MAY 30, 2024

 “But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.” (Psalm 109:21-22)

This Psalm was intended to be sung in the temple service, yet it is difficult to imagine because it may come from a place of revenge. The arousal of that spirit could never be the object of divine worship, but the Psalm has a meaning fitting for men of God to have fellowship before His throne. What is that meaning? This is a tricky question that only a person with the right frame of mind can ever answer.

This is a Psalm of David, not the ravings of a vicious, vindictive spirit. David didn’t smite the people who sought his blood; instead, choosing to forgive those who treated him shamefully. Because of this, these words can’t be read in a bitter sense, which would be foreign to the son of Jesse. The passage was penned by one with a tender heart; therefore, they can’t possibly have been meant to be mere angry cursing. Unless it can be proved that David was of a malicious, vindictive spirit, it cannot be conceived that this Psalm contains a pitiless hate. To such a suggestion we can’t give place.

But what can we glean from this passage? We should emphasize how David, in his distress, finds solace and peace when he turns from his enemies to his God. He places the Almighty in direct contrast to his adversaries, a move that immediately calms his troubled heart.

David earnestly pleads, “Do thou for me” and what is it that He will do? Whatever He deems best. He surrenders himself completely into the Lord’s hands. He is content as long as his God will intercede for him. The saints have always found this to be their most powerful plea. God Himself has performed his most magnificent acts of grace for the honor of His name, and His people understand that this is the most compelling argument with Him. We should hold this action in the highest reverence and lean on it without hesitation.

He can ask for deliverance not because he is good but because his God is. God’s mercy is the guiding star that believers turn their eyes to when they are lost or caught in a tempest of discomfort. This mercy is a comfort for weary hearts. When people find no mercy in the world, they can always find it in God. His name and mercy are solid foundations for hope, and those who rest upon them are filled with contentment and peace.

When David pleads to God, he doesn’t urge his riches or merits, but his poverty, saying, “I am poor and needy,” and that his “heart is wounded.” The Lord tenderly regards the brokenhearted, and as such, the psalmist pleads as a reason for speedy help. His adversary cuts so deep that his case has become desperate that he can only count on divine aid.

Often, in our lives, we face things beyond our control. We become weary and weighed down by our various struggles. Sometimes, we even feel that there is no hope. But God’s children can always seek comfort and hope in Him and His infinite mercy. May we find the strength to plead with God in times of trouble just as David did.

MAY 28, 2024

 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: but I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill.” False teachers, whatever their stripe, do serious harm to the souls of men. In the end, they ruin and destroy those who are duped by them. The Lord Jesus, the true teacher of men, causes injury to none, and brings death to no one’s door. His teaching is full of goodness, kindness, and love, and it works most effectually for the benefit and happiness of all who hear Him. Error is deadly; truth is life-giving. Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

The coming of the old serpent brought death, but the coming of the woman’s seed has brought life. “I am come,” said our Lord, “that they might have life.” According to our text, Jesus is come, first, that His people may have life; and secondly, that where life is given, it may be enjoyed more abundantly.

We do well to realize that even the natural life of the sinner, the length of his days on earth, is due, in large part, to the coming of Christ. The barren tree would not stand so long if it were not that the dresser of the vineyard intercedes, and cries, “Let it alone this year also, till I dig about it, and dung it.” There can be no doubt that the interpositions of the Mediator accounts for the prolonged lives of great offenders, whose wickedness taxes the longsuffering of heaven. We hear our Savior praying for all who shall believe on Him through the Word. (John 17:20) Without exception, every believer must confess with the Apostle Peter, “the longsuffering of the Lord is salvation.” (II Pet. 3:15) If the prayers of the great Intercessor were to cease for one hour, the ungodly among mankind would perhaps sink down to hell as quickly as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram when the Lord’s anger broke forth upon them.

That, however, is not the drift of the text. Life in the sense of pardon and deliverance from the death penalty is the great result of Christ’s coming. All men in their natural condition are under the sentence of death, and they must shortly be taken to the place of execution, there to suffer the full penalty of the second death. If any of us are delivered at this time from the sentence of death and have now the promise of the crown of life, we owe the change to the coming of Christ our Redeemer, Who came to be a sacrifice for our sins. Through faith in Him, we pass from death to life.

Moreover, we who were “dead in trespasses and sins,” have received a new and incorruptible seed, implanted in us by the Spirit of God, which is akin to the Divine nature, and confers on us a new life. By this renewal, we are alive unto God, and to spiritual things. No one has this life except it be given him by the Spirit of Christ, who came that we might have life. This spiritual life is the same life that will be continued and perfected in heaven. Believers shall not, when they leave this earth, obtain a life that they do not now possess through faith in Christ.

Jesus came that we might have this new life by His Spirit, and it is for this very reason that we might have life more abundantly. Peter wrote, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” The more we pursue “all things that pertain to life and godliness,” the more abundant our life shall be. (See II Pet. 1:3-8)

MAY 21, 2024

 “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” (I John 4:20-21)

The fourth chapter of I John cautions Christians against accepting every claim they hear. Instead, believers are urged to scrutinize what they listen to against the fundamental truths of the Gospel. John then reiterates the theme of love, emphasizing how believers should embody the presence of God’s love in their lives. Furthermore, living in accordance with God’s love dispels our fear of judgment. In no uncertain terms, those who profess to love God, but harbor hate towards others are living a lie.

After this chapter, John clearly states the importance of love in the life of a believer. Those who cannot love people they can see cannot love a God whom they cannot. Anyone who harbors hate but claims to love God is a liar. Other parts of this letter have explained that love, shown by Christians, is meant to be how God is ”seen” by the world.

I am reminded of a very searching question that a pastor put to a group of Christian college students who had gathered for a special event. It’s a very simple question, but it has stuck with me. He asked, “If you roomed across the hall from a student who knew nothing about God beyond the fact of knowing that you were a follower, what would be his impression of God based solely on your life?”

Verse 20 marks the fourth of five instances in which John addresses liars in this letter. Love for others, especially fellow Christians, is a fundamental commandment from Christ. Therefore, a person who harbors hate for others but claims to know God is not being truthful. A liar professes to know God but does not adhere to His commandments. A liar denies that Jesus is the Christ. Here, we are reminded that a liar professes love for God, but harbors hate for others.

The second part of the verse adds an explanation, moving from the “seen” to the “unseen.” It is more challenging to love someone you can’t see than you can. If people can’t love those they know, they can’t reasonably claim to love those they can’t. This verse explicitly declares that someone can’t truly love God while hating others. The person who claims to love God must also show love for others.

This also ties into the idea that love is meant to be how God is seen since we can’t see God in all His divine essence. In ourselves and the world, God’s love is meant to be how humanity “sees” Him.

Finally, there is a somewhat technical distinction that is important to make here. John is not saying that love of others is a requirement for genuinely loving God. Many of you are probably asking, “What’s wrong with you? Did you not read the passage?” I did; hear me out. I think of it like the statement, “…faith, if it hath not works, is dead…” (James 2:17). Is this statement saying that works are necessary to have faith? Definitely not! It is saying that your works prove that you have faith. It is similar to this statement in I John: your love for God is proven by your love for others.

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MAY 16, 2024

“They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.” (Psalm 102:26-27)

This Psalm is a prayer of the afflicted sufferer, and is highly expressive of consolation and desolation. The sufferer is afflicted more because of the Lord than anything he had done himself. When he is overwhelmed, troubled, and depressed, he pours out his complaint before the Lord. Great trouble removes the heart from all reserve and causes the soul to flow without restraint. This is more of an expression of pain than a complaint and has no intent to find fault with God. This is a cry of moaning, not rebellion, which is never a sin.

The author, amidst his personal worries and enemies, finds solace in his faith in God. He looks beyond his own distress and laments over the miseries of his people, believing in the resurrection of the nation through the favor of the Lord. This unwavering faith in God’s unchanging nature is a testament to the author’s strength and a source of inspiration for us all.

In Verse 26, the author says that the power and time that made these enemies will ultimately dissolve them, yet nothing can dissolve God. Nothing can reverse His purpose or diminish His glory. He remains standing when all things fall. Time impairs all things, making them become obsolete and pass away. Creation is like a garment that is waxing old and wearing out, and before long, God will fold up the worlds and put them aside because they’re worn out. He will operate without hindrance.

Just as a change of clothes does not change the person, despite what my dog, Sam, thinks; even more is the Lord unchanging. Though His works in creation may be changed, and the operations of His providence may vary, He will remain unaltered. The Psalmist remembered that even when Israel was destroyed, her God remained the same self-existent, all-sufficient being – One who will restore His people. The immutability of God is a concept that should be taught more in modern churches than it is because it is a fundamental attribute of the Lord.

God lives on, and no decay or destruction can overtake Him. What a joy this is! We may lose our dearest earthly friends, but not our heavenly Friend. Men’s days are often suddenly cut short, and at the longest, they are but few, but the years of the Most High cannot be counted. They have neither first nor last, beginning nor end. O my soul, rejoice in the Lord always, since He is always the same.

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