Month: October 2017

153. Mercy and Faithfulness

 Psalm 89:2

For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever:

Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

 Chesed and Emeth are once again joined together in the same promise. The Hebrew words are heavily freighted with meaning and used very frequently of God. The words mean; steadfast love and faithfulness, or Mercy and Truth. In the Gospel of John “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Jesus brought the mercy and truth of God into human life on earth and applied it to our lives.

The OT believers and the Psalmists knew that “steadfast love and faithfulness” are joined together as two sides of one coin delivered from God’s heart to the human heart for our tremendous benefit. The NT believer sees these qualities in human flesh in the person of the Son of God become Jesus of Nazareth. By believing in Jesus he is infected with God and His essential characteristics “Love and Truth.”

The promise is that these two shall be built up and established in such a strong and solid way that they are eternal in the heavens. God is faithful to His Love, which cannot be stopped, and faithful to His Truth, which cannot be shaken. The Truth comes through Jesus Christ and bores into our hearts: I deserve death and hell because of my sin and guilt: this is absolute and I cannot deny it or ignore it; this truth cannot be broken or shaken no matter if I stop my ears and don’t want to hear it. But the second truth then crashes into my inner being with even more powerful force: God still loves me and therefore Jesus died in my place and earned forgiveness for me and because of Christ alone I deserve life and a place in heaven; this truth is also absolute and cannot be denied: and it is more powerful than the other truth: Love overcomes and overwhelms Sin and Evil, Death and Hell. This is how mercy is built up forever and faithfulness established in the heavens.

This Promise is so rock solid one can life and die, suffer and thrive on it.

152. Establish Zion

 Psalm 87:5

And of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her:

And the highest himself shall establish her.

 Zion is a metaphor for the Church, the gathered people of God, the believers in Christ assembled in the name of Jesus. Zion is that small section of elevated land in the southwest part of Jerusalem on which the Temple buildings are situated along with the king’s palace and government buildings. The Center of Zion and the Cause of Zion being special is the Presence of God on the earth, the precise location of heaven on earth where God dwells; it is on the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant inside the Holy of Holies within the Temple (or tabernacle) in the temple compound on Mt. Zion within the city of David in Jerusalem, the religious and political capital of Israel, the chosen people of God, the witness to all the earth of the true God.

By extension “Zion” comes to mean the people who come before the Presence of God to assemble for worship, ritual sacrifice, prayer and psalms of praise. God is in the midst of the worshiping group, which becomes the Church (the believers in Jesus) in the NT. Thus Zion = the Church. In the NT times of the modern day, since Jesus, the Presence of God on the earth is in the hearts of believers: individually the body of each believer is a Temple, but in particular the gathered group holds the presence of God. So all the world knows where to find God: in His people.

The promise is that God will establish the Church. He has fulfilled that promise throughout the world when believers gather together in the name of Jesus and He comes among them. “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18). People are born from above within the presence of other believers for from them they hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, through which the Holy Spirit forgives sins and places people in the Church. Upon His promise we are established firm and solid and we shall not fall. Instead the gates of hell shall crumble. The gates of heaven are strong and sturdy and many shall enter therein.

151. Answer

 Psalm 86:7

In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee:

For thou wilt answer me.

 The Lord will answer the one who calls upon Him whether one is in trouble or not; but “in the day of trouble” is a good time to call; every day is a day of trouble, as Jesus says, “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34). God does not expect me to have a trouble-free existence and he doesn’t promise one. He knows how deep and pervasive is human sin and the consequent trouble it causes. But He loves and cares deeply and pervasively for His children when experiencing trouble, so much so, that when experiencing trouble every day He expects us to call upon Him; and He promises to answer.

Just as God did not create the world and then leave it alone to run by itself, neither did He redeem His people and then leave them alone to live by themselves. No, but He is involved in our lives daily and He promises to intervene when trouble comes. It doesn’t matter if I am the cause of my troubles by my own sin and guilt; He does not say, “Well, you made your bed….” I may, like the Prodigal Son, have caused my own troubles, but the Lord is looking on with mercy and outstretched arms waiting for me to call. The Lord is waiting for us and yearning to answer. “Deliver us from evil” is a daily prayer and daily He answers me.

150. Plenty of Mercy

 Psalm 86:5

For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive;

And plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.

 In Exodus 34:6, the Lord cut for Moses the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone for the second time; when He did so He passed by and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Everything begins with the solemn proclamation of the essential character of God which determines how He feels and acts toward people. This same Gospel proclamation is repeated several more times in the OT as the bedrock principle upon which our life and relationship with God is based. The Gospel of God is repeated here with three words: “good, forgive, and mercy.”

God is good: that’s the basic truth upon which all life is lived. God created because He is good, and He created very good. His love is so good he created someone to love; He created a habitable planet for them to live on; He created a universe to set His world and His people into. He continues being good, kind and generous to the creatures He loves.

The basic goodness of God means He is ready to forgive. I do not have to wonder if God can forgive me or if He wants to; He is ready, willing, and able; this means I can be bold to approach Him any time in any condition. He will receive me, receive my prayers and listen to my pleas.

And more: He is plenteous in mercy, superabounding in mercy so much that He can cover and blot out our infinite sin against an infinite God. Therefore, we are bold to call upon him for any need, large or small: no sin or problem is too big for our Lord to deal with and take care of; no sin or problem is too small for our Lord to care about and pay attention to. A lot of mercy covers a lot of issues. His mercy is so great He gave His only Son to us. His mercy is so plenteous it never ends, even when He forgives us again and again for the same sins over and over.

When we tell God, “My bad!” God turns and says back, “My good!” Which one do you think wins?

149. Give Good

 Psalm 85:12

Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good;

And our land shall yield her increase.

 God is good, therefore He gives that which is good. It is not true that God is good because He gives that which is good. In the same way: I am a sinner, therefore I do things that are bad. Not: I am a sinner because I do bad things. God gives good things because He is essentially and intrinsically good. The fruit comes out of the tree; the kind of tree determines what kind of fruit. Good apples do not make a good apple tree; a good apple tree produces good apples. The essence and nature of the thing determines the fruit or product of that thing. “Out of the heart proceed….” Our good works do not make us good people; our sins do not make us sinners. Sinners sin; it’s what they do. In order to do good works, I must be changed into a good person by dying to the old self and living in the new man in newness of life. The new man is good and does not sin. Thus, to be saved and prepared for life with God I must be changed from death to life, transformed with a new sinless nature. Baptism and faith effect the transformation.

All this is to say simply: I do what I am; God does what He is. The basic truth of the Christian faith is this: God is good. Amen. Believe that God is good and much good results. God is good and can only give that which is good. God cannot be the author or evil and He cannot cause bad things to happen. God sends only good and He has the power to turn evil into good. Because God is good I can easily believe the promise that He shall give that which is good. If God is good then I joyfully believe and affirm: “God is good to me!”

All good things come from God; in fact, all things come from God. The Devil’s Evil and my Sin have turned some of those good things into destructive and deadly things. But God is still the source of all things. Everything that God made was very good and He is still giving very good things to us daily and richly.

What does the word “good” mean? In the context of this promise good means prosperity: “our land shall yield her increase.” Land increase suggests fertility and abundance of produce, which is the basis of general prosperity all the time. This prosperity is first of all material, but there is no doubt that the promise of prosperity applies also, and even especially, to the spiritual world where true peace and prosperity, peace and wellbeing, goodness and happiness thrive and abound when the believer is right with God. God’s promises of good includes: forgiveness of sins, eternal life now, salvation from all spiritual enemies, inner joy and lasting peace, and abundance, even extravagance, of all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The goodness of God is unfathomable, and the good things He gives us are beyond anything we can think or imagine. Yes, God Gives Good!

148. Salvation is near

 Psalm 85:9

Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him;

That glory may dwell in our land.

 “The kingdom of God is at hand” = Salvation is near. “Your redemption is drawing near” = Salvation is near. “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart…you will be saved” = Salvation is near. The NT expresses the fulfillment of Salvation with different metaphors, but they predicate the same idea: “near, nigh, at hand.” In the NT the idea of Salvation being near was physically and temporarily true for Jesus of Nazareth was nearby or making an appearance very soon. Jesus is Salvation; when He is near Salvation is near.

Salvation (Christ) is also nearby in space and time: when we call upon the name of the Lord we shall be saved. Whoever believes in the heart and confesses with the mouth shall be saved. So we can be sure that wherever in the world we are and whenever in history we exist Jesus and Salvation is so close to us. We can believe and be baptized anywhere, any time, and be saved. Even in jail; the jailer is told: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31).

But in addition to the once for all great salvation of my whole life there are many smaller salvations that occur almost daily. Although limited in scope of space or time little salvations and Saviors are always nearby to save: He delivers from evil, meets a need, answers a prayer, overcomes temptation, lifts out of a mess, rescues from the net, drives away the danger. He is near, and when we call He comes even closer to save. All these many daily salvations arise out of the One Great Salvation that happened in one place far away and at one time long ago. That One Salvation stretches out over all space and all time so that Jesus, and Salvation, may be near to us where and when we need Him. The promise of daily salvations draws me closer to Him more often.

When these things take place glory results and dwells in our land. When a little (big to me, but little to the world) salvation strikes my living room glory comes in and dwells in my living room. That’s where I want to be.

Salvation is nigh to them that fear Him; those who fear God (believe in Jesus) are already saved; salvation has already come near to them. The promise given here for believers is that the little, timely, intervening salvations are nearby, and because of that promise we are encouraged to call upon Him in the day of trouble.

147. Peace to His people

 Psalm 85:8

I will hear what God the Lord will speak:

For he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints:

But let them not turn again to folly.

 When the Lord speaks it is done; when He says something it comes to pass; God’s spoken word is a creative action. Therefore we know that when God would speak peace unto his people it happens, it comes to pass, it is done, peace is present. We want to hear what God the Lord will speak; He could speak many things, but what will He speak? What does He want to say, to create, to give? Peace.

God wants peace for His people, His saints, His blessed believers. Peace among, in, and for the people is a great desire of the Lord for He clearly sees what a lack of peace causes and what it looks like when peace is absent: it is ugly, mean, wicked, disheartening, cruel and troubling. The absence of peace does not immediately signal warfare, but turmoil, stress, disruption, fear, mistrust, strife and uncomfortable unpleasantness may continue boiling and bubbling until fighting becomes physical and war breaks out. It may be domestic disturbance in marriages and families, it could be strife among organizations and groups, or it might be tension between nations. At any level, war is hell and peace is heaven on earth.

Trouble and sorrow begins when peace with God is broken or lost. The human side of the relationship does not want to make peace with God and the flesh is continually hostile. Therefore God must step in and make peace with each individual, even if it is against the person’s initial will. God has done so: He spoke; He spoke peace; He gave His Son who made peace between God and man; He sent the Spirit to settle the human spirit with a peaceful faith in Christ. Romans 5:1: “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” God spoke and it was done.

The promise of God speaking peace extends beyond the individual’s peace with God. God also speaks peace between husband and wife to prevent domestic disputes from getting out of hand and escalating. He speaks peace to fights between family and friends. God can speak peace, and He promises to do so, to any situation or relationship where peace does not rule. We can ask Him to intervene and speak peace.

War kills and takes lives and ruins many others; strife robs moments and hours of life from people; inner turmoil and unrest disturbs the joy of living for too many people. Sin, Self and Satan causes all of this and it bothers God to see his beloved children living a life that is less than life because of a lack of peace. Therefore, God speaks peace and His Word makes it so. Peace reigns and life is restored to its fullness. We can make use of this promise of God to speak into our lives.

146. Withhold no good thing

 Psalm 84:111c

No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

 We can either hold God accountable for not keeping His promise and withholding good things; or we can hold ourselves accountable for not walking uprightly, not meeting the condition for the promise.

First we can dispense with the second option, “not walking uprightly.” Of course, no one walks uprightly before God and so no one deserves good things from God. But Jesus Christ has earned for us and given to us the righteousness of God and sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts to live upright lives. By repentance and faith in the Gospel we can claim to “walk uprightly.” Therefore, by the grace of God and the work of Christ we can claim the promise: “no good thing will he withhold” from us.

Second, we must categorically deny the first option because God always keeps His promises since He is a promise-keeping God by definition. If God makes a promise He binds himself to keep it and He will honor His Word. Our Lord will not keep back any good thing from us. Jesus says, Matthew 7:11: “How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

One way out of the dilemma is to say that my definition and God’s definition of “good thing” may be different. We may have to struggle with ourselves or wrestle with God about whether such and such is a good thing or not. This struggle is worthwhile because our own understanding of good things probably needs some adjustment. For example, if we took the time to learn that kindness is a good thing we may then spend some time asking for it and appreciating it as a gift instead of patting ourselves on the back for being so kind. For example also, if we learned that the love of money is the root of all evil we might learn that more money is not a good thing. Maybe. Also for example, is healing or sickness the good thing? Even though we don’t always know the mysteries we can always trust God to know what is or is not a good thing.

What we need to do is start with believing the promise. This means first making sure that we are walking uprightly by faith in Christ. Then we must know beyond a doubt that the promise is true: God will not withhold any good thing (He is not mean). Then we ask for and we expect to receive everything that He considers “good.” Continue asking and receiving and enjoying God’s “good things,” for of this we are certain: God is good!

145. Grace and Glory

 Psalm 84:11b

The Lord will give grace and glory:

 The Lord promises to give us grace, undeserved favor and blessing, and grace has been poured upon us in spades on account of Christ Jesus. Grace is Amazing, in that God has not given us what we deserved, wrath and punishment, death and torment; but instead He has given us an abundance of great and good things that we have not deserved.

The Lord “gives grace” actually means that He has given us the merits and good works that deserve reward and blessing. Grace means we have earned favor and blessing and that we can claim a right to it based on universal principles of fair pay for an honest day’s work. Although I did not work for it or merit the reward, my Savior Jesus did do the works and merits these blessings for me. Therefore, because of Christ I am bold to demand of God “earned and merited” favor and blessing. Grace does not directly mean the favors and blessings given as gifts but rather the earning and deserving of those favors and blessings; the earning power is the gift. By grace I say, “I earned forgiveness, life and salvation,” though Jesus earned it for me. In other words, Jesus did not give me what He earned by His perfect life and innocent death; no, He gave me His life and death, which earns the rewards and favors. He gave me His earning power so I earned it, though I didn’t work at all. God is obligated to pay me the wages of good work done. My work earns death; Christ’s work earns life. Grace means I now have Christ’s work; He gave it to me.

The Lord “gives glory,” implying that He makes us holy; for glory is the outward evidence of inner perfection and righteousness and holiness. When holiness shines out it is a beautiful and glorious light that elicits automatic praise to God. My problem is that I “fall short of the glory of God.” Sin clouds, covers and darkens all holiness and goodness within so light does not shine. But Jesus died for the sin, took it away and thus has removed the dark shroud hiding the goodness of God that dwells within, and now light shines: this is glory. It looks like sweetness and light; others see your good works and glorify God. Glory is a gift from God; it must be a gift for sinful humans have no glory at all until redeemed and saved by Christ. But we believers have this promise: God has given glory: holiness, righteousness and the beautiful light that shines forth out of His forgiven ones.

144. Sun and Shield

 Psalm 84:11a

For the Lord God is a sun and shield:

 The metaphor of God being a sun and a shield refers essentially to governing, protecting and defending. The “sun” is a ruler; a “shield” is a suzerain. Both terms designate the king whose primary job is to protect and defend his realm and his subjects from marauding enemies who threaten to plunder, steal and destroy lives and property, health and prosperity.

The sun and the shield also do things: the sun shines over all it sees and rules over the day, providing light, warmth and life to all. The shield, or suzerain, protects the subjects of the kingdom and stands between the enemy and us. All people need a strong provider and protector, for no one can bless his own life nor defend himself from all danger all alone. It is a given that without God we could not live and breathe, and it is also true that without God we could not live well.

Humans are paradoxical: they desperately need the protection, blessing and help of someone stronger than they are, but they stubbornly resist and rebel against anyone in authority over them. We know we need a boss, yet we don’t want a boss. When Jesus brought to mankind the kingdom of God he brought the rule of God over our lives. This rule is both resisted and welcomed by the people whom the kingdom is designed to bless. We, as selfish sinful humans, finally overcome our inner rebellious and independent spirit of self-will and submit to the Kingdom of God when we see the humble and tender Love of God displayed in the life and death of Jesus. The Holy Spirit uses this Gospel message to bring about faith in Christ, which I both need and resist. We submit to the Love of God; God becomes a sun and shield over us; we are secure and safe, happy and blessed. He is our beneficent ruler and faithful sovereign to provide and protect according to his promise and bless according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.