Winning the support of those you lead

And they spoke to him, saying, "If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever." 1 Kings 12:7

What’s the context?  Solomon was dead and his son, Rehoboam, was now king.  The young king sought counsel on how to rule. 
1 Kings 12:7 records the wise advice from older counselors.  Other advice from his young peers counseled Rehoboam to lead oppressively. 

The young king passed on the advice to leads with a light hand, opting to rule with the rod.

Leaders are routinely tempted to coercively exert their authority rather than leading as servants.  The best leaders are strong, but winsome.  The worst leaders are tyrannical.  This is true regardless of where one leads; whether at home, at work, at church, or in government.

The perfect Leader is King Jesus, who is also the Good Shepherd.

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave-- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."    Matthew 20:25-28

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!  Psalm 150:6

Psalm 150 is most instructive about worship:

Who to Worship?

v.1a Praise the LORD!
[God and only God!]

Where?

v.1b Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!  
[Everywhere.]

For What?

v.2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! 
[For all He does, and for Who He is.]

How?

v.3-5 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! 4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! 5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!  
[With all kinds of instruments, reverently, yes.  And also with exuberance!]

Who is to worship God?

v.6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!  
[Everyone and everything that breaths!]

Solomon and Jesus are both temple builders

Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David… 2 Chronicles 3:1

David wanted to build a house (temple) for God.  God forbade David to build the temple.  God allowed David’s son and successor, Solomon to build the temple.  The record of the construction of Solomon’s temple takes three and a half chapters of 2 Chronicles (3:1-5:12) and more than two chapters of 1 Kings (6:1-8:9).

It was truly a marvel!

But as Solomon was only a partial fulfillment of God’s Davidic Covenant (which was fully revealed in Christ Jesus), so Solomon’s temple, as awe-inspiring as it was, is only a type of the temple Christ promised to build (Matthew 16:18) and is currently building (Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Peter 2:4-10).

Solomon used only the choicest of materials to build his temple.  By way of contrast, Jesus uses only damaged materials—we who are ruined by sin!  But what Christ is building will be infinitely greater—not because of the materials He uses, but because He is the Master Builder!

Soli Deo Gloria!

How long will the wicked triumph?

LORD, how long will the wicked, How long will the wicked triumph? Psalm 94:3

It isn’t new!  There have always been times when the redeemed have wondered why the ungodly seem to prosper while God’s people suffer. 

The most important answer is that God never promised smooth sailing for believers.  Quite the contrary, He promised that in this life we shall encounter tribulation and even persecution.  Conversely, the suffering that accompanies faith in Christ doesn't touch those who do not believe.  No wonder Jesus instructed us in the Sermon on the Mount that many are on the broad path that leads to destruction, while there are few on the narrow path that leads to life.

A second answer is that, believe it or not, hard times are part of God’s plan for the elect to strengthen our faith and facilitate our sanctification.

A third answer is revealed in Psalm 94, in answer to the beleaguered cry of saints surrounded by sinfulness in a wicked world:

Psalm 94:22-23 But the LORD has been my defense, And my God the rock of my refuge. 23 He has brought on them their own iniquity, And shall cut them off in their own wickedness; The LORD our God shall cut them off.

With these words we are comforted that God will deal with the wicked in the end.

Discipline is proof of God's love

“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.

Even the most godly people are still sinners

Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: "O my son Absalom--my son, my son Absalom--if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!"  2 Samuel 18:33

David wept.  His household was in disarray.  One of his sons (Amnon), raped a half-sister (Tamar).  Tamar’s brother (Absalom), treacherously murdered Amnon.  Absalom was exiled for three years to Geshur.  David wept for Absalom every day (2 Samuel 13:37-38).  Absalom was finally invited back to Jerusalem.  He returned, but was disallowed to see His father, David.  Absalom rebelled, driving David from Jerusalem.  A civil war erupted.  Though David demanded that Absalom be spared, he was killed.  David again wept for Absalom (2 Samuel 18:33).  All this (and more) is recorded in 2 Samuel 13-18.

While David’s children were responsible for their own sin, humanly speaking, so much of what went wrong in David’s family was the result of David’s many failures as a father.  David was a godly man who had a heart for the Lord, but he was anything but sinless—or a good father.

Are there any lessons to learn?  

• Even the most godly people are still sinners.  

• Let us humbly acknowledge that none of us has ever come close to perfect parenting.  

• Let us own our failings, and give all glory to God if our children follow the Lord—in spite of our failings.  

• Let us refrain from criticizing others because of their children—whether the parents’ failures are the cause or not.

Mothers' Day 2024

Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who bore you rejoice.
Proverbs 23:25

It is Mother’s Day.  Mother’s Day is not a Christian holiday or a patriotic holiday.  It is a cultural holiday.  Even though I wonder if the greeting card companies and the florists dreamed it up, it is a good idea.  We should honor our moms (and dad’s) every day, but taking one day out of the year to pay special honor is a good thing, don’t you think?

How should we honor them?  What should we do?  There is no end to the nice things we can do for our moms.  Taking her out for dinner, buying gifts, flowers, and of course a card; all that is great.  I hope that you are able to do something nice for mom today.  And if your mom is no longer living, as my mom isn’t, I hope you remember her fondly and honor her memory.

There is something beyond dinners, gifts, and cards that you can do for your mom today.  God, speaking through Solomon, bids us to give our moms something to rejoice about.  What might that be?  Everyone knows how to break mom’s heart, so don’t do that.  But to cause her to be glad and to rejoice?

I can only speak on behalf of Christian moms, but my advice is: be godly.  That woman who bore you and who cradled you in her arms will most certainly rejoice if you will be godly,  walking with the Lord.  Oh, that they would receive that from each of us!

“How can a God of love send anyone to Hell?”

Six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, 18A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, 19A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.  Proverbs 6:16-19

 We live in a fallen sinful world that thinks we can define God.  One of the world’s favorite definitions of God is “God is love.”  That is true and biblical, but the fatal mistake is that the world insists on defining God by the world’s flawed definition of love.  Thinking biblically, we must define love by how the Bible defines God.

People who do not know God often say, “How could a God of love do this or that?  A favorite is “How could a God of love send anyone to Hell?”  I’ll come back to that.

The world insists that love demands that we endorse and affirm everything, but that could not be farther from the truth!  Even humanly speaking, a loving parent hates, and will kill, a wild animal that is attacking that parent’s child.  Likewise, because God is not only loving but holy—He not only disapproves what is unholy, He hates sin because it is unholy.  Because God is holy, He must judge and condemn sinners. 

So the question, “How can a God of love send anyone to Hell?” is based on not knowing God and therefore not understanding love.  Because all people are sinners (having repeatedly violated God’s law) the better question is, “How can a God who is holy not send everyone to Hell?”

The answer to that better question is: Because (thank the Lord) God is also gracious through Christ Jesus!  

Loving enemies

Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
2 Samuel 1:11-12

Saul had jealously pursued David, seeking to kill him for nearly ten years.

Twice during that time David had opportunity to kill Saul, but refused to take the life of the man God ordained to serve as Israel’s first king.

When David heard that Saul was killed in a battle with the Philistines, David was grief-stricken.  He even rewarded the men who saw to it that Saul received a decent burial (1 Samuel 31:11-13).

This is a quintessential example of what Jesus was talking about when He uttered the following words in the Sermon on the Mount:

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…  Matthew 5:43-44

Who, besides me, is thankful that Jesus loved us when we were His enemies (Romans 5:10)?

Who, besides me, needs to work on loving our enemies?

Humility

And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt. 1 Samuel 18:4

Jonathan was the son of King Saul, and therefore the heir to the throne of Israel.  God had already transferred the role of king from Saul to David (Chapt.16).  Saul refused to cede that throne to David and spent the rest of his life trying to kill David.

Jonathan rightly loved and respected David more than he did his father, King Saul.

In an act of jaw-dropping humility, Jonathan gave David his royal robe, his armor, and weapons to David. 

Think of what he was giving up: the right to rule, agreeing instead to be ruled by David.  Jonathan prefigured the incarnation of Christ by laying his glory aside to lift up another.  Here are two application:

Let us surrender our lives to Christ Jesus our Redeemer and King.

Let us walk in humility with one another.

Sins of the parents...

Then the LORD said to Samuel, "Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel...  On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 1 Samuel 3:11-13

God’s law speaks of the sins of fathers visiting their children (Exodus 20:5).  This does not mean that the children are to be punished for the sins of their parents (Deuteronomy 24:16).  But this does not mean that the sins of the parents will not affect their children, nor does it mean that the sins of children will not affect their parents. 

I am sure that you can think of ways a person’s sin most assuredly does affect others, including family members.

Eli, the high priest, knew of the gross sins his incorrigible sons were committing, but he did nothing to stop them.  Had Eli at least tried, maybe the curse on that family line would not have happened.  But Eli “did not restrain them.” and so Eli and his entire family suffered the effects!

Let us beware: our sins do not merely affect us, but others as well.  And when we are in a position to hold others accountable, woe to us if we do not!

Resurrection Joy!

But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." John 20:11-13

Think of the incredible sadness experienced by those who loved the Lord Jesus when He was arrested, tried, and condemned to death.  How deeply must their hearts have ached when He was beaten, crucified, and then buried.  How much more must Mary’s heart must have been torn in two when His body was missing!

Contrast those emotional torments with the incredible joy they all must have felt when they saw Jesus risen, and believed!

Most of us will not know the depth of their despair because we did not live through those hours of Christ’s torment.  Most of us did not understand His death until after we knew that He rose. 

Oh, that we might feel some sense of sadness over our sin, since it was our sin for which He suffered His anguish!  May we feel the sting of sorrow for our sins, for which our Savior bled and died.

And may our sorrow be turned to the greatest joy ever, because after He died for us, He rose for us!

May our sorrow be turned to joy!

But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him."
John 20:11-13

Think of the incredible sadness experienced by those who loved the Lord Jesus when He was arrested, tried, and condemned to death.  How deeply must their hearts have ached when He was beaten, crucified, and then buried.  How much more must Mary’s heart must have been torn in two when His body was missing!

Contrast those emotional torments with the incredible joy they all must have felt when they saw Jesus risen, and believed!

Most of us will not know the depth of their despair because we did not live through those hours of Christ’s torment.  Most of us did not understand His death until after we knew that He rose. 

Oh, that we might feel some sense of sadness over our sin, since it was our sin for which He suffered His anguish!  May we feel the sting of sorrow for our sins, for which our Savior bled and died.

And may our sorrow be turned to the greatest joy ever, because after He died for us, He rose for us!

Please do not deceive yourself

“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you…”
Deuteronomy 28:15

God never grades on a curve.  The pass or fail test called life, determines where we will spend eternity upon graduation from this life. “Pass” requires 100%.  Anything less than 100% is “Fail.”  We must carefully obey “all” God’s commandments.

Every sane person, whether they like admitting it or not, knows he is less than perfect.  The result is universal failure. (Rom.3:23).  The universal consequence is eternal death (God’s judgment).

This would be infinitely bleak, except that God is not only a just Judge, but He is also a loving Father who has provided one way to be forgiven and viewed by God as having never sinned, ever.

The one and only way to be forgiven is Jesus Christ, who lived sinlessly for, and died in the place of, everyone who acknowledges his sinfulness before God (who is holy), and trusts in no one or nothing but in Jesus Christ.

Please do not deceive yourself that this is not all true, or that it doesn’t matter!  Please, look to and trust only in Christ and be saved!

The voice of the Shepherd

“If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods'—which you have not known—'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 13:1-3

There is no shortage of false teachers who twist the Word of God to manipulate God’s people—often to squeeze money out of them.  “Why,” we may wonder, “does God allow false teachers to do such things?”  God gives an answer in Deuteronomy 13:3. 

God allows false teachers to speak falsely to test His people to reveal the depth of our love for Him!  God’s line of reasoning is that if we love Him we will likewise love His Word.  And if we love His Word, we will be sure to know His Word.  And when we know His Word, we will be able to discern when His Word is being subverted. 

Jesus said His sheep know His voice and they follow Him.  When people follow the voices of false teachers, it is because they do not know the voice of the Shepherd.  If you profess faith in the Lord, do you know His Word enough to discern truth from error?

Even more terrifying is that those who do not hear and follow the of the Shepherd likely do not know the Shepherd!

The Land of Israel points to better things!

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders)… Numbers 34:1-2

The rest of Numbers 34 defines the borders of Israel, and the officials who were responsible to oversee the division of the Land.  Later, instructions were given about the borders between the tribes of Israel,

Everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus.  How does the land of Israel point to Jesus? 

The nation of Israel brought forth the Messiah.  Jesus is the king of the Jews.  Interestingly, when Jesus was on this earth, the nation of Israel was not a sovereign nation.  Though the boundary lines were important during the OT, in Jesus’ day, Israel was a province of Rome that was divided not by the 12 tribes, but into three territories: Galilee, Samaria, and Judea.

Jesus came not only for Israel as the King of the Jews, He is the King of kings over all peoples.

When Jesus returns, Revelation 21 & 22 tell us that the entire earth, not merely Israel, will be replaced with an entirely new heavens and earth.

Let us read chapters like Numbers 34 understanding that as important as Israel was to bring forth the Messiah, Israel was a transient signpost that pointed to Jesus.  Let us look forward to the new heavens and earth over which our King will rule—forever!

DO NOT follow your heart!

"Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments…  And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God."
Numbers 15:38-41

The tassels are not the spiritual point.  They were merely reminders of the spiritual point.  What was that point?

They and we need to constantly be reminded to follow the Lord.  Why?  Because our hearts will lead us astray.

The world (and even many well-intentioned Christians)  encourage us to “follow our hearts.”  That is bad advice—spiritually deadly advice!  Why?

Note what God told Moses about the human heart:  He said our hearts and eyes are inclined to follow spiritual harlotry (i.e., unfaithfulness to the Lord)!

Jeremiah 17:9 likewise warns us about the human heart: "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”  Do we really want to follow such hearts?

The Israelites wore colored tassels to remind them, to follow the Lord instead of their hearts.  We have better reminders.  We have the indwelling Holy Spirit, God’s Word, and Christian fellowship, to name only three.  Are we looking to these things as reminders?

Israel was to remember that God rescued them from slavery in Egypt.  Let us remember the greater deliverance we have in Christ.  We have been set free from sin, death, and Hell!

What God has spoken will happen

Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai... saying: "Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male individually… You and Aaron shall number them by their armies.
Numbers 1:1-3

The first four chapters of the book of Numbers (all 188 verses) are not the most exciting reading.  These chapters are primarily lists of names compiled in a census.  This census was ordered by God.  For what purpose?  These are the people who wandered for forty years, and died in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land.  Why?  Because they didn’t trust God to give them the land He promised.  So God said that generation would not enter the Promised Land (Numbers 14:29-32).  So why the census?  The census (and the one 40 years later when the next generation eventually entered the Land), documented that God was true to His Word.  One generation all died (except Joshua and Caleb), and were succeeded by another generation that did enter the Land.

God’s Word is sure.  He can neither err nor lie.  What He says will indeed come to pass.  It was true then, it is true now, and it is true forever.

Let those who reject Christ be reminded that they will suffer God’s judgment. (John 3:18)

Let those who trust in Christ be reminded that they will never suffer God’s judgment (John 3:16), since Jesus suffered the penalty for our sins so that we will not! (Colossians 2:13-14, Romans 8:1)

Rejoice!  God’s Word is sure, yesterday, today, and forever!

Not under the Law?

“...you are not under the law.” Galatians 5:18

These six words a more often misunderstood than they are rightly understood.  They do not mean that God’s Law is null and void, or that Christians are free to live lawlessly and/or discard the Old Testament. 

Paul debunks these false understandings writing: “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12). What it means to be out from under the Law is that those who are in Christ will never be condemned by the Law, since Jesus already took the Law’s condemnation for His people.

There is another way it is a comforting to be out from under the Law.  When reading the law it is easy to be overwhelmed.  The thought of having to know and keep every detail of the Law is nothing less than daunting.

The good news of the Gospel is that believers are free from both the condemnation of the Law and the burden of trying to keep the Law (which is impossible for we who were born in sin.

Though the Law is valuable to condemn us so that we will flee to Christ in faith for salvation, praise God that the obedient Christian life—once we are saved—is a life of freedom from condemnation of the Law and from the burden of religion.

Show us Your glory!

“Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight… Please, show me Your glory.”
Exodus 33:13 &18

The redeemed of the Lord have found grace in God’s sight.  That it is by grace, means we have done nothing—nothing at all, to earn, merit, nor deserve God’s saving grace.

As those who have received God’s grace we have the liberty—displayed by Moses in Exodus 33—to ask God to show us His glory.

Of course we cannot see God or the fullness of His glory until we are glorified and in Heaven, but we can see something of God’s glory.  As Moses was shielded from viewing the complete glory of God by being tucked safely in a crack in a rocky cliff, we are shielded by being “in Christ”, who is the Rock of our salvation.

When we gather for corporate worship, let us cry out to God to show us as much of His glory as we can bear.