Anyone ever afraid?

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
2 Chronicles 20:3

King Jehoshaphat provides a great example of what to do when fear takes hold.  And make no mistake about it, there are plenty of things that cause us to fear—whether they are real or imagined!

First, set your mind to seek the Lord.  When we have a problem, we tend to seek the Lord mostly because we are seeking help.  That is not bad, but how much more help might we receive if we were to seek the Lord Himself, instead of merely seeking favors from Him!

Second, be serious about it.  There is nothing magical about not eating.  Fasting may involve not eating, but the point is that when prayer is accompanied by fasting, it means this is a serious season of prayer.  Ten cent prayers do not yield million dollar answers.  When we are beset by fear, or anything else, we need not only to pray, but commit to serious prayer.  Abstaining from food is a means of humbling ourselves, and of giving ourselves a reminder to pray when we would otherwise prefer to eat.  The point, however, is serious prayer, not: “not eating.”

Judah was being attacked by three nations at once—I’d call that legitimate fear.  But the King sought the Lord, and the Lord answered, giving Judah one of their biggest-ever military victories.  While the particular strategy that God gave Jehoshaphat in that instance may not be typical, you might be encouraged by reading all of 2 Chronicles 20 to see what can happen when we seek the Lord!

Challenges for young and old

7Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, "How do you advise me to answer these people?"  8But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. 1 Kings 12:6 & 8 

King Rehoboam grew up in the household of his father, Solomon.  Solomon was so wise that when the Queen of Sheba visited, she said to the king:

Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! (1 Kings 10:8)

Young Rehoboam was no doubt exposed to his father’s wisdom.  When Solomon died, and he was faced with an important decision, the young king sought the counsel of those who “stood continually before Solomon.”  The counsel they gave Rehoboam was wise, but Rehoboam rejected their counsel.  Instead, he asked and followed the counsel of his young, inexperienced, and as it turned out, unwise peers.  This led to the downfall of his kingdom!

There is a great lesson to be learned from the contrasting counsel that came from the two groups of advisers, but that isn’t the point of this meditation.  I want to challenge both young and old with this:  First, why do the young reject the counsel of their elders?  Second, why are the older surprised when they do?

Young people, be wise and not foolish when it comes to whose counsel you follow.  Listen to your elders.

Old people, continue to offer wise counsel, but do not be surprised when it is dismissed.  This pattern is not new!  We who are older did it when we were younger as well.

Oh Lord, grant us wisdom and a dose of humility.

Understanding His Mercies

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Psalm 136:1 

Psalm 136 has 26 verses and each verse ends with the refrain, “For His mercy endures forever.”  The opening verses bid us recall that God is good, that He does great wonders, that by His wisdom He created all things.  These are truths about which we can heartily respond, “For His mercy endures forever.” 

But further into the Psalm we read of God striking the firstborn of the Egyptians, and of God drowning the Egyptians in the Red Sea (v.10 & 15)!  Later we read of God striking down and slaying famous kings (v.17-18).  These too are echoed with the refrain, “For His mercy endures forever.”  But how are these understood as the mercies of God for which we should praise Him? 

Two thoughts: 

First, God’s mercies to some are often the result of God’s judgment on others.  When the wicked are justly beaten down, the righteous are delivered and raised up.

Second, we do not always understand God’s ways.  They sometimes make us recoil.  But His ways are always good, right, and equated with His mercies that endure forever.  The problem is never what God does or does not do.  The problem is our understanding.  And when our understanding is deficient, if we challenge God’s mercies, our faith is also deficient.

May we understand what we can, and trust Him when we cannot.

Who does God hear?

The LORD is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous.
Proverbs 15:29

That the Lord is far from the wicked does not mean that He is unaware of them or of their wickedness.  He is everywhere, sees all, and knows all.  That He is far from them refers rather to their access to Him in prayer, and to His unwillingness to assist them in their distresses, even though they may cry out to Him for His help.

This is made clear by the contrasting parallel in the second phrase of this verse.  Though He is far from them, He is near, and hears (and answers) the prayers of the righteous. Hallelujah!

A further word of clarification is in order, however.  Who are the righteous and why does God hear their prayers?  We know from Romans 3:10-12 (citing Psalm 14:1-3, & 53:1-3) that “there is none righteous.”  No one is righteous in and of ourselves.  The righteous ones God is near to, and whose prayers He hears, are those He has graciously declared to be righteous.  He makes that declaration of those who trust on Christ Jesus, who alone is righteous.

We cannot earn God’s ear or His answers to our prayers based on how righteous we are.  He is near to those who are robed in the righteousness of Christ, imputed to the spiritual accounts of sinners who have trusted Christ for salvation.

All are born in sin and are therefore born spiritually estranged from God.  All who are born again are declared righteous, and God hears and answers our prayers.

Psalms 145:18  The LORD is near to all who call upon Him [Jesus], To all who call upon Him in truth [Jesus is truth].

Loving God's Word

Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
Psalm 119:97 

Salvation is more than merely “believing in” Jesus.  It is also loving Jesus (1 Corinthians 16:22).  And when one truly loves Jesus, one loves what Jesus loves and hates what Jesus hates.

Jesus loves His Church.  Do you love Christ’s Church?  I mean really love Christ’s Church?

Jesus loves the Word of God.  Why else would He often scold His detractors asking them, “Have you not read the scriptures?” and confronting them with the words, “You do not know the scriptures!”

Psalm 119, all 176 verses of it, is about God’s Word.*  It is more than a tribute to the Word of God, it is a declaration of love for God’s Word.

Those who love the Word of God order their entire lives, beginning with their thoughts, around the Word of God.  It is the standard by which every thought is judged, and either embraced as good or rejected as unworthy.  That is what it means to meditate on God’s Word.

May we love the Lord, His Church and His Word.  And may we order our lives, and even our thoughts, around God’s Word!

 * God’s Law in the Old Testament is equated with His entire Word, both Old and New Testaments.

That I am always on His mind—that is indeed precious

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
Psalms 139:17

A common phrase of encouragement in our day is: “My thoughts and prayers are with you.”  I have to admit, that phrase has tended to leave me a little flat.  As Christians, our prayers matter, but our thoughts?  Our thoughts are arguably not as beneficial as our prayers.  After all, prayers involve God.  Our thoughts cannot change anything, but God can—so prayers are preferred over thoughts.

But then I came across Psalm 139:17 in my daily Bible reading.  And there David writes of how “precious God’s thoughts” are and that “great is the sum of them!”

This has greatly encouraged me.  Pleasant thoughts of others, and especially God’s thoughts of me, are indeed precious.  It is actually encouraging that someone is thinking of us, wouldn’t you agree?

And how much more encouraging is it that (a) God’s thoughts are only always good; and (b) that God never stops thinking of those He loves.

I still think it is better to pray for someone rather than to merely think of them, but as a beloved child of God, that I am always on His mind—that is indeed precious, don’t you think?

He is merciful, even when wielding the rod of correction

“I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
2 Samuel 24:14

Driven by pride, David made a big mistake.  He set out to count the people in Israel, presumably so that he could see how great His kingdom was.  God sent Gad, a prophet, to rebuke the king.  God determined to discipline David.  Yes, God disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:5-11).

God gave David three choices: (1) Seven years of famine, (2) Three months fleeing from his enemies, or (3) Three days of a plague.  David chose number three, resigning himself into the hands of God rather than to the hands of men.  Why?  Because David knew that even in discipline, God is merciful.

How do we handle the chastening of the Lord?  It certainly is not pleasant, but it does “yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”(Hebrews 12:11).  Let us not, therefore, “despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when we are rebuked by Him.” It is proof of His love. (Hebrews 12:5-6).

Let us realize that we are safe and secure in His hands, even in the midst of His displeasure.  He is merciful, even when wielding the rod of correction.

Anybody lack patience or self-control?

And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?" 2 Samuel 10:3 

In sincerity David sent condolences to the king of Ammon when the previous king (the new king’s father) died (v.1-2).  The new king’s advisers convinced the young king of Ammon that David had sinister motives—which David did not!  The Ammonites wanted to go to war against Israel, but because they were afraid to lose, they hired the Syrians to help (v.6).  Israel defeated both Ammon and Syria (read the rest of the chapter.)

This chapter is a great lesson in not jumping to conclusions about other people—especially when they are doing something kind.  Because the Ammonites misjudged David, they went to war with and lost to Israel.

This chapter is also a great lesson about not joining in a fight that is not your own.  Because the Syrians joined the Ammonites in a fight that was not their own (and one that the Ammonites shouldn’t have been in either), they too were defeated by Israel.

Patience and self-control are two in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.  May love for Christ and walking in the Spirit produce patience and self-control in us—not to mention not being quick to assign malicious motives to kindnesses shown by others.

Three applications...

LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.  (2)  Many are they who say of me, "There is no help for him in God." Selah  (3)  But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
Psalms 3:1-3

David wrote these words when his son, Absalom, led a rebellion against David, seeking to wrench the kingdom from his father.  When you read the narratives of this episode in David’s life (2 Samuel 15-18) it is uncanny how calm David was.  Why?  Because his trust was in the Lord.

Like so many of David’s Psalms, this is a Messianic Psalm in which we can hear Jesus’ voice when Israel rejected their Messiah/King, demanding that He be crucified.  Yet, like David, Jesus was remarkably calm while being nailed to the cross, praying for His Father’s forgiveness for those who drove those nails that tore through His flesh.  Why?  Because He knew He was fulfilling the will of His Father in whom Jesus trusted.

May we, regardless of the severity of our trials, trust in the Lord who “is our shield,” and who “lifts up our heads.”  May we, no matter what befalls us, experience “the peace that passes understanding” (Philippians 4:6-7).

On the "wrong side of history"?

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
1 Corinthians 1:20-21

How wise is this world?  The world threatens to “cancel” Christianity because we believe the Bible about such things as gender.  Christianity and the Bible are not new.  In fact (with precious few exceptions) the main stream of the human race has understood the obvious concerning gender. 
(a) There are two: male and female.  (b) Whatever gender one is born as is what that person is for life.  Gender cannot be changed, denied, renamed, or redefined.

Compare that with the new idea that there are multiple genders, that gender is a social construct, is based on feelings, and can be changed.  This idea has only gained popularity in the last 2-3 years—and it keeps morphing.

Those who embrace this new idea insist that Christians who believe the Bible are intolerant, non-inclusive, hateful, and must be “canceled” (excluded from the conversation).

Who is intolerant again?  Though we are condemned for being on “the wrong side of history,” the “woke” crowd knows nothing of history (apart from the last five minutes)!

We must be prepared to be marginalized more and more for our historic Christian beliefs.  I pray that we will not cave in to be accepted by those who hate Christ and His Word.  Christianity appears to be headed in the direction of being “cancelled.”  But the wisdom of God is eternal and the wisdom of this world is not only fleeting, but foolish.

Though the Church is hated by those who disagree with God,
we must not hate those who suffer with gender confusion issues. 
These dear souls need our compassion and our prayers.

When is repentance not repentance?

Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”
1 Samuel 26:21 

When is repentance not repentance?  Saul sinfully wanted to kill David.  God never allowed him to accomplish that sinister scheme, but Saul kept trying.  David kept running.

David had two perfect opportunities to kill Saul (1 Samuel 24 & 26), which would have halted the madness.  On both occasions, David refused to kill Saul.  David knew that Saul had been chosen by God to be Israel’s first king and David rightly honored Saul’s position, even if Saul was a most dishonorable man!  Instead, David trusted God.

After the second time David spared Saul, Saul was moved to acknowledge his sin, promised not to continue pursuing David, and acknowledged the foolishness of his actions.

Saul proves that mere words of confession and repentance—even when fueled by deep emotion, are not always true repentance.  Though it is true that Christians often confess the same sins over and over, and God is faithful to forgive time and again, true repentance is marked by a genuine desire to turn from sin, and to obedience to the Lord.  Apparently that was not the case for Saul.  He was so blinded by sin that he even resorted to the sin of necromancy (attempting to consult the dead for counsel) since God would not answer him.

Sin not truly repented of will eventually have a blinding effect.  Saul was spiritually blinded by his sin.  Lord, grant us repentance before we are blinded by our sin.

When we will see His face!

As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

Psalm 17:15 

Much of Psalm 17 is made up of David’s laments and cries to the Lord regarding the suffering he experienced because of the attacks from his many enemies.  In many ways Psalm 17 is a Psalm of lament.

But the final verse (v.15) is a beautiful encouragement to one and all whoever we are and no matter how we might suffer in this life.

Dear child or God, your sins are forgiven!  And because of that wonderful fact, we have confidence that when we close our eyes the final time in this life, we will open them to see the Lord Jesus Christ.  We will behold the face of righteousness.  And when we do, we will experience the complete and total satisfaction of being in His likeness.

Let us remind ourselves, as David did, especially when life is rough:  We will see His face!

Jesus bought the field and the bride

“The LORD bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”
Ruth 2:20

A key element of the book of Ruth is the concept of the “kinsman-redeemer.”  The kinsman-redeemer was a close male relative who, according to Jewish laws, had the privilege/responsibility to help a relative who was in trouble or need.  To maintain family property rights, the kinsman-redeemer had the right to purchase property a relative in need might have sold due to poverty, thus keeping the property “in the family.”

In the book of Ruth, a family sold property due to poverty.  Ruth was a Moabite who married into that family in which all the male heirs had died.  Boaz was a close male relative of the family.  He had the right to buy the property to restore it to the family.  In this case buying the property also meant marrying Ruth.  Honorably, Boaz did both.

As it turned out, Boaz and Ruth were great-grandparents of King David, from whose line Jesus the Messiah would come.

Boaz as a kinsman-redeemer was a prophetic type of Christ.  How?  By his sin, Adam sold the human race and the planet into bondage.  To restore the land, but more importantly the people, a kinsman–redeemer was needed.  Jesus is the ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer.  Only God who is sinless is able (worthy) to buy it all back.  But the kinsman-redeemer had to be a relative (human), so Jesus, who is God, became a human being to be our Relative.

By His death and resurrection, Jesus paid the price to redeem “His people” and the planet.

As Boaz was the wealthy and loving relative who was willing to buy the field and marry Ruth, Jesus is the wealthy and loving relative who has redeemed the Bride (the Church) and the field (the planet).

Footnote:  Ruth was a Moabites—a most undesirable, but that didn’t stop Boaz.   We are undesirable sinners, but that didn’t stop Jesus!  Hallelujah!

Hope.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
1 Corinthians 15:19

 Christianity gives hope.  Consider the alternative.  Evolution says we are here by chance—a series of accidents that resulted in the cosmos, life and eventually humanity.  If that is true (which it is not) there is little, if any hope.  A few more “chance accidents” and we could all disappear even as the evolutionist insists we appeared in the first place.  Life is meaningless and therefore hopeless, except for a few laughs until we die and revert back to the nothingness from which we evolved.

Christianity on the other hand is hope.  We were created, by God, in His image no less!  This gives us meaning, dignity, and since we have a Creator, it also assigns accountability. Because we all have sinned and are less than perfect, the Bible says we are all destined to judgment.  But God answers that problem too.  Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.  Then He rose from the dead to secure eternal life for all who believe in Him.  If evolution is true, Jesus was only a man.  He died and stayed dead.  But since evolution is not true, we have hope.  He rose, and as many as trust in Him will also rise to eternal live.

Thank God that our hope is not merely in this life.

Do you love God at all?

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5

As mentioned last time, believers are often concerned about how much they love God, for fear that they do not love Him enough.  R.C. Sproul used to address this concern by asking, “Do you love Him at all?”

Those who said, “No” were then advised to hear and respond to the gospel because they were almost surely not saved.

To those who said, “Yes,” were then counseled to understand that if they loved Jesus at all, that is a strong indicator that they were saved, for those who are not saved do not love God and those who are saved DO!

That counsel was followed by the encouragement to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, which in the hearts of the redeemed will cause love for God to grow!

Our problem regarding loving God is that the word (and indeed the concept of), love has been hijacked.  It is common to think that love is only an exciting emotional set of feelings.  Loving God may involve excitement and emotional feelings, but it is not synonymous with those things.

Loving God is more of a commitment than a feeling.  Those who love God have a desire to engage in certain activities, regardless of their feelings.  What activities are desired by those who love God?  Desire His Word, His Church, prayer, the sacraments, obedience, and desire to please Him—enough to engage in these activities even when you have no particular emotional feelings to do so.

What do you know about loving God?

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5

Believers are often concerned about how much they love God, for fear that they do not love Him enough.  How much is enough?  The commandment says we are to love Him with all our hearts, souls, and strength—in other words, with every fiber of our being.  Which of us has ever come close to that?  Add to that, our all-out love for Him is to be all the time every second of our lives.  None of us has come close to that either.

If salvation is based on obeying God’s commands, including and especially the command to love God, who can be saved?  No one.

This is why we need a Savior.  This is why God has provided a Savior: Jesus Christ.  As our Savior, Jesus perfectly loves the Father for us because, due to sin, we haven’t and can’t!

Salvation is not based on our keeping God’s commands.  It is based on our trusting in Jesus who has obeyed God’s commands for us, and then gives us His righteousness as though we had only ever obeyed God’s commands perfectly.

Salvation is based on His performance, not ours.  So trust in Him instead of in yourself.  And believe that for those who are “in Christ Jesus,” there is therefore now “no condemnation!” (Romans 8:1)

Do you have reason to praise and worship—and yes, love Him!?

Jesus is our city of refuge...

Then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there.
Numbers 35:11

God’s law about cities of refuge in ancient Israel were God’s answer regarding the difference between murder and accidentally taking another person’s life.  It not only defined the difference, but it made provision for the “manslayer” (the person guilty of involuntary manslaughter) to escape execution, while still maintaining the sanctity of human life.

Simply, if a person accidentally killed someone, to escape the execution at the hands of the “avenger of blood,” he would flee to the city of refuge for protection.  The manslayer would have to remain in the city of refuge until the death of the current high priest, after which he could venture out.  If the avenger of blood did anything to the manslayer after that, the avenger of blood would be guilty of murder.  What gospel application is in this law?

1. While execution for murder was averted, there was still a burden to bear for having taken a life.  This is important because human life is precious, as we are created in the image of God.  This reminds us that doing harm, even unintentionally, is still harmful.

2. Christ is pictured in these cities, since it is to Him that we flee for protection from the consequences of wrongdoing, whether done intentionally or not.

3. That the manslayer was free upon the death of the high priest, we are free from all condemnation as we (a) flee to Christ, and (b) because Jesus, our Great High Priest, did die and has even risen from the dead to give us new and abundant life, even though we have sinned.

An athiest's answer to what is self-existent

Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. Psalm 90:2

God is from everlasting to everlasting.  C.S Lewis paraphrased “everlasting to everlasting” with these words: “from vanishing point to vanishing point.”  In other words as far as can be imagined—and beyond.  The reality is, we cannot fully comprehend eternity—either future, and certainly not past.  But God is eternal in both directions on the timeline.  There was never a time when God was not.  He has no beginning, and He did not create Himself, or else He created Himself before He existed!  Impossible!

That God did not create Himself means He is eternally self-existent.  The Latin word is aseity, meaning His existence is within Himself.

I recently listened to a conversation between a God-fearing Jewish man and an atheist.  They were discussing the origins of all that is.  The Jewish man (though not believing in Jesus) rightly asserted that God must exist and that nothing else that exists is self-existent.  The atheist acknowledged that the idea that “nothing exploded into being everything” [the big bang] is absurd.  What he was left with is that matter has always existed and is self existent.  With all due respect this is also absurd.

The reality is everything was created by something apart from creation—and that someone is God.

That being true, and the only reasonable explanation, what can we do but bow in worship to our Creator God?

Worship God because of who He is, not because of who you are

All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, by their families, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty-two thousand.
Numbers 3:39

God required a census of Israel, numbering the adult males in each tribe who were 20 years old and older since they were the military.  The smallest and largest tribes were Manasseh (32,200), and Judah (74,600).  The total from all the tribes (except Levi) was 603,550.

The priestly tribe of Levi was numbered separately, since their men were exempted from militarily service, to dedicate themselves to their priestly duties.  The number of the men of Levi (only 22,000) was much smaller than any other tribe.  What makes their low number even more striking is that the males of Levi that were numbered from only 1 month old and older (not 20 years old)!  I am encouraged that even the youngest can worship God!

Each of the 3 clans within the Levite tribe had different, and very specific religious duties.  While only a small number of the Levites offered sacrifices in the tabernacle, most of the Levites’ duties had to do with setting up and taking down the tabernacle, and carrying it as they moved about in the wilderness.  But every member of the Levite tribe was involved in facilitating worship—no matter how glamorous or mundane their assigned task was.

I am also encouraged regarding that it doesn’t matter whether one’s role is upfront, or behind the scenes; seen or unseen.  What matters is that we all do whatever God has called and gifted each one to do—as an act of worship.

Let us worship the Lord!

Why do we read books like Leviticus?

Oh, how I love Your law!  It is my meditation all the  day.
Psalm 119:97

Frances and read Leviticus this past week in our quiet time.  I admit, reading this “book of the law” can be tedious.  Some parts (details about skin diseases) are even “icky”!

Why do we read books like Leviticus?

1. Leviticus is in the Bible and “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and profitable…” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

2. Let the law point us to Jesus.  Let us remember that Jesus obeyed God’s law perfectly for us, and suffered every bit of the wrath of God we deserve for breaking God’s Law.  Be reminded of how we have broken and continue to break God’s law even after we were saved.  And praise God for His amazing, all inclusive grace purchased for us by Jesus!

3. Though we are no longer bound by either the Jewish ceremonial law or the civil law of ancient Israel, let us look for the moral principles that are back of, and woven throughout both.  These moral principles are no less true and binding than when Leviticus was written.

4. When the details may seem tedious, think about the fact that God is so meticulous about how He is to be worshiped.  Even though we do not follow the ceremonial law this side of the cross, we had still best be careful not to add our ideas about worship, sticking only to what is prescribed in His Word.

A tip that may help reading long sections of the law and genealogies: If you have a Bible app on your phone and it has an audio feature, listen as you follow along.  This will help you keep moving and remain focused.