 

in your righteousness deliver me! 

Incline your ear to me; 

rescue me speedily! 

Be a rock of refuge for me, 

a strong fortress to save me! 

For you are my rock and my fortress; 

and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me; 

you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, 

for you are my refuge. 

Into your hand I commit my spirit; 

you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. 

...............

Daily life can be a battle.

The enemies are without and within. When I wake up each day, there are troubles and temptations waiting for me. Every hunger, every discomfort, every annoyance, every complaint, every broken plan or broken promise, every desire for something more, something better, every opportunity to speak poorly of a co-worker or think negatively of my dearest friends & family, every chance to blame others and play the victim - the day holds these enemies in store for me.

But I have two secrets that can keep me safe from these enemies. 

One, I know the war exists - I am not resigned to fall into these pits and despair of life itself. I know there is more. I know I can see victory and joy even in the midst of all this. 

Second, I do not fight alone. I have a partner, a fellow soldier, a friend in this battle, a rescuer and redeemer who is both willing and perfectly able to protect and restore me. He is faithful, and I can commit my life into his trustworthy hands and know that my path is sure. I will look to him and cry out to him and he will hear me in my distress. He cares for every detail and listens to even my trite and trivial fears.

He helps me see how worthless are the idols which clamor for my attention. He replaces them with himself and meets the deepest desire of my heart.

When Jesus hung on the cross, his last breath was used to quote this psalm:

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, "Certainly this man was innocent!" (Luke 23:44-47)

This quote from Jesus could be easily overlooked. Short, and simply describing his acceptance of the end. But, when you see the context of Psalm 31, you realize that Jesus was making a bold claim of confidence in his Father, right in his darkest hour, when anyone else would have despaired and cursed God. 

The second half of verse 5 of the psalm says "You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God." Jesus' confidence in his redemption was so strong that he could use the present-tense to describe what was really a future reality. He was dying, drawing his last breath, but he was so sure of his "faithful God," so sure he would breathe again and rise from the tomb, that he could say "you have redeemed me."

I pray that I can walk in such confidence, knowing that he is faithful, that he will be with me in the daily battles against sin and death, and that my victory and resurrection are so certain that I need never worry or fear.

For, you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God, and I will walk in your faithfulness with a certainty and a hope that cannot be shaken. Amen.

God's Anger: An Expression of Love

Psalm 30:4, 5

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

...............

God is love.

The depths of this statement are beyond measure and libraries upon libraries of books could be written and still fall short of conveying the depths of the riches of God's love. We think about the kindness of God to send his beloved Son to die a shameful death in our place. We think about the sweet gentleness of Jesus who cared for little children and who promises to be a good shepherd to his wayward sheep. We think about passages like 1 John 4, where the very nature of love is shown to be rooted in God himself:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7-12 ESV)

So, if God is fundamentally love, and he shapes and models the life of love that he calls us to lead, how is it that he is also angry? The Bible gives numerous examples of God's anger and wrath. In the Old Testament, we see the hardening of Pharaoh's heart and the plagues against Egypt bringing a nation to its knees. We see the anger of God poured out on the Canaanite nations as Joshua leads the Hebrews into the promised land. We see God's judgment revealed against his own people as they are exiled from the promised land and subjugated to the rule of pagan kings in Babylon. Even in the New Testament, we see God strike down Ananias and Sapphira for their duplicity and greed (Acts 5), and we are reminded by Paul that God's wrath is still revealed against all manner of unrighteousness found in mankind (Romans 1:18ff). So how does this anger fit with God's love?

I believe that Psalm 30, and several other passages, provide the answer: God's nature is fundamentally defined by love, but this love can be expressed in anger. Imagine that your home has been invaded and a stranger has abducted your child. You engage the intruder as they are trying to escape with your child. Your heart is pounding, picturing what horrible fate this person has in store for the child you love. That intruder becomes the object of your anger, but only in corresponding measure to the love you hold for your child. The greater your love for the one, the greater your anger for the other. But the love is what is fundamental; the anger is derivative, contingent, a mere expression or byproduct of the love.

One clear example of this concept is found in Matthew 18:

And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:2-6)

Drowning someone in the sea with a millstone around their neck does not sound very loving. But it is clear that this threat of angry judgment is completely fitting when the object of God's love is in danger. The innocent child is most loved when they are defended from injustice, even in a manner that conveys anger to the perpetrator of the injustice.

But what about God's eternal anger toward his creation promised in the threats of damnation in hell? How is hell an expression of love? This is perhaps one of the most difficult questions in all of Christian life and thinking. If I can imagine a God who does not condemn anyone to hell, am I not imagining a God more loving than the God of the Bible? One way to answer this is that our definition of love must not presume to be more right than God's definition of love, even if we can't wrap our head around it. That is one explanation, and there is truth to that. But, I also believe that God's love is reasonable and we must find a way to reasonably and wholeheartedly ascribe to God's definition of love, no matter how non-intuitive it may at first appear.

The only way hell can be an expression of love is by understanding God's love for his glory. The triune God has enjoyed the fellowship of eternal love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for all eternity past and all eternity to come (John 17:20ff). The glorious existence God shares as three persons in One is the fundamental source of value in all the universe. To pervert, distort, undermine, or rebel against this glory is to go against what is most loving and glorious in all the universe - and anger, even eternal judgment, is the corresponding expression of love toward all that would be opposed to his glory. Any sense of justice we experience is actually a shadow of God's love for his glory, since our righteous anger toward crimes against the innocent is really our recognition that God's image in man is being distorted. When we are compelled to defend the dignity and glory of other men, we are truly defending the image and glory of God in man.

A final answer to our trouble with hell is realizing how God has expressed his love in giving us his Son, who takes the penalty of sin away and cancels out any anger or condemnation for those who put their hope in Him. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the offer of a restored relationship with God - this answers the problem of hell like nothing else can. So, when the psalms remind us that God's anger is for a moment, but his favor is for a lifetime, it tells me that the anger is not what is fundamental to God's nature. Rather, his love and favor and patience are truly his heartbeat. He is slow in one, and abounding in the other. Our experience of love and justice agrees, and the cross of Christ testifies to it. And for that, I will give him all the glory.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Psalms 103:8)

The Voice of the Lord

Psalm 29:1-11

Ascribe to the Lord , O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

The psalmist charges the heavenly host of angels to give glory to God. This is a foretaste of how God's people will one day have some measure of authority over the angels (1 Cor. 6:3). The rest of the psalm can be seen as David's reasons for the angels (and us) to give God glory.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders, the Lord , over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 

This may be a reference both to God's personal meticulous hand in creating the world (Gen. 1:2), and God's deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea (Exodus 14).

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox. 

We know from Psalm 19 that all of creation, from the skies above to the seas below, cry out in figurative speech, declaring the presence and power of God. And Paul tells us that because of this revelation in nature, each man is without excuse and will be held accountable for their lack of faith in their Maker (Romans 1:18ff). 

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 

Even the more dangerous forces of nature speak to us of God's presence and coming judgement. All creation groans under the curse of sin, but this is also the voice of God reminding us of our need to be redeemed (Rom. 8:18-25). I am also reminded of how C.S. Lewis explained the pain and suffering we face as a message from God:

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." (The Problem of Pain)

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, "Glory!" 

Here is the connection to verses 1 & 2 and the exhortation to give glory to God. These voices in nature, even the small details like the birth of a deer, are all driving us to stand in wonder and cry out "Glory!" I hope I can open my ears to these voices and be inspired daily to stand in awe of God. In this way, I revere him as king and can look to him for my strength and peace:

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!

How Do We Respond to Injustice?

Psalms 28:3-6

Do not drag me off with the wicked,
with the workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbors
while evil is in their hearts.
Give to them according to their work
and according to the evil of their deeds;
give to them according to the work of their hands;
render them their due reward.
Because they do not regard the works of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
he will tear them down and build them up no more.

Blessed be the Lord !
For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

...............

On Friday, December 14, 2012, at 9:30am, a 20-year-old man ended the lives of 20 schoolchildren and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT. The public response was immediate and emotionally charged. Parents wept for their lost children, while others across the country held their children a little longer before bedtime, imagining how painful it would be to lose those we hold most dear. The innate sense of justice we all feel was stirred to the point of brimming over. We were reminded that evil is still real, and we could not suppress the instinctual craving for justice in the aftermath of wicked deeds like these.

In Psalm 28, we get an interesting balance in the mind of the believer: the twofold truth that we are both desperately in need of God's forgiveness, and desperately ready for God to punish others who act wickedly. We want the final judgment to come, and for all things to be made right. But we know we belong in the lake of fire ourselves, so we cry out for mercy, utterly dependent on God's grace to spare us from our just penalty.

Really, humility and justice must hang together in the Christian's life, for one cannot exist without the other - at least, not in any authentic way. For example, our thirst for punishment against mass murderers would surely disappear if we lost our ability to humbly identify with the fragile dependency of our dear children. Our sympathy toward these little ones corresponds to our fierce opposition to any force that would spoil their delicate lives. Here's how Jesus embodied this balance:

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea." (Mark 9:42)

Likewise, a lack of justice will always coincide with a lack of humility, and vice versa. For example, if I did not care deeply for the weak and vulnerable child, I would not have the deadly serious mind of Christ toward any threat to their safety. In fact, it is safe to say that God's justice is an extension of his humility. No one feels the wickedness and gravity of sin more than Him who has known the fullest depths of humility. This humility is what has led to God's wrath being satisfied on our behalf - at the cross, there is simultaneously justice for sin, and justification for the sinner. As Paul said:

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:23, 24, 26)

Our humility must also be defined by a deference to the supremacy of God in all things. The psalmist here considers the wicked man's greatest crime to be that he disregarded the works of the Lord (28:5). To have a vision and passion for God's glory is to be both truly humble and also highly sensitive to how sin perverts and distorts God's glorious love and holiness.

This is the gospel-balance that helps us respond to the Newtown massacre in the way that God does - with deadly seriousness and the just fires of hell, motivated by a humble love and longing for the protection of innocence and the glory of God. I pray I can walk in the light of the cross of Christ, which speaks mercy to me while simultaneously paying for my crimes against God and man. I pray I can walk like Micah:

"He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?"
(Micah 6:8)

Is God Good?

Psalm 27:5

For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.

...............

Will God protect us when we pray for shelter?

Will God heal my child if she becomes threatened by some terminal illness?

If I'm not guaranteed protection in this life, then why pray for it in the first place?

These questions have been on my mind recently. Lately I've seen several people I care about deeply going through painful trials. Dear friends have lost loved ones. In one case there is the added grief and questions associated with losing someone who was most likely not a believer. I have also been a shoulder to another friend who is suffering great physical pain and whose wife was just diagnosed with cancer. In tears, he asked me point-blank, "Why is God letting this happen?"

Why? For what good purpose do we endure such unbearable pain in this life? How can God be called "good" in any real sense when he stands by and let's us suffer?

These questions are often heartfelt and genuine expressions of our real human experience. But they also reveal certain assumptions about how we view the world. When I ask "why?" am I motivated by a desire to know God more deeply? Or, am I looking for a reason to doubt his goodness? Am I perhaps revealing an assumption that I know better than God in regards to what is good for me? Am I revealing a basic assumption about what I think I deserve in this life? Am I forgetting my place in this cosmos?

Each person must answer these questions for themselves. But there are some themes in Scripture that help us see the bigger picture and how God's definition of "good" may be slightly different than our own.

1. There are levels or degrees of "good."

If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. (Philippians 1:22-26)

In this passage, Paul strangely welcomes death, which we normally (and rightly) think of as something sad and unfortunate. Even here, Paul accepts that it is good and vital that he remain and minister longer in this life. But for the Christian, in another sense, it is also "good" to die and be finally and perfectly reunited with our Maker-Redeemer. There are levels of good, and at times they may compete or contradict each other. The implication for us: God may have a "good" purpose in our suffering that is yet unknown, and may in fact remain unknown until we see his face in Heaven.

2. An event may be both "good" and "evil."

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will... (Ephesians 1:11)

If all things work according God's purpose, then it is tempting to blame God for evil and suffering. However, the Bible clearly does not allow us to blame him for evil (Deut. 32:4, Hab. 1:13, James 1:13). So, in order to understand how God's sovereignty and goodness co-exist, theologians speak of "compatibilism," which means that God can be sovereign over events that are both good and evil, often at the same time, but in different ways - i.e. Joseph's suffering which ultimately resulted in the good deliverance of Egypt and Israel from a horrible famine; and of course, Jesus' heinous execution which resulted in eternal salvation for those who trust in him (Gen. 50:20, Acts 2:23). This topic could be drawn out to fill many books, but for our purpose here, I mention it as a biblical position that allows many apparently evil events the possibility of some corresponding "good" value, even if that goodness is mysterious and hidden in the providence of almighty God.

3. "Good" is defined as what makes us more like Jesus.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28, 29)

Verse 28 is an amazing promise that has undergirded many believers in the midst of painful trials. But if we miss verse 29, then we may find ourselves disappointed by the type of "good" that God works into our lives through pain and suffering. Verse 29 clarifies that this "good" is really defined as becoming more like Jesus - being conformed to the image of Christ. If we lose sight of the blessedness of this conforming purpose, our disappointment in God will lead us to doubt his goodness, which is a tragic misunderstanding indeed.

4. "Good" may ultimately be delayed.

Hebrews 11 tells us about scores of God's people who lived by faith and are honored for their trust in God's promises. However, verse 39 plainly tells us that these men did not see the promises fulfilled in their own lifetimes. This is the reality of delayed "good:"

And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:39, 40)

So why pray for help if God is mainly after our conformity to Christ and may delay our deliverance until the next life? As I've thought through this, I come back again and again to the refrains of the Psalms, which so often lament life's trials and cry out for God's intervention and deliverance. Psalm 27 is no exception. But if "good" is defined by conformity to Christ, and is often delayed, how can we pray and expect the protection and healing we so desperately crave? My answer is to keep on praying desperately, knowing that God is truly good, and that he does in fact promise ultimate protection for his beloved children, even if that protection is finally delayed all the way to the next life in Heaven. Even if my only hope in this fallen world is of a very distant glimpse of eternal life, I will keep my eyes fixed on that glimpse and endure to the end, knowing that his goodness will be proved in time and will be sweeter than any version of "good" I could have ever imagined. If that means a life filled with crosses, at least I know that at the end of this life there will also be an empty tomb and an eternal resurrection. So, this will be my prayer, my meditation, and my hope:

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:13, 14 ESV)

Christian Well-Being

Psalm 25:11-13

For your name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.

...............

I work for a well-being company. This company is more widely known simply as a health insurance company. But we have also been re-branding ourselves as fundamentally working towards the physical, emotional, and (yes) even the spiritual well-being of our members. We have begun to offer incentive programs that add extra benefits to members who eat healthier, exercise more, and otherwise make good lifestyle choices.

I applaud these efforts, but I have had to also ask myself what true "well-being" is all about. Is it all about minimizing pain and maximizing happiness? Four servings of vegetables + 40 minutes of cardiovascular exercise + 20 minutes of silent meditation + a solid 401k account = a lifetime of peace? Is it that simple? Then why does true joy seem so rare today? The recipe for the peace of the human soul must be more than this.

I think the missing ingredient is much deeper than these things and hardens back to what mankind lost at the beginning of history: peace with our Maker.

Psalm 26 speaks to this reality when it defines true well-being as rooted in our relationship to God. But this relationship cannot be manufactured by some 5-step program or regimen of good deeds. The psalm elaborates by saying this relationship must involve our forgiveness, our humility, and our obedience.

The absolute necessity of having our guilt removed is spoken of in countless places in the Bible. Romans 5:1-2 is especially relevant here as it connects our justification with our restored peace with God:

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

The demand for our humility is illustrated in another passage with absolute clarity as well:

"But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" (James 4:6)

And the idea that our well-being is contingent on our obedience to God is alluded to in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20:

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'"

So, how can I achieve a deep sense of well-being and peace that I can then carry with me through the ups and downs of every day life? It must start with a longing to restore our relationship with the One who made us for Himself. This will take forgiveness, humility, and a new life of obedience to our wise and holy Teacher. The psalmist knew this. If we want to ask God for this kind of well-being, why not start right here by making these words the cry of our own hearts:

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
(Psalm 25:4-7)