Month: November 2017

173. Blessed

 Psalm 94:12

Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord,

And teachest him out of thy law.

If you are chastened and taught, then you will be blessed. The promise of a blessed person is explained fully in other places where God blesses a person in all the ways possible. The blessing promised here is conditioned upon being chastened and being taught. We do not seek chastening, but we do seek teaching from the Word.

Chastening comes when and where and how God chooses; we do not have to look for it nor can we avoid it. It will come; the only question is recognizing it, accepting it and learning from it. Too often, however, we complain about it and fight against it and resist it, and so sadly we learn nothing from it. If God loves us as sons, discipline is to be expected. When we are disciplined we will be blessed: Hebrews 12:11: Chastening “yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” We learn by pain the consequences of a certain behavior and so we repent and will not continue such behavior. When that happens we are “trained by it” and in this way chastening brings blessings.

A better way of learning, instead of chastening, is to be taught out of God’s Law. The Word of God will teach us to do behaviors that bless and avoid behaviors that bring discipline. The Holy Spirit will be our Teacher and Guide while we study, understand, meditate, and learn to obey the principles of the Ten Commandments. When our actual living is so transformed by the Spirit’s use of God’s Law we are taught; righteous living is shaped by the Law but powered by the Gospel; when we are taught we are blessed.

Good consequences result from a heart changed by repentance and faith in the Gospel. The indwelling Spirit uses the Word of God to teach outward changes which bring blessings to the man; the indwelling Spirit also uses life experiences and afflictions to discipline and chasten for our learning and our good; this chastening bring blessings to the man.

The Lord is relentless in His hounding love, both teaching to obey and also disciplining when we don’t obey, and He won’t stop until we are perfected, when we are transformed by our own physical death and resurrection. Until then, He hounds because He wants to bless us.

172. Flourish and grow

 Psalm 92:12-14

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree:

He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Those that be planted in the house of the Lord

Shall flourish in the courts of our God.

They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;

They shall be fat and flourishing;

 The righteous (the believers in Christ) shall flourish. Flourish is the promise; the word is used three times. Flourish also means to grow, to bring forth fruit, and to be fat; these three synonyms fill out the meaning of flourish. They will flourish like palm trees and cedar trees, particularly those righteous ones who are planted solidly in the Presence of the Lord. Those who dwell and grow in the presence of the Lord receive rich nourishment from the Word; therefore they flourish.

The image of trees growing in the marble temple of the Lord is, of course, imaginary, but it easily lends itself to seeing the flourishing, growing, and producing of those so planted. Neither a tree nor a human being lives and grows in the literal stone temple (the house and courts of the Lord), but spiritually the solid believer in Christ is established in the presence of the Lord at all times, planted in His temple in a figurative but accurate way.

In the presence of God nourishment, provision, protection, care, refreshment, health and wholeness will be continually surrounding and penetrating the believer; the simple key: abide there. Flourishing is the automatic outcome of such husbandry. The nourishment and all the enriching care come from the ministry of the Spirit through the Word of God. Good things happen to the person who abides (remains, stays, lives, dwells, walks) in the Vine. Jesus says (John 15:5): “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” We can produce nothing; He does the flourishing.

The presence of God, the indwelling Spirit, is in the center of your spirit; go there frequently and stay there as long as you can. We will get distracted all the time by worldly affairs and the matter of living life on earth, but there are ways to remind the self to come back to the center and pay attention in the midst of other activity.

Abide like a tree; then flourish and grow.

171. Anointed with oil

 Psalm 92:10b

I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

 The imagery and symbolism of this promise is fraught with heavy meaning. The simplest understanding of the promise of anointing is that we shall be filled with the Holy Spirit. To use oil on a person, whether pouring it on or smearing it on, is to anoint him for a particular role: prophet, priest, or king. The oil may be olive oil or the specially concocted anointing oil mixed by Moses at the Lord’s instructions.

We know that Jesus of Nazareth was anointed with the Holy Spirit to fill all three roles as the last and best and only Prophet (in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son), Priest (we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens), and King (the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ). Humans will never have another Prophet, they will never need another Priest, and they cannot have another King. Jesus = the Anointed One = the Christ (Messiah means to rub or smear, like anointing oil).

Now those of us who are baptized and believe in Jesus Christ are filled with the Holy Spirit, or anointed (I John 2:20-27). The promise is fulfilled in me as a true believer who has eternal life: “I am anointed with fresh oil.” The oil is the Spirit and it is always fresh; He never gets old, stale, dry, dull or boring. This is the most common complaint about Christianity and organized religion, about churches and going to church: “It’s boring!” But this cannot be, for the promise is “fresh” oil. Either the promise is false (the anointing of the Spirit with which we are filled is not fresh) or we have not mixed the promise with reception by faith in the Gospel.

The promise must be true: it is fresh, for the Word of God and His Promise say so. And when we repent and believe the gospel we receive the promise mixed with faith. This is clear: it is an anointing, and it is fresh. The problem comes in our living by sight: we want to feel the fresh oil, we want to be excited and entertained, we want some kind of intoxication. Titillation will not usually be felt, but that doesn’t mean that freshness, excitement and titillation are not present. The freshness is present to the one walking by faith: he knows that his feelings do not judge the Word of God. If God says, “Your sins are forgiven,” they are forgiven whether you feel it or not. “Fresh” speaks to our spirit, not to our flesh. When the Gospel is preached and we have the opportunity to respond in prayer and praise, it is definitely, absolutely, positively, for sure fresh. Your emotions may not feel refreshed, but your spirit deep within receives a freshening by faith. Every time you hear the Gospel, read the Bible, say a prayer, remember your Baptism, partake of Holy Communion, sing a psalm or hymn, give a blessing or love the brethren you are being anointed with fresh oil. The anointing may or may not move your emotions or stir your soul, but the fresh oil will refresh, strengthen and lift up the spirit within. And that is not boring; it is a fresh and exciting promise of God.

170. Exalt horn

 Psalm 92:10a

But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn:

 The horn is a symbol of power, usually when strength and authority is combined in a mighty army and its strong king; a horn can impose its will on others. The legendary creature called a unicorn was told about since ancient times. Unicorns were symbols of great strength and power, like a dragon though not necessarily evil.

The promise is that the Lord will give me more power in the presence of my enemies; the Lord’s enemies will perish and evildoers scattered; and while the Lord is winning victory after victory in spiritual battle He is giving me more and more power. Jesus does not actually imbue my body with muscles; He is increasing my strength and authority to defeat the Enemy; but it is His power and “all authority given to Him” that He is using through me, so that it feels to me as if it is my own power that is being used. Jesus is actually exercising the power through my words and actions. The Lord is exercising spiritual power through me as an instrument, though it may feel like me doing it. The exalted power comes through things like: preaching the Gospel, witnessing to Christ, serving and loving my neighbor, praying a blessing on enemies and other people, overcoming temptation, forgiving those who hurt me, apologizing and humbly reconciling, being kind and gentle, and such other “strength through weakness” words and activities.

The most powerful good works that we do that have real spiritual power to tear down strongholds, demolish the gates of hell, and drive away the enemies do not look like strength and power, but appear as weakness and humility (like the cross). The death of Christ unleashed more power than ten thousand nuclear bombs, for it was the awesome and overwhelming power of love. This is the kind of power that God uses to “exalt my horn.”

169. Salvation Evident

 Psalm 91:16b

And show him my salvation.

 For the one who trusts the Lord and dwells in His Presence God promises to show him His salvation. It is one thing to be saved in actual fact by faith in Jesus Christ and at the same time to know that truth with absolute certainty because of the Gospel that we have heard.

But it is a different thing to have the promise that God will show us that salvation in feeling and experience from time to time. He shows, or reveals, to each believer the salvation He has worked for us at the Cross and the Tomb. That event was far away in time and space, but the Holy Spirit is able through the Gospel to reveal it to our hearts in our own present time and place where we are in a different century and a different continent.

How the Lord may reveal His salvation to each of us will differ with each individual, but the promise is that He will. The Holy Spirit uses the external word of the Gospel to show us God’s Salvation. Just like different witnesses of one and the same event will describe it differently so the individual believer may witness the Singular Event of our Salvation a little differently than another. There is One Gospel Word that saves all of us; that is objective fact outside of us: certainty is based on that fact. But since each believer receives and perceives that Word filtered through a unique perspective the testimony, witness, and account may differ one from another (as in the 4 Gospels). This is a blessing when God “shows,” but certainty is not based on my own subjective experience of salvation. Salvation is certain because of what He shows, not because of the “showing” itself.

God does reveal or show the same salvation (Christ) so that we “see” by faith. The faith or revealing (the showing) does not do the saving, but the object of the faith, the thing revealed, does the saving: that thing is Christ. In other words, faith does not save us, Christ does. A gracious God shows Him to us; we see (believe) Him; He saves us.

But there is a further meaning to this promise. God shows us His salvation from specific dangers and issues that crop up in a regular life. Thousands of answers to prayer point us to and lead us more firmly to the One Great Eternal Salvation, and over and over God’s goodness mercy is revealed to us.

168. Long Life

 Psalm 91:16a

With long life will I satisfy him,

 A further conditional promise for those who dwell in the Presence and make the Lord their trust and call upon Him is that they will be satisfied with a long life. We cannot know how long is “long,” for length of days is totally in God’s hands, and it is not according to our own desires for numbers of years but God’s desires for quality of life. The Lord does not count time as we do.

In the context of the promise “long” means good, rich, full, abundant, and satisfying. The important word in this promise is satisfy: God will satisfy the individual person with everything needed to make life good and happy; God will satisfy the “truster in God” so that he can say, “I’ve had a good life” no matter how long or short in years it is. Satisfaction also has the connotation of “not lacking any good thing” even to the point of contentment. Satisfied means never saying, “I need just a little more,” or “I only want one more thing,” or “If I only had such and such I would be happy.” This contented state may be nearly impossible to achieve, but it is not because God didn’t promise it. He says. “I will satisfy you with long life.” The promise stands.

 Finally, eternal life is long life, very, very long; that’s a guarantee we can believe.

167. Deliver and honor

 Psalm 91:15c

I will deliver him, and honor him.

 If you call, then the Lord will deliver and honor. God promises many times over that He will rescue, save and deliver you when you call upon Him; He answers your prayer and comes to help in time of need. But there is more: He will also honor you. You will be respected and highly regarded in the community; He will show the world your worth and dignity; He will uphold your good reputation.

Everyone wants to be well liked, and just as importantly everyone wants to be respected and have a good reputation; what others say about us matters to most people. To have a promise from God that He will honor us is really quite something. But it is significant for us to remember that we can only humble ourselves and then He will raise us up. If we exalt ourselves He will humble us. We purposely take the lowest seat, and if God wills He will come along and say, “Friend, go up higher.”

We pray to God; then we trust him not only to answer our prayer but also to deliver us and honor us. If we seek to honor ourselves we will only find ourselves knocked down a peg. If we humble ourselves we find ourselves honored by God and well thought of by all. The Lord does so much more for us than just protecting us from danger, delivering us from trouble, providing for our needs, and answering our prayers; He also gives us honor and good standing in the community. To be well thought of and highly regarded by other fellow humans is just as much a necessity for life and wellbeing as having food, clothing and shelter

166. Be With

 Psalm 91:15b

I will be with him in trouble;

God promises to “be with.” Being with is a basic promise throughout the Bible. It is the promise of the presence of God. God is present to bless; God is present to protect; God is present to help and deliver in time of trouble. St. Matthew begins the Gospel with “Immanuel, God with us,” and ends the Gospel with, “Lo, I am with you always to the end of the age.”

We may not like what we think God is doing or not doing to us. God does not promise us a rose garden without thorns; God does not promise us a life without pain and suffering, trial and tribulation; God does not promise us answers to our “Why?” questions; God does not give the solutions to the mysteries of human existence and the presence of evil. But He does promise to “be with” us in trouble; He does promise the blessing of His presence; He does promise to be there among the serpents even if He does not remove them from us; He does promise us comfort in the midst of pain and suffering. It is helpful to distinguish between what God does promise and what He does not promise, between true expectations and false expectations, between satisfaction and disappointment, between my will and God’s will. This distinction takes wisdom from above, and human understanding cannot discover it. Thankfully, God gives it (as He gave to Job): James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God…and it will be given him.”

God may or may not satisfy our reason, our feelings, our desires, or our will, but He will be with us, and that, in the grand scheme, is all we need, God’s loving and abiding presence. “Come by my bedside and hold my hand.’’

God says, “I will be with you.” I respond, “You are with me.”

165. Answer

 Psalm 91:15a

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:

 The promise says: “If a person calls upon me, then I will answer him.” Several times throughout the Psalms the words “call” and “answer” are connected as cause and effect, as conditional promises. God would and could unconditionally answer us for He knows what we need before we ask Him, so we don’t technically need to ask, but that is not the way God wants to work in our lives. He commands us to ask, to call upon, to pray, even to beg before Him with the promise that He will answer (we will receive, find, and the door opened). He commands and promises; therefore we pray.

The activity “answer” is a response to something; “answer” does not exist in a vacuum. But more importantly, even though God may answer an anticipated but unspoken request He still wants us to talk to him, as well as listen, that is, as friends we both respond to the other. He wants us to be involved in His working in the world and His arranging affairs to come into line with His good and gracious will. God, as it were, condescends to let His people have a part in the running of temporal affairs to work together for good.

How can a believer neglect to call upon Him or refuse to pray when He has given us such a clear and definite promise (and many times over) to answer? Believing such a promise he should be running to the place and time of prayer and eagerly with enthusiasm calling upon the Lord, knowing with a surety that God answers. Prayer is an exciting time, stirring up jubilant anticipation, instead of boring drudgery. And then after the prayer time we wait expectantly in faith to see how God is going to answer our prayer. In this “pray without ceasing” lifestyle life is filled with exuberant expectancy for answers to come and joyful thanks to God for answers already received.

164. Set on High

 Psalm 91:14b

I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

 God tells us a second conditional promise: He will set me on high, if I know His name. “Knowing God’s name” is a synonym for believing God, loving and trusting God above all things. The OT believer knows God’s Name is Yahweh, he trusts in the meaning of the name, and he lives by faith in the Name of the Lord. “Knowing” is not acknowledging facts, but it is living in a close personal relationship with Yahweh, loving who He is and believing what He promises. He knows Yahweh is the God of the Covenant whose love is guaranteed by His covenant promises. He knows God loves him and he loves God.

The NT believer knows the Name of Jesus, confesses Jesus is Lord, and believes that Jesus is Yahweh. He knows Jesus personally, loves Him deeply, and trusts Him implicitly. He knows the name of Jesus, loves the name, trusts the name, is baptized in the name of Jesus, and prays in the name of Jesus. To know Jesus is to know the Father. By faith in Christ I know the name of God.

Because I know the Name He will set me on high. God the Father has indeed already pulled me up out of Death and Hell and raised me up to be seated with Christ in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and every name that is named. This means that I am over the forces that are competing for my devotion, worship, trust, and servitude. Jesus rescued me and set me on high, where I am safe and protected in a place where Sin, Death and the Devil cannot reach me.

 I remember my Baptism, repent of sins, receive forgiveness, and believe in Christ: I have known God’s Name. He sets me on high and surrounds me with love and protection.