NOVEMBER 7, 2023

“Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” (Psalm 17:13-15)

This psalm is entitled “A Prayer of David.” Although whoever came up with this title is unknown, it is a good one because here we see a heartfelt, earnest, believing example of a prayer. It was spoken in the view of some danger. A danger which arose from the number of enemies, but we cannot determine the specific occasion.

There were too many occasions in the life of David where this prayer would make sense, but there can be no doubt that in the various dangers David faced, he often poured out such warm and earnest appeals to God for help.

In today’s verses, we see David pleading with God to act on his behalf. His expression of a confident hope of deliverance from all enemies, a looking forward to a world where he would be rescued from all troubles, and where, in the presence of God and entering on a new life, he would awake in the likeness of God and be satisfied. The psalm terminates, as the anticipations of all good men do, amid the troubles of this life, in the hope of that world where there will be no trouble and where they will be permitted to dwell forever with God. David longs for the satisfaction he will feel when he finally will be with God and can behold His righteousness.

“Arise, O Lord,” asks David, and, “disappoint him.” His prayer here is that God would come before his enemies and cast Himself in their way before they should reach him. The enemy is represented as marching upon him with their face intently fixed, seeking David’s destruction, and he prays that God would come to his aid. He pleads to be spared from the designs of the wicked and that God would interfere by His own hand, saving him from danger from men that had risen against him. He desires to be rescued from worldly plans and devices – from men among whom nothing but material principles prevail. These men, unlike David, have their portion in this life alone. That is to say, their portion or lot is exclusively among the living, having nothing to look forward to or to hope for in the world to come. They are governed wholly by worldly principles. They have no fear of God; they have no regard for the rights of others further than will be under their material interest. Those who wholly have their portion in this life try to subordinate everything to worldly interests.

Verse 15 begins with “As for me…” David writes this to illustrate that believers cherish no such desires in strong contrast with the aims, desires, and conditions of worldly men who seek their portion in this life. We look to another world as our home and shall be satisfied only in God’s everlasting favor and friendship. We will behold the face of our Lord. This is the highest object before the mind of a genuinely religious person. The bliss of heaven consists mainly in the privilege of seeing God our Savior, and the hope of being permitted to do this is of more value to us than would be all the wealth of this world.

We have been delivered from the power, the pollution, and the dominion of sin. This makes heaven so desirable; without this, in the apprehension of a truly good man, no place would be heaven. While others are satisfied with this world, we, like the psalmist, will be satisfied only when we awake in the likeness of God. Nothing can meet our wants or fully help our souls until that occurs.

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Romans 5:8-9)

We return to analyzing one of the most loved passages in the Bible, this time focusing primarily on Verse 9. To recap what was talked about last week. Paul points out that we can hope in God because He loves us and that we can easily find evidence of that love, which is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Christ took the judgment for our sin on Himself on the cross. He suffered and died in our place. Paul insists that we should take that act as evidence of God’s great love for us, in that, those who have been saved were sinners and thus enemies with God. It is only through Jesus that we have a way to have salvation. In this, God proved His love for us.

Verse 9 begins by saying that Christ’s blood has justified us. To be “justified” in God’s eyes means to be “declared righteous” or to be made right with God. This is important since earlier verses have made it clear that we are not, actually, “righteous people.” Based on our actions and attitudes, we are not “good.” To be reconciled to God, we need to be forgiven and “declared” as righteous; this means being justified.

The way that we were justified is by Christ’s blood, by His death for our sins on the cross. In fact, Paul has shown that there is no other way to become right with God than by Christ’s death for us. Since that is true, Paul writes that it is even more true that Christ will save us from the wrath of God.

We need to be careful how we read this. Paul is not implying that there is a question about whether those in Christ will experience God’s wrathful, angry judgment on sin. Those who have expressed saving faith – true believers – absolutely will not. Instead, Paul argues that the second idea is evident once the first is accepted. Writing today, Paul might have said, “Since A is true, then B is true.” Both ideas are connected, and both are true.

In other words, those who are justified in God’s eyes, through faith in what Christ has done, will certainly never suffer God’s wrath for their sin. This is the context of Paul’s use of the word “we” in this passage: those saved by grace through faith.

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OCTOBER 31, 2023

 “But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night; Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?” (Job 35:10, 11)

The complaint of the speaker here is that the tyrants and oppressors of the earth seem never to consider or consult God their Maker, or to enquire, “Where is God my Maker?” Worse still, is the speaker’s lament that even among the oppressed there was the same neglect. They cried out by reason of the oppression, but sadly they did not cry out to God their Maker, though He gives songs in the night, and teaches wisdom to His persecuted people. There is one common fault in our nature, which the Apostle describes in Romans: “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Unless grace moves us, we are prone in our times of trouble not to say, “Where is God my Maker, Who giveth songs in the night?”

There are four questions that are here compressed into one. First, “Where is God?” Above all things in the world our thoughts ought to be of Him. In everything, whether joy or sorrow, the Omniscient God of Providence should immediately come to mind. It is totally unacceptable that God is all in all, that we owe everything to Him, that we are under allegiance to Him, and yet, “God is not in all our thoughts.” (Psa. 10:4)

The second question is, “Where is God my Maker?” “The ox knoweth his owner…but my people doth not consider.” God made us; He fashioned our frame; by His hand we are curiously and wonderfully made. He has made these “instruments of ten thousand strings.” Wonderful, it is that they are kept in tune so long. He is our Maker! How shall we not think of Him without Whom we could not think at all? How is it that we do not seek and call upon Him Who is God our Maker?

There is great force in the third question: “Where is God who giveth songs in the night?” God is our Comforter. All the saints can testify that God is most precious in times of severe trials. He comes near the sick bed when one of His own is perhaps at the point of death. We have known His tender touch, and the song that He brings in the night when the sorrows of death compass us about. He can put a song in your heart when the blackest of darkness comes over your dwelling. There is nothing to fear even in death when God is there. Two little boys were talking about Elijah riding to heaven in a chariot of fire. One of them said, “He must have been very courageous. I think I would have been very frightened to ride in such a carriage.” “Oh no,” said the other, “I would not be afraid at all so long as God drove the chariot.” It will be very sad and inexcusable if we poor sufferers forget God, and forfeit the consolation of our Divine Comforter; if we refuse the soothing music of the Song-giver by not looking for Him or asking after Him in our hour of need. David said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.”

And then there is a fourth question: “Where is God my Maker…Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?” Here, we are reminded that God has given us intelligence. We are distinguished from all other living creatures of the earth. If animals and birds do not turn to God, we do not wonder at it, but shall men and women forget God? With many who are created in God’s image and likeness, it had been better for them if they were a beast or a bird, for then they would not be held accountable for their neglect. But every human soul shall surely answer to the God Whom they have forgotten.

Let us live out our lives in constant awareness of God’s presence. Let us be continually asking after Him Who is our Maker, our Comforter, our Instructor; Who is our Help whatever the circumstance, and whatever the need.

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OCTOBER 26, 2023

 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Romans 5:8-9)

This is one of the most loved passages in the Bible (Vs. 8 being my favorite Bible verse), and it is also the high point of a lengthier discussion. In previous verses in the book, Paul clearly showed that salvation is based on faith, not works (Rom. 3:21-26). That justification, a declaration of His righteousness, brings us peace with God instead of wrath. This is available only to those who have expressed saving faith, exemplified by men like Abraham.

Given that hope, suffering in the life of a Christian believer can be meaningful. We are safe to hope in God because He loves us. Paul’s point is that we don’t have to take God’s word alone that He loves us. We can look at the evidence: Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

What does it mean that Christ died for us? It means that He died in our place. Because of our sins, we deserve to suffer God’s angry judgment. We deserved death. Christ took that judgment for our sin on Himself on the cross. He suffered and died in our place. Paul insists that we should take that act as evidence of God’s great love for us, especially since God went first. Jesus died in our place before we knew we would want Him to do that. He died for us before we did anything to deserve such love, as it takes love to die willingly for someone else, even if they’re a “good” person. But we, those who have been saved, were still sinners and thus enemies with God, who would not improve on our own. In truth, we had no hope of avoiding God’s judgment before Jesus took it for us.

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is an essential Christian doctrine to understand; it is vital to know and never forget what was accomplished by the shed blood of our Savior. Ephesians 1:7 says, “…redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” Paul refers to Christ’s death on the cross as the sufficient payment for the sins of all who believe in Him. This redemption paid to release us from the eternal penalty and the earthly power of our sins. This freedom, of course, did not come “at no cost” since Christ’s death pays for it; it cost Him everything.

This is grace in the truest sense: the ability to become a child of God because God provided a free way to know Him by faith even though we were enemies. God’s grace is of tremendous value. It is what is required to make people sons and daughters of God. All have sinned and fallen short of His glory. It is only through Jesus that we have a way to have salvation.